Coming off a series victory over the 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers head to Atlanta to square off against the 1998 Braves, who were coming off a series victory of their own over the 1979 Montreal Expos.
Game 1
Game 1 would feature
Clyde King on the mound for the Brooklyn Dodgers, who went with this unlikely selection once again due to fatigue, as the Dodgers continue their quest for the KOD7 Title. The mighty Atlanta Braves begin this series with lefty Tom Glavine. The Braves drew first blood in the very 1st inning, when Javy Lopez Singled Home Walt Weiss, who led off the inning with a Double. The Dodgers struck back in the 2nd inning, as King helped his own cause when he Singled Home both Gil Hodges and Cal Abrams to give the Dodgers a quick 2-1 lead. The Dodgers struck again in the 5th inning, when the lead off batter, Duke Snider, blasted a solo shot to Right Field. Behind 3-1, the Braves managed another run in the bottom half of the 5th inning, when Andres Galarraga Singled Home Glavine to cut the lead 3-2. But, that is all the Braves could manage, as King pitched 6 solid innings and Carl Erskine came in to shut the Braves out for the final 3 innings. Despite getting 7 K’s, Glavine was shaky over the course of 8 innings, by giving up 9 hits, 4 Walks and suffering a loss to open this series.
MVP honors went to Carl Erskine for closing out the Dodger victory, but Clyde King won the popular vote.
Game 2
In Game 2, the Braves were looking to rebound and sent Kevin Millwood to the mound to square off against Dodger ace Don Newcombe. But, the Dodgers came out firing on all cylinders in the 1st inning and tapped Millwood for 2 quick runs, as Pee Wee Reese led off the game with a Single and scored when Duke Snider Tripled. Snider eventually scored off a Cal Abrams Single. In the 3rd inning, the Dodgers jumped on Millwood again, as Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges both had solo shots – giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. In the 4th inning, the Dodgers scored 5 more runs that was capped off by a
Duke Snider Grand Slam. Millwood would give up another run in the 5th inning – for an even 10 earned runs in 5 innings of work, while giving up 13 hits. Meanwhile, Newcombe pitched 4 solid innings of no-hit ball, but the Braves eventually tapped him for 4 runs of their own in the bottom half of the 5th inning with 5 Singles and a Walk. Leading 10-4, the Dodgers were cooled off in the 6th inning by Denny Neagle – but the Braves went back to work on Newcombe, who surrendered another 4 runs, in consecutive innings, on 3 Singles, a Walk, and an Error – and the Braves cut the lead down to 10-8. The Dodgers finally reached Neagle in the top half of the 7th inning, when Jackie Robinson Doubled Home Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider – to extend their lead to 12-8. The Dodger manager could be seen pacing in the dugout biting his nails, but he kept his faith in Newcombe, who did not surrender another run and pitched a complete game. The Braves’ pitching staff gave up 12 earned runs and 18 hits – and giving up a 2-0 series lead at Home. They now head to Brooklyn.
Duke Snider won MVP honors with 5 RBI’s and 4 hits, including a Triple and a Grand Slam.
Game 3
The Braves had a glimmer of hope to salvage this series and stop the bleeding when they sent their ace,
Greg Maddux, to the hill for Game 3. The Dodgers countered with Irv Palica – but the Braves got a boost in the very 1st inning when Chipper Jones crushed a solo shot to Center. That appeared to be all Maddux needed, as he scattered 7 hits in 7 innings, without giving up a run to this mighty Dodger team. Mike Cather came in for Maddux in the 8th inning, and Kerry Ligtenberg came in after that – and the Braves’ pitching staff shut the Dodgers out. Palica was no slouch, despite being seldom used during the season, as he surrendered only 2 runs on 5 hits. That would usually solidify a Dodger victory, had they faced anyone else other than Maddux. Clyde King, the Dodger starter for Game 1, then came in for Palica in the 8th inning to close out the game.
The Braves were now only down 2 games to 1 – and Greg Maddux earned MVP honors, rightfully so.
Game 4
Trying to even the series on the road, the Braves went to John Smoltz – while the Dodgers looked to their lefty,
Preacher Roe, who pitched solid all season. In the bottom half of the 2nd inning, Roy Campanella Singled and scored on a Carl Furillo SAC Fly. Then, Pee Wee Reese led off the 3rd inning with a solo shot, and the Dodgers jumped to a quick 2-0 lead. In the 4th inning, the Braves finally tapped Roe for a run, when Andruw Jones hit a shot of his own – but that would be the only run Roe would surrender all day, despite giving up 8 hits. The Dodgers padded their lead by dropping another 2 runs on Smoltz in the 6th inning for insurance, when Andy Pafko jacked a 2-run blast. Preacher Roe pitched a complete game, and the Dodgers cruised to a 4-1 victory – and a 3 games to 1 series lead.
Preacher Roe earned MVP honors.
Game 5
Wanting to push the series back to Atlanta, the Braves needed to win this game in Brooklyn – or face elimination. Braves manager, Terry Priest, called on Tom Glavine once again to save the season.
Ralph Branca went to work for the Dodgers, but surrendered 2 runs to the Braves in the top half of the 2nd inning on 2 Singles, a HBP, and a Walk. Trying to stay close, the Dodgers scored a run themselves in the 2nd inning off the bat of Carl Furillo, who sent a shot over the wall. The Dodgers tied the game in the bottom half of the 3rd inning, when Jackie Robinson Doubled Home Duke Snider. With the game tied 2-2 after 3 innings of play, both pitchers settled down to cool off the bats. Over the next 3 innings, Branca did not give up a hit. Not to be outdone, Glavine gave up just 2 hits. But, in the bottom half of the 7th inning, Glavine was touched for a 2-run shot from Duke Snider – giving the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. Branca would go on to surrender just 1 more hit, in the 9th inning, as the Braves fell well short of their goal to force Game 6 in Atlanta. Branca surrendered just 4 hits all game and pitched a complete game victory to earn MVP honors – and to hand Tom Glavine his 2nd loss of the series and to send the Braves packing.
Outside of Game 2, the Braves’ bats were ice cold all series. It was not an issue of stranding runners on base, since the Dodgers had left more runners on base than the Braves. No, it was a simple issue of not getting on base in the first place. And, when runners were on base, the Braves’ heavy hitters disappeared – while the Dodgers pounded on the Braves’ pitchers. Fortunately for the Dodgers, Greg Maddux appeared in only 1game for the Braves.
The series MVP would eventually fall to Duke Snider, who seemed to be in the right place at several key points for the Dodgers in this series. And so, the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers are now heading to the KOD7 World Series to face the 1932 Philadelphia A’s.
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submitted by Georges Bseraini--
Game 1 starters Rube Walberg and Don Newcombe were on the mound for this game. And unfortunately for the Dodgers the results were the same. Mickey Cochrane started by slamming a long home run and driving in 3 in the first inning. The A's never looked back from that point. Jimmie Foxx added a solo shot in the 5th. The Dodgers did not help themselves in this game as they committed 3 costly errors. Rube Walberg (10-2, 1.91) got the win while Don Newcombe (5-5, 4.67) took the loss. The series had many MVP candidates but the Co-MVP would have to go to Mickey Cochrane and Rube Walberg.
