#20 Williams Earns .406
• 1941
• .3996 entering final
game
• “If I can’t hit .400 all the
way, I don’t deserve it”
• 6-8 in the doubleheader
• No player has hit .400
since
#7 DiMaggio Hits in 56 Straight
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•
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•
•
May 15 – June 16, 1941
.408, .717, 15 HR, 16 2B
1 Run/1 RBI per game
SO 13X all season
No player has gotten
within single digits
• 44 closest (Rose-1978)
• 17 games after streak
(73/74 safely)
#26 Slaughter’s Mad Dash
• Game 7 1946 World
Series (vs. Redsox)
• 3 – 3 in the 8th inning
• Slaughter singled to
lead off
• w/2 outs, hit & run was
on
• Base hit to left-center
• Winning run
#1 Robinson Breaks Color Barrier
• 1947
• Not only transcended
sports, but huge impact
on society
• 26,623 (14,000 blacks)
showed @ Ebbets Field
• Teams organized protests
• 1955 World Series
Champs
• Hall of Fame career
#41 Larry Doby Breaks AL Color Barrier
• 1941 (3 months after
Robinson)
• Cleveland Indians
• Bill Veeck also brought
Satchel Paige
• 7 straight All-Star games
• MVP votes in 4 seasons
#21 Babe’s Final Appearance in Yankee
Stadium
• June 13, 1948
• 53 y/o ravaged by
cancer
• 15th anniversary of 1923
team
• Died 2 months after
Bithorn Makes the Majors
• 1942
• Hiram Bithorn
• 1st Puerto Rican-born
player
#4 The Shot Heard ‘Round the World
• Giants vs. Dodgers
• Tied 96-58 records
• 1951 NL playoff (best of 3)
for NL pennant
• Game 3, tied 1-1 after 7
• Dodgers 3 runs in top of 8
• 4-2 bottom of 9
• Bobby Thomson hit 3-run
HR to left to pennant
#49 Boston Moves to Milwaukee
• 1871 (Red Stockings)
• Red Caps, Doves, Rustlers,
and Beaneaters
• Braves (1912-1952)
• Milwaukee (1953)
• Shaped baseball landscape
• 1.8 million fans 1st year
• 1957 World Series
• Other teams relocate (A’s,
Giants, Dodgers, Browns)
• Atlanta (1965)
#37 Willie Mays Makes “The Catch”
• Not the greatest, but most
memorable
• 8th inning, game 1, 1954
World Series
• Tied 1-1, Indians rallying
- runners on 1st & 2nd
• Vic Wertz hit shot directly
over Mays’ head
• Makes over-the-shoulder
catch, wheeled, & threw
immediately to infield
• Giants win in 10 and swept to
win title
#53 Dodgers Win the World Series
• Lineup stacked w/ HOF
• Won NL by 13.5 games
• Still underdogs to win 1955
World Series (NYY)
- won NL pennant 5x (‘41-’53)
- lost World Series each time
•
•
•
•
Yanks took 1st two games
Dodgers swept next 3
Yanks evened series
Johnny Podres threw
shutout, Duke Snider had 2
RBIs
• Won 2-0, 1st and only
World Series in Brooklyn
#13 Don Larsen’s World Series
Perfect Game
• 1956 World Series vs.
Brooklyn
• Game 2: 1 2/3 innings,
4BB, 1 H, blown 6-0 lead
• Game 5: Oct 8, 97 pitches
• 6th in MLB history
• Only postseason perfect
game
#12 Dodgers & Giants
Move to California
• 1958
• No teams further west
than St. Louis
• Ballpark trouble
- Dodgers wanted bigger
- Polo Grounds dilapidated
• LA – Walter O’Malley
couldn’t pass
• Giants to SF to maintain
rivalry
#28 Harvey Haddix:
The Best Game Ever Pitched?
• 3x All Star; 136 – 113
• May 29, 1959
• Pirates vs. Braves (2x
defending NL Champs)
• Retired all 27 Braves
through 9
• Next 3 innings, retired all
9 (36 straight)
• 13th inning; lead-off
reached on error
• Sac-bunt, IBB, HR?
• 1-0 loss