The 1943

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 ...

was the championship series in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 1943 season. The 40th edition of the World Series, it matched the defending champion

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

against 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 ...

, in a rematch of the 1942 Series. The Yankees won the Series in five games for their tenth championship in 21 seasons. It was Yankees manager

Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most vis ...

's final Series win. This series was also the first to have an accompanying World Series highlight film (initially, the films were created as gifts to troops fighting in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, to give them a brief recap of baseball action back home), a tradition that persists. This World Series was scheduled for a 3–4 format because of wartime travel restrictions. The 3–4 format meant there was only one trip between ballparks, but if the Series had ended in a four-game sweep, there would have been three games played in one park and only one in the other. Because of World War II, both teams' rosters were depleted.

Johnny Beazley John Andrew Beazley (May 25, 1918 – April 21, 1990) was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Braves. As a rookie in 1942, Beazley went 21–6 with a 2.13 ERA for the Cardinals, as ...

, Jimmy Brown,

Creepy Crespi Frank Angelo Joseph "Creepy" Crespi (February 16, 1918 – March 1, 1990) was a Major League Baseball player who played infielder from - for the St. Louis Cardinals. He made his major league debut on 14 September 1938 playing second base for the ...

, Terry Moore and

Enos Slaughter Enos Bradsher Slaughter (April 27, 1916 – August 12, 2002), nicknamed "Country", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) right fielder. He played for 19 seasons on four major league teams from 1938 to 1942 and 1946 to 1959. He is noted prima ...

were no longer on the Cardinals' roster.

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 ...

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...

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

Buddy Hassett John Aloysius "Buddy" Hassett (September 5, 1911 – August 23, 1997) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Bees / Braves, and New York Yank ...

were missing from the Yankees, and

Red Rolfe Robert Abial "Red" Rolfe (October 17, 1908 – July 8, 1969) was an American third baseman, manager and front-office executive in Major League Baseball. A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Rolfe also was an Ivy Leaguer: a graduate, then long- ...

had retired to coach at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. Cardinals pitchers

Howie Pollet Howard Joseph Pollet (June 26, 1921 – August 8, 1974) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and 1950s. A three-time All-Star in 1943, 1946 and 1949, he twice led the National League in earned run averag ...

Max Lanier Hubert Max Lanier (August 18, 1915 – January 30, 2007) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He led the National League in earned run average in 1943, and was the ...

and

Mort Cooper Morton Cecil Cooper (March 2, 1913 – November 17, 1958) was an American baseball pitcher who played eleven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played from 1938 to 1949 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Braves, New York Giants, and Chi ...

ranked 1–2–3 in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in ERA in 1943 at 1.75, 1.90 and 2.30, respectively.

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

In Game 1, the Cardinals went up 1–0 in the second against

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 ...

Marty Marion Martin Whiteford "Mr. Shortstop" Marion (December 1, 1917 – March 15, 2011) was an American Major League Baseball shortstop and manager. Marion played for the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns between 1940–1953. He was a defensive s ...

's RBI double with two on. In the fourth inning, with runners on first and third and no outs off

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 ...

's double-play tied the game, then

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 put the Yankees up 2–1. The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth inning when Ray Sanders hit a leadoff single, moved to second on an error and scored on Lanier's single. In the sixth inning, after two leadoff singles, a one-out wild pitch by Lanier put the Yankees up 3–2, then

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 ...

added an insurance run with an RBI single. Chandler pitched a complete game to give the Yankees a 1–0 series lead.

Game 2

The Cardinals' only victory came the same day as the death of

Mort ''Mort'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the fourth ''Discworld'' novel and the first to focus on the character Death, who only appeared as a side character in the previous novels. The title is the ...

and

Walker Cooper William Walker Cooper (January 8, 1915 – April 11, 1991) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1940 to 1957, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals with whom h ...

's father, Robert.

's leadoff home run in the third off

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– ...

put the Cardinals up 1–0. In the fourth,

Stan Musial Stanley Frank Musial (; born Stanislaw Franciszek Musial; November 21, 1920 – January 19, 2013), nicknamed "Stan the Man", was an American baseball outfielder and first baseman. Widely considered to be one of the greatest and most consis ...

hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a groundout and scored on

Whitey Kurowski George John Kurowski (April 19, 1918 – December 9, 1999) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals (– 49). Kurowski's childhood nickname came from his already white hair. Childhoo ...

's RBI single. Ray Sanders's two-run home run then made it 4–0 Cardinals. In the bottom of the inning,

's sacrifice fly with two on off Mort Cooper put the Yankees on the board. In the ninth, Billy Johnson hit a leadoff double, then scored on Cooper's triple. After a line-out,

Nick Etten Nicholas Raymond Thomas Etten (September 19, 1913 – October 18, 1990) was a first baseman in major league baseball, who played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1938–39), Philadelphia Phillies (1941–42, 1947) and New York Yankees (1943–46). ...

's RBI groundout cut the Cardinals' lead to one, but Cooper got

to pop out in foul territory to end the game and tie the series 1–1.

Game 3

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the fourth on a single, double and intentional walk off

Hank Borowy Henry Ludwig Borowy (May 12, 1916 – August 23, 2004) was an American professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1942 through 1951 for the New York Yankees (1942–45), Chicago Cubs (1945–48), Phila ...

before

Danny Litwhiler Daniel Webster Litwhiler (August 31, 1916 – September 23, 2011) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1940 to 1951 for the Boston Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelp ...

drove in two with a single to left, but Borowy allowed no other runs in eight innings. In the sixth, Borowy hit a leadoff double off

Al Brazle Alpha Eugene Brazle (October 19, 1913 – October 24, 1973) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. The left-hander was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent in 1936, and later traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Mike Ryba ...

, moved to third on a sacrifice fly, and scored on an error on Billy Johnson's groundball. In the eighth, the Yankees loaded the bases on a single, fielder's choice and intentional walk before Johnson cleared them with a triple, putting the Yankees up 4–2. They added to their lead on RBI singles by

off

Howie Krist Howard Wilbur Krist (February 28, 1916 – April 23, 1989) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1937 to 1946. "Spud" (a nickname that described his humble beginnings on a New York potato farm) played his entire career for the St. Louis Car ...

and

off

Harry Brecheen Harry David Brecheen (, , October 14, 1914 – January 17, 2004), nicknamed "The Cat", was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the St. Louis Cardinals. In the late 1940s he was among the team ...

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 ...

pitched a perfect ninth as the Yankees went up 2–1 in the series.

Game 4

In Game 4, the Yankees struck first when

doubled with two outs in the fourth off

and scored on

's single. In the seventh,

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 ...

got two outs, then allowed the Cardinals to load the bases on an error, double and intentional walk before another error on

Frank Demaree Joseph Franklin Demaree (June 10, 1910 – August 30, 1958) was an American baseball outfielder. He played all or part of twelve seasons in the majors for the Chicago Cubs (1932–33, 1935–38), New York Giants (1939–41), Boston Braves (1941– ...

's groundball tied the game. In the eighth, Russo hit a leadoff double off

, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on

Frankie Crosetti Frank Peter Joseph Crosetti (October 4, 1910 – February 11, 2002) was an American baseball shortstop. Nicknamed "The Crow", he spent his entire seventeen-year Major League Baseball playing career with the New York Yankees before becoming a coach ...

's sacrifice fly. Russo pitched a complete game to leave the Yankees one win away from the championship.

Game 5

Murry Dickson Murry Monroe Dickson (August 21, 1916 – September 21, 1989) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) during the 1940s and 1950s. He was known for his vast array of pitches and delive ...

, who helped close the door for the Cardinals by allowing no hits while on the mound, was on a ten-day pass from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

won his second complete game of the series, shutting out the Cardinals despite giving up 10 hits and two walks.

provided the game's only runs on a home run in the sixth after a two-out walk off

Composite box

1943 World Series (4–1):

(A.L.) over

(N.L.)

Notes

References

External links

{{Major League Baseball on Mutual World Series

New York Yankees postseason St. Louis Cardinals postseason

1940s in St. Louis

Sports competitions in New York City Sports competitions in St. Louis 1940s in the Bronx Yankee Stadium (1923)