1961 WORLD SERIES

GAME 1 -- Brooklyn 3, Chicago 2
Bas Rally to Game One Win
Aparicio Slaps Winning 2-Run Single in Seventh
BROOKLYN (Oct. 4) -- The Brooklyn Superbas turned back a 2-0 deficit with a 3-run seventh inning off Bud Daley to steal Game One of the fifth UL World Series.  The Colts gave Daley an early 2-0 lead, with two singles and a double in the third inning, and Daley pitched masterfully, allowing just one hit through six innings, before the wheels feel off in the seventh.  MVP Granny Hamner led off the seventh with a double down the left field line, scoring on Squirrel Sievers' bloop single to shallow right.  Dick Gernert then singled and Del Crandall pushed the runners over with a sac bunt.  The shortstop Aparicio then hit a line drive over the head of shortstop Ernie Banks, plating both Sievers and Gernert.  Nellie Fox led off the eighth with a double, but Gene Conley retired the next three in order, including strikeouts of Norm Cash and Don Demeter.  Fourth starter cum closer Bob Miller got two quick outs in the ninth, before walking pinch hitter Joe Adcock.  Pinch runner Chuck Hinton then stole second base, putting the tying run in scoring position, before Miller induced a Lenny Green groundout for the final out.  Conley allowed eight hits and two runs in eight innings, striking out eight, and was Player of the Game.

GAME 2 -- Brooklyn 5, Chicago 1
Burdette Shuts the Door
Mantle Homers, Bas Take 2-0 Lead
BROOKLYN (Oct. 5) -- Tom Sturdivant fell behind early, and the Colts' bats were silenced by Lew Burdette, who fell just two outs short of a complete game shutout.  The Bas got on the board first with Del Crandall's RBI double in the second, and added a run the next inning when Hamner singled home Mickey Mantle.  Sturdivant kept his club close, that is, until the fifth inning.  After surrendering a leadoff single to Burdette, the S-turd retired the next two batters, only to cough up a two-run dinger to Mantle for a 4-0 Brooklyn lead.  The way Burdette was pitching, that lead was more than sufficient.  Burdette went the distance, allowing just seven hits and no walks, while striking out seven.  The Colts now find themselves with their backs against the wall, as the Series shifts to Comiskey Park.

GAME 3 -- Chicago 4, Brooklyn 3
Demeter Blasts Colts to Victory
Sphinx Mossi Puzzle Bas in Game Three
CHICAGO (Oct. 7) -- Dom Demeter's three-run blast off Whitey Ford in the third inning held up, as Don "The Sphinx" Mossi held the Screaming Bats at bay and Don Elston shut the door on the Colts' first win.  Brooklyn took an early lead on Luis Aparicio's sac fly in the second inning, but the Colts immediately replied with a Joe Adcock double and Jim Finigan single.  The Bas recaptured the lead next inning after Granny Hamner drove home Mickey Mantle, who reached on a two-out walk.  But after issuing walks to Gus Bell and Sherm Lollar, Ford served a two-out, 378-foot blast down the left field line, plating three Chicago runs.  The score held at 4-2 Colts until the top of the eighth, when a Brooklyn rally fell short.  Mantle doubled and Hamner singled him home, but the Bas failed to advance to second base after two consecutive fielders choices.  Hobie Landrith's two-out single put the tying run on third base, but Mossi induced an Aparicio groundout to get out of the jam.  Don Elston then retired three of four batters in the ninth to earn his 40th save of the year.

GAME 4 -- Brooklyn 6, Chicago 4
Conley Rallies Superbas
Gene Drives in Two, Strikes Out Eight
BROOKLYN (Oct. 8) -- Gene Conley shut down numerous Chicago rallies, and contributed two decisive RBIs as Brooklyn took a commanding 3-1 lead in the 1961 UL World Series.  Brooklyn built a 4-1 lead by the middle of the third, including Conley's two-out single in the second for the Bas's third run.  The Colts scored a pair in the bottom of the third, but Throneberry flied out with two on, preserving a narrow Brooklyn lead.  The Bas' plated a clutch run in the fifth: Hamner connected with a two-out double (one of three hits in the game), then scored on Irv Noren's single to left.  Conley doubled home Hobie Landrith in the sixth for a 6-3 lead, then bent but didn't break.  Marv Throneberry doubled in the sixth for Chicago, but was stranded by Bud Daley's strikeout, and the Colts had runners on the corners with one out in the seventh, but again failed to convert.  Bob Miller allowed the Colts back in the game in the ninth with a walk and two singles, and Norm Cash came to the plate with one out as the winning run, only to ground into a game-ending double play.  Roy "Squirrel" Sievers had an RBI triple, and Luis Aparicio was 2-for-2 with a walk and two steals.  Lew Burdette and Tom Sturdivant are Game Five probables.

GAME 5 -- Brooklyn 4, Chicago 1
Brooklyn Captures Fourth Title
Burdette Wins Again With Four-Hit Gem
CHICAGO (Oct. 9) -- Lew Burdette repeated his Game 2 performance, allowing just four hits and a single run, to lead the Brooklyn Superbas to their fourth United League championship.  Burdette took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and a shutout into the seventh, and allowed just four hits and one run in 8.2 innings.  Brooklyn struck early on Granny Hamner's RBI double in the first and the score held until the sixth inning, as Tom Sturdivant matched Burdette inning for scoreless inning.  Hamner left the game in the fifth after hurting his arm on a throw, but his replacement Charlie Neal promptly homered in Brooklyn's next at bat, and Irv Noren tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Bas a 3-0 lead.  Bobby Brown and Sandy Amoros then doubled and singled to lead off the seventh, further padding Burdette's cushion.  The hapless Colts could muster only a pair of two-out singles until the seventh inning, when they finally gave the packed house of Comiskey faithful something to cheer about, stringing together two hits and a stolen base to get on the board.  But it was too little, too late, as Burdette and Bob Miller held the Colts hitless in the last two innings to nail down the win.
   Burdette was named Series MVP, with two wins and a 1.02 ERA in 18.2 innings, with two walks and 11 strikeouts.  Brooklyn is now 3-2 in World Series, and 8-2 in their last 10 World Series games.  They are the first team to repeat as UL champions in seven years (1953-54 Washington Monuments).