FIRST ROUND: The lowest-scoring first-round series saw neither team ever score more than five runs. The final three games in the series were all decided by a single run. Pittsburgh went up 3-0 in the series, while Brooklyn got a walk-off win in game four, before the Pirates closed it out with a game five victory at Ebbets Field. Pittsburgh batted .231 and scored 19 runs; Brooklyn hit .156 and plated 13 runs.
Pre-Expansion Greats Tournament
Game 1: Pittsburgh 3, Brooklyn 1
Game 2: Pittsburgh 3, Brooklyn 0
Game 3: Pittsburgh 5, Brooklyn 4
Game 4: Brooklyn 5, Pittsburgh 4
Game 5: Pittsburgh 4, Brooklyn 3
Series MVP: Ralph Kiner, Pittsburgh
Kiner hit a home run in each of the five games. He batted .333 (6-for-18) and was responsible for driving in eight of the Pirates’ 19 runs in the series.
Batting Statistics
Pitching Statistics
Game 1: Pittsburgh 3, Brooklyn 1
Rip Sewell pitched a two-hitter to get the Pirates off to a good start. Despite walking five, he was able to pitch out of trouble in multiple innings. Pittsburgh scored in the first inning on back-to-back triples by Pie Traynor and Arky Vaughan. Ralph Kiner and Lloyd Waner hit solo homers in the fourth inning to make it 3-0. Brooklyn got its only run in the seventh when Duke Snider led off with a walk, Roy Campanella singled and Gil Hodges followed with an RBI groundout.
00 BROOKLYN DODGERS (1) AT 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (3) 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS AB R H BI 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATE AB R H BI Jackie Robinson 4 0 0 0 Honus Wagner 4 0 0 0 Zack Wheat 4 0 0 0 Pie Traynor 4 1 2 0 Babe Herman 3 0 0 0 Arky Vaughan 4 0 2 1 Duke Snider 3 1 1 0 Ralph Kiner 4 1 1 1 Roy Campanella 3 0 1 0 Paul Waner 3 0 0 0 Gil Hodges 4 0 0 1 Lloyd Waner 3 1 1 1 Carl Furillo 4 0 0 0 Gus Suhr 2 0 0 0 Joe Stripp 3 0 0 0 Johnny Gooch 2 0 0 0 Pee Wee Reese 1 0 0 0 Bill Mazeroski 3 0 0 0 TOTALS 29 1 2 1 TOTALS 29 3 6 3 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 000 100 -- 1 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 100 200 00x -- 3 LOB--00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 6, 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 4. ERR--Pee Wee Reese. 2B--Duke Snider. 3B--Pie Traynor, Arky Vaughan. HR--Lloyd Waner, Ralph Kiner. SACB--Johnny Gooch. SB--Roy Campanella. 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR Don Newcombe [L] 7.00 5 3 3 1 1 2 Nap Rucker 1.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES Rip Sewell [W] 9.00 2 1 1 5 1 0 SO--Duke Snider, Arky Vaughan. BB--Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese (2), Roy Campanella, Babe Herman, Gus Suhr.
Game 2: Pittsburgh 3, Brooklyn 0
The Pirates threw their second straight two-hitter, this one a shutout by Babe Adams. He walked three and struck out two. The Dodgers only got runners as far as second base in the second inning and third base in the eighth inning. All of Pittsburgh’s runs came on one swing in the sixth inning. Honus Wagner led off with a single and stole second, and after the first out, Arky Vaughan walked. Ralph Kiner slugged a three-run homer for the game’s only scoring.
00 BROOKLYN DODGERS (0) AT 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (3) 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS AB R H BI 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATE AB R H BI Jackie Robinson 4 0 0 0 Honus Wagner 2 1 1 0 Zack Wheat 3 0 0 0 Pie Traynor 4 0 0 0 Babe Herman 3 0 1 0 Arky Vaughan 3 1 0 0 Duke Snider 4 0 0 0 Ralph Kiner 3 1 1 3 Roy Campanella 2 0 0 0 Paul Waner 4 0 0 0 Gil Hodges 3 0 0 0 Lloyd Waner 4 0 2 0 Carl Furillo 3 0 0 0 Gus Suhr 3 0 0 0 Joe Stripp 3 0 1 0 Johnny Gooch 3 0 0 0 Pee Wee Reese 3 0 0 0 Bill Mazeroski 3 0 1 0 TOTALS 28 0 2 0 TOTALS 29 3 5 3 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 000 000 -- 0 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 000 003 00x -- 3 LOB--00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 4, 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 6. ERR--Pee Wee Reese. 2B--Joe Stripp. HR--Ralph Kiner. HBP--Honus Wagner. SB--Honus Wagner. 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR Dazzy Vance [L] 8.00 5 3 3 3 6 1 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES Babe Adams [W] 9.00 2 0 0 3 2 0 SO--Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Bill Mazeroski, Pie Traynor, Gus Suhr (2), Johnny Gooch, Lloyd Waner. BB--Zack Wheat, Roy Campanella, Babe Herman, Arky Vaughan, Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner.
Game 3: Pittsburgh 5, Brooklyn 4
The Pirates trailed 4-2 after seven innings but scored once in the eighth and two in the ninth to earn the victory. The Dodgers scored three time in the third inning, including an RBI double by Jackie Robinson and an RBI single by Babe Herman. Duke Snider singled home a run to make it 4-1 after five innings. Pittsburgh scored once in the sixth, and Ralph Kiner hit his third home run in three games in the eighth to make it 4-3. In the top of the ninth, Johnny Gooch singled, Honus Wagner tripled, and Pie Traynor followed with a sacrifice fly. Pittsburgh closer Roy Face made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, putting runners on second and third with zero outs, but got out of the jam.
00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (5) AT 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS (4) 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATE AB R H BI 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS AB R H BI Honus Wagner 5 1 2 1 Jackie Robinson 4 1 1 1 Pie Traynor 4 1 2 1 Zack Wheat 5 1 2 1 Arky Vaughan 2 1 0 1 Babe Herman 4 1 2 0 Ralph Kiner 4 1 2 1 Duke Snider 2 0 1 2 Paul Waner 4 0 0 1 Roy Campanella 4 0 0 0 Lloyd Waner 4 0 0 0 Gil Hodges 4 0 0 0 Gus Suhr 4 0 0 0 Carl Furillo 4 0 3 0 Johnny Gooch 4 1 3 0 Joe Stripp 4 0 0 0 Bill Mazeroski 4 0 1 0 Pee Wee Reese 3 1 1 0 TOTALS 35 5 10 5 TOTALS 34 4 10 4 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 100 001 012 -- 5 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 003 010 000 -- 4 LOB--00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 7, 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 8. 2B--Johnny Gooch, Jackie Robinson, Babe Herman. 3B--Pie Traynor, Honus Wagner, Zack Wheat. HR--Ralph Kiner. HBP--Duke Snider. SACF--Pie Traynor, Arky Vaughan, Duke Snider. SB--Pie Traynor, Ralph Kiner, Pee Wee Reese, Babe Herman. 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES IP H R ER BB SO HR Howie Camnitz [W] 8.00 9 4 4 2 2 0 Roy Face [S] 1.00 1 0 0 1 0 0 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS Jeff Pfeffer 8.00 8 3 3 2 0 1 Leon Cadore [L] 1.00 2 2 2 0 1 0 SO--Bill Mazeroski, Joe Stripp, Roy Campanella. BB--Arky Vaughan (2), Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Babe Herman.
Game 4: Brooklyn 5, Pittsburgh 4
The Pirates nearly staged another ninth-inning comeback win, but the Dodgers’ Carl Furillo slugged a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. Brooklyn went up 3-1 in the third inning on a three-run homer by Duke Snider. Pittsburgh closed to 3-2 on a fourth-inning home run by Ralph Kiner – his fourth in four games. It stayed that way until the ninth, when Pittsburgh’s Arky Vaughan led off with a solo homer. The Pirates were then able to load the bases with one out, and got the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Johnny Gooch. But in the bottom of the ninth, Gil Hodges got on base via error with one out, and Furillo followed with the game-ending shot.
00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (4) AT 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS (5) 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATE AB R H BI 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS AB R H BI Honus Wagner 4 1 1 0 Jackie Robinson 4 0 1 0 Pie Traynor 4 0 1 0 Zack Wheat 4 1 1 0 Arky Vaughan 3 1 2 2 Babe Herman 3 1 1 0 Ralph Kiner 4 1 1 1 Duke Snider 4 1 1 3 Paul Waner 4 1 1 0 Roy Campanella 2 0 0 0 Lloyd Waner 3 0 1 0 Gil Hodges 4 1 0 0 Gus Suhr 3 0 2 0 Carl Furillo 4 1 1 2 Johnny Gooch 3 0 0 1 Joe Stripp 3 0 0 0 Bill Mazeroski 4 0 0 0 Pee Wee Reese 3 0 0 0 TOTALS 32 4 9 4 TOTALS 31 5 5 5 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 100 100 002 -- 4 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 003 000 002 -- 5 LOB--00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 5, 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 4. ERR--Honus Wagner. 2B--Gus Suhr, Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson, Zack Wheat. HR--Arky Vaughan, Ralph Kiner, Carl Furillo, Duke Snider. HBP--Lloyd Waner. SACF--Arky Vaughan, Johnny Gooch. 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES IP H R ER BB SO HR Rip Sewell [L] 8.33 5 5 4 3 3 2 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS Don Newcombe 8.00 7 2 2 0 3 1 Burleigh Grimes [W] 1.00 2 2 2 1 1 1 SO--Bill Mazeroski (2), Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner, Carl Furillo, Duke Snider (2). BB--Gus Suhr, Roy Campanella (2), Babe Herman.
Game 5: Pittsburgh 4, Brooklyn 3
The Pirates finished off the series in the third straight game decided by one run. Both teams scored twice in the first inning. Pittsburgh got a two-run homer by Ralph Kiner – his fifth in five games. Brooklyn countered with RBI doubles by Duke Snider and Roy Campanella. It stayed 2-2 until the eighth inning. After the first two outs were made, the next two Pirate hitter walked. Paul Waner followed with a two-run triple to put the Pirates in front. Brooklyn got one back in the eighth when Pee Wee Reese reached on an error and eventually scored on a balk. But with a runner on second and no one out, the Dodgers couldn’t do any more damage. Pittsburgh closer Roy Face pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (4) AT 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS (3) 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATE AB R H BI 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS AB R H BI Honus Wagner 5 1 2 0 Jackie Robinson 4 0 1 0 Pie Traynor 4 0 0 0 Zack Wheat 3 0 1 0 Arky Vaughan 2 1 0 0 Babe Herman 4 1 1 0 Ralph Kiner 3 2 1 2 Duke Snider 4 1 1 1 Paul Waner 4 0 1 2 Roy Campanella 4 0 1 1 Lloyd Waner 4 0 2 0 Gil Hodges 3 0 0 0 Gus Suhr 3 0 0 0 Carl Furillo 4 0 0 0 Johnny Gooch 3 0 0 0 Joe Stripp 3 0 0 0 Bill Mazeroski 3 0 0 0 Pee Wee Reese 3 1 0 0 TOTALS 31 4 6 4 TOTALS 32 3 5 2 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 200 000 020 -- 4 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 200 000 010 -- 3 LOB--00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 6, 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS 4. ERR--Pie Traynor. 2B--Honus Wagner, Duke Snider, Roy Campanella, Babe Herman. 3B--Paul Waner. HR--Ralph Kiner. SACB--Gus Suhr. SB--Honus Wagner. 00 PITTSBURGH PIRATES IP H R ER BB SO HR Babe Adams [W] 8.00 5 3 2 2 1 0 Roy Face [S] 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 BROOKLYN DODGERS Dazzy Vance [L] 8.33 6 4 4 5 9 1 Nap Rucker 0.67 0 0 0 0 1 0 BALK--Babe Adams. SO--Bill Mazeroski (2), Pie Traynor (3), Arky Vaughan, Johnny Gooch (2), Honus Wagner, Ralph Kiner, Jackie Robinson. BB--Bill Mazeroski, Arky Vaughan (2), Johnny Gooch, Ralph Kiner, Zack Wheat, Gil Hodges.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 