On This Date in Sports October 10, 1957
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
The Milwaukee Braves stun the New York Yankees 5-0 in Game 7 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium as Lew Burdetteearns his third win of the series. Burdette who began his career with the Yankees, before being traded for Johnny Sain, dominated the Fall Classic, pitching three complete games allowing just two runs in Game 2, before earning shutout wins in Game 5 and Game 7 on two days’ rest.
The 1950’s was the golden age of baseball in New York. Between 1947-1958, one of the city’s three teams had won the World Series in all but two seasons. This included several years in which there was a Subway Series. With the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants on their way to California, the last team in New York was the Yankees, who were a true dynasty, winning World Series seven times in ten years entering the 1957 World Series.
The Milwaukee Braves entered the 1957 World Series as the fresh new face in baseball led by stars like Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews, along with veteran pitcher Warren Spahn who was a key figure in the team’s last trip to the World Series as the Boston Braves in 1948. That season the Braves had a saying “Spahn and Sain then pray for rain”. As the two pitchers carried them all season. Before the moving to Milwaukee in 1952, Johnny Sain was traded to the New York Yankees in 1951 in return the Braves got pitching prospect, Lew Burdett. Sain was a reliable reliever near the end of his career with the Yankees, while Burdette became a frontline starter with the Braves.
The Milwaukee Braves managed by Fred Haney posted a record of 95-59 to win the pennant by eight games, while the New York Yankees led by Casey Stengel also won by eight games with a record of 98-56. In the opener in the Bronx, the Yankees won 3-1 behind a complete game by Whitey Ford. Lew Burdette got the start for Milwaukee in Game 2 and struggled early as the Yankees and Braves traded runs in the second and third innings. In the fourth inning, Wes Covington drove home two runs to give Milwaukee a 4-2 lead. The rest of the way it was all Burdette as he shot down the Yankees the rest of the way to even the series with a 4-2 win.
As the series shifted to Milwaukee, the Yankees bats came alive in Game 3, pounding out 12 runs, with Milwaukee native Tony Kubek leading the way with a pair of home runs. The lone bright spot in the Braves 12-3 loss was the first career World Series home run for Hank Aaron. Game 4 was a thriller, as the Braves built a 4-1 on fourth-inning home runs from Hank Aaron and Frank Torre. Looking for a complete game, Warren Spahn gave up a game-tying three-run shot to Elston Howard in the ninth inning. Spahn stayed on in the tenth as the Yankees took the lead on a triple from Hank Bauer. Down 5-4, the Braves rallied in the bottom of the tenth against Yankees reliever Bob Grimm. First tying the game on a double by Johnny Logan then winning it 7-5 on a two-run blast by Eddie Matthews. Game 5 was an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel between Lew Burdette and Whitey Ford. The lone run was a RBI single from Joe Adcock RBI single in the sixth inning as the Braves took the series lead with a 1-0 win.
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Back in the Bronx for Game 6, the Yankees evened the series with a 3-2 win as Hank Bauer’s home run off Ernie Johnson proved to be the difference. On the morning of Game 7, Braves Manager Fred Haney was forced to scramble when expected starter Warren Spahn was unable to pitch with flu-like symptoms. Having won two games already, the Braves turned to Lew Burdette two days’ rest. Burdette once again shut down the Yankees, as the Braves jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third inning, with big hits from Eddie Matthews and Hank Aaron. Del Crandall added a home run in the eighth inning. The Braves would win game 5-0 to claim their first World Championship since 1914.
For his three complete-game wins, Lew Burdette would earn World Series MVP honors. He became the first pitcher in over 50 years to pitch two shutouts in the World Series, as pitched 24 consecutive scoreless innings after allowed two early runs in his Game 2 start. The Yankees and Braves would stage a World Series rematch in 1958, with the Yankees getting revenge with a Game 7 win in Milwaukee, after trailing in the series at one point three games to one.