Out at Second

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees barrels into Pee Wee Reese during a force out in the opening game of the 1952 World Series at Ebbets Field. The umpire, seemingly uninterested in the action, is Larry Goetz. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the game, 4-2, but the Yankees bounced back and rolled to their fourth consecutive World Series championship in seven games.

Mantle went in hard into second base on Yogi Berra’s grounder, but was nailed as Gil Hodges flipped the ball to Reese. Reese, captain of the Dodgers, was hit above the right knee and in pain after the play. “It hurt, and for the next two or three innings I went down in the runway behind our dugout and ran up and down to make sure it didn’t stiffen up on me,” said Reese.

Mantle had a breakout season in 1952, leading the Yankees in batting with an average of .311. He had a knack for coming up big in World Series play and against the Dodgers that year he batted .345 with a pair of home runs.