Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 371

Series, he gave New York a 1-0 victory in Game 1 when he homered against Don Newcombe on a 2-0 pitch to lead off the ninth inning, the first walk off home run ever in the World Series. He scored twice in the 10-6 win in Game 5 as the Yankees again took the championship. Henrich was an All-Star in each of his last four seasons.

Henrich retired after batting .272 with 6 home runs and 34 RBI in a 1950 season during which he was injured most of the year. In an 11 season career, he was a .282 hitter with a .491 slugging average, 183 home runs, 901 runs, 795 RBI, 1,297 hits,

269 doubles, 73 triples and 37 stolen bases in 1,284 games. Defensively, he posted a .985 fielding percentage at all three outfield positions and first base. He was dubbed "Old Reliable," after a train which ran from Ohio to Alabama, by Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen for his knack of getting a hit just when

it was needed. He later became a coach with the Yankees, New York Giants, and Detroit Tigers, and worked as a color commentator for ABC television's baseball coverage in 1965.

In the early 1950s, Henrich had programs on WABC-TV and WCBS-TV, both in New York City. On January 16, 1954, he began a 15 minute program on ABC-TV at 6 o'clock Eastern Time on Saturdays.