Bums v. Bombers

Last Thursday, at 5:08 p.m., bedlam broke loose in Brooklyn. Staid citizens dashed out of their homes and shops, yelling "We're in, we're in!" Housewives stood on their stoops, beating dishpans; kids tooted tin horns; barkeeps opened their taps, "set 'em up on the house."

For 21 long years, Brooklynites had waited for this moment. Their beloved Dodgers ("Our Bums") had just clinched the National League pennant in Boston. Many another baseball town has gone wild over a pennant victory. But Brooklyn's faithful fans--victims of an inferiority complex provoked by the pompous, pennant-heavy New York Giants and Yankees across the river--burst into a demonstration last week that looked like New Orleans' Mardi Gras, New Year's Eve in Times Square and the 1918 Armistice.

That night, 10,000 strong, they swarmed into Manhattan, stormed its Grand Central Terminal to welcome home their "champeens." Led by bands at full blast, they snake-danced around the station, toting homemade placards: THEM BUMS DONE IT. DUROCHER FOR MAYOR. CAMILLI FOR PRESIDENT.

"It isn't a revolution, is it?" asked a flabbergasted British sailor. "It's probably another disgusting strike," muttered a lady from Boston.

Brooklyn's faithful paid them no never mind. Four days later, after the last game of the regular baseball season, they turned out, not 10,000 but 1,000,000 strong, to march down Flatbush Avenue behind their heroes in a gigantic Victory Parade. They were even sure the Dodgers would beat the Yankees in the World Series.

Bronx Bombers. Though a less lusty edition of the Murderers' Row of 1927-28-32, this year's Yankees clinched the American League pennant on Sept. 4 (earliest date on record for a 154-game season) and have been coasting ever since. They go into the series with three of the league's top four home-run hitters: Outfielders Charley Keller (33), Tommy Henrich (31) and Joe Di Maggio (30)--a trio who can also outfield and outthrow Brooklyn's Outfielders Pete Reiser, Joe Medwick, Dixie Walker.

In the infield, the Yankees have the slickest keystone combination in baseball: Shortstop Phil Rizzuto and Second Baseman Joe Gordon, who have chalked up 194 double plays this season, equaling the all-time major-league record. Rizzuto (with a batting average of .306) and Gordon (with a season's total of 24 home runs) are also dangerous hitters.

Pitching is the only spot where the Yankees lack the class of former years when they won four World Series in a row (1936-37-38-39). Creaking Charlie Ruffing, their 36-year-old ace, has won only 15 games this year. So has Lefty Gomez, another World Series standby. But methodical Manager Joe McCarthy, the Yankees' master strategist, is noted for his skill at manipulating pitchers. He has nine more, though mediocre, to call on.

Them Bums. The Brooklyns are comforted by the memory of how Cincinnati's Pitchers Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer defeated the power-hitting Detroit Tigers in last year's World Series. This year the Dodgers have the best pitching pair in the major leagues: calm 33-year-old Whitlow ("Whit") Wyatt and fiery 26-year-old Kirby Higbe, both sizzling right-handers who have won 22 games apiece. Besides, the Dodgers have crafty Curt Davis (curves) and Old Reliable Freddy Fitzsimmons (knuckle-ball).

Although interleague comparisons mean little, Brooklyn's Bums have as good a team batting average (.272) as the Yankees (.269). First Baseman Dolph Camilli (like Di Maggio, a product of San Francisco's Fishermen's Wharf) has batted in more runs (120) than any National League player this season and socked more homers (34) than any player in either league, except Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox (37).

Besides Camilli, Brooklyn has Rookie Pete Reiser, its fabulous $100 find, who has outhit (.343) every batter in the National League; scrappy Joe Medwick (.318), a good man to have when the chips are down; and dead-eye Dixie Walker, a consistent .300 hitter who has broken up many a ball game during the Dodgers' nerve-racking last few weeks.

Brooklyn has won two previous pennants (1916 and 1920) since the World Series was inaugurated in 1903, but Wee Willie Keeler, Zack Wheat, Burleigh Grimes and Brooklyn's other immortals never succeeded in winning the Series. But Manager Leo Durocher, onetime Cardinal shortstop who, with the aid of nearly $1,000,000 worth of new material, led Brooklyn from third to first place in three years, brags "It'll take five or six games but we'll win."

Bookmakers did not agree. The smooth-running Yankee machine may hit on all cylinders after four weeks of coasting; while the high-strung Dodgers, after a neck & neck race with the St. Louis Cardinals since the first week of the season--a race during which the Dodgers were in and out of the lead ten times--may be on the verge of collapse. So bookies last week quoted odds of 2-to-i on the Yankees to win the World Series for the fifth time in six years.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.