1951 World Series
Team (Wins) Managers Season New York Yankees (4) Casey Stengel 98–56, .636, GA: 5 New York Giants (2) Leo Durocher 98–59, .624, GA: 1
Dates	October 4–10
Venue(s)	Yankee Stadium (New York Yankees) Polo Grounds (New York Giants)
Umpires	Bill Summers (AL),Lee Ballanfant (NL),Joe Paparella (AL),Al Barlick (NL),Johnny Stevens (AL: outfield only),Artie Gore (NL: outfield only)
Hall of Famers	Umpire: Al Barlick Yankees: Casey Stengel (manager) Bill Dickey (coach) Yogi Berra Joe DiMaggio Mickey Mantle Johnny Mize Phil Rizzuto Giants: Leo Durocher (manager) Monte Irvin Willie Mays
Broadcast
Television	NBC
TV announcers	Jim Britt andRuss Hodges
Radio	Mutual
Radio announcers	Mel Allen andAl Helfer
← 1950 World Series 1952 →

The1951 World Series matched the two-time defending championNew York Yankees against theNew York Giants, who had won theNational League pennant in a thrilling three-game playoff with theBrooklyn Dodgers on the legendary home run byBobby Thomson (theShot Heard 'Round the World).

In the Series, the Yankees showed some power of their own, includingGil McDougald's grand slam home run in Game 5, at thePolo Grounds. The Yankees won the Series in six games, for their third straight title and 14th overall. This would be the last World Series forJoe DiMaggio, who retired afterward, and the first for rookiesWillie Mays andMickey Mantle.

This was the lastSubway Series the Giants played in. Both teams would meet againeleven years later after the Giants relocated to San Francisco. They have not played a World Series against each other since. This was the first World Series announced byBob Sheppard, who was in his first year asYankee Stadium's public address announcer. It was also the first World Series to be televised exclusively by one network (NBC) as well as the first to be televised nationwide, ascoaxial cable had recently linked both coasts.

This World Series also matched up two of baseball's most colorful managers,Casey Stengel of the Yankees andLeo Durocher of the Giants.

This was the 13th appearance by the Giants in Series play, their ninth loss, and their first appearance since the1937 World Series.

"TheCommerce Comet arrives on the final voyage of theYankee Clipper." (On the Yankees' side, the 1951 World Series was the first for Mickey Mantle and the final for Joe DiMaggio.)

Mantle's bad luck with injuries in the Major Leagues began here. In the fifth inning of Game 2 atYankee Stadium, Mays flied to deep right center. DiMaggio and Mantle converged on the ball, DiMaggio called Mantle off, and Mantle stutter-stepped, catching a cleat in a drain cover, and fell to the ground in a heap with a wrenched knee as DiMaggio made the catch. Mantle was done for this Series, but would come back to play many more.

New York City became the first city to host anNBA Finals and a World Series in the same calendar year.

ALNew York Yankees (4) vs. NLNew York Giants (2)

Monte Irvin's daring baserunning got the Giants off to a fast start in this New York – New York series. He singled in the first inning, sped to third onWhitey Lockman's RBI single, then stole home off Yankee starterAllie Reynolds. The Yankees cut the Giants' lead to 2–1 in the second whenGil McDougald doubled with one out offDave Koslo and scored onJerry Coleman's single. The scored remained that way until the sixth whenAlvin Dark's three-run home run gave the Giants a commanding 5–1 lead. Koslo pitched a complete game to give the Giants a 1–0 series lead.

The first three battersLarry Jansen faced wereMickey Mantle,Phil Rizzuto andGil McDougald, all of whom singled for a quick 1-0 Yankee lead. It could have been worse, but the next batterJoe DiMaggio bounced into a 6-4-3 double play andYogi Berra struck out. The next inning,Joe Collins's home run extended the Yankees' lead to 2–0. In the fifthWillie Mays flied out to Joe DiMaggio, who waved off right fielder Mantle, who got his spikes caught in an exposed drain and injured his knee and had to leave the game. This injury would stick with him for the rest of his career.Monte Irvin scored in the seventh, tagging and coming home on pinch-hitterBill Rigney's bases-loaded sacrifice fly, as the Giants got within 2–1. But winning pitcherEddie Lopat, who pitched a complete game, helped himself to an insurance run with an RBI single in the eighth afterBobby Brown hit a leadoff single and moved to second on a groundout offGeorge Spencer. The Yankees' 3–1 win tied the series shifting to thePolo Grounds.

The Giants struck first in Game 3 whenBobby Thomson hit a leadoff double and scored onWillie Mays' single in the second, then a five-run fifth inning was the undoing of Yankee starterVic Raschi.Eddie Stanky walked with one out, moved to third on an error, and scored onAl Dark's single. After aHank Thompson single, another error onMonte Irvin's fielder's choice allowed another run to score and put two on, then aWhitey Lockman three-run home run gave Giants starterJim Hearn a comfortable 6–0 lead. The Yankees scored a run in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk toJoe Collins, then in the ninth onGene Woodling's home run offSheldon Jones, who retired the next two batters to end the game and give the Giants a 2–1 series lead.

In the rain-delayed Game 4, the Giants again scored first whenAl Dark doubled with one out in the opening inning offAllie Reynolds and scored onMonte Irvin's single, but the Yankees tied the game in the second onJoe Collins's RBI single with two on offSal Maglie. After a single and walk, Reynolds's RBI single in the fourth put the Yankees up 2–1.Joe DiMaggio's first home run of the Series following aYogi Berra single in the fifth extended their lead to 4–1. In the seventh, relieverSheldon Jones allowed a single and walk, then an error on a pickoff attempt allowed one run to score beforeGil McDougald's RBI single made it 6–1 Yankees. Reynolds allowed a one-out RBI single toBobby Thomson in the ninth before gettingWillie Mays to hit into the game-ending double play as the Yankees tied the series with a 6–2 win.

For the third game in a row, the Giants scored first whenAl Dark singled with one out in the first and scored onMonte Irvin's single aided by left fielderGene Woodling's error, but starterEddie Lopat kept them scoreless for the rest of Game 5 while the Yankees hammeredLarry Jansen,Monty Kennedy andGeorge Spencer. After two one-out walks in the third,Joe DiMaggio's RBI single tied the game, then after an intentional walk loaded the bases,Gil McDougald's grand slam off Jansen put the Yankees up 5–1. Next inning,Phil Rizzuto's home run off Kennedy after a walk extended their lead to 7–1. In the sixth, Rizzuto singled off Spencer beforeYogi Berra's single andJohnny Mize's double scored a run each, making it 9–1 Yankees. In the seventh, a bases-loaded walk to Rizzuto forced in a run, thenAl Corwin threw a wild pitch that let another run score before DiMaggio's two-run double capped the game's scoring at 13–1 Yankees, who were a win away from the World Series championship as the series returned to Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees struck first in Game 6 onGil McDougald's bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the first offDave Koslo. The Giants tied the game in the fifth offVic Raschi whenWillie Mays hit a leadoff single, moved two bases on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly, and scored onEddie Stanky's sacrifice fly. Playing right field in place of Mickey Mantle,Hank Bauer benefited from a trickyYankee Stadium wind—as well as the umpire's generous call of a ball onDave Koslo's two-strike pitch—to belt a bases-loaded triple in the sixth inning that would be the difference. Bauer also ensured that the lead held up. Trailing 4–1 in the ninth, the Giants loaded the bases with no outs on three singles offJohnny Sain. Enter relieverBob Kuzava, acquired in June from theWashington Senators. After two sacrifice flies and the score now 4–3, pinch hitterSal Yvars hit a sinking liner to right. The stadium crowd gasped as Bauer momentarily lost the ball in the crowd's white shirts and the shadows. But he located it again and charged forward. Bauer, who played in nine World Series and always came through when it mattered most, slid on his knees to catch the ball inches off the ground to end the game and the 1951 World Series. Game 6 was the last baseball game ever played byJoe DiMaggio.

1951 World Series(4–2):New York Yankees (A.L.) overNew York Giants (N.L.)

• 1951 Japan Series

• 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. 234–239.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2159.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

• 1951 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1951 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1951 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1951 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1951 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• Kodak Presents – Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments, The Shot Heard 'Round the World

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