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1966 • Baseball Clip • Bob Feller on 1959 White Sox - Radio Show · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  For Yankee fans, a fall is not complete unless their club is in the World Series.
• 0:13
  For other American League hopefuls, the year is dragged on and on without a representative in the fall classic.
• 0:18
  The year 1959 is one year that fans in the windy city of Chicago will never forget.
• 0:24
  And one season the Yankee fans would like to forget.
• 0:28
  The White Sox and the Cleveland Indians were in a struggle for first place.
• 0:31
  The Yankees had already been eliminated.
• 0:34
  Bill Vac, one of Baseball's most colorful officials, was president of the White Sox.
• 0:38
  Fans couldn't keep up with their stunts and attractions offered by Vac during the 1959 campaign.
• 0:44
  But the best of all, the team was winning.
• 0:47
  When the White Sox pulled into Cleveland one evening in September, they scored a 3.5-game lead over the Indians.
• 0:53
  And this was it. A victory over the Indians and the so-called magic number would be zero.
• 0:58
  The Indians still had a chance to overtake the White Sox, but they couldn't afford to lose another game.
• 1:03
  More than 54,000 fans jammed Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.
• 1:07
  Thousands of others back in Chicago watched and listened to the game on television and radio.
• 1:12
  Manager Al Lopez decided to go with his ace early win for the big one.
• 1:16
  Cleveland manager Joe Gordon named the young right-hander Jim Perry.
• 1:20
  Win had some anxious moments in the second inning.
• 1:23
  Mini Minosa was on third base and Rocky Colovito was a batter.
• 1:26
  Colovito swung and sent a fly ball to left field.
• 1:30
  Al Smith camped under it, but he knew that Speedy Minosa represented lead run for the Indians.
• 1:35
  Smith caught the ball and on the run fired to catcher Johnny Romano.
• 1:38
  The young backstop flicked the throw and tagged Minosa out of the plate.
• 1:42
  The Sox tagged Perry for a couple runs in the third inning.
• 1:45
  Louis Aferrishio sent one run across with a double and scored on a double by Billy Goodman.
• 1:49
  The Sox had confidence now. They took the field for the fourth inning.
• 1:52
  Win was in trouble in the fifth, but escaped with only one Indian tally.
• 1:56
  Jim Grant was on the mound for the Indians in the sixth, and Al Smith and Jim Rivera greeted him with homers.
• 2:01
  At the ninth inning approach, the Sox had a 4-2 lead.
• 2:05
  Bob Shaw had replaced Win on the mound.
• 2:07
  In 60 seconds, Louis backed for the exciting ninth inning.
• 2:10
  Shaw retired lead off batter Woody Hale on a pop-up, but Jim backs his single off the pitcher's glove.
• 2:16
  And relief herder Jack Harshman followed with a single to right.
• 2:19
  Jimmy Pearsall was next, and he sent a line-er to Nellie Fox knocked down a second base.
• 2:24
  The runner held third. The bases were loaded.
• 2:27
  Managing Lopez took the slow walk to the mound.
• 2:30
  He singled for Jerry Staley, the 39-year-old relief base.
• 2:34
  It was Staley's 65th appearance of the season, but no appearance could be as important as this one.
• 2:40
  Big Power was the first batter to face Staley.
• 2:42
  He knew that one pitch could make the difference between picturing your feet.
• 2:45
  Power swung at the first pitch and grounded to a perennial short.
• 2:49
  Middle Louis skipped it up, touched second base for the fourth, and fired to Kuzuski at first to complete a double play.
• 2:54
  The game was over. The White Sox had won 4-2.
• 2:57
  And back in Chicago, Air Raid Sirens signaled the first White Sox pennant in 40 years.