Roberts said 1950 Phils could have beaten Yanks

Yankee Stadium is virtually synonymous with the World Series. Thirty-seven of them have been played in the fabled Bronx ballpark, including one that Phillies Hall of Famer Robin Roberts remembers well.

"I think if we were at full strength, it might have been a different story," Roberts said recently.

The Whiz Kids, as the 1950 Phillies were known, brought the National League pennant to Philadelphia for the first time since 1915, but their trip to the World Series did not last long.

The 91-win Phillies were swept in four games by the 98-win Yankees, who were in the midst of winning five straight World Series under manager Casey Stengel and had a lineup that featured future Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, the American League MVP in 1950.

The Phillies suffered some major personnel losses leading up to their showdown with the Yankees.

National Guardsman Curt Simmons, the team's No. 2 starter behind Roberts and a 17-game winner that season, had been called to active duty in September and missed the stretch drive and the World Series. Pitchers Bubba Church and Bob Miller were both injured late in the season, and catcher Andy Seminick was slowed by an ankle injury.

Pitching ruled the 1950 World Series, which the Yanks sealed with a 5-2 victory in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium. That was the highest scoring game in the series. New York won the first three games by scores of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2.

Both teams received strong pitching in the series. Even without Simmons, the Phils had a stingy 2.27 ERA in the four games. New York pitchers, however, had a microscopic ERA of 0.73. They allowed just three earned runs in 37 innings as Phillies batters hit just .203.

Phillies righthander Jim Konstanty, the National League MVP, pitched eight innings and allowed just one run in the opener, but the Yanks' Vic Raschi was a little better, turning in a two-hit shutout at Shibe Park.

Game 2, also in Philadelphia, was considered the turning point of the World Series. Roberts, a 20-game winner during the season, hooked up in a brilliant 10-inning pitchers' duel with Allie Reynolds. The Yanks won it, 2-1, on Joe DiMaggio's leadoff homer to left in the 10th.

"I remember it well," Roberts said in recalling DiMaggio's life several years ago. "I had gotten him on four pop-outs before the 10th inning. It wasn't a good hitter's day. It was cold, and the wind was blowing in. But that didn't bother Joe. "

DiMaggio's homer off Roberts has become part of local baseball folklore. As he made his way out of the dugout toward home plate with the score tied, 1-1, DiMaggio was said to have handed his cigarette to a Philadelphia police officer with the instructions: "Hold this cigarette for me, Frank. I'm going to hit one out. "

That police officer was Frank Rizzo, who eventually became Philadelphia's mayor.

The series shifted to Yankee Stadium for Game 3. In the Game 4 clincher, rookie lefthander Whitey Ford allowed just two unearned runs over 8 2/3 innings for the first of his 10 career World Series wins. Stengel was booed by the Yankee Stadium crowd of 68,098 when he removed Ford and summoned the veteran Reynolds for the final out. The boos turned to cheers when Reynolds struck out Stan Lopata to give the Yanks their 13th World Championship. They've won 13 since then.

After their World Series appearance in 1950, the Phillies didn't make it back for 30 years.