The 1950 World Series was the 47th

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

between the American and

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

s for the championship of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. The Philadelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, as 1950 American League champions, competed to win a best-of-seven game series. The Series began on Wednesday, October 4, and concluded Monday, October 9. The Phillies had

home field advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...

for the Series, meaning no games would be played at the Yankees' home ballpark,

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...

, until game 3. The Yankees won their 13th championship in their 41-year history, taking the Series in a four-game sweep. The final game in the Series resulted in the New York Yankees winning, 5–2 over Philadelphia. It was the only game in the Series decided by more than one run. The 1950 World Series title would be the second of a record five straight titles for the New York Yankees (1949–1953). The two teams would not again meet in the Series for 59 years. This was also the last World Series to have no American born black players until

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, as neither club had integrated in 1950. It was also the last World Series where television coverage was pooled between multiple networks: earlier that year the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

, which had long been the radio home for the World Series, purchased the exclusive TV rights for the following season despite not (and indeed, never) having a television network. They would eventually sell on the rights to

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, beginning a long relationship with the sport for that network. The Yankees and Phillies faced each other again 59 years later in the

2009 World Series The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 season. As the 105th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National Leag ...

, in which the Yankees also won, this time in six games to win their 27th World Series championship.

Teams

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies, a particularly young team which came to be known as the "Whiz Kids", had won the

pennant in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season to garner their second pennant—their first in 35 years. But writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' on October 3, 1950, John Drebinger picked the Yankees to win the Series in five games: "The Stengelers simply have too much over-all pitching. They have the long range power. They rare defensive skill, and they have the poise and experience gained through the past four years which brought them two world championships and three pennants." Odds makers made the Yankees 2–5 favorites to win the Series. Casey Stengel and Eddie Sawyer 1950

Curt Simmons Curtis Thomas Simmons (May 19, 1929 – December 13, 2022) was an American professional baseball left-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to and to . Along with right-hander Robin Roberts (a member of the Baseball H ...

, a 17-game winner for the Phillies in 1950, had been called to military duty in September and was unavailable for this Series. Simmons was stationed at

Camp Atterbury Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally-owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logi ...

and requested and was granted a leave on October 4 to attend the Series. The Phillies chose not to request that Commissioner Chandler rule Simmons eligible for the Series but Simmons chose to attend to support the team. Simmons' place on the Series roster was taken by pitcher

Jocko Thompson John Samuel "Jocko" Thompson (January 17, 1917 – February 3, 1988) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of four seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball from 1948 to 1951. He also served in the Army of ...

. Phillies ace Robin Roberts didn't start Game 1 because he had had three starts in five days including the pennant winner on the final day of the regular season—played October 1, 1950 (three days before Game 1).

New York Yankees

The AL champion Yankees finished the regular season with a record of 98–56, three games ahead of the Detroit Tigers. Offensive team leaders were

Phil Rizzuto Philip Francis Rizzuto (September 25, 1917 – August 13, 2007), nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees (1941–1956), and was elected to th ...

(.324

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

(32

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, .585 slugging percentage, and .979 OPS), and

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all but ...

(124 RBIs). Pitcher

Vic Raschi Victor John Angelo Raschi (March 28, 1919 – October 14, 1988) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "The Springfield Rifle," he was one of the top pitchers for the New York Yankees in the late 1940s and early 1950s, forming (w ...

led the team in wins, with a 21–8 record, and innings pitched. Rizzuto was voted the American League MVP, while Berra finished third, Raschi seventh, and DiMaggio ninth.

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

Because his #1 starter, Robin Roberts, had just pitched in three of the last five games of the frantic 1950 pennant race, Phils manager Eddie Sawyer surprised the world by naming his bullpen ace,

Jim Konstanty Casimir James Konstanty (March 2, 1917 – June 11, 1976) was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball and National League Most Valuable Player of . He played for the Cincinnati Reds (1944), Boston Braves (1946), Philadelphia P ...

, to open on the mound for Philadelphia, opposing 21-game winner

of the Yankees. Konstanty was outstanding, allowing just four hits and a run in eight innings, but Raschi was tougher, shutting out the Phils on only two hits en route to a 1–0 victory in the opener. The game's only run came in the fourth when

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started h ...

hit a leadoff double and scored on two fly-outs, the last one a sacrifice fly by

Jerry Coleman Gerald Francis Coleman (September 14, 1924 – January 5, 2014) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres for one year. Coleman was named the rookie of the year in 1949 by Ass ...

. This marked the third consecutive year that the World Series opened with a 1–0 game, and the third consecutive year a two-hitter was thrown in the opening game of the World Series.

Game 2

In what would be the last postseason game ever played in

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

, 20-game winner Robin Roberts and

Allie Reynolds Allie Pierce Reynolds (February 10, 1917 – December 26, 1994) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Reynolds pitched 13 years for the Cleveland Indians (1942–1946) and New York Yankees (1947–1954). Reynolds was nicknam ...

both pitched outstanding baseball for nine innings, as strong pitching and stout defense again prevailed in the Series.

Gene Woodling Eugene Richard Woodling (August 16, 1922 – June 2, 2001) was an American professional baseball player, coach and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder between and , most prominently as a member of the New York Yankees dynas ...

drove in

, who walked with two outs and moved to second on a single, with an RBI single for a Yankee run in the second, and

Richie Ashburn Don Richard Ashburn (March 19, 1927 – September 9, 1997), also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" (due to his light-blond hair), was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball. (Some sources give his ...

's sacrifice fly scored Mike Goliat from third in the fifth, forcing a 1–1 tie which held up through nine full innings. This set the stage for

, leading off the tenth inning for the Yankees. With one swing, DiMaggio smashed a home run to left field to provide the difference in a 2–1 extra-inning win for the Yankees as the Series shifted to New York. DiMaggio had a hand in holding the Phillies at bay long enough to get his key at-bat. Leading off the sixth inning,

Del Ennis Delmer Ennis (June 8, 1925 – February 8, 1996) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1946 to 1959 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Whit ...

hit a deep fly to center, but DiMaggio made a spectacular over-the-shoulder running catch, near the marker at the base of the scoreboard in right-center. This play is far less well-known but was similar-looking to the famous Willie Mays catch in the

1954 World Series The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since , defeating the heavily favored Ind ...

. DiMaggio made this play on the road, although in a ballpark which he played in during the regular season (Shibe Park was also the home of the Philadelphia A's). Because there was nobody on when the ball was hit, he was not in a hurry to get the ball back to the infield (Mays' famous 1954 catch was deeper, with two runners on base and nobody out when the ball was hit).

Game 3

Phils lefty

Ken Heintzelman Kenneth Alphonse Heintzelman (October 14, 1915 – August 14, 2000) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played all or part of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1937–42 and 1946–47) and Phil ...

started the third game against Yankee stalwart

Eddie Lopat Edmund Walter Lopat (originally Lopatynski) (June 21, 1918 – June 15, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher, coach, manager, front office executive, and scout. He was sometimes known as "The Junk Man", but better known as "Steady Eddie ...

. The Yankees struck first in the third when

walked with two outs, stole second and scored on a single by

, who was tagged out at second to end the inning. In the sixth,

doubled with two outs and scored on

Dick Sisler Richard Alan Sisler (November 2, 1920 – November 20, 1998) was an American player, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball. The son of Hall of Fame first baseman and two-time .400 hitter George Sisler, Dick Sisler's younger brother Dave was ...

's single to tie the game. Next inning Granny Hamner hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Mike Goliat's single to put the Phillies up 2–1. Heintzelman continued the Phils' great pitching into the eighth inning, when he lost control and walked the bases loaded after two outs. Konstanty relieved him and got

to ground to shortstop Granny Hamner, but Hamner misplayed the ball to allow the tying run to score.

Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...

came on for the Phillies in the last of the ninth. After retiring the first two batters, Meyer allowed consecutive singles to set the stage for

, who drove in the winning run with a base hit to give the Yankees a 3–2 win. In attendance at the game was

Grover Cleveland Alexander Grover Cleveland Alexander (February 26, 1887 – November 4, 1950), nicknamed "Old Pete", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. He ...

, who had led the Phillies to their previous pennant in 1915. It was his first World Series game in 20 years. Ill from the effects of long term alcohol abuse, Alexander was generally ignored. He would be dead less than a month later on November 4, 1950, at age 63.

Game 4

Phillies starter Bob Miller matched up against rookie

Whitey Ford Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford (October 21, 1928 – October 8, 2020), nicknamed "the Chairman of the Board", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played his entire 16-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...

, making his first

appearance, as the Yankees tried to wrap up the Series in four straight. New York scored two runs in the first inning when

reached when second baseman Mike Goliat misplayed his ground ball, moved to second on a ground ball, and scored on

's single. After a wild pitch,

's RBI double made it 2–0 Yankees. Berra hit a leadoff home run in the sixth off of

, who then hit DiMaggio with a pitch. After a groundout,

's RBI triple and

Hank Bauer Henry Albert Bauer (July 31, 1922 – February 9, 2007) was an American right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He played with the New York Yankees (–) and Kansas City Athletics (–); he batted and threw right-handed. He served as ...

's sacrifice fly made it 5–0 Yankees. The first two Phils reached base in the ninth via a single and hit-by-pitch before Ford got the next two outs.

Andy Seminick Andrew Wasal Seminick (September 12, 1920 – February 22, 2004) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1943 and 1951, and the Cincinnati Reds/Redlegs ...

then flied to left, but left fielder

dropped what looked like the Series-ending out, allowing two runs to score. Mike Goliat kept the inning going with a hit, and Stengel removed Ford to bring in

. Reynolds struck out pinch-hitter Stan Lopata, giving the Yanks a 5–2 win and the World Series victory. The Phillies failed to hit a home run in the entire World Series. No other team has matched that dubious feat since.

Composite box

1950 World Series (4–0):

(A.L.) over Philadelphia Phillies (N.L.) The winning margin of six runs remains the lowest for a four-game sweep, later equaled in 2005.

Earned runs

* During the Series, the New York Yankees pitching rotation only allowed three earned runs and finished the Fall Classic with a combined 0.73 ERA. The other pitching staffs with a combined World Series ERA less than 1.00: