The1950 World Series was the 47thWorld Series between theAmerican andNational Leagues for the championship ofMajor League Baseball. ThePhiladelphia Phillies as 1950 champions of the National League and theNew York Yankees, as 1950 American League champions, competed to win a best-of-seven game series.

The Series began on Wednesday, October 4, and concluded Monday, October 9. The Phillies hadhome field advantage for the Series, meaning no games would be played at the Yankees' home ballpark,Yankee Stadium, until game 3. The Yankees won their 13th championship in their 41-year history, taking the Series in a four-game sweep. The final game in the Series resulted in the New York Yankees winning, 5–2 over Philadelphia. It was the only game in the Series decided by more than one run. The 1950 World Series title would be the second of a record five straight titles for the New York Yankees (1949–1953). The two teams would not again meet in the Series for59 years.

This was also the last World Series to have no American born black players until2022, as neither club had integrated in 1950.^[1] It was also the last World Series where television coverage was pooled between multiple networks: earlier that year theMutual Broadcasting System, which had long been the radio home for the World Series, purchased the exclusive TV rights for the following season despite not (and indeed, never) having a television network. They would eventually sell on the rights toNBC, beginning along relationship with the sport for that network.

The Yankees and Phillies faced each other again 59 years later in the2009 World Series, in which the Yankees also won, this time in six games to win their 27th World Series championship.

Phil Rizzuto (at left) andJim Konstanty were the 1950 MVPs for the American League and National League, respectively.

The Phillies, a particularly young team which came to be known as the "Whiz Kids", had won theNational League pennant in dramatic fashion on the final day of the season to garner their second pennant—their first in 35 years.^[2] But writing inThe New York Times on October 3, 1950, John Drebinger picked the Yankees to win the Series in five games: "The Stengelers simply have too much over-all pitching. They have the long range power. They posses [sic] rare defensive skill, and they have the poise and experience gained through the past four years which brought them two world championships and three pennants."^[3] Odds makers made the Yankees 2–5 favorites to win the Series.^[4]

Curt Simmons, a 17-game winner for the Phillies in 1950, had been called to military duty in September and was unavailable for this Series. Simmons was stationed atCamp Atterbury and requested and was granted a leave on October 4 to attend the Series. The Phillies chose not to request thatCommissioner Chandler rule Simmons eligible for the Series but Simmons chose to attend to support the team. Simmons' place on the Series roster was taken by pitcherJocko Thompson.^[5] Phillies aceRobin Roberts didn't start Game 1 because he had had three starts in five days including the pennant winner on the final day of the regular season—played October 1, 1950 (three days before Game 1).

The AL champion Yankees finished the regular season with a record of 98–56, three games ahead of theDetroit Tigers. Offensive team leaders werePhil Rizzuto (.324batting average),Joe DiMaggio (32home runs, .585slugging percentage, and .979OPS), andYogi Berra (124RBIs). PitcherVic Raschi led the team in wins, with a 21–8 record, and256+2⁄3 innings pitched.^[6] Rizzuto was voted theAmerican League MVP, while Berra finished third, Raschi seventh, and DiMaggio ninth.^[7]

ALNew York Yankees (4) vs. NLPhiladelphia Phillies (0)

Because his #1 starter,Robin Roberts, had just pitched in three of the last five games of the frantic 1950 pennant race, Phils manager Eddie Sawyer surprised the world by naming his bullpen ace,Jim Konstanty, to open on the mound for Philadelphia, opposing 21-game winnerVic Raschi of the Yankees.^[12] Konstanty was outstanding, allowing just four hits and a run in eight innings, but Raschi was tougher, shutting out the Phils on only two hits en route to a 1–0 victory in the opener. The game's only run came in the fourth whenBobby Brown hit a leadoff double and scored on two fly-outs, the last one a sacrifice fly byJerry Coleman. This marked the third consecutive year that the World Series opened with a 1–0 game, and the third consecutive year a two-hitter was thrown in the opening game of the World Series.

In what would be the last postseason game ever played inShibe Park, 20-game winner Robin Roberts andAllie Reynolds both pitched outstanding baseball for nine innings, as strong pitching and stout defense again prevailed in the Series.Gene Woodling drove inJerry Coleman, who walked with two outs and moved to second on a single, with an RBI single for a Yankee run in the second, andRichie Ashburn's sacrifice fly scoredMike Goliat from third in the fifth, forcing a 1–1 tie which held up through nine full innings. This set the stage forJoe DiMaggio, leading off the tenth inning for the Yankees. With one swing, DiMaggio smashed a home run to left field to provide the difference in a 2–1 extra-inning win for the Yankees as the Series shifted to New York.

DiMaggio had a hand in holding the Phillies at bay long enough to get his key at-bat. Leading off the sixth inning,Del Ennis hit a deep fly to center, but DiMaggio made a spectacular over-the-shoulder running catch, near the 400-foot (120 m) marker at the base of the scoreboard in right-center. This play is far less well-known but was similar-looking to the famousWillie Mays catch in the1954 World Series. DiMaggio made this play on the road, although in a ballpark which he played in during the regular season (Shibe Park was also the home of the Philadelphia A's). Because there was nobody on when the ball was hit, he was not in a hurry to get the ball back to the infield (Mays' famous 1954 catch was deeper, with two runners on base and nobody out when the ball was hit).

Phils leftyKen Heintzelman started the third game against Yankee stalwartEddie Lopat. The Yankees struck first in the third whenPhil Rizzuto walked with two outs, stole second and scored on a single byJerry Coleman, who was tagged out at second to end the inning. In the sixth,Del Ennis doubled with two outs and scored onDick Sisler's single to tie the game. Next inningGranny Hamner hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored onMike Goliat's single to put the Phillies up 2–1. Heintzelman continued the Phils' great pitching into the eighth inning, when he lost control and walked the bases loaded after two outs. Konstanty relieved him and gotBobby Brown to ground to shortstopGranny Hamner, but Hamner misplayed the ball to allow the tying run to score.Russ Meyer came on for the Phillies in the last of the ninth. After retiring the first two batters, Meyer allowed consecutive singles to set the stage forJerry Coleman, who drove in the winning run with a base hit to give the Yankees a 3–2 win.

In attendance at the game wasGrover Cleveland Alexander, who had led the Phillies to their previous pennant in 1915. It was his first World Series game in 20 years. Ill from the effects of long term alcohol abuse, Alexander was generally ignored.^[13] He would be dead less than a month later on November 4, 1950, at age 63.^[14]

Phillies starterBob Miller matched up against rookieWhitey Ford, making his firstWorld Series appearance, as the Yankees tried to wrap up the Series in four straight. New York scored two runs in the first inning whenGene Woodling reached when second basemanMike Goliat misplayed his ground ball, moved to second on a ground ball, and scored onYogi Berra's single. After a wild pitch,Joe DiMaggio's RBI double made it 2–0 Yankees. Berra hit a leadoff home run in the sixth off ofJim Konstanty, who then hit DiMaggio with a pitch. After a groundout,Bobby Brown's RBI triple andHank Bauer's sacrifice fly made it 5–0 Yankees. The first two Phils reached base in the ninth via a single and hit-by-pitch before Ford got the next two outs.Andy Seminick then flied to left, but left fielderGene Woodling dropped what looked like the Series-ending out, allowing two runs to score. Mike Goliat kept the inning going with a hit, and Stengel removed Ford to bring inAllie Reynolds. Reynolds struck out pinch-hitterStan Lopata, giving the Yanks a 5–2 win and the World Series victory.

The Phillies failed to hit a home run in the entire World Series. No other team has matched that dubious feat since.

1950 World Series(4–0):New York Yankees (A.L.) overPhiladelphia Phillies (N.L.)

The winning margin of six runs remains the lowest for a four-game sweep, later equaled in2005.

• During the Series, the New York Yankees pitching rotation only allowed three earned runs and finished the Fall Classic with a combined 0.73 ERA. The other pitching staffs with a combined World Series ERA less than 1.00:

• "Sport: Romp".TIME. October 16, 1950. Archived fromthe original on January 31, 2011.
• Anderson, Dave (October 26, 2009)."Last Phillies-Yankees Series Was Won on Mound".The New York Times.
• Bodley, Hal (October 26, 2009)."Memories of 1950 Series remain vivid".MLB.com.
• Westcott, Rich (October 27, 2009)."A look back at Yanks vs. Phils in 1950".The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived fromthe original on October 30, 2009.
• Walker, Ben (October 28, 2009)."Yanks swept Phillies and the undertaker in 1950".Yahoo! Sports.

• 1950 Japan Series
• List of World Series sweeps

• 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. 230–233.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2158.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

• 1950 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1950 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1950 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1950 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1950 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• Philly.com: 1950 World Series Photo Gallery

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