Games of April 17, 1951 - Opening Day

Yankee Stadium, New York vs. Boston


NY 5 Bos 0 Attendance 44,860 Capacity 67,000 Time: 2:12

               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9    R H E
Red Sox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0     0 6 1
Yankees 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 X    5 7 0



The Red Sox were managed by Steve O’Neill (who I never heard of before this blog) a minor league catcher who managed for parts of 14 big league seasons for the Indians, Tigers, Red Sox, and Phillies. He managed Tigers to the World Series title in 1945. The Red Sox finished in 3rd place in 1950.

The Yankees were managed by Casey Stengel. They were in the middle of a run of 5 consecutive World Series titles which began in 1949. Stengel managed in the big leagues for parts of 25 seasons from 1934 to 1965, managing the Braves, Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. He is, of course, remembered for his “Stengelese”, silly and funny ramblings about anything and everything. Among his quotable quotes was upon his dismissal as the Yankees manager upon reaching his 70th birthday, “I’ll never make the mistake of turning 70 again.”

Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 with a seating capacity of 58,000, almost identical to the capacity after its extensive remodel in the 1970s. By 1927, the capacity had increased to 82,000. In 1951, the stadium held about 67,000, so opening day was far from a sellout.

The dimensions of the playing field changed over the years as well. The dimensions in 1951 with 1923 dimensions in parentheses:
Left field foul pole: 301 (280)
Left center: 402-415 (395-415)
Deepest left center: 457 (500)
Center: 461 (487)
Deepest right center: 407 (429)
Short right center (the “short right field porch”): 367 (350)
Right field foul pole: 296 (295)

1923 Grandstand Admission $1.10 Opening Day in 1923 John Philip Sousa’s band played the Star Spangled Banner

Public Address Announcer Bob Sheppard made his Yankee debut Opening Day 1951. The first player that he introduced was DiMaggio – Dom DiMaggio of the visiting Red Sox who was the leadoff hitter that day.

Mickey Mantle was also making his Major League debut, in right field, as Joe DiMaggio was playing center field.

Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, Dodgers vs. Phillies

Phil 5 Bro 2 Attendance 19,217 Capacity 32,000 Time: 2:07

               1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9   R H E
Phillies    2 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0    5 9 0
Dodgers 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0    2 9 2

Winning pitcher Robin Roberts 1-0. Complete game. 2 runs, 2 strikeouts, 2 walks.
Losing Pitcher: Carl Erskine 0-1. 7 innings, 5 runs, 3 earned, 1 strikeout, 1 walk.

Jackie Robinson hit a homerun.
Robin Roberts threw 128 pitches.

Braves Field, Boston, Braves vs. NY Giants

            1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9    R H E
Giants  0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0    4 9 2
Braves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0    0 5 1

Attendance: 6,081 Capacity 40,000 Time: 2:26

Winning Pitcher – Larry Jansen (1-0) a 5-hit complete game shutout, 4K, 1BB
Losing Pitcher – Vern Bickford (0-1) 7 IP, 8 hits, 4ER, 3K, 5BB

Note the absence of Willie Mays in the Giants lineup. He will not make his debut until May 25th.

Other Games:            WP                 LP
CLE @DET 2-1    B. Lemon       H. Newhouser

BOS @NYY 0-5  V. Raschi        B. Wight

WSH @PHA 6-1  C. Marrero     B. Shantz

CHW @SLB 17-3 B. Pierce       N. Garver

NL

PHI @BRO 5-2     R. Roberts     C. Erskine

NYG @BSN 4-0    L. Jansen      V. Bickford

CIN @CHC 3-8     F. Hiller        K. Raffensbe

STL @PIT 4-5       M. Dickson    T. Poholsky