82 World Series Game 2, October 5, 1939, Ernie Lombardi Only Slipped Up Once

6 May 2024

Album art features Ernie Lombardi

Bill James called him “the slowest man who played baseball,” yet his ten years with a batting average over .300 would make him attractive to any team. In his seventeen years, he was the first catcher to earn two NL Batting Awards.

He finished with a career .306, but it was one lapse of concentration in Game 4 of the 1939 World Series he would be remembered for. Taking a hard-hit ball without a protective cup in the tenth inning left him dazed while the World Series winning run stole home.

Rather than the fateful Game 4, let's step back a few days and remind ourselves that a World Series is more than a single play. Lombardi is still catching, Bucky Walters is his starting pitcher, and the game is in the oppressive and hostile Yankee Stadium.

The classic team of Red Barber and Bob Elson are behind the microphone.

You can find the boxscore here.

This game was played on October 5, 1939.