The first time the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies met in what used to be called the Fall Classic, it was almost literally a nothing World Series.
The Yankees won four straight in that distant autumn of 1950 for the second of five straight Series championships under Casey Stengel. The teams managed a total of just 16 runs - New York’s victories were by scores of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 and 5-2 - in an uneven matchup between a franchise that had collected 17 pennants since its rival’s last 35 years earlier.
The Series was negatively notable for another reason: Three years after Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson broke organized baseball’s unwritten rule against black players, neither the Yankees or Phillies had an African-American on the roster. The Yankees did not integrate until 1955, the Phillies until 1957.
“That period was not baseball’s finest hour,” Phillies center fielder Richie Ashburn told the Philadelphia Inquirer decades later.
Those Phillies were one-year wonders who finished fifth the next season and failed to snatch another pennant until 1980. Because of its overall youth - catcher Andy Seminick was the only regular over 30 - the club swiftly became known as the Whiz Kids. After the Yankees finished with them, the nickname was changed to Fizz Kids or Wheeze Kids - take your pick.
What’s more, the Phillies nearly collapsed in the final week, losing five in a row after leading the National League most of the season. They needed a 10th-inning home run by outfielder Dick Sisler to beat Brooklyn on the final day and prevent a pennant playoff against the onrushing Dodgers. The Yankees also had to struggle in September before edging the Detroit Tigers by three games, but they were used to such pressure situations.
Because ace Robin Roberts (20-11) had pitched three games in the final week, Phillies manager Eddie Sawyer startled everyone by picking relief ace Jim Konstanty to start the Series opener at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. Sawyer really had no choice. No. 2 starter Curt Simmons (17-8) was drafted by the Army in mid-September, and the other members of the rotation were iffy at best.
“I had pitched nine innings in relief, so I figured I could do it as a starter,” said Konstanty, a bespectacled 33-year-old right-hander who appeared in a record 74 games, saved 24 and went 16-7 during the season; soon after the Series he was named the NL’s MVP in that era before the Cy Young Award was established.
Sawyer almost got away with the gamble. Konstanty allowed just one run and four hits in eight innings but was outpitched by 21-game winner Vic Raschi, who held the futile Phils to two hits and made a fourth-inning run stand up.
The rout was on, and it gathered speed the next day when Yankees center fielder and immortal-to-be Joe DiMaggio made a spectacular catch and then whacked a game-winning home run in the 10th inning.
After that, the only memorable moment came in Game 4 as Yankees rookie Whitey Ford, who had gone 9-1 after being called up in midseason, shut out the Phillies on seven hits through eight innings. But when Philadelphia scored twice in the ninth with the help of left fielder Gene Woodling dropping a fly ball, Stengel yanked Ford and summoned veteran Allie Reynolds to get the final out.
Apparently, New York’s sweep had a carryover effect. The Phillies finished a sad fifth the following season, dropping from 91 victories to 73, and didn’t contend again until 1964. Meanwhile, the Yankees rolled merrily along in 1951, bolstered by the arrival of Mickey Mantle and Gil McDougald.
Sawyer, a scholarly sort who never played in the major leagues, was fired by the Phillies in 1952 after less than half a season, then was rehired during the 1958 campaign. Following two last-place finishes, he became the only manager ever to quit after one game - a loss, naturally - in April 1960. The reason: “I’m 49 years old, and I want to live to be 50,” he said.
Nowadays, only older fans remember some of the Phillies’ players who put it all together for one regular season nearly 60 years ago: Konstanty, Sisler, Hall of Famer Ashburn, Mike Goliat, Granny Hamner, Puddin’ Head Jones and Del Ennis. While it lasted, it was great, but in this case fame was very fleeting indeed.
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