October 2, 1957. A Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, 69,476 fans settled into the concrete bowl, and the defending champions looked every bit the part. Whitey Ford threw a five-hit complete game, the offense scratched across three runs, and the New York Yankees beat Milwaukee 3-1 in Game 1. Business as usual. The Bombers had won five of the last eight World Series and didn't plan on handing the trophy to a franchise that had been in Wisconsin for only four years.
Eight days later, Lew Burdette walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium after throwing his third complete game of the Series -- a 5-0 shutout in Game 7 -- and the Braves were world champions. The Yankees weren't just beaten. They were dismantled by one man.
The Setup
The 1956 championship still hung in the air. Don Larsen's perfect game, Mantle's Triple Crown, Berra's two home runs in Game 7 -- all of it less than 12 months old. The Yankees came in having won 98 games with the best run differential in baseball. Milwaukee had won 95 behind Hank Aaron (.322, 44 home runs, 132 RBI), Warren Spahn (21-11), and a 27-year-old right-hander from Nitro, West Virginia named Lew Burdette who'd gone 17-9 during the regular season.
Burdette wasn't overpowering. He didn't blow fastballs past hitters or rack up strikeouts by the dozen. He changed speeds, moved the ball around the zone, and had a fidgety delivery that drove batters crazy -- they couldn't pick up his release point, couldn't time his motion, couldn't settle in against him. The Yankees had scored a league-leading 723 runs during the regular season. Burdette made them look like they'd never seen a sinker before.
Game by Game
Ford set the tone in Game 1 with a masterful complete game at the Stadium. Five hits allowed, one run. Hank Bauer tripled in the second, Andy Carey singled in the sixth, and Berra scored on a squeeze play. Simple, efficient, dominant. Championship pitching.
Burdette answered in Game 2 -- complete game, 4-2 Braves, and suddenly the Series was tied heading to Milwaukee.
The Yankees hammered the Braves 12-3 in Game 3 at County Stadium, and for a moment it felt like the dam had broken. But Game 4 swung it back. Eddie Mathews launched a two-run home run to give Milwaukee a 7-5 win, and the Series was knotted at two games apiece.
Game 5 was where it turned. Burdette against Ford, the two best pitchers in the Series, and the game came down to a single run. Mathews, Aaron, and Joe Adcock strung together three singles in the sixth inning to push across the only run Milwaukee needed. Burdette shut the Yankees out, 1-0. Ford had pitched well enough to win almost any game in October. He lost to a man who was better that day.
And then Mantle's shoulder.
During Game 5, Mantle collided with Braves second baseman Red Schoendienst and tore a tendon in his left shoulder. He played through Games 6 and 7 -- because that's what Mantle did -- but the damage was obvious. His swing lost its violence. The injury that had started with a drainage ditch at Yankee Stadium in the 1951 World Series now had a companion. The knees and the shoulder, working together to slowly take apart the most talented player in baseball.
The Yankees took Game 6, 3-2, to force a seventh game. They had to. They were out of room.
| Series Result | Milwaukee Braves 4, Yankees 3 |
| Game 1 | Yankees 3, Braves 1 (Ford CG) |
| Game 2 | Braves 4, Yankees 2 (Burdette CG) |
| Game 3 | Yankees 12, Braves 3 |
| Game 4 | Braves 7, Yankees 5 |
| Game 5 | Braves 1, Yankees 0 (Burdette CG SHO) |
| Game 6 | Yankees 3, Braves 2 |
| Game 7 | Braves 5, Yankees 0 (Burdette CG SHO) |
Game 7
October 10, 1957. Yankee Stadium. Burdette on two days' rest, pitching the biggest game of his life in the biggest ballpark in America, against a lineup that had scored 12 runs in Game 3. Casey Stengel sent Don Larsen to the mound -- the same Larsen who'd thrown the perfect game against Brooklyn a year earlier. The symmetry was irresistible. It didn't help.
Burdette gave up nothing. The Braves scored four runs in the third inning to blow the game open, and Burdette cruised from there. He scattered seven hits across nine innings, walked nobody, and completed the shutout. Final score: 5-0. Milwaukee's first professional sports championship. The first title for a franchise that had moved from Boston just four years earlier.
Three complete games. Two shutouts. A 0.67 ERA across 27 innings. Thirteen strikeouts. Two earned runs total. Burdette won the World Series MVP, and nobody else was close. In the modern game -- where starters get pulled in the fifth inning of a playoff game if they've thrown 85 pitches -- what Burdette did in October 1957 reads like science fiction. Three complete games in a single World Series. The last pitcher to do it.
Aaron's October
Burdette's pitching sucked all the air out of the room, but Hank Aaron's Series shouldn't be forgotten. He hit .393 with 11 hits, three home runs, and seven RBI across the seven games. At 23 years old, Aaron announced himself on the biggest stage in the sport -- the kind of performance that made you realize the next two decades of baseball were going to run through him. (They did. Seven hundred and fifty-five home runs' worth.)
What It Cost
The loss stung. But the shoulder injury lingered.
Mantle's torn tendon changed how he swung from the left side for the rest of his career. He'd still hit -- 42 home runs in 1958, a third MVP in 1962 -- but the .365 average and the explosive physicality of his peak years didn't come back. The 1956-57 window was the Mantle that teammates, opponents, and scouts talked about when they said he was the most gifted player they'd ever seen. After the shoulder, they talked about him in the past tense.
The 1958 World Series rematch would bring redemption -- the Yankees coming back from 3-1 down against the same Braves, Bob Turley carrying the load, the championship returning to the Bronx. But that revenge belonged to next year. On the night of October 10, 1957, the only truth was that Burdette had beaten them three times, and nobody in pinstripes had an answer.
Game 1 -- Ford's Complete Game
Whitey Ford shuts down Milwaukee on five hits in a 3-1 Yankees victory at the Stadium. Attendance: 69,476.
Game 2 -- Burdette's First Win
Burdette throws a complete game, Braves 4, Yankees 2. The Series is tied heading to Milwaukee.
Game 3 -- Yankees Blowout
The Yankees hammer Milwaukee 12-3 at County Stadium to take a 2-1 series lead.
Game 4 -- Mathews Homers
Eddie Mathews's two-run home run gives Milwaukee a 7-5 win. Series tied 2-2.
Game 5 -- Burdette Shuts Out Yankees
Burdette beats Ford 1-0. Mantle tears a shoulder tendon in a collision with Red Schoendienst.
Game 6 -- Yankees Survive
The Yankees win 3-2 to force a seventh game.
Game 7 -- Burdette Completes the Job
Burdette throws his third complete game -- second shutout -- in a 5-0 Braves victory. Milwaukee wins its first championship.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many games did Lew Burdette win in the 1957 World Series?
Burdette won three games -- Games 2, 5, and 7 -- all complete games. He threw shutouts in Games 5 (1-0) and 7 (5-0), finishing with a 0.67 ERA across 27 innings pitched, 13 strikeouts, and just two earned runs allowed. He was named World Series MVP.
What happened to Mickey Mantle in the 1957 World Series?
During Game 5, Mantle tore a tendon in his left shoulder when he collided with Braves second baseman Red Schoendienst. He continued playing in Games 6 and 7 but with diminished effectiveness. The injury had lasting effects on his swing, particularly from the left side of the plate, and contributed to his physical decline over the following seasons.
Did the Yankees get revenge for the 1957 World Series loss?
Yes. The Yankees and Braves met again in the 1958 World Series, and the Yankees came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win in seven games -- one of the greatest comebacks in postseason history. Bob Turley was the hero of that comeback, winning the Cy Young Award that season.