The1941 World Series, the last before the entry of theUnited States into theSecond World War, matched theNew York Yankees against theBrooklyn Dodgers, with the Yankees winning in five games to capture their fifth title in six years, and their ninth overall.

The name "Subway Series" arose for a World Series played between two New York City teams. The series was punctuated by the Dodgers'Mickey Owen'sdropped third strike of a sharply breakingcurveball (a suspectedspitball) pitched byHugh Casey in the ninth inning of Game 4. The play led to a Yankees rally and brought them one win away from another championship.

The Yankees were back after a one-year hiatus, having won 13 of their last 14 Series games and 28 of their last 31.

This was the first Subway Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees (though the Yankees had already faced the crosstown New York Giants five times). These two teams would meet a total of seven times from 1941 to 1956 — the Dodgers' only victory coming in 1955 — with an additional five matchups after the Dodgers left for Los Angeles, most recently in 2024.

ALNew York Yankees (4) vs. NLBrooklyn Dodgers (1)

†: postponed from October 3 due to rain

Joe Gordon's home run in the second inning offCurt Davis put the Yankees up 1–0. In the fourth inning,Charlie Keller walked with two outs and scored onBill Dickey's double to extend the lead to 2–0. The Dodgers cut it to 2–1 in the fifth inning whenPee Wee Reese singled with two outs offRed Ruffing and scored onMickey Owen's triple. In the sixth inning, after a one-out walk and single, Gordon's RBI single made it 3–1 Yankees. After a single and error, pinch-hitterLew Riggs' single scoredCookie Lavagetto in the seventh inning as the Dodgers pulled to within 3–2. Then they threatened in the ninth inning with hits byJoe Medwick andPee Wee Reese, before Ruffing was able to getHerman Franks to ground into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

The Yankees struck first in Game 2 onSpud Chandler's RBI single in the second with runners on second and third, butJoe Gordon was thrown out at home trying to score to end the inning. Next inning,Charlie Keller's RBI single with two on made it 2–0 Yankees. In the fifth, the Dodgers loaded the bases off Chandler with no outs on a double and two walks whenPee Wee Reese's sacrifice fly andMickey Owen's RBI single tied the game. Next inning, an error and single put two on with no outs off Chandler, thenDolph Camilli's single off relief pitcherJohnny Murphy in the sixth put the Dodgers up 3–2. Wyatt gave up a pinch single toGeorge Selkirk leading off the ninth, but nailed down a complete-game victory.

With the veteranFreddie Fitzsimmons dueling young southpawMarius Russo, there was no score into the top of the seventh. With two outs, Russo lined a drive off Fitzsimmons' knee that broke his kneecap. The ball caromed into Pee Wee Reese's glove for the third out, but Fitzsimmons was forced from the game.Hugh Casey, who came out to pitch in the eighth for Brooklyn, promptly gave up four straight one-out singles, the last two of which toJoe DiMaggio andCharlie Keller scoring a run each. The Dodgers made it a one-run game in the bottom half whenDixie Walker hit a leadoff double and scored onPee Wee Reese's single, but Russo pitched a perfect ninth for a complete game as the Yankees won 2–1.

In Game 4, the Yankees struck first in the top of the first onCharlie Keller's RBI single with two on offKirby Higbe. In the fourth, they loaded the bases with no outs on a double, walk and single and two outs later,Johnny Sturm's two-run single made it 3–0 Yankees and knock Higbe out of the game. In the bottom half,Atley Donald walked two with two outs before both runners scored onJimmy Wasdell's double. Next inning,Pete Reiser's two-run home run put the Dodgers up 4–3, but with two out, two strikes and no runners on base in the ninth, the Yankees rallied offHugh Casey. First,Tommy Henrich swung and missed at a 3-2 pitch which should have ended the game, but Dodger catcherMickey Owenfailed to catch the ball. Heinrich reached first base after the ball sailed to the backstop. Owen recollected the incident:^[6]

It wasn't a strike. It was a low inside curve that I should have had. But I guess the ball struck my glove and by the time I got hold of it I couldn't have thrown anybody out at first. It was an error.

Joe DiMaggio followed with a single andCharlie Keller hit a double to drive in Henrich and DiMaggio and take the lead.Bill Dickey would follow up with a walk and, along with Keller, score on aJoe Gordon double to make the final score 7–4.Johnny Murphy pitched two shutout innings to close the game as the Yankees were one win away from the championship.

Meyer Berger ofThe New York Times covered the events in "Casey in the Box", a poem derived from the 1888 classic "Casey at the Bat".^[7]

In the fifth inning,Whit Wyatt andJoe DiMaggio almost came to blows on the mound as DiMaggio returned to the dugout after flying out.Tiny Bonham pitched a complete game four-hitter, allowing only one hit and one walk after the third inning. In the second, with runners on first and third, a wild pitch by Wyatt and RBI single byJoe Gordon made it 2–0 Yankees.Pete Reiser's sacrifice fly in the third with two on cut it to 2–1, but the Yankees got that run back in the fifth onTommy Henrich's home run. The Dodgers hit only .182 as a team, contributing to their five-game loss.

1941 World Series(4–1):New York Yankees (A.L.) overBrooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

In1947 the Yankees and Dodgers would meet in the World Series for the second time and again play a dramaticGame 4 which was decided on a lead change with two outs in the ninth inning. That time the Dodgers would be on the winning side to tie the series but would once again end up losing it. Ironically, in the 1947 game the Dodgers’ winning pitcher was none other thanHugh Casey – the Game 4 loser in 1941 – even though he pitched to only one batter.^[9]

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990).The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 184–187.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2149.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

• 1941 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1941 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1941 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1941 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1941 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.

• World Series
• 1941 Major League Baseball season
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• October 1941 sports events in the United States
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