September 25, 1941: The Dodgers can clinch their 1st Pennant in 21 years today, if they beat the Boston Braves at Braves Field in Boston. If not, there are 2 games left, both at home to the woeful Philadelphia Phillies.
They had opened the season on April 15, with a lot of hope. They hadn't won a National League Pennant since 1920, and hadn't been in a Pennant race since 1924. But they had been rebuilt, under the auspices of team president Larry MacPhail. He had renovated Ebbets Field, hired Walter "Red" Barber as radio broadcaster, traded for shortstop Leo Durocher, made Durocher the manager, and made other key transactions, including trading for Durocher's replacement as shortstop, Harold "Pee Wee" Reese.
After going 62-91 in the last pre-MacPhail season, 1937, the Dodgers improved to 69-80 in 1938. In 1939, they improved to 84-69, 3rd place, but still 12 1/2 games behind the Pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds. In 1940, they were 88-65, 2nd place, but still 12 games behind the Pennant-winning Reds.
Still, hopes were high for 1941. But their opening series, at home to their arch-rivals, the New York Giants, was a flop: They were swept 3 straight, 6-4, 3-1 and 7-5. It wasn't that surprising: The Giants still had some of the players that had won Pennants in 1933 (also winning the World Series that year), 1936 and 1937. Then the Dodgers went up to Boston and turned it around, sweeping a 3-game series from the Braves.
The same teams started a new series on April 20. It was the Giants' home opener at the Polo Grounds, with a full house of 56,314 on hand. Remembering that Joe Medwick, the former St. Louis Cardinal slugger had been beaned shortly after MacPhail had traded for him, the Dodgers came to bat with metal inserts inside their caps. This was the 1st step toward baseball teams wearing batting helmets. The Dodgers won the game, 10-9, and ended up taking 2 out of 3 in the series.
From April 18 to 30, the Dodgers went 13-1. They ended the month in 1st place by 1 game. From May 6 to 14, they rattled off a 7-game winning streak. Then, through May 22, they lost 6 straight. Then, through June 1, they won 9 straight. They were tied for 1st with the Cardinals, with the next-closest team, the Giants, being 8 games behind.
But after June 1, they went downhill again. From June 2 to 18, they went 6-8. Then they got going again, winning 15 out of 19 decisions (plus a game that was called due to rain while tied) through July 11. They were 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals. After losing 2, they won another 4, to go 4 games up.
This streaky team then took another downturn, going 2-10, including going 0-4 against the Cards, plus a game that was called due to darkness after 12 innings, as the Cards' Sportsman's Park didn't yet have lights. At the close of business on July 30, the Dodgers trailed the Cards by 3 games. They were playing like "Dem Bums" of old.
But they closed July by taking the finale of their series in St. Louis, 9-5. That started another hot streak, going 9-1 through August 11. But the Cards stayed hot, too, so, by that date, the teams were tied for 1st. The Dodgers won 5 straight: A doubleheader in Boston on August 17, a single game at home to the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 18, and a doubleheader against the Pirates on August 19. But no matter what the Dodgers did, they couldn't shake the Cards: As late as September 3, the teams were tied for 1st.
The Dodgers got hot one more time, going 13-6 from September 6 to 24. This run included a 10-inning win at home to the Giants on the 7th, an 11-inning win away to the Cards on the 11th, and 4 runs in the top of the 17th to beat the defending World Champion Reds.
On September 25, they played the Boston Braves at Braves Field. They need not have worried. Their ace, Whitlow Wyatt, pitched a shutout for his 22nd win of the season, and was backed by a home run by Pete Reiser. The Dodgers won, 6-0.
Listening on the radio back at Ebbets Field, MacPhail called the New York Central Railroad office at Grand Central Terminal. He wanted the Dodgers' train back from Boston's Back Bay Station stopped at 125th Street, the last stop before Grand Central, so he can get on, and then get off with them to enjoy the party on arrival.
On the train, already a party every bit as chaotic as the plane flight that the New York Mets would have back from Houston 45 years later, Durocher is told this, and he tells the conductor to forget the order, and plow right on through to Grand Central. Why should their fans wait any longer to celebrate, just because MacPhail's massive ego wanted some validation? And so, the train barreled right on through 125th Street, leaving MacPhail fuming on the platform.
The next day, MacPhail called Durocher into his office, and fired him on the spot. Durocher appealed to the team's various owners, including the young lawyer operating the Brooklyn Trust bank's 1/4 share of the team, Walter O'Malley. MacPhail was overruled.
It was a difficult time for the world. World War II was on, and Nazi Germany was still pounding Great Britain with bombs, but the Royal Air Force rendered them unable to make a crossing of the English Channel for a land invasion. Every country in Western Europe had been either conquered by the Nazis or, as in the case with the already-fascist-ruled nations of Italy, Spain and Portugal, and the neutral nations of Switzerland and Sweden, taken into their diplomatic orbit. And they had invaded the Soviet Union, and were besieging Leningrad, and were knocking on the door of Moscow itself. The Red Army was digging in.
And in the Pacific region, the Empire of Japan was truly a rising Sun, having effectively taken over Korea, Japan, and the Dutch East Indies (the eventual Indonesia). They were threatening British and French interests in Southeast Asia, and even Australia. As would soon be seen, even American possessions in the Pacific Ocean were not safe.
But baseball had been America's distraction from the threat of being dragging into this horrible war. The Dodgers had that great Pennant race. The Yankees ran away with the American League Pennant, due largely to the 56-game hitting streak that Joe DiMaggio had from May 15 to July 16. And Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox had batted .406, clinching the .400 batting average on the season's last day, September 28.
The Dodgers and their fans were feeling particularly potent at this moment. They were convinced that they would beat the New York Yankees in the World Series, and take over New York.
It didn't happen. How was a stunning story. The Dodgers would have a near-miss for the Pennant in 1942, fall short during World War II, had another near-miss in 1946, and won the Pennant in 1947. That year and 1948 were transition seasons, and in 1949, they began a run of success with a new group of players, some of whom had debuted in 1947, including Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider. Included in that was, finally, a World Series win.
Then came something much worse for their fans than losing a World Series: They lost their team.
*
September 25, 1941 was a Thursday. There were 3 other bas* eball games were played that day:
* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with a walk. Bob Carpenter went the distance to win the game for the Giants. Two years later, a different Bob Carpenter would buy the Phillies, and restore them to glory.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Rookie Stan Musial, who'd made his major league debut just 8 days earlier, went 2-for-4.
* And the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.
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