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"The condemned jumped out of the chair and electrocuted the warden." That's how one writer described the Yankees' ninth-inning comeback in Game Four of the 1941 World Series, after catcher Mickey Owen let the apparent game-ending third strike on Tommy Henrich get by. Had Owen held onto Hugh Casey's pitch, the Dodgers would have won, 4-3. Instead, the Yankees rallied to win, 7-4, and became World Champions the next day. Rumor had it that Casey had thrown a spitter; Leo Durocher said no, Pee Wee Reese called it "a little wet slider," and Billy Herman thought that Owen might have "nonchalanted" it. Ironically, that season, Owen had set the National League catchers' record of 476 consecutive errorless chances accepted while setting a Dodger season record by fielding .995. A scrapper who batted as high as second in the order, Owen was blackballed after leaving the Dodgers in 1946 to be a player-manager in the Mexican League. He returned in 1949 with the Cubs, coached, scouted, ran a baseball camp, and was still playing in oldtimers' games in his seventies. (TG)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » July 21, 1936: Mickey Cochrane has a relapse, and Del Baker again takes charge of the Tigers. Detroit takes a pair from the visiting A's, winning 8–0 behind Tommy Bridges, and 9–8, as Schoolboy Rowe wins in relief. The Tigers score a pair in the 8th inning when, with the bases loaded, Mickey Owen hits into a double play. Goslin scores the tying run and Walker, who reaches 3rd on the play, scores when 1B Chubby Dean is caught napping. » August 3, 1937: Cardinals C Mickey Owen becomes the third NL backstop ever to make an unassisted DP, as the Cards beat the Bees 5-2. » December 4, 1940: MacPhail continues his dealing and gets his catcher. The Dodgers trade for Mickey Owen, giving Gus Mancuso and $85,000 to the Cardinals. » October 5, 1941: With 2 out in the 9th inning, Dodger C Mickey Owen drops a 3rd strike on Tommy Henrich, which would have given Brooklyn a 4-3 victory over New York. The Yankees then rally for a 7-4 win in the 4th game of the WS. » July 6, 1942: First-inning HRs by Lou Boudreau and Rudy York off Mort Cooper lead the AL to a 3-1 triumph over the NL in the All-Star Game at the Polo Grounds. Mickey Owen also homers for the third run. He does not hit a single HR during the regular schedule. » March 30, 1946: A holdout from the Browns, SS Vern Stephens signs a 5-year deal with the Pasquel brothers to play in Mexico. The Giants dismiss Roy Zimmerman, George Hausmann, and P Sal Maglie for dickering with the Pasquels, and the trio departs for Mexico. One day later Mickey Owen of the Dodgers signs to manage the Mexican club in Torreón. Stephens will play a couple of games in Mexico, then jump back. Owen announces he will return and then changes his mind again. » August 5, 1946: Mickey Owen quits his Mexican League team. He and Luis Olmo ask Commissioner Chandler for reinstatement 3 days later. » June 29, 1949: Mickey Owen and Luis Olmo rejoin the Dodgers from Mexican League exile. » August 19, 1950: The Pirates outslug the Cubs, 13–9, for their sixth win in seven games. Ralph Kiner slugs two homers to put him seven days and nine games ahead of last year, when he hit 54. He has rapped eight this month and four in the last five games. Clyde McCullough adds a bases loaded triple, sac fly, and two-run double, while Johnny Hopp homers. The Cubs answer with homers by Hank Sauer, Mickey Owen, and Roy Smalley, but its not enough. Reliever Bob Rush loses to Murry Dickson. » January 31, 1952: A U.S. federal jury awards Mexican owner Jorge Pasquel $35,000 for breach of contract by former Dodger star, Mickey Owen.