THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 2 ...
A POWERFUL RED SOX TEAM FAILS
IN THE WORLD SERIES ...
 1946 WORLD SERIES, GAME #3
Rudy York's homer gives Ferriss a victory

October 9, 1946 ... At precisely 1:43 PM, Rudy York powered a baseball directly over the left field wall, for a three run homer, in the first inning of the third game of the World Series. With Dave Ferriss taking it from there, the Red Sox progressed with sure and steady steps to a 4 to 0 victory, and a 2 to 1 game advantage.

Ferriss yielded five hits, one triple, and fanned the dangerous Enos Slaughter in the ninth-inning to save his shutout. Home at Fenway Park, where they had won 61 games and lost 16 this season, the Sox once again played great baseball and discarded their less than average exhibition at St. Louis.

It was York's home run in the 10th inning of the first game, that sent the Cardinals to their dressing room. Today he fell on them again, the ball he struck, hitting the Cardinals right in the heart. It was a three and two pitch by Murry Dickson and the were two out. Johnny Pesky had hit a line drive down the left-field line and Dom DiMaggio had dribbled a ball down to Stan Musial at first, putting Johnny on second. The Cardinals decided to pass Ted Williams, much to the dismay of the 34,000 fans. In Sportsman's Park they had elected to pitch to Williams and intentionally passed York, who now came to the plate.

Rudy fouled off the first pitch and looked at another, then another. He finally swung savagely and missed. The next pitch was outside and Rudy had nothing to do it. So three and two and Dickson fired a curveball. York lunged into it and it sounded like he hit it perfectly. The ball sped on a line and there was no doubt. It was a line drive that took off into space and hit the rim of the wall in left-center, bouncing into the net beyond.

Dickson picked up the pieces and then pitched a great ballgame until he was removed for a pinch-hitter in the eighth-inning. He yielded three scattered singles and a double by Dom DiMaggio in the next six innings. One of the hits was by Ted, who finally bunted a ball to left, outwitting the "Williams Shift".

The Red Sox got the fourth and final run, later on in the eighth-inning. Ted Wilks, was on the mound now and Williams lined a ball viciously to right field, but right at Slaughter. Rudy then got his second hit, a well stroked single to left. Capt. Bobby Doerr took two called strikes and then Wilks got a little careless, and Bobby hit one of his patented doubles off the wall in left-center. York had to hold up at third base because the ball was hit so hard. Mike Higgins unintentionally bounced back to Wilks, who threw him out at first, and then Hal Wagner, after fouling off three pitches and taking two outside for balls, hit won the ground down to Red Schoendinst. Red juggled it and threw too late to get Wagner at first, as York rumbled across the plate with the fourth and final Red Sox run.

That was the scoring. The remainder of the ballgame belong to Dave Ferriss. All heart and brains, and as crafty as a witch doctor, Ferriss pitched a masterpiece, which was the fourth World Series shutout by a Red Sox pitcher. No Cardinal batter could to do anything against him except Stan Musial.

In the ninth inning, Musial hit a bad pitch for three bases that hit the turf in front of the bullpens and caromed away towards center. Wally Moses chased after it and overran it, picked it up and threw it into the infield, just is Musial stormed into third base, standing up. Up next was the ever-explosive Enos Slaughter. But Ferriss stayed as calm as he could be and went after him. Slaughter fouled off the first two pitches, took two balls, and fouled off another. Then Ferriss unleashed a fastball, that Slaughter swung at from his toes and missed. Strike three, and Hal Wagner charged the mound to give his pitcher the baseball. Ferriss took the ball and jogged over to a box seat beyond first base and gave the ball to a pleasant lady, sitting there and almost crying because she was so happy. Dave gave her a kiss on the cheek and said "Here's the ball I promised you, Mom!"