October 5, 1949. Yankee Stadium. Bottom of the ninth inning. The score was 0-0, and it had been 0-0 for so long that the tension had stopped feeling like tension and started feeling like something permanent. Allie Reynolds had thrown nine innings of two-hit shutout ball. Don Newcombe had matched him through eight, striking out 11 Yankees and throwing 113 pitches that produced exactly zero runs. Then Tommy Henrich -- the man they called "Old Reliable" -- stepped in against Newcombe's 114th pitch and hit it into the right-field seats. The first walk-off home run in World Series history, and the place came apart.
The Pitching Duel
Game 1 of the World Series between the Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers was supposed to feature offense. The Yankees had , , Henrich. The Dodgers had Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Duke Snider. Two lineups loaded with hitters, and both were shut down completely by pitching that turned the game into a nine-inning staring contest.
Reynolds, the Yankees' right-hander, was untouchable. Two hits allowed over nine full innings. He spotted his fastball, mixed his curve, and gave the Dodgers nothing to work with. Brooklyn's lineup -- a group that had scored plenty all season -- looked overmatched from the first inning.
Newcombe was just as good, and in some ways better. The Dodgers' 23-year-old right-hander struck out 11 Yankees in eight-plus innings. His fastball had the kind of late life that made hitters look foolish. He threw 113 pitches through eight scoreless frames and came back out for the ninth because his manager had no reason to take him out. Newcombe hadn't allowed a run. He'd barely allowed contact.
Old Reliable
Tommy Henrich earned his nickname the honest way -- by showing up in moments that mattered. He wasn't the most talented player on the Yankees. DiMaggio was the star, was having a breakout year, and Berra was emerging as one of the game's best catchers. But Henrich had a quality that statistics can't capture: he delivered when the game was on the line. The beat writers didn't call him "Old Reliable" as a joke. They called him that because they'd watched him do it for years.
Henrich stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the game still locked at zero. Newcombe had thrown 113 pitches and was still on the mound. The Brooklyn right-hander had been dominant all night, but 113 pitches is 113 pitches, and a tired arm leaves fastballs in dangerous places.
The Swing
Newcombe's 114th pitch caught too much of the plate. Henrich turned on it and drove it deep to right field. The ball cleared the wall and landed in the seats, and Yankee Stadium -- which had been holding its breath for three hours -- exhaled all at once.
Yankees 1, Dodgers 0. Game over. Series lead, Yankees.
It was the first time a World Series game had ever ended on a home run hit by the home team in the bottom of the ninth. The concept of a "walk-off" wouldn't get its name for decades (Dennis Eckersley coined it in the 1980s), but Henrich created the template. One swing, one run, game over. No chance for a response.
| Date | October 5, 1949 |
| Game | 1949 World Series, Game 1 |
| Location | Yankee Stadium |
| Final Score | Yankees 1, Dodgers 0 |
| Reynolds Line | 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, shutout |
| Newcombe Line | 8+ IP, 11 K, 0 ER through 8 innings |
| The Home Run | Henrich off Newcombe, 114th pitch, bottom of 9th |
| Historic First | First walk-off home run in World Series history |
I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit. Newcombe had been throwing hard all night, but that one was up, and I didn't miss it.
The Aftermath
The Dodgers won Game 2 behind Preacher Roe's six-hit shutout, evening the series. But Henrich's blast had set a tone that Brooklyn couldn't overcome. The Yankees won Games 3, 4, and 5 to clinch the championship in five games -- the franchise's 12th title and the first of five consecutive World Series wins.
Newcombe's performance in the loss deserved better than a footnote. Eleven strikeouts in a World Series game was a dominant performance by any standard. He threw 114 pitches of high-quality baseball and lost on one swing. That's October. The margin between hero and hard-luck loser is exactly one pitch.
For Henrich, the moment capped a season defined by the three days earlier, where he'd caught the final out. Old Reliable had caught the last pop fly of the regular season and hit the first walk-off home run in World Series history in the span of 72 hours. Some players chase moments like that for an entire career. Henrich got two of them in one week.
Pennant Clinched
Yankees beat Red Sox 5-3 in winner-take-all game. Henrich catches the final pop-up at first base.
The Walk-Off
Henrich hits Newcombe's 114th pitch into the right-field seats for a 1-0 Game 1 win -- the first walk-off home run in World Series history.
Dodgers Even Series
Brooklyn wins Game 2 behind Preacher Roe's six-hit shutout. Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges provide the offense.
Championship Won
Yankees win Game 5 at Ebbets Field to clinch the World Series, 4 games to 1. The game is the first Fall Classic contest finished under artificial lights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who hit the first walk-off home run in World Series history?
Tommy Henrich of the New York Yankees hit the first walk-off home run in World Series history on October 5, 1949. His solo home run off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Yankees a 1-0 victory in Game 1 of the 1949 World Series.
What was the score of Game 1 of the 1949 World Series?
The Yankees won 1-0 on Tommy Henrich's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Allie Reynolds threw a two-hit shutout over nine innings for the Yankees. Don Newcombe struck out 11 batters for Brooklyn but gave up the home run on his 114th pitch.
Who pitched in Game 1 of the 1949 World Series?
Allie Reynolds started for the Yankees and threw a complete-game two-hit shutout. Don Newcombe started for the Brooklyn Dodgers and was equally dominant, striking out 11 and allowing no earned runs through eight innings before Tommy Henrich's ninth-inning walk-off home run ended it 1-0.