[jksander]

OCTOBER 7, 1956
WORLD SERIES GAME FOUR
Chicago Cubs (2-1) at New York Yankees (1-2)

1:05 PM -- Yankee Stadium ... Attendance: 46,445
Weather: Cloudy, 56 Degrees ... Wind blowing in from center at 14 miles per hour

CHICAGO STARTER: Hy Cohen (1-0, 2.57 ERA, 7.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.29 WHIP)
NEW YORK STARTER: Hal Brown (16-9, 2.67 ERA, 232.2 IP, 98 K’s, 1.22 WHIP)

Both pitchers were locked in to start this one, and the crowd was in it a hundred percent, making this the loudest atmosphere of any game we’ve played all year. We got back to back hits in the top of the third with the score still at zero, but Jackie Robinson batted out to center and we remained scoreless heading into the bottom of the inning. Kaline got on base in the top of the fourth, and Maris dropped one safely in between the left and center fielders in deep left, driving in our first run with a triple ... Cubs up 1-0! But in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded, Cohen walked in Hank Thompson for the tying run, and Earl Rapp hit a two-run single into right to put them up 3-1 before he could get the final out on strikes. Erskine came out to pitch in the bottom of the seventh with the lead still at two for the Yanks, getting the outs we needed to stay in this one. Jackie Robinson led off with a double in the top of the eighth, and Kaline hit a line drive into right to bring Robinson home and cut the Yankees’ lead to one with a double of his own. Banks singled, driving Kaline to third, and Roger Maris hit a huge RBI single to tie the game, still no outs, and then the rain started falling and the ump stopped the game!

After a delay, Gene Baker came up to pinch hit for Erskine, one out, men on the corners. Norton tried to grab the ball, but couldn’t make the throw to first, and Baker reached safely, driving in the go-ahead run! These Yankee fans are apoplectic out there, and Norton’s not going to have a great night on the town if we keep this lead. Jack Poppell kept it going, getting a deep hit into center that bounced off the wall and allowed him to leg out a triple! That drove in another pair and just like that we’re up by three heading into the bottom of the eighth after a massive five-run inning. Koufax came in to pitch and got things going by striking out Hatton, and Hank Thompson batted out to center, a great catch by Willie Mays! A groundout by Archie Wilson got us into the top of the ninth, and we could feel the win ... just one more inning! A Kaline infield single was all we’d get in the top of the inning, so Koufax came back out to protect the three-run lead in the final frame. Pinch-hitter Hank Sauer walked, but lead-off man Minosa hit into a double play. McDougald kept the Yankees’ hopes alive with a single into right, and Mantle walked to put a run in scoring position. But Sauer popped up to Rosen for the final out of the game and we came out of this one with a come-from-behind 6-3 victory!

Hy Cohen gave us six great innings, with just four hits and seven strikeouts, but he walked seven guys and gave up three runs, so we had to bring in Erskine, who got the win with one inning of two strikeout two walk no hit baseball. Sandy Koufax was stellar in his two innings of work, with one hit, one strikeout and two walks as he picked up his first playoff save! We outhit the Yankees 16-5 so the game really shouldn’t have been as close as it was. Kaline led the team with three hits, two runs and an RBI, and Mays and Maris each had three hits (with Maris picking up a pair of RBIs).

One more game in New York, with us leading 3-1 ... can we close it out and win it here, or will the series return to Wrigley?