Four years before he gave up one of baseball’s most famous home runs, Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca surrendered another historic round-tripper.
In game three of the 1947 World Series, the Dodgers and Yankees were trading leads in a wild contest. In the top of the seventh, the Dodgers were ahead 9-7. Yankee manager Bucky Harris decided to pinch hit for the starting catcher, right-handed hitting Sherm Lollar. Even though Lollar was 2-3 with 2 runs scored and an RBI, Harris wanted a left-hander to face Branca, a right-hander.
Yogi Berra belted a round-tripper to cut the Dodger lead to 9-8, which was the game’s final score. It was nowhere near as significant as the home run Branca surrendered to Bobby Thompson four years later that gave the Giants the National League championship; but Berra’s blast was historic: it was the first pinch hit home run in World Series history. For more than 40 series, no one had batted for another player and hit one out.
Pinch hitting was one of the most debated strategies in baseball. Does a manager pinch hit for a pitcher who might be trailing but is still pitching well? I say it was one of the most debated strategies; but the adoption of the designated hitter (first in 1973 by the American League, and last season by the National League) has made that decision easier: it doesn’t have to be made, as the pitcher will never come to bat.
