The 1952 World Series was one of the most impressive comebacks in Yankees history

If the Yankees are to win the ALCS, they are going to do it by coming from behind.

There’s plenty of history of Yankees’ teams doing that over the years. Their last postseason series win prior to this year was the 2017 ALDS, where they won in five after dropping the first two games. That matched the comeback they pulled off in the 2001 ALDS against Oakland.

There was the 1996 World Series, where the Yankees won four straight after losing the first two games. It wasn’t a multi-game comeback, but they were six outs away from elimination in game seven of the 2003 ALCS. There have been several others over the years, but there are few as impressive as the 1952 World Series against the Dodgers.

Other than half a couple innings in game three and five, the Yankees were never outright ahead in the series at any point in the first five games. They won games two and four, but in both instances, the win only evened up the series. An 11-inning Dodger win in game five put the Yankees backs against the wall as the series shifted back to Brooklyn.

The first five innings of game six were scoreless as pitchers Vic Raschi and Billy Loes went head-to-head. In the bottom of the sixth, Duke Snider homered off Raschi to give the Dodgers a lead. At that point, the Yankees were down to their last nine outs in the series.

It didn’t take long to erase that lead as Yogi Berra led off the top of the seventh with a home run. Loes then began to struggle, as he allowed a single to Gene Woodling and balked him over to second. However, he then retired the next two hitters, leaving the inning up to Raschi.

In 2019, there’s almost a 0% chance that a team would let a pitcher bat in that spot. The Yankees did, and Raschi came through for them. He delivered a single, putting the Yankees in front.

Mickey Mantle added to the Yankees lead in the eighth before Snider hit a second home run to cut the lead back down to one run. Raschi would eventually be chased from the game in favor of Allie Reynolds, who got the final four outs to send the game to a decisive game seven.

Game seven was not as close as game six, but it still went right down to the wire. The game was tied after five innings, before the Yankees scored a pair of runs to lead 4-2 after seven. In the bottom of the seventh, it took a miracle catch by Billy Martin on a Jackie Robinson pop-up to save a run and get the Yankees out a jam. The final two innings went a bit more smoothly, and the Yankees won the game and the series, their 15th in team history at the time.

The Yankees were behind a game in the 1952 World Series on three different occasions. They even trailed in two of the four games they won. Out of the 65 innings played in the series, the Yankees led for just 18 of them. You won’t find many more comprehensive comebacks than that.