Gil McDougald

Norm Siebern

Elston Howard

Yogi Berra

Mickey Mantle

Tom Sturdivant

Andy Pafko

The Yankees, with essentially the same roster as '57, repeated as AL champs.

• Casey Stengel wanted to get his favorite young player, Tony Kubek, into the lineup on a regular basis. So he moved Gil McDougald from SS to 2B and installed Tony in his normal position. That put Bobby Richardson, who had had played 97 games in '57, on the bench.
• The other major change involved LF, where Norm Siebern replaced Elston Howard, who was at his best behind the plate. Casey would give Yogi Berra more rest.
• The team's hitting leaders were these:
  BA: Elston Howard .314, Mickey Mantle .304, Norm Siebern .300
  Runs: Mantle 127, Siebern 79
  RBIs: Mantle 97, Yogi Berra 90, Bill Skowron 73
  HRs: Mantle 42 (tops in the AL), Berra 22
  Mickey had another solid year despite surgery on his right shoulder in the off-season and an ache in his right knee that would never go away. And he developed shin splints in spring training. Mantle recalled: If we rode in a cab for more than eight minutes, the other guys had to help me get out. ... I had no problem running at full throttle, it was trying to stop or cut that gave me a fit.
• The pitching staff saw the decline of Tom Sturdivant, plagued by arm miseries, from a club-leading 16 victories in '57 to only three. But two veterans took up the slack. Bob Turley rose from 13 to 21 wins and Whitey Ford improved his win total from 11 to 14 and led the league in ERA (2.01) despite injuring his arm and not winning a game after August 8. After those two, no one else won more than nine games as 13 different hurlers recorded a win for the Yankees. Rookie Ryne Duren pitched well out of the bullpen.
• After a terrible spring training that had Stengel walking the beach in St. Petersburg in the wee hours, the Yanks turned it on when the real games began. They took 25 of their first 31 games and increased their lead to double digits by July 4 to coast to a 10-game pennant margin over the White Sox.
  Feeling pressure all season because he had won the World Series just once the previous four years, Casey may have panicked when the Yanks started coasting down the stretch and damaged his top starter. NY had a 16.5-game lead August 8 after Ford twirled a shutout over Boston. Two days later, Old Case had Whitey warm up in the bullpen in case he needed him to save a game. But the move backfired when his trusty lefty hurt his elbow and pitched the rest of the season in pain. He never won another game in the regular season.

• They underwent even fewer changes than the Yankees. Manager Fred Haney employed the same eight position players as in '57.
• Braves batting leaders:
  BA: Wes Covington .330, Hank Aaron .326, Frank Torre .309
  Runs: Aaron 109, Eddie Mathews 97
  RBIs: Aaron 95, Mathews 77, Covington 74
  HRs: Mathews 31, Aaron 30, Covington 24
• The pitching staff underwent some upheaval. Like the Yankees, Milwaukee featured a one-two, right-lefty combo. Warren Spahn (22-11) and Lew Burdette (20-10) still anchored the rotation, but Bob Buhl, winner of 18 games in '57, fell to five victories, and Gene Conley, 9-9 in '57, didn't record a single W in '58. 32-year-old Bob Rush contributed 10 wins, and Carlton Willey threw in nine more. Don McMahon re­mained #1 out of the bullpen, finishing 28 games with eight saves.
• The Braves didn't burst out of the starting gate as quickly as the Yankees. They didn't take over first for good until June 11 when their record was only 28-21. The Braves couldn't shake the Giants and Pirates until August. The final tally showed Milwaukee on top by 8 over Pittsburgh.

It would be hard to find two teams in baseball history more evenly matched.

• The clubs compiled identical 92-62 records.
• Milwaukee clubbed 167 homers and batted .266. New York's totals were 164 and .268, respectively. Braves' hurlers finished with a 3.21 ERA while the Yankee staff finished 3.22.
• The Braves allowed only 3.5 runs per game while scoring 4.4 for a differential of 0.9, tops in the NL.
• The Yankees went them one better, ranking #1 in the Junior Circuit in both runs (4.9/game) and runs allowed (3.7) for a differential of 1.2, 0.8 better than Cleveland. Interestingly, Stengel's men actually played better on the road (48-29) than at home (44-33). That ability would stand them in good stead when they would have to win the last two games in Milwaukee to capture the World Series.

For what it was worth, the professional oddsmakers installed the Yankees 13-10 favorites.

• The Series started in chilly, cloudy weather in Milwaukee.
  Yankee management made two changes in travel plans from past Series. First, they flew to Milwaukee for Game One. Secondly, they stayed a half-hour drive from County Stadium at Brown's Lake Resort to avoid boisterous Braves fans distracting the visitors and disturbing their sleep at a downtown hotel.
• Stengel vexed reporters by refusing to name a starting lineup. How can I tell you how I'm going to play my players when right now I don't know myself? He insisted that, be­yond starting Ford in Game One, he was set at only five positions. Berra, more ex­perienced than Howard, would start behind the plate. CF belonged to Mantle, who proclaimed, I never came into a world series in better health or with more strikeouts. (He led the AL with 123.) Also Skowron at 1B, Kubek at SS, and Carey at 3B. The night before the game, Old Case announced Howard would play LF and bat cleanup against southpaw Spahn. McDougald, despite hitting only .207 the last two months - thanks in part to back spasms - would start at 2B over Richardson. In RF, Stengel again went with experience - Hank Bauer, who had hit safely in all seven games of both the '56 and '57 Series.
• Haney was more forthcoming with his plans. CF Bill Bruton, who had missed the entire '57 Series, was sidelined with leg ailments. So Andy Pafko would play in his place. LF Wes Covington, battling knee injuries, would give it a go in LF. Against lefty Ford, big Joe Adcock would start at 1B in place of Frank Torre.
• The Yankees had not lost two World Series in a row since their first two, 1921-22 against the Giants.

Lew Burdette and Don Larsen before facing off in Game 7

• Repeating what Spahn had said the year before, Burdette proclaimed, I wish the Yankees were in the National League. They'd be lucky if they finished fifth. Johnny Logan said the Yanks were "over the hill." Spahn predicted that "the last two games at County Stadium would be unnecessary."
• But Turley fired a shutout in Game 5, and his mates sent Burdette to the showers with a six-run 6th.
  Berra would later say that he had never seen a Yankee team as fired up as the '58 club going into Game 5. They were fed up with the Braves' putdowns and also knew they had to win to save Stengel's job.
• In the meantime, taking Warren's words to heart, the city of Milwaukee tore up the main thoroughfare to County Stadium for resurfacing while the clubs were in New York. Rain filled up the potholes and made it difficult for Game 6 spectators to get to the park.
• During Game 6, a sign on the scoreboard announced, Coming Next - Football Oct. 12, Green Bay Packers vs. Baltimore Colts. No mention of a Game 7.
• But the Yanks took a classic 4-3 ten-inning victory to produce a Game 7 for the fourth year in a row - the first time that happened since the World Series began in 1903.

Game 7: Thursday, October 9 @ Milwaukee

Now the pressure switched to the Braves.

• Could the Yankees become the first team since the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates to overcome a 3-1 deficit?
• Haney didn't hesitate when asked whom he would start in Game 7. Having used Spahn in Game 6, Fred went with Burdette, who had beaten the Yankees four straight times until Game Five. Lew would be pitching on only two days rest, but that had been no problem in Game 7 the year before when he shutout the Bronx Bombers. Burdette would attempt to become the first pitcher in World Series history to win five games in back-to-back years.
• As with Game One, Stengel refused to reveal his starter for the finalé during his Game Six postgame press conference. Observers felt it would narrow down to Don Larsen or Johnny Kucks. Don had pitched seven shutout innings in Game 3 while Kucks had made two relief appearances. However, Johnny had twirled a shutout at Ebbets Field in the final game of the '56 Fall Classic.
• An hour before game time, Casey picked Larsen. Still, he was concerned about Don's arm and monitored him carefully as he warmed up.
• Before the game, a casual observer in the two dugouts had little trouble picking the winner. The Yankees were a happy, carefree, almost cocky group. The Braves, on the other hand, were tense, worried, and visibly shaken by the task before them.
  Berra would later say, I don't think it mattered who pitched for who. We were going to win this one, and that was all there was to it. Not one to talk to opponents before a game, Yogi sent that message to the Braves during batting practice and throughout Game 7.
• The weather turned out beautiful with a light wind toward LF.

Hank Bauer

Red Schoendienst

Bill Bruton

Frank Torre

Wes Covington

Johnny Logan

Jerry Lumpe

Bill Skowron

Tony Kubek

Bob Turley

Andy Carey

Don McMahon

Felix Mantilla

Yankees mob Turley on way to dugout.

Yankees World Series ring

• Burdette, the pride of Nitro WV, started the way he pitched in Game 7 in '57.
  Mantle: Burdette ... was using all the tools nature gave him, his arm and head and heart and tongue ...
  Leadoff man Hank Bauer (.386 in Series) had tied a record with his fourth homer of the Series in Game 6. He also established a mark for outfielders by participating in his 52nd postseason game to break Joe DiMaggio's record. Hank lined the 0-1 pitch to Aaron in RF.
  Gil McDougald (.304) hit the HR in the top of the 10th that put the Yanks ahead in Game 6. Gil hit a grounder past the mound that SS Johnny Logan fielded and threw to Frank Torre at 1B.
  Like the first two batters, Mickey Mantle (.300 with 2 HRs) fell be­hind, then grounded to Torre unassisted.
  
• Johnny Kucks threw in the bullpen even as Larsen took the mound.
  A switch hitter batting lefthanded, 2B Albert "Red" Schoendienst stroked a single into LF.
  Schoendienst had started feeling bad late in the regular season. In his autobiography, he recalled: I tried to pass it off that I was just suffering from a bad cold, but in my own mind, I was scared. During the World Series when I was in the field, I couldn't move. When I walked up to bat, I could hardly swing the bat. I saw the ball well and everything, but I couldn't react to it. There was no question I was sick. After the series, Red finally underwent tests that determined that he was suffering from tuberculosis. Yet he hit .300 during the World Series (9-for-30) with three doubles.
  Billy Bruton, who led all Series hitters with a .429 average, walked on a 3-1 pitch. That brought Stengel to the dugout steps.
  Another righthander, Bob Turley, joined Kucks in the bullpen in RCF.
  Frank Torre (.200) dropped a beautiful bunt down the 3B line and was thrown out Lumpe-to-McDougald. The crowd gave Frank a fine hand as he ran to the dugout.
  With the infield playing in, Hank Aaron (.333) had an opportunity to give the Braves an early lead. But Larsen gave him nothing good to hit, Hank walking on five pitches. Berra walked partway to the mound to tell Larsen something as Stengel paced in the dugout.
  The infield moved back to double play depth as Wes Covington (.318) settled into the batter's box. For the third time in the inning, Larsen went to a 3-1 count. After a foul, Covington grounded to Skowron who fielded the ball on the short hop to his right and ran to the bag as Schoendienst scored.
  Dropped to sixth from third in the batting order, Eddie Mathews (.167) had already set an unenviable record by striking out eleven times in the first six games. (The Braves' 53 Ks had also erased the team record of 50 set by the 1929 Cubs.) Nevertheless, Stengel ordered an intentional pass to reload the bases.
  C Del Crandall's nine strikeouts ranked second to Mathews on the Braves. Del fouled two 0-2 deliveries before taking a fastball on the outside corner belt high to end the threat.
  Braves 1 Yankees 0
  

• C Yogi Berra (.217) had now played in more series games, been at bat more times, gotten more hits (60), and connected for more total bases than any other player. Yogi drew a five-pitch walk. It was the first unintentional pass by Burdette in the Series.
  Elston Howard (.133) bunted to Torre who tossed to Burdette running towrd the 1B bag, but Lew dropped the ball, which was slightly behind him. Frank was credited with the error as Carlton Willey began warming in the Braves bullpen.
  3B Jerry Lumpe (.222) swung away on a 2-0 pitch to Torre who tossed to Burdette who again failed to snag the throw slighty behind as pitcher and batter arrived at 1B simultaneously. Frank's second error was Milwaukee's sixth in the last two games.
  Haney ordered his infielders to play back for the double play. Burdette got ahead of Skowron 1-2, then Crandall erupted when plate umpire Tom Gorman called the next pitch inside. Bill grounded to SS for a force at 2B, but the throw to 1B was not quite in time as the tying run crossed the plate.
  SS Tony Kubek lined a ball to LF Covington that plated Howard from 3B. The Yanks now had two runs, both unearned, without benefit of a hit.
  Larsen, a good hitting P, bounced into a 6-4 force play.
  Yankees 2 Braves 1
  
• Larsen provided his manager with a calm inning as Turley and Bobby Shantz threw in the pen..
  First he fell behind Logan (.143) 3-0 before getting Johnny to pop to Kubek on a full-count.
  Burdette, who had one hit in six ABs, a three-run HR in Game 2, grounded out 5-3 on the first pitch.
  Schoendienst grouned out 4-3.

3rd inning

• Bauer rolled to SS.
  McDougald got hold of a 1-1 pitch and lined it off the wall in LCF for a double. That started Willey tossing again.
  Lew pitched aggressively to Mantle and got ahead 0-2. The crafty hurler then wasted two deliveries before inducing Mickey to ground to Mathews, who snagged the hot grounded to his left and threw to 1B, beating the speedy CF by a step.
  With a chance for his third RBI of the Series, Berra spanked a hard grounder to Torre, who avoided another throwing error by taking the play himself.
  
• Bruton picked on the first pitch and lined it into CF for a single.
  Torre lofted the first pitch into RCF. Just when it looked like the ball would fall in, McDougald grabbed it over his shoulder.
  Aaron whacked the 1-1 pitch into LF to put runners on first and sec­ond.
  With Covington coming up, Stengel came to the mound but called for the righthander, Turley, rather than the lefthander, Shantz. Turley had thrown a five-hit shutout in Game 5 and faced one batter in Game Six, getting Torre to line out in the 10th to end the game with the tying run on 3B.
  Covington chopped the 1-0 pitch in front of the plate. Berra threw Wes out at 1B. Seeing Bruton take a wide turn around 3B, Skowron fired across the diamond. Lumpe made a diving stop of the errant throw to save a run.
  Stengel signalled for another intentional pass to Mathews to bring up Crandall with the sacks full for the second straight time.
  Crandall hit a high chop that bounced off Turley to McDougald, who threw to 1B to end the inning.
  

4th inning

• Howard swung his bat with his invention, the "donut," on it as he approached the plate. Elston drove the 1-1 offering into RF for the Yankees' second hit.
  Lumpe squared to bunt but took the pitch for a strike. Then he swung and missed the next pitch as Howard took off for 2B. Crandall fired to the bag, but neither Logan nor Schoendienst covered. The play resulted in New York's first SB of the series. Instead of hitting to the right side to move the runner to 3B, Lumpe chopped to Mathews.
  Skowron lofted the first pitch to Bruton, whose strong, accurate throw to 3B brought oohs and aahs from the spectators and kept Howard from advancing.
  The Braves walked Kubek to get to the pitcher.
  Turley made contact, forcing Kubek at 2B, Logan to Schoendienst.
  
• Using his no-windup delivery, Turley set down the Braves in order.
  Logan picked on the first pitch and flied to LF.
  After falling behind 3-1, Turley fanned his opposing moundsman.
  Schoendienst chopped to Kubek.
  

5th inning

• Bauer hit a high pop to Schoendienst on the grass in short CF.
  Aaron loped in for McDougald's lazy fly.
  Burdette started off the mound after throwing a breaking pitch on 2-2, but Gorman called him back. Mantle then hit a hard grounder to Schoendienst.
  
• Bruton went down swinging.
  Torre worked a full-count base on balls.
  The crowd started rhythmic clapping as Hammerin' Hank stood in. But he disappointed the throng by rapping a chopper over the mound to McDougald, who stepped on 2B and threw to 1B for an easy DP.

6th inning

• Berra whacked a liner that Aaron ran back and corraled.
  Howard became Burdette's first strikeout victim.
  Lumpe hit a grounder off Lew's glove to Schoendienst. Score it 1-4-3.
• Andy Carey took over at 3B.
  Covington smacked the first pitch to the cinder path in RCF where Bauer speared it.
  The crowd continued to encourage Mathews with their applause. But Eddie meeky grounded to McDougald.
  Crandall had ended the 1st and 3rd innings with the bases loaded. This time, with no one on, he lofted the first pitch over the LF barrier just in front of the bleacher seats. Del thus made history as the only man ever to hit HRs in successive seventh games.
  Braves fans, happy that their heroes had pulled even, got a laugh with Logan at bat. While pursuing a foul ball, Skowron tumbled over the railing of a box alongside the Milwaukee dugout and landed in the lap of Mrs. Fred Haney. The Braves skipper responded by offer­ing a catcher's mask to his wife for protection.
  Logan lined out to Howard in LF.
  Yankees 2 Braves 2

Crandall crosses home plate after his tying HR.

• Whitey Ford began throwing in the Yankee bullpen.
  Skowron broke Burdette's string of seven retired with a ground single between Mathews and Logan.
  Kubek popped to SS.
  Turley bunted back to Burdette, who slipped to his knees but threw to 1B for the out.
  With Logan pulled over into the hole for Bauer, Skowron took a big lead off 2B, giving him a good chance to score on a single. But Hank skied to Mathews to end the mild threat.
• Now Art Ditmar warmed up as Turley took the hill.
  Burdette grounded past Carey to Kubek, whose quick throw got the out at 1B.
  Schoendienst grounded to his counterpart, McDougald.
  Bruton also bounded out, Skowron unassisted.

8th inning

• Showing no signs of tiring, Burdette started the inning strong against the heart of New York's order.
  McDougald hit a fly to RCF that Aaron took care of.
  Lew caught Mantle looking on a 2-2 pitch.
  With a chance to back up his pregame bravado with action, Berra clouted a double off the RF wall near the corner, just missing a HR into the wind.
  Both Willey and Don McMahon went to work in the Braves bullpen.
  Howard hit a hopper up the middle into CF to score Yogi with the go- ahead run.
  Inserted for defense, Carey, hitless in eleven trips, smashed a single off Mathews' glove. Logan fielded the carom but threw too late to 2B for the forceout.
  With Burdette one strike away from escaping further damage, Skow­ron hammered a 2-2 pitch over the LCF fence for a 415' three-run HR. As Moose rounded the bases, many of the 46,367 Braves fans, as if on cue, rose and headed for the exits. Burdette bowed his head and pawed at the dirt resignedly. It was the Yankees' tenth HR against only three for Milwaukee.
  Kubek whiffed but had to be thrown out, 2-3.
  Yankees 6 Braves 2
  Between innings, a fan jumped out of the RF bleachers, raced onto the field, slid into 2B, and shook McDougald's hand. The intruder then gave half a dozen policemen and ushers a merry chase before being downed.
• Torre grounded up the middle. McDougald ranged far to his right, backhanded the grounder, and made an off-balance throw to 1B for the out.
  Aaron fouled out to Howard on the first pitch. Hank ended the Series batting .333 but with only 2 RBIs.
  Covington popped up to Carey.

• Don McMahon toed the rubber for the Braves.
  Turley struck out looking.
  Bauer also struck out.
  The home crowd gave McDougald a round of applause as he entered the batter's box. Gil responded with a single to RF.
  Mantle, concluding a so-so series (.250, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs), walked.
  With a chance to do further damage, Berra went down 4-3.
• Taking no chances, Stengel had Ditmar and Duren up in the bullpen.
  Turley, who had allowed only one hit, Crandall's HR, in 5 2/3 innings, gave Milwaukee fans some hope by walking Mathews to lead off the inning.
  But Crandall skied to Howard in short LF near the line.
  Logan flied to CF just short of the warning track.
  Joe Adcock, batting for McMahon, sliced a single to LF, Mathews stopping at 2B. Eddie, who hit .160 for the Series, told Kubek, who did even worse at .048: Hey, Tony, we're really horseshit, aren't we? Felix Mantilla ran for Adcock.
  The Braves needed only one more base runner to bring the tying run to the plate. Schoendienst rifled a liner at Mantle in CF. Turning on the mound, Turley raised both hands to shoulder level and waited anxiously. Bob's arms shot overhead, and he jumped in exultation when Mickey caught the ball to complete the Yanks' improbable comeback.