Product Details

• Actors: Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Polygram USA Video
• VHS Release Date: May 26, 1998
• Run Time: 37 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6304963289
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #514,020 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Casey Stengel's New York Yankees make it 5 titles in a row, May 21, 2005

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 1953 Baseball World Series - New York Yankees vs Brooklyn Dodgers [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The 1953 World Series championship for the New York Yankees was special because it was the fifth season in a row that finished with Casey Stengel's team on top. The series was a rematch of the 1952 Subway Series between the Bronx Bombers and the Brooklyn Dodgers, which had gone seven games and ended with Billy Martin making a key catch to snuff out a rally by the Dodgers.

But Brooklyn looked to be stronger, having finished 13 games ahead of the newly moved Milwaukee Braves in the National League. Carl Erskine won 20 games, Russ Meyer went 15-5, Billy Loes 14-8, Preacher Roe 11-3 and rookie pitchers Johnny Podres and Bob Milliken combined to go 17-8. Clem Labine won another 11 games, all but one in relief. At bat the big guns were Roy Campanella (41, 142, .312), Duke Snider (42, 126, .336), Gil Hodges (31, 122, .302) and Carl Furillo (21, 92, .344). Jackie Robinson (12, 95, .329) played third and three other positions.

Meanwhile, the Yankees were a typical Stengel team. Whitey Ford went 18-6, Ed Lopat 16-4, Johnny Sain 14-7, Vic Raschi 13-6, and Allie Reynolds 13-7. Reynolds had 13 saves, Sain 9, and eight other pitchers had at least one, evidencing the way Stengel used his pitching staff to maximum effect. There were a lot of injuries during the season so the only two regular day players to get in over 140 games were Martin and Gil McDougald. Even missing a couple of dozen games Mickey Mantle hit 21 homers and drove in 92 RBIs with a .296 average, while Yogi Berra led the team with 28 homers, 108 RBIs, and a .295 average. The team still won 99 games, while Brooklyn won 105.

The Yankees won the first two games at the Stadium, getting to Erskine for four runs in the first before putting the game away late as Yankee reliever Johnny Sain knocked in two runs with a double and got the win. Game 2 was tied in the eighth when Mickey Mantle hit a two-run blast with two outs to give Ed Lopat the win. But back in Brooklyn, Erskine set a World Series record with 14 strikeouts when Campanella broke another 2-2 tie in the eighth with a home run. The Bums won Game 4 to tie the series as Loes bested Ford 7-3. In Game 5 Mantle hit a grand slam into the upper deck in left field as the Yankees won 11-7 to be one win away from the title.

Facing elimination back in the Bronx, the Dodgers were down 3-1 in the 9th until Snider walked and Furillo hit a homer to tie the score. Then in the bottom of the 9th Hank Bauer led off with a walk, Mantle hit an infield single, and then Martin singled to center to drive in Bauer to win the game and the title. Billy Martin had a Series high .500 average with 12 hits, including a double, two triples, two home runs and eight RBIs. The Yankees won their 16th title in 20 tries while the Dodgers had then lost all seven of the World Series in which they played (but two years later that would change for the one and only time in Brooklyn's history). This tape only runs 30 minutes, but it has most of the big moments and there is something pretty neat about seeing World Series highlights from over half-a-century ago.