The 1941 World Series matched the

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

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

dropped third strike In baseball and softball, an uncaught third strike (sometimes referred to as dropped third strike or non-caught third strike) occurs when the catcher fails to cleanly catch a pitch for the third strike of a plate appearance. In Major League Base ...

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 curv ...

(a suspected spitball) 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'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 Det ...

walked with two outs and scored on Bill Dickey'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 American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers from 1940 to 1958. A ten-time All-Sta ...

singled with two outs off of Red Ruffing 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 Lewis Sidney Riggs (April 22, 1910 – August 12, 1975) born in Caswell County, North Carolina was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals (1934), Cincinnati Reds (1935–40) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1941–42 and 1946). He helped the Cardinals ...

' single scored Cookie Lavagetto in the seventh inning as the Dodgers pulled to within 3–2. Then they threatened in the ninth inning with hits by Joe Medwick and

, before Ruffing was able to get Herman Franks 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 ...

's RBI single in the second with runners on second and third, but Joe Gordon 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 in the sixth put the Dodgers up 3–2. Wyatt gave up a pinch single to George Selkirk 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 Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide ...

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-St ...

. 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 walked two with two outs before both runners scored on Jimmy Wasdell's double. Next inning, Pete Reiser'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 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. Bill Dickey would follow up with a walk and, along with Keller, score on a Joe Gordon double to make the final score 7–4. Johnny Murphy 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".

Game 5

In the fifth inning, Whit Wyatt 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 (1947–1 ...

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 Joe Gordon made it 2–0 Yankees. Pete Reiser'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 Tommy Henrich'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 Brooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

Aftermath

In 1947 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 Worl ...

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)