Series Vignettes: World Series, Junior World Series, and Dixie Series

The World Series is the capstone of each baseball season. It ties up the annual package that was the pennant races, crowning an ultimate champion and providing fans with memories and associations that continue to live: the Called Shot, Al Gionfriddo, Bill Mazeroski.

The special events of the World Series have a parallel in the minor leagues. At the Triple A and Double A level, long-running postseason, interleague series were held for many years. The Junior World Series matched the best from the International League against the champ of the American Association fifty-seven times from 1904 to the present. (The series now operates as the Triple A World Series.) The Texas League and the Southern Association, met in a Double A version, the Dixie Series, thirty-eight times from 1920 to 1971. In the course of those series, plays similar to those of World Series lore occurred, some presaging the more famous event, some echoing them. This article will look at some of those events as they relate to the major league World Series.

The first series

All three longstanding series got their start the same way. Someone would propose a series, one of the leagues would object and two club owners would get together and hold a series anyway.

The story of the Pittsburgh and Boston ownership arranging the 1903 series is well known. The event came about because one owner, Barney Dreyfuss of Pittsburgh, swam against the National League tide, and was willing to play an American League team.

A similar set of circumstances inaugurated the Dixie Series in 1920. The Texas League had been agitating for a series with the Southern Association for many years. But the TL was a “B” League and the Southern Association was classified as “A.” The SA wanted no part of a possible embarrassment at the hands of a lower classified league. But Little Rock owner R.G. Allen was a promoter of the first rank and accepted the proposal of the Texas League and the Fort Worth Panthers to meet in 1920. The series was won by the Texans, drew well, and was a success in every sense. The SA was still adamant about not participating, but over the winter the Texas League was elevated to “A” status and the Dixie Series was on its way to twenty-three consecutive years of play, until World War II briefly interrupted things.

The Junior World Series started when Mike Kelley of the American Association champion St. Paul Saints set up a postseason exhibition series with the International League champion Buffalo Bisons. Such informal contests occurred four times through 1917, planting the seeds for the JWS to begin its regular appearance in 1920.

The first Mazeroski

Pirate second baseman Bill Mazeroski hit one of the most fabled home runs in baseball history when he ended the 1960 World Series with his tie-breaking drive off Ralph Terry in Game 7. Joe Carter duplicated the feat in 1993. But Mazeroski’s wasn’t the first.

In 1941 the Columbus Red Birds started a three-wear run of Junior World Series championships. Leading the series three games to two, the American Association champs trailed the Montreal Royals, 8-4, in the bottom of the ninth. Van Lingle Mungo allowed two runs in the ninth before being relieved by nineteen-vear-old Chet Kehn. With one out and two men on, Harry “The Hat” Walker worked the count to 2-1, then fouled off the next eight pitches. Kehn sent a curve toward Walker and Harry deposited it in the bleachers to win the game, 9-8. It is the only JWS that ended on a ninth-inning homer.

He spoke with Speaker

Boston Red Sox fans have precious few fond memories of the World Series. One, however, is the 1912 Fall Classic. The Red Sox knocked off the New York Giants in eight games thanks to a remarkable comeback in the bottom of the tenth of the finale. That was the inning of the “Snodgrass muff” and the spectacular, less well remembered catch Snodgrass made of Harry Hooper’s subsequent drive. Of interest to us is what happened when Tris Speaker then came to bat. With men on first and third and one out, he lifted a routine foul fly off Christy Mathewson between home and first base.

Mathewson ran toward the line calling for catcher Chief Meyers to take it, when clearly first baseman Fred Merkle had the best shot at the play. Meyers couldn’t make the play and Speaker tied the game with a second-chance single. Two batters later, Larry Gardner sent a sacrifice fly to right to clinch the Red Sox victory.

A similar play occurred in the 1942 Dixie Series. In Game 3 Shreveport’s Zeke Trent faced Birmingham’s Paul Erickson. With the score tied, 1-1, Birmingham loaded the bases with two outs. Trent lifted a foul fly between home and first, but catcher Hank Helf and first baseman Jim Shilling allowed the catchable ball to fall between them. Taking his cue from Speaker, Trent lined a two-run single. The tears traded runs in the eighth and Trent made a game-saving catch deep in center field to preserve the win.

The first international series

In 1992, the baseball world made a big deal out of the World Series being contested on Canadian soil for the first time. The Junior World Series had an 85-year head start. In 1907 the Toronto Maple Leafs represented the International League against Columbus of the American Association. Columbus won the series, 4-1. Toronto also lost the 1917 JWS to Indianapolis.

In 1926 the Maple Leafs brought back the first Canadian championship when they swept the Louisville Colonels five straight in the best-of-nine series. The Junior World Series would later be played internationally in Montreal and Havana.

The unfinished series

In 1890 the baseball world was in turmoil. It was the year of the Brotherhood War, and three major leagues — the National League, the Players’ League, and the American Association — taking the field.

At the conclusion of the season the World Series between the NL and the AA was played as it had been since 1884. The PL was metaphorically left out in the cold, while the NI. Brooklyn Bridegrooms and the AA Louisville Colonels got a real dose of the chills. The series opened in Louisville to cool, rainy weather. Four games were played in the Kentucky city. Brooklyn won a pair, Louisville won one, and one ended in a tie. As the teams headed for Brooklyn, the bad weather followed them east. Three games were played there, but there was snow falling on the field for two of them. The teams agreed to postpone the remaining games with the series tied, 3-3. These final games, planned for the next spring, never came off because the leagues were battling over the National Agreement.

In 1906 Buffalo and Columbus met in the Junior World Series. Rain in Buffalo disrupted the schedule and the teams shifted to Columbus. With Buffalo leading three games to two, Columbus refused to return to the shores of Lake Erie, claiming that the New York club had drawn poorly and that series receipts would be enhanced if everybody remained in Ohio.

Buffalo took a contrary position. When Columbus would not budge, Buffalo went home. The dispute was never resolved and the 1906 JWS was never completed.

Steve and Mickey’s passed balls

Perhaps the most famous passed ball in baseball history is Dodger Hugh Casey’s two-out, two- strike, ninth-inning curve that got past Mickey Owen in Game 4 of the 1941 World Series. This allowed Yankee Tommy Henrich to reach first and eventually score the game-tying run just ahead of Joe DiMaggio’s winning tall.

In 1926 Toronto catcher Steve O’Neill almost had a similar experience. In the fourth inning of Game 2 against the Louisville Colonels, pitcher Ownie Carroll had two outs and Bruno Betzel at the plate. Betzel waved at strike three but O’Neill let the ball get past him and Betzel was safe at first. As the Yankees took advantage of the situation in 1941, Louisville did in 1926. Howie Shanks followed with a run-scoring double and player-manager Bill Meyer added an RBI single to make the score 2-0.

Unfortunately for Louisville, in the ninth, Toronto’s Billy Mullen singled home two unearned runs off pitcher Nick Cullop to tie the game. In the eleventh, Herman Layne singled across Cleo Carlyle to give the Canadians a 3-2 win and save O’Neill’s reputation.

Babe and Reggie and…

Only two players have ever hit three home runs in a single World Series game. Babe Ruth did it twice, in 1926 and 1928. Reggie Jackson did it on three swings in 1977. But these were not the first times it happened in the post-season, or the last.

Clarence “Big Boy” Kraft of the Fort Worth Panthers smashed home runs in the first, third and fifth innings off Memphis pitcher Cy Warmoth in Game 5 of the 1924 Dixie Series. Kraft, a converted pitcher (like Ruth), was not much of a slugger (unlike Ruth) until the 1921 season. At age thirty-four he went on a power binge, hitting 31, 32, 32, and 55 home runs in consecutive seasons. His big season was 1924, when he set the Texas League record (since broken) with 55 home runs and the still-standing TL standard with 196 RBIs. It was a big finish for Big Boy, as he retired following the 1924 season to tend to his automobile business.

The Junior World Series never had a three-homer man until the renewal of the series as the Triple A World Series in 1998. New Orleans slugger Lance Berkman sealed his choice as series MVP when he turned the trick in the final game. A two-run shot in the third off Buffalo starter Travis Driscoll got the ball rolling. Homers in the fifth and ninth placed him among some rare company.

Three homers in a single game were stroked during one other interleague series — and it happened twice in the same year. In 1972, the Triple A leagues contested the Kodak World Baseball Classic in Honolulu.

This one-time event matched the three Triple A playoff winners with a team of Caribbean All Stars and the host Hawaii team in a fourteen-game tournament.

Tidewater’s Dave Schneck clubbed three homers in a game against the Caribbean players, and Albuquerque’s Tom Paciorek did the same thing to the Hawaii Islanders the next day.

1924 returns

The 1924 World Series had several memorable moments. The series ended when Earl McNeely’s grounder found a stray pebble in the infield and bounded over third baseman Fred Lindstrom’s head, allowing the series-clinching runs to score for Washington. Earlier in the inning Giants catcher Hank Gowdy stumbled over his mask and missed a pop foul off the bat of Muddy Ruel. Ruel used the second chance to double in advance of McNeely’s fortunate grounder.

In the 1928 and 1988 JWS, similar plays occurred. In Game 4 of the 1928 series, Indianapolis entered the fourth inning of a scoreless tie and put runners at first and second with two outs. Rabbit Warstler then sent an innocent grounder toward second baseman Specs Toporcer of Rochester. Toporcer did his best Lindstom imitation as the ball took an unexpected hop over his head bringing one run home. Walter Holke followed with a two-run single and Indianapois rode the three gift runs to a 5-1 victory.

The 1988 Indianapolis Indians provided some drama and a reprise of Hank Gowdy’s gaffe, though without its dramatic results. In the ninth inning of Game 6, Indianapolis was one out away from a 3-1 win and the JWS championship. With two Rochester Red Wings on base, reliever Tom Waddell came in to pitch to Carl Nichols. On the first pitch Nichols lofted a lazy foul behind the plate. The ball was clearly in play and the home crowd began to pour onto the field. The organist began the victory march, but catcher Mark Bailey dropped the ball. After the field was clear, Waddell ran the count to 2-2, then took Bailey off the hook by blowing strike three past Nichols, allowing the organist to chime in again.

More akin to McNeely’s adventure was the end of the 1949 Dixie Series. Tulsa’s Walker Cress was on the mound against Nashville in the bottom of the tenth. Babe Barna doubled to open the inning, and Carl Sawatski, who was in the process of setting the Dixie Series slugging record, was intentionally passed.

Cress hit Bob Borkowski with an 0-2 pitch to load the bases. Floyd Fog then sent a routine grounder to shortstop Harry Donabelian. Harry charged the ball only to see it take a big hop over his shoulder as he reached for it. Barna easily crossed the plate with the series-ending run.

Ouch

In the 1960 World Series Tony Kubek probably wished he was Fred Lindstrom. Whereas Lindstrom saw Earl McNeely’s grounder hop over his head, Kubek caught an odd hop of Bill Virdon’s smash in the throat. That cost the Yankees a probable double play, and ended Kubek’s season. Mazeroski’s home run the next inning sent Pittsburgh to the top of the baseball world.

Game 3 of the 1990 JWS was tied, 4.4, in the twelfth inning when Harvey Pulliam of the Omaha Royals sent a scorcher to short that took a bad hop and caught Juan Bell in the eye. The Rochester shortstop had to leave the game, and like the Pirates, Omaha used the break to push over the winning run.

Roger Maris to the rescue

In Game 7 of the 1962 World Series Roger Maris made a marvelous play in right field at Candlestick Park. With the Yankees holding a precarious 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the ninth, Matty Alou was at first with two outs and Willie Mays at the plate. Mays lashed Ralph Terry’s pitch deep into the right field corner. Maris raced over, quickly corralled the ball, and unleashed a bullet to the plate to hold Alou at third. Willie McCovey then drilled a liner right at Bobby Richardson to end the series.

Six seasons earlier Maris was a member of the Indianapolis Indians, playing right field against the Rochester Red Wings in the 1956 Junior World Series. Clinging to a 3-1 lead in the ninth, Indian starter John Gray loaded the bases with one out. Pinch-hitter Gary Geiger laced a single to right that scored one run. But Maris fired a laser shot home and caught pinch runner Ed Phillips at the plate, preventing the tying run from scoring. Bud Daley then relieved and retired Ron Plaza on a groundout to secure Game 1 for Indianapolis. Maris had a pretty good Game 2 also. He homered twice and drove in a JWS record seven runs as Indianapolis relentlessly continued its march to a series sweep of Rochester.

Five-hit games

In Game 1 of the 1982 World Series, Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor collected five singles to become the first, and so far only, player to have a five-hit World Series game. He joined seven others who had accomplished the same feat in either the Junior World Series or the Dixie Series.

The first was Indianapolis’ Dutch Zwilling in 1917. The Indians’ center fielder pounded out four singles and a double off Toronto’s Tommie Thompson in Game 1. Indianapolis also claimed the second five-hit game in 1928, when Walter “Union Man” Holke got five singles off a trio of Rochester pitchers.

Next it was the boys from Dixie’s turn. In 1931, Birmingham’s Art Weis had a homer and two doubles to go with two singles as the Barons topped the Hous ton Buffaloes in Game 6, 14-10. It was the first game of that series in which the two teams combined for more than three runs. Three years later, New Orleans catcher Charlie “Greek” George poked a quintet of singles off Galveston’s Jim Bivin and Harry Gumbert.

The 1938 Newark Bears still had a few good ballplayers left from the 1937 “Wonder Team.” Among them was Jimmy Gleeson, a star in four JWS for three different teams, who beat up on his Yankee-farm cousins, the Kansas City Blues, for five hits including a home run in a Game 2 win. Unfortunately, he and Molitor are the only two players to see their teams lose the series in which they had their five-hit games.

The last Dixie Series five-hit game came from Houston’s Eddie Knoblauch. The uncle of current Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch had one double in his five-pack as Houston shut out. Mobile, 7-0, in 1947.

The final occurrence before Molitor was in 1961. On their way to a sweep of Louisville, the Buffalo Bisons set a number of offensive records in an 18-8 thrashing of the Colonels in Game 1. Leadoff man Ted Savage went five-for-five with a double. Along with Savage’s record tying effort the Bisons set single-game team records for most hits (23) and RBIs (17), and tied the mark for doubles (6) and home runs (4).

Maybe overtime pay is in order

In the 1991 World Series, Minnesota and Atlanta played three extra-inning games. It was the first time the Fall Classic presented a trio of overtime games. But the minor leagues beat them to that mark by sixty-three years.

In 1929 Kansas City and Rochester staged three extra inning contests, including the finale in Game 9, which Kansas City won, 1-0, in the eleventh inning when Fred Nicholson’s sacrifice fly scored George Gerken from third.

Would Ronald Reagan portray Ira Smith?

The 1931 Junior World Series contained a dramatic battle between pitcher and hitter in the late innings of a close game, similar to the face-off between St. Louis’ Pete Alexander and New York’s Tony Lazzeri in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series.

Entering the bottom of the ninth in Game 4 of the 1931 JWS, Rochester’s starter, Ira Smith, carried a 2-1 lead. With two outs, St. Paul’s Jo-Jo Morrissey pinch-hit for pitcher Huck Betts. Morrissey, looking to tie the game, lined Smith’s first pitch deep into the left field seats, but, as with Lazzeri, the ball hooked foul at the last moment. On the next pitch Morrissey sent a fly into no-man’s land down the right field line. But first baseman lack Bentley hustled out to snag the fly and end the game. Rochester ultimately won the series five games to three.

Not quite perfect

Only Don Larsen has thrown a no-hitter in any series under consideration. Of course, he tossed a perfect game for the Yankees against the Dodgers in 1956. But all the series have seen multiple one-hitters.

The World Series has experienced four one-hitters. The first was by Ed Reulbach in 1906 for the Chicago Cubs against their cross-town rivals, the White Sox. It was thirty-nine years before Claude Passeau matched the feat for the Cubs against the Tigers in 1945. Only two years later, Yankee Bill Bevens missed a no-hitter when, with two out in the ninth, the Dodgers’ Cookie Lavagetto beat him with Brooklyn’s only hit, a double to right. The most recent World Series one-hitter came from Jim Lonborg of Boston in 1967 against St. Louis.

The Junior World Series has also seen four one-hitters. The first came in 1917 when Toronto’s Al Gould dominated Indianapolis. Jimmy Zinn tossed a one-hitter for Kansas City versus Baltimore in 1923, and Paul Brown ended the 1961 JWS with a one-hit game against Louisville. Rob Gardner of Syracuse against Omaha authored the last one-hit gem in 1970.

To keep the pattern alive, the Dixie Series has also witnessed four one-hitters. The earliest was by Lute Roy for New Orleans against Dallas in 1926. George Washington Payne, a 348-game winner in the minors, did the same thing for Houston at the expense of Birmingham in 1931. While closing out an outstanding pitching career in 1939, Fred “Firpo” Marberry turned in a one-hit game for Fort Worth against Nashville.

The last one-hitter came in the Dixie Association Playoffs in 1971. It was the only one-hitter involving two pitchers. Mark Wiley and Vic Albury of Charlotte combined to do the deed at Arkansas’ expense.

The Texas League does have one interleague no-hitter to its credit. In 1959 the TL played the Mexican League in the Pan-American Series. In Game 5, Charlie Gorin clinched the series for the Austin Senators by tossing a no-hitter against the Mexico City Diablos Rojos (Red Devils). Only an error by third baseman Pepper Thomas in the fifth inning prevented a perfect game.

Was it a catch by Rice?

This might be the most tenuous parallel that I’m presenting, but it’s one of my favorite stories. In Game 3 of the 1925 World Series, Sam Rice made a diving catch of Earl Smith’s drive by leaping and toppling over the right-center field fence. Rice disappeared from view, but when he hopped out of the stands he had the ball. Umpire Cy Rigler called it a catch. The Pirates argued, but the out stood.

In the 1932 Junior World Series the Minneapolis Millers faced the Newark Bears. In Game 5 at Nicollet Park in Minneapolis, the score was 8-8 entering the top of the ninth. Miller pitcher Elam Van Gilder had two outs with runners at first and third and Johnny Neun at the plate. Neun sent a low line drive to left. Harry Rice (no relation to Sam) dived, rolled, and apparently caught the ball for the final out. Newark manager Al Mamaux took exception to the call and argued that Rice juggled the ball while rolling in the outfield grass and had scooped it up from the ground when his back was to the infield. Umpire Charley Johnston then conferred with his colleague Jack Carroll. Carroll said he wasn’t sure.

Johnston then reversed his call, declaring it a dropped ball. Of course, this brought Minneapolis manager Donie Bush to the field. Over the next forty minutes the decision was reversed five more times. Finally crew chief Bill Summers ended it all, declaring Neun safe. After a protest was lodged, Van Gilder faced Red Rolfe. Red hit a three-run homer. The appeal was denied and the 12-9 Newark victory stood.

Lombardi redux

The 1939 World Series is remembered for Ernie Lombardi’s infamous “snooze.” In the tenth inning of Game 4 Joe DiMaggio singled to right scoring Frank Crosetti. When Ival Goodman bobbled the ball Charlie Keller set sail for home. The throw and Keller reached Lombardi simultaneously and the force of the collision stunned the big catcher, who lay on the ground as DiMaggio came all the way around to score.

The following season, Louisville met Newark in the 1940 JWS. In Game 4, Louisville starter Bud Parmelee uncorked a record four wild pitches. This was nothing to be proud of, but it was less embarrassing than what befell him in the fourth inning. With two outs Parmelee walked Newark starter Hank Borowy. Tommy Holmes followed with a single, and Parmelee’s third wild pitch of the game moved the runners to second and third. Wild pitch number four immediately followed, and Borowy scored. Parmelee was covering home as catcher Buddy Lewis retrieved the ball. Parmelee had his back to third when Lewis threw him the ball. As Parmelee stood sad-faced at home, Holmes slid in between his legs with an additional run and set Mr. Parmelee firmly on his rump. His response is not recorded.

They’ll manage

Sparky Anderson is the only big league manager to pilot World Series champions in each league. He booted home the National League Cincinnati Reds in 1975 and 1976 and turned the trick with the American League Detroit Tigers in 1984.

The Junior World Series and the Dixie Series have their answers to Sparky Anderson. Kirby Farrell takes the honors as the only man to manage an American Association team and an International League squad to the JWS championship. He was at the helm of the 1956 Indianapolis Indians when they defeated Rochester, and he led the International League’s 1961 Buffalo Bisons over the Louisville Colonels. Both were four-game sweeps.

The only manager to fill out lineup cards for Dixie Series champs from the Southern Association and the Texas League is Bert Niehoff. Niehoff is the only Southern Association manager to beat the dynasty of the 1920-1925 Fort Worth Panthers, when his Mobile Bears skinned the Cats in 1922. Bert also won for the SA in 1932 with Chattanooga, and completed his set with the 1935 Oklahoma City team of the Texas League.

Yankees versus Dodgers, 1953

This was the only time that the contestants of the Junior World Series represented the same teams that met in that season’s World Series. The Yankees and Dodgers were appearing in what seemed to have become their annual meeting while their Triple A affiliates, the Kansas City Blues and Montreal Royals, faced off in the JWS.

Led by pitchers Tom Lasorda, Ed Roebuck, and Hamp Coleman, and the potent bat of Rocky Nelson, the Rovals bested the Bill Skowron led Blues in five games. Montreal’s parent club went down in six games.

Jackie Robinson, 1946

Jackie Robinson became the first black player to appear in a World Series game when he started Game 1 of the 1947 World Series at first base for Brooklyn. But the prior season, he became the first black player to appear in an Organized Baseball postseason series when he played second base for the Montreal Royals against the Louisville Colonels in the 1946 Junior World Series. Robinson was hooted incessantly during the opening games in Louisville. When the series moved north to Montreal the local fans sent catcalls and boos at every Colonel at-bat. Montreal won in six games.

Hero practice

Jim Leyritz got in a little practice at post-season heroics in the 1991 Junior World Series. In Game 5, Leyritz’ Columbus Clippers were trailing the Denver Zephyrs, 4-3, in the bottom of the ninth.

Dave Sax opened the inning with a double, and pinch-runner Jay Knoblauch was sacrificed to third. Leyritz lined a single to right to tie the game, just as he would tie Game 4 of the 1996 World Series between the Yanks and Braves with a three-run homer.

Things worked out better in 1996, as the Yankees won the series. Leyritz’ insertion into the 1991 Clippers lineup at first base sent first baseman Torey Lovullo to third base. In the eleventh inning, Lovullo’s two-base error at third led to the Denver run that ended the 1991 JWS.

Win some, lose some

The list of pitchers who have won three games in the World Series, Junior World Series or Dixie Series is a short one. Even shorter is the list of three game losers.

The World Series has seen two such abysmal performances. In 1919, the subsequently disgraced Lefty Williams of Chicago grabbed three losses for the team destined to be remembered as the Black Sox. In 1981 the Yankees’ George Frazier matched Lefty’s results, but not his intent, with three relief losses.

The only Junior World Series pitcher to drop a trio in a single series is a man considered by some to be the greatest pitcher in the history of the game. The Baltimore Orioles went to six straight Junior World Series between 1920 and 1925, winning three and losing three. In 1921, they faced the Louisville Colonels managed by Joe McCarthy. McCarthy’s Colonels spanked the Orioles, winning the best-of-nine series in eight games. Along the way, they beat the renowned Lefty Grove three times, twice as a starter and once in relief. Grove turned in a 6.58 ERA for the series. Before you think Lefty was just a raw kid who had not yet refined his abilities, recall that he won 25 games that season for the Orioles. Lefty appeared in five Junior World Series and had what could charitably be called a mediocre record. He was 3-8 lifetime, with a 4.09 ERA. He does hold the JWS record for career strikeouts with 75, but he also has the walks record with 62.

The Dixie Series has produced two three-time losers. The first should receive special recognition: he did it in a four game series. Our hero is twenty-five. year-old Clyde Shoun of the Birmingham Barons. Shoun was the Game 1 starter against the Tulsa Oilers in the 1936 Dixie Series. He was Birmingham’s hottest pitcher, having won three games in the Southern Association playoffs. But his magic deserted him this day. He lasted only an inning and two-thirds, giving up five runs on six hits, three walks and a wild pitch. Tulsa prevailed, 9-4. In Game 2 he relieved in the tenth inning of a 4-4 tie. In the fourteenth, Shoun put runners at first and second with one out, then went into his full windup instead of pitching from the stretch. The runner at second set sail for third, and Shoun calmly threw him out. It was a nice play, but it was a balk, and the runner stayed at third.

After Shoun simmered a bit on the mound, Bernie Cobb sent a two-run single to right and the Oilers held on for a 6-4 win. Shoun was spared an part of the Game 3 loss, but was tapped as the Game 4 starter. The game was 1-1 entering the bottom of the ninth. Clyde had surrendered only four hits, but got into trouble quickly. A walk, a single and an intentional walk loaded the bases. Facing Jack Mealy, Shon entered immortality by plunking him on the arm with a pitch and watched as the series-ending run crossed the plate.

Poor soul number two is Walker Cress of the 1949 Tulsa Oilers. “Foots” Cress, a 6-foot-5 righthander, lost Game 3 of the Dixie Series. He didn’t help himself, as he walked the first two batters, and his mates didn’t help him when they absent-mindedly allowed a Nashville runner to stroll to third with a stolen base. (I do mean stroll. Nashville’s Joe Damato was on second at the time and when Cress threw ball three to Babe Barna, Damato thought it was ball four and headed leisurely toward third. Catcher Dewey Williams didn’t catch on to what was happening until he made a futile throw with Damato almost on the bag.)

Another walk and an infield out scored one run. Then an infield error led to three more runs, and Cress retired before completing the first inning. The final score was 9-1. Cress came back three days later to start Game 5. This time he turned in a very good effort with a nine-hitter. But Carl Sawatski powered a two-run homer to produce a 3-2 Nashville win.

Walker entered Game 7 with two outs in the eighth inning of a 4-4 tie. He retired the Vols without any damage in the ninth after loading the bases, and was back on the mound in the tenth. Barna opened with a double and Cress then walked Sawarski, who was on a power tear. With two strikes on Bob Borkowski, he hit him with a pitch to load the bases. Floyd Fogg then sent a ground single through a drawn-in infield to end the series and earn Walker Cress a spot next to Clyde Shoun.

Home run firsts

We’ve already covered the first players in each series to hit three home runs in a game. Now let’s look at three more firsts in each series.

The first World Series grand slam belongs to Elmer Smith of the Cleveland Indians in 1920. This was followed in short order by the first Dixie Series grand slam by Bill Stellbauer of Fort Worth in Game 2 of the 1921 Dixie Series. Stellbauer’s blast was also the first home run in Dixie Series history, barely beating out Clarence “Big Boy” Kraft who followed Stellbauer to the plate and hit a solo shot of his own. The first bases-loaded blast in the Junior World Series came from Baltimore’s Wicky McAvoy in 1922.

The first pinch-hit homer in the JWS belongs to Buffalo’s Fred Brainerd who accomplished the deed against Casey Stengel’s Toledo Mudhens in 1927. Yogi Berra pumped out the first in the World Series in 1947. The Dixie Series had to wait until 1953, when Bob Bareford of Dallas sent one out of Nashville’s Sulphur Dell Park.

To the Junior World Series goes the honors for the first pitcher to hit a home run in the postseason. Toronto’s Jim McGinley did it in 1907. This was also the first home run in Junior World Series history. In 1920, Cleveland’s Jim Bagby accomplished the feat in the World Series. The following year Paul Zahniser of Memphis took Fort Worth’s Joe Pate long in the Dixie Series.

Only once in all the long history of the World Series, Junior World Series or Dixie Series has a player ever hit two home runs in an inning. Buffalo’s Bob Sadowski did it in the 1961 JWS. It happened in the first inning of Game 1 off Louisville’s Denny Lemaster and Chi-Chi Olivo.

Three for one

Bill Wambsganss turned in the only unassisted triple play in World Series history. It is also the only triple play of any kind in World Series history. The Dixie Series also has experienced a single triple play but the Junior World Series has had three — two in the same series.

The lone Dixie Series triple play occurred in Game 3 of the 1957 series. In the first inning, Dallas’s Herbie Adams opened with an infield single. Alberto Baro put runners at first and second with a single to center. Then, with the runners in motion, Benny Valenzuela sent a line drive to Ev Jovner in medium center field. Joyner took the liner for the first out, threw to second baseman Frank DiPrima to force Adams, and the relay to Buck Riddle at first completed the triple play.

For real triple play action you have to check the Junior World Series. The first trifecta came in 1925. In the fifth inning of Game 6 between Louisville and Baltimore, the Orioles had one run in and men at first and second. Johnny Roser attempted a sacrifice but sent a little popup to the pitcher’s right. Colonels pitcher Ed Holley lunged at the ball and snared it in midair. He twisted his body as he was about to fall and doubled Fritz Maisel off second with his toss to Red Shannon. Shannon relayed the ball to Leo Cotter at first before Dick Porter could get back to the bag. It was a nice play. Too bad the Colonels lost, 5-3.

In 1936 both Buffalo and Milwaukee pulled one. In Game 2 Buffalo executed an especially unconventional version. In the first inning, Milwaukee put runners at first and third. Tedd Gullic then bounced to Dutch Meyers at third. Frenchy Uhalt, the runner at third, broke for home and was out in a rundown, third to catcher to shortstop. Shortstop Greg Mulleavy threw the ball to first baseman Elbie Fletcher, who was covering second with two Brewer runners on the bag. Fletcher tagged Ted Gullic who made a furtive attempt to return to first. As that occurred the other runner, Wimpy Wilburn, made a dash toward third. A short toss to Meyers completed the routine 5-2-6-3-5 triple play.

Three games later Milwaukee returned the favor. In the sixth inning of Game 5, Buffalo scored three runs to cut the Brewer lead to 8-3, and had runners at first and second. Buck Crouse sent a liner toward right that second baseman Eddie Hope snagged for the first out and quickly tossed to Wilburn at second. The relay to Rudy York at first completed the play. It also completed Buffalo’s season, as it was the last Buffalo threat and the win secured the Junior World Series championship for the Brewers.

BOB BAILEY researches and writes in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where every spring the flowers bloom, the birds sing, and the Phillies pretend to have a competitive team.