Casey Stengel, Manager, New York Yankees
What were they thinking hiring this clown to take Bucky Harris’s place as the manager of the Yankees? This was the question in the minds of the fans and the media. Not so much the firing of Bucky Harris since the Yanks had only won one pennant in the past five years, but why this wise-cracking, crazy-talking ex-ball player who had failed in previous attempts at managing for Boston and the Brooklyn in the NL. He was coming on board at a time when the Yankee’s roster was considered as aging and injury-plagued and could not compete against Cleveland and Boston. But Casey carried a magic mystique that not only worked in 1949 but went on to win 10 pennants and 7 World Series in his 12 years at the helm of the Bronx Bombers.
American League
It was a similar tense race in the AL. Casey’s regime got off to a good early season lead, however, injuries started to pile up, and after leading the Red Sox by 12 games on the Fourth of July, they suddenly found them breathing down their neck. In the next to last weekend of the season, the Sox swept 3 games from the Yanks and took a one-game lead. They stayed one up going into Yankee Stadium for the last two games of the season. With a touch of Casey Stengel magic, the Yanks took the Saturday game, 5-4, and followed up the next day with a 5-3 victory to clinch the pennant. Despite boasting the best pitching in the league, the pre-season favored Indians never mounted a serious threat.
# 1 New York Yankees (97-57) Casey did quite a job considering the injuries to DiMaggio, out for half the season, Berra out a month, and a rash of other injuries. Phil Rizzuto was the only regular not to spend 25 or more days on the sidelines. Dimaggio, .346 BA, Yogi, and Tommy Henrich carried the offense. The strength of the team came from the pitching staff with four starting pitchers with 15 or more wins and reliever Joe Paige winning 13 games and saving 27.
National League
Another fun and tense year for baseball fans in both leagues. In the NL, it was the veteran Cardinals against the youth of the Dodgers. But it was the veteran squad that fell victim to the pressure of the final week losing four straight to the lowly Pirates and Cubs and which allowed a the Dodgers to slide into first place by one game with one game to go. The boys of Brooklyn cliched on the final day by taking a 9-7 extra-inning game against the Phillies. The defending pennant-winning Braves showed that 1948 was an aberration and dropped to 4th place, 22 games behind the leader.
#1 Brooklyn Dodgers (97-57) The stage was now set for a great run. 1B Gil Hodges, 2B Jackie Robinson, SS Peewee Reese, OFs Carl Furillo, Duke Snider, catcher Roy Campanella, and pitcher Don Newcombe were all names baseball fans would follow for the next 8 years. The leader in 1949 was MVP Robinson with his league-leading .342 BA and 37 stolen bases. Don Newcombe won 17 games and was named Rookie of the Year.
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1949 World Series New York Yankees (AL) 4 Games Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) 1 Game
The Dodgers looking for revenge of 1947 went down rather peacefully. Yankee veteran Allie Reynolds outdueled Don Newcombe 1- 0 in Game 1 when Tommy Henrich led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off home run. Preacher Roe turned the tables in Game 2 shutting out the Yanks 1-0, but then everything went sour for the Brooklyn youngsters as they were swept in the last three games