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Of all the Dodgers’ World Series losses to the Yankees — eight of them in all, including five in a 10-year span in Brooklyn — 1952 might have been the toughest to swallow.
So it’s only natural that today’s watch party is Game 7 of the 1952 World Series.
Yes, it’s a Dodgers loss, but life is tough sometimes, and it still be informative and entertaining to power through, especially since this is one of the oldest baseball television broadcasts still around.
Game 7 lineups
| Pos | Yankees | Pos | Dodgers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Yankees | Pos | Dodgers |
| 3B | McDougald | 3B | Cox |
| SS | Rizzuto | SS | Reese |
| CF | Mantle (S) | CF | Snider (L) |
| 1B | Mize (L) | 2B | Robinson |
| C | Berra (L) | C | Campanella |
| LF | Woodling (L) | 1B | Hodges |
| RF | Noren (L) | LF | Shuba (L) |
| 2B | Martin | RF | Furillo |
| P | Lopat (L) | P | Black |
There are two legendary announcers calling this game, with Yankees broadcaster Mel Allen and Dodgers broadcaster Red Barber sharing play-by-play duties. Vin Scully called Game 1 of the series, at 25 years old setting a Guinness World Record as the youngest person to announce a World Series game.
Brooklyn led this series three games to two, returning home needing only one win in two tries at Ebbets Field to capture their first championship. The Dodgers had a seventh-inning lead in Game 6, but lost 3-2.
Joe Black was an ace fireman for the Dodgers in 1952, going 15-4 with a 2.15 ERA in 142⅓ innings. He won National League Rookie of the Year and finished third in MVP voting. The Cy Young Award did not exist yet, but only Robin Roberts of the Phillies was ahead of him in MVP balloting among pitchers, and Black got more first-place votes (eight) than Roberts (seven). Despite starting only two games during the regular season for Brooklyn, Black started three times in the World Series, winning Game 1 and losing Game 4. He’d post a 2.53 ERA for the series in 21⅓ innings, and started Game 7.
Left-handeder Eddie Lopat started for the Yankees in Game 7. The Dodgers, who scored five runs off Lopat in a Game 3 win at Yankee Stadium, hit an MLB-best .269/.350/.434 against southpaws in 1952.
The starting lineups in this game in this game featured eight Hall of Famers, the two through five spots in the batting order for both the Yankees and Dodgers. Just a star-studded affair all around.
We’ll watch this game beginning at 5 p.m. PT, on YouTube.