1966 World Series | ||||||||||
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Dates | October 5–9 | |||||||||
Venue | Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles) Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) | |||||||||
MVP | Frank Robinson (Baltimore) | |||||||||
Umpires | Bill Jackowski (NL), Nestor Chylak (AL), Chris Pelekoudas (NL), Johnny Rice (AL), Mel Steiner (NL), Cal Drummond (AL) | |||||||||
Hall of Famers | Umpire: Nestor Chylak Orioles: Luis Aparicio Jim Palmer Brooks Robinson Frank Robinson Dodgers: Walt Alston (manager) Don Drysdale Sandy Koufax | |||||||||
Broadcast | ||||||||||
Television | NBC | |||||||||
TV announcers | Curt Gowdy Vin Scully (in Los Angeles) Chuck Thompson (in Baltimore) | |||||||||
Radio | NBC | |||||||||
Radio announcers | Bob Prince Chuck Thompson (in Los Angeles) Vin Scully (in Baltimore) | |||||||||
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The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League (NL) champion (and defending World Series champion) Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles swept the series in four games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It was the last World Series played before MLB introduced the Commissioner's Trophy the following year. The Dodgers suffered record low scoring, accumulating just two runs over the course of the series (both of which were in the first game), the lowest number of runs ever scored by any team in a World Series.
This World Series marked the end of the Dodgers' dynasty of frequent postseason appearances stretching back to 1947. Conversely, it marked the beginning of the Orioles' dynasty of frequent postseason appearances that continued until 1983.
Despite the general consensus that the Orioles were short of pitching compared to the Dodgers and their star hurlers Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, Baltimore pitching allowed only two runs in the entire series and ended up with a 0.50 team earned run average (ERA), the second-lowest in World Series history. The Orioles scored more runs in the first inning of the first game than the Dodgers would score in the whole series.
The Orioles got a substantial assist from long-time scout Jim Russo, who spent the first two weeks of September following the Dodgers as they won 12 of 14 games. One of the observations in his 16-page scouting report was that Dodger batters had trouble with the fastball against Gaylord Perry and Larry Dierker. Other points included Maury Wills being the lone bunt threat; left-handed pitchers forcing switch hitters to bat right-handed and Ron Fairly out of the lineup, both to the detriment of the Dodgers; and that Orioles batters should avoid swinging at Koufax's rising fastball above the strike zone. Frank Robinson also added suggestions based on his experiences in the National League when the team went over the scouting report a day prior to the start of the Series. [1]
Boog Powell from the Orioles and Jim Barbieri from the Dodgers were the first players to play in the Little League World Series and the World Series. Each played against each other in Game 1 of the 1954 Little League World Series. [2] Barbieri pinch-hit for Dodger relief pitcher Joe Moeller in Game 1 of the series. Barbieri struck out in what would be the final appearance of his brief career.
After the 1965 season that saw the Orioles finish in third place, they acquired Hall of Famer Frank Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for starting pitcher Milt Pappas. Robinson won the Triple Crown and A.L. MVP honors in leading the Orioles to the A.L. pennant by nine games over the Minnesota Twins.
The Dodgers were in a tight pennant race for the fourth time in five years. Going into a season ending double header in Philadelphia, the Dodgers led the San Francisco Giants by two games. The Giants were in Pittsburgh for a single game, and if they won that game and the Dodgers lost twice, the Giants would have headed to Cincinnati to play a make up game of an earlier rain-out; a win there would force a tie for first place.
In the first game of the double header, the Dodgers made two errors in the bottom of the eighth inning to turn a 3–2 win into a 4–3 loss. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Giants kept their slim hopes alive by getting a run in the ninth to tie, and four in the 11th to win, 7–3. The Dodgers needed to win the second game of the doubleheader. Sandy Koufax pitched the Dodgers to a 6–3 win to clinch the pennant (this appearance, which turned out to be Koufax' last in a regular season game, caused him not to be available for Game 1 of the World Series).
AL Baltimore Orioles (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (0)
Game | Date | Score | Location | Time | Attendance |
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1 | October 5 | Baltimore Orioles – 5, Los Angeles Dodgers – 2 | Dodger Stadium | 2:56 | 55,941 [3] |
2 | October 6 | Baltimore Orioles – 6, Los Angeles Dodgers – 0 | Dodger Stadium | 2:26 | 55,947 [4] |
3 | October 8 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 0, Baltimore Orioles – 1 | Memorial Stadium | 1:55 | 54,445 [5] |
4 | October 9 | Los Angeles Dodgers – 0, Baltimore Orioles – 1 | Memorial Stadium | 1:45 | 54,458 [6] |
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Baltimore | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Los Angeles | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
WP: Moe Drabowsky (1–0) LP: Don Drysdale (0–1) Home runs: BAL: Frank Robinson (1), Brooks Robinson (1) LAD: Jim Lefebvre (1) |
In the top of the first inning, after Russ Snyder drew a one-out walk, Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson hit back-to-back home runs off of Don Drysdale to give the Orioles an early 3–0 lead. In the bottom half of the frame, Dave McNally walked Dodger leadoff man Maury Wills, who subsequently stole second. However, the Dodgers failed to score. In the second inning, Andy Etchebarren drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by McNally, and scored on a single by Snyder to widen the lead to 4–0.
However, McNally soon began to struggle with his command. In the bottom of the second inning, second baseman Jim Lefebvre hit a long home run to make it 4-1. First baseman Wes Parker then hit a fair ball down the right-field foul line, but a fan reached over the wall and picked the ball out of the dirt, turning a possible triple into a fan interference double. After McNally walked Jim Gilliam, John Roseboro hit a fly ball to right center, but Snyder saved at least a run with a lunging catch, and Baltimore escaped the inning without further damage.
McNally wouldn't last much longer, though, as he was taken out with one out in the bottom of the third inning after loading the bases on walks. Moe Drabowsky entered the game and struck out Parker, but then walked Gilliam, forcing in a run and making it 4-2. Drabowsky, however, got out of the jam when Roseboro popped out to Etchebarren in foul territory. This third-inning run would be the Dodgers' last run of 1966.
From there, the Orioles controlled the rest of the game. They added an insurance run in the fourth inning against Joe Moeller (who replaced Drysdale in the third inning), when Davey Johnson scored from second on a fielder's choice by Luis Aparicio. Meanwhile, Drabowsky struck out six consecutive batters in the next two innings, tying Hod Eller's record from Game 5 of the scandal-tainted 1919 World Series. Drabowsky's total of 11 strikeouts in 6+2⁄3 innings of relief are a record for a relief pitcher in a World Series game. The Orioles won 5–2, and the Dodgers would not get another runner across the plate in the series.
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
WP: Jim Palmer (1–0) LP: Sandy Koufax (0–1) |
Game 2 was a matchup between two future Hall of Famers, one whose career was just beginning and the other would be making his final appearance. The Dodgers started left-handed ace Sandy Koufax, who was pitching in his last season but won his third Cy Young Award in four years with 27 wins, 317 strikeouts, 5 shutouts, and his career best 1.73 ERA. The Orioles countered with 20-year-old Jim Palmer, who won 15 games with a 3.46 ERA in his first season in the starting rotation.
Despite the difference in experience, Palmer and Koufax traded zeroes on the scoreboard for four innings. Palmer got into trouble in the second inning when a double by Lou Johnson put runners on second and third with one out, but he got out of the jam by getting Roseboro to pop out to shortstop Aparicio, and then intentionally walking Parker to face Koufax, who popped out to second base. Surprisingly, Baltimore drew first blood against Koufax, although they were assisted by disastrous defense by Los Angeles center fielder Willie Davis.
Boog Powell led off with a single to left. Paul Blair then hit a routine fly ball to center, but Davis lost the ball in the sun and dropped it for an error, putting two runners on with one out. Etchebarren then hit another fly to center, but Davis, again battling the sun, bobbled the ball and then dropped it for another error. Powell scored on the misplay, while Blair attempted to advance to third base; Davis subsequently released a high, rushed throw over the head of third baseman Gilliam. The throwing error - Davis' third of the inning, a World Series record that still stands [7] - allowed Blair to score and Etchebarren to advance to third. Aparicio then cracked a stand-up double to drive in Etchebarren. Davis was charged with three errors in this inning alone, a World Series record, and all three runs were unearned. [8]
The O's then earned one from Koufax in the sixth as Frank Robinson hit a triple on a fly ball that could have been caught but fell in between Davis and Ron Fairly. [8] Powell drove him in with a single to right-center. Johnson followed with a single to right, and the runners advanced on an error by Fairly. Koufax escaped the inning after walking Blair intentionally to load the bases and getting Etchebarren to ground into a double play. Etchebarren would be the final batter that Koufax ever faced in his career. [9]
Koufax was replaced in the seventh by Ron Perranoski, who set the Orioles down in order. They would get two from him in the eighth, however, on a walk to Frank Robinson, a single by Brooks Robinson, a sacrifice bunt from Powell and a Johnson single off of Perranoski's glove. Perranoski threw the ball away in an attempt for an out at first, and Brooks scored on the error. [10]
Meanwhile, Palmer was brilliant after escaping the second inning, allowing only one runner to reach second base in the final seven frames. He completed the shutout when Roseboro popped out to Aparicio, the Orioles' shortstop; Palmer, just nine days shy of his 21st birthday, became the youngest pitcher in World Series and MLB postseason history to throw a shutout, a record that still stands. Baltimore won 6–0 to take a 2–0 Series lead.
The Dodgers became the third team to make six errors in one game. The Chicago White Sox, both in Game 5 of the 1906 World Series and in Game 5 of the 1917 World Series were the others, although oddly, the White Sox won both of these games.
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 3 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
WP: Wally Bunker (1–0) LP: Claude Osteen (0–1) Home runs: LAD: None BAL: Paul Blair (1) |
With the Orioles ahead in the series 2-0, the scene shifted to Baltimore's Memorial Stadium for Game 3, the first postseason game the city has hosted in the modern era of baseball. Wally Bunker of the Orioles faced Claude Osteen of the Dodgers.
Bunker, plagued with injuries in the regular season, pitched the game of his life, scattering six hits in a complete game gem. Although Osteen allowed only three hits in seven strong innings, one of those hits was a home run from Paul Blair in the fifth, which turned out to be the game's only run. The Dodgers' defense woke up after Game 2's six-error embarrassment, and they turned several excellent plays, most notably first baseman Wes Parker's spectacular jump to snare Curt Blefary's sixth inning line drive and rob him of a base hit. Nonetheless, Bunker, without a shutout in the regular season, completed the Orioles' second consecutive shutout in this World Series by retiring Lou Johnson on a grounder to Aparicio. The 1–0 win gave the Orioles a commanding 3–0 series lead, and on the cusp of their first title.
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
WP: Dave McNally (1–0) LP: Don Drysdale (0–2) Home runs: LAD: None BAL: Frank Robinson (2) |
On the brink of a sweep, Game 4 was a rematch of Game 1, pitting the young pitcher Dave McNally against the veteran Don Drysdale, both of whom had struggled in their previous match-up. However, in this outing, both pitchers excelled as Drysdale and McNally each allowed only four hits. Again, the only run scored was on a home run, this one by Frank Robinson. Willie Davis redeemed himself from his miserable Game 2 defensive blunders by robbing Boog Powell of a home run in the fourth, but to no avail as Paul Blair did the same to Jim Lefebvre in the eighth, and the Dodgers were shut out for the third consecutive time and for 33 consecutive innings, a World Series record. With the 1–0 Game 4 victory, the Orioles swept the series and won their first World Series championship in franchise history.
The Orioles became the first American League team other than the Yankees to win the World Series since the 1948 Cleveland Indians. The Orioles also became the last of the original eight American League teams to win a World Series at all. The Orioles had played in the Fall Classic as the St. Louis Browns in the 1944 World Series, in which they were the last original AL team, and the last of the 16 teams that made up the major leagues from 1903 to 1960, to participate in a World Series. They were also the second-to-last "Original 16" MLB team to win a World Series; the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies became the last team to do so 14 years later.
Ironically, despite the historic dominance of Baltimore's starting rotation throughout the series, outfielder Frank Robinson was named World Series MVP. He became the first position player from a winning World Series team to win World Series MVP honors. (Bobby Richardson was the first position player to win the award, doing so in the 1960 World Series, but his New York Yankees lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates.)
The Orioles became the second team in World Series history (the 1937 New York Yankees were the first), not to commit an error in a series of any length, handling 141 total chances (108 putouts, 33 assists).
As of 2023, this is the only time that the Dodgers have ever been swept in a World Series.
1966 World Series (4–0): Baltimore Orioles (A.L.) over Los Angeles Dodgers (N.L.)
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baltimore Orioles | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 24 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Los Angeles Dodgers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Total attendance: 220,791 Average attendance: 55,198 Winning player's share: $11,683 Losing player's share: $8,189 [11] |
NBC broadcast the series on both television and radio. In prior years, the local announcers for both the home and away teams had split calling the play-by-play for the telecast of each World Series game; however, beginning this year and continuing through 1976, only the home-team announcer would do TV for each game, splitting play-by-play and color commentary with a neutral NBC announcer, while the visiting-team announcer would help call the radio broadcast. Thus, in 1966 NBC's Curt Gowdy (completing his first season as the network's lead baseball voice) worked the telecasts with the Dodgers' Vin Scully for the games in Los Angeles and with the Orioles' Chuck Thompson for the games in Baltimore. [12] Bob Prince, in turn, worked the radio broadcasts with Thompson (in Los Angeles) and Scully (in Baltimore).
This was the last hurrah for the Dodgers of this era. In an eight-year span from 1959 to 1966, they played in four World Series, winning three of them. In addition, they finished second twice (once losing in a playoff) and fourth once. Sandy Koufax, though arguably at the peak of his career, announced his retirement following the World Series because of the chronic arthritis and bursitis in his pitching elbow. In addition, shortstop and 1962 Most Valuable Player Maury Wills was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in December. Tommy Davis, the 1962 and 1963 NL batting champion, still not fully recovered from a severely broken ankle suffered in 1965, was traded to the New York Mets after the 1966 season. Finally, third baseman/utility man Jim Gilliam announced his retirement.
The Dodgers still had decent pitching, but their offense was among the worst in the majors. They finished in eighth place in 1967 and in seventh in 1968, before a new group of young players led the team back into contention in 1969. For the 20-year period from 1969 to 1988, the Dodgers won two World Series (1981 and 1988), five National League pennants (1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1988), and seven National League Western Division titles (1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1988).
Meanwhile, Baltimore became the dominant American League team in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Injuries slowed the team down in 1967, and they finished second to the 103-win Detroit Tigers in 1968. They won three straight A.L. pennants from 1969–71 (winning over 100 games each season), as well as the 1970 World Series. The Orioles won the American League Eastern Division again in 1973 and 1974, but they fell to the Oakland Athletics dynasty, which went to (and won) the World Series three straight years. The Orioles returned to the World Series in 1979, but they lost to the Pirates in 7 games. The Orioles won at least 90 games in all but three seasons from 1968 through 1983, culminating in their 1983 World Series victory over the Phillies. In total, the Orioles won six pennants (1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1983) in that span to go with seven American League Eastern Division titles (1969-1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1983) and three World Series championships.
The 1966 series featured exceptionally low numbers of runs for all concerned, separately and jointly, and also set multiple records for other metrics related to low scoring.
Top American League World Series pitching staffs through 1966:
Rank | A.L. Teams | ERA | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Baltimore Orioles | 0.50 | 1966 |
2 | Cleveland Indians | 0.89 | 1920 |
3 | New York Yankees | 1.22 | 1939 |
4 | Philadelphia Athletics | 1.29 | 1911 |
5 | Philadelphia Athletics | 1.47 | 1905 |
Boston Red Sox | 1.47 | 1916 | |
7 | Chicago White Sox | 1.50 | 1906 |
8 | Boston Red Sox | 1.70 | 1918 |
9 | Philadelphia Athletics | 1.73 | 1930 |
10 | New York Yankees | 1.80 | 1941 |
Sanford Koufax, nicknamed "the Left Arm of God", is an American former baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, as well as the first major sports star on the West Coast, Koufax was the first three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, each time winning unanimously and the only pitcher to do so when a single award was given for both the leagues; he was also named the National League Most Valuable Player in 1963. Retiring at the age of 30 due to chronic pain in his pitching elbow, Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1972 at the age of 36, the youngest player ever elected.
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James William "Junior" Gilliam was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was named the 1953 National League Rookie of the Year, and was a key member of ten National League championship teams from 1953 to 1978. As the Dodgers' leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he scored over 100 runs in each of his first four seasons and led the National League in triples in 1953 and walks in 1959. Upon retirement, he became one of the first African-American coaches in the major leagues.
The 1969 American League Championship Series was the first ALCS held after Major League Baseball adopted the two-division format that season. It featured the Baltimore Orioles vs. the Minnesota Twins, with the Orioles winning the series 3–0 and advancing to the 1969 World Series, where they would lose to the New York Mets in five games. The Orioles and Twins would meet again the following year, with similar results.
David Arthur McNally was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971. A three-time All-Star, McNally won 20 or more games for four consecutive seasons from 1968 through 1971. He was one of four 20-game winners for the 1971 Orioles, currently the last team as of 2023 to have four 20-win pitchers on the same roster.
Louis Brown Johnson, nicknamed "Sweet Lou", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. Johnson's professional baseball career lasted for 17 seasons, and included 8 years in the majors: parts of 1960–1962 and 1965, and then the full seasons of 1966 through 1969. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 170 pounds (77 kg).
Andrew Auguste Etchebarren was an American professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played for 15 seasons in Major League Baseball as a catcher in 1962 and then from 1965 through 1978, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won four American League pennants and two World Series championships between 1966 and 1971. A two-time All-Star, Etchebarren also played for the California Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers. After his playing career, he became a coach and managed 16 seasons in the minor leagues.
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Herman Thomas Davis Jr. was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder and third baseman from 1959 to 1976 for ten different teams, most prominently for the Los Angeles Dodgers where he was a two-time National League batting champion and was a member of the 1963 World Series winning team.
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Peter Gerard Richert is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Senators (1965–67), Baltimore Orioles (1967–71), St. Louis Cardinals (1974) and Philadelphia Phillies (1974).
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The 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers won the National League championship with a 95–67 record, but were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.
The 1965 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 12 to October 14, 1965. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. The Dodgers then defeated the Twins in the World Series, four games to three.
The 1966 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 11 to October 9, 1966. The Braves played their inaugural season in Atlanta, following their relocation from Milwaukee. Three teams played the 1966 season in new stadiums. On April 12, the Braves ushered in Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates taking a 3–2 win in 13 innings. One week later, Anaheim Stadium opened with the California Angels losing to the Chicago White Sox, 3–1 in the Angels' debut following their move from Los Angeles to nearby Orange County. On May 8, the St. Louis Cardinals closed out old Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium I with a 10–5 loss to the San Francisco Giants before opening the new Busch Memorial Stadium four days later with a 4–3 win in 12 innings over the Atlanta Braves.
The 1962 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series that extended Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1962 regular season to determine the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The games were played from October 1 to 3, 1962, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Giants won the series, two games to one. The first game took place at Candlestick Park and the second and third were played at Dodger Stadium. The tie-breaker series was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 101–61. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season, which gave them home field advantage. The series was broadcast nationally by NBC television, with Bob Wolff, George Kell, and Joe Garagiola announcing, and NBC Radio, with Al Helfer and George Kell announcing.