Johnny Podres, the cool and clutch lefty who pitched the Dodgers to their one and only world championship in Brooklyn by shutting out the Yankees, 2-0, in theseventh game of the 1955 World Series, died Sunday night in a hospital in Glens Falls, N.Y. He was 75.
Podres, who forever earned his niche as the toast of Brooklyn with two wins over the Yankees in that '55 Series, had been suffering from a multitude of illnesses, the result of being a lifelong chain smoker, and had just undergone a leg amputation in doctors' efforts to remedy an infection.
"I know I didn't feel any pressure in Game 7 of '55," he said. "Because I wasn't supposed to win it anyway. I just thought if I could throw strikes and they made the plays behind me, we'd be fine."In 15 Major League seasons with the Dodgers, Tigers, and Padres, he went 146 - 116, with a 3.65 ERA.
Side note: The loser of Game 7 in the '55 Series, Tommy Byrne, died on December 20th.
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