After Craig wriggles out of a jam of his own making (two singles and a throwing error trying to pick Aparicio off of first base) in the 1st, the Dodgers strike first in the 2nd. Duke Snider walks to start things, Norm Larker singles, and Gil Hodges works another free pass to load the bags with no outs. A run-scoring fly ball from Roseboro opens the account for LA and, with two outs, Craig delivers the dagger with a two-run double just out of Jim Rivera's reach in right field. The Dodgers load the bases again with one out in the 3rd, but Wynn whiffs Roseboro and Maury Wills to staunch the bleeding and then goes on to retire fourteen of the next fifteen . . . but the ChiSox are, meanwhile, getting nowhere with Craig who himself sets down fifteen of eighteen at one stretch (two of the other three being errors). In the 7th, the bill for the lackluster Dodger defense finally comes due - Billy Goodman reaches on Jim Gilliam's bobble to start the inning and Rivera doubles with one out, then a wild pitch scores one run and PH Earl Torgeson's sacrifice fly provides a second. With the lead ow trimmed to a precarious single digit, the Sox get two singles with one gone in the 8th and Craig is waved off in favor of Larry Sherry, who locks Sherm Lollar up with a slider for the second out and gets Goodman to pop into foul ground along the third-base line. In the 9th, he is even sharper, striking out Al Smith and Rivera before PH Jim McAnany skied meekly to Wills on the edge of the outfield grass for the final out. Los Angeles 3-8-4, Chicago (A) 2-5-0. [scoresheet]
A shaky start for Podres, as he walks the bases full with three straight passes after one was out in the 2nd, but he recovers to get McAnany to bounce into the rally-killing double play - this would be the only occasion in nine innings in which one of the teams got more than one runner on base in the same frame. The Dodgers got doubles from Wally Moon in the 3rd and 6th, but Chicago didn't get another man as far as second base in regulation as Podres held them without a hit after Lollar's ground ball just evaded Gilliam's grasp for a single in the 4th. Both starters kept working into the extra frames, and Los Angeles finally found a way to score in the 10th - Wills led off with a base hit, Podres laid down a poor bunt which forced the speedster at second, and Gilliam singled to put Dodgers on the corners. Shaw finally handed over the ball, with Staley coming on, but Charley Neal stung him for a line-drive base hit that sent Podres home for the run that broke the long-standing scoreless deadlock. Podres came out for the bottom of the 10th and signed off on his masterpiece with a flourish, as three straight ground balls made quick work of Chicago to complete a ten-inning, one-hit effort (yes there were five walks, too) that put the American Leaguers well and truly behind the eight-ball. Los Angeles 1-8-0, Chicago (A) 0-1-0. [scoresheet]
So it was clear at this point that runs were going to be hard to come by in this Series, but the move into the crazy dimensions of the Memorial Coliseum offered some hope for the hitters - would they be able to take advantage of the (really) short porch in left, only 250' from home plate while avoiding the death valley in right? In the 3rd, Aparicio lined one up the alley into that valley and didn't need to stop until he was standing atop third base; Jim Landis singled him home with two outs Chicago had their fist lead of the Series. But that joy, such as it was, lasted as long as an open road on a Los Angeles' freeway - Neal doubled with one out in the bottom half, stole third and scored on Larker's sac fly. In the 5th, though it happened as Neal (4-for-5, two doubles, homer) lofted a high pop fly to left that just got over the 40-foot screen and into the seats, barely 300 feet from the place he struck it, and it was 2-1 in favor of LA. Things were going smoothly for Drysdale until he suddenly ran aground in the 7th; after retiring the first two Sox, he gave up a single to Smith, walked Rivera, and allowed a base hit to pinch-hitter Torgeson that loaded the bases. Sherry came on again, but walked Aparicio to force in the tying run before retiring Nellie Fox to end the inning. On to the 9th in yet another close, low-scoring affair and the visitors failed to take advantage of a one-out walk to Smith during their turn. The Dodgers greeted new mound man Billy Pierce with a Snider single when they came to bat, and Gilliam bunted him to second. Neal's infield hit put men on first and third, and Al Lopez put Moon on intentionally to set up a force at the plate; it was now up to Larker and he lofted one to the deepest part of the yard, Snider strutting home easily after the ball dropped into Rivera's glove. Los Angeles 3-11-0, Chicago (A) 2-5-0. [scoresheet]
In order to have any thread of hope in the Series, Chicago were going to have to find a way to score, and they got off to a good start. Landis, moved into the leadoff spot in an attempt to jumpstart the attack, walked as did Aparicio, Fox moved them over with a bunt and Ted Kluszewski hit a high bounder to Hodges at first which allowed Landis to trot home. But Neal doubled with one out in the bottom half, and Moon followed immediately with an RBI single to tie the score and you could see a little bit of the stuffing knocked out of the South Siders. Kluszewski got them going again when he ripped one out of the park in the 4th but, again, the prosperity was very short-lived. Don Demeter drew a walk from Wynn to begin the home half, moved the second on Wills' infield single, and the bases were filled when Craig laid down a bunt and Demeter beat Wynn's throw to third base looking to cut down the lead man. That opened the door for Giliam, who walked through it behind a two-run single that put LA in the lead once again. The Sox were battling, though - Landis singled home Sith after his leadoff double in the 5th and the visitors went into the six with a fighting chance in the game, if not yet the Series. Unfortunately for Chicago and the national television audience on NBC, that chance evaporated in the 6th. Demeter singled to begin the inning and, with two outs, Craig and Gilliam claimed safeties to score a run. That was enough for Wynn, and Pierce came on to face the white-hot Neal who deposited another souvenir into the left-field seats for a three-run home run that, for all intents and purposes, ended the Series. The Dodgers scored four more times in the 7th (Roseboro a two-run homer) in what quickly had became more of a celebratory parade than a ballgame. Los Angeles 11-16-0, Chicago (A) 3-5-1. [scoresheet]
Chicago was, quite simply, brushed aside. Yes, three of the games were close, and a bit of fortune or timing here or there could have altered the outcome of a game or two. But Los Angeles completely suffocated the White Sox offense (131/230/197) to a degree that they weren't ever really going to pose a credible threat to beat the National Leaguers four times. [Series stats]
Charley Neal had a great Series (421/421/895) but Dodgers SP Roger Craig was dominant on the mound in the Series' defining moments, winning the first and final games while allowing only three earned runs on ten hits in 16.1 innings.
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