When September Still Mattered - To the Last Pitch

St. Louis' loss in Pittsburgh and Brooklyn's sweep in Boston produced another 180-degree emotional shift in a pennant race already full of twists and turns.  Somewhat surprisingly, the first loss to the Pirates hadn't dampened the optimism in St. Louis. The prevailing attitude was that even if the Cardinals lost again in Pittsburgh, things “still would be all right” because the Dodgers weren’t going to sweep the doubleheader in Boston.  But now that what seemed impossible had happened, St. Louis' pennant hopes suffered a major hit.  Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the lament that the World Series ticket process was a mere formality, turned into a sunrise celebration at Grand Central Station.  Cheering fans and the Dodger Sym-Phony band greeted the 6:30 a.m. train from Boston.  Recognizing the race was far from over and more prudent than Cardinals manager Dyer, Burt Shotton deflected a reporter’s question about the team’s pennant chances by replying “Good morning!”

The situation as play began on Saturday, the next to the last day of the season  - St. Louis Globe-Democrat - October 1, 1949

But no matter how deep the despair in St. Louis, the Cardinals, like the Dodgers, still had their fate in their own hands.  If St. Louis won the three games with the last-place Cubs, they too were guaranteed no worse than a first-place tie. Winning the first game would be a major step in the right direction, tying them with the idle Dodgers.  The Cardinals got off to a good start, scoring twice in the top of the first, but the lead proved short-lived.  In the bottom of the inning, Max Lanier, who had shut the Dodgers out in his last start, surrendered back-to-back home runs.  Chicago took a 4-2 lead in the third and the Cardinals never caught up, losing 6-5.  With only two games left, St. Louis was one back in a race, they had seemingly controlled just a few days earlier.

Dick Young - acerbic New York Daily News reporter.  Earlier in the 1949 season he had accused the Dodgers of choking and lobbied for the firing of manager Burt Shotton

Saturday began with the possibility of a Brooklyn pennant by nightfall or a flat-footed tie after 153 games.  In Chicago, Dyer chose veteran Harry Brecheen, the winner of three games in the 1946 World Series. Chicago countered with Bob Chipman who hadn't won a game in almost three months.  The matchup clearly favored the Cards, but the Cubs weren’t finished playing spoiler.  In the bottom of the first, Chicago’s leadoff batter, Hal Jeffcoat homered on Brecheen’s first pitch. It was only Jeffcoat’s second home run of the season.  If that wasn’t enough, Hank Sauer drove in the Cubs' second run with a “freak” double, hit while falling away from the plate.  The two first-inning runs were enough as the Cards managed only one run, leaving 12 men on base.  Just over 20,000 spectators, mostly Cardinal fans, watched and suffered through the 3-1 loss.  About 2,000 remained in their seats for the ultimate exercise in scoreboard-watching.

Although he was from Brooklyn and began his career there, Bob Chipman's greatest contribution to the Dodgers was pitching for the Cubs when he beat the Cardinals on the season's next to last day. 

They were following the score from Philadelphia, where earlier a crowd dominated by Dodger fans “stormed the Shibe Park gates . . . and brought with them a World Series atmosphere.”   They were rewarded with "a brilliantly waged duel" worthy of any Fall Classic  Playing the spoiler role to the hilt, the Phillies started Ken Heintzelman who was 5-0 against Brooklyn.  Burt Shotton chose Ralph Branca because he had recovered from his blister, regained his manager’s trust or Shotton had no other options – perhaps all of the above.  Brooklyn led 2-0 after two innings, but as Dick Young warned ominously, it “should have been closer to 20-0.”  And it didn’t get much better on a day the Dodgers got nine hits, benefitted from 11 walks, but left 15 men on base.  Brooklyn led 3-1 going to the bottom of the sixth, only 12 outs away from the National League pennant. But the lead quickly evaporated on Dick Sisler’s triple and Del Ennis’ home run. 

In 1949 fans had limited ways to scoreboard watch.  Newspapers tried to help out by updates in the different editions published throughout the day.  Here the Eagle got a little carried away with the use of the word "rout" - Brooklyn Daily Eagle - October 1, 1949

Unwilling to press his luck with Branca, Shotton brought in seldom-used, second-year pitcher Carl Erskine, but the move blew up in the Brooklyn manager's face. Seminick apparently determined to deny Brooklyn the pennant singlehandily, greeted Erskine with a home run.  After the next two batters reached base, Shotton turned to Jack Banta who had failed so miserably against the Phils a week earlier.  This time the result was different.  Banta needed only one pitch to induce Mike Goliat to hit into an inning-ending double play.  Brooklyn tied the game in the top of the eighth, but with two on and one out, they were unable to take the lead.  

Wally Jones' eighth-inning home run meant the race would go down to the season's last day - Philadelphia Inquirer - October 2, 1949

Understandably wanting to win a pennant that was so tantalizingly close, Shotton brought in Preacher Roe, hoping the left-hander could duplicate his recent magic in relief.  Roe, however, typically needed more rest than other pitchers and had gone nine innings just two days earlier.  It was, as the Eagle noted, an act of “desperation.”  The Dodger left-hander got out of a jam in the seventh, but his luck ran out in the eighth.  After a one-out walk, Willie Jones hit a home run to put the Phils ahead 6-4 and Brooklyn had no answers in the ninth.  At Wrigley Field the final score produced a "roar . . . [that] echoed over the neighborhood.” Almost simultaneously, Dodger fans in Philadelphia headed for trains, cars and hotels frustrated over another missed opportunity and worried about what tomorrow would bring

Philadelphia's Ken Heintzelman was a Dodger killer up until the last game of the season.

Over the course of the 1949 National League season, 620 games had been played without determining a champion.  However, as the players and fans woke up on Sunday, October 2nd, the possibilities were clear.  St. Louis’ only hope was a win and a Dodger loss to force a tie and a playoff series.  Otherwise, their season was over.  Brooklyn by virtue of its one-game lead knew its season couldn’t end that day.  Either a win or a Cardinals' loss gave Brooklyn the pennant while if St. Louis’ hopes were realized, the Dodgers would play in a best-of-three playoff series.  Given the painful memories of the 1946 playoff loss to these same Cardinals, neither the Dodger players nor fans wanted to repeat that experience.  But since the Phillies had come from behind to beat Brooklyn twice in one week, no one thought a victory in Sunday’s finale would be easy.

Dodger fans at Shibe Park hoping their heroes will make their signs a reality on the scoreboard - Philadelphia Inquirer - October 3, 1949

As limited as the Cardinals' chances were, almost 31,000 fans, most of them rooting for St. Louis crowded into Wrigley Field.  Mercifully for their sake, the Cardinals wasted little time doing their part, jumping off to a 6-1 lead and coasting to a 13-5 victory.  With their task in hand, the Cardinal faithful at Wrigley Field and those listening on the radio concentrated on updates from Philadelphia.  In the greater New York area, Dodger fans tuned into Red Barber’s radio broadcast.  Others, determined to see for themselves, again flocked to Shibe Park.  Unscientifically, Dick Young estimated that 35,000 of the 36,765 on hand were Dodger fans, giving Brooklyn no shortage of fan support.  A parking lot with cars from every Middle Atlantic and New England state except Maine confirmed that it was another “World Series atmosphere.”

Winner-take-all pennant races offer players the chance for redemption in crucial moments.  In 1949 no one epitomized that role more than Brooklyn's Jack Banta.

Once again it was a game worthy of the Fall Classic.  Brooklyn struck first, scoring five times in the third.  When the score was posted at Wrigley Field, Cardinal fans let out disappointed “ahs and ohs.” Just an inning later, however, the Phillies cut the margin to 5-4, and the St. Louis faithful responded with “tremendous shouts of joy”.  The key blow was another home run by Willie Jones, this time a three-run shot.  Brooklyn added two runs in the fifth on Campanella’s double, but the Brooklyn catcher was stranded at third.  Rex Barney relieved Newcombe in the fourth, gave up one run in the fifth and then got in trouble in the sixth.  With two out, two on and one in, Shotton once again turned to Jack Banta who allowed a game-tying single.  A “thunderous shout” greeted the score at Wrigley Field.  It was the final emotional swing of the pennant race with Cardinal fans seeing a possible path to the pennant while Dodger fans feared the worst.

Pee Wee Reese slides across the plate with the run that gave the Dodgers the lead in the top of the tenth.  Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 3, 1949

Although Banta got out of the inning without further damage, Dodger fans couldn't have been confident with their team’s fate in the hands of someone who had failed so miserably just a week ago.  To make matters worse, Dodger killer, Heintzelman took over the pitching for Philadelphia.  In another moment of frustration, the Dodger loaded the bases in the top of the seventh but failed to score.  However, Banta, with the pennant in the balance, rose to the occasion, setting the side down in order in the seventh and eighth. But in the ninth, he walked the leadoff batter, putting the winning run on base and offering Philadelphia the chance for a walk-off win.  Banta, however, was still up to the challenge and retired the next three batters.  Finally, in the tenth, Brooklyn broke through with two runs giving Brooklyn a 9-7 lead.  

 

Some of the estimated 25,000 fans waiting for their Dodgers at Grand Central Station.  Note the relatively diverse crowd - Brooklyn Daily Eagle - October 3, 1949

To add one final stressful moment to the race, the Phillies got a runner on base in the bottom of the tenth, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Luis Olmo caught Richie Ashburn’s fly ball for the last out and Dodger fans let loose “a demonstration of unrestrained joy that sent thrills up and down the spines of many neutral observers." A joy that echoed throughout countless homes, bars and other gathering places back in Brooklyn. To Stan Baumgartner of the Philadelphia Inquirer it was a game “that for tense moments, spine thrilling situations and crowd enthusiasm far out shadowed a World Series contest and has seldom been equaled in regular season play.”  But Dodger captain Pee Wee Reese might have put it best when he said, “Even though we won, I could sit right down and cry.”  For very different reasons, many in both St. Louis and Brooklyn were ready to join him.  September had indeed mattered.