October 2, 1952: Yankees bash Dodgers behind Vic Raschi’s 3-hitter in Game 2

The 1952 World Series pitted the New York Yankees versus the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees had edged the Cleveland Indians by two games, giving them four consecutive American League pennants. In the previous three years, they were also victorious in the World Series. While leading the National League for almost the entire season, the Dodgers held off a surging New York Giants team to win the National League pennant by 4½ games. In the previous two years, the Dodgers were victimized in their last game of the season by pennant-winning home runs from the bats of Dick Sisler of the Philadelphia Phillies and Bobby Thomson hitting “the shot heard round the world” for the Giants.

Game One of the World Series was played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Joe Black outdueled Allie Reynolds as the Dodgers won 4-2. With his complete-game victory, Black became the first African American pitcher to win a World Series game.1 Charlie Dressen, the Dodgers’ manager, shocked many by starting Black, who was the Dodgers relief ace during the season. Dressen said he was most confident that of all the Dodgers pitchers, Black could start and win three games.2 The Dodgers were led by home runs off the bats of Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, and Pee Wee Reese while Gil McDougald homered for the Yankees. The Dodgers also got sensational defensive support, especially from third baseman Billy Cox.3

Game Two was also played at Ebbets Field. Vic Raschi took the mound for the Yankees while Carl Erskine started for the Dodgers. The Dodger faithful were confident the Bums would win both games at Ebbets Field.4 The game began with Hank Bauer hitting a single to right-center field. He attempted to steal second but was thrown out by catcher Roy Campanella. Phil Rizzuto followed with a walk but Erskine struck out Mickey Mantle. Rizzuto was then thrown out trying to steal second, ending the inning. The Yankees apparently felt they could run on Erskine and Campanella.

Reynolds retired the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the first. The Yankees threatened in the top of the second as Gene Woodling led off with a walk and Yogi Berra singled, putting runners on first and third. Erskine got out of trouble by striking out Joe Collins and McDougald and getting Billy Martin to ground out.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the bottom of the second. Robinson led off the inning with a walk. Raschi retired the next two hitters but then walked Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo. Fortunately for Raschi, the pitcher’s spot was next. Erskine flied to center, ending the inning. In the top of the third, Erskine walked Raschi but got Bauer to hit a double-play grounder to shortstop, and Rizzuto then grounded out.

In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead on Campanella’s single scoring Reese. To end the inning, Andy Pafko struck out, leaving runners on first and second. The Yankees quickly retaliated in the top of the fourth as leadoff batter Mantle doubled, went to third on Woodling’s groundout, and scored on a Berra fly ball. The Dodgers went out in order in the bottom half of the inning. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth as McDougald led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on Martin’s single to left. There was no further damage although the Yankees had threatened to score. The Dodgers once again went out in order in the fifth.

The top of the sixth saw the Yankees take a formidable lead, scoring five runs. The inning started with a drag-bunt single by Mantle and a single to center by Woodling. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch by Erskine. After Berra walked, loading the bases, manager Dressen brought in Billy Loes to relieve Erskine. Collins hit a grounder to Robinson who stepped on second, forcing Berra, but his throw to first was mishandled by Hodges for an error. Mantle scored, making the score 3-1. With Woodling on third and Collins on first, McDougald bunted toward first and beat it out for a base hit, scoring Woodling. Martin then finished the scoring with a three-run home run to left field, making the score 7-1.

Once again the Dodgers went out in order in the bottom of the sixth as did the Yankees in the top of the seventh. After Raschi retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the seventh, Rocky Nelson pinch-hit for Loes and walked. Raschi had retired 12 Dodgers in a row before walking Nelson. But Billy Cox’s groundout ended the inning. With the Dodgers not scoring in the eighth and ninth innings, the Yankees had tied the series with a resounding 7-1 victory.

Raschi was dominant. He gave up just three hits and struck out nine. He lived up to his reputation as a big-game pitcher as he won his fourth World Series game. He later commented, “I felt good. My control was perfect. You have to throw hard out there all the time. I was mixing them up, fast balls, curves and a let-up with a slider now and then.”5 Yankee players commented that Raschi wasn’t wild in the second inning when he walked three hitters; he was just being cautious.6

The big hit for the Yankees was Martin’s three-run home run. Martin also knocked in the go-ahead run in the fifth with a single, giving him four RBIs. Twenty-year old Mantle was also a big contributor with three hits and two runs scored.

Casey Stengel, the Yankees manager, said, “Of course, we got the break today, but they got it yesterday. Our break came when they flubbed that double play in the sixth. That opened the day for the squeeze McDougald worked and the homer Martin hit.”7 Stengel was commenting on the error by the usually sure-handed Hodges in the sixth inning. Stengel also commented on his two hitting stars and McDougald’s bunt in the sixth, “Say, that Martin did all right, didn’t he? And that Mickey Mantle was pretty good, too, with his three hits, hey? Another thing, it was McDougald who put on that squeeze. Yes, sir. The hitter himself did it.”8

As the series moved to Yankee Stadium, the optimism that Brooklyn fans had going into game two had dissipated. A Brooklyn Daily Eagle headline said, “Dodger Defense Must Perk Up Or Else. … ”9 However, the Dodgers surprised the baseball world by winning two of the three games in the big ballpark in the Bronx. But in their return to Ebbets Field, they proceeded to lose the final two games of the Series. Billy Martin’s ankle-high grab of a wind-blown pop fly off the bat of Jackie Robinson in the bottom of the seventh will long be remembered as the deciding play in Game Seven. The Dodgers had the bases loaded, and if the ball had dropped, two runs would have surely scored, tying the score.

The ball didn’t drop and the Yankees went on to win Game Seven, 4-2. With their fourth World Series championship in a row, the Yankees had become a dynasty. Stengel became only the second manager to win for World Series in a row. (Yankees manager Joe McCarthy had won four in a row from 1936 to 1939. Johnny Mize won the Babe Ruth Award as the outstanding player in the 1952 Series although many felt Mantle was more deserving. Mize had 18 plate appearances, hitting .400 in 15 at-bats, while Mantle had a batting average of .345 with two home runs in 29 at-bats, and made several outstanding defensive plays.

The Yankees proved victorious once again in 1953 World Series, giving Stengel his fifth consecutive championship. The Dodgers and the Brooklyn faithful had to wait until 1955 when they finally beat the Yankees in the World Series. The “next year” of “Wait till next year” had finally arrived.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources mentioned in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

NOTES

1 Tommy Holmes, “Big Joe and Power Get Dodgers Away,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 2, 1952: 17.

2 Holmes.

3 Holmes.

4 “Make It A 1-2 Punch!” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 2, 1952: 1.

5 John Drebinger, “Yanks, Behind Raschi, Rout Dodgers, 7-1, to Tie Series,” New York Times, October 3, 1952: 1.

6 Drebinger.

7 Drebinger.

8 Drebinger.

9 Harold C. Burr, “Dodger Defense Must Perk Up or Else … .” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 3, 1952: 17.