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The Worst Yankees' Road Shut OutIt Was in Milwaukee on October 7, 1957, Not in August in DetroitThe media reported, with great glee, that the worst Yankees' shut out defeat occurred in Detroit, 16-0. They are wrong. It was in Milwaukee on October 7, 1957.
The Detroit Tigers shut out the New York Yankees in Detroit, 16-0. When discussing the details of the defeat, the media emphasized, with great glee, that it was the worst road defeat shut out in Yankees’ history. This graphically illustrates how little most individuals who report about baseball and analyze baseball know about baseball. The worst Yankees’ road defeat shut out occurred on October 7, 1957.
Losing Game 7 of the World Series is the Toughest Defeat The worst defeat a team can suffer is to lose the seventh game of the World Series, and the worst way to lose Game 7 is to lose it by a 1-0 score, as happened to the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Losing close games is more painful than losing blow outs because one play, one pitch, or one missed call can mean the difference between being the World Champion or being the team that lost the last game of the season.
Burdette Shut Out the Yankees in Game 5 In Game 5 of the 1957 Series, former Yankee Lew Burdette shut out the Yankees and Whitey Ford, 1-0. The Braves scored the game’s only run when Yankees’ second baseman Jerry Coleman, a great defensive second baseman, underestimated Eddie Mathews’ speed. With the bases empty and two outs, Mathews hit a slow grounder to second that Jerry failed to charge. Mathews beat it out, Aaron and Adcock singled, and Burdette had his run. The 1-0 Game 5 Loss Was Worse Than the 16-0 DefeatThe Yankees won Game 6 at the Stadium, but then the Braves, behind Burdette working on two days rest, beat the Yankees, 5-0, to win the 1957 World Series. If the Yankees had not suffered the Game 5 shut out, a Game 7 might not have been necessary. The1-0 defeat was much worse than losing to the Tigers in August, 16-0. It is the worst road shut out in Yankees’ history.
Don Drysdale Shut Out the Yankees In 1963, Los Angeles won the first two games of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. In Game 3 in Los Angeles, Don Drysdale out-dueled Jim Bouton and shut out the Yankees, 1-0, The next day, Sandy Koufax beat Whitey Ford, 2-1, to sweep the Series. It is possible that the Game 3 shut out was the worst road shut out in Yankees’ history, but the choice here is still Game 5 in 1957.
Podres and Amoros Won Game 7 for Brooklyn The Yankees have suffered some heart wrenching shut outs at home, but none compares to the agonizing shut out pitched by Johnny Podres in 1955. The Yankees had won the first two games at home against Brooklyn, and it looked like the same old story. The Yankees had played Brooklyn in the World Series five times (1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953) and won five times, but when this series moved to Brooklyn, Podres beat the Yankees, and Brooklyn won the next two games to lead the series, 3 games to 2. The Yankees won Game 6 in the Bronx to draw even, but then Podres, with the help of a great catch by left fielder Sandy Amoros, shut out the Yankees, 2-0 to win their only World Championship. It is Worse to Lose a Close GameIt is never good to lose, but it is better for a good team to lose by a large margin than to lose by one or two runs. When the Yankees lost, 16-0, it was a disgrace, but there was nothing that they could have done to avoid the loss. It is easier to bounce back from a 16-0 game than from a 1-0 game. Ask the 2004 Red Sox, who lost Game 3 of the playoffs to the Yankees, 19-8, and never lost another game that October.
References: World Series at Baseball Reference
The copyright of the article The Worst Yankees' Road Shut Out in Major League Baseball is owned by Harold Friend. Permission to republish The Worst Yankees' Road Shut Out in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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