Like in 1946, but not in 1951, the Dodgers made sure the Playoff series didn't go to a Game 3. Unlike both of those times, it ended in their favor. They scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to send the game to extra innings. With 2 outs in the 12th, 1st baseman Gil Hodges drew a walk, catcher Joe Pignatano singled, and right fielder Carl Furillo singled home Hodges with the Pennant-winning run, 6-5.
The Dodgers had won the 1st Pennant by any team west of St. Louis. The City of Milwaukee has had just 1 Pennant winner in the 63 years since, the 1982 Brewers; and the Braves wouldn't win another Pennant for 32 years, and by that point they were in their 26th season in Atlanta.
This '59 Pennant, and the subsequent World Series win, for the Los Angeles edition of the Dodgers must have felt like a gut-punch for the fans the team left behind in Brooklyn. Especially since some of their Brooklyn heroes were still there: Hodges, Furillo, center fielder Duke Snider, 2nd baseman Jim Gilliam, left fielder Sandy Amoros, and pitchers Carl Erskine, Clem Labine and Johnny Podres. Former Captain Harold "Pee Wee" Reese and former manager Charlie Dressen were on manager Walter Alston's coaching staff. (Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale were already on the team before the move, but they hadn't yet become heroes when the team left Brooklyn.)
The Dodgers had won the 1st Pennant by any team west of St. Louis. The City of Milwaukee has had just 1 Pennant winner in the 63 years since, the 1982 Brewers; and the Braves wouldn't win another Pennant for 32 years, and by that point they were in their 26th season in Atlanta.
This '59 Pennant, and the subsequent World Series win, for the Los Angeles edition of the Dodgers must have felt like a gut-punch for the fans the team left behind in Brooklyn. Especially since some of their Brooklyn heroes were still there: Hodges, Furillo, center fielder Duke Snider, 2nd baseman Jim Gilliam, left fielder Sandy Amoros, and pitchers Carl Erskine, Clem Labine and Johnny Podres. Former Captain Harold "Pee Wee" Reese and former manager Charlie Dressen were on manager Walter Alston's coaching staff. (Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale were already on the team before the move, but they hadn't yet become heroes when the team left Brooklyn.)
*
September 29, 1959 was a Tuesday. This was also the day the Long Island Expressway opened. I have a separate entry for this event. The LIE (the acronym is fitting) was designed to serve the massive growth of suburbs on Long Island that the post-World War II housing boom created. That boom was one of the factors in the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn.
Football was in midweek. And it was too soon for the NBA and NHL seasons. So there were no other scores on this historic day.
No comments:
Post a Comment