1947 World Series

The 1947 World Series matched the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning the Series in seven games for their first title since, and the eleventh championship in team history. Yankees manager Bucky Harris won the Series for the first time since managing the Washington Senators to their only title in.

This was the first World Series involving an African-American player, as Jackie Robinson had racially integrated Major League Baseball at the beginning of the 1947 season. It was also the first Series to be shown on television although coverage was limited to New York City, Philadelphia, Schenectady, NY, and Washington, DC (and surrounding environs) as coaxial inter-connected stations, where October 1947 Billboard reported over 3.9 million viewing the games, but primarily on TV sets located in bars (5,400 tavern TV sets in NYC alone). The October 13, 1947 edition of Time magazine reported that President Truman, who had just made the first Oval Office TV appearance on October 5, 1947 and had then been given the first TV for the White House, watched parts of the Series but "skipped the last innings".

At the direction of Commissioner Happy Chandler, six umpires were used in the Series for the first time. In Series from 1918 through 1946, four umpires were used in the infield, with two alternates available for security; however, no alternate had ever been needed, and Chandler believed they would be better used to make calls along the outfield lines. However, not until 1964 would the additional two umpires rotate into the infield during the course of the Series.

Game 1
Tuesday, September 30, 1947 at Yankee Stadium (I) in the Bronx, New York

Game 2
Wednesday, October 1, 1947 at Yankee Stadium (I) in the Bronx, New York

Game 3
Thursday, October 2, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 4
Friday, October 3, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Baseball lore: The Cookie Game
Game 4 of the 1947 World Series has become known as The Cookie Game due to a ninth inning, game-winning hit by Cookie Lavagetto. The Yankees entered the game leading the series two games to one and looking to take one step closer to the Series title. Bill Bevens, the Yankee starter, had pitched $8 2/3$ innings of a no-hitter, a feat never before accomplished in a World Series game, and his team was ahead 2–1. Bevens got Bruce Edwards to fly out, and then walked Carl Furillo. Spider Jorgensen fouled out. Al Gionfriddo pinch-ran for Furillo. Pete Reiser was pinch-batting for pitcher Hugh Casey when Gionfriddo stole second base. Reiser was then intentionally walked. This was criticized in hindsight for two reasons. One was the old axiom of never intentionally putting the winning run on base. The other is that Reiser was playing injured, and the odds of getting him out seemed reasonable. In any case, Eddie Miksis pinch-ran for Reiser. Eddie Stanky was due up, but Cookie Lavagetto was sent up to pinch-hit. On a 1–0 fastball, Lavagetto lined to right field. The ball ricocheted off of the right field barrier with a peculiar bounce and hit Yankee right fielder Tommy Henrich in the shoulder, as Gionfriddo and Miksis raced around to score. The play ended the no-hitter and won the game for the Dodgers.

Red Barber, the Dodgers radio announcer made the call. Prior to the play call, he commented on the fact that Stanky had broken up Ewell Blackwell's attempt at a second consecutive no-hitter, on June 22 of that season. In the background noise during that comment, the P.A. announcer can be heard saying that Miksis is running for Reiser:

"Wait a minute... Stanky is being called back from the plate and Lavagetto goes up to hit... Gionfriddo walks off second... Miksis off first... They're both ready to go on anything... Two men out, last of the ninth... the pitch... swung on, there's a drive hit out toward the right field corner. Henrich is going back. He can't get it! It's off the wall for a base hit! Here comes the tying run, and here comes the winning run!...Friends, they're killin' Lavagetto! His own teammates, they're beatin' him to pieces! And it's taking a police escort to get Lavagetto away from the Dodgers!...Well, I'll be a suck-egg mule!"

Although the hit prevented the Dodgers from being down three games to one and may have provided a momentum swing, the Yankees went on to triumph in the series by winning the deciding seventh game. The hit proved to be the last of Cookie's career.

Game 5
Saturday, October 4, 1947 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York

Game 6
Sunday, October 5, 1947 at Yankee Stadium (I) in the Bronx, New York

The Dodgers won Game 6 to force a seventh and deciding game. The game is probably best remembered for a catch that has been replayed countless times.

In the top of the sixth, the Dodgers had scored four runs to take an 8–5 lead. In the last of the sixth, Al Gionfriddo was sent to left field as a defensive replacement for Eddie Miksis, and Joe Hatten came in to pitch. With two on and two outs, Joe DiMaggio came to bat representing the potential tying run. The voice of broadcaster Red Barber often accompanies the film footage of this play:

"Swung on, belted... it's a long one... back goes Gionfriddo, back, back, back, back, back, back... heeee makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen! Oh, Doctor!"

This may have been a re-creation, but it was done with gusto by Barber, and his "back-back-back" expression has been copied by many announcers, especially Chris Berman of ESPN. It is worth pointing out that most announcers tend to describe the ball itself as going "back-back-back", whereas in Barber's call it was the outfielder who was going "back-back-back".

The ball was hit so hard and deep that Gionfriddo, already playing deep, did not have time to turn around, literally having to "back-back-back"-pedal to snare the ball just in front of the bullpen-alley fence, near the 415 ft marker posted to the center field side of the bullpen alley (the sign on the left field side of the alley was posted as 402). It is also worth noting that had DiMaggio hit the ball in Ebbets Field, whose left-center area was some 50 ft closer, it might have landed in the upper deck and certainly would have been a game-tying homer.

The final segment of that clip usually shows the normally cool-and-calm DiMaggio kicking dirt around second base in frustration.

It has often been pointed out that three of the 1947 Series' prominent figures, Gionfriddo, Lavagetto and Bevens, finished their playing careers in this Series. Gionfriddo, in fact, did not play in Game 7, and his famous catch of DiMaggio's drive was his only put-out in this game. So Gionfriddo's famous catch was his final put-out in his major league career.

Game 7
Monday, October 6, 1947 at Yankee Stadium (I) in the Bronx, New York

This World Series was the last major-league appearance for Bevens, Lavagetto, and Al Gionfriddo.

Composite line score
1947 World Series (4–3): New York Yankees (A.L.) over Brooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

Records and important events
This was the first World Series to produce total receipts over $2,000,000 dollars: Gate Receipts = $1,781,348.92, Radio Rights = $175,000.00 and Television Rights = $65,000.

Yogi Berra pinch-hit for Sherm Lollar in the seventh inning of Game 3 and hit the first ever World Series pinch-hit home run off Ralph Branca.