Born and raised in Brooklyn, a rabid Dodgers fan, when asked what year would I like to get stuck in — relive again — my answer always is 1955. I was twelve and injured my leg — a deep would requiring many two-level stitches and confined to home. Thus I was able to watch every pitch of the 1955 World Series.
Howard, thanks for your comment. I'm following the 1955 Dodgers day-by-day in the newspaper archives and reporting on stories when there is something fascinating to share. In case you haven't seen my prior 1955 Dodgers' articles, you can look in my archives and find them: https://lenferman.substack.com/archive
When you get to October 4, keep in mind the following from SABR.
As the Dodgers took the field in the bottom of the sixth inning, the stage was being set for one of the most dramatic plays in their history. Alston’s use of pinch-hitter George Shuba required a series of defensive moves, one of which included inserting Sandy Amoros in left field. Later, it was dubbed the “most fortunate strategic move” of the World Series.
Amoros was a lefty and thus could reach out for the fly ball. He replaced Gilliam, a righty, who moved in to 2B. A righty would never have made that catch.
To illustrate the difference between baseball strategy then and now, in the sixth inning both Duke Snider and Roy Campanella laid down sacrifice bunts.
Thanks Howard. I've made a note of that. I'm already seeing that Alston has moved Amoros around the outfield in several games "this year" so this was not a anomaly. By the way, I'm not going to write a story on it, but "last night" made his second appearance and he got to face Willie Mays. So in his first 2 games in the majors at age 19 he faced Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Mays was having a sensational game. He had driven in all 6 of the Giants runs. Koufax walked him and he loaded the bases. And then he retired the next 3 batters. So Koufax, in his first 2 appearances, has got out of 2 bases loaded jams, and has not allowed a run.
Nice write up!
Born and raised in Brooklyn, a rabid Dodgers fan, when asked what year would I like to get stuck in — relive again — my answer always is 1955. I was twelve and injured my leg — a deep would requiring many two-level stitches and confined to home. Thus I was able to watch every pitch of the 1955 World Series.
Howard, thanks for your comment. I'm following the 1955 Dodgers day-by-day in the newspaper archives and reporting on stories when there is something fascinating to share. In case you haven't seen my prior 1955 Dodgers' articles, you can look in my archives and find them: https://lenferman.substack.com/archive
When you get to October 4, keep in mind the following from SABR.
As the Dodgers took the field in the bottom of the sixth inning, the stage was being set for one of the most dramatic plays in their history. Alston’s use of pinch-hitter George Shuba required a series of defensive moves, one of which included inserting Sandy Amoros in left field. Later, it was dubbed the “most fortunate strategic move” of the World Series.
Amoros was a lefty and thus could reach out for the fly ball. He replaced Gilliam, a righty, who moved in to 2B. A righty would never have made that catch.
To illustrate the difference between baseball strategy then and now, in the sixth inning both Duke Snider and Roy Campanella laid down sacrifice bunts.
Thanks Howard. I've made a note of that. I'm already seeing that Alston has moved Amoros around the outfield in several games "this year" so this was not a anomaly. By the way, I'm not going to write a story on it, but "last night" made his second appearance and he got to face Willie Mays. So in his first 2 games in the majors at age 19 he faced Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Mays was having a sensational game. He had driven in all 6 of the Giants runs. Koufax walked him and he loaded the bases. And then he retired the next 3 batters. So Koufax, in his first 2 appearances, has got out of 2 bases loaded jams, and has not allowed a run.