Tale of Two Cities

Chicago White Sox fans had waited 40 years for a World Series, and Los Angeles forever, and both cities made the most of it. It mattered not at all that the two clubs seemed ragamuffin upstarts compared to the great teams of the past, that to less prejudiced observers the White Sox were largely a team of castoffs, the Dodgers an unlikely combination of fading veterans and unseasoned kids who had somehow swept the two-game pennant playoffs from the National League champion Milwaukee Braves.

Both teams were good field, no hit; both had made a specialty of winning one-run games with deeds of derring-do (the White Sox 35 out of 50; the Dodgers 33 out of 55). The "Dodgers were counting on the strong right arm of Catcher John Roseboro to check Chicago's famed speed on the base paths, and man for man the Dodgers were actually faster than the go-go Sox. One apparent Chicago asset: their pitching staff was well rested, while the Dodgers' was still giddy-eyed and weary-armed after the frantic, final dash to the pennant.

First Game. Opening the series in their own Comiskey Park behind burly, 39-year-old Pitcher Early Wynn (22-10), the no-hit White Sox suddenly turned robust sluggers while the Dodger defense fell apart in a horrendous, seven-run third inning. Centerfielder Duke Snider dropped one fly ball in a collision, later threw wildly to the infield. Trying to cut off the ball, First Baseman Gil Hodges slipped ignominiously and sat down hard on the infield grass, while Sox runners scampered around the bases. Scouting reports had assured Dodger pitchers that Chicago's muscleman First Baseman Ted Kluszewski (6 ft. 2 in., 245 Ibs.), 35, could no longer pull the home-run ball to right. Big Klu promptly pulled two homers to right, drove in five runs. Final score: no.

Second Game. Shaken by the opening-day debacle, Dodger Manager Walter Alston showed up for the game wearing mismatched socks, and slim Second Baseman Charley Neal (5 ft. 10 in., 156 Ibs.) worried aloud in the locker room that the pains in his stomach meant an ulcer. In the first inning Neal gave his stomach cause for more pain by botching a double-play ball, opened the way for two quick Sox runs. But in the fifth, Neal grimly homered into the lower left-field stands for a run—the first time the Dodgers had scored in 14 innings. Suddenly, all seemed right with the Dodgers. An unknown outfielder named Chuck Essegian rose from the bench in the seventh to pinch-hit, swatted another homer. Two batters later, Neal came back to hit a 420-ft. blast into the White Sox bullpen for two more runs. In the eighth, stubby Third Base Coach Tony Cuccinello, the man who had flashed the go-go sign to the Sox all season long, sent heavy-footed Catcher Sherm Lollar lumbering for home with the tying run. He never made it; a sharp relay by Dodger Shortstop Maury Wills caught him by 12 ft. and killed the rally. Final score: Dodgers 4, White Sox 3.