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	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	1

Listen to the radio broadcast Starters: Don Newcombe vs. Allie Reynolds WP: Reynolds   LP: Newcombe HR: NYY: Henrich (9th)

On a warm October day before 66,224 fans, the home team Yankees sent veteran right-hander Allie Reynolds out to the mound. Reynolds' task was to halt a Brooklyn squad that was loaded to the core; indeed, with a lineup so powerful that future Hall-of-Fame catcher Roy Campanella batted eighth, the Brooklyn hitters demoralized opposing pitchers with relentless waves of offense.

Hard-throwing Dodger Don Newcombe may have had a less intimidating lineup to tame, but the Bombers still featured Yankee legends Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra, along with the clutch-hitting Tommy Henrich.

The way each pitcher was throwing, however, made the other team look like the Bad News Bears. Between the second and third innings, the hulking Newcombe recorded four consecutive outs on strikeouts. Reynolds, meanwhile, was able to overcome early control problems and sent Dodger after Dodger back to the bench, bat in hand. Following a first-inning fly ball that was misplayed into a double, the crafty veteran permitted no more hits until Pee Wee Reese's single in the eighth.

With the pressure of each scoreless inning mounting, and the tension being reflected in the voices of legendary broadcasters Red Barber and Mel Allen, the dueling pitchers amazingly got stronger as the game went on. With his blistering fastball, Newcombe struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth. Meanwhile, Reynolds began to catch on to the strikeout game himself; after fanning only one batter through the first four innings, he went on to whiff eight more Dodgers in the next five.

With the strikeouts piling up, baserunners were scarce and scoring threats were virtually nil. With one out in the eighth, Reese reached first on the aforementioned hit and stole second; however, he was stranded when Spider Jorgensen and Duke Snider fanned to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Jerry Coleman attempted to jump-start the Yankee offense with a one out double, but he was also left out to dry when Reynolds whiffed and Phil Rizzuto flew out to center.

Finally, the Dodgers blinked first, and in a matter of seconds it was all over.

Leading off the Yankee half of the ninth was Henrich, the veteran first baseman. While all but hardcore fans have forgotten Henrich's place in history, he was nevertheless a dangerous hitter in his day. Not only did he lead that 1949 Yankee team in home runs, but he had produced enough big hits over the course of his career to earn the respectful nickname of "Old Reliable."

And with his at-bat leading off the ninth inning, he showed why the nickname stuck. After watching two curveballs fail to catch the plate, Henrich caught a fastball on the sweet part of the bat and sent the Yankee crowd into pandemonium... thus further validating Henrich's other nickname, "Five O'Clock Lightning."

The stunned Dodgers watched the ball sail into the right field stands, then trudged off the field. Their horse, Don Newcombe, had struck out eleven batters and permitted only five hits all day. How could they lose?

Answer: because the gutsy Reynolds had matched Newcombe's brilliance en route to a nine-strikeout, two-hit shutout. And because Tommy Henrich proved that sometimes, it's not the big-name products but the reliable ones that give the best performance.

Copyright 1949 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball