Tri-Cornered Baseball Game

The game, a World War II fundraiser, was played with a round-robin format in which each team batted and fielded during six innings and rested for the other three.

[3] Committee chairman Max Kase, an editor for the New York Journal-American newspaper, played a key role in conceiving the contest, one of several sporting events that spurred bond sales.

[2] As with other Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs, the three New York City-based teams were fielding short-handed rosters, as many of their regulars were taking part in the war.

[6] The Yankees were missing their regular center fielder from previous seasons, Joe DiMaggio, while Johnny Mize was among the players absent from the Giants.

The Dodgers' roster included shortstop Tommy Brown, who at the time was 16 years old and one of the youngest players to ever appear in an MLB game.

The managers were the same as usual for the teams: Leo Durocher for the Dodgers, Joe McCarthy for the Yankees, and Mel Ott for the Giants.

Under the round-robin system devised, the three teams were each to bat and field for two innings in a row before taking a one-inning break.

[4] In response to the nature of the contest, one writer made a sarcastic recommendation that the organizers hire traffic police "to avoid snarls of various descriptions.

[2] The United States Coast Guard Band provided musical performances, having been introduced by Milton Berle.

Following a single by Goody Rosen, Augie Galan and Dixie Walker also had base hits, which led to the first run of the contest.

[10] The scoreless run continued in the seventh inning (the Dodgers and Yankees batted), before Brooklyn extended their lead in the eighth.

[6] New York Daily News sportswriter Dick Young described the event as "the wackiest diamond battle ever conceived".