World Series Phlashback: 1950 World Series – Game Four

The 1950 Phillies, affectionately nicknamed the Whiz Kids due to their youthful age, clinched the National League pennant on the final day of the regular season. Lead by the likes of Robin Roberts and Richie Ashburn the Phillies would make their second trip to the World Series.

Their opponents would be the defending world champion New York Yankees, who were looking to add their 13th title to their historic franchise history. The experienced Yankees would sweep the Whiz Kids, although all but one was a one run game.

This is part four of the four part series and focuses on game four of the 1950 World Series.

1950 World Series

New York Yankees (98-56) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (91-63)
Game Four: Yankees Win 5-2, Win World Series 4-0

Facing elimination the young Phillies were desperate for a win. To do that they would have to overcome a young up and coming pitcher named “Whitey” Ford in the process.

Yankees skipper Casey Stengal must have felt confident sending a rookie out for a possible clinching game four and why not? Not only was his team up three games to none on the Phillies but Ford went 9-1 in the regular season since he was called up form the minor leagues.

The Phillies looked to one of their young pitchers, Bob Miller. While the Phillies failed to score on Ford in the first inning, the Yankees wasted little time getting to Ford.

Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio each had RBI base hits in the first inning, giving the home team a quick 2-0 lead. It was the first time in the 1950 World Series that a team scored more than once in an inning. Surely this was not a good sign for the Phillies.

Manager Eddie Sawyer wasted no time with Miller though and replaced him with Jim Konstanty with one out in the first inning, already down 2-0. Konstanty stopped the bleeding and shut the Yankees down until the sixth inning.

Berra lead off the sixth inning with a solo home run to extend the lead to three runs. In that same inning the Yankees tacked on two more runs to build a 5-0 lead late in the game. Konstanty remained in the game despite allowing three runs to score.

The Phillies offense meanwhile struggled against Ford. The rookie pitcher went 8.2 innings and allowed seven hits. After Robin Roberts pitched for the Phillies in the eighth inning they came to bat in the ninth inning, down 5-0 and facing elimination.

Willie Jones lead the ninth inning off with a base hit off Ford (pictured). After Ford hit Del Ennis he got Dick Sisler to ground out and struck out Granny Hamner. Andy Seminick then hit a fly ball to left fielder Gene Woodling to end the World Series, but Woodling dropped the ball.

Two runs scored to cut the deficit to 5-2. Yankees manager Stengal took no chances and pulled Ford from the game, one out away from clinching the World Series. Allie Reynolds took over on the mound and struck out pinch hitter Stan Lopata to end the season.

The Yankees clinched their thirteenth World Series title with a sweep of the Whiz Kids. They did it with timely hitting and masterful pitching. Despite the sweep by the Yankees, the Phillies represented themselves well. They hung in there every game and came up short due to a lack of experience.

Sadly this Phillies team would not return to the World Series despite having players like Roberts and Richie Ashburn.

There should be no shame in losing to this Yankees squad, who featured the likes of DiMaggio and Berra and had pitching from guys like Ford, who would go on to hold the World Series all-time records for most wins (ten) and strike outs (94).