Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Damn Yankees
Page 83
had lost in the Series for the seventh time in seven chances." – “The Sporting News”
It’s often been said that a World Series can’t be won without pitching and defense. Impressive as Brooklyn’s bats were during the season, its team ERA was a full run worse than the Yankees. This, along with some painful defensive play, would badly hurt the Dodgers in their Series rematch with New York.
In defeat, the Dodgers hit as well as they had all year— batting .300 with eight home runs in six games, but the 4.91 team ERA was, as the scouting report warned, their Achilles’ heel. Brooklyn’s fielding certainly lent no help, committing seven errors while the Yankees botched up just once.
According to some ”pundits,” although the Yankees won an unprecedented fifth straight World Series title, their
collective dominance paled on paper compared to similar Yankee reigns during the 1920s and late 1930s and 1990s. Apparently the “pundits” are unaware that the game was played on grass and dirt; not paper.
At Dodgers headquarters in Brooklyn, owner Walter O’Malley was less concerned about losing yet again to the Yankees as he was concerned over what the Milwaukee Braves represented. Yes, the Dodgers had disposed of the Braves with relative ease on the