Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 95

The season began humbly without the hint of the titanic match yet to come. Braced just above the .500 mark in late May, Cleveland and New York both began working up numerous winning streaks. Surging beyond the rest of what little competition the AL had to offer, the Indians maintained a slim edge over the Yankees through the All-Star break. Historically the beginning of the breaking point for Yankee challengers, the Indians not only held firm, they grew even stronger as wins piled up quickly and without pause. The Yankees, starting to believe this was no ordinary contender, did all they could to ramp up as well.

When, in early September, the Yankees won the last two of a three game series over the Tribe at New York to reduce the lead to 3.5 games, hope reigned in Casey Stengel’s clubhouse that momentum had finally been created to cause the Indians to start wilting under the pressure. No such luck. Cleveland won seven of its next nine to increase the lead to 6.5 games.

New York had one last shot to make a difference with a Sunday doubleheader at Cleveland; their last two games of the year head on against the Indians. With a crowd of over 86,000, at the time, a major league record for a regular season game, jammed into Municipal Stadium, the Indians doubly denied the Yankees with 4-

1 and 3-2 victories behind excellent starting efforts from Lemon and Wynn. The Indians clinched the pennant just three games