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.

Tuesday, October 2nd:

The Giants beat the Dodgers yesterday in the 1st game of the 3 game playoff. The updated standings, including playoff game, are below:

Team	W	L	W-L%	GB
Giants	97	58	.626	--
Dodgers	96	59	.619	1.0

Dodgers 10, Giants 0.
The Dodgers rout the Giants in the 2nd game of the 3 game playoff, before 38,609 at the Polo Grounds in New York. Clem Labine throws a complete game shutout for Brooklyn, giving up 6 hits over his 9 innings. Sheldon Jones starts for New York and gives up 2 runs on 4 hits overe 2 1/3 innings. George Spencer, over 3 2/3 innings in relief of Jones, gives up 4 runs, 2 earned, on 6 hits. Al Corwin also gives up 4 runs, but 3 earned, and does so on 3 hits over 3 innings. The Dodgers have 4 home runs in the game. Jackie Robinson (19th of the year, 1st inning) and Rube Walker (4th, 9th inning) both clout 2-run homers. Gil Hodges (40th, 6th inning) and Andy Pafko (30th, 7th inning) both hit solo jobs. Robinson, including his 26th double, and Walker have 3 hits each in the game. The only extra base hit for New York is Bobby Thomson's 26th double. The Giants commit 5 errors in the game, 2 by Spencer. The Dodgers have 13 hits, 2 errors, and leave 8. The Giants have 6 hits, 5 errors, and leave 11. See Game

Tomorrow's 3rd and final game of the series is also at the Polo Grounds in New York.