Monday night, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series for the first time since moving west to California. But they had won before, in a previous incarnation - they won it all as the New York Giants in 1954.
Remembering The Giants’ 1954 World Series Championship
Those 1954 Giants were managed by Leo Durocher, and they played in the Polo Grounds. They went 97-57 during the regular season and finished first in the National League, five games ahead of Brooklyn.
The team was led by Willie Mays and his 41 home runs in the middle of the lineup, and offensive support was provided by Don Mueller and Hank Thompson. On the mound, the strongest performances came from Johnny Antonelli and Ruben Gomez, who combined to allow 163 runs in 480.1 innings.
The Giants met the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. The Indians had gone 111-43 during the season to win the American League, and in those days the AL and NL winners advanced straight to a head-to-head showdown. And in in the Series, despite the Indians' better record, they proved no match, as the Giants won four in a row for a sweep. They took Game 1 5-2 in ten innings. Game 2 was won by a 3-1 score, and the final two contests went by 6-2 and 7-4.
Dusty Rhodes led all Giants hitters with seven RBI, making up 35% of the team’s total. And on the mound, the pitchers allowed a total of just nine runs, with Antonelli and Gomez each getting a win.
It was the Giants’ first World Series win since 1933. Little did they know it would be another 56 years until their next. The Giants, of course, lost in 2002, and also in 1989 and 1962.
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As a closing note, some 1954 facts as provided by FOX during the broadcast:
-I Love Lucy was the #1 show on TV
-Gas cost $0.21 a gallon
-Dwight D. Eisenhower was president
-There were no MLB teams west of the Mississippi
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