GAME 5
Loes vs Quinn
Dodgers 9, A’s 4
With their backs firmly
pressed against the wall down 3-1 in the series the A’s put the ball in the
hands of undefeated (8-0) Jack Quinn.
Brooklyn on the other hand went back to game 1 starter
Billy
Loes, a man known more for his quips (“Don’t win 20 games or management
will expect you to keep doing it), than for his fastball.
Loes, who was the “sacrificial lamb” in
Brooklyn’s strategy in game 1 vs Lefty Grove was out to prove that he could
carry the load.
The Queens native,
wanted nothing more than to win the big one 5 miles from his home.
One thing he could count on would be the
fans.
Ebetts was at capacity.
Ole Whalebelly was busy counting the receipts
and barely had time to get into the owner’s box for the opening pitch.
The A’s nicked Loes for solo
runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th innings as the “unbeatable”
Quinn looked just that…unbeatable.
Philly drew first blood when Joe Hauser hit his 17th homer in
the top of the 2nd. Ty Cobb
singled home Joe Boley in the 3rd to make it 2-0. In the top of the Max Bishop ripped a triple
down the left field line and scored on a Cobb grounder to make it 3-0. Fans in the little ballpark in Crown Heights
got real quiet. In fact you could hear
only the horns of the trucks passing by and the radios blasting on the nearby
stoops on Bedford Ave and as far south as Empire Blvd.
Sometimes it has to get dark,
before the light can shine through and that light came in the form of a 5th
inning lead off single off the bat of the “Quiet Man” Gil Hodges, a man so
beloved in Brooklyn he was never booed in Ebbets Field. A man so beloved that when he was in the
midst of a horrific slump in the ’52 World Series, the Borough of churches
actually prayed for him. Gil, with his
divine intervention (ask Met fans years later about that) would score
immediately as Furillo doubled off the scoreboard in right. Billy Cox walked, but was forced at 2nd
by a Loes ground out. Up stepped touted
rookie Jim “Junior”
Gilliam, who cleared the bases with a triple down the first base
line to tie the game at 3-3. For good
measure, the Captain, Pee Wee Reese would single home his keystone combo partner
(Gilliam) to put Brooklyn ahead 4-3.
Just like that, Quinn went from unbeatable to unbelievable. By the top of the 6th reliever
Ossie Orwoll was on the mound replacing Mr. Quinn.
Brooklyn increased its lead to
5-3 in the 7th when Duke Snider tripled with one out and 1953 MVP
Roy Campanella, known affectionately to his mates as Campy, singled him home
with 2 outs. Jim Clouser’s A’s did not
travel 90 miles to roll over and die.
The aged, but not old Cobb…who was in his final season, stroked a lead off triple to greet Loes’
replacement, Bob Milliken, who subsequently hit the backstop with a wild pitch
that allowed the Georgia Peach to score and once again make it a one run game.
With tensions mounting and dem
Bums holding on tightly to a 1 run lead that in years past would
Skooonj led off the 8th with a single through the hole, then
move to 2nd on Cox’ slow roller to 2nd. Pinch hitter Wayne Belardi walked on 4
pitches and so did Junior Gilliam. This
set the stage for “The Little Colonel”, Pee Wee Reese, the longest serving Dodger to
etch his mark on this wonderful post season run by the team that he has led for
so long. With the bases loaded and the
count at 2-2 Reese pulled the ball sharply past the drawn in A’s infield. When the dust finally settled Reese was
standing on third with a grin and 3 Brooks were smiling near home plate. The Crown Heights section of Brooklyn was
louder than the patrons a Junior’s fighting over the last cheesecake on a
Saturday night. 2 batters later, when
Jackie singled home Pee Wee, the roar of the crowd was so loud you couldn’t
even hear the crack of the bat. These
fans, who had suffered and endured so much knew that “Next Year” had finally
arrived.
evaporate like
spit in the August air in the Arizona desert, this Boys of Summer team would
once again open up the fire hose.
With a 5 run lead, heading
into the 9th no one was sitting in their assigned seats. It wasn’t a matter of nerves at this point,
it was a matter of anticipation. With
relief stalwart Clem Labine on the mound the A’s went down in order as
pandemonium broke out at Ebbets Field.
There was “Bedlam on Bedford Ave”.
At Two Thirty PM in the Borough of Churches the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers
were crowned King of Diamonds World Champions.
Parade is scheduled for noon time tomorrow on Flatbush Ave and Atlantic
Ave.
Congratulations to the “Boys
of Summer” for being one of those teams that even a manager like myself couldn’t
mess up. Time and time again they would
comeback and do the unthinkable. Special
thanks and congratulations to AL Pennant winner Jim Clouser (28 A’s). Jim managed his tail off with a team that
blended in aging future HOF’ers and up and coming future HOF’ers. Jim was a great opponent and I thank him for
being so flexible with his schedule to work around my crazy schedule.
1953 Brooklyn Dodgers Win
Series 4-1
