BOSTON RED SOX ...
THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO, PART 3
A SUBWAY SERIES DISAPPEARS ...
Joe Dobson pitches a brilliant game

May 2, 1948 ... Ted Williams blasted a triple and a home run (each with two men on base), and Joe Dobson had the Yankees eating out of his hand, as the Red Sox pummeled them with a 7 to 1 victory this afternoon at Fenway Park before 34,095 fans. Williams belted his triple in the first inning and his home run in the eighth. Joe Page the Yankees relief ace was rapped for the homer, and then yielded another a minute later to Vern Stephens.

Bobby Doerr was the next batter and the first pitch was high to him. The second pitch nearly parted his hair and would have beaned the Sox secondbaseman had he stayed upright. Instead he dove into the dirt and made some menacing gestures as he was getting up, and uttered a few choice words at Page. Page finally ended up walking Doerr, but when the inning ended, Doerr advanced a few steps toward Page before deciding to take his position on the field. The crowd back him up booing Page as he made his way to the Yankee dugout.

But the game was wrapped up in the story of the brilliant pitching performance by Joe Dobson, and Ted Williams terrific hitting and spectacular fielding. It was Dobson's first victory of the year and his first in his last six starts against the Yankees. Joe had his curveball working to perfection and fully under control, being ahead of the Yankees hitters throughout and handcuffing Joe DiMaggio three times in four at-bats. In addition he came through with two singles and drew a walk at the plate.

The Sox got right to work on starter Karl Drews. Dom DiMaggio walked to open the first and Johnny Pesky grounded down to Stuffy Stirnweiss, but DiMaggio, running on the full count, beat the throw at second, as Pesky likewise beat out the throw to first. Ted Williams came to the plate and took a called ball, and on the next pitch laced Drews fastball over the head of Joe DiMaggio in center field, as it bounced off the wall.

Drews in the second inning, with two outs and a two strike no ball count on Dobson, gave him a pitch that he singled sharply to left-center and rested on second after Dom DiMaggio again drew a walk. Pesky then sent a high hopper directly over second to score Dobson with the third Red Sox run.

Joe DiMaggio singled to left field to open the fourth inning and moved over to third on Billy Johnson's base hit down the left-field line, scoring as the Sox failed to complete a doubleplay on George McQuinn's ground ball to Bobby Doerr, making the score 3 to 1. Dobson was getting the first pitch over the play consistently and was superb from then on, granting only four base hits, while Drews likewise settled down, coming out for a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

Then came the eighth-inning, with Joe Page on the mound and the Red Sox fireworks. Birdie Tebbetts, who was been hitting well this year, singled on Page's first pitch and Dobson sent him to second with a sacrifice. Johnson made the fielding coup of the day on DiMaggio's ground ball, with Tebbetts moving to third. But then Page lost control and walked Pesky on four pitches. That was the turning point. Williams came to the plate and on the very first pitch pickled Page's serve directly over the Yankee bullpen up five rows in the right-field bleachers. Vern Stephens, who has been a bad slump, conked Page's 2-0 pitch into left field screen for his second homer of the year, making the final score 7 to 1.

Joe Dobson got Joe DiMaggio on three pop-ups to the infield. He made 123 pitches, tiring in the last inning, when he threw 20 times. Ted Williams gave a great display of playing the left-field wall, taking perfect caroms off the fence from the bats of DiMaggio and Billy Johnson in the fourth, holding the drives to singles.

In the third inning Bobby Doerr drilled a nasty ground ball off Billy Johnson's kneecap, but all Johnson got for the inflicted pain was an error. After Jake Jones singled and Doerr took second, Sam Mele sent a ground ball behind second base which Stuffy Stirnweiss grabbed glove handed. Instead of taking the ball out of his glove to flip it over to Bobby Brown he tried to throw from the glove to force the slow Jones. It was a bad throw and Jones reached safely. The play was deemed to be a hit for Mele.