The 1954 World Series matched the National League champion New York Giants against the American League champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants swept the Series in four games to win their first championship since 1933, defeating the heavily favored Indians, who had won an AL-record 111 games in the regular season. The Series is perhaps best-remembered for "The Catch", a sensational running catch made by Giants center fielder Willie Mays in Game 1, snaring a long drive by Vic Wertz near the outfield wall with his back to the infield. It is also remembered for utility player Dusty Rhodes' clutch hitting in three of the four games. Giants manager Leo Durocher won his only title among the three pennants he captured in his career. After moving West, the San Francisco Giants would not win a World Series until the 2010 season.
This was the first time the Cleveland Indians had been swept in a World Series and the first time the New York Giants had swept an opponent without qualification. They had won four games without a loss in the 1922 World Series, but there was also one tie. Game 4 was the last World Series and playoff game at Cleveland Stadium; the Indians did not return to the World Series or playoffs until 1995, a year after Jacobs Field opened.
As a result, this World Series held the distinction of being the most recent World Series to host the final World Series game of its two venues, a distinction it lost to the 1959 World Series after the original Comiskey Park closed down at the end of the 1990 Major League Baseball season and Dodger Stadium opened in 1962.
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