As most of you probably know, the Boston Red Sox just won the World Series, beating the St. Louis Cardinals in six games. However, did you know that the Sox and Cards have squared off before in the World Series? Out of the 13 times the Sox have been to the Fall Classic, four of those times have been against St. Louis. However, for this post, I want to focus on the first encounter between these two teams in 1946, but, to be more specific, I want to focus on a play in the eighth inning of Game Seven of the '46 Fall Classic: Enos Slaughter's Mad Dash.
The 1946 Series was all tied up at three games apiece entering Game Seven. Entering the bottom of the eighth, the score was all tied at three in St. Louis' Sportman's Park. Sox center fielder Dom DiMaggio tore a hamstring after driving in two runs in the top of the eighth and was replaced by Leon Culberson in center. The inning started with a single by future Cardinals Hall of Fame right fielder Enos "Country" Slaughter. With a 2-1 count on outfielder Harry Walker, the Cards called for a hit and run. Slaughter ran on the pitch and Walker laced a single into (where else) center field. Culberson fielded the ball and threw to shortstop Johnny Pesky. For some reason, when he received the ball, Pesky froze for a moment, not realizing that Slaughter was racing home because he ignored the sign of third base coach Mike González to stop at third. Because of a weak and rushed throw by Pesky, Slaughter scored, making the score 4-3 Cardinals. St. Louis would go on to win the championship, their sixth Fall Classic victory.
But the question remains: why did Pesky pause before he threw the ball? Some claim that Pesky checked Walker at first base instead of firing home right away, while others argue that Pesky was so flabbergasted to see Slaughter going around third towards home that he had a mental lapse, which caused a delayed throw. Whatever the reason, the Sox kept the Curse of the Bambino alive, while all of Missouri rejoiced because of Enos "dashing madly" around the bases.
Well, as you can see, the Sox and Cards have a very heated rivalry in the Fall Classic. Hopefully, the teams keep on going back to the World Series, therefore providing an exciting Series for all of the baseball fans across the globe. Anyway, thanks for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and check back in a couple of days for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."
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