Our Blog: 1951 NL Pennant Race

This is part of a series on the 1951 Dodger/Giant Pennant Race.

The 1951 National League pennant race was perhaps the most famous one of all, and culminated with the Shot Heard 'Round the World, the Bobby Thomson home run that wins the pennant for the New York Giants. We are posting a daily blog, exactly one year to the day, on what is now the 60th anniversary of each game.

Saturday, September 29th:

With the Dodgers losing yesterday, the Dodger fall into a tie for 1st place with the Giants, before plays begins.

Team	W	L	W-L%	GB
Dodgers	94	58	.618	--
Giants	94	58	.618	--

Dodgers 5 Phillies 0.
Don Newcombe pitches a complete game 7-hit shutout, and wins his 20th game of the year, to give the Dodgers a win over the Phillies before 28,408 fans at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Newcombe's record improves to 20 and 9 on the year. Robin Roberts starts for Philadelphia and completes 8 innings, giving up 5 runs, 2 earned, on 10 hits. He takes the loss, moving his record to 21 and 14. Andy Hansen pitches a scoreless 9th in relief of Roberts. Andy Pafko clouts his 28th home run of the year for the Dodgers, in the 2nd inning with 1 aboard. Also for Brooklyn, Roy Campanella hits his 32nd double. Philadelphia has no extra base hits, although Richie Ashburn is 3 for 4. The Dodgers have 10 hits, 0 errors, and leave 7 on base. The Phillies have 7 hits, 4 errors, and leave 6. See Game

Giants 3, Braves 0.
Sal Maglie throws a complete game 5-hit shutout before 7,091 at Braves Field in Boston. He wins his 23rd game of the year, moving his record to 23 and 6. He's opposed by Warren Spahn, who lasts 8 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. Spahn takes the loss, moving his record to 22 and 14. Vern Bickford pitches the 9th in relief of Spahn and allows 1 run on 2 hits. The only extra base hit in the game is Whitey Lockman's 7th triple for the Giants. The only player to get more than 1 hit in the game is New York's Bobby Thomson, who has 2. The Giants have 7 hits, 0 errors, and leave 7 on base. The Braves have 5 hits, 1 errors, and leave 6. See Game

As a result of today's play, the Dodgers and Giants stay tied for the NL lead. Each team has 1 game to play - Dodgers vs Phillies and Giants vs Braves.