Death By Walk

April 21, 1949

Giants at Dodgers

You know it’s going to be fun when these two teams meet.

The action started right away when a Sid Gordon error allowed Jackie Robinson to score the first run of the game:

Brooklyn now led 1-0, despite the fact that they had yet to register a base hit.

In fact, I was starting to wonder if it was going to be one of those kinds of games when Bill Rigney made this play on Jackie Robinson in the bottom of the 3rd:

Duke Snider finally broke the spell in the bottom of the 4th:

That brought up Carl Furillo:

I started to think that the Dodgers might blow this one completely open. New York got out of that jam, however, and then started a rally of their own in the top of the 7th.

Those Bases on Balls

With one out and runners on first and third in the top of the 7th, pitcher Monty Kennedy came up for the Giants. It was one of those critical decisions, and the computer manager decided to take him out in favor of Pete Milne. Kennedy had given up 3 hits and 2 runs on only 85 pitches in 6 innings. I’m not sure I could justify making that change even today (assuming there was no designated hitter, of course).

Anyway, Brooklyn starter Ralph Branca proceeded to walk Milne on 4 pitches (told you the National League had a lot of walks in 1949), loading the bases:

Up came Sid Gordon, hoping to add to his heroics:

This was a big play. Willard Marshall came up next, but now with two outs. All Brooklyn needed was for Branca to throw strikes.

I take issue with this idea of hitters forcing through a walk. In this case, at least, I’ve got to put the blame squarely on Branca’s shoulders.

That ball was pitch number 119 for Branca, who had struck out 5 but walked 4 to this point. I decided to take him out, treating this like a playoff game. It is Giants - Dodgers, after all. Out went Branca, and in came Carl Erskine, to face power hitter Bobby Thomson:

And then, after all of that, Jackie Robinson put the Dodgers up by 2 again with a single swing in the bottom of the 7th:

Late Inning Drama

Even Erskine had control problems. He walked Whitey Lockman to lead off the top of the 8th, and up came Johnny Mize:

Those bases on balls will cause you to grow grey hairs prematurely. And now it was 3-3.

It didn’t get any better for Brooklyn in the 9th, either. Gordon came up with one out and continued the offensive assault:

Don’t you just love the little details, like the brief mention of the outfield advertising?

Up came Marshall, with another chance to knock in a run:

That’s one of those really frustrating infield hits when you’re on defense, one of the ones that make you ask why we even bother with spring training in the first place.

There’s not a ton you can do as a defensive manager in Diamond Mind Baseball. I decided to bring the infield in at the corners and play for two up the middle, since there was one out. Bobby Thomson was due up next; I think you could make an argument that we should have guarded the lines instead.

It didn’t matter in the end:

That sent me to the bullpen. Out went Erskine, and in came Jack Banta.

Lockman was up next, and Banta turned a few more of my hairs grey, going to a full count on him:

That brought up Mize once again, and gave Brooklyn some hope:

The bottom of the 9th was just as crazy.

Banta was due up first. I didn’t plan to use him for any more than the one batter, and put Marv Rackley in as a pinch hitter:

This is one of those moments when I start to congratulate myself on my managerial genius. But, of course, there was still a lot more to do.

Rackley is fast, so we decided to play hit-and-run with him. Bruce Edwards, catching in place of Roy Campanella (who I gave the day off), popped up. That brought up Spider Jorgensen:

What did I tell you? I’m a genius.

Jackie Robinson came up again to face Giants reliever Andy Hansen:

And now on came Gene Hermanski, who I am starting in left in place of Cal Abrams:

Told you this was exciting! That wild pitch came on the very first pitch of the at bat, which ended like this:

And on we went to extra innings.

Extra Innings

We put Erv Palica on the mound. He proceeded to walk Jack Lohrke to lead it off, reminding me that we are playing in 1949 after all.

Up came Bill Rigney:

Now it was the Giants’ turn to make some noise, with two on and nobody out. Livingston came up:

That should have been a double play. Look — Brooklyn has a great infield. I know you can’t get them all, but you really want to see them make the double play in this situation. The difference between a runner on third with 2 out and runners on the corners with 1 out is like night and day.

Up came Don Mueller to pinch hit, and he hit one to left:

As you can see, I had relented through all the craziness and put Cal Abrams in there in left field after all. He just didn’t have the arm to prevent that run from scoring, I’m afraid.

And then came a play like the Dodgers of old:

I was worried about this turning into a big inning, but Brooklyn managed to get out of it in the end.

The Dodgers finished the game off with a bang:

In the end, though, it was just a loud out.

Brooklyn only managed 5 hits all game long. The vaunted 1949 Brooklyn Dodger offense, considered by some to be one of the best offenses in National League history, has looked absolutely pathetic so far in this replay.

Brooklyn is now 0-3 after being swept at home by the Giants.