1952 World Series
Billy Martin making a game-saving catch in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series.
Team (Wins) Managers Season New York Yankees (4) Casey Stengel 95–59, .617, GA: 2 Brooklyn Dodgers (3) Chuck Dressen 96–57, .627, GA: 4+1⁄2
Dates	October 1–7
Venue(s)	Ebbets Field (Brooklyn) Yankee Stadium (New York)
Umpires	Babe Pinelli (NL),Art Passarella (AL),Larry Goetz (NL),Bill McKinley (AL),Dusty Boggess (NL: outfield only),Jim Honochick (AL: outfield only)
Hall of Famers	Yankees: Casey Stengel (manager) Yogi Berra Mickey Mantle Johnny Mize Phil Rizzuto Dodgers: Roy Campanella Gil Hodges Pee Wee Reese Jackie Robinson Duke Snider
Broadcast
Television	NBC
TV announcers	Red Barber andMel Allen
Radio	Mutual
Radio announcers	Al Helfer andJack Brickhouse
← 1951 World Series 1953 →

The1952 World Series featured the three-time defending championNew York Yankees beating theBrooklyn Dodgers in seven games. The Yankees won their fourth consecutive title, tying the mark they set in 1936–1939 under managerJoe McCarthy, andCasey Stengel became the second manager in Major League history with four consecutive World Series championships. This was the Yankees' 15th World Series championship win and the third time they defeated the Dodgers in six years.

In Game 7, the Yankees'second basemanBilly Martin made a great catch, preserving the Yankees' two-run lead. Also, the home run hit byMickey Mantle during the eighth inning of Game 6 was significant because it was the first of his record 18 careerWorld Series home runs.

ALNew York Yankees (4) vs. NLBrooklyn Dodgers (3)

In 1952 the Dodgers, led by managerChuck Dressen, paced the NL in runs scored (775), home runs (153) and stolen bases (90).Duke Snider,Jackie Robinson andGeorge Shuba batted over .300, whileRoy Campanella (97) andGil Hodges (102) paced the team in RBIs. The Dodgers had no dominant pitchers withCarl Erskine (2062⁄3) the lone pitcher with over 200 innings and rookieJoe Black leading the team with 15 wins. Manager Dressen used 14 starting pitchers on the year, but as a unit, the pitchers combined to finish second in the NL in team ERA. Defensively, the Dodgers led the NL with a .982 fielding percentage, and Campanella gunned down 29 of 52 (56%) would-be base stealers.^[8]

The Yankees, led by the effusiveCasey Stengel, recovered from the retirement ofJoe DiMaggio, and the loss ofBobby Brown,Jerry Coleman andTom Morgan to the service. The Yankees matched the Dodgers in hitting as they finished first or second in the AL in runs scored, home runs, batting average, and slugging percentage.Mickey Mantle had a breakout season leading the Yankees in batting (.311), and slugging (.530).Yogi Berra led the Yanks in runs (97), HRs (30) and RBIs (98). The Yankees had a pitching staff that led the AL in ERA (3.14).Allie Reynolds led the team with 20 wins and led the league with 2.08 ERA. Casey Stengel rotated his pitchers all year with seven having at least 12 starts, but none working more than 35 games. Defensive standoutPhil Rizzuto led AL shortstops with 458 assists and made only 19 errors.^[9]

Joe Black pitched a complete game and became the firstAfrican-American pitcher to win a World Series game.Jackie Robinson's lead off home run in the second off ofAllie Reynolds put the Dodgers up 1–0, butGil McDougald tied the game with a lead off home run of his own in the third.Duke Snider's two-run home run in the sixth put the Dodgers back in front 3–1. The Yankees cut the lead to 3–2 on aGene Woodling triple andHank Bauer sacrifice fly in the top of the eighth, butPee Wee Reese gave the Dodgers that run back with a two-out home run in the eighth offRay Scarborough as Brooklyn won 4–2 to take a 1–0 series lead.

Vic Raschi's complete-game three-hitter and nine strikeouts dominated this game. He was behind 1–0 after aRoy Campanella RBI single in the third, then in the fourth, the Yankees tied it whenMickey Mantle doubled, took third on a groundout and scored on aYogi Berra sacrifice fly offCarl Erskine. Next inning,Gil McDougald drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored onBilly Martin's single to put the Yankees up 2–1. A five-run Yankee sixth broke it open. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases beforeBilly Loes relieved Erskine and allowed an RBI groundout toJoe Collins, RBI single to McDougald, and three-run home run to Martin to put the Yankees up 7–1. The series was tied 1–1 shifting to the Bronx.

In Game 3, the Yankees struck first in the second onEddie Lopat's RBI single with two on offPreacher Roe, but the Dodgers tied the game off Lopat in the third onJackie Robinson's sacrifice fly with two on. In the fifth,Billy Cox singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored onPee Wee Reese's RBI single. In the eighth, after two leadoff singles,Andy Pafko's sacrifice fly made it 3–1 Dodgers.Yogi Berra's home run in the bottom of the inning cut the lead to 3–2, but in the ninth, Reese and Robinson singled, then (after Lopat was relieved byTom Gorman) did a double steal. A passed ball allowed both to score to make it 5–2 Dodgers.Johnny Mize's home run in the bottom of the inning made it 5–3 Dodgers, but Roe retired the next two men to end the game and give the Dodgers a 2–1 series lead.

In Game 4, the score was 1–0 in the eighth, aJohnny Mize home run in the fourth offJoe Black being the difference, when Dodgers relieverJohnny Rutherford came into the game. The first batter he faced wasMickey Mantle, who tripled to deep left-center, then kept coming home when the throw to third got away, scoring a key insurance run for the Yankees. Both sides got just four hits in the contest.Allie Reynolds pitched a complete-game shutout as the Yankees' 2–0 win tied the series at two games apiece.

The Dodgers struck first in the second offEwell Blackwell onAndy Pafko's RBI single with two on. In the fourth, with runners on second and third,Pee Wee Reese's sacrifice fly made it 2–0 Dodgers, thenDuke Snider's two-run home run extended their lead to 4–0.Carl Erskine pitched four shutout innings before the Yankees torched him in the fifth. After a walk and single,Irv Noren's RBI single andGil McDougald's forceout scored a run each. After a single and pop out,Johnny Mize's three-run home run put the Yankees ahead 5–4. In the seventh,Billy Cox singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on Snider's RBI single, tying the game offJohnny Sain. The game went into extra innings and in the top of the 11th,Billy Cox got his third hit of the game, moved up on aPee Wee Reese hit and scored onDuke Snider's double off relieverJohnny Sain for what turned out to be the winning run. Erskine pitched all 11 innings for Brooklyn, retiring the last 19 batters he faced, closing it out by retiring future Hall of FamersMickey Mantle,Johnny Mize andYogi Berra 1-2-3. The Dodgers were one win away from a championship as the series returned to Brooklyn.

In Game 6, with a 3–2 Series lead and the final two at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers looked to chase away the demons of 1951.^[10]Billy Loes (13–8) facedVic Raschi (16–6). Dodgers ManagerChuck Dressen made a curious lineup change withGeorge Shuba batting fifth, replacingAndy Pafko. Dressen placedRoy Campanella in the sixth spot and leftGil Hodges to bat seventh.

In the Dodgers half of the first inning, withDuke Snider on second andJackie Robinson on first, Shuba grounded out toBilly Martin to end the inning. In the Yankees fourth,Yogi Berra reached second base whenPee Wee Reese uncorked a wild throw on a double-play attempt, but the Yankees could not capitalize. In the fifth inning, the Dodgers turned a remarkable double play. YankeeIrv Noren led off with a single, followed by aVic Raschi bunt. Gil Hodges picked up the bunt, turned and fired to Reese at second, who in lightning succession fired to Robinson covering first just in time to retire Raschi. In the Dodgers sixth, Snider sent Raschi's first pitch over the 40 feet (12 m) of screen in back of right field and ontoBedford Avenue for 1–0 lead. In the top of the seventh,Yogi Berra matched Snider's home run with one of his own, again onto Bedford Avenue.Gene Woodling followed with a single and Dodgers pitcherBilly Loes balked him to second. Raschi then made up for his bunt-turned-double-play by getting a hit, literally off Loes. The ball ricocheted off Loes and into right field bringing Woodling home for a 2–1 lead. In another curious move Dressen allowed pitcher Billy Loes to hit for himself in the seventh. Loes singled and promptly stole second. But Raschi struck outBilly Cox to end the inning. Mantle led off the Yankees eighth inning with the first of his 18 World Series home runs. Mantle's shot set a record for home runs by one team and for both teams in a single Series at 13.^[10] Snider continued the home run fest by launching another one in the bottom of the eighth. Jackie Robinson then sent left fielder Gene Woodling to the wall for an out and Shuba doubled to send Raschi to the showers.Allie Reynolds relieved and quickly ended the Dodgers eighth. Reynolds, known as "The Chief",^[10] again made quick work of the Dodgers in the ninth including striking outRocky Nelson, who had pinch-hit for Hodges, preserving the 3–2 win.

Game 7 pittedJoe Black (15–4) vsEddie Lopat (10–5). Black, who came out of theNegro leagues and was not even on the Dodgers spring training roster,^[10] had already pitched a complete game win in Game 1 of the Series, pitched seven innings in a 2–0 loss in Game 4 and would be starting his third game in seven days. At that time there were no days off between games as both teams played in New York. For the Yankees,Billy Martin continued his solid play. Martin sat on the bench for most of the season's first two months and took over second base duties whenCasey Stengel movedGil McDougald from second to third base to replace military-boundBobby Brown.

Phil Rizzuto led off the Yankees fourth with a double andJohnny Mize singled him home for a 1–0 lead. In the Dodgers fourth, a single byDuke Snider followed by two consecutive sacrifice attempts byJackie Robinson andRoy Campanella, intended to move runners over, loaded the bases instead.Allie Reynolds replaced Lopat and retiredGil Hodges with a fly to left scoring Snider. Reynolds struck outGeorge Shuba, then inducedCarl Furillo to ground out, leaving Robinson at third and the game tied 1–1. In the fifth inning,Gene Woodling homered for the Yankees, and the Dodgers'Billy Cox doubled followed by aPee Wee Reese single which tied the game at 2–2.Mickey Mantle demonstrated his penchant for coming up big in World Series play with a home run in the sixth inning and RBI single in the seventh (offPreacher Roe) to give the Bronx Bombers a 4–2 lead. The Brooklyn boys loaded the bases again in the seventh, whenVic Raschi walked Furillo, Cox singled and Reese walked. Stengel called onBob Kuzava, who retired Snider, setting the stage forBilly Martin. With two out and the runners moving, Jackie Robinson popped-up to the right of the mound. Kuzava hesitated, looking to his fielders. Martin charged hard from his position deep at second and caught the ball off his shoetops, to end the inning and save as many as 3 runs. Kuzava then quickly put the Dodgers down in the eighth and ninth to give the Yankees their fourth consecutive World Championship.

The Yankees batted .216 and the Dodgers only .215 in this tightly contested series.

1952 World Series(4–3):New York Yankees (A.L.) overBrooklyn Dodgers (N.L.)

• Dodgers–Yankees rivalry
• 1952 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. 240–244.ISBN 0-312-03960-3.
• Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, Michael L., eds. (2003).The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball (23rd ed.). New York: St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 290–292.ISBN 0-312-30478-1.
• Reichler, Joseph (1982).The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2160.ISBN 0-02-579010-2.

• 1952 World Series atWorldSeries.com viaMLB.com
• 1952 World Series atBaseball Almanac
• 1952 World Series atBaseball-Reference.com
• The 1952 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) atRetrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1952 atThe Sporting News. Archived fromthe original in May 2006.
• Complete video of game 7 onYouTube
• Audio – Billy Martin Describes his Catch in the Series

• World Series
• 1952 Major League Baseball season
• New York Yankees postseason
• Brooklyn Dodgers postseason
• 1952 in sports in New York City
• October 1952 sports events in the United States
• Baseball competitions in New York City
• 1950s in the Bronx
• 1950s in Brooklyn
• Flatbush, Brooklyn

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