And yet, it almost didn’t happen.
On a Cleveland Indians team that had six future Hall of Famers (Joe Gordon, Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Satchel Paige) the man who won the world championship was a southpaw rookie pitcher.
The Indians finished the 1948 season tied for first place with the Boston Red Sox. That meant a one-game playoff, in Boston.
For the one-game playoff the Indians went with rookie lefty Gene Bearden, one of eight sub 3.