July 14, 1956: Braves sweep Dodgers as Henry Aaron’s fourth hit wins in 10th inning

Henry Aaron won his first of two batting titles in 1956 with a .328 mark. (SABR-Rucker Archive)

After falling behind the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-0, the Milwaukee Braves came back to win, 3-2, in 10 innings. This victory gave the Braves a four-game sweep of the defending World Series champions.1

Joe Adcock tied the score in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run home run, while Henry Aaron knocked in the game-winning run in the 10th with his fourth single of the game. Aaron’s four hits in five at-bats raised his batting average to .323, highest on the Braves. Adcock had now hit home runs in five consecutive games.

After the win, the Braves led the second-place Cincinnati Reds (losers of three straight) by two games and the Dodgers (losers of five straight) by 4½ games.2

Brooklyn’s starting pitcher, 39-year old Sal Maglie, “Brooklyn’s elder stateman,” was staked to a 2-0 lead through the first seven innings.3 Duke Snider started the scoring by homering over the right-field screen in the first inning off Braves starting pitcher. Gene Conley. It was Snider’s 20th home run of the season. Carl Furillo made the score 2-0 when he hit his eighth home run, to left, in the fourth.4

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the fifth inning but could not score. Jim Gilliam singled to left field but was forced out on a fielder’s choice by Sandy Amoros. Amoros stole second base, Snider walked, and Pee Wee Reese singled to load the bases. Rocky Nelson hit a groundball to Adcock, who threw to Del Rice at home plate to force out Amoros. The inning ended when Furillo hit a long liner to Aaron.5

The Dodgers threatened to score in the seventh and eighth innings with runners on first and third in both innings. Double plays started by Danny O’Connell in the seventh and Eddie Mathews in the eighth bailed out Conley each time.6

Maglie kept the Braves off-balance for the first six innings of the ballgame as the Braves managed only three singles off him, two by Aaron and one by Mathews. His pitches changed speed and often came inside to the Braves batters. At one point, after Johnny Logan was unsuccessful with a sacrifice bunt, the next pitch came inside to the Braves shortstop. Adcock, who had considerable success against Dodgers pitching this year, was sent to the ground on Maglie’s first pitch to him.7 In 17 games against the Dodgers in 1956, Adcock mauled their pitching with a .421 batting average, a 1.158 slugging average, 13 home runs, and 23 RBIs.

However, the Braves broke through in the seventh inning. The first two hitters, Aaron and Wes Covington, hit deep fly balls to center field for outs. Bill Bruton singled to center and the next batter, Adcock, was accompanied to home plate by a loud ovation from the County Stadium crowd of 39,105. He hit Maglie’s first pitch over the left-field fence, 370 feet from home plate.8 In his game story, New York sportswriter Dick Young asked, “Do you think, maybe, that the Dodger catchers are telling Joe Adcock what pitch is coming?” To this point in the season, half of Adcock’s 16 home runs had come against the Dodgers.9

Each team had scoring opportunities in the next two innings. Furillo and Rube Walker each singled in the Dodgers’ eighth inning but Chico Fernández grounded into a double play started by Mathews.

Maglie walked Conley on four pitches to open the eighth inning. In the last game he pitched, Maglie walked three that cost the Dodgers the ballgame. Manager Walter Alston wasn’t waiting for three walks this time: He replaced Maglie with Clem Labine.10 Maglie was extremely unhappy at being removed from the game.11 Conley moved to second on a single by O’Connell, but Logan hit into a double play and Mathews flied out to end the inning.12

Conley opened the top of the ninth by striking out Labine. After Gilliam singled, Conley struck out the next two batters, including Snider on three swings, to end the inning.13

Aaron led off the ninth inning with his third single of the game and moved to second base when Covington hit into a fielder’s choice. Bruton was intentionally walked and Labine walked Adcock to load the bases. Frank Torre, pinch-hitting for Rice, hit a short fly that kept Aaron at third and Chuck Tanner, pinch-hitting for Conley, dribbled the first pitch to Gilliam for the third out.14

Ernie Johnson relieved Conley in the 10th inning but quickly got himself into trouble. Two infield hits and an intentional walk loaded the bases with two outs. Don Newcombe, pinch-hitting for Labine, grounded out.15

Don Bessent replaced Labine in the bottom of the 10th. The first batter, O’Connell, flied out to left field. Logan doubled to left field and Mathews was intentionally walked. Aaron, with three singles in four at-bats, hit a liner down the right-field line. After it landed foul by two feet, Aaron returned to the batter’s box, shaking his head.16

Aaron hit the next pitch to left-center field for his fourth hit of the day.17 As Logan ran for third, he slipped and fell. But Aaron’s well-placed hit gave Logan time to get up and run for home with the winning run.18

Johnson, who recorded his second win in two days, improved to 3-2 for the season. The losing pitcher, Bessent, dropped to 0-2.

Aaron said his three days off around the All-Star Game gave him the rest he needed. For the first time in his career, he was concerned about his hitting when he started the season batting .167 as of May 8 after the first 11 games of the season. “You get a couple of homers and start going for them all the time. Pretty soon you’re in a slump,” he said. “That’s how it was with me. Right now, I’m just swinging for those hits – and I feel real good up there.”19

Fred Haney, the Braves manager, who took over from Charlie Grimm the previous month, felt the Braves could compete for the pennant “if our hitting comes up to its potential.” The Braves were in fifth place when he was named manager. Under Haney, they now had a 21-8 record, which included an 11-game winning streak.20

After losing four straight games to the Braves, the Dodgers appeared stunned as they left the County Stadium visitors clubhouse.21 Some writers questioned whether old age had caught up with the team. 22

The crowd of 39,105 at the game raised the three-day series total to 120,392.23 (The teams played a doubleheader on July 13.)

The 22-year-old Aaron led the National League in the following offensive categories in 1956, his third year in the league:

• 200 hits (the first of two times leading the league)
• 34 doubles (the second of four times leading the league)
• .328 batting average (the first of two times leading the league)
• 340 total bases (the first of eight times leading the league)

Throughout his 23-year career, Aaron had numerous game-winning walk-off hits, nine of which were home runs. The first and most significant of them came on September 23, 1957 off Billy Muffett of the St. Louis Cardinals. This home run clinched the Braves’ first National League pennant. The last came in 1976, his final season in baseball, as a 42-year-old designated hitter for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The conclusion of the 1956 season was not kind to the Braves. They finished in second place, one game behind the Dodgers, while the Reds finished in third place, two games behind Brooklyn.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MLN/MLN195607140.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1956/B07140MLN1956.htm

NOTES

1  Don C. Trenary, “Braves Beat Dodgers, 3-2; Sweep Four Games,” Milwaukee Journal, July 15, 1956: 49.

2  Red Thisted, “Braves Nip Bums in 10th for Sweep,” Milwaukee Sentinel Extra, July 15, 1956: 17.

3  Trenary.

4  Dick Young, “Joe-the-Jinx at It Again: Brooks Lose in the 10th, 3-2,” New York Daily News, July 15, 1956: 342.

5  Roscoe McGowen, “Braves Down Brooks, 3-2, in 10th as Adcock Excels,” New York Times, July 15, 1956: 136.

6  Thisted, “Braves Nip Bums in 10th for Sweep.”

7  Trenary, “Braves Beat Dodgers, 3-2; Sweep Four Games.”

8  Trenary.

9  Young. Seven of the others came against the Chicago Cubs.

10  Young, “Joe-the-Jinx at It Again.”

11  McGowen, “Braves Down Brooks, 3-2, in 10th.”

12  Trenary.

13  Trenary.

14  Thisted.

15  Trenary.

16  Trenary.

17  Trenary.

18  Young.

19  Lou Chapman, “Bums Can’t Cool Braves’ Man of the Hour,” Milwaukee Sentinel Extra, July 15, 1956: 18.

20  “Boys Have Done It All, Not Me – Haney,” Milwaukee Sentinel, July 15, 1956: 18.

21  Chapman, 17.

22  Bob Wolf, “Decline of Brooklyn Empire Evident in Four Straight Defeats by Braves,” Milwaukee Journal, July 15, 1956: 45.

23  Associated Press-United Press, “Braves Take Four Straight to Crush Dodgers in Series,” Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), July 15, 1956: 45.