The World Series being played this week by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox is for me a real memory-jogger of another World Series involving the same two clubs way back in 1946.
That seven-game series, featuring the two best teams in baseball 67 years ago, was one of the greatest in my recollection.
It was the culmination of the first full season following the end of World War II ------- and the first when all the major stars of what was then truly "America's National Pastime" were back from military service.
It was an event baseball's starved fans ------- and, in my case, just about everyone I knew ----- had been dreaming about for nearly five years.
And it was a series in which the lineups of the two opposing teams each contained one of baseball's all-time great hitters ------ Ted Williams of the Red Sox and Stan Musial of the Cardinals.
In 1946, I was a 15-year-old sophomore in high school and, like most of my friends, a true baseball fanatic. In my old Kensington neighborhood, most of us were fans of either the Red Sox or the New York Yankees.
That was because both the Phillies and the Athletics were perennial losers, usually winding up in last place in their respective leagues, and the Red Sox and Yankees each had several future Hall of Fame players, such as Williams and Joe DiMaggio.
While I was disappointed the Yankees (then my favorite) had not won that first post-war pennant, I was still anxious to see what the heavily favored Red Sox would do in the much-anticipated World Series.
Going into the series, the Sox, who had finished 12 games ahead of the second-place Detroit Tigers to win the American League pennant, were led by left fielder Williams, easily recognized today as one of the two or three greatest hitters in the history of the game.
In 1941, Williams had batted .406, an average that has not since been approached, and in 1942, his last season before becoming a World War II Marine Corps aviator, he had won the Triple Crown, leading the American league in batting, home runs batted in.
Now in his first year back from wartime service, he had finished the season with a .342 batting average and 38 home runs, and had been voted the Most Valuable Player in the American League. In the All-Star game that July, his four hits (which included two home runs) and a walk and five runs batted in had electrified the nation.
In addition to Williams, the Red Sox lineup included shortstop Johnny Pesky and outfielder Dominic DiMaggio (Joe's kid brother) with .335 and .316 batting averages, respectively, and a pitching staff headed by 25-game winner Dave Ferris and Tex Hughson, who had won 20 games.
While the Cardinals were never expected to win over the powerful Red Sox, they were certainly no slouches.
In a tight National League pennant race, and playing strong hit-and-run baseball, the Cardinals had managed to finish the season just two games ahead of the very tough Brooklyn Dodgers.
Led by Musial, their superstar left fielder who had hit .365 that year and whose batting average didn't drop below .310 in his first 16 seasons in baseball, the Cardinals' lineup also included third baseman Whitey Kurowski, who had hit .301, and outfielder Enos Slaughter (a .300 average). Howie Pollett with 21 wins was the ace of the pitching staff.
The series started off as expected, with the Red Sox winning the first game at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis by a score of 3-2 on a 10th-inning home run by Red Sox first baseman Rudy York.
The next afternoon in Game Two, the Cardinals came back to win with pitcher Harry Brecheen throwing a 2-0 shutout.
For Game Three, the teams moved to Boston's Fenway Park where Ferris shut out the Cardinals, 4-0, and York hit another home run.
The next two games at Fenway were split decisions, with the Cardinals winning, 12-3, and the Sox topping them the following day, 6-3.
With the Sox up by a game, the teams returned to St. Louis where pitcher Brecheen would post his second victory by 4-1 in a must-win situation, tying the series at three games each.
Now with their ace Ferris on the mound in St. Louis, the Sox were expected to wrap up the seventh game and the series.
But after a shaky start, Ferris was removed, and in the bottom of the eight inning and the score tied at 3, the Cardinals' Slaughter singled, but appeared to be stranded on first base when the next two batters failed to advance him. With two out, Harry Walker slapped a pitch into left field. Left fielder Leon Culberson fielded the ball and relayed it quickly to shortstop Pesky.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Pesky, unaware Slaughter had rounded third base line, momentarily held the ball before firing it home, and Slaughter scored what would be the winning run, giving the Cardinals a four-games-to-three series victory and the championship.
In the role of relief pitcher, Brecheen recorded his third win of the post-season.
A month later, while attending a local college football game and seeing a running back fumble the ball, Pesky would reportedly hear a disgruntled Red Sox fan shout : "You need Pesky in the lineup. He'll hold the ball."
That 1946 Cardinals' victory over the Red Sox was considered one of the greatest upsets in World Series history. One reason for the Red Sox collapse offered by many of the team's supporters was Williams' lack of hitting. He had only five hits in 25 at-bats for a .200 average.
Yet few realized that in an exhibition game just a few days prior to the first game of the series, Williams had been hit in the elbow with a wild pitch, and following his removal from the game, his entire arm had become swollen.
Ironically, it would be the only World Series Williams would get to play in, and his performance was one he would regret for the rest of his life.
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