The 1941 World Series matched the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

against the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall. The name "

Subway Series The Subway Series is a series of Major League Baseball (MLB) rivalry games played between the two teams based in New York City, the Yankees and the Mets. Previously, this applied to the Giants and Dodgers as well, before they moved out of New ...

" arose for a World Series played between two New York City teams. The series was punctuated by the Dodgers'

Mickey Owen Arnold Malcolm "Mickey" Owen (April 4, 1916 – July 13, 2005) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played as a catcher for 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between and for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brookly ...

's dropped third strike of a sharply breaking

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

(a suspected

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to m ...

) pitched by Hugh Casey in the ninth inning of Game 4. The play led to a Yankees rally and brought them one win away from another championship. The Yankees were back after a one-year hiatus, having won 13 of their last 14 Series games and 28 of their last 31. This was the first Subway Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees (though the Yankees had already faced the crosstown New York Giants five times). These two teams would meet a total of seven times from 1941 to 1956 — the Dodgers' only victory coming in 1955 — with an additional four matchups after the Dodgers left for Los Angeles, most recently in 1981.

Summary

†: postponed from October 3 due to rain

Matchups

Game 1

Joe Gordon Joseph Lowell Gordon (February 18, 1915 – April 14, 1978), nicknamed "Flash" in reference to the comic-book character ''Flash Gordon'', was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yank ...

's home run in the second inning off of

Curt Davis Curtis Benton Davis (September 7, 1903 – October 12, 1965) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Even though he did not reach the big leagues until he was 30, the right-hander was a two-time National League All-Star over a 13-year ...

put the Yankees up 1–0. In the fourth inning,

Charlie Keller Charles Ernest Keller (September 12, 1916 – May 23, 1990) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball from 1939 through 1952 for the New York Yankees (1939–43, 1945–49, 1952) and Detroi ...

walked with two outs and scored on

Bill Dickey William Malcolm Dickey (June 6, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in ...

's double to extend the lead to 2–0. The Dodgers cut it to 2–1 in the fifth inning when

Pee Wee Reese Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee" Reese (July 23, 1918 – August 14, 1999) was an Americans, American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 194 ...

singled with two outs off of

Red Ruffing Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing (May 3, 1905 – February 17, 1986) was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1924 through 1947. He played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, ...

and scored on

's triple. In the sixth inning, after a one-out walk and single, Gordon's RBI single made it 3–1 Yankees. After a single and error, pinch-hitter Lew Riggs' single scored

Cookie Lavagetto Harry Arthur "Cookie" Lavagetto (December 1, 1912 – August 10, 1990) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a third baseman from 1934 to 1947. Lavagetto started his majo ...

in the seventh inning as the Dodgers pulled to within 3–2. Then they threatened in the ninth inning with hits by

Joe Medwick Joseph Michael Medwick (November 24, 1911 – March 21, 1975), nicknamed "Ducky" and "Muscles", was an American Major League Baseball player. A left fielder with the St. Louis Cardinals during the " Gashouse Gang" era of the 1930s, he also pla ...

and

, before Ruffing was able to get

Herman Franks Herman Louis Franks (January 4, 1914 – March 30, 2009) was a catcher, coach (baseball), coach, manager (baseball), manager, general manager (baseball), general manager and scout (sports), scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in Price, Ut ...

to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Game 2

The Yankees struck first in Game 2 on

Spud Chandler Spurgeon Ferdinand "Spud" Chandler (September 12, 1907 – January 9, 1990) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed starting pitcher and played his entire career for the New York Yankees f ...

's RBI single in the second with runners on second and third, but

was thrown out at home trying to score to end the inning. Next inning,

's RBI single with two on made it 2–0 Yankees. In the fifth, the Dodgers loaded the bases off of Chandler with no outs on a double and two walks when

's sacrifice fly and

's RBI single tied the game. Next inning, an error and single put two on with no outs off of Chandler, then

Dolph Camilli Adolph Louis Camilli (April 23, 1907 – October 21, 1997) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Pl ...

's single off relief pitcher

Johnny Murphy John Joseph Murphy (July 14, 1908 – January 14, 1970) was an All-Star American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball (1932, 1934–43, 1946–47) who later became a front office executive in the game. Yankees' relief ace After ...

in the sixth put the Dodgers up 3–2. Wyatt gave up a pinch single to

George Selkirk George Alexander Selkirk (January 4, 1908 – January 19, 1987) was a Canadian outfielder and front office executive in Major League Baseball. In 1935, Selkirk succeeded Babe Ruth as the right fielder of the New York Yankees—and also inher ...

leading off the ninth, but nailed down a complete-game victory.

Game 3

With the veteran

Freddie Fitzsimmons Frederick Landis Fitzsimmons (July 28, 1901 – November 18, 1979) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to with the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. ...

dueling young southpaw

Marius Russo Marius Ugo Russo (July 19, 1914 – March 26, 2005) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yankees (1939–43, 1946). Russo batted right-handed and threw left-handed. Profile Marius Russo was born July 19, 19 ...

, there was no score into the top of the seventh. With two outs, Russo lined a drive off Fitzsimmons' knee that broke his kneecap. The ball caromed into Pee Wee Reese's glove for the third out, but Fitzsimmons was forced from the game. Hugh Casey, who came out to pitch in the eighth for Brooklyn, promptly gave up four straight one-out singles, the last two of which to

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

and

scoring a run each. The Dodgers made it a one-run game in the bottom half when

Dixie Walker Fred E. "Dixie" Walker (September 24, 1910 – May 17, 1982) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout and minor league manager. He played as a right fielder in Major League Baseball from 1931 to 1949. Although Walker was a fi ...

hit a leadoff double and scored on

's single, but Russo pitched a perfect ninth for a complete game as the Yankees won 2–1.

Game 4

In Game 4, the Yankees struck first in the top of the first on

's RBI single with two on off of

Kirby Higbe Walter Kirby Higbe (April 8, 1915 – May 6, 1985) was an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1937 to 1950. Best known for his time with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was a two-time National League (NL) All-S ...

. In the fourth, they loaded the bases with no outs on a double, walk and single and two outs later, Johnny Sturm's two-run single made it 3–0 Yankees and knock Higbe out of the game. In the bottom half,

Atley Donald Richard Atley Donald (August 19, 1910 – October 19, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. A native of Morton, Mississippi, the right-hander played for the New York Yankees from 1938 to 1945. "Swampy", as he was nicknamed, stood and weighed ...

walked two with two outs before both runners scored on

Jimmy Wasdell James Charles Wasdell (May 15, 1914 – August 6, 1983) was an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for all or portions of 11 seasons between and for the Washington Senators, B ...

's double. Next inning,

Pete Reiser Harold Patrick Reiser (March 17, 1919 – October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete", was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), during the 1940s and early 1950s. While known primarily f ...

's two-run home run put the Dodgers up 4–3, but with two out, two strikes and no runners on base in the ninth, the Yankees rallied off of Hugh Casey. First

Tommy Henrich Thomas David Henrich (February 20, 1913 – December 1, 2009), nicknamed "The Clutch" and "Old Reliable", was an American professional baseball player of German descent. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a right fielder an ...

swung and missed, which would have ended the game, but Dodger catcher

failed to catch the ball and Henrich reached first base. Owen recollected the incident:

followed with a single and

hit a double to drive in Henrich and DiMaggio and take the lead.

would follow up with a walk and, along with Keller, score on a

double to make the final score 7–4.

pitched two shutout innings to close the game as the Yankees were one win away from the championship.

Meyer Berger Meyer "Mike" Berger (September 1, 1898 – February 8, 1959) was an American journalist, considered one of the finest newspaper reporters. He was also known for "About New York", a long-running column in ''The New York Times'', and for his cente ...

of ''The New York Times'' covered the events in "Casey in the Box", a poem derived from the 1888 classic "

Casey at the Bat Casey at the Bat is a poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. Casey at the Bat may also refer to: * ''Casey at the Bat'' (1916 film), a film based on the poem * ''Casey at the Bat'' (1927 film), a film based on the poem * ''Casey at the Bat'', a ...

Game 5

In the fifth inning,

Whit Wyatt John Whitlow Wyatt (September 27, 1907 – July 16, 1999) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of sixteen seasons in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1929–33), Chicago White Sox (1933–36), Clevela ...

and

almost came to blows on the mound as DiMaggio returned to the dugout after flying out.

Tiny Bonham Ernest Edward "Tiny" Bonham (August 16, 1913 – September 15, 1949) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). From 1940 to 1949, he played for the New York Yankees (1940–1946) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1947– ...

pitched a complete game 4-hitter, allowing only one hit and one walk after the third inning. In the second, with runners on first and third, a wild pitch by Wyatt and RBI single by

made it 2–0 Yankees.

's sacrifice fly in the third with two on cut it to 2–1, but the Yankees got that run back in the fifth on

's home run. The Dodgers hit only .182 as a team, contributing to their 5-game loss.

Composite box

1941 World Series (4–1):

(A.L.) over

(N.L.)

Aftermath

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

the Yankees and Dodgers would meet in the World Series for the second time and again play a dramatic Game 4 which was decided on a lead change with two outs in the ninth inning. That time the Dodgers would be on the winning side to tie the series but would once again end up losing it. Ironically, in the 1947 game the Dodgers’ winning pitcher was none other than Hugh Casey – the Game 4 loser in 1941 – even though he pitched to only one batter.

Notes

References

External links

{{Subway Series World Series

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

New York Yankees postseason Brooklyn Dodgers postseason

Sports competitions in New York City 1940s in the Bronx 1940s in Brooklyn Flatbush, Brooklyn Yankee Stadium (1923)