Season #4’s opening day saw a number of strong pitching performances. The most runs scored in a game by any team was five. Three teams scored one run or less, but one of those was victorious as the 1959 Chicago White Sox won 1-0 on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth. The New York Yankees won season #3 and their 1953 team got off to a good start with an extra-innings win. The 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates were the other opening-day winners.
New York Yankees 4, Philadelphia 3 (11 inn.)
The Phillies more than doubled the Yankees’ hit total, but all four New York hits went for extra bases and they made them count. Yogi Berra powered the Yankees to a 3-0 lead, as he hit a two-run homer in the second inning and an RBI triple in the seventh. The Phillies broke up Eddie Lopat’s shutout bid in the eighth with three runs on four hits, including a two-run double by Richie Ashburn and an RBI triple from Dick Sisler. Both teams had a runner thrown out at home on a sacrifice fly attempt in regulation. It went to extra innings and in the top of the 11th, the Yankees’ Gil McDougald led off with a triple. After the first out, he scored the go-ahead run on Hank Bauer’s sacrifice fly. The Phillies went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th.
1953 NEW YORK YANKEE AB R H BI 1950 PHILADELPHIA PH AB R H BI
Gil McDougald 5 1 2 0 Eddie Waitkus 5 1 2 0
Joe Collins 5 0 0 0 Richie Ashburn 5 1 1 2
Hank Bauer 4 0 0 1 Dick Sisler 5 0 1 1
Mickey Mantle 5 0 0 0 Del Ennis 5 0 0 0
Gene Woodling 2 2 0 0 Willie Jones 5 0 0 0
Yogi Berra 4 1 2 3 Granny Hamner 4 0 1 0
Billy Martin 3 0 0 0 Andy Seminick 4 0 2 0
Phil Rizzuto 4 0 0 0 Mike Goliat 4 0 0 0
Eddie Lopat BZ 3 0 0 0 Robin Roberts BYZ 2 0 0 0
Irv Noren 1 0 0 0 Dick Whitman 1 1 1 0
Jimmy Bloodworth 1 0 1 0
TOTALS 36 4 4 4 TOTALS 41 3 9 3
1953 NEW YORK YANKEES 020 000 100 01 -- 4
1950 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 000 000 030 00 -- 3
LOB--1953 NEW YORK YANKEES 3, 1950 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 5.
ERR--Willie Jones. 2B--Gil McDougald, Andy Seminick, Richie
Ashburn. 3B--Yogi Berra, Gil McDougald, Dick Sisler.
HR--Yogi Berra. SACF--Hank Bauer.
1953 NEW YORK YANKEES IP H R ER BB SO HR
Eddie Lopat BZ 7.33 8 3 3 0 1 0
Allie Reynolds BX 1.67 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jim McDonald CZ [W] 2.00 1 0 0 0 0 0
1950 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Robin Roberts BYZ 8.00 3 3 3 3 4 1
Jim Konstanty AZ 2.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bubba Church B [L] 1.00 1 1 1 0 0 0
Milwaukee 5, New York Giants 3
There were a lot of fireworks early in this one. The Braves’ Eddie Mathews hit a three-run homer in the top of the first, followed by the Giants’ Willie Mays smacking a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. Milwaukee’s Red Schoendienst then hit a solo homer in the top of the second to make it 4-2. The Braves increased the lead to 5-2 in the fifth when Mathews doubled and scored on Wes Covington’s single. The Giants only had one hit after the second inning, a solo homer from Whitey Lockman in the sixth.
1957 MILWAUKEE BRAVE AB R H BI 1954 NEW YORK GIANTS AB R H BI
Red Schoendienst 4 2 1 1 Whitey Lockman 4 1 1 1
Frank Torre 4 1 2 0 Al Dark 3 1 0 0
Eddie Mathews 4 2 2 3 Hank Thompson 3 0 0 0
Hank Aaron 3 0 0 0 Willie Mays 4 1 1 2
Wes Covington 4 0 2 1 Don Mueller 3 0 0 0
Johnny Logan 4 0 1 0 Monte Irvin 3 0 1 0
Bill Bruton 4 0 0 0 Davey Williams 3 0 0 0
Del Crandall 4 0 0 0 Ray Katt 3 0 0 0
Warren Spahn B 3 0 0 0 Johnny Antonelli AX 1 0 0 0
Andy Pafko 1 0 0 0 Dusty Rhodes 1 0 0 0
Joe Garagiola 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 35 5 8 5 TOTALS 29 3 3 3
1957 MILWAUKEE BRAVES 310 010 000 -- 5
1954 NEW YORK GIANTS 200 001 000 -- 3
LOB--1957 MILWAUKEE BRAVES 6, 1954 NEW YORK GIANTS 1.
2B--Eddie Mathews, Johnny Logan. 3B--Wes Covington.
HR--Eddie Mathews, Red Schoendienst, Willie Mays, Whitey
Lockman.
1957 MILWAUKEE BRAVES IP H R ER BB SO HR
Warren Spahn B [W] 8.00 3 3 3 1 1 2
Don McMahon ACKW [S] 1.00 0 0 0 1 3 0
1954 NEW YORK GIANTS
Johnny Antonelli AX [L] 6.00 8 5 5 1 7 2
Marv Grissom AX 2.00 0 0 0 2 1 0
Jim Hearn CW 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chicago 1, Cleveland 0
Early Wynn was the starting pitcher for both teams in this one, and he delivered for both teams, as this one stayed 0-0 until the bottom of the ninth. The White Sox had only two hits to that point, but Luis Aparicio led off with a single, stole second, and scored the winning run on Nellie Fox’s RBI single.
1954 CLEVELAND INDIA AB R H BI 1959 CHICAGO WHITE S AB R H BI
Al Smith 3 0 1 0 Luis Aparicio 4 1 1 0
Bobby Avila 4 0 0 0 Nellie Fox 4 0 1 1
Larry Doby 2 0 0 0 Jim Landis 3 0 0 0
Al Rosen 4 0 2 0 Sherm Lollar 3 0 0 0
Vic Wertz 4 0 1 0 Al Smith 3 0 1 0
Dave Philley 3 0 0 0 Earl Torgeson 2 0 0 0
George Strickland 4 0 0 0 Bubba Phillips 3 0 1 0
Jim Hegan 3 0 0 0 Jim McAnany 3 0 0 0
Early Wynn BXZ 3 0 0 0 Early Wynn BX 2 0 0 0
Ted Kluszewski 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 0 4 0 TOTALS 28 1 4 1
1954 CLEVELAND INDIANS 000 000 000 -- 0
1959 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 000 000 001 -- 1
LOB--1954 CLEVELAND INDIANS 7, 1959 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 4.
ERR--Bubba Phillips, Al Smith. 2B--Vic Wertz, Al Smith.
SB--Luis Aparicio.
1954 CLEVELAND INDIANS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Early Wynn BXZ [L] 8.00 4 1 1 1 6 0
1959 CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Early Wynn BX 8.00 3 0 0 4 4 0
Turk Lown BX [W] 1.00 1 0 0 0 0 0
Pittsburgh 4, Brooklyn 1
The Dodgers opened the scoring on Cal Furillo’s solo home run in the fifth, but that’s all they would get. The Pirates took the lead immediately afterward on Bill Mazeroski’s two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth. They padded the lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings on an RBI double by Smoky Burgess and an RBI single from Bob Skinner, respectively.
1953 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI 1960 PITTSBURGH PIRA AB R H BI
Jim Gilliam 4 0 1 0 Bill Virdon 3 1 1 0
Pee Wee Reese 3 0 1 0 Dick Groat 4 0 1 0
Duke Snider 4 0 0 0 Bob Skinner 4 0 1 1
Jackie Robinson 4 0 1 0 Dick Stuart 4 1 1 0
Roy Campanella 3 0 0 0 Roberto Clemente 4 0 1 0
Gil Hodges 3 0 0 0 Smoky Burgess 2 1 1 1
Carl Furillo 4 1 1 1 Don Hoak 3 0 0 0
Billy Cox 2 0 0 0 Bill Mazeroski 4 1 1 2
Carl Erskine BXY 2 0 0 0 Bob Friend BYZ 3 0 0 0
Bobby Morgan 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 1 4 1 TOTALS 31 4 7 4
1953 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 010 000 -- 1
1960 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 000 021 10x -- 4
LOB--1953 BROOKLYN DODGERS 6, 1960 PITTSBURGH PIRATES 7.
2B--Smoky Burgess. HR--Carl Furillo, Bill Mazeroski.
1953 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Carl Erskine BXY [L] 6.00 4 3 3 3 5 1
Bill Milliken BX 2.00 3 1 1 1 2 0
1960 PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Bob Friend BYZ [W] 9.00 4 1 1 4 4 1
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 