1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: a show that explores the past one day at a time. 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're talking about the time 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: when the original underdogs of baseball banded together and finally 6 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: pulled out a win. The day was October four nine. 7 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: In a surprising upset, the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series, 8 00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: beating the New York Yankees too to zero. The win 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: had been a long time coming for both the team 10 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: and its long suffering fans. The Brooklyn Dodgers, formerly known 11 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: as the Trolley Dodgers, had lost the World Series seven 12 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: times since nineteen sixteen, with five of those losses delivered 13 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: courtesy of the New York Yankees. By nineteen fifty five, 14 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 1: the team had established a reliable, if not discouraging pattern. 15 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,199 Speaker 1: They would chalk up win after win all season long, 16 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: make it to the World Series, and then get trounced 17 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: by the Yankees. But finally, just once, during their eighth 18 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: shot at the title, the gods of baseball took pity 19 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: on the Dodgers and delivered them a long awaited win. 20 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: The first six games of that year's series had adhered 21 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: to the old idea of home team advantage. The Yankees 22 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: carried all three games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, 23 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: and the Dodgers won all three games at Ebbott's Field 24 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 1: in Brooklyn. And since the final match was to be 25 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: held on the Yankees home turf, and in light of 26 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: the two teams lopsided history, the expectation was that the 27 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: pattern would hold and the Dodgers cross town rivals would 28 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: be victorious yet again, But there were early signs that 29 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: the game might not play out as expected. In the 30 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: fourth inning, the Dodgers scored the first run of the 31 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: game when catcher Roy Campanella hit a double and teammate 32 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: Gil Hodges hit a single to send Roy home. In 33 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: the sixth inning, the Dodgers managed to load the bases, 34 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: thanks in part to a crucial Yankee error. With the 35 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: pressure on, Gil Hodges came through again, hitting a fly 36 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: ball to center field and giving Dodgers shortstop and captain 37 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: Peewee Reese enough time to make it home. In the 38 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: bottom of the six the Dodgers were winning by two, 39 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,119 Speaker 1: but their lead was hanging by a thread. The Yankees 40 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:56,079 Speaker 1: had two runners on base with nobody out. That's when 41 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: Yogi Berra knocked an outside pitch straight down the left 42 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,639 Speaker 1: field foul line. It seemed like the kind of hit 43 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: that would surely send both runners home, tying the game 44 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: at two to two, but that's not what happened. Instead, 45 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: Dodgers outfielder Sandy A. Morros made a miraculous catch and 46 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: got the ball to first base, canceling out the Yankees 47 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 1: double play. The Dodgers held onto their lead, and in 48 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees were at bat 49 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: with two outs. In the game's pivotal moment, Elston Howard 50 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: hit a groundball to Peewee Reese. Reese, who had been 51 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: with the Dodgers through all five of their World Series losses, 52 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: later commented the quote, it seemed to take hours to 53 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: pick up that ball, but in reality he scooped it 54 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: up in the blink of an eye and sent it 55 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: flying to first base, where trusty old Gil Hodges caught 56 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: it in time to win the game. More than sixty 57 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: two thousand fans watched the Dgers win in person, and 58 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: even more watched it at home and in color. To boot, 59 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: as this was the first championship ever to be televised 60 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: in color. Brooklyn took on a carnival atmosphere that night, 61 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: with people dancing in the streets, blowing horns, and of course, 62 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: setting a few celebrational fires. In hindsight, the celebration seems 63 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: bitter sweet, because the nineteen fifty five World Series proved 64 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: to be the only one the Brooklyn Dodgers whatever win. 65 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty six, things went back to status quo, 66 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: with the Dodgers making it to the Series again, only 67 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: to lose to the Yankees. The year after that, in 68 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty seven, the team's owner decided to ditch everyone's 69 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: least favorite burrow in favor of a fancy news stadium 70 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 1: in sunny California. The move came as a harsh blow 71 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: to the residents of Brooklyn, but it likely did wonders 72 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: for the players more owl as of the Los Angeles 73 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: Dodgers have won the championship five times and counting. I'm Gay, 74 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little more about 75 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:18,919 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed today's show, 76 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: you might want to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and 77 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: Instagram at T D I HC Show And if you 78 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 1: have any feedback you'd like to share, you can leave 79 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: us a review on Apple Podcasts, or right to the 80 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: show at this day at i heeart media dot com. 81 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 82 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,839 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 83 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: for another day in History class. For more podcasts from 84 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 85 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.