[jksander]

OCTOBER 3, 1956
WORLD SERIES GAME ONE
New York Yankees (0-0) at Chicago Cubs (0-0)

1:05 PM -- Wrigley Field ... Attendance: 45,146
Weather: Clear Skies, 60 Degrees ... Wind blowing right to left at 10 miles per hour

NEW YORK STARTER: Allie Reynolds (22-6, 2.39 ERA, 275.1 IP, 133 K’s, 1.01 WHIP)
CHICAGO STARTER: Hy Cohen (31-3, 1.82 ERA, 292.1 IP, 283 K’s, 0.81 WHIP)

The Yankees came up to bat first in this, our first playoff matchup as foes since the 1938 World Series. Cohen is facing Allie Reynolds, the Yankees’ 39-year-old veteran who still has a plus fastball and whose incredible control and movement have made this the best year of his career in almost every metric. In the top of the first, Gil McDougald got himself a base hit with one out, but Mantle batted his ball straight to Mays in center and Roy Sievers struck out swinging. Good start, Cubbies! Al Rosen dropped a hit into center with one out and came out of it with a triple, and Mays hit a perfect weak hit into the no-man’s land between pitcher and shortstop, reaching base safely and driving in our first run! Robinson batted into a double play to end the inning, but we’d gotten ourselves into the lead quickly. But the Yankees answered in the top of the third with a solo blast by the Mick, tying the score up 1-1, and Roy Sievers put them up 2-1 with a blast immediately after. Cohen bunted successfully for a hit to start the bottom of the inning, but he was picked off on a fielder’s choice that put Poppell on base the next at-bat, and Poppell was picked off trying to steal second. But Rosen and Mays got back-to-back hits, Mays’ RBI triple getting us tied up again at 2-2 heading into the top of the fourth.

Allie Reynolds hit a double in the top of the fourth that put two Yankees in scoring position with two outs, but Cohen got leadoff-man Minnie Minoso to groundout to first, keeping it knotted. Former Yankee prospect Roger Maris then put his mark on the game in the bottom of the inning, blasting a two-run homer into the throng of Bleacher Bums, giving us a 4-2 lead -- that’s his first postseason homer! Hank Thompson committed an error at third on a bobbled catch, allowing Hy Cohen to take his base, putting Crandall in scoring position, but Jack Poppell hit into a double play that kept us from blowing this one wide. Bottom of the fifth, another run scored off a sac-fly by Robinson, and Cohen got us through the sixth despite putting a runner in scoring position. Cohen got us into the stretch with our 5-2 lead still intact, and Carl Erskine came in to pitch in the top of the eighth, easily sitting Yogi Berra, Archie Wilson and Hank Thompson down without breaking a sweat. He stayed out to pitch in the top of the ninth, giving up a double to John Hunton and getting pinch-hitter Eddie Robinson to bat himself out at center. Minoso grounded out to first, holding Hunton on third, and Gil McDougald flew out to right to end the game as a 5-2 Cubs victory!

Hy Cohen picked up the playoff win, allowing seven hits with four strikeouts, two walks and a pair of earned runs, throwing 126 pitches and giving himself a 2.57 ERA. Erskine, meanwhile, picked up his first playoff save, lasting two innings with just the one hit, keeping his ERA perfect through 18 pitches. The Yankees had their two homers, thanks to Mantle and Sievers, but we played better team ball, outhitting them 14-8, led by Willie Mays, who hit three times and batted in a pair, while Roger Maris hit twice for a run and two RBIs as well.