October 1949. Casey Stengel stood in the Yankee Stadium dugout managing his first World Series. Eight months earlier, a Boston sportswriter named Dave Egan had announced that the Yankees' decision to hire Stengel had "mathematically eliminated" them from the pennant race. Only 6 of more than 200 Sporting News writers had picked New York to win the AL pennant.
The Brooklyn Dodgers were coming in with Jackie Robinson -- the National League MVP -- Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella, and 97 wins. The Yankees also had 97 wins. On paper, this was even.
It wasn't.
The Comeback That Made It Possible
The 1949 Yankees had ground through a season defined by injuries, and none mattered more than what kept their center fielder out of the lineup until late June.
Joe DiMaggio had spent the winter recovering from bone spur surgery on his left heel. He missed the team's first 65 games. By June the questions about whether he'd ever come back as the same player had become impossible to ignore.
He answered them on June 28 at Fenway Park. In his second at-bat, he hit a home run. The next day he hit two more. The Yankees swept the three-game series. The Associated Press named DiMaggio's return the greatest sports comeback of 1949. He finished the shortened season at .346 with 14 home runs and 67 RBI in 76 games.
None of it meant anything if the Yankees didn't win in October.
Five Games
Game 1 belonged to pitching. Allie Reynolds threw a two-hitter with 9 strikeouts. Don Newcombe answered with 11 strikeouts of his own -- tying the World Series record for a losing pitcher -- and didn't issue a single walk in nine innings. The game ended when Tommy Henrich led off the bottom of the ninth and hit what stands as the first walk-off home run in World Series history. Yankees 1, Dodgers 0.
Game 2 went the other way. Preacher Roe threw a complete-game six-hit shutout with zero walks. The only run scored on a Robinson double and a Gil Hodges single. Vic Raschi pitched eight strong innings for nothing. Dodgers 1, Yankees 0. Two games, two 1-0 results -- the first time that had ever happened in a World Series.
Games 3 and 4 showed why Joe Page won the inaugural Babe Ruth Award.
In Game 3, Tommy Byrne gave way to Page in the fourth inning. Page threw shutout relief into the ninth, when the game finally broke open. Johnny Mize punched a bases-loaded single off Ralph Branca to push the lead to 3-1. Jerry Coleman added an RBI single to make it 4-1. Page then gave up back-to-back home runs to Luis Olmo and Roy Campanella to cut it to 4-3 -- and struck out pinch-hitter Bruce Edwards to end it.
Game 4 belonged to a doctor who happened to be a third baseman.
Bobby Brown -- who would go from the Yankees' clubhouse to a cardiology residency after his playing career -- put the Series away in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, he hit a triple that cleared all three, scoring Henrich, Berra, and DiMaggio in a single swing. Brown finished the Series 6-for-12 with a .500 average, two triples, and 5 RBI -- the best hitter on either team.
Game 5 and the Last Thing That Mattered
The Yankees led three games to one heading to Ebbets Field. They didn't leave anything to chance.
They scored in five of the first six innings and built a 10-2 lead. In the fourth, with the bases empty, DiMaggio hit a home run to left field.
It was a solo shot in a game the Yankees had already put away. None of that mattered to him.
"No home run I've ever hit has given me more satisfaction," he told reporters afterward.
The ninth inning carried its own footnote: Ebbets Field's lights came on as darkness settled over Brooklyn. It was the first time a World Series game had been played under artificial lights. The first scheduled night game in Series history wouldn't come until 1971. The Yankees finished this one 10-6.
What It Started
The writers who had dismissed Stengel as a clown figure got a very long answer. He won his first World Series in October 1949 and then won four more in a row -- 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953. Five consecutive championships. It's the only time it's been done.
It took five games to get started.
| Series Result | Yankees 4, Dodgers 1 |
| Stengel | 1st World Series title (of five consecutive) |
| Reynolds (Game 1) | CG, 2 H, 9 K, 0 ER |
| Henrich (Game 1) | First walk-off HR in World Series history |
| Bobby Brown (Series) | .500 AVG (6-for-12), 2 3B, 5 RBI |
| Joe Page (Series) | 2.00 ERA -- inaugural Babe Ruth Award |
| DiMaggio (1949 regular season) | .346 BA, 14 HR, 67 RBI (76 games) |
| Dynasty | 5 consecutive championships, 1949--1953 |
DiMaggio Returns at Fenway
After missing 65 games with bone spurs, Joe DiMaggio starts against the Red Sox in Boston. He homers in his second at-bat. The Yankees sweep the three-game series. The AP names it the greatest sports comeback of 1949.
Yankees Clinch the Pennant
Down one game to the Red Sox entering the final weekend, the Yankees win both games at Yankee Stadium -- 5-4 and 5-3 -- to clinch the AL pennant by a single game.
Game 1: The First Walk-Off in Series History
Reynolds throws a two-hitter. Newcombe strikes out 11 in nine innings without a walk. Tommy Henrich's lead-off homer in the bottom of the ninth is the first walk-off home run in World Series history. Yankees 1, Dodgers 0.
Game 2: Roe's Shutout Evens It
Preacher Roe throws a complete-game shutout, six hits, zero walks. Robinson doubles, scores on a Hodges single. Dodgers 1, Yankees 0 -- the first time a World Series had back-to-back 1-0 games.
Game 4: Brown's Triple Breaks Brooklyn
Bobby Brown hits a bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning, scoring three runs. The Yankees win 6-4 and lead the Series three games to one.
Game 5: DiMaggio Homers, Lights Come On
DiMaggio hits a solo home run in the fourth inning -- "No home run I've ever hit has given me more satisfaction." In the ninth, Ebbets Field's lights come on for the first World Series game played under artificial lights. Yankees 10, Dodgers 6. Stengel wins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 1949 World Series?
The New York Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers four games to one. The series ran October 5-9, with Games 1-2 at Yankee Stadium and Games 3-5 at Ebbets Field. It was Casey Stengel's first World Series championship in his debut season as Yankees manager.
Was the 1949 World Series Casey Stengel's first championship?
Yes. Stengel had been hired as Yankees manager in October 1948 and was widely dismissed by the press -- Boston sportswriter Dave Egan wrote that the hiring had "mathematically eliminated" New York. Stengel won the 1949 World Series and then four more in a row, for five consecutive championships (1949--1953), still the only time it's been done.
What was Joe DiMaggio's injury in 1949?
DiMaggio had surgery on a bone spur in his left heel during the offseason and missed the Yankees' first 65 games of the regular season. He returned June 28 at Fenway Park, homered in his second at-bat, hit two more the next day, and the Yankees swept Boston. The AP named it the greatest sports comeback of 1949. He finished the regular season at .346 with 14 HR and 67 RBI in 76 games.
Who won the 1949 World Series MVP?
Joe Page, the Yankees' reliever, won the inaugural Babe Ruth Award -- the first World Series MVP-equivalent honor, established in 1949. Page posted a 2.00 ERA across three appearances, including 4⅔ innings of scoreless relief in Game 3 that preserved a 4-3 Yankees win.
What records were set in the 1949 World Series?
Tommy Henrich's home run in Game 1 was the first walk-off home run in World Series history. Don Newcombe's 11 strikeouts in the losing effort tied the record for most strikeouts by a losing World Series pitcher. Games 1 and 2 were the first back-to-back 1-0 games in Series history. The ninth inning of Game 5 was the first World Series game played under artificial lights.