In the American League, the defending world champs, the Chicago White Sox, took the early lead but by Independence Day, the league tightened to where the last place Red Sox were only 6 games behind. Cleveland took the lead briefly for one month before the Philadelphia Athletics took over on Labor Day with the Indians in hot persuit. With only 10 games to go, the Athletics held a 1 game lead over Cleveland and 2 over Detroit. It wasn't until there were only two games left when Detroit was eliminated leaving only the Indians. Philadelphia ended up clinching the AL pennant on the last day of the season. The Athletics were led by the league's MVP, Gil Hodges (.291-44-99) and Dizzy Trout (17-14, 134 strikeouts). The Cleveland Indians finished in second place, 1 game behind, and were led at the plate by Clyde Kluttz (.297-4-60) and Mickey Mantle (.275-20-96) and on the mound by Bob Rush (18-12, 2.49 era), the AL's Outstanding Pitcher Award winner. The Detroit Tigers, thanks to the hitting of Ferris Fain (.305-5-48-5) and the pitching of Steve Gerkin (18 wins, 3.44 ERA), ended in third place, only 2 games behind the winning Athletics.
In the senior circuit, the St.Louis Cardinals took the lead and were up by 2.5 games over the Boston Braves and 3 games over the Pittsburgh Pirates as the league entered Labor Day. With a week and a half to go, the Pirates had overtaken the Cardinals and ended up clinching the NL pennant on the next-to-last day of the season. Pittsburgh was led by the bats of Sid Gordon (.325-25-80), Ralph Kiner (.269-39-114) and Minnie Minoso (.297-12-70, 49 sb) and on the mound by rookie Max Surkont (12 wins, 2.28 ERA) and Fred Hutchinson (NL leading 21 wins). The St.Louis Cardinals ended up finishing in second place, 2 games behind, and were led by the bats of Ted Kluszewski (.289-22-87), Gil McDougald (.293-28-83), Joe DiMaggio (.268-25-70) and the league's batting champion, Johnny Pesky (.340). The Boston Braves finished in third place, 10 games behind the Pirates, thanks to the pitching of rookie Harvey Haddix (19 wins, 3.10 ERA), who won both the NL's Rookie of the Year Award and the league's Outstanding Pitcher Award.
The Pirates were awarded home field advantage based on their record and they won both games in Forbes Field before heading to Shibe Park. The Athletics came back to even the series at two games apiece before Pittsburgh won game #5, 7-5, to take a 3 games to 2 advantage. With the score tied, 1-1, in the 8th inning, the Pirates exploded for 3 runs and held on to take game #6, 4-1, and the world's championship.
Code:
American League W L PCT GB National League W L PCT GB
Philadelphia 82 72 .532 -- Pittsburgh 91 63 .591 --
Cleveland 81 73 .526 1 St.Louis 89 65 .578 2
Detroit 80 74 .519 2 Boston 81 73 .526 10
Washington 78 76 .506 4 Brooklyn 79 75 .513 12
St.Louis 77 77 .500 5 New York 78 76 .506 13
New York 76 78 .494 6 Philadelphia 73 81 .474 18
Boston 72 82 .468 10 Cincinnati 66 88 .429 25
Chicago 70 84 .455 12 Chicago 59 95 .383 32
Batting AVG AVG Batting AVG AVG
E.Robinson,CHI .330 Y.Berra,PHI .327
W.Cooper,WAS .309 S.Gordon,PIT .325
F.Fain,DET .305 B.Stewart,BRO .315
Homeruns HR Homeruns HR
G.Hodges,PHI 44 R.Kiner,PIT 39
E.Mathews,BOS 39 Y.Berra,PHI 37
T.Brown,NY 31 T.Williams,BRO 32
Runs Batted In RBI Runs Batted In RBI
E.Mathews,BOS 120 R.Kiner,PIT 114
A.Rosen,WAS 108 A.Pafko,BRO 101
T.Brown,NY 103 R.Campanella,NY 99
Runs Scored RS Runs Scored RS
G.Hodges,PHI 96 M.Minoso,PIT 110
E.Mathews,BOS 95 R.Kiner,PIT 109
H.Sauer,NY 86 R.Jackson,BRO 100
Stolen Bases SB Stolen Bases SB
P.Rizzuto,CLE 33 M.Minoso,PIT 49
S.Jethroe,CLE 30 J.Jensen,NY 36
E.Valo,BOS 25 R.Ashburn,BOS 27
Earned Run Average ERA Earned Run Average ERA
B.Rush,CLE 2.49 M.Surkont,PIT 2.28
M.Garcia,WAS 2.94 S.Overmire,BOS 2.87
L.Ciola,CLE 3.07 H.Haddix,BOS 3.10
Wins W Wins W
M.Garcia,WAS 19 F.Hutchinson,PIT 21
L.Jansen,BOS 19 R.Meyer,STL 20
S.Gerkin,DET 18 H.Haddix,BOS 19
Saves SV Saves SV
E.Jones,PHI 17 R.Adams,STL 17
J.Antonelli,NY 16 E.Yuhas,BOS 16
J.Orrell,CLE 16 H.Hudson,PIT 11
Strikeouts SO Strikeouts SO
E.Blackwell,CHI 187 H.Haddix,BOS 214
E.Wynn,WAS 180 D.Newcombe,BOS 199
W.Ford,NY 176 M.McDermott,STL 189
1951 World Series
Game #1
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 - 3 5 0
Pittsburgh 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 x - 4 10 2
M.Lanier and R.Lamanno
M.Kennedy, J.Suchecki (8) and R.Walker
WP - M.Kennedy (1-0)
LP - M.Lanier (0-1)
SV - J.Suchecki (1)
HR - PIT: S.Chapman (1)
Game #2
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 3 0 - 8 12 1
Pittsburgh 1 0 1 2 0 5 0 2 x - 11 13 1
E.Smith, S.Ullrich (6), R.Negray (8) and G.Hodges
A.Widmar, W.Holborow (7), J.Suchecki (8) and R.Walker
WP - A.Widmar (1-0)
LP - E.Smith (0-1)
SV - J.Suchecki (2)
HR - PHI: S.Robertson (1), H.Evers (1), G.Bell (1), D.Rhodes (1)
PIT: S.Gordon 2 (2), M.Minoso (1), J.Adcock 2 (2)
Game #3
Pittsburgh 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 2
Philadelphia (A) 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 x - 6 11 1
F.Hutchinson and A.Robinson
D.Trout, E.Jones (9) and G.Hodges
WP - D.Trout (1-0)
LP - F.Hutchinson (0-1)
HR - PHI: D.Rhodes (2)
Game #4
Pittsburgh 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 15 0
Philadelphia (A) 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 4 11 1
B.Wight, H.Hudson (10), J.Suchecki (12) and A.Robinson, R.Walker (9)
K.Drews, R.Negray (8), E.Jones (12) and R.Lamanno
WP - E.Jones (1-0)
LP - J.Suchecki (0-1)
HR - PIT: J.Gordon (1)
Game #5
Pittsburgh 0 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 0 - 7 15 0
Philadelphia (A) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 - 5 8 1
M.Kennedy, R.Herbert (8) and R.Walker
M.Lanier, S.Ullrich (7) and R.Lamanno
WP - M.Kennedy (2-0)
LP - M.Lanier (0-2)
HR - PIT: M.Kennedy (1) PHI: M.Lanier (1), E.Basinski (1)
Game #6
Philadelphia (A) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 8 3
Pittsburgh 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 x - 4 6 0
E.Smith, R.Negray (8) and G.Hodges
A.Widmar, J.Suchecki (8) and R.Walker
WP - J.Suchecki (1-1)
LP - R.Negray (0-1)
HR - PHI: b.Howerton (1) PIT: S.Gordon (3), M.Minoso (2)
Philadelphia Phillies
Code:
Philadelphia Phillies Leaders
Year: 1951
Batting Average
.327 Y.Berra
.283 E.Torgeson
.256 D.Murtaugh
.254 G.Woodling
Home Runs
37 Y.Berra
28 E.Torgeson
15 G.Woodling
12 D.Lenhardt
10 W.Westlake
Runs Batted In
94 Y.Berra
81 E.Torgeson
50 W.Westlake
49 G.Woodling
39 T.Holmes
Runs Scored
92 E.Torgeson
87 Y.Berra
62 G.Woodling
50 W.Westlake
46 D.Murtaugh
Stolen Bases
18 E.Torgeson
8 Y.Berra
4 R.Sullivan
3 J.Grant
2 D.Lenhardt
Wins
16 R.Roberts
13 N.Garver
13 B.Lemon
11 C.Simmons
6 B.Henry
Saves
5 H.Perkowski
4 G.Elliott
3 C.Simmons
2 N.Garver
1 C.Lambert
Earned Run Average
3.31 R.Roberts
3.98 N.Garver
4.00 B.Lemon
4.73 B.Henry
Strikeouts
155 R.Roberts
114 N.Garver
103 B.Lemon
100 B.Henry
73 C.Simmons