1943 World Series

19

Williams: Who’s to blame, Cooper or Lanier?

By Joe Williams

New York –
You never can tell about a World Series. You may remember we were talking about catchers the other day. We were saying nobody ever paid any attention to the catchers, they were always talking about the hitters and the pitchers. And we pointed out that every once in a while, a catcher might have a chance to decide a Series this way or that.

Well, it’s a question today whether Walker Cooper, the catcher of the Cardinals, gave the opening game of the World Series to the Yankees or whether the pitcher, Max Lanier, did.

All that is known for sure is that the vital pitch was a bad pitch. It was the pitch that put the Yankees ahead, and they stayed ahead.

Should Cooper, now called the greatest catcher in baseball, have stopped the ball, even admitting it was a bad pitch, or–?

Your guess is as good as ours.

As it turns out, we saw it wrong at a quick glance. We thought the ball hit the face of the rubberized plate and bounced high in the air. Cooper himself says it didn’t. He says it hit his glove, bounced and then everything turned black.

Here’s setting

The situation was this: This score was tied at 2–2 going into a sixth inning. Crosetti opened with a scratch hit through third. The rookie, Johnson, did the same, through short. Keller, pulling for the stands, went out meekly to right. This brought Gordon up.

Gordon had already hit a home run off Lanier and the Cardinals pitcher was pitching carefully to him.

In between his pitches to Gordon, Lanier dropped one of his low ones in the dirt. His curveball had gone too deep.

This had happened before. It had happened in the fifth inning when John Lindell, a wartime replacement for DiMaggio, had swung for the third strike that had come mockingly out of the dirt. Cooper hadn’t been able to hold on to that one either, but the circumstances were such that he was able to get a putout at first, Lindell being Lindell.

But nobody in the huge crowd in the stadium knew this next pitch to Gordon was going to be the tell, and least of all Cooper.

Looking back on it, it is really funny. The Cardinals are supposed to go from first to third on the mere suggestion of a hit. In this case, the pitch in the dirt, Crosetti came all the way from second to home – and he’s an old man – and Johnson, the kid, rushed from first to third, and a minute later scored on a Dickey’s blooper to the outfield.

Who was to blame?

That was the ball game. Who was to blame? The pitcher who threw the ball in the dirt, or the catcher who failed to stop it? To repeat, your guess is as good as ours.

All we know is that an amusing incident developed. Cooper doesn’t yet know where the ball went. He was so bewildered he didn’t even take off his mask. What happened was that the ball hit his glove and bounced high in the air, and went searchingly here and there, an adventurous little thing.

And all the while Art Fletcher, highest-priced third base coach in the history of baseball, was waving Crosetti home with the run that was to win the game for the Yankees.

It reminded you of another time in another World Series when this same Mr. Fletcher was waving Yankees runners home. This was the time when Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds was knocked out at the plate and the ball wasn’t three feet from his reach and he just lay there and, or so it seemed, thousands and thousands of Yankees trampled over his agonized bosom to score runs.

So many things can happen to catchers in the World Series; and the things that can happen can be both good and bad, we all remember the time Mickey Owen, of the Dodgers, dropped a third strike which gave the Yankees the break they needed in the Series two years ago. And if our memory is long enough, we will recall the time Hank Gowdy stepped into his mask and lost a foul ball that helped Washington beat the Giants.

And certainly, we must all remember the time Mickey Cochrane dived across the plate to smother a wild pitch at a critical moment. There was a runner on third and none out at the time, and it was the ninth inning and the Series was in the balance. The Tigers against the Cubs it was. That diving catch was the Series payoff. The runner on third never scored.

20

The Village Smithy

By Chester L. Smith, sports editor

New York –
Up to this moment, it’s easy to pick the winner of the World Series.

The answer is nobody is going to win it. The Cardinals can’t, unless they snap out of the St. Louis Blues rhythm they have shown so far; the Yankees can’t if the Cardinals don’t hand it to them, and that patient old codger, Mr. Paying Patron, Esq., is going to take an unmerciful licking if he has to put down his good money to look at the sort of baseball he got for his dollar yesterday.

A young lady with two pennants, a souvenir program, the remnants of a hot dog on the lapel of her nifty sports jacket and the stub for a box seat, battled into the subway at the Stadium after the Yanks had taken No. 1 by 4–2 yesterday and delivered a brief but pointed oration to a group of strangers.

She exclaimed:

That was the worst exhibition of the national pastime I have ever seen.

…and while it wasn’t that bad, it was a long way from being good. The Cardinals didn’t seem to want the Yankees to lose and there were times when the Bombers appeared to be cherishing a great love for their enemies from the National League.

As of noon today, the Series is exactly where it was a year ago – the Yanks are one game up. And there is one conclusion that might be drawn from what went on in the Bronx. Joe Gordon is “hot,” and this could very well be the difference in the final analysis. When Joseph, who was distinctly off when these same teams met a year ago, has his motors purring and is on the beam, he’s as great a second baseman as ever lived. Yesterday, as a starter, he produced a 400-foot home run to put the Yanks ahead at one stage of the game and equaled the World Series record for assists – eight – at his position. At least three of his stops were the kind that bring you out of your seat with your hair standing on end.

Smiling Will Terry, the ex-Giant, who is experting over a typewriter for a Memphis paper, described Gordon’s work as one of the finest individual performances the Series has ever witnessed. He should know, for man and boy, he has been in plenty of them himself and looked at a good many more.

But the rest of it was pretty awful. There were four hits out of 15 that weren’t distinctly black market – Gordon’s jackpot smash, a smoking single to left by Mr. Spud Chandler, and drives to right by Ray Sanders and Stan Musial. The one that carried the most authority was Musial’s, in the eighth. The Donora Dandy had been easy for Chandler on his first three trips and must have been mad about it, for his clothesline to Tut Stainback was so hard that Walker, who was on first, was unable to get past second before the ball was returned to the infield – and the Cardinals second-sacker is about as fast as they come.

If the same game had been put on by the Phillies and Braves in late August, the customers would have walked out and gone home to supper after the sixth.

Among those who failed to displace the mental or mechanical agility generally associated with a contest for the championship of the world were Walker Cooper, the Redbirds’ master catcher, of all people, and Brother Nicholas “Tanglefoot” Etten, the Yankees first baseman. In the latter’s case, there may be some excuse, for Nick has never been known as an athlete who had aspirations to steal the title from Hal Chase, Lou Gehrig or Lefty Grimm, but the experts were at a loss to explain what happened to Cooper. They preferred to say he was merely having a bad day and await further developments.

Cooper and Max Lanier teamed with Klein to award the Yanks their first run in the fourth. Frankie Crosetti opened the inning by rolling to Klein, who made a brilliant stop and throw, only to have Lanier drop the ball after he had Crosetti retired. With Billy Johnson at the plate, Crosetti headed for second and Cooper rifled a peg 10 feet over the bag which would have meant an extra base had it not been for good backing up by Harry Walker in center field. Johnson then bunted to Sanders, and, when Klein stood rooted in his tracks instead of covering first, all hands were safe. The run came over when Charlie Keller grounded into a double play. Gordon, who shouldn’t have batted in that inning at all, followed with his home run and the American Leaguers were in the lead.

Etten’s “skull,” which gave the Cardinals the opening to tie the score in the fifth, was a classic. Sanders drove what looked like a certain base hit close to second, but Gordon made a storybook stop and throw that failed to get the runner only because the toss had to be made off balance. Sanders was clearly safe and umpire Beans Reardon ruled it that way. But Etten thought it was a putout and gleefully whipped the ball to Bill Dickey. But Dickey wasn’t looking and, when he did realize what had happened, the best he could do was cuff down the horsehide with his gloved hand and start chasing it. Sanders was anchored on second long before Dickey and the ball had been reunited and might have made third if he had not been so surprised. Lanier’s blooping hit into short center completed the damage.

In the clubhouse, after the game, a much-chastened Yankees first baseman swore he was “goin’ to let the umpires make the decisions after this.”

There was a good deal more shoddy play that won’t show up in the box score, but maybe we should let bygones be bygones. They can hardly be so bad again.

It was Lanier’s wild pitch in the sixth, allowing Crosetti to come in from second and Johnson to scramble from first to third, that eventually brought the downfall of the champions, and here too, it is likely that Gordon was the man behind the gun. He was at bat when lefty Max Lanier caromed a sharp-breaking curve off the plate. It bounced high and crazily into the air and before Walker Cooper could get the scent and track down the ball, the parade was on.

As Gordon told about it later, Lanier was shying away from throwing him a fast ball. Joe said:

I had hit his fast one into the stands and I could see he wasn’t going to give me another chance, so I guess when he had two strikes on me, he decided to come in with his “hook” and put too much stuff on it.

Whatever happened, it was a fitting way for the Cardinals to lose such a crazy-quilt game. What’s more, Chandler deserved to win, and if the Yanks couldn’t do it for him, the National Leaguers showed an excellent appreciation of their sense of values by taking matters in their own hands.

22

The Pittsburgh Press (October 7, 1943)

Mort Cooper’s ‘win for Pop’ ties Series

Home runs by Marion, Sanders help send Bonham down to defeat
By Jack Cuddy, United Press staff writer

New York –
Two boys from Missouri – Mort and Walker Cooper – with the sadness of their father’s death tugging in their hearts, went out before nearly 70,000 sympathetic fans in Yankee Stadium yesterday and “won a ball game for Pop” and the St. Louis Cardinals over the New York Yankees in the second game of the 1943 World Series.

The score, if it matters was 4–3, evening up the 1943 classic.

What did matter was the way that famous brother battery – Mort, the pitcher, and Walker, the catcher – played their hearts out, and carried on despite the sudden death of their father, Robert, at Independence, Missouri, yesterday morning. The Cooper boys had the 68,578 fans with them all the way.

Won it for ‘Pop’

Big, brown-haired Mort, the Cardinals’ ace right-handed pitcher, said before the game:

We’ll win this one for Pop. He’d want it that way.

And win it they did, with Mort pitching to his catcher brother, as he registered his first World Series mound victory – and also his first pitching victory against the American League – in five tries, three World Series Games and two All-Star Games.

While Mort was limiting the Yanks to six hits, with his fastball flinging, his Cardinals mates garnered seven off Ernie Bonham, big Yankee right-hander, and Fireman Johnny Murphy, who relieved him in the ninth. Two of those hits were home runs.

Marion, Sanders clout homers

Slats Marion, the Cards’ elongated shortstop who had hit but one home run all season, slammed Bonham’s first pitch of the third inning into the lower left field stand, just a couple feet inside the foul pole, for a four-bagger. The next circuit drive came in the fourth inning when first baseman Ray Sanders blasted the ball into the lower right stands, the ball barely clearing Bud Metheny’s reaching hands. Bud fell backwards over the stands rail when he failed to grab the ball.

This homer drove in Whitey Kurowski, the third baseman who had singled earlier. The blow brought that inning’s accomplishments to three tallies because, earlier in the season, Stan Musial had singled and had been advanced to second by Walker Cooper’s sacrifice. Kurowski’s single brought him home.

The fans, who gave the Cooper brothers great ovations every time they came to bat, thought in the last inning that the rallying Yanks might deprive them of victory. The Yanks made a great try. They had registered one run in the fourth inning, but in the ninth they added two more and threatened to walk off with victory.

Gordon ends rally

Third baseman Billy Johnson opened the ninth by doubling to left. Charlie Keller, slugging left fielder, hammered the ball to the center field fence for a triple, scoring Johnson. Bill Dickey lined to second baseman Lou Klein. Nick Etten went out. Klein to Sanders. Keller scoring. Then Joe Gordon, a hero of Tuesday’s Yankee victory, fouled to Walker Cooper for the final cut.

The Yanks, who had gone into yesterday’s game, 9–5, favorites, couldn’t garner a tally until the Cards had a 4–0 lead on them going into the last half of the fourth. Then singles by Frank Crosetti and Billy Johnson and Keller’s long fly to center, let Crosetti come in with one marker.

It was a more spiritedly-contested game than Tuesday’s and the brand of ball was superior, although again the Cards were charged with two errors.

Walker Cooper will remain with the team today to do the catching. Mort left last night for their home in Independence, Missouri.

Other players who have performed in World Series after the death of close relatives were Rogers Hornsby in the Cardinal-Yankee Series of 1926, after his mother died; Alvin Crowder in the Detroit-Cubs classic of 1935 after the death of his father, and Bobo Newsom in the Detroit-Cincinnati engagement of 1940, after his father’s death.

23

Game 3

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS):

24

The Village Smithy

By Chester L. Smith, sports editor

New York –
Before a World Series ball was pitched. Billy Southworth said that all the Cardinals had to do to stop the Yankees again was win at least one game here at the Stadium. So Willyum can roll back to St. Louis tonight and sleep early. No matter what happens today, he has the game he wanted.

Then, there’s another reason why the little skipper of the Redbirds can throw away his insomnia pills. We’re speaking now about Morton Cooper, the guy who could win 20 games or more over the season but was a pushover for American League batters. The Yanks murdered him twice last year and he was a duck on a pond in the All-Star Game last July, but yesterday, under singularly trying circumstances. Mort went down the line with the Bombers and held them to six hits to rack up his first Series victory. They say that once you can corner a gremlin and pin back his ears, your troubles are over, and it’s a fair enough guess that Cooper will pitch and win another game before the Series is over. He knows now the deck isn’t stacked against him, and all he has to do is keep plunking the ball into Brother Walker’s glove as he did before a jammed house yesterday up in the Bronx.

Morton Cooper did more than beat the Yanks. He scotched a batch of rumors that had been kicking around for the past week, the most vicious of which had concerned his relations with Southworth. Mort, they said, was sulking because he hadn’t drawn the assignment in the opening game, and the back fence gossips added that the affair had torn the team apart. Another favorite with the up-the-sleeve spies had him afflicted with a sore arm that would keep him out of the Series, but Southworth admitted last night that Cooper could have pitched on Tuesday as well as yesterday and had, in fact, warmed up for 20 minutes Sunday in preparation.

Billy declared:

I just had a hunch on Max Lanier and played it. There was nothing wrong with Mort and never has been.

And if you could have seen the way the Cardinals swarmed around the tall Missourian after the final putout yesterday, thumping him on the back and pumping his hand, you wouldn’t have given much for the suspicion that there was mutiny in the ranks. They all but carried him to the clubhouse, while Brother Walker, who had gobbled up Joe Gordon’s high foul to end the game, got his share of the impromptu celebration.

It must have been a nerve-wracking day for the Cooper boys. Their father, a rural mail carrier in Independence, Missouri, died suddenly yesterday morning and the word came to Walker in a telephone call from an older brother, Robert, who lives in St. Louis, an hour or two before noon. Manager Southworth immediately called the brothers to his room.

He told them:

You make the decision if you want to pitch. Mort, you can. If you don’t, it’s all right with me.

Morton replied that his father had been their best rooter. He told Southworth:

I think maybe I’d like to pitch.

…and Billy nodded agreement.

Mort left last night for his home. Walker, who broke down and cried on the bench before the game, will fly West immediately after this afternoon’s game.

Cooper might have put over a 4–1 decision on the American Leaguers except for a freakish Yank hit and a fuzzy but of fielding by Danny Litwhiler in the ninth. Frankie Crosetti, who was first up in the bottom half of the fourth, bunted a pop fly that dropped behind Ray Sanders for a single. Bud Metheny flied to center, but Billy Johnson laced a hit over second to put Crosetti on third and when Charlie Keller flied to Harry Walker, Crosetti scored, although it would have been close had the throw been better.

Again in the ninth, after Johnson had doubled to left-center, Keller lashed a long hit to left. Litwhiler, perhaps confused by the strong sun and the fact that in the Stadium the ball comes out of deep shade in midafternoon, failed to get a good start, and it went over his head and rolled to the bleaches for a triple. Johnson crossed the plate and so did Keller while Lou Klein was throwing out Nick Etten, and thus the score was 4–3, even when it didn’t appear to be that close from the way the game was played.

Unlike the opener, yesterday’s match bore the championship stamp from beginning to end. Both Cooper and Ernie Bonham had pitching “it,” but the latter’s two shaky innings proved the deciding factor, perhaps it is unfair to Bonham to say that the third was a bad round, because only four batters came to the plate, but Marty Marion, first to face him, unloaded a home run into the left field stands and that was damage enough. Marion had missed a four-baser by not more than three feet the day before, but there was no question where this one was going from the instant it left his bat. Incidentally, the skinny shortstop equaled his season’s record for homers. He now has two for 1943, but he couldn’t have picked a more appropriate time to double his output.

The Cards really laid the wood to Bonham the next inning. Stan Musial opened with his second hit of the Series, a line single to center that would have taken the pitcher’s cap with it, if it had been a few feet lower. A sacrifice by Walker Cooper and Whitey Kurowski’s smash ferried Musial in and Sanders, who is rapidly becoming the hittingest of all the Cardinals, swept a homer into the right field stands.

For a fleeting second it looked as though the historic episode of the 1925 Series between the Pirates and the Washington Senators might be duplicated. That, you may recall, was Sam Rice’s disputed catch of Earl Smith’s drive, in Washington. Rice tumbled into the low stands in right and came up with the ball. Umpire Cy Rigler allowing the putout, although the Pirates always claimed it was not caught. Yesterday, Metheny leaped high for Sanders’ hit and fell partway into the crowd over the wall. Not until he recovered his balance could it been seen from the infield that he hadn’t snagged the agate.

The Yanks were favored with one good break that undoubtedly cut down the St. Louis run total. With Klein on second and Walker on first in the fifth, and two out, Walker Cooper blazed a line drive to Gordon’s right – at least it would have been to his right under normal circumstances, but Klein had broken for third on the pitch and Gordon, sensing a double steal, was tearing toward the bag to cover. All he had to do was put up his hands in self-defense and make the catch, ending the inning. It cost the Cardinals a sure run.

Cooper had a nervous inning, too, in the sixth when, following a hit by Crosetti, Brother Walker tipped Metheny’s bat and Bud was awarded first base by umpire Beans Reardon. Two on and nobody out, but Marion, Klein and Sanders came through with a glittering double play on Johnson’s bounder and Big Mort was in the clear.

25

Williams: Southworth was smoke-screening for Cooper never looked better

By Joe Williams

New York –
The big guy came through in the big moment. We are referring to Mort Cooper, the Cardinals pitcher.

And he came through under very trying circumstances.

First off, his manager had lost confidence in him. To make it so much worse, his dad died some hours before he went to the mound. Third: This was the game the National League champs had to win to stay in the Series.

It must be assured the big moon-faced fellow went to the mound with a heavy heart and you want to keep in mind he was pitching to his brother.

You probably will be reading today about the masterminding of his manager, Billy Southworth.

Forget it. There was only one reason Southworth didn’t start Cooper against the Yankees in the first game. He was afraid to.

And he had reason to be afraid: Cooper started twice against the Yankees last fall and was knocked out twice. What’s more, he had started twice in All-Star Games against American League hitting and failed to survive.

Quits on Cooper

It was on the occasion of the last All-Star Game that Southworth said:

He’s still my pitcher. If we get into the World Series, he’ll start for me.

All of a sudden Southworth quit on Cooper. He went into one of those vague Rickey-like St. Louis smokescreens which apparently are designed to kid people, in short, a white lie.

Southworth tried to lead everybody to believe Cooper had a sore arm. On top of that, he was sick, or so it was stated.

In the light of what happened yesterday when the Cardinals, back of Cooper’s superlative pitching, even the Series, this was strictly a gag – any anything Southworth tries to tell anybody today here in New York must be laughed off.

It must be laughed off for several reasons, the most important of which is that Cooper never looked better, and it is not in the book that a pitcher gets over a sore arm and incidental ailments overnight.

The obvious answer is that Southworth quit on Cooper, whose record tells you he is the Cardinals’ best pitcher.

There was only one reason Southworth didn’t start him in the opening game and that was he lacked confidence in him.

Why Lanier started

You read so much about masterminding in baseball, particularly in a World Series.

The Yankees’ extra-base power, for example, is left-handed. In the great wisdom of the dugout, the circumstances must call for a left-handed pitcher. This explains why Southworth started Max Lanier in the first game. It so happened Lanier was beaten. It also explains why Southworth didn’t start Cooper, a right-hander. It will never be explained why Southworth tried to kid people. Perhaps it’s the Rickey training. In any event, we will know him from now on.

Even Cooper was mystified. Our Mr. Joe King asked him about his mystical sore arm. All Cooper could remember was that he had had it rubbed down. He explained:

I don’t know where it’s sore, but they worked on it.

It is so easy to see what happened. Southworth was getting himself off a spot. If Cooper was beaten – well, he never could beat AL hitting anyway. If Cooper won – well, he took the big generous chance. What price masterminding?

Cooper complete master

As things worked out, Cooper took complete charge pf the ball game. He didn’t surprise any of us who knew he was a truly great pitcher. It was just one of those things that the AL hitters always clubbed him around. His day was sure to come.

One pitch made him stand out with gallantry and courage. It came in the fourth inning. The Yankees had Crosetti and Johnson on base. The score was 4–0 against them.

Keller, the Yankees’ siege gunner, was at bat. There was only one out.

Cooper pitched carefully to him. It didn’t look as if he wanted any part of them. The count got to be three balls and nothing.

One of the press box pundits commented:

That Southworth was right. This Cooper doesn’t like it.

The big pitch

But posterity the count was worked to three and two. The next pitch had to be the big pitch. It would have been so easy to waste the next one, to make it an obvious hall.

Cooper didn’t. He came in there with a low sweeping curve that clipped the corner of the plate. Keller didn’t like it, but he had to swing. He got just a piece of the ball. It drifted languidly to center field and a run came in. the run meant something only in mathematics. If the Yankees were to win, a lot of runs had to come over. This had to be a real big inning. It wasn’t, and that was the ball game. What happened later meant not very much.

And thus it was that the greatest pitcher in the National League, the pitcher who had just received news of his dad’s death, the pitcher who had to know his own manager had given up on him, the pitcher who must have given some thought to the jinx which supposedly kept him from winning against AL pitching – thus it was that Mort Cooper scored one of the greatest pitching victories in the history of the World Series.

Sometime today we must remind ourselves to ask Mr. Southworth what he thinks about masterminding.

26

YANKEES DEFEAT CARDS, 6–2
Bombers’ late drive brings Borowy win

Pitcher scores first run after doubling in sixth inning

New York (UP) –
Hank Borowy, big Yankee right-hander bested Alpha Brazle, rookie southpaw of the Cardinals at Yankee Stadium today as the Yankees won the third game of the World Series to take a 2–1 lead in the fall classic as the tea, moved on to St. Louis to resume play Sunday.

The final score was 6–2.

The paid attendance, 69,990, was the largest crowd ever to witness a World Series game.

Borowy was in trouble in the first inning when Harry Walker doubled to left and Stan Musial walked, but Walker Cooper hit into a double play.

Tuck Stainback, first up for the Yankees, hit Al Brazle’s first pitch for a single to right. Frankie Crosetti sacrificed. Billy Johnson grounded to Marty Marion who threw to third and got Stainback. Charlie Keller fanned for the third out.

Fielding sensational

Sensational catches by Charlie Keller and Danny Litwhiler in the second inning highlighted the play and, in the third, Harry Walker raced far back into right center to haul down a drive by Johnny Lindell.

The Cards staged a rally in the fourth that was good for two runs. San Musial singled to left and went to third on Whitey Kurowski’s hit to left, which Whitey stretched into a double with a great headfirst slide into second. Ray Sanders was given an intentional pass to fill the bases. Danny Litwhiler singled sharply to left scoring Musial and Kurowski. Litwhiler went to second on the throw-in and Marty Marion was passed to fill the bases again. Brazle’s infield fly accounted for the second out and Lou Klein grounded out to end the inning.

Marion let a grounder go through his legs in the fourth for an error but made amends immediately by starting a fast double play.

Borowy got the Yanks’ third hit in the sixth when the ball bounced into the stands in right for a double. Musial took Stainback’s foul and Borowy went to third. Crosetti’s pop into short left was taken by Litwhiler. Kurowski fumbled Johnson’s trickler and Borowy scored the Yanks’ first run.

Errors help Yanks

Lindell singled to center in the last of the eighth and made second when Walker fumbled the ball. George Stirnweiss made his World Series debut as pinch hitter for Borowy. He hit to Sanders who threw to Kurowski in time to get Lindell, but the Yankee outfielder crashed into Whitey at third and the Cards third-sacker dropped the ball. Stainback fired to short left and Lindell held third, but Stirnweiss took second after the catch.

Crosetti received an intentional pass to fill the bases. Lindell, Stirnweiss and Crosetti scored on Johnson’s triple, a line drive to the fence in left center. Keller walked on four pitches. Brazle was relieved by Howard Krist. Gordon singled to left, scoring Johnson and putting Keller on second. Harry Brecheen was called in to pitch. Dickey’s hit struck Gordon, putting him out, and Keller was forced to stay on second. Etten got his first hit of the Series, a single to right, scoring Keller, but dickey was caught going into third.

Johnny Murphy was the Yankees pitcher in the ninth and Ken O’Dea was sent up to bat for Kurowski who was shaken up in the collision at third base. O’Dea flied out. Sanders flied out to Lindell. Litwhiler fanned to end the game.

27

Game 3

Thursday, October 7, 1943 1:30 pm (ET) at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
St. Louis 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 4
New York 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 X 6 8 0

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

AB R H PO A E
Klein, 2b 4 0 0 2 2 0
Walker, cf 4 0 1 1 0 0
Musial, rf 3 1 1 1 1 0
W. Cooper, c 4 0 1 4 1 1
Kurowski, 3b 3 1 1 2 2 2
O’Dea 1 0 0 0 0 0
Sanders, 1b 3 0 0 8 2 0
Litwhiler, lf 4 0 2 3 0 0
Marion, ss 2 0 0 2 4 1
Brazle, p 3 0 0 1 2 0
Krist, p 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brecheen, p 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 2 6 24 14 4

New York Yankees (AL):

AB R H PO A E
Stainback, cf 4 0 1 1 0 0
Crosetti, ss 2 1 0 2 4 0
Johnson, 3b 4 1 1 0 1 0
Keller, lf 3 1 0 2 0 0
Gordon, 2b 4 0 1 3 2 0
Dickey, c 4 0 2 6 1 0
Etten, 1b 4 0 1 9 1 0
Lindell, rf 3 1 1 2 0 0
Borowy, p 2 1 1 2 0 0
Stirnweiss, ph 1 1 0 0 0 0
Murphy, p 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 6 8 27 9 0

WP: Hank Borowy (1–0)
LP: Al Brazle (0–1)
Sv: Johnny Murphy (1)

Attendance: 69,990

28

World Series play-by-play

Yankee Stadium, New York – (special)
The following is the play-by-play account of the Game 1 of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees follows:

First inning

CARDINALS: Klein flied to Stainback in short center. Walker doubled down the left field foul line, sliding into second to beat Keller’s fast return. Musial walked on five pitches. Walker Cooper grounded into a fast double play. Crosetti to Gordon to Etten. No runs, one hit, one left.

YANKEES: Stainback singled down the left field foul line. Crosetti laid down a sacrifice bunt to the left of the mound and was tossed out. Brazle to Klein, who covered first, as Stainback took second. Johnson grounded sharply to Marion and his throw to Kurowski got Stainback at third, while Johnson was safe at first. Keller fanned. No runs, one hit, one left.

Second inning

CARDINALS: Kurowski fouled to Dickey. Sanders fanned on three pitches. Litwhiler lined a single off Borowy’s knee. Although it was a hot smash. Borowy did not appear to be injured. Keller leaned over the left field boxes to catch Marion’s long foul.

YANKEES: Litwhiler came in fast and made a spectacular shoestring catch of Gordon’s liner. Dickey rolled out to Klein. Kurowski came in fast for Etten’s bounder and threw him out. No runs, no hits, none left.

Third inning

CARDINALS: Brazle struck out on three pitches. Klein bunted toward first and was tossed out. Borowy to Etten. Walker skied to Lindell. No runs, no hits, none left.

YANKEES: Lindell sent Walker back for his long fly. Borowy, after hitting several fouls, struck out but had to be thrown out. W. Cooper to Sanders. Stainback bounced out. Marion to Sanders. No runs, no hits, none left.

Fourth inning

CARDINALS: Musial lined between short and third for a single. Walker Cooper, after attempting a bunt, popped to Crosetti between the mound and second base. Kurowski lined a double down the left field foul line. Musial holding up at third. Sanders was given an intentional walk, filling the bases. Litwhiler lined a single to left scoring Musial and Kurowski and putting Sanders on third. Litwhiler went on to second on Keller’s throw to the plate. Marion was given an intentional pass, again filling the bases. Brazle fouled to Etten near first base. Klein bounced out, Crosetti to Etten. Two runs, three hits, three left.

YANKEES: Crosetti was safe when Marion let his roller get through him for an error. Johnson grounded into a double play. Marion to Klein to Sanders. Keller hit to the mound and was tossed out by Brazle. No runs, n0 hits, none left.

Fifth inning

CARDINALS: Walker bunted a pop fly which Borowy took. Musial’s hopper was taken by Crosetti. Walker Cooper bounced out. Johnson to Etten. No runs, no hits, none left.

YANKEES: Gordon bounced out Kurowski to Sanders. Dickey lined a single over Klein’s head into right. Etten popped to Marion in short center. Lindell took a third strike, a change of pace slow ball. No runs, one hit, none left.

Sixth inning

CARDINALS: Kurowski broke his bat as he popped to Etten. Gordon made a great stop of Sanders’ grounder and threw him out. Litwhiler went down swinging. No runs, no hits, none left.

YANKEES: Borowy got a ground-rule double when his drive bounced into the lower left field stands. Musial made a running catch of Stainback’s foul to right; Borowy going to third after the catch. Crosetti flied to Litwhiler in short left; Borowy holding third. Kurowski fumbled Johnson’s grounder, Borowy scoring and Johnson being safe at first. Keller grounded to Marion, who stepped on second to force Johnson. One run, one hit, one left.

Seventh inning

CARDINALS: Marion fanned. Brazle grounded out. Crosetti to Etten. Klein bounced out. Crosetti to Etten. No runs, no hits, none left.

YANKEES: Gordon grounded out. Marion to Sanders. Dickey rolled out. Sanders to Brazle, who covered first. Etten struck out. No runs, no hits, none left.

Eighth inning

CARDINALS: Walker popped to Etten in back of first. Musial hoisted to Keller. W. Cooper lined a single to right. W. Cooper died stealing. No runs, one hit, none left.

YANKEES: Lindell singled to center and continued to second when Walker fumbled the ball. Stirnweiss batted for Borowy. Sanders picked up his bunt and threw to Kurowski in an attempt to get Lindell at third, but Kurowski dropped the ball for an error. Stainback flied to Litwhiler in short left. When Litwhiler threw to the plate, Stirnweiss moved to second. Crosetti was given an intentional pass, filling the bases. Johnson tripled past Walker, scoring Lindell, Stirnweiss and Crosetti and giving the Yanks a 3–1 lead. Keller walked on four straight pitches. Krist replaced Brazle on the mound. Gordon singled past Kurowski, scoring Johnson. Keller stopped at second. Brecheen replaced Krist on the mound. Dickey was given a single when his hot smash hit Gordon. Gordon being ruled out, the putout going to Sanders. Keller held second. Etten lined a single to right, scoring Keller with the Yanks’ sixth run, but Dickey was out trying for third. Musial, W. Cooper to Kurowski. Five runs, five hits, two errors, one left.

Ninth inning

CARDINALS: Mummy went to the mound for New York. O’Dea batted for Kurowski and popped to Gordon. Sanders flied deep to Lindell. Litwhiler went down swinging. No runs, no hits, none left.

YANKEES: Unplayed.

29

Carroll: Yanks now 3–4

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
James Carroll, St. Louis odds maker, still held the New York Yankees as the favorites to win the World Series, despite the fact that St. Louis yesterday tied the classic at one game apiece with its victory. Carroll quoted his prices as 3–4 on the Yanks and 11–10 on the Cards.

30

The Pittsburgh Press (October 8, 1943)

Vital hot corner plays give Yanks third

Lindell’s slide into Kurowski turning point; Whitey drops ball and parade is on

New York (UP) –
Third base certainly has become the “hot corner” of the current World Series, with attention focused upon rookie Billy Johnson of the Yanks and Whitey Kurowski of the Cards.

As the teams travel to St. Louis today, sandy-haired, moon-faced Johnson is being measured for a hero’s laurel wreath; whereas blond Kurowski – the lad who wore the wreath after last year’s classic – is the leading candidate for goat horns.

Johnson, a middle-sized chap of 25 from Montclair, New Jersey, tops the Series batting with .417, after making five hits, driving in three runs, and scoring three runs in 12 trips to the plate during the three games. Moreover, he has fielded flawlessly.

Johnson’s triple decides

In yesterday’s contest, Billy stepped up to the plate, with the bases loaded, in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium before the largest crowd in Series history and slammed the ball to deep left center for a triple that rang up three tallies. This blow won the game, although the New Yorkers triumphed, 6–2, in what many experts regard as the classic’s “crucial” contest.

Coincidentally, 25-year-old Kurowski of Reading, Pennsylvania, was a principal in setting the stage for Johnson’s triple with his second error of the day. It worked out like this:

Johnny Lindell started the Yanks’ eighth inning rally with a single; he continued to second on Harry Walker’s error. Snuffy Stirnweiss, a pinch hitter, was safe at first on a fielder’s choice when the Cards’ first sacker, Ray Sackers, tried to nail Lindell at third.

Knock breath out of Kurowski

Kurowski received the throw all right, but he dropped the ball when big Lindell crashed into him in a desperate slide for the bag. The impact knocked the breath out of Kurowski and sent him sprawling. Umpire Beans Reardon ruled Lindell “safe.”

At the time of Whitey’s error, the Cards were leading, 2–1. It was the turning point of the game. Had Kurowski held the ball, Lindell would have been out. The next man up, Tuck Stainback, fouled out. With two out, no pass would have been issued to Frank Crosetti. Meanwhile, the Cards’ rookie southpaw, Alpha Brazle, probably would have maintained his poise and control; he might have got Crosetti out, ending the inning without a run. Instead, five tallies came in before the Yanks were retired.

Kurowski already had contributed to a Yankee tally in the sixth inning when he bobbled Rival Johnson’s grounder and permitted Hank Borowy to score from third.

Poor Whitey, who decided the 1942 World Series with a home run in the fifth game after winning a previous contest in that classic with a triple, has hit only .200 in the current Series. He has made two hits in 10 tries and driven in one run.

But Whitey and his mates are fighting mad over the Lindell incident. Kurowski is out to redeem himself. Watch that hot corner!

Series resumed Sunday

The train bearing the clubs west was due to arrive in St. Louis late today. But because this year’s Series schedule was made out to fit wartime transportation needs, Saturday will be an off day.

The fifth game will be played Monday, with the sixth, if necessary, scheduled for Tuesday. If a seventh game is needed, there will be an off day for ticket sales and the concluding contest will be played Thursday.

Thus far, it has been one of the richest Series on record. Yesterday’s receipts at New York were only $40 short of the all-time single game record. But the attendance and gate will be lower in St. Louis, for Sportsman’s Park has a capacity of only 35,000, compared with Yankee Stadium’s 72,000.

31

Redbirds confident of victory at home

New York (UP) –
The St. Louis Cardinals, who yesterday blew up in the eight inning and lost the third game of the 1943 World Series, carried their jitters with them to the dressing room, but it didn’t worry manager Billy Southworth.

He said:

They’ve got the batting power and pitching ability to come through and the story’ll be different when they get in St. Louis.

Al Brazle was confident, too, that the story will be different later in the Series. Brazle who was pulled out by Southworth in the eighth inning, said he had never pitched better baseball in his life.

Brazle wants another run

He said:

All I want is one more crack at ‘em.

Brazle, who had been with the minor leaguers for the last eight years and joined the Cards two and a half months ago, obviously was bidding for another try when the Series continues Sunday in St. Louis.

All concerned were philosophical on the crouching slide made into third by the Yanks’ right fielder, John Lindell, which started the rally leading to the winning score of the American League champs – and injured third baseman Kurowski of the Cards.

Manager Joe McCarthy said:

Hell, baseball’s no pink tea. Lindell was coming in there and he was coming in high. It just happened, that’s all.

Lindell recalled that his jaw struck Kurowski, and the latter said his neck was snapped back in some manner.

McCarthy chooses Russo

McCarthy was his old self in the dressing room – resuming his customary task of doping out victories for the Yanks. It was different atmosphere than prevailed Wednesday after the Cards took the second game of the Series.

Marse Joe said:

If you want to know whom I’m going to start in St. Louis, it’s Russo. That is, if I don’t change my mind, and if I do, I’ll go with Spud Chandler.

Southworth said he did not yet know whom he will start for the Cards.

McCarthy whistled when he was told the attendance of 69,990 had broken the previous record of 69,902 registered last year, but he brushed aside friends congratulating him.

Waving toward the showers, he said:

Congratulate the boys out there.

He paid tribute to Hank Borowy’s pitching, asking the crowd in his stuffy little office if Hank didn’t “really pitch a ball game?”

Bill the Kid Southworth was his usual subdued, polite self in the Cards’ dressing room.

He said:

That’s the way it is with baseball. If there weren’t errors, they could throw away the rulebooks.

32

The Pittsburgh Press (October 9, 1943)

Veterans Crosetti, Dickey show fine form for Yanks

By Walter Byers, United Press staff writer

St. Louis, Missouri –
In few World Series has the contrast of youth and age been so vividly portrayed as in this year’s autumnal classic. The Yankees, only two games shy of their 10th World Championship, to date have capitalized on their experience, while the Cardinals have blundered with the nervousness of youth’s inexperience.

Two of New York’s coolest and canniest veterans have been Frank Crosetti, once replaced by young Phil Rizzuto as Yankees shortstop, and Bill Dickey, the old Arkansas traveler. Crosetti, at the age of 33, took over his old position again this year when Rizzuto joined the Navy and is playing in his sixth World Series. The veteran Italian is probably the Series’ biggest and most pleasant surprise. While handling 17 fielding chances, Crosetti has made

Dickey, who tied Babe Ruth’s World Series record for playing with one club when he performed in one club when he performed in the third game last Thursday, will be playing his 37th Series game tomorrow.

Although the big Yankees catcher doesn’t hit as hard or run as fast as he once did, Dickey is still the incomparable Dickey. He has played errorless baseball and is hitting .273 for three games.

What ‘freshmen’ are doing

Contrasted to the oldsters, here’s what some of the “freshmen” have accomplished to date while making their debut in baseball’s “party of the year.”

Bill Johnson (Yankees third baseman who is generally considered 1943’s “rookie of the year”) has a .417 average to date, accented by his base-clearing triple in the eighth inning of the third game, scored three runs and made five hits, has handled five fielding chances in flawless fashion and has been one of the Series’ outstanding players.

Danny Litwhiler (Cardinals outfielder who came from Philadelphia in mid-season to get his first World Series opportunity) robbed Nick Etten of a possible hit for the last putout of the first game, failed to hit safely until the third game when he broke in with two singles to drive in both Cardinals runs, stole a hit from Joe Gordon in the second inning of the third game with a one-handed shoestring catch, has handled nine outputs without an error.

Nick Etten (former Philadelphian who took over Yankees first base when Babe Dahlgren was demoted) has driven in two runs, has generally been the Yankees’ biggest offensive disappointment, and has successfully executed 25 fielding plays with only one error – a mental lapse in the fifth inning of the first game which eventually permitted the Cards to tie the score.

Alpha Brazle (rookie southpaw from Cortez, Colorado, who jumped from Sacramento to the Cardinals as a replacement for Howard Pollet) charged with three Yankees-earned runs and loss of the third game, for seven innings pitched three-hit ball and permitted one unearned run until the Cardinals defense fell apart in the big Yankees eighth.

Debut as outfielder

John Lindell (who advanced from Kansas City to the New York parent club as a pitcher and is making his debut in the Yankees outfield) scored a run in the third game while picking up his first hit of the Series, yielded his place to Bud Metheny in the second game after starting in the series opener, has handled five putouts without an error, and was the chief cause for Whitey Kurowski’s fumble, which ignited the Yankees’ game-winning eighth inning of the third contest.

Lou Klein (Cardinals second baseman who is replacing Jimmy Brown in this year’s champion) has made two hits in 12 appearances, participated in three double plays and has handled 15 fielding chances, making only one error when he booted a grounder in the first game.

33

Game 4

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS):

34

Game 4

Sunday, October 10, 1943 1:30 pm (CT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 6 2
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 7 1

New York Yankees (AL):

AB R H PO A E
Stainback, cf 3 0 0 1 0 0
Crosetti, ss 4 0 1 2 2 1
Johnson, 3b 4 0 0 1 2 1
Keller, lf 4 0 1 4 0 0
Gordon, 2b 4 1 1 3 7 0
Dickey, c 3 0 1 2 0 0
Etten, 1b 4 0 0 11 0 0
Lindell, rf 3 0 0 3 0 0
Russo, p 3 1 2 0 2 0
Totals 32 2 6 27 13 2

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

AB R H PO A E
Klein, 2b 5 0 0 1 4 1
Walker, cf 4 0 0 2 0 0
Musial, rf 4 0 2 2 1 0
W. Cooper, c 4 0 1 7 0 0
Kurowski, 3b 4 0 0 2 1 0
Sanders, 1b 4 1 1 10 1 0
Litwhiler, lf 4 0 1 2 0 0
Marion, ss 3 0 2 1 1 0
Lanier, p 2 0 0 0 1 0
Demaree, ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
White, pr 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brecheen, p 0 0 0 0 1 0
Narron, ph 1 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 1 7 27 10 1

WP: Marius Russo (1–0)
LP: Harry Brecheen (0–1)

Attendance: 36,196

35

Game 5

Radio broadcast of the game (MBS):

36

The Pittsburgh Press (October 11, 1943)

YANKS DEFEAT CARDS 2–0 TO WIN WORLD SERIES
Bill Dickey’s homer blasts Card hopes

Yankee catcher’s drive scores Keller in sixth inning

St. Louis, Missouri (UP) –
The New York Yankees became the world champions of 1943 at Sportsman’s Park here today when they defeated the Cardinals in the fifth game of the World Series.

The score was 2–0.

Bill Dickey’s home run with Charlie Keller on base in the sixth inning spoiled a grand pitching effort by Mort cooper who had set the Bronx bombers down with comparative ease until that time.

Mort Cooper started off in great fashion as he fanned Frank Crosetti, Bud Metheny and Billy Johnson in the first inning. He continued his work in the second by fanning Charlie Keller and Bill Dickey before Nick Etten worked him for a pass.

Ray Sanders singled to open the second inning. He was safe at second and Johnny Hopp made first when Crosetti dropped the ball on the force play. Marion sacrificed, advancing both runners. Mort Cooper fanned, and Klein flied out to end the Cards’ second threat.

Cooper was in trouble briefly in the third when Crosetti and Metheny singled with two out, but Billy Johnson popped to Kurowski for the final out. Walker Cooper singled in the Cards’ half after two were gone and he was out trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Kurowski beat out a bunt in the fourth and Ray Sanders walked on four pitched balls. Hopp fanned. Marion hit to Crosetti who got Sanders at second, but Marion beat the throw to first. Cooper grounded out.

The Yankees made a bid in the fifth, but it was stifled by Cooper. However, it was a costly frame for the Cardinals as Walker Cooper was hit on the finger by a foul tip and had to leave the game. Ken O’Dea took over the catching job. With one out, Tuck Stainback scratched a single and went to second on a sacrifice. He made third on a wild pitch but stayed there when Crosetti flied out.

Bill Dickey hit a home run, after Keller singled, to score the first runs of the game in the sixth. In the seventh, Gordon walked and was sacrificed to second by Stainback, but Chandler and Crosetti were easy outs.

Cooper went out for a pinch hitter in the last of the seventh and Max Lanier was back for his third try at the Yanks in the eighth. After fanning Lanier, he got into trouble when Billy Johnson singled and Keller worked him for a pass. Dickey hit into a double play to end the inning.

In the eighth, O’Dea singled with two out and Kurowski moved him along with a single over third, but Gordon snapped up Sanders’ grounder and got him at first.

Etten beat out a trickler to open the Yanks ninth and Gordon walked. Stainback bunted and Etten was out at third. With Chandler up, Southworth called in Murry Dickson, a right-hander, to replace Lanier. Chandler fouled to O’Dea, but Crosetti waited for a walk to fill the bases. Metheny grounded out to end the threat.

37

That’s disappointing :disappointed: :laughing: always next year.

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38

Game 5

Monday, October 11, 1943 1:30 pm (CT) at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, Missouri

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 7 1
St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 1

New York Yankees (AL):

AB R H PO A E
Stainback, cf 3 0 1 0 0 0
Crosetti, ss 4 0 1 0 5 1
Metheny, rf 5 0 1 1 0 0
Johnson, 3b 4 0 1 1 2 0
Keller, lf 3 1 1 1 1 0
Gordon, 2b 2 0 0 6 6 0
Dickey, c 4 1 1 7 0 0
Etten, 1b 3 0 1 11 1 0
Lindell, rf 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chandler, p 3 0 0 0 2 0
Totals 31 2 7 27 17 1

St. Louis Cardinals (NL):

AB R H PO A E
Klein, 2b 5 0 1 3 1 0
Garms, lf 4 0 0 1 0 0
Musial, rf 3 0 0 1 0 0
W. Cooper, c 2 0 1 6 0 0
O’Dea, c 2 0 2 2 0 0
Kurowski, 3b 4 0 2 3 3 0
Sanders, 1b 3 0 1 7 2 0
Hopp, cf 4 0 0 1 0 0
Marion, ss 3 0 1 2 3 0
M. Cooper 2 0 0 0 1 0
Walker, ph 1 0 1 0 0 0
Lanier, p 0 0 0 0 1 0
Dickson, p 0 0 0 1 0 0
Litwhiler, ph 1 0 1 0 0 0
Totals 34 0 10 27 11 1

WP: Spud Chandler (2–0)
LP: Mort Cooper (1–1)

HR:

  • NYY: Bill Dickey (1)
  • STL: None

Attendance: 33,372

39

We’ll see, my friend. We’ll see. I’m hoping for the Dodgers to get in :smile:.

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