One Out Short of Series Glory : Baseball: Former Yankee Bevens dies at 75. The Dodgers’ Lavagetto ruined his no-hitter--and won Game 4--during the 1947 World Series.

Bill Bevens, who pitched 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series, died Saturday at Salem Hospital. He was 75.

Bevens was one out away from getting the first no-hitter in World Series history on Oct. 3, 1947, when Cookie Lavagetto spoiled the bid with a two-run double to win the game. The Yankees went on to beat the Dodgers in seven games.

“I guess that’s as close as you can get,” Bevens said during an interview with the Statesman Journal in July of 1990. “I was just happy to be there in the World Series.”

Bevens’ family was unsure of the exact cause of death.

“It was probably complications from a lengthy illness,” said his son, Larry Bevens. “He was diabetic and had lymphoma (a form of cancer).”

Bevens, who returned to the Salem-Keizer area in 1936, also had suffered two heart attacks and a stroke in recent years. The stroke, about three years ago, left him paralyzed on the right side. He had been hospitalized since Sept. 25.

Bevens was born in Hubbard, a small town about 20 miles south of Portland. After high school, he played for an American Legion team in nearby Woodburn and then for a semipro team about 20 miles further south in Salem.

He was signed by the Yankees in 1937 at the age of 20 and spent seven seasons in the minor leagues, where he had two no-hitters with Wenatchee.

He played for New York from 1944 to 1947, going 40-36 with a 3.08 earned-run average. His best season was 1946, when he was 16-13 with a 2.23 ERA.

Bevens attempted a comeback in the early 1950s, playing for the Salem Senators in 1951 and again in 1953.

Survivors also include his wife, Mildred.