1955 Tournament: Cardinals at Giants

Editor’s note: Tournament games are played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice.

New York’s Sal Maglie survived a rally by St. Louis in the eighth inning to lead the Giants to a 5-0 victory over the Cardinals at the Polo Grounds.

With the Giants leading by five runs, Maglie retired the first two hitters in the top of the eighth on strikeouts.

At that point, Maglie seemed to lose his control as he walked Stan Musial and Rip Repulski. Wally Moon followed with an infield single to load the bases.

Ken Boyer created some excitement as he drilled a Maglie offering that was caught by Giants left fielder Monte Irvin at the wall to end the threat.

Maglie added a scoreless ninth to preserve the win. He gave up six hits with six strikeouts in his complete game effort.

The Giants got on the scoreboard in the third inning as Wes Westrum started the frame with a solo homer off Cardinals starter Harvey Haddix. Willie Mays had a sacrifice fly to give the Giants a 2-0 advantage.

In the fifth, Hank Thompson made it 3-0 for the Giants when he hit a solo blast.

New York sent Haddix to the showers in the seventh with two more runs.

Billy Gardner reached on an error by Haddix before Al Dark singled.

Don Mueller had a RBI single that ended the game for Haddix.

Frank Smith went to the mound for the Cardinals and gave up a sacrifice fly to Mays for the final tally of the contest.

The Giants advance to the semifinal round to face the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

1955 IN REAL LIFE: The irony of this game is that Maglie didn’t finish the 1955 season with the Giants. He was 9-5 for New York at the time he was placed on waivers. The righthander was picked up by the Cleveland Indians at the end of July and pitched in 10 games, while going 0-2.

After Maglie began his career with the Giants in 1945, baseball commissioner Happy Chandler banned him and others for going to play in Mexico.

Maglie returned to the Giants in 1950 and led the National League with a 2.71 ERA, while posting an 18-4 record. The following season, Maglie was 23-6 for the Giants as they won the NL pennant. A two-time all-star, he helped the Giants win the World Series in 1954 with a 14-6 mark.

Cleveland sold Maglie to the Dodgers early in the 1956 season. He was 13-5 as Brooklyn won the pennant and he finished second in the first Cy Young Award balloting behind teammate Don Newcombe. He also tossed a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Late in the 1957 season, Maglie was placed on waivers by the Dodgers. The Yankees selected him, but he would not appear in the post-season. He was sold to the Cardinals in 1958, which was his last season in the majors. In 10 seasons, Maglie was 119-62 with a 3.15 ERA.

Second Round Results and Schedule

Upper Bracket
(1) Brooklyn Dodgers 6, (5) Cincinnati Reds 4
(3) New York Giants 5, (7) St. Louis Cardinals 0
Lower Bracket
(7) Baltimore Orioles at (3) Chicago White Sox
(8) Pittsburgh Pirates at (4) Philadelphia Phillies

Semifinal Schedule

(3) New York Giants at (1) Brooklyn Dodgers

First Round Results

Upper Bracket
(1) Brooklyn Dodgers 4, (8) Washington Senators 0
(5) Cincinnati Reds 7, (4) Boston Red Sox 3
(3) New York Giants 2, (6) Kansas City Athletics 1
(7) St. Louis Cardinals 6, (2) Cleveland Indians 1
Lower Bracket
(7) Baltimore Orioles 6, (2) Milwaukee Braves 1
(3) Chicago White Sox 8, (6) Chicago Cubs 4
(4) Philadelphia Phillies 3, (5) Detroit Tigers 1
(8) Pittsburgh Pirates 3, (1) New York Yankees 2