Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Damn Yankees
Page 81
Dressen's team to win the National League pennant race by a staggering thirteen games over the newly moved Milwaukee Braves.
The '53 American League representative was the typical Yankees team that featured strong performances on both sides of the plate throughout the regular season. Yogi Berra, who hit .296, and Mickey Mantle, who batted .295, both combined for two hundred runs batted in and Gene Woodling at .306 and Hank Bauer at .304 led the lineup in hitting. The Yankees top five pitchers were even better with a 74-30 record. Whitey Ford, who had returned from a military tour of duty, led the staff with
eighteen victories and veteran Eddie Lopat, who topped the league with a 2.43 ERA.
Game 1 of the '53 Series began as Game 7 in '52 had ended with
Billy Martin knocking the wind out of the Dodger's sails. The second baseman nailed a three run triple in the first and went on to collect three more hits in the 9-5 opening victory. Berra and Joe Collins both hit homers for the Yankees, and Jim Gilliam, Gil Hodges and George Shuba contributed for the Dodgers. Martin continued to plague the Dodger's pitching rotation in Game 2 by adding a game tying, bases empty homer in the seventh. Mantle also continued adding to his ever growing, post-season stats
with a two run drive that nailed down Lopat's 4-2 win over Preacher Roe.