Tuesday, March 06, 2007 |
Today's Birthdays
Terry Adams LAN b. 1973, played 2000-2001
Frank Gatins BRO b. 1871, played 1901, d. 1911-11-08
Gerry Hannahs LAN b. 1953, played 1978-1979
John McMakin BRO b. 1878, played 1902, d. 1956-09-25
George Mohart BRO b. 1892, played 1920-1921, d. 1970-10-02
Bud Podbielan BRO b. 1924, played 1949-1952, d. 1982-10-26. On September 30, 1951, Jackie Robinson almost single-handedly saved the Dodgers' season — which was about to turn to ash in the Shot Heard 'Round The World anyway, but here I get ahead of myself...
The 1951 pennant race was one of the most exciting in baseball history. The Dodgers, sputtering at first, then grabbed a one game lead over the Braves on May 15. Meanwhile, the crosstown Giants, led by erstwhile Dodger manager Leo Durocher, were 13-16, four games back and trailing the league. Thanks to collapses by the Reds and Braves, the Giants leapfrogged all the way back to second place by June 12, but they were still six games back of the Dodgers. By June 23, the Dodgers had extended their lead to seven games.
The Dodgers extended the lead to twelve and a half games following a three-game series sweep of the Giants at home that ended August 9. The pennant was in the bag it seemed, and after the final game of the series, with the Giants still in the stadium in the visitor's clubhouse, the Dodgers started to shout how bad a team the Giants were, and what a lousy manager Durocher was.
It was a turning point for New York. Partly fueled by their rage at the Dodgers' hubris, partly by a very good young arm, Al Corwin, who went 5-1 the rest of the way, and partly thanks to some crafty cheating on the part of Leo Durocher (he installed a spy with a telephoto lens in centerfield to read the opposition's signs), the Giants didn't lose another game that month. They repeated their hot August with a September tear, while the Dodgers played more or less .500 ball going down the stretch. On September 28, the Dodgers and Giants were tied, with the Dodgers playing the sub-.500 Phillies — and then the Giants — for the remaining games of the season.
The Giants swept Boston on the road in a two-game set, meaning the Dodgers had to at least win two against the Phillies, also on the road. In the last game of the Philadelphia series, Jackie Robinson very nearly won the entire game by himself; in the bottom of the twelfth, the score was tied 8-8 with two outs and the bases loaded. Eddie Waitkus smashed a line drive up the middle, and Jackie Robinson made a leaping, full extension catch, covering himself with infield dirt in such a way that the umpire, who had been standing over him, saw it as an inning-ending fair catch (though others felt it was an artfully concealed trap). Then in the bottom half of that inning, Robinson hit a two-out solo homer to give the Dodgers the lead.
Bud Podbielan got the save, pitching to a total of six men in the game, and getting all of them out, thanks to Jackie Robinson. The Dodgers limped to a tie with the Giants, and then Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson, and history.
Labels: dodgers
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