1955 Index
1955 Post Season Game 2 Game 3 Game 4 Game 5 Game 6 Game 7 Statistics
Wednesday, September 28, 1955, Brooklyn @ New
York - Yankee Stadium
MANTLE GRANDSLAM SENDS YANKEES TO VICTORY IN OPENER,
6-2
The
Yankees took their first step toward redemption of their 1954 Fall Classic
defeat at the hands of the Dodgers by rallying for five runs in the seventh inning off Don Newcombe, good for a 6-2
victory in the opener of the 1955 World Series.
The biggest
blow of the game came off the bat of Mickey Mantle, who hoisted a grandslam
homerun off Newcombe that broke a 2-2 deadlock. Mantle’s
tape-measure shot reached the second deck in right field, and enabled Whitey
Ford to emerge as the winner, despite a horrid fourth inning where a fielding lapse
compounded by Ford’s own concentration lapses allowed the Dodgers to strike
first.
A scoreless
game into the fourth, Pee Wee Reese led off the Dodger fourth with a base hit, and moved up on a
free pass to Duke Snider. Roy Campanella followed with a tailor-made double play ball
to second, but Gil McDougald, in his haste to field the ball, let the ball go
between his legs for an error to load the bases. Carl
Furillo then put up a spirited at bat to draw a walk and force in a run to give
the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Gil Hodges
followed by drawing Ford’s third walk of the inning, upping the lead to 2-0. Ford regrouped to get Jackie Robinson on a force at the
plate, then a double play grounder from Don Zimmer, to end
the frame down 2-0, in what could have been a huge inning for the Dodgers.
The Yankees
cut the 2-0 deficit in half in the fifth, McDougald atoning for his earlier
miscue with a run-scoring double that scored Phil Rizzuto from first base.
Newcombe was
still strong, however, as he mowed through the heart of the Yankee lineup in
the sixth; retiring Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Bill Skowron on nine pitches, and
looked every bit sharp to close the game out.
But in the
seventh, Andy Carey lined a one-out single and Phil Rizzuto beat out an infield
dribbler to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Pinch-hitter Eddie
Robinson then delivered an opposite field single to score Carey, and tie the
game 2-2. Newcombe struck out McDougald for the second out, but
Irv Noren proved pesky for Newcombe for the third
out, as he battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk, loading the bases for
the Yankees hometown hero. Mantle
swung at a 2-1 delivery to his liking and deposited it well into the second
deck with a raucous crowd jumping in the stands with each gallop Mantle took
around the bases.
Tom Morgan
finished off the Dodgers with two perfect innings in relief of Ford, and the
Yankees had Game One by a 6-2 score.
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
9 R H
E LOB DP
Brooklyn 0 0
0 2 0
0 0 0
0 2 3
1 5 0
New York 0 0
0 0 1
0 5 0
x 6 9
2 5 2
Dodgers AB R H
BI AVG Yankees AB R H
BI AVG
Gilliam
lf 4 0
1 0 .250
McDougald 2b 4 0 1
1 .250
Reese
ss 4 1
1 0 .250
Noren lf 3
1 1 0 .333
Snider
cf
3 1 0
0 .000 Mantle cf 4
1 1 4 .250
Campanella
c 4 0
1 0 .250
Berra c 4
0 0 0 .000
Furillo
rf 2 0
0 1 .000
Skowron 1b 4
0 1 0 .250
Hodges
1b 3 0
0 1 .000
Martin pr 0
0 0 0 .000
Robinson
3b 4 0
0 0 .000
Collins 1b 0
0 0 0 .000
Zimmer 2b
3 0 0
0 .000 Bauer rf
4 0 0
0 .000
Newcombe
p 3 0
0 0 .000
Carey 3b 4
1 2 0 .500
Spooner p
0 0 0
0 .000 Rizzuto ss
4 2 2
0 .500
Craig p
0 0 0
0 .000 Ford p 2
0 0 0 .000
30 2
3 2 Robinson ph 1
1 1 1 1.000
Morgan p 0
0 0 0 .000
34 6 9 6
Dodgers INN H R ER
BB K PCH STR ERA
Newcombe
L 0-1 6.2 8
6 6 1 7
104 69
8.10
Spooner 0.1 0
0 0 0
0 1 1
0.00
Craig
1.0 1
0 0 0
1 16 9
0.00
8.0 9
6 6 1 8
121 79
Yankees INN H R ER
BB K PCH STR ERA
Ford
W 1-0 7.0 3
2 1 4 2
100 63
1.29
Morgan 2.0 0
0 0 0
1 19 14
0.00
9.0 3
2 1 4 3
119 77
NYA: Robinson batted for Ford in the 7th
Martin
ran for Skowron in the 8th
Collins inserted
at 1b in the 9th
E-Hodges, McDougald, Ford. 2B-McDougald, Carey.
HR-Mantle(1). K-Reese,
Snider, Newcombe, McDougald 3, Mantle, Skowron,
Bauer, Rizzuto, Ford.
BB-Snider, Furillo 2, Hodges, Noren.
GWRBI: Mantle
Temperature: 62, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind:
out to left at 16 MPH,
Rain Delays: 40 minutes.