1958 Yankees

The 1958 New York Yankees went 92-62, won their 24th American League pennant by 10 games, and did something only one other team had ever done in World Series history -- came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Milwaukee Braves in seven games for their 18th championship. It was a revenge tour. The Braves had beaten these same Yankees in the '57 Series, and the Bombers spent 364 days making sure that wouldn't happen again.

The Grudge

The 1956 championship felt like a lifetime ago. That '57 World Series loss to Milwaukee had been a shock to the system -- the first time the Yankees had lost a postseason series in 12 years. The Braves' Lew Burdette had beaten them three times, including a Game 7 shutout that sent the Bronx home empty. Worse, had torn a tendon in his left shoulder during a collision with Red Schoendienst in Game 1. The injury would haunt his swing for years.

Casey Stengel didn't make dramatic offseason moves. He didn't need to. The roster was still loaded with championship pedigree, and the skipper trusted that rage would be a sufficient motivator. He was right.

Running Away With It

The Yankees opened on April 14 and took first place four days later. They never gave it back.

May was the month that killed the pennant race before summer even started -- a 17-6 stretch (.739 winning percentage) that put 10 games between the Yankees and the rest of the American League. The White Sox hung around in second place all year, but "hanging around" was all they could manage. By September 8, it was official. The Yankees clinched their fourth straight AL pennant against Baltimore, and the celebration felt less like joy and more like a prelude. October was the point.

anchored the rotation with a league-leading 2.01 ERA across 219.1 innings. Bob Turley went 21-7 and won the Cy Young Award -- that was only getting started. And produced a split-season arc that still amazes: .274 in the first half while his left-side uppercut swing fought the torn tendon, then .330 after the break, finishing with 42 home runs and 128 runs scored (both led the AL).

October: Down 3-1, Then Down to Business

The Braves came into the World Series expecting to finish what they'd started a year earlier. Games 1 and 2 in Milwaukee went according to that script -- the Braves won both. The Yankees took Game 3 with a shutout back at the Stadium, but Milwaukee grabbed Game 4 to seize a 3-1 series lead.

Three games from elimination. Only one team in history -- the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates -- had ever dug out of a 3-1 hole in the World Series. The '58 Yankees became the second, and they did it on the arm of one man.

Bob Turley threw a complete-game shutout in Game 5, an elimination game where anything less than perfection meant packing it in. Two days later in Milwaukee, he came out of the bullpen to record a save in a 4-3, 10-inning Game 6 victory. Then in Game 7, he relieved Don Larsen in the third inning and threw 6.2 innings of two-hit ball while the offense did the rest.

The decisive blow came in the eighth inning of . doubled with two outs to start the rally. Elston Howard singled him home for the go-ahead run. Then Moose Skowron crushed a three-run homer off Burdette -- the same Burdette who'd tortured them a year earlier -- to left-center field. Final score: 6-2.

Burdette knew the pitch was wrong the instant it left his hand. "A lousy pitch," he said afterward. "It was a slider -- the same thing he looked bad on before -- but this one I got in too high."

A lousy pitch. It was a slider -- the same thing he looked bad on before -- but this one I got in too high.

The Old Man's Team

This was , and the old man had managed through everything the '58 season threw at him -- Mantle's shoulder, rotation questions, an opponent that had already beaten his club once. The platoons, the hunches, the game-by-game lineup juggling that drove reporters crazy and won ballgames. Nobody managed like Stengel because nobody thought like Stengel.

Hank Bauer hit .323 in the World Series with four home runs and eight RBI -- the quiet hero of October who doesn't get talked about enough. Turley took home the World Series MVP and finished second in AL MVP voting behind Jackie Jensen. The Cy Young Award (won by a single vote over Warren Spahn) was almost an afterthought compared to what he'd done in the postseason.

The Braves wouldn't get another chance. with Skowron's swing, and the franchise left Milwaukee after 1965 without ever winning another title in Wisconsin. The Yankees, meanwhile, just kept being the Yankees.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did the 1958 Yankees come back from 3-1 in the World Series?

The Yankees became only the second team in World Series history to overcome a 3-1 deficit, winning Games 5, 6, and 7 against the Milwaukee Braves. Bob Turley was the key -- he threw a complete-game shutout in Game 5, earned a save in Game 6's 10-inning win, and pitched 6.2 innings of two-hit relief to win Game 7. Moose Skowron's three-run homer off Lew Burdette in the eighth inning of Game 7 sealed the championship, 6-2.

Who won the 1958 World Series MVP?

Bob Turley won World Series MVP after going 2-1 with one save across three consecutive appearances. He also won the Cy Young Award for his 21-7 regular season and finished second in AL MVP voting behind Jackie Jensen.

Did Mickey Mantle play hurt in 1958?

Yes. Mantle played the entire 1958 season with a torn tendon in his left shoulder, sustained during a collision with Red Schoendienst in Game 1 of the 1957 World Series. Despite the injury, he led the AL in home runs (42) and runs scored (128), hitting .304 overall with a .274 first half and a .330 second half as he adapted to the damaged shoulder.

How many consecutive pennants did the 1958 Yankees win?

The 1958 pennant was the fourth consecutive AL pennant for Casey Stengel's Yankees (1955-1958). The streak ended in 1959 when the Chicago White Sox won the American League. Over his full tenure (1949-1960), Stengel won 10 pennants in 12 seasons and seven World Series titles.