"Lombardi's Big Snooze"
During the fourth game of the 1939 World Series, in the tenth inning, with the score tied and runners on first and third, Joe DiMaggio singled. One run scored, then Reds outfielder Ival Goodman fumbled the ball. Yankees right fielder Charlie "King Kong" Keller, well known for his sturdy physique, beat the throw to catcher Lombardi and the resulting collision knocked "The Schnozz" flat on his back. DiMaggio raced around the bases and scored while Lombardi was unconscious, the ball a few feet away on the ground. The press was hugely critical of the sensitive catcher because of this and it came to be known as "Lombardi's Big Snooze". Bill James, in his Historical Baseball Abstract, says that "Lombardi was now the Bill Buckner of the 1930s, even more innocent than Buckner, and Buckner has plenty of people who should be holding up their hands to share his disgrace." James called Lombardi's selection as the Series goat "absurd." James noted the Yankees were already ahead three games to none and that DiMaggio's run merely made the final score 7-4.
Read more about this topic: Ernie Lombardi
Famous quotes containing the word big:
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—Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840–1894)