1959 World Series recap

Both the Dodgers and White Sox traveled rough roads to the World Series. The Dodgers, in just their third season in California, finished the schedule tied with Milwaukee and beat the Braves in a pair of one-run playoff games to advance to the Series. And the White Sox battled history, as the franchise hadn't won a pennant since the infamous Black Sox threw the World Series in 1919.

Ted Kluszweski and Early Wynn ruled Game 1, as Kluszewski singled, homered twice and knocked in five runs, and Wynn spun seven shutout innings to earn credit for Chicago's easy 11-0 victory. Game 2 went to the Dodgers, 4-3, Johnny Podres picking up the win and Norm Sherry the save (though the stat hadn't been invented yet) with three innings of relief.

Game 3, in Los Angeles, was scoreless until the seventh, when Carl Furillo's pinch-hit single scored Charlie Neal and Norm Larker. Neal added an RBI double in the eighth, and Don Drysdale pitched seven strong innings to earn the victory. Sherry again finished up, tossing two frames of scoreless ball and closing out the 3-1 contest. In Game 4, the Dodgers took a 4-0 lead with four in the third inning, but the Sox responded with four of their own in the seventh, the big blow Sherm Lollar's three-run circuit clout. Gil Hodges led off the bottom of the eighth with a homer into the left-field stands, however. Sherry performed finishing honors yet again, and this time he actually won the game, 5-4.

Chicago avoided elimination with a 1-0 victory in Game 5, three Sox hurlers combining to beat Sandy Koufax in his first-ever postseason start. The game's only run scored in the fourth inning, when Sherm Lollar grounded into a double play.

Already leading Game 6, 2-0, the Dodgers went up 8-0 in the fourth inning, knocking out Early Wynn. The Sox scored three in the bottom of the inning on Kluszewski's three-run homer, but they would not score again as Sherry came to L.A.'s rescue once more, this time with 5 2/3 frames of scoreless relief. Final? Dodgers 9, White Sox 3, and the West Coast had its first World Series victory.

Managers: Walter Alston, LA; Al Lopez, CWS

MVP: Larry Sherry, LAD: 2-0, 0.71 ERA