After seven innings at Sportsman’s Park, the St. Louis Cardinals held a 3-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox. Cardinals righthander Murry Dickson, after giving up singles to the first two batters, Wally Moses and Johnny Pesky, had allowed only one hit since the first inning. In the fifth, Dickson had broken a 1-1 tie with a double that scored Harry Walker, and then trotted home himself when Red Schoendienst singled.
Now, in the top of the eighth, Dickson would face Boston’s eighth-, ninth- and first-place hitters. The first scheduled batter was Hal Wagner, but Manager Joe Cronin sent up Glen (Rip) Russell to hit for the Red Sox’s catcher. Russell singled to center. Joe Dobson, who had relieved starting pitcher Dave (Boo) Ferriss in the fifth, was due up next, and this time Cronin opted for George Metkovich. The result was a double to left, and Boston had the potential tying runs in scoring position with no one out.
Eddie Dyer, St. Louis’ rookie manager, responded with a call to the bullpen. He wanted lefthander Harry (The Cat) Brecheen, and for good reason. Brecheen had been the pitching standout of this Series, tossing a four-hit shutout in Game 2 and yielding only one run in a complete game triumph in Game 6. Furthermore, his insertion was a matter of playing the percentages: Moses and Pesky, Boston’s next two batters, were lefthanded hitters, and Moses had collected five hits in his 11 Series at-bats thus far.
Brecheen, who compiled a 30-9 record in 1944 and 1945, had fallen to 15-15 in 1946. But his 2.49 earned-run average and five-shutout performance of’46 stamped his .500 season as misleading, as did his Series pitching success.
Brecheen struck out Moses. He then got Pesky to line out to Slaughter, whose prompt throw to the infield kept the runners glued to their bases. Now righthanded-hitting Dom DiMaggio was the batter. DiMaggio, who had driven in Boston’s run with a first-inning fly ball, came through with a nifty piece of clutch hitting by ripping a Brecheen pitch off the wall in right-center field. The blow scored Russell and Metkovich, tying the game at 3-3. Brecheen got out of the inning by retiring Ted Williams on a popup.
When the Red Sox took the field for the bottom of the eighth, Bob Klinger was on to pitch, Roy Partee had replaced Wagner behind the plate and Leon Culberson was stationed in center field. Culberson had pinch-run in the top of the inning for DiMaggio, who twisted his ankle rounding first while running out his crucial two-base hit. Klinger, Partee and Culberson soon would be where the action was.
Slaughter, the man they called Country, promptly singled off Klinger. Whitey Kurowski popped out to the Boston pitcher while attempting to sacrifice, and Del Rice flied out. It was up to Walker, who already had six hits and five RBIs in the Series. Walker hit a shot over Pesky’s head into left-center, and Slaughter was off to the races. By the time Culberson could get the ball back to the infield, Country surely would be standing on third.
Except Country wasn’t standing anywhere. Slaughter sped around second base and then he tore around third. When shortstop Pesky hesitated in making his relay throw to the plate — a throw that drew Partee up the third-base line — Slaughter was home free. The daring baserunning had thrust St. Louis into a 4-3 lead. Walker, meanwhile, had motored into second on his big hit and was credited with a double (not a single, as often reported).
Brecheen, after making the final out in the eighth, continued the suspense in the ninth by allowing singles to Rudy York and Bobby Doerr to open the inning. As the Sportsman’s Park throng inched forward, Pinky Higgins hit into a forceout that moved pinchrunner Paul Campbell to third. With one out, the tying run was 90 feet away.
Partee then fouled out to first baseman Stan Musial, leaving it up to pinch-hitter Tom McBride, who was batting for reliever Earl Johnson. Brecheen induced the reserve outfielder to ground to second baseman Schoendienst, who flipped the ball to shortstop Marty Marion for a Series-ending forceout. The wrung-out crowd let go. The Cardinals had won their sixth World Series title.
Brecheen, of course, was a big factor in the Cards’ latest championship. He won three games in the Series and fashioned a 0.45 ERA in 20 innings. After the Red Sox had opened the Series with a 3-2, l0-inning victory that was decided on a York homer, Brecheen came back the next day and hurled St. Louis to a 3-0 triumph. And following Dobson’s four-hit, 6-3 decision in Game 5 that sent Boston ahead three games to two, Brecheen squared the Series by stopping the Red Sox, 4-1.
Two of the game’s greatest offensive stars, St. Louis’ Musial and Boston’s Williams, struggled in this Series with .222 and .200 averages, respectively. While neither team hit particularly well overall, the Cardinals did have one slam-bang afternoon. One day after being shut out by Ferriss, 4-0, in Game 3, St. Louis went on a 20-hit spree at Fenway Park and buried the Red Sox, 12-3. Slaughter, Kurowski and rookie catcher Joe Garagiola all had four hits for the Cards in that contest.
Runaways weren’t the Cardinals’ style, though. That was evident during the just-concluded National League season, when the Cards and Brooklyn Dodgers tied for the top spot and met in the major leagues’ first-ever pennant playoff. Beating the Dodgers two straight in the best-of-three match, St. Louis captured its fourth NL flag in five seasons and took its theatrics to the fall classic.
While Games 1 through 6 of the 1946 World Series received favorable reviews, it is Game 7 that lives on as one of baseball’s all-time show-stoppers.
