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World Series of baseball...



Item # 629626

October 09, 1939

THE TOPEKA DAILY CAPITAL, Topeka, Kansas, October 9, 1939

* 1939 World Series of baseball - MLB
* New York Yankees win World championship


This 10 page newspaper has a seven column headline on page 5: "Yankees Win Fourth Straight World Series for Grand Slam"
with subheads and box scores. 1st report coverage on the New York Yankees winning their fourth straight World Series championship.

Other news, sports and advertisements of the day. Some margin wear, mostly along the spine, otherwise in good condition.

wikipedia notes: The 1939 World Series featured the three-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Cincinnati Reds, who were making their first Series appearance since the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series. The Yankees swept the Series in four games for the second time in a row, winning their record fourth consecutive title (they would later win five straight from 1949–1953). Yankee manager Joe McCarthy won his fifth title, tying the record held by Connie Mack.

The Reds had made it to the Series despite finishing last in the National League in 1937 (56–98, .364) and then fourth in 1938 (82–68, .547).

In the tenth inning of the final game, a famous play at the plate typified the Series. Charlie Keller scored when he and the ball both collided with catcher Ernie Lombardi and then Joe DiMaggio also scored while Lombardi, rolling on the ground, tried in vain to retrieve the ball. Lombardi had been smacked in the groin, but the puritanical press reported it as if Lombardi was "napping" at the plate.

The Yankees matched the Reds in hits with twenty-seven but out-homered the Reds seven to none. Charlie "King Kong" Keller led the Yanks with eight runs, seven hits, three home runs, six runs batted in, a .438 batting average, and a 1.188 slugging percentage.

Keller broke the record for most homers by a rookie in a World Series game, during Game 3 when he went deep twice. Also in Game 3, Junior Thompson gave up five hits in 4.2 innings worked. Four (4) of those five hits were home runs tying the record for long balls allowed during a Series game set by Charlie Root during the 1932 World Series.

Category: The 20th Century