1947 World Series recap

Amidst the backdrop of uncertainty and bizarre times, I recently completed the 1947 APBA replay that I began in August 2019. Other than a brief stop in daily play when I got somewhat burned out and another stretch when I dealt with two infections, the season moved along pretty quickly and its resolve turned out well. Like I always, always say when doing these replays. It was a good season.

And one of the draws of APBA is learning the particular season. Sure, when we roll the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1947, we know of Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges and Ralph Branca, but I learned of relief pitcher Hugh Casey who, I believe, cost the Dodgers’ their pennant with poor pitching during the stretch. The Dodgers lost the pennant to the Cardinals by six games. Casey lost six games during the season, mostly during that stretch. There was a point when he’d come to the mound, I almost expected him to blow the lead and lose the game. Often, he did.

So, we see some of the nuances of the season develop as we play. The New York Giants seemed to hit back-to-back home runs often. The team led the majors with 231 home runs. In the real 1947, they hit 221 home runs to lead baseball. And in a mirror to real life again, Ralph Kiner and Johnny Mize tied, each with 53 dingers, for the home run lead in my replay. In the reason season, each hit 51.

There were frustrating teams to play. Cleveland, with Bob Feller on the mound and decent bats, couldn’t make a run and finished 17 games behind the Yankees. The White Sox only had Rudy York, who played well above the rest of his White Sox and the Southsiders finished a dismal 68-86, some 28 games behind New York. And speaking of dismal, the Cubs ended up 53-101, 51 games behind the Cardinals and one game behind Pittsburgh for last place.

As I battled through a serious kidney and prostate infection and then tested positive for Covid-19 around Thanksgiving, I wrapped up the season slowly. Going into the World Series, I picked the Cardinals to win in five games. The Redbirds’ pitching was strong. MVP Stan Musial batted .348 with 32 home runs and 149 RBIs and White Kurowski also hit 32 home runs. The Yankees were a good team, but they seemed inconsistent. They could just as easily score 14 runs against a Philadelphia As team as score one run against the Tigers or Indians. It was hard to predict how they’d do. My prediction, I would discover, would be wrong.

Here’s how the World Series games went.

Game 1 St. Louis 9 at New York 6

The Cards opened with back-to-back home runs. Terry Moore and Musial each clouted a lone shot off Yankee starter Spec Shea. The Yankees responded with a six-run third, but St. Louis chipped back, scoring three in the fourth, tying the game at 6 in the seventh and then adding three in the ninth to take Game 1.

Game 2 St. Louis 4 at New York 8

Tommy Henrich hit two home runs, driving in four runs and Yankees pitcher Spud Chandler added his own shot to pace New York to an easy Game 2 win.

Game 3 New York 5 at St. Louis 1

The Cardinals took the lead in the first inning as the game moved back to Sportsmens’ Park in St. Louis and Moore drove in Red Shoendienst. But Yanks’ pitcher Allie Reynolds shut the Birds down. The key blow came in the sixth inning when Phil Rizzuto drove in two runs with a triple.

Game 4 New York 3 at St. Louis 4

The Cardinals had taken a 3-0 lead into the seventh when pitcher Murry Dickson walked three batters with the bases loaded. Enos Slaughter had hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Birds a seemingly insurmountable lead. After the Yankees tied the game, Slaughter stepped up to the plate with two out in the bottom of the ninth and belted out a single, scoring Shoendienst for the winning run.

Game 5 New York 8 at St. Louis 2

The Yankees took a three-game to two-game lead while dominating St. Louis in Game 5. Bull Johnson drove in three runs for New York and Joe DiMaggio, quiet for most of the Series, clipped a two-run double in the ninth. This game showed that the Yankees did have the depth to be a World Series champion.

Game 6 St. Louis 3 at New York 2

Del Rice hit a two-run home run for the Cardinals in the second and held onto a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Rizzuto hit a two-run shot with two outs to make it interesting but Harry “The Cat” Breechen got Snuffy Stirnweiss for the last out and the victory.

Game 7 St. Louis 1 at New York 3

Spud Chandler gave up six hits in his complete Game 7 win. The Yanks scored two in the second when catcher Aar0n Robinson hit a one-out single. Chandler added an insurance run in the sixth doubling in Robinson. The Cardinals scored their lone run in the third when Musial drove in Schoendienst and when pinch hitter Ron Northey grounded out to Stirnweiss in the ninth, New York captured its crown.

The season is over. The game cards have returned to the envelopes and boxes and the next season is about to begin. During the quarantine period of my covid issues, I got the 1965 season ready to play. I wrote out team pages with complete schedules, set up pitching line ups, created stat pages for home runs and pitching records. One era, 1947, is over. Another is set to begin. One thing I already noticed is the number of strikeouts in the 1965 season. There were an awful lot of walks in 1947. In the fourth game I’ve played in this 1965 season already, Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax struck out 14! In the following game, Juan Marichal and Bob Veale each had nine strike outs for their Giants’ and Pirates’ teams, respectively.

Despite the ever-changing world, one thing is certain, APBA will always be there with games for us to delve into, to forget about the struggles for a while, to learn about another era and just to relax and watch as our heroes perform.