WORLD SERIES - TOPS AND BOTTOMS
Highlights And Lowlights of 1956 Classic
"The BEST INFIELDER in the 1956 World Series: Billy Martin of the Yankees, who took charge of all fly balls, made sure-handed catches and got off accurate throws while off-balance or while being rolled off his feet by base runners.
BEST MANAGER: Casey Stengel, who won four games to three over Walter Alston. But Stengel won a game in Brooklyn, Alston didn't win one in New York.
BEST PITCHING PERFORMANCE: Don Larsen's in the fifth game, naturally, but Sal Maglie, Clem Labine and Bob Turley weren't far behind.
BEST CATCH: A choice of Mickey Mantle's running snag of Gil Hodges' long drive to left center in the Larsen game; or in that same game Duke Snider's diving, cross-handed grab of Yogi Berra's smash.
BIGGEST SURPRISE: Maglie's return to the mound in the fifth game and his excellent pitching that was as terrific as it had been in the opener he won in Ebbets Field. The 39-year-old interleague commuter came back after four days of rest and was, in the words of Yankee batters, better in defeat than he had been in triumph.
MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT: Gil McDougalds' batting. Gil collected only three hits in seven full games, but his fielding was sharp enough to offset this.
TOP THRILL: No contest. The closing minutes of Larsen's perfect game made strong men wince and dyed dames [sic] weep. Here was history being made before your eyes. Anybody who didn't get the chokes then didn't belong on earth.
WORST BATTER: Sandy Amoros, hero of the 1955 Series with his catch of Berra's fly, killed the Dodgers just past the middle of their batting order. The Cuban got only one hit, a single in the first game, in 19 times at bat.
WORST GAME: The second, a miserable exhibition all the way around. Mickey Mantle loafed on a ball, Tom Sturdivant made a silly pitch to a banjo-hitting pitcher, Larsen threw with half a heart and blew a six-run lead.
WORST STRATEGY: Stengel is the culprit here. In the second game in Brooklyn, when base hits were raining, Stengel had his leadoff batter, McDougald, sacrifice to move the tying run over to second base. Playing for a tying run in the other team's back yard, especially one that size, didn't make much sense.
BEST MILEAGE: The Yankees, out of Country Slaughter. The old boy (pushing 40) finally folded in the sixth game, but he was helpful until then. His three-run homer in the third game bought the Yankees back to life.
CHEAPEST COMMODITY: The home run. The Yankees' 12 set a record. The Bums hit three, all in their own park. Of the 15, only Mantle's in the first game, Berra's second blast in the second game and Jackie Robinson's in the opener were what could be called Grade A hits.
BIGGEST BUST: Don Newcombe once more. The fastballer can't keep the Yankees out, or can't keep them from hitting the long ball. He was chased in the second inning of the second game and in the fourth inning of the seventh game. For a 27-game winning, these humiliations were shocking.
BIGGEST BOOT: Joe Collins' misplay of a grounder in the second inning of the second game. This flub opened the doors to the Dodgers for six unearned runs and an eventual 13-7 victory. In fact, eight of these 13 runs resulted from Yankee errors, the first by Collins, the second by Hank Bauer.
BEST ALL-AROUND PERFORMANCE: Berra completely dominated both teams. He called the pitches in Larsen's perfect game as if he were following a script. He got three home runs and six other hits. He ran bases daringly. No other individual could carry his mask or his wig [sic].
HOTTEST SPOT: The one Dale Mitchell was on in the ninth inning of the Larsen game. With two out, he could have spoiled the epic; and with the Dodgers only two runs down it was his job to get on base and bring the tying run to the plate if possible. Had Mitchell got on base one way or another and he had wound up as the spoiler of the greatest pitching job in World Series history ...
BEST DODGER: Gil Hodges, a classical first baseman. who made one of the finest plays in the fifth game when he snagged a shot by Mantle and turned it into a double play. Hodges was also Brooklyn's only .300 hitter."
-Franklin Lewis, Cleveland Press (Baseball Digest, November 1956)
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