In Game 2 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Don Larsen hadn't gotten past the second inning. But with the Series knotted at two games apiece, Larsen took the mound and turned in the greatest pitching performance in World Series history. Larsen retired the side in order in the first inning; in the second, Jackie Robinson's line drive off of third baseman Andy Carey's glove was snared by shortstop Gil McDougald, who somehow managed to peg the ball to first in time for the out. It was the best chance the Dodgers would have against the unhittable Larsen, who needed just 97 pitches to author the only perfect game ever thrown in postseason play.
Most Memorable Postseason Performer
Reggie Jackson
FUN FACT
» The Yankees set a World Series record by using 21 players in a nine-inning game against Brooklyn in Game 6 of the 1947 Series; the Dodgers used 17 men. The 74,065 fans in the Yankee Stadium stands also set a World Series attendance record, broken the following year at Cleveland's Memorial Stadium in Game 4 of the 1948 World Series between the Indians and Boston Braves.
Never afraid to speak his mind, the flamboyant Reggie Jackson had angered team captain Thurman Munson by immediately pronouncing himself "the straw that stirs the drink" after signing with the Yankees before the 1977 season. But Jackson put his big bat to work in the deciding Game 6 of the 1977 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, homering three times on three consecutive pitches against three different pitchers. Only Babe Ruth had ever managed to homer three times in a playoff game. (Ruth did it twice, in 1926 and 1928.) The three shots gave Jackson five homers in the Series (a record that stands to this day) -- earning him the title of "Mr. October."
Most Memorable Pennant Race
1978: The Boston Massacre
After a tumultuous start to the season in the
Bronx, owner George Steinbrenner replaced manager Billy Martin with Bob
Lemon in mid-July. With Lemon at the helm, the Bronx Bombers won 48 of
their last 68 games, erasing a 14½-game deficit to the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees were in fourth place in the AL East on July 19; by September
7, when the two teams met for a key four-game series at Fenway, the
Bronx Bombers were just four back and closing fast.
In what became known as the "Boston Massacre," the Yankees swept the series, outscoring the Sox 42-9. The Yankees eventually took a three-and-a-half game lead over the Red Sox, but Boston battled back to force a one-game playoff at Fenway. To the dismay of Beantown baseball fans, an unexpected and dramatic seventh-inning homer by Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent put the Yanks ahead for good, catapulting the club into the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
