In 1933, few teams had as productive a batting order as the American League champion Washington Senators. Heinie Manush hit .336 and had ninety-five runs batted in, Buddy Myer finished with a .302 average, Joe Kuhel contributed with a .322 and one-hundred seven RBIs and Goose Goslin and Fred Schulte were .297 and .295 sluggers.
Hitting wasn't their only weapon as Alvin Crowder won twenty-four games, Earl Whitehill had twenty-two victories and Lefty Stewart went 15-6. The Senators had outdistanced the defending champion New York Yankees by seven games for the American League pennant and were heavy favorites over the National League's New York Giants.
In stark contrast to Washington's "lumber yard", New York's team had only one .300 hitter in Bill Terry and one one-hundred RBI man in Mel Ott. What they lacked in offense the Giants certainly made up for in defense with Carl Hubbell, Hal Schumacher, Freddie Fitzsimmons, Roy Parmelee and Dolf Luque on the mound.
Hubbell had led the National League in victories with twenty-three, shutouts with ten and earned-run average with a 1.66. Schumacher, Hubbell and Parmelee had ranked 1-2-3 in the league in fewest hits allowed per nine innings. Schumacher had won nineteen games, and his 2.16 ERA ranked third in the National League. Fitzsimmons had won sixteen. And reliever Luque, at forty-three, had won eight-of-ten decisions and boasted a 2.70 ERA.
Hubbell and Schumacher, who had combined for seventeen shutouts, started the first two games of the Series for the Giants and were opposed by Stewart and Crowder. Hubbell did not permit an earned run while allowing only five hits and striking out ten in a 4-2 opening victory that featured an Ott two-run homer and run-scoring single. His teammate surrendered only one run in Game 2 (a Goslin homer), and wound up a 6-1 winner as the Giants erupted for six runs in the sixth inning.
Pitching continued to rule in Game 3 although this time it would be Washington on top. Earl Whitehill, who was a key off-season acquisition from the Detroit Tigers, threw a crucial five-hitter that resulted in a 4-0 victory and put his team back in the hunt.
Hubbell returned for Game 4 and did not allow an earned run for nine innings in a 1-1 tie. Neither club could score in the tenth, but the Giants pulled ahead in the eleventh on a Travis Jackson bunt, a sacrifice and Blondy Ryan's single. The Senators were unable to answer and New York held on for a 2-1 win and one game away from their first championship title since 1922.
Schumacher was given the start for Game 5 and looked strong with a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. Down, but now out, Washington came alive with a Fred Schulte homer that brought in Heinie Manush and Joe Cronin for the tie. Now the game turned to a duel of the relievers as the Giants' Dolf Luque squared off against the Senators' Jack Russell for the win. The 3-3 stalemate continued until the top of the tenth when Ott drilled a Russell pitch deep into the bleachers. Luque (who had first appeared in the majors in 1914) then went about the business of nailing down the Series title for the Giants.
In the end, New York batted .267 in the Series (slightly above its season figure of .263) and Washington hit .214 after leading the majors in 1933 with a .287 team mark.
"Good pitching was indeed stopping good hitting. And what marvelous pitching the Giants possessed... What had unfolded in the '33 Series was no mystery. Clearly, good pitching had stopped good hitting." - The Sporting News
1933 World Series1933 World Series Official Program 1933 World Series Official Program ← 1932 | New York Giants (4) vs Washington Senators (1) | 1934 → |
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1933 World Series Fast Facts | ||
Game 1 | Date / Box Score | 10-03-1933 |
Location | Polo Grounds | |
1st Pitch | Dennis J. Mahon (New York Board of Aldermen) | |
Attendance | 46,672 | |
Game 2 | Date / Box Score | 10-04-1933 |
Location | Polo Grounds | |
Attendance | 35,461 | |
Game 3 | Date / Box Score | 10-05-1933 |
Location | Griffith Stadium | |
1st Pitch | Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd U.S. President / Game Logs) | |
Attendance | 25,727 | |
Game 4 | Date / Box Score | 10-06-1933 |
Location | Griffith Stadium | |
Attendance | 26,762 | |
Game 5 | Date / Box Score | 10-07-1933 |
Location | Griffith Stadium | |
Attendance | 28,454 | |
1933 World Series Fast Facts |
1933 World Series
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1933 World Series Game 1 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
New York | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 10 | 2 |
Washington Pitcher(s) | New York Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Lefty Stewart (L) Jack Russell (3rd) Tommy Thomas (8th) |
Carl Hubbell (W) - - |
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Washington Home Runs | New York Home Runs | |||||||||||
None | Mel Ott (1st) |
1933 World Series
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1933 World Series Game 2 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
Washington | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 10 | 0 |
Washington Pitcher(s) | New York Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Alvin Crowder (L) Tommy Thomas (6th) Alex McColl (7th) |
Hal Schumacher (W) - - |
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Washington Home Runs | New York Home Runs | |||||||||||
Goose Goslin (3rd) | None |
1933 World Series
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1933 World Series Game 3 Capsule | ||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Washington | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 4 | 9 | 1 |
New York Pitcher(s) | Washington Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
Freddie Fitzsimmons (L) Hi Bell (8th) |
Earl Whitehill (W) - |
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New York Home Runs | Washington Home Runs | |||||||||||
None | None |
1933 World Series
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1933 World Series Game 4 Capsule | ||||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
New York Pitcher(s) | Washington Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||||
Carl Hubbell (W) - |
Monte Weaver (L) Jack Russell (11th) |
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New York Home Runs | Washington Home Runs | |||||||||||||
Bill Terry (4th) | None |
1933 World Series
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1933 World Series Game 5 Capsule | |||||||||||||
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
New York | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
New York Pitcher(s) | Washington Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
Hal Schumacher Dolf Luque (W, 6th) |
Alvin Crowder Jack Russell (L, 6th) |
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New York Home Runs | Washington Home Runs | ||||||||||||
Mel Ott (10th) | Fred Schulte (6th) |
1933 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
Hi Bell Hughie Critz Kiddo Davis Freddie Fitzsimmons Carl Hubbell Travis Jackson Dolf Luque Gus Mancuso Jo-Jo Moore Lefty O'Doul Mel Ott Homer Peel Blondy Ryan Hal Schumacher Bill Terry |
p 2b of p p 3b p c of ph of of-1 ss p 1b |
1 5 5 1 2 5 1 5 5 1 5 2 5 2 5 |
0 22 19 2 7 18 1 17 22 1 18 2 18 7 22 |
0 3 7 1 2 4 1 2 5 1 7 1 5 2 6 |
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 |
0 2 1 0 0 3 0 2 1 1 3 0 0 0 3 |
0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 2 4 0 1 3 1 |
.000 .136 .368 .500 .286 .222 1.000 .118 .227 1.000 .389 .500 .278 .286 .273 |
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 4 0 1 0 0 |
0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 4 0 5 3 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
Totals | 176 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 16 | .267 | 11 | 21 | 0 | ||
1933 World SeriesComposite Hitting Statistics |
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Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
Ossie Bluege Cliff Bolton Joe Cronin Alvin Crowder Goose Goslin Dave Harris John Kerr Joe Kuhel Heinie Manush Alex McColl Buddy Myer Sam Rice Jack Russell Fred Schulte Luke Sewell Lefty Stewart Tommy Thomas Monte Weaver Earl Whitehill |
3b ph ss p of of-1 pr 1b of p 2b ph p of c p p p p |
5 2 5 2 5 3 1 5 5 1 5 1 3 5 5 1 2 1 1 |
16 2 22 4 20 2 0 20 18 0 20 1 2 21 17 1 0 4 3 |
2 0 7 1 5 0 0 3 2 0 6 1 0 7 3 0 0 0 0 |
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 |
1 0 1 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 |
.125 .000 .318 .250 .250 .000 .000 .150 .111 .000 .300 1.000 .000 .333 .176 .000 .000 .000 .000 |
1 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 |
6 0 2 0 3 0 0 4 1 0 3 0 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 |
Totals | 173 | 37 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 11 | .214 | 13 | 25 | 1 |
1933 World SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
Hi Bell Freddie Fitzsimmons Carl Hubbell Dolf Luque Hal Schumacher |
0 0 2 1 1 |
0 1 0 0 0 |
1 1 2 1 2 |
0 1 2 0 2 |
0 0 2 0 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 |
1.0 7.0 20.0 4.1 14.2 |
0.00 5.14 0.00 0.00 2.45 |
0 9 13 2 13 |
0 2 15 5 3 |
0 4 0 0 4 |
0 0 6 2 5 |
Totals | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 47..0 | 1.53 | 37 | 13 | 8 | 13 |
1933 World SeriesComposite Pitching Statistics |
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Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
Alvin Crowder Alex McColl Jack Russell Lefty Stewart Tommy Thomas Monte Weaver Earl Whitehill |
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 |
1 0 1 1 0 1 0 |
2 1 3 1 2 1 1 |
2 0 0 1 0 1 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 |
11.0 2.0 10.1 2.0 1.1 10.1 9.0 |
7.36 0.00 0.87 9.00 0.00 1.74 0.00 |
16 0 8 6 1 11 5 |
7 0 7 0 2 3 2 |
9 0 1 2 0 2 0 |
5 0 0 0 0 4 2 |
Totals | 1 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 46.0 | 2.74 | 47 | 21 | 14 | 11 |
Did you know that BOTH of these teams were managed by players who were in the day-to-day lineup? John McGraw had retired in 1932 and the New York Giants had first baseman Bill Terry at the helm (his first season). Walter Johnson had also retired in 1932 and the Washington Senators had shortstop Joe Cronin at the helm (his first season as well).
There have been several World Series games that went into extra innings and a few that had more than one extra inning game, but this was the first Fall Classic to feature consecutive (Game 4 | Game 5) extra inning games.
Who do you believe would have won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award had their been one? Slugger Mel Ott? Ace Carl Hubbell? Player / Manager Bill Terry? Share your opinion on Baseball Fever today.