Baseball fans who saw this 1949 cover would have figured out that the scene was Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field, where the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the Dodgers. It was the bottom of the sixth inning; the Pirates had taken the field. It would take a sharp-eyed viewer to recognize the three Pittsburgh players in the background: second baseman Danny Murtaugh, center fielder Johnny Hopp, and right fielder Dixie Walker. As they wait for the Dodgers to come to bat, a few hesitant raindrops fall.
Three umpires study the heavens like oracles in gabardine, pondering whether the gods will let the game continue. They are modeled on real umpires (from left to right) Larry Goetz, Beans Reardon, and Lou Jorda. If they call the game on account of rain at this point, the win will go to Pittsburgh. Which is why Pirate’s manager Billy Meyer is hunched over, clutching his collar as if braving a downpour. But Dodger coach Clyde Sukeforth has taken off his cap and is gesturing toward some bright spot in the sky, eager to continue the game.
The Dodgers played the Pirates 22 times in 1949 and won 16 of those games.
This article is featured in the May/June 2024 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.
Become a Saturday Evening Post member and enjoy unlimited access. Subscribe now
