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Al Gionfriddo robs Joe DiMaggio of a home run in Game Six of the World Series, Yankee Stadium, October 5, 1947
From the collection of Angela and Thomas Sarro
Two days after Cookie Lavagetto won Game 4 of the 1947 World Series for the Dodgers, the scene shifted to Yankee Stadium, with the Dodgers ahead 8-5 in the sixth inning of Game Six. With two men on in the bottom of the sixth, Joe DiMaggio swatted a long fly ball to left field that looked like the tying home run. Al Gionfriddo, who had only appeared in 37 games in 1947, and whose batting average for the season was a puny .175, had just entered the game as a defensive replacement. Gionfriddo raced to the bullpen gate at the 415-foot mark and robbed DiMaggio of a homer. For one brief moment, the field at Yankee Stadium was all his, and the ordinarily imperturbable DiMaggio was seen by all to kick the dust at second base. The lead was preserved, and the Dodgers tied the Series 3-3. But the reprieve was brief: the Yankees won Game Seven.
