Last Sunday, there was quite a hubbub surrounding a catch/no catch call in the Yankees-Red Sox game. Ceddanne Rafaela came very close to making a catch on a Jazz Chisholm Jr. fly ball that then would’ve led to a double play. However, the call on the field was that he trapped it, and that ruling was upheld on replay. A seemingly rattled Red Sox team then gave up five runs in the innings and ended up getting crushed by the Yankees. The victory gave New York the season series over Boston, which could
come into play should the teams end up tied after the regular season.
We’ll never truly know how much that call and subsequent replay ruling actually did rattle the Red Sox, but it did get me thinking. I was wondering about the time where a set of mistakes by the other teams proved the costliest. It’s hard to argue against an instance of that happening in a World Series Game 7, so I think this might be it.
Having been down 3-1 in the series, the Yankees won Game 5 and 6 against the Milwaukee Braves to force a winner-take-all finale of the 1958 World Series. The Braves struck first against Don Larsen, with a run scoring on a Wes Covington groundout in the bottom of the first inning.
Braves’ starter Lew Burdette had been the hero when the two teams met in the Fall Classic in 1957. Burdette was the winning pitcher in Games 2, 5, and 7. The last two were both shutouts as Burdette was named Series MVP. This time luck wasn’t quite on his side.
In the top of the second, Yogi Berra led off the inning with a walk. Elston Howard was up next and he laid down a bunt attempt. Milwaukee first baseman Frank Torre — brother future Yankee skipper Joe; Frank famously received a heart transplant during the 1996 World Series — fielded the bunt. However, Torre’s throw to a covering Burdette at first was poor and got away. Howard was safe and Berra ended up at third.
Next up was Yankees’ third baseman Jerry Lumpe. He too hit a soft groundedr to Torre, this one of the unintentional kind. Torre once again fielded it, but this throw to Burdette was also off. A high effort allowed everyone to be safe, loading the bases. The next two batters both hit into outs, but both were good enough to score runs, giving the Yankees a lead that was only partly of their own doing.
Now, those two plays on their own did not win the Yankees the game and the series, but the Bombers never trailed again after that. Larsen got himself into some trouble in the third, eventually making way for Bob Turley. Del Crandall did tie the game for the Braves with a sixth inning homer, but other than that, Turley was excellent, throwing 6.2 innings out of the bullpen, allowing just that one run on two hits.
Turley’s performance eventually allowed the Yankees to breakthrough in the eighth. Howard was involved again, hitting an RBI single to give the Yankees the lead. However, the big play came a couple batters later when Bill Skowron hit a massive three-run homer off Burdette. The Yankees are blessed with many clutch moments throughout history, because for many other teams, that Skowron homer would be the singular best moment in franchise history. Meanwhile, it gets lost in the shuffle a bit for the Yankees.
Obviously, there was quite a bit of crucial moments following Torre’s two errors in the third, but there’s no way to accurately predict what happens if he just makes those plays cleanly. That being said, not only did they lead to two runs immediately after, but that was a bunch more pitches Burdette had to throw in that inning. They probably added a bit of fatigue that the Yankees then took advantage of later on. They may not have been the singular difference, but it’s hard to say they weren’t one.
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