Another Bum Bites the Dust

(No, not a bum. A Bum.)

In Brooklyn Dodgers lore, there are bigger names - Koufax, Drysdale, Newcombe - than Johnny Podres. But nobody won a bigger game than the man who died yesterday at the age of 75.

The left-hander was picked for four All-Star games and was the first Most Valuable Player in World Series history. He became a hero to every baseball fan in Brooklyn when the Dodgers ended decades of frustration by beating the Yankees to win the World Series...

The Dodgers lost the first two games of at Yankee Stadium, then the Dodgers won the third 8-3 at Ebbets Field. Podres, going the distance on his 23rd birthday, scattered seven hits. In the climactic seventh game, at Yankee Stadium, Podres shut out New York 2-0 on eight hits, relying on his fastball and a deceptive changeup.

As the story goes, Podres told his teammates to get him just one run and the Dodgers would win Game 7. They got him two, and the franchise celebrated its first and only championship while playing in Brooklyn.

Baseball and death trivia: The losing pitcher in that game, Tommy Byrne, died this past December 20th.

[AP]