Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 65

the one major failing that likely cost the Indians an AL pennant was Bob Feller, who for the first time in his career lost it, finishing at 9-13 with a 4.74 ERA.

Unlike the Yankees in the AL, the Brooklyn Dodgers continued to have the All-Star weaponry to scare the National League competition into submission. But they lacked Stengel’s mirrors to successfully take the next step. Haunted by the pennant race heartbreaks of autumns past, the Dodgers were on a mission to put a million miles between themselves and the rest of the senior circuit and stick the pennant in their back pocket with time to spare.

But as the Dodgers shot out of the gate as planned, so did the New York Giants, the team that gave the Dodgers nightmares

through the offseason in the aftermath of Bobby Thomson’s dance with history. At the end of May, the Giants had won 26 of their first 34 games and looked ready to lock into a titanic duel with their Flatbush neighbors. That’s when the military came knocking at the Giants’ door, looking for Willie Mays.

Though Mays was batting only .236 to start his second season, his departure to Korea, compounded by the extended loss of Monte Irvin to a broken ankle, was thought to be a blow to the Giants’ chances. Tough luck, sang the Dodgers, who were already making