1955 World Series

The 1955 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1955 season. The 52nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League (NL) champion Brooklyn Dodgers against the American League (AL) champion New York Yankees, with the Dodgers winning the Series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It would be the only Series the Dodgers won while based in Brooklyn, as the team relocated to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. This was the fifth time in nine years that the Yankees and the Dodgers met in the World Series, with the Yankees having won in 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953; the Yankees would also win in the 1956 rematch.

This Series also marked the end of a long period of invulnerability for the Yankees in the World Series. It was the Yankees' first loss in a World Series since 1942 and only their second since 1926. The Yankees were 15–2 in Series appearances prior to the start of the 1956 season. The 1955 run would start a new run of Series appearances for New York that saw them reach the Series eight more times in the span of ten seasons, where they lost four times (1957, 1960, 1963, and 1964).

As of 2026, 1955 remains the only year in which the Stanley Cup Final, NBA Finals, and World Series all went the full seven games.

This was the sixth World Series contested between the Yankees and Dodgers; the Yankees had won each of the five prior matchups (1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953); each team had changed their manager several times (New York twice and Brooklyn thrice). New York manager Casey Stengel had played for the Dodgers from 1912 through 1917.

The NL champion Dodgers, as managed by second-year skipper Walter Alston, finished the regular season with a record of 98–55, 13+1⁄2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Braves. Offensive team leaders were Duke Snider (.309 batting average, 42 home runs, 136 RBIs, .628 slugging percentage, and 1.046 OPS) and Roy Campanella (.318 batting average, 32 home runs, 107 RBIs, .583 slugging percentage, and .978 OPS). Pitcher Don Newcombe led the team in wins, with a 20–5 record, and 233+2⁄3 innings pitched. Campanella was voted the National League MVP, narrowly edging Snider.

The AL champion Yankees finished the regular season with a record of 96–58, three games ahead of the Cleveland Indians. Offensive team leaders were Mickey Mantle (.306 batting average, 37 home runs, 99 RBIs, .611 slugging percentage, and 1.042 OPS), Yogi Berra (.272 batting average, 27 home runs, 108 RBIs, .470 slugging percentage, and .819 OPS), and Bill Skowron (.319 batting average). Pitcher Whitey Ford led the team in wins, with an 18–7 record, and 253+2⁄3 innings pitched. Berra was voted the American League MVP, while Mantle finished fifth.

NL Brooklyn Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (3)

In Game 1, Carl Furillo's leadoff home run in the second off Whitey Ford put the Dodgers up 1–0. Jackie Robinson then tripled with one out and scored on Don Zimmer's single, but in the bottom of the inning, after a walk, rookie Elston Howard, in his first World Series at bat, homered to tie the game off Don Newcombe. Duke Snider's leadoff home run next inning put the Dodgers back in front 3–2 (which would eventually help establish a new HR record for a seven-game series at 17), but in the bottom half, the Yankees again tied the score on Irv Noren's RBI groundout with runners on second and third. Joe Collins's leadoff home run next inning put the Yankees ahead 4–3. His two-run home run in the sixth extended their lead to 6–3. In the eighth, after a single and error by third baseman Gil McDougald put runners on second and third with one out, Zimmer's sacrifice fly scored a run, then Robinson stole home to cut the Yankees' lead to 6–5, but Ford pitched eight innings for the win while Bob Grim earned the save with a scoreless ninth to give the Yankees a 1–0 series lead.