1941 BBW Replay World Series - New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals

Both teams had won their league pennant in good time, but the last month of the season was rough on both teams. Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio missed two weeks at the beginning of the month but has played regularly since. Left fielder Charlie Keller missed most of the last two weeks of the month, only having returned for the final few games of the season. Third baseman Red Rolfe experienced colitis and missed much of the month of September as well but was able to return to the lineup before the season's end. All three have been deemed healthy and will be in the regular lineup for New York. 

St. Louis had a major injury to deal with in that first baseman Johnny Mize tore ligaments in his arm late in the season and would miss the World Series. Johnny Hopp had moved in from the outfield to cover first base in his absence and rookie sensation Stan Musial will take Mize's place on the roster and will be stationed in left field. Center fielder Terry Moore had missed a couple of weeks in September but was back on the field late in the month. Right fielder Enos Slaughter missed almost a full month due to a broken clavicle and had been limited to pinch-hitting duties the final few weeks of the season, but Moore and Slaughter have both been deemed healthy and will be in the regular lineup for St. Louis.

 

As both teams were able to secure their post-season reservations with several weeks remaining in the season both have had a full chance to rest their starting staff, and both have declared their pitching rotations for the World Series. The games will begin on Tuesday, and they will play two games in New York, followed by a travel day to allow the teams to get from New York to St. Louis. There will be three games in St. Louis, another travel day back to New York, and the World Series will wrap up with two games in New York (all as needed).

 

This has left both fans and sportswriters with quite a bit to talk (and argue) over. Both sides agreed that both teams are solid performers, but the general consensus was that Mize's injury gives the Yankees a considerable advantage and the betting patterns have backed that up. The Cardinals believers argued that their pitching was just as good, if not better than New York's, and this Musial kid has looked pretty good as well in his limited time. Even with the war in Europe casting a pall over the country, all eyes were on New York and were awaiting Game One of the 1941 BBW Replay World Series.

 

Tuesday, September 30, 1941

 

St. Louis (NL) 6 New York (AL) (H) 3

 

St. Louis scored in the top of the first when center fielder Terry Moore hit a long sacrifice fly to right to score third baseman Jimmy Brown, and there the score stayed until second baseman Joe Gordon slashed an RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth that scored left fielder Charlie Keller.

 

The Yankees had a chance to take the lead when they had runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Lon Warneke got out of trouble when shortstop Phil Rizzuto was nailed at home on an infield bouncer and that was followed by a quick double play to quell the uprising.

 

St. Louis scored three times in the top of the sixth as Red Ruffing could not nail down the third out and a series of singles did the damage. Undeterred, the Yankees came right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to keep it close. Now up with a 4-3 lead, the Cardinals added two more runs in the top of the seventh as Ruffing's struggles continued, requiring Tiny Bonham to come in and get the third out.

 

Armed with a 6-3 lead Warneke plowed on, mowing down Yankees hitters, but with one out in the ninth he gave up a single and then a walk, and left-hander Max Lanier was brought on in relief. One pitch and one double play later and St. Louis had their Game One win.

 

Wednesday, October 1, 1941

 

St. Louis (NL) 7 New York (AL) (H) 0

 

St. Louis starter Ernie White held the Yankees hitless until left fielder Charlie Keller led off the bottom of the eighth with a double, New York's only hit on the day. Keller was soon erased on a double play and the Yankees hit into another double play in the ninth to end the game, a troublesome trend for the Yankees fans.

 

By then the game was already pretty much decided though. St. Louis plated three in the third, the big hit being a two-run double from first baseman Johnny Hopp. The Cardinals knocked out Spud Chandler with three runs in the sixth and then they jumped on reliever Norm Branch with two more runs in the seventh, allowing White to cruise home with the one-hit shutout victory and St. Louis returned home up 2-0 in the World Series.

 

Friday, October 3, 1941

 

St. Louis (NL) (H) 3 New York (AL) 2 (11)

 

The Cardinals scored single runs in the second and third innings, but the Yankees came back with two runs in the top of the fourth, and then a pitcher's duel broke out as neither team really threatened and eventually the game moved into extra innings.

 

St. Louis managed to get two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the eleventh, but pinch-hitter Estel Crabtree could only manage to hit an easy bouncer right back to Johnny Murphy, but Murphy airmailed his throw over first baseman Johnny Sturm's outstretched glove and second baseman Frank "Creepy" Crespi came around from second base to score the winning run, much to the delight of the hometown Cardinals fans, who now found themselves up 3-0 in the World Series.

 

Saturday, October 4, 1941

 

New York (AL) 9 St. Louis (NL) (H) 6

 

The Yankees managed to reassert themselves in Game Four, albeit from some unexpected sources. First baseman Johnny Sturm hit a two-out three-run homerun in the third inning, the Yankees' first homerun of the series, to give the visitors their first lead in the World Series. St. Louis came back to make it close with two in the bottom of the third, but then Sturm came through with a run-scoring double in the top of the fourth to give New York a 4-2 lead.

 

St. Louis kept coming back though and scored single runs in the fifth and seventh innings to tie the score at 4-4, but this time it was the Yankees' turn to score and they managed to score a run in the eighth to take a 5-4 lead. After holding St. Louis scoreless in the bottom of the eighth New York quickly scored another run in the top of the ninth and then backup catcher Buddy Rosar hit a two-out pinch-hit three-run homerun that essentially put the game out of reach.

 

St. Louis did score two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but this time the Yankees held them off and had their first win of the World Series, now down 3-1 and still facing a Game Five in St. Louis tomorrow.

 

Sunday, October 5, 1941

 

St. Louis (NL) (H) 1 New York (AL) 0

 

A pitcher's duel as Ernie White threw a four-hit shutout to get the World Series victory over Tiny Bonham, who only allowed five hits and pitched a fine game as well. The game's only run was scored in the bottom of the ninth when third baseman Jimmy Brown led off with a double and the next hitter, first baseman Johnny Hopp, wasted no time and drove home the winning run with a double of his own.

 

All of St. Louis erupted in mad cheers as the hometown Cardinals had won the 1941 World Series and had done so at home. The players were overjoyed as well, plus they were also happy they didn’t have to jump on a train back to New York to resume playing the always dangerous Yankees. White was unanimously named MVP for his two shutout victories, having allowed only five hits in his eighteen innings of work.

 

St. Louis didn't do much offensively, but they did more than New York. The Cardinals had no triples or homeruns, but they did have thirteen doubles, five of the doubles coming off the bat of third baseman Jimmy Brown. Brown also led with six runs scored, just ahead of center fielder Terry Moore with five. Second baseman Creepy Crespi was the only player to have a hit in every game and his .333 average led all the Cardinals regulars. First baseman Johnny Hopp led with five RBI's, just ahead of shortstop Marty Marion with four.

 

Ernie White

New York had plenty of chances in the close games but couldn't come through with the clutch hit when they really needed it. The Yankees hit into five double plays and their usually solid defense had seven errors, allowing for four unearned runs to cross the plate, including some at crucial times. Center fielder Joe DiMaggio (.211) and left fielder Charlie Keller (.167) were both relatively quiet, while shortstop Phil Rizzuto (.444) led the team in hitting among the regulars. Nine of New York's fourteen runs scored all came in Game Four, which didn't leave them much to work with otherwise. The St. Louis pitching staff, and especially Ernie White, were the true MVP's of this World Series.

And with that, the 1941 BBW replay is now completed. It is now time to make sure everything is backed up and saved, and it is time to begin to work on 1920 for my next project. Once 1920 is completed, this means I will have completed BBW replays of the following seasons: 1901, 1911, 1920, 1930, 1941, 1949, and 1957. This allowed me to get a more-or-less once-a-decade snapshot of the league as it evolved through the first half of the century. What's next? Well, let me finish 1920 first, but after that, stay tuned.