Friday, July 3, 2015

Common Denominator: AL Pennant Winners Other Then The Yankees in the 1950s!

The Cleveland Indians of 1954 and Chicago White Sox of 1959 had one positioned player that was the same, one pitcher that was the same, and manager Al Lopez.

Larry Doby hit 32 home runs and batted in 126 runs for the Tribe in 1954. But he hit just .125 in the Fall Classic. The Indians needed more from him, but the New York Giants made sure the World Series stayed in New York that year. His year of 1959 would prove to be his last in the majors. After striking out in his only plate appearance in the second game of the double header on July 26th, he was sent down to the minors, never to return.

Early Wynn was the ace of the Indians in '54. He went 23-11 with an ERA of 2.73. He pitched a splendid game in the second game of the Fall Classic, only to lose 3-1 to Johnny Antonelli. Since it was a Giants sweep, he did not get to pitch again. Such was not the case in 1959. With the "Go-Go" White Sox, Wynn not only won a league-leading 22 games (His 23 wins in '54 also topped the junior circuit), but he was on the hill in game one of the Fall Classic vs. Los Angeles. And did he ever stop the Dodgers! He pitched a shutout through seven before giving way to Gerry Staley. Staley pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth and the White Sox won it easily, 11-0!

Wynn though, saw the Dodgers knock him out in the third inning of the fourth game. While Chicago rallied to tie it, it was Los Angeles with a 5-4 win. Wynn looked doomed to never pitch again as Los Angeles led three games to one. In game five, Bob Shaw beat a young Sandy Koufax 1-0, to send it back to Chicago for game six. Wynn was given another chance, but ended up losing 9-3 to Johnny Podres.

Al Lopez saw it all from the dugout for Cleveland and Chicago those two magical years. He definitly made a curious choice not to start veteran Bob Feller in 1954. Bob was 13-3, but had lost both his starts in the 1948 Fall Classic. So Feller ended his career without a Fall Classic win, which is amazing. The 1959 team had the speed, yet it was the Dodgers stealing five of a possible six bases compared to the White Sox succeeding just twice in five attempts. The White Sox seemed unable to solve relief pitcher Norm Sherry, who ended the World Series with two wins and two saves.


References


Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

McMurray, John. “Larry Doby.” Society For American Baseball Research, SABR / Society For American Baseball Research, Web. 3 Jul. 2015. <sabr.org/bioproj/person/4e985e86>. 

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.

Retrosheet. Web. 3 Jul. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC.  Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 3 Jul. 2015.

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