Left to right: Joe DiMaggio, Joe Page, Larry MacPhail.
At the moment, MacPhail seems to be happy to celebrate with Page.
But it was at the postgame celebration that the fireworks really started. At the time, the Yankees had 3 owners: Dan Topping, 35, a wealthy playboy (translation: He spent the tin-industry millions made by his father); Del Webb, 48, a construction magnate who'd made his fortune building Army bases in World War II, casino-hotels in Las Vegas (with the help of men involved in organized crime), and retirement communities in Arizona; and Larry MacPhail, 57, who had previously built Pennant winners as general manager with the Dodgers and, before that, the Cincinnati Reds.
As general manager of the Yankees, MacPhail did with them what he'd done with the Reds and the Dodgers: He modernized the ballpark (giving Yankee Stadium lights and expanding the clubhouses), favorably renegotiated the broadcasting contracts (including putting the team on television starting with the next season), and making roster moves to revitalize the team (although they had won the World Series in 1943 and fallen just 1 game short of the Pennant in 1944, the year before the triumvirate bought the team from the heirs of the late Jacob Ruppert).
But MacPhail had a thin skin and a big ego. Presaging George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin on the Yankees by more than a generation, he fired and rehired Dodger manager Leo Durocher within a span of a few hours, several times. And he was an alcoholic: It was said that with no drinks he was brilliant, with one he was wonderful, with two he was impossible, and he rarely stopped at two.
The Reds had won the Pennant in 1939, but lost the World Series to the Yankees. In 1940, they won the Series, beating the Detroit Tigers. But, by that point, MacPhail was already in Brooklyn. The Dodgers won the Pennant in 1941, but was already feuding with the team's owners. After the 1942 season, accepting an officer's commission for the U.S. Army in World War II enabled MacPhail, a genuine hero in World War I, a quiet way out that made him look good.
In just 3 seasons, MacPhail had built the Yankees into World Champions. A scrappy Dodger team, built in the image of their since-suspended manager, Durocher (replaced for this season by Burt Shotton), and led by barrier-breaker and National League Rookie of the Year Jackie Robinson, had extended the World Series to a Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. It would be the last gasp for the Dodger team built by MacPhail and managed by Durocher: Over the next year, MacPhail's replacement, Branch Rickey, built the team that would become known as "The Boys of Summer."
Neither starter, Yankee rookie Frank "Spec" Shea or Dodger Hal Gregg, got out of the 4th inning. The Dodgers scored 2 runs in the top of the 2nd inning, driven in by singles by Bruce Edwards and Johnny "Spider" Jorgensen. Phil Rizzuto got a run back in the bottom of the 1st with an RBI single.
Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. With 1 out in the bottom of the 4th, Gregg walked Billy Johnson. He struck Aaron Robinson out, but Rizzuto singled. Pinch-hitting for Bevens, who had replaced Shea, Bobby Brown doubled Johnson home to tie the game. Reliever Hank Behrman walked George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss, and then Tommy Henrich -- once again, victimizing the Dodgers and earning the nickname bestowed on him by Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen, "Old Reliable" -- singled Rizzuto home to give the Yankees the lead.
The Yankees added a run in the 6th, Rizzuto scoring again on a single by Allie Clark; and another in the 7th, on a sacrifice fly by Robinson that scored Johnson. Joe Page got Fred "Dixie" Walker to ground out to start the top of the 9th, but he allowed a single to Eddie Miksis. Edwards grounded to Rizzuto, who started a season-ending double play, throwing to Stirnweiss to eliminate Miksis, and over to George McQuinn at 1st base to eliminate Edwards.
Yankees 5, Dodgers 2. Bucky Harris was a World Series-winning manager for the 2nd time, 23 years after doing it as the "Boy Wonder" manager of the Washington Senators.
This remains the only World Series where the Yankees have won Game 7 on their home field. They lost Game 7s at the old Yankee Stadium in 1926, 1955 and 1957; won Game 7s at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn in 1956, Milwaukee County Stadium in 1958, Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1962; and lost Game 7s at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh in 1960, Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis in 1964, and Bank One Ballpark (now named Chase Field) in Phoenix in 2001.
One of the best World Series ever came to an end with a Game 7 that was a little anticlimactic. If it was drama that anyone was looking for, it came after the game. First, MacPhail went into the Dodger clubhouse to congratulate Rickey for the job he'd done assembling that Pennant-winning team.
But Rickey was a hyper-moralist, who only put up with shenanigans when people made him money. He told MacPhail, "I am taking your hand only because people are watching us." He launched into reasons for his disappointment in MacPhail as a man, and ended their relationship once and for all: "Don't you ever speak to me again."
That ticked MacPhail off. He went into the Yankee clubhouse, starting insulting people, punched a sporswriter, and announced his resignation. Then came the team's official celebration, a formal affair at the Cascades Ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. In between, MacPhail had had plenty of time to drink.
MacPhail walked into the Ballroom, and the sportswriters, knowing he was a quote machine, rushed up to him. He gave them a quote, all right: "Stay away or get punched!" He found the Yankees' farm system director, George Weiss, cursed him out, and fired him.
He found John McDonald, a friend from his Dodger tenure, and called Rickey "That Bible-quoting, hypocritical, tightwad son of a bitch!" While Rickey was cheap and, in some ways, a hypocrite, McDonald stood up for him. MacPhail called McDonald, "You Judas!" and punched him. (Using a Biblical reference? Who's a hypocrite now?)
Topping saw this, and got between them. MacPhail said, "Hey, Topping, do you know what you are? A guy born with a silver spoon in your mouth, who never made a dollar in your life!" This wasn't true: Topping had made some money running a bank.
Like a lot of rich guys, Topping couldn't handle it when people questioned his money management. Unlike a lot of rich guys, Topping was no coddled wimp, unable to stand up to a physical challenge: He was a prep-school athlete, and had served in combat as a Colonel in the Marine Corps, as one of World War II's "island-hoppers" in the Pacific. He grabbed MacPhail, pulled him to the nearest door, and threw him into the kitchen, saying, "I've heard enough from you. We've taking everything from you we're going to take. If you act up again, Larry, I'm going to knock your head off."
Half an hour later, MacPhail came back. He walked up to Joe Page and his wife Kay, and said, "What were you, Joe, before I picked you up? A bum! You and this broad here, you were nothing!" Joe, 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, stood up. So did Topping. MacPhail knew he had crossed the line into "I deserve to get knocked out" territory. He backed off, and walked out of the room.
It became known as the Battle of the Biltmore. The next day, MacPhail met with his partners for the last time. Topping and Webb each put up a million dollars, and bought out MacPhail's share. MacPhail never worked in baseball again, at any level. He died in 1975.
His son Lee, grandson Andy and great-grandson Leland Stanford MacPhail IV (also called Lee) have all worked in major league front offices. Larry and Lee are the only father and son both elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Topping and Webb promoted Weiss to the GM's slot, and he built the most dynastic Yankee team of them all, until his resignation in 1960. Dan Topping Jr. was briefly Yankee GM in 1966, while his father and Webb were in the process of selling the team to CBS. Dan Topping III was briefly a catcher in the San Francisco Giants' minor-league system. Del Webb was the only member of his family involved in baseball.
The Biltmore Hotel was at 355 Madison Avenue, at 45th Street. Built in 1913, it was closed in 1981, gutted, and converted into an office building.
Although he only played for the Dodgers, in 2007, on the 60th Anniversary of his debut, the Yankees placed a plaque in Monument Park to honor Jackie Robinson, and, in general, the contributions of nonwhite players to baseball.
*
October 6, 1947 was a Monday. There were no other scores on this historic day.
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