1956 World Series

vs. 1956 World Series (4-3) New York Yankees (97-57, AL) over Brooklyn Dodgers (93-61, NL) BR 1956 World Series Summary

Introduction

The 1956 World Series was played between the New York Yankees (representing the American League) and the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers (representing the National League) during the month of October, 1956. The Series was a rematch of the 1955 World Series. It was the last all-New York Series until 2000, due to the Dodgers and New York Giants relocatin to the west coast after the 1957 season.

The Yankees won the Series in seven games, 4 games to Brooklyn's 3, capturing their 17th championship. Brooklyn won Games 1 and 2, but New York pitchers threw five consecutive complete games (Games 3-7) to cap off the comeback. The highlight was Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5, the first no-hitter in the history of major league postseason play. Larsen was named the Series MVP for his achievement.

Records: New York Yankees (W: 97, L: 57, Pct: .630, GA: 9) - Brooklyn Dodgers (W: 93, L: 61, Pct: .604, GA: 1)

Managers: Casey Stengel (New York}, Walter Alston (Brooklyn)

Umpires: Babe Pinelli (NL), Hank Soar (AL), Dusty Boggess (NL), Larry Napp (AL), Tom Gorman (NL: outfield only), Ed Runge (AL: outfield only)

MVP: Don Larsen

Television: NBC (Mel Allen and Vin Scully announcing). In 2006 it was announced that a nearly complete kinescope recording of the Game 5 telecast (featuring Larsen's perfect game) had been preserved and discovered by a collector.

Summary

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Brooklyn Dodgers (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Yankees – 3, Dodgers – 6	October 3	Ebbets Field	34,479
2	Yankees – 8, Dodgers – 13	October 5	Ebbets Field	36,217
3	Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 5	October 6	Yankee Stadium	73,977
4	Dodgers – 2, Yankees – 6	October 7	Yankee Stadium	69,705
5	Dodgers – 0, Yankees – 2	October 8	Yankee Stadium	64,519
6	Yankees – 0, Dodgers – 1 (10 innings)	October 9	Ebbets Field	33,224
7	Yankees – 9, Dodgers – 0	October 10	Ebbets Field	33,782

Matchups

Game 1

October 3, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1
Brooklyn (N)	0	2	3	1	0	0	0	0	x	6	9	0
W: Sal Maglie (1-0)  L: Whitey Ford (0-1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (1), Billy Martin (1)    BRO – Jackie Robinson (1), Gil Hodges (1)

Game 2

October 5, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	1	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	8	12	2
Brooklyn (N)	0	6	1	2	2	0	0	2	x	13	12	0
W: Don Bessent (1-0)  L: Tom Morgan (0-1)
HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (1)    BRO – Duke Snider (1)

Game 3

October 6, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn (N)	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	3	8	1
New York (A)	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	1	x	5	8	1
W: Whitey Ford (1-1)   L: Roger Craig (0-1)
HR: NYY – Enos Slaughter (1), Billy Martin (2)

Game 4

October 7, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	6	0
New York (A)	1	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	x	6	7	2
W: Tom Sturdivant (1-0)   L: Carl Erskine (0-1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (2), Hank Bauer (1)

Game 5

October 8, 1956 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
New York (A)	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	x	2	5	0
W: Don Larsen (1-0)   L: Sal Maglie (1-1)
HR: NYY – Mickey Mantle (3)

In Game 5, Don Larsen, working in an unusual style, without a windup, pitched the first and only post-season perfect game (and the only post-season no-hitter until Roy Halladay's in the 2010 NLDS). Of several close moments, the best remembered is Gil Hodges' 5th-inning fly ball toward Yankee Stadium's "death valley" in left-center, snared by center fielder Mickey Mantle with a running catch.

A reporter asked Yankees manager Casey Stengel if this was the best game Larsen had ever pitched. Stengel diplomatically answered, "So far!" For Larsen, this was an especially satisfying performance, as he had acquired perhaps a better reputation as a night owl than as a pitcher. Stengel once said of Larsen, "The only thing he fears is sleep!"

Sports cartoonist Willard Mullin drew an illustration of a happy Larsen painting a canvas titled The Perfect Game, observed by Mullin's classic "Brooklyn Bum]". Referencing the old saw "I don't know much about art but I know what I like," the disgusted-looking Bum came up with a variation: "I don't care if it is art — I don't like it!"

Game 6

October 9, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York (A)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	0
W: Clem Labine (1-0)  L: Bob Turley (0-1)

Game 7

October 10, 1956 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York (A)	2	0	2	1	0	0	4	0	0	9	10	0
Brooklyn (N)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
W: Johnny Kucks (1-0)  L: Don Newcombe (0-1)
HR: NYY – Yogi Berra (2, 3), Elston Howard (1), Bill Skowron (1)

Composite Box

1956 World Series (4-3): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Brooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
New York Yankees	6	6	2	6	0	5	6	1	1	0	33	58	6
Brooklyn Dodgers	0	9	4	4	2	1	1	2	1	1	25	42	2
Total Attendance: 345,903   Average Attendance: 49,415
Winning Player’s Share: – $8,715   Losing Player’s Share – $6,934

Quotes of the Series

• Yankees' manager Casey Stengel, upon being asked by a seemingly dim-witted reporter whether his perfect game was the best game Don Larsen had ever pitched, diplomatically responded, "So far!"
• Yankees' catcher Yogi Berra, who caught Larsen's perfect game, remarked many years later, "It's never happened in World Series history, and it hasn't happened since."
• Radio call by Bob Wolff, superstitiously avoiding saying "no-hitter" until it was a fait accompli:

"I'll guarantee that nobody, but nobody, has left his ballpark... and if anyone did manage to leave early, man, he's missin' ... the greatest! ... Two strikes and a ball... Mitchell, waiting, stands deep, feet close together... Larsen is ready, gets the sign... Two strikes, ball one, here comes the pitch... Strike three! A no-hitter, a perfect game for Don Larsen! Yogi runs up there, he leaps on Larsen and he's mobbed by his teammates! Listen to this crowd roar!"

• This was the last World Series to be broadcast by Mutual Radio.

Trivia

• This series and the 1955 World Series saw every game won by the home team except for both Game 7s, which were won by the visiting Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, and the visiting New York Yankees in 1956.
• After Don Larsen's perfect game, Red River Dave recorded a song in his honor called The Ballad of Don Larsen.
• The perfect game set the record for most consecutive hitless innings in a World Series; the Brooklyn Dodgers failed to record a hit in 11 consecutive innings.

Further Reading

• David S. Neft and Richard M. Cohen: The World Series, 1st ed., St Martins Press, New York, NY, 1990, pp. 259-264.

External links

• 1956 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• 1956 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1956 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
• Kodak Presents - Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: Don Larsen's Perfect Game
• The Deadball Era Audio - Jackie Robinson drives in the winning run in Game 6
• The Deadball Era Audio - Final Out of Don Larsen's Perfect Game
• USAToday.com - Video of a Duke Snider at-bat in Game 5

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