The Time a Losing Pitcher Delivered a Shutout to Give The Boys of Summer Their First Title

The years 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953 all have one thing in common: The New York Yankees would defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. Nowadays, fans pray for a subway series, as we haven’t seen one since 2000, but in the 40’s and 50’s this seemed almost a yearly reoccurrence. The Yankees weren’t the only New York team to deliver heartbreak to Brooklyn’s beloved Dodgers either, as Bobby Thomson walked off against Ralph Branca and his squad during a tiebreaker in 1951 to secure the pennant.

Legendary general manager did everything he could to bring the chip to Flatbush, as he famously brought in the first Negro League ballplayer in Jackie Robinson. This would be followed up with the acquisitions of other Negro League talent with the signings of MVPs Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella. This allowed to the Dodger’s to almost always dominate the regular season in their jewel box ballpark of Ebbets Field

This bold style of developing the team would bring the Dodger’s oh so close to the title in the aforementioned seasons, and by the time October rolled around in 1955, it looked as though history would repeat itself for a sixth time. The Yankees, let by 1955 AL MVP Yogi Berra, young center fielder Mickey Mantle, and legendary manager Casey Stengel had a 96 win season, and were expecting to coast their way to their seventh title in nine seasons.

The Fall Classic was a rollercoaster in ’55 as after six games the two teams were in a deadlock at three games a piece. For Brooklyn, they would likely choose between Newcombe or all star hurler Carl Erksine for the deciding game. Yet, to everyone’s surprise, manager Walter Alston went with Johnny Podres for the decider as he would face off against Tommy Byrne.

Who knows, maybe the thought process for Alston was something along the lines of “Well, we’ve already lost this song and dance before… might as well switch things up and see what happens”. To the surprise of near everyone though, the Dodger’s were winning in late innings, and things looked hopeful for the Dodger’s. Lo and behold, in front of 62,465 Yankees’ faithful in the Bronx, the young Podres twirled a 2-0 masterpiece, and shutout the Yankees while also giving up eight hits. As that final roundball from Elston Howard to Pee Wee Reese was finally put out, you could tell all of Brooklyn had a weight lifted off their shoulders.

DELIRIOUSLY, Podres jumped and spun into the air, then into the arms of Campanella. Those bums from Brooklyn finally did it!

Podres would go on to win four rings in his career, but the 1955 was especially sweet, as he was named the first ever World Series MVP. While he would go 148-116 in his career, he would always be remembered as just “good”. While other contemporaries like Reese and Robinson would be inducted into the hall of fame, only one player in the history of baseball has a statue right outside Cooperstown. That man is Johnny Podres- the 23 year old who gave Brooklyn their best moment just three years before the team would leave for the west.