Mickey Owen's dropped third strike came on Sunday, October 5, 1941, in Game 4 of the World Series at Ebbets Field. Brooklyn led the New York Yankees 4-3 with two outs in the ninth when Hugh Casey struck out Tommy Henrich. Owen couldn't hold the pitch. Henrich reached first, and the Yankees scored four runs to win 7-4.
That's the short version. The long version is the cruelest inning Brooklyn ever played.
Brooklyn's Turn
The Dodgers hadn't won a pennant since 1920. Leo Durocher's club went 100-54 to get there, and 33,813 people jammed into Ebbets Field that Sunday believing the drought was about to pay off.
The 1941 Yankees came in up two games to one. They'd won the pennant by 17 games behind Joe DiMaggio and his 56-game streak, and every game of the Series so far had come down to one run. Game 4 looked like it would be, too.
A Lead Slips Away
The Yankees jumped out early. Johnny Sturm's two-out, two-run single in the fourth made it 3-0 and chased Kirby Higbe. Brooklyn answered in the bottom half when Atley Donald walked two and pinch-hitter Jimmy Wasdell doubled them both home.
In the fifth, Pete Reiser hit a two-run homer off Donald. Brooklyn 4, Yankees 3.
Casey had come in during the top of that inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, and gotten Joe Gordon to fly out. He didn't allow a run through the eighth. When he retired Sturm and Red Rolfe on ground balls to open the ninth, the Series was one strike from a tie.
The Pitch Nobody Agrees On
Henrich worked the count full. Casey threw something that broke hard and down, Henrich swung through it, and umpire Larry Goetz punched him out. Policemen started onto the field to protect the diamond from the celebration.
The ball hit the heel of Owen's glove and rolled toward the backstop. Henrich saw it and took off. He made it to first easily.
What Casey actually threw is still an argument. Owen called it a curve that night, and one he should have caught. Decades later, he told The New York Times that Casey had two curves, a big overhand one and another "like a slider" that "broke sharp and quick." Henrich insisted it was a curve: "Spitballs drop down. I swung at a big breaking curveball." Pee Wee Reese, playing shortstop that day, said it was a spitter. Casey stuck with curve.
I've read all of them, and I'm not taking sides. The ball got away. That part nobody disputes.
Four Hitters, Four Runs
DiMaggio lined a single to left. Then Charlie Keller hit one high off the right-field screen. Henrich scored the tying run, and DiMaggio came all the way around from first to slide in with the go-ahead run. Yankees 5-4.
Bill Dickey walked. Gordon doubled, and Keller and Dickey both scored. 7-4.
Durocher never came out to get Casey, who walked Phil Rizzuto before the Yankees' pitcher, Johnny Murphy, grounded out to end it. Murphy then set down the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the ninth, finishing two perfect innings for the win.
It was all my fault. It was a great breaking curve that I should have had.
Across the field, Henrich had some sympathy. "I bet he feels like a nickel's worth of dog meat," he said.
The Next Afternoon
There wasn't much fight left. Tiny Bonham threw a four-hitter on Monday, October 6, Henrich homered, and the Yankees won 3-1 to close out the 1941 World Series in five games. It was the franchise's ninth title.
Owen didn't get run out of town. Brooklyn adopted him. He told W.C. Heinz of the Saturday Evening Post that he got about 4,000 wires and letters, with job offers and marriage proposals in the pile. "Some girls sent their pictures in bathing suits," he said, "and my wife tore them up."
The Long Tail
The Yankees and Dodgers met again in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953, and Brooklyn lost every time. They didn't break through until 1955. Henrich, for his part, got another big October moment against them with the first walk-off homer in World Series history in 1949.
Owen made four straight All-Star teams, jumped to the Mexican League in 1946, served a suspension, and later spent years as the sheriff of Greene County, Missouri. He died in 2005 at 89. He never pretended the pitch didn't happen.
"I would've been completely forgotten," he said, "if I hadn't missed that pitch."
| Date | Sunday, October 5, 1941 |
| Site | Ebbets Field, Brooklyn |
| Attendance | 33,813 |
| Game | 1941 World Series, Game 4 |
| Situation | Dodgers up 4-3, two outs, top of the 9th, full count |
| Pitcher / Batter | Hugh Casey vs. Tommy Henrich |
| Official Scoring | Strikeout (Casey), passed ball (Owen) |
| Runs After the Miss | 4 |
| Final Score | Yankees 7, Dodgers 4 |
| Hits | Yankees 12, Dodgers 9 |
| Winning Pitcher | Johnny Murphy (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R) |
| Losing Pitcher | Hugh Casey |
| Series After | Yankees lead 3-1 |
Game 3
The Yankees win 2-1 at Ebbets Field for a 2-1 Series lead. Casey takes the loss.
Brooklyn Comes Back
Sturm's two-run single makes it 3-0. Wasdell's pinch-hit double and Reiser's two-run homer put Brooklyn up 4-3.
The Dropped Third Strike
Casey strikes out Henrich with two outs, Owen can't hold the pitch, and Henrich reaches. DiMaggio singles, Keller and Gordon hit two-run doubles, and the Yankees win 7-4.
Game 5
Tiny Bonham's four-hitter and a Henrich homer give the Yankees a 3-1 win and the Series, four games to one.
Owen Dies
Mickey Owen dies in Mount Vernon, Missouri, at 89.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened with Mickey Owen's dropped third strike?
In Game 4 of the 1941 World Series on October 5, Brooklyn led the Yankees 4-3 with two outs in the ninth. Hugh Casey struck out Tommy Henrich, but catcher Mickey Owen couldn't hold the pitch and it rolled toward the backstop. Henrich reached first, and the Yankees scored four runs on a DiMaggio single, a Charlie Keller two-run double, a Bill Dickey walk and a Joe Gordon two-run double to win 7-4.
Was Hugh Casey's pitch to Tommy Henrich a spitball?
Nobody's ever settled it. Owen called it a great breaking curve and later said it was Casey's sharp, slider-like curve. Henrich said it was a big breaking curveball, not a spitter. Pee Wee Reese said it was a spitball. Casey maintained it was a curve.
Was Mickey Owen charged with an error?
No. The official scoring was a strikeout for Casey and a passed ball on Owen. It's still widely called "Owen's error."
Did the Yankees win the 1941 World Series?
Yes. The Game 4 win gave them a 3-1 Series lead, and they beat Brooklyn 3-1 in Game 5 the next day, October 6, behind Tiny Bonham's four-hitter. It was the franchise's ninth World Series title.
The Dodgers were one strike from a tie. They got the strike. They never got the out.