And the saddest news of all - the passing of baseball hero Lou Gehrig, who died at age 37 on June 2, 1941.

However, the New York Yankees, who won the pennant and and the World Series for four straight years - 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939, but finished second in the AL to the Detroit Tigers in 1940, were hungry for another World Series Trophy in 1941.

Yankee pitchers Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez were baseball's big-name mound stars; Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri, Frankie Crosetti, Red Rolfe, and Hall of Famers - catcher Bill Dickey and first baseman Lou Gehrig - led the headlines across the nation when the New York Yankees rolled from 1936-1939: - 'Bronx Bombers Rule the Baseball World!'

It was different names but same results in '41. The Yankees were now led by Joe DiMaggio ('The Yankee Clipper'), Joe 'Flash' Gordon, Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich and a rookie sortstop by the name of Phil Rizzuto and the rolled over the Brooklyn Dodgers - 4 games to 1 in the 1941 World Series.

History shows that although another baseball player might be better at one skill or another, it would be hard to imagine any player being better consistently on offense, defense and base running than Joe DiMaggio was - every game he played.

In 1933 as an 18-year old, DiMaggio burned up the Pacific Coast League, batting .340 with 28 home runs and a red-hot 169 RBIs for the San Francisco Seals. He also hit safely in a record setting 61 straight games - forecasting his 1941 major league streak of 56 consecutive games.

When Joe D passed the then existing record for right-handed batters of 33, set by Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby in 1922, the steak had officially started. The next record to shoot for was Hall of Famer George Sisler's American League record of 41.

The nation's press went on a baseball feeding frenzy and baseball fans focused to the streak when Les Brown's Orchestra recorded a new song - ''Joltin' Joe DiMaggio.

On June 29, 1941, DiMaggio passed Sisler's 41 games and keep right-on-going past Hall of Fame Wee Willie Keeler's major league record of 44 set way back in 1897.

Finally, the phenomenal record of 56 consecutive games hitting streak came to an end. On July 17 in Cleveland, pitchers Al Smith and Jim Bagby Jr aided by two resounding backhand plays by Indians' third sacker Ken Keltner and another by shortstop Lou Boudreau on a bad-hop grounder brought the 56-game hitting streak to an end. In DiMaggio's streak - he hit .408, lined 15 home runs and had 55 RBIs.

Baseballhistorian.com - Archives

In his rookie year of 1939, he assaulted American League pitchers... hitting .327, complying a .609 slugging percentage by rapping 44 doubles, 11 triples, 31 home runs, 131 runs, 145 RBIs, drawing 107 walks while striking out 64 times. And, his sophomore year (1940) was almost a carbon copy of his rookie season.

Williams' 1941 batting average of .406 captured the attention of fans everywhere and was the highest in the major leagues since Rogers Hornsby hit a sensational .424 in 1924. Called 'The Splendid Splinter,' Williams was hitting .436 in mid-June and seemed certain to become the first to achieve .400 since first baseman Bill Terry of the New York Giants hit .401 in 1930.

Ted Williams' compelling '41 performance included .406 BA, 33 Ds, 3 Ts, 37 Hr, 135 Runs, 120 RBIs and a .609 slg/pct.

Listen Up! - Williams added 145 walks to the above totals, just 27 Ks for the highest-ever on-base-percentage of .551 - meaning he was on base on average of more than 1-of-2 at bats... simply put, no one wanted to pitched to him.

Their notoriously intense manager Leo Durocher led Brooklyn throughout its heated pennant race with the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Dodgers clinching in the last week of the season.

National League Final Standings 1941:

Brooklyn Dodgers 100-54 ... St. Louis Cardinals 97-56, 2 1/2 GB... Cincinnati Reds 88-66, 12 GB... Pittsburgh Pirates 81-73, 19 GB... New York Giants 74-79, 25 1/2 GB... Chicago Cubs, 70-84, 30 GB... Boston Braves 62-92, 38 GB... Philadelphia Phillies 43-111, 57 GB.

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For more facts about teams, type in brooklyn dodgers into the 'Search' located on the Home Page... or type in your favorite team... for best results do not list any year.

Durocher's best-laid plans ended like a Greek tragedy, when the Yankees' pitchers dominated the hard-hitting Dodgers throughout the World Series.

The New York Yankees were back in the World Series after missing out in 1940 (the Yanks swept the Reds in '39), and were ready and able with Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, left-fielder Charlie Keller, second baseman Joe 'Flash' Gordon and a pitching staff led by Red Ruffing, Marius Russo, Ernie Bonham and Johnny Murphy.

In the Series' opener Red Ruffing scattered 6-hits in a complete game effort to lead the Yankees to a 3-2 win... Brooklyn took Game 2 by the same score, 3-2, behind pitcher Whit Wyatt.

And then, suddenly, the Bums' bats got colder when Marius Russo took the mound in Game 3. He tossed a complete game 4-hitter, rang up 5 strike outs to lead the Yankees to a 2-1 victory.

Game 4 saw Brooklyn carrying a slim 4-3 lead into the 9th inning... but with one out remaining in the game and two strikes on Yankees right-fielder Tommy Henrich - Dodgers pitcher Hugh Casey threw a big breaking curve and Henrich swung and missed. But, somehow, Brooklyn's catcher Mickey Owen let the pitch get by him and Henrich ran safety to first base. That play enabled the Yankees to go on and score 4 times and win 7-4.

Game 5 - 'It's All Over' - Yankee starter Ernie Bonham pitched another complete game 4-hitter as the Yankees won the game 3-1 and hoisted the 1941 World Series Flag.

Average Game's Attendance 47,155...

Winning Player's Share - $5,943 Losing Player's Share - $4,829

Ted Williams, Red Sox .406... Cecil Traves, Wash. Senators .359... Joe DiMaggio, Yankees .357... Jeff Heath, Indians .340... Dick Siebert, Philadelphia A's .334... Barney McCoskey, Tigers .324... Sam Chapman, A's .322... Taffy Wright, White Sox .322... Roy Cullenbine, St. L Browns .317... Luke Appling, White Spx .314... Joe Cronin, Red Sox .311... Ray 'Rip' Radcliffe, Tigers .311... Phil Rizzuto, Yankees .307... Wally Moses, Phil A's .301... Jimmie Foxx, Red Sox .300

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

Pete Reiser, Brooklyn .343... Joe Medwick, Brooklyn .318... Stan Hack, Cubs .317... Johnny Mize, Cardinals .317... Nick Etten, Phillies .311... Enos Slaughter, Cardinals .311... Fred 'Dixie' Walker, Brooklyn .311... Jimmy Brown, Cardinals .306... Danny Litwhiler, Phillies .305... Johnny Hopp, Cardinals .303... Terry Moore, Cardinals .294... Billy Jurges, NY Giants .293... Elbie Fletcher, Pirates .288... Lee Handley, Pirates, .288... Johnny Rucker, NY Giants .288... Mel Ott, NY Giants .286

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1941 Players Bios... from baseballhistorian.com Archives

Cecil Travis, Shortstop, Bats LH, T RH, Washington Senators - one of the top shortstops during the '30s and '40s, Cecil Travis hit over .300 in seven-of-his-first-eight full big league seasons... .319, .318, .317, .344, .335, .292, .322, and .359 from 1934 thru 1941... and then, served in the US Military.

The 6'1"- 185-pound Travis hit .292 in 1939 after he came down with the influenza that made him a 'walking skeleton.

In 1941, Travis was second in the majors in batting - .359, lined 39 doubles, 19 triples, 7 Hr, scored 106 runs and had 101 RBIs.

Cecil Travis' career stats: .314 BA, 1,544 hits in 1,328 games, 4,914 at bats, 265 Ds, 78 Ts, 27 Hr, 665 Runs, 657 RBIs, 402 Ws, 291 Ks and a .370 lifetime on-base-pct.

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Wally Moses, Outfielder LH, Philadelphia Athletics 1935-41, 1949-51; White Sox 1942-46; Red Sox 1947-48 - a career .291 hitter, and an excellent outfielder with a strong throwing arm, Wally Moses drew almost twice as many career walks, 821, than strikeouts, 457.

In '36 he batted .345, lined 35 doubles, scored 98 runs and walked 62 times.

Playing with the Chicago White Sox in 1943, although, he batted just .245, Moses stole 56 bases and scored 82 runs.

Wally Moses' career: .291 BA, 2,138 hits in 7,356 at bats, 435 Ds, 110 Ts, 89 Hr, scored 1,124 Runs, 679 RBIs, 2174 stolen bases and a .364 on-base-pct.

#7 Dom DiMaggio CF... #8 Lou Finney RF... #12 Pete Fox LF... #3 Jimmie Foxx 1B... #4 Joe Cronin SS... #1 Bobby Doerr 2B... #5 Jim Tabor 3B... #2 Frank Pytlak C... #10 Lefty Grove P