Oct. 6, 1963 - The Dodgers brought the long reign of the high and mighty Yankees to a dramatic end today. Behind another superb pitching effort by their brilliant left-hander, Sandy Koufax, the Dodgers downed the perennial American League champions, 2-1. That gave Walter Alstonâs National League champions a stunning four-game sweep of the World Series before a deliriously happy crowd of 55,912 in Dodger Stadium. The Yankeesâ indomitable Whitey Ford, fighting desperately to keep the Bombers alive, pitched perhaps an even greater game than his adversary, who had defeated him so easily in the first game. Whitey allowed only two hits to six by Koufax. But in the seventh inning, minutes after Mickey Mantle had hit a homer that matched a tremendous clout by Frank Howard in the fifth and made the score 1-1, a ghastly error by the usually flawlessly fielding Yanks plunged the Bombers to their most humiliating World Series defeat. Jim Gilliam, first up for the Dodgers in the seventh, bounced a âBaltimore chopâ off the plate and down the third-base line. For a moment, it appeared the ball might sail over Clete Boyerâs head. But Boyer made a leaping catch and fired the ball across the infield to first base. The ball went right through Joe Pepitone, the crack young first baseman, for an error. It appeared Pepitone had lost sight of it in the glaring sun. Before the ball could be retrieved in a corner of right field, Gilliam had raced to third base. Willie Davis followed with a towering fly deep in center field, where it was caught by Mickey Mantle. Mantle fired the ball faultlessly toward the plate, but there was no chance of heading off Gilliam as he went winging home on the sacrifice fly. Once again, Koufax refused to let the lead slip away. So, to Walter Alston goes the distinction of having piloted the Dodgers to their only 3 championships â in 1955, 1959, and 1963. âThis makes up for everything,â said Alston, who a year ago took the brunt of the abuse showered on the Dodgers when they blew the National League pennant in the final week. The three Los Angeles hurlers humiliated the bombless Bombers by limiting them to four runs in 36 innings. The Yankees never held a lead.
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