Books and articles about Connie Mack

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1922 that baseball was a sport, not a business. But Connie Mack always saw it as a business first. Like any business, it had to show a profit to keep going. "It is more profitable for me to have a team that is in contention for most of the season but finishes about fourth," he once confided. "A team like that will draw well enough during the first part of the season to show a profit for the year, and you don't have to give the players raises when they don't win." But of course Mr. Mack - as he was universally addressed - liked winners. He had nine of them, and won five World Series. He also holds the managerial record for most wins lifetime with 3776 - but he attained it through longevity. With it came the records for most losses (4,025) and most games managed (7878).

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For 50 of his 60 years in baseball, he had an ownership interest in the team he managed, the Philadelphia Athletics. He started in 1901 with a 25 percent piece of the team and eventually became sole owner. Baseball was his only business. Gate receipts and concessions sales were the only sources of capital he had to work with. He never had any corporate coffers to tap and never took much money out of the game. It was financial realities that forced him to break up two of the greatest teams ever put together. After winning four pennants in five years from 1910 to 1914, he lost some of his stars to the Federal League's higher salaries, and sold off his other top players. The Athletics fell from first to last and stayed there for seven years.

Gradually he built another winner. From 1925 through 1933 the Athletics finished no lower than third, dethroning the Yankees in 1929-30-31 with a team that rivals the 1927 Yankees for all-time honors. Once again, squeezed between declining attendance brought on by runaway pennant races, the Great Depression, and higher salary demands of his champion players, Mack sold his stars and dismantled his last winning team. For the last 17 years, until he retired at 88 in 1950, the Athletics had only one first-division finish, fourth in 1948.

Behind the saintly, grandfatherly appearance of the 6'1" 150-lb, ramrod-straight, blue-eyed Mr. Mack, there was a complex personality, a blend of patience and impetuosity, kindness and stubbornness, tightfistedness and generosity. He never raised his voice and seldom confronted a player in front of his teammates, but he could put a man in his place with a cutting sarcastic comment. He disdained swearing, but did sometimes cut loose with a salty barrage. To strangers of any age who approached him in a hotel lobby or dining room, he was invariably courtly and pleasant. Despite a tendency to mispronounce some names and forget others, he had an unfailing memory for the faces of old friends from his hometown, East Brookfields, Massachusetts, and gave them a genuinely warm welcome whenever they came to Boston to see the Athletics play.

From the beginning in Philadelphia he never wore a uniform on the bench, and rarely went into the clubhouse except for a pre-game meeting, a practice he inaugurated in the major leagues. He was called the tenth man on the field for his ability to move his fielders, using his scorecard, into the proper positions. He liked tall, strong pitchers and considered pitching eighty percent of the game.

Mack was born to Irish immigrants, the third of seven children. He was attracted to the early forms of baseball at a young age, and played infield and outfield positions before becoming the town team's regular catcher. After they won the state championship in 1883, Mack offered his services to several teams in the Connecticut State League, and was signed by Meriden (with his battery mate and later brother-in-law Willie Hogan) for the 1884 season, at $90 a month. He played for Hartford the next two years (in the Eastern League in 1886) and was sold at the end of the season to Washington in the National League.

In 1890 Mack was an avid supporter of the revolt that led to the formation of the Players' League. He signed with Buffalo and got his first taste of club ownership, investing his life savings of $500 in the team. He lost it all.

Assigned to Pittsburgh in 1891, he replaced Al Buckenberger as manager toward the end of the 1894 season. By 1896 front office interference caused him to look elsewhere. The Milwaukee club in Ban Johnson's Western League was making a change, and in 1897 Mack began four years of managing and running the business affairs of the team. They were years in which he learned more about the game than at any other time. Mack's connection with Johnson led to an offer to organize and manage the Philadelphia entry in the new American League in 1901. With the financial backing of sporting goods maufacturer Ben Shibe, Mack began his 50-year reign in the dugout and front office. The Athletics were the dominant team in the young league, winning 6 of the first 14 pennants. In 1933 he managed the American League in the first All-Star Game.

Four years after he retired, the Athletics were sold to Arnold Johnson and moved to Kansas City in 1955.

As a player, Mack played every position in the majors except third base and pitcher, but he was primarily a brainy, wily, sometimes rule-bending catcher. He distracted batters with his chatter, was not above tipping a hitter's bat just before a swing, and learned to make a slapping sound as a batter swung and missed that made it sound like a foul tip. He was a .245 lifetime hitter; his best season was 1893 (the first year the pitcher was moved to 60'6" from the former distance of 50'), when he hit .293.

Mack's first wife died in 1892, leaving three children. His sons, Roy and Earle, were active in the team's operation. He remarried in 1910 and had a son, Connie, Jr., who was also involved in the team, and four daughters. From the start Connie Mack was the most popular player with the fans wherever he played. Meriden fans gave him a gold watch in 1884. Washington fans gave him a silver tray. For the first half of the 20th century he was probably the best-loved and most respected man in any field in America. (NLM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » February 14, 1891: The National Board of Control "reluctantly" awards three disputed players (Lou Bierbauer, Harry Stovey, and Connie Mack) to the National League clubs that signed them despite the prior claims of the AA. Philadelphia (AA), assumed that with the disbanding of the Players League, Bierbauer would return to play with them. They call the signing of the 2B by Pittsburgh a Piratical" move, and the nickname "Pirates" will stick. » May 24, 1893: Connie Mack starts a triple play in the 4th inning and drives in the winning run in the bottom of the 8th to lead Pittsburgh to an 8–7 win over St. Louis. » August 19, 1900: Milwaukee's Rube Waddell and Chicago White Sox hurler Roy Patterson go 17 innings before Rube wins, 2–1 in the first game of a twinbill. Three days earlier, the two squared off for 12 innings with Waddell winning, 3–2. When Connie Mack offers Rube a few days off to go fishing if he'll pitch the nitecap, Rube allows just one hit and wins in five innings, 1–0. » January 22, 1901: Connie Mack, Philadelphia A's manager-GM, signs a 10-year lease on grounds at 29th and Columbia to be called Columbia Park. A contract is set for construction of single-deck stands to hold 7,500. » January 29, 1901: Newly named Rules Committee of Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Charles Comiskey, after rejecting a proposal to ban the bunt, recommends no changes at this time. » March 2, 1901: Jimmy Collins, Connie Mack's choice for the all-time best third baseman, leaves the Boston National League club to manage the American League's new Boston Somersets. The Beaneaters also lose OF Hugh Duffy, who will manage Milwaukee (AL), and C Billy Sullivan, who signs with the Chicago White Stockings. More than half the AL rosters—a total of 185—will be filled by NL players. » April 3, 1901: Connie Mack accuses Christy Mathewson of reneging on a Philadelphia contact signed in January. The young pitcher had accepted advance money from Mack, but jumped back to the Giants in March. Mack considers going to court, but eventually accepts the loss of the pitcher. » April 28, 1901: Veteran SS Hugh Jennings, teammate and roommate of John McGraw in Baltimore’s great days, will play for Connie Mack’s Athletics after getting his law degree at Cornell. McGraw persuades him to play for Baltimore instead, touching off a battle royal with Mack and Ban Johnson. The result is ill feelings that never heal. Jennings winds up playing for the Phillies. » September 13, 1901: The Baltimore Orioles edge the A's, 12-10. In the 9th, the A's have the tying runs on base with two out when Connie Mack sends up pinch hitter Doc Powers to bat for Nap Lajoie, who was sulking and refused to hit. Powers flies out to end the game. » June 11, 1902: Connie Mack signs Rube Waddell, who was pitching in the Pacific Coast League. He will go 24-7 during the remainder of 1902. » July 17, 1903: Rube Waddell is arrested for assaulting a fan who had criticized his pitching. Connie Mack bails him out of jail. » May 8, 1906: Shorthanded because of injuries, Connie Mack puts pitcher Chief Bender in LF in the 6th inning in a game against the Boston Pilgrims. Bender, who banged his first homer on May 5, responds with two roundtrippers, both inside the park, off Jesse Tannehill, in the A's win. Bender will hit just three more homers in his 16-year career. » February 7, 1908: Exasperated Connie Mack sells his talented but eccentric, unreliable hurler Rube Waddell to the St. Louis Browns for $5,000. » July 29, 1908: Rube Waddell continues to haunt Connie Mack, again fanning 16 A's in a 5–4 win for the Browns. » August 24, 1909: At Detroit, A's catcher Paddy Livingston throws out Ty Cobb trying to steal 3rd during an intentional walk to Sam Crawford. Cobb intentional spikes 3B Frank Baker on his bare hand during the play, prompting howls of protest from the Athletics. The Tigers win, 7-6, and A's manager Connie Mack will complain to Ban Johnson about Cobb's dirty play. Cobb gets a warning from the AL president. » July 25, 1910: Connie Mack trades Joe Jackson to Cleveland for Bris Lord, a former A's OF. » October 5, 1910: Connie Mack inserts his son Earle behind the plate in a game against the Highlanders. Earle, who hit .135 in 26 minor league games this year, responds with a single and triple while catching Eddie Plank and Jack Coombs. The Highlanders beat the A's 7–4. Earle will mop up in late seasons games next year and again in 1914, and serve for 25 years as his father's coach. » October 12, 1910: With the AL season ending a week earlier than the NL, the champion A's tune up with a 5-game series against an AL all-star team, which includes Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Doc White, Ed Walsh, and Walter Johnson. The A's drop four out of five to the all-stars, but Connie Mack will later state, "Those games, more than anything else, put the Athletics in a condition to outclass the National League champions." » October 17, 1910: With sore-armed Eddie Plank unavailable, Connie Mack will squeeze five complete games out of two pitchers in the World Series. Chief Bender's 4–1 three-hitter wins game one for the Athletics at Philadelphia. Frank Baker's three hits drive in all the runs needed to beat the Cubs' Orval Overall. » August 31, 1912: The Red Sox run their record to 87–37 with a 2–1 win over the A's. Following the game, Connie Mack says he never realized how strong the Sox were, and concedes the pennant to them. There are 30 games left for Boston. » May 30, 1913: As New York beats the Phils, John McGraw joins Fred Clarke, Cap Anson, Frank Selee, and Connie Mack as managers who have won 1,000 games. » July 7, 1914: Suffering heavy losses from Federal League competition in Baltimore, the Orioles' (IL) owner Jack Dunn offers Babe Ruth (plus Ernie Shore and C Ben Egan) for $10,000 to old friend Connie Mack, who refuses, pleading poverty. Cincinnati, which has a working agreement giving them the choice of two players, ignores Ruth and takes OF George Twombley and SS Claud Derrick. Dunn finally peddles his threesome to new owner Joe Lannin of the Red Sox for a reported $25,000. » November 1, 1914: Connie Mack begins cleaning house, asks waivers on Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank, and Chief Bender. Colby Jack goes to Brooklyn (National League). Plank and Bender escape Mack's maneuvering by jumping tfo the Federal League. Although all have some life left in their soupbones, they are near their careers' end, and departure is more sentimental than serious. Mack's excuse: retrenchment. Despite the pennant, Philadelphia fans did not support the A's and the club lost $50,000. » December 8, 1914: After weeks of rumors, the bomb drops: Connie Mack sells Eddie Collins, generally regarded as the game's finest position player, to the White Sox for $50,000. Collins signs a 5-year contract worth $75,000 and gets $15,000 as a signing bonus. The deal breaks up the A's "$100,000 infield" and raises conjecture that Mack, too, will leave to manage the Yankees. Ban Johnson reportedly had a hand in the negotiations, sending the A's star to counter the box office effect of the Chifeds signing Walter Johnson. » February 16, 1915: Home Run Baker, 28, announces retirement following a contract dispute with Connie Mack. He will sit out the 1915 season. Mack will also have salary problems with Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and Jack Coombs, and rather than compete with the Federal League, he releases the stars. » May 29, 1915: Whoops. Connie Mack waives Herb Pennock, his Opening Day pitcher, to the Red Sox for $1,500. Mack states that Pennock will probably become a good pitcher, but that the A's have several pitchers joining the team who will help immediately. The A's will finish last this year and the next seven years as well. » June 13, 1915: The Red Sox pick up Herb Pennock (3–6) on waivers from the A's. Pennock was the Opening Day winner for Connie Mack. » September 3, 1917: At Shibe Park, the A's host their biggest crowd in three years and celebrate by sweeping a pair from the Senators, 7–4 and 9–2. Joe Bush, reinstated today by Connie Mack after being suspended for two weeks, starts for the A's but is lifted after three because of wildness. Roy Grover and Amos Strunk have three hits apiece in the opener. In the 2nd game, the Mackmen jump on Walter Johnson, knocking him off the rubber in the 3rd inning, and Jing Johnson coasts to the win. » December 14, 1917: Connie Mack and the A's need money. He sells P Joe Bush, C Wally Schang, and OF Amos Strunk to the Red Sox for sore–armed P Vean Gregg, OF Merlin Kopp, C Pinch Thomas, and $60,000. Bush must be happy as he lost 14 straight to the Red Sox (6/2/14–7/5/17). » January 10, 1918: Connie Mack alarms Philadelphia by dealing Stuffy McInnis, the last player in his $100,000 infield, to Boston for players to be announced. The furor dies down when Mack announces he has received 3B Larry Gardner, OF Clarence "Tilly" Walker, and C Hick Cady. » June 17, 1918: The National Commission rules that P Scott Perry, who has been winning games for the Athletics, belongs to the Boston Braves. Although purchased by the Braves from Atlanta in 1917, the deal was not completed. While on Atlanta's ineligible list, he was sold to Connie Mack. Aroused by Perry's AL success, the Braves enter their proper claim. Mack breaks precedent, goes outside organized baseball to civil court, and gets an injunction against Boston. The NL, having sat still for the loss of George Sisler, is furious; President John K. Tener resigns. John Heydler succeeds him and arranges a compromise solution: Mack pays Boston $2,500 and keeps Perry (henceforth a loser). The clubs' anger at player-allocation decisions will ultimately topple the National Commission, making way for Judge K.M. Landis. » March 1, 1919: Connie Mack makes one of his biggest player mistakes, trading 3B Larry Gardner, OF Charlie Jamieson, and P Elmer Myers to Cleveland for OF Bobby "Braggo" Roth. Vet writer Ernest Lanigan predicts that Roth will lead the circuit in homers at Shibe, but Roth will be shipped on to Boston by midseason. Gardner will put in six more .300 years, and Jamieson will be a top leadoff man and .303 hitter for the next 14 years. » January 24, 1922: Brooklyn buys SS Sam Crane from Cincinnati. He will play in three games and later be convicted of murder. He will be visited in prison by Connie Mack, who works for his parole and gives him a job. » December 5, 1922: Connie Mack spends money to begin building another winner. He sends $40,000 and several players to Portland (Pacific Coast League) for 3B Sammy Hale. » June 8, 1923: After Browns C Pat Collins leaves the game after pinch-running in the second inning, A's manager Connie Mack gives the okay for him to come back as a pinch hitter for P Ray Kolp in the ninth. He walks. » December 15, 1923: Al Szymanski, 21, who signed with his hometown Milwaukee club in the spring and was farmed out to Shreveport, is traded. Connie Mack secured the rights to his contract while he was at Shreveport; at the end of the season he reported to Milwaukee and hit .398 in 24 games. Scorekeepers change his name to Al Simmons. The A's send IF Heinie Scheer and outfielders Wid Mathews and Frank "Beauty" McGowan to Milwaukee for the Simmons sleeper. » August 22, 1926: After three games with the Tigers are rained out at home, Connie Mack and Tom Shibe decide that Sunday baseball is entitled to be played. Armed with a court injunction preventing police from interfering, they play the first Sunday game ever seen in Philadelphia. A light rain holds the crowd to 10,000, but Lefty Grove sets down the White Sox 3-2 without incident. A court later rules Sunday baseball still illegal; it will be 1934 before that law changes in Philadelphia. » January 27, 1927: Citing accuser Dutch Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings of January 5th, Judge Landis issues a lengthy decision clearing Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker of any wrongdoing and ordering them reinstated by their teams. Both are then made free agents. Connie Mack will sign Cobb on February 8th. Speaker will sign with Washington on January 31st for a reported $35,000. The Tribe has already chosen Jack McAllister as manager. » September 13, 1927: Babe Ruth hits two (52), and the Yankees win a pair from Cleveland to clinch the AL pennant with a 98-41 record and 17-game lead. It is Miller Huggins's fifth pennant, tying him with Connie Mack. » May 24, 1928: In the first game of a doubleheader in Philadelphia, a major-league record 13 future Hall of Famers take the field as the first-place Yankees take on the 2nd-place A's. This number does not include non-playing Hall of Famers Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski, managers Miller Huggins and Connie Mack, nor umpires Tom Connally and Bill McGowan. [HOFs: Earle Combs, Leo Durocher, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and Waite Hoyt for New York; Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Eddie Collins, Lefty Grove, and Jimmie Foxx for the A's.] Led by Lazzeri's three hits and six RBIs, the Yanks edge the A's, 9–7, handing the defeat to Lefty Grove. The A's win the nitecap, 5–2, behind rookie Ossie Orwell. » June 22, 1928: Journeyman hurler Hank Johnson of the Yankees blanks the star-studded Athletics 4-0. In the game for Connie Mack's team are Ty Cobb, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Jimmie Foxx, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, and Lefty Grove. » February 12, 1930: Connie Mack is awarded the prestigious Edward W. Bok Prize given to the Philadelphian who has done the most for the city in the past year. Mack, the first sports figure to be so honored, led the Athletics to a World Championship in 1929. » September 15, 1931: The Philadelphia Athletics clinch the pennant, beating Cleveland at home, 14–3. Every starter for the A's has a hit and RBI. Eddie Rommel, veteran knuckleball pitcher for the A's, is the winning hurler, as Connie Mack wins his 3rd successive pennant. It is Mack's 9th, and last, AL championship. The A's went into first place for good on May 5th, when they started a win streak of 17 straight games and 20 of their next 21. In mid-July they won 13 straight. » October 7, 1931: Connie Mack, who surprised everyone in 1929 by starting veteran Howard Ehmke in the WS opener, tries the ploy with Waite Hoyt. Pitching in his 7th WS, Hoyt falls victim to Pepper Martin, who homers and drives in 4 runs with 3 hits. Hallahan wins for the Cards 5-1. » July 10, 1932: An extraordinary 18-inning game is won by the Athletics at Cleveland, 18-17. A's winning P Ed Rommel pitches 17 innings in relief, giving up a record 33 hits. To save train fare for a single-date appearance, Connie Mack brought only two pitchers. The starting pitcher is knocked out after one inning and only Rommel is left. Johnny Burnett of Cleveland has nine hits in 11 at bats. » September 28, 1932: Connie Mack begins dismantling the Athletics by selling Al Simmons, Jimmy Dykes, and Mule Haas to the White Sox for an estimated $100,000. » June 3, 1933: Connie Mack suspends overweight P George Earnshaw and fines him $500 for failure to get into shape. » December 3, 1933: Connie Mack sells C Mickey Cochrane to Detroit for $100,000 and catcher Johnny Pasek. Cochrane is named Detroit manager. » December 12, 1933: Connie Mack is still selling. First he sells Lefty Grove, the A's top winner in each of the past five seasons, along with Max Bishop, and George Walberg to the Boston Red Sox for $125,000 and two players, pitcher Bob Kline and infielder Rabbit Wartsler. Then George Earnshaw and recently acquired backstop Johnny Pasek go to the White Sox for $20,000 and catcher Charlie Berry. Berry once led the NFL in scoring and will become a ML umpire in the 1940's. » October 21, 1934: An all-star team led by Babe Ruth and Connie Mack sails on tour to Hawaii and Japan. Players with wives include Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gomez, Earl Averill, and Lefty O'Doul. » February 11, 1937: Connie Mack is interviewed on a television demonstration by Philco. » December 7, 1937: Five of baseball's pioneers are added to the Hall of Fame: Connie Mack, John McGraw, Morgan Bulkeley, Ban Johnson, and George Wright. » August 28, 1938: On Connie Mack Day at Shibe Park, the A's win a doubleheader from the White Sox, setting a league record by playing their seventh successive twin bill in 8 days. » June 12, 1939: The greatest gathering of members and future inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame assembles in Cooperstown, NY, for the dedication of the museum. A six-inning game at Doubleday Field presents lineups studded with players who will be elected in the future, as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, and Connie Mack accept their plaques. » January 14, 1940: Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis gives free agency to 91 Detroit players and farm hands. Citing cover-ups in its organization, Landis hands freedom to Roy Cullenbine, Benny McCoy, Lloyd Dietz, and Steve Rachunok from the parent roster and orders $47,250 paid as compensation to 14 players. Johnny Sain is one of 23 players who will later make it to the ML. Landis's edict nullifies a deal that would have brought Wally Moses to the Tigers for Benny McCoy and George Coffman. McCoy is considered the plum of the emancipation, and several clubs bid for the 2B. Connie Mack keeps Moses and signs McCoy for a $45,000 bonus and 2-season contract at $10,000 a year. » December 20, 1940: Connie Mack acquires controlling interest in the Athletics from the Shibe family at the price of $42,000 for 141 shares. » April 18, 1944: All 16 ML teams see action on Opening Day. But Bobby Doerr, Tex Hughson, and Mort Cooper are the only established stars still on the wartime rosters. A potential star among the new crop of rookies is George Kell, now Connie Mack's 3B, who last year with Lancaster (Inter-State League) led all minor league hitters with a .396 average. » April 25, 1945: Baseball writers cannot seem to get any Hall of Fame candidates past the 75 percent requirement, but a committee selected to bring in some old-timers succeeds with a group of turn-of-the-century names: Jimmy Collins, Roger Bresnahan, Fred Clarke, Dan Brouthers, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Jennings, Mike "King" Kelly, Jim O'Rourke, Wilbert Robinson, and Hugh Duffy. Collins, overlooked in six HOF elections, was on the all-time teams of Connie Mack and John McGraw. » April 19, 1947: New skipper Burt Shotton manages the Dodgers from the dugout in street clothes, ŕ la Connie Mack. Johnny Mize and Bill Rigney hit homers to help the Giants edge the Dodgers, 4–3. » May 25, 1950: The Athletics make some changes. Connie Mack's son, Earle Mack, who had been assistant manager, assumes the duties of chief scout. Earle, who had hoped to succeed his father as manager, is replaced by Jimmie Dykes. Mickey Cochrane is named general manager. It doesn't help today as the Yanks extend their winning streak to nine games by defeating the A's, 2–0, behind Ed Lopat and Joe Page. » June 12, 1950: ML baseball names Connie Mack as the Honorary Manager of the All-Star Game. » August 28, 1950: Earle and Roy Mack, Connie’s sons by his first marriage, purchase 54 percent interest in the Athletics from Connie Mack, Jr., their younger brother from a 2nd marriage. Earle, Roy and Connie Mack now own 1,198 shares out of 1,500. "As long as dad wants to manage," the two announce, "he will continue to manage." » October 18, 1950: Connie Mack retires after an amazing 50 years as the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Jimmy Dykes replaces him. Mack maintains his position as president of the club. » May 15, 1951: At Fenway Park, the Red Sox celebrate the 50th anniversary of their first American League game in Boston. On hand are 29 old-timers who played, managed, or umpired in the AL in that first year including Connie Mack, Dummy Hoy, Cy Young, Hugh Duffy, Clark Griffith, Tom Connolly, Billy Sullivan, Wid Conroy, Bill Bradley, and Ollie Pickering. Eight of the 29 participated in the first AL game, played in Chicago on April 24, 1901. » February 8, 1956: The legendary Connie Mack dies at age 93. He began his career with Washington in 1886 as a catcher. After managing the National League Pittsburgh club from 1894-96, he became a prominent figure in Ban Johnson's Western League and a founder of the American League and its Philadelphia franchise in 1901. In 50 years as the Athletics pilot he won nine pennants and five World Championships, but also finished last 17 times. » April 16, 1957: The Phillies set an Opening Day record at Connie Mack Stadium as 37,667 fans pay to see the Dodgers Gino Cimoli hit a 12-inning HR to win the game 7-6. » October 9, 1957: With Warren Spahn stricken by the flu, Lew Burdette pitches with 2 days rest, achieves his 3rd complete game and 2nd shutout to beat New York 5-0 The Braves win their first WS championship since the "Miracle Braves" of 1914 beat Connie Mack's Athletics. » September 14, 1958: The Yankees win their 24th pennant, and 9th under Casey Stengel, winning Game One against the A's, 5–3. This ties Casey for first with Connie Mack for the most American League pennants won. New York completes the sweep with a 12–7, 14-inning win in game 2. Virgil Trucks allows two hits over the last six innings for the win.