Just In Case

If you don't remember Mickey Owen (his name is referenced a few posts below), Bill Jauss reminds us of his story and how it affected the Dodgers and the Yankees in the 1941 World Series.

Dodgers catcher Mickey Owen clearly missed Tommy Henrich's swinging third strike to trigger a four-run rally as the Yankees won 7-4 to a 3-1 lead in the 1941 Series.

Henrich had run the count to 3-2 against Dodgers reliever Hugh Casey with Brooklyn leading 4-3 at Ebbets Field.

Dodgers fans shrieked in delight as Henrich swung and missed a low pitch by a foot, apparently tying the series at two games apiece.

But the cheers suddenly stopped when they saw the ball elude Owen and travel back to the screen. Henrich reached first base.

Joe DiMaggio, the on-deck hitter, described the scene in his 1946 autobiography "Lucky To Be a Yankee":

"The pitch broke sharply downward. Some insisted that Casey sneaked in a spitball, and it broke more sharply than Mickey expected. My own theory is that it was a curveball on which Casey put everything he had, and it was a sharper curve than Mickey expected."