Friday, September 23, 2011

1961 New York Yankee Of The Day: Luis Arroyo

The closer.

Luis Arroyo.

Arroyo had replaced Ryne Duren as the team's mop up man in the 1960 season. Duren would then be dealt early in 1961.

Arroyo was 34 years old when the season started, and he would put together a season for the ages as a relief pitcher. He did two things all year for the Yankees.

1) He won games

2) He saved games

Luis had to wait for the Yankees 5th game in order to make an appearance. But he would pick up the save as he went 1.1 innings in a 4-2 win over the Angels on April 20th. This was the second game of a doubleheader.

There would be many more saves to follow.

After getting nothing in his next appearance, Arroyo got his first win in a 13-11 slug fest over Detroit on April 26. He tossed two scoreless innings and K'd 3.

His next two games that month were two innings each, and they both resulted in saves.

April was now over, but Arroyo must have been sad to see it go. 5 appearances, 9 innings, ERA,

ZERO!

He did give up a run in just 1 inning of work in his first May(day?) outing, but amazingly enough, it wasn't enough to stop him from save #4. Against the Angels on the 5th, he collected his 5th save.

It was a case of double whammy on the 9th of May, however.

Whitey Ford entered the bottom of the 8th with a comfortable 4-1 lead. But former Yankee Andy Carey crashed a double to left. Then former Yankee pitcher (1956 World Series perfect game pitcher, I should say) Don Larsen, pinch hit and delivered a single to score Carey. After Dickie Howser was hit by a pitch, it was up to Arroyo to put out the fire.

Jerry Lumpe, still another ex-Yankee, walked to load the bases.

Hank Bauer, yet another ex-Yankee, greeted Luis with a single to left that scored both runners. 4-3.

Then Norm Siebern, drew a walk.

By the time it was over, (Arroyo finally got out of the inning by retiring Marv Throneberry. Yes, he played for the Yankees, too) Luis and the Yankees had lost the game, 5-4.

His next game saw him squander another lead, and the Yankees eventually lost 4-3 to Detroit. Fortunately, he was not charged with the loss.

He was credited with a hold against the Indians on the 19th of May despite being routed from the mound. This little slump pushed Arroyo's ERA to 3.10.

The next two games were against the O's and the Sox and each time Luis tossed 2 innings. Each time they couldn't touch him and each time he picked up a save.

The month ended on a down as he blew a save and was charged with the loss in a game against the White Sox. Then he got routed again, this time by the Red Sox. ERA at this point, 3.42.

June opened with a tough blown save against the White Sox. Funny how stats don't show that. Arroyo would toss 4.2 innings in what would be one of his longest relief outing of that season.In those 4.2 innings, he allowed only 2 hits, 2 walks and struck out 5. The Yankees would eventually lose the game, 6-5.

In back to back days, June 5th and 6th, he collected two more saves against the Twins. Then he picked up his second win against the A's in his next outing.

Luis then recorded three straight saves before a loss on June 19th against Kansas dropped his W-L back below .500. That would soon change.

And the saves? They kept right on coming as he saved 4 more before the month ended: 2 against KC and 1 each against the Twins and Angels. And his ERA was down to 2.33.

July began with win #3 for him despite just facing one batter, against the Sens July 1st. Then he picked up save #17 the next day.

A fine 3 inning relief effort against Detroit (on Independence Day) didn't result in a win or a save. The Yankees lost the game 4-3.

Two more games of 3 inning relief stints did bring him two more saves. First, he closed the door against Red Sox, striking out 6th on the 8th of the month, then it was the other Sox, Chicago, 5 days later.

Two days later, he picked up his 4th win against Chicago, then did likewise against the Sens on the 18th.

The Yankees played the Red Sox next, and while it was Johnny Blanchard who did the work with the bat, Arroyo is who I am talking about right now. More on the Yankees third catcher in a later blog.

The Yankees trailed 7-6 in the game on July 21st, when Arroyo entered the game in the bottom of the 8th, and Arroyo was nicked for a run on a Frank Malzone sacrifice fly.

The Yankees, however, rallied for 5 runs in the top of the ninth, to take the lead. Arroyo even got a single in that inning, although it was not at all related to the scoring.

But when Luis moved down the Red Sox in the bottom of the ninth, he had his 6th win.

The bad news? He couldn't hold the lead, and even let the Red Sox take the lead.

The good news? The Yankees again rallied, making Arroyo a winner with 4 IP.

The amazing news? Arroyo was 2-2 at the plate with a double and scored a run, sending his batting average to .353!

Arroyo was doing it all!

The White Sox felt his wrath as he picked up two more saves against them, pushing his total to 21. He was now threatening the record for saves in a single season. At that point, it was 27, held by Joe Page and Ellis Kinder with 27.

Luis pitched 6.2 innings in his last July outing. He gave up 5 hits and 5 walks, and fanned 6. He didn't allow a run, but the Yankees lost anyway, 2-1 to the O's. But that performance dropped his ERA even lower, 1.75.

He record his 8th win (and at this point, Luis still is on just 3 losses) in his first August appearance. Then he blew the save and got his 9th win against Minny on Aug 4th.

August 8th saw Arroyo make it to double digits in wins when he sent the Angels packing with three fine shutout innings and 5 saves. Two days later, he got his first August save against the Angels again.

A week later he picked up his 23rd save by pitching just one inning. Two days later, against the Indians, he picked up saves #24 by retiring the only batter he faced.

On August 23rd, once again, the poor Angels were the victim of an Arroyo win. Again it was 3 fine innings of shutout ball.

Luis' last August appearance was on the 27th, as he reached the quarter century mark in saves by pitching 2/3 of an innings. Actually, he gave up 2 hits and a run, but New York won the game, of course, 8-7.

September started out for Arroyo on the very first day of the month.

It was one hell of a game, as Detroit's Don Mossi and Whitey Ford kept putting up 0's on the scoresheet. Bud Daley relieved Ford (whose hip muscle had become strained) with two down in the fifth and continued the shutout. Hector Lopez batted for Daley in the bottom of the 8th, but the Yankees got nothing out of that.

As Arroyo took the mound, first baseman Bill Skowron told him, "You hold 'em here, and I'll win it for you when we get up."

Luis went to work, and the Tigers didn't get the ball out of the infield!

But Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were quickly retired by Mossi in the bottom frame.

Then the Yankees reached down.

Elston Howard rammed a single to center, and then Yogi Berra singled to right center. Howard was now on third.

And guess who was up? "Moose" Skowron!

And he promptly singled to left to win the game, just as he had promised.

The next day, he struck out 3 of the 4 Tigers he faced for Luis' 26 save. One more to go to tie the record!

Arroyo's first crack at a chance for tying Page and Kinder for relief immortality came on September 3rd as the Yankees and Bill Stafford presented him with a 4-2 lead in the 8th. Six outs to go. The game is notable as the first for Tom Tresh, who turn out to be one very good Yankee. Tommy was involved in one hell of a game!

Billy Bruton and Al Kaline singled, putting runners on the corners. Arroyo got Rocky Colavito to ground into a double play, but Bruton scored. Arroyo then fanned Norm Cash.

A walk and an error by Skowron put runners on 2nd and 3rd with just one out in the top of the ninth. Bubba Morton pinch hit for pitcher Terry Fox, and the Yankees intentionally walked him. Bases loaded.

Jake Woods, the rookie and American League leader in both triples and strikeouts, singled to left to score both runners. Arroyo got out of the inning without further peeps, but the Yankees had to play catchup.

Mickey Mantle was the first batter in the bottom of the ninth. He had done all he could to help the Yankees win this game. In the first, he hit his 49th homerun off Jim Bunning. Yes, the future Senator. In the fifth, he robbed Bunning of a triple when he snared his liner with an over the shoulder catch.

Mantle promptly smashed a 450 foot shot to right center. Homerun #50. 5-5 game.

Berra singled. When Elston Howard had pinch hit for Stafford and stayed in the game, it meant that the pitcher spot was now the 6th spot in the lineup. This meant Arroyo was now the batter.

He advanced Yogi, the winning run, into scoring position with a bunt. Skowron was walked intentionally, and then Clete Boyer flied out. It was up to Howard.

And Ellie sent everyone home happy with a 3-run walk off homerun!

Arroyo was probably forgotten about at this point, but he was the pitcher of record, so he now had 13 wins.

6 days later, he won his 14 game, and 12th in a row, with a 8-7 win over Cleveland. He didn't pitch that well again, as he gave up 4 hits and 2 walks in only 3 innings, but a win is a win, right?

It was a simple 1-2-3 ninth inning on September 10th (first game of a double-header), but Arroyo got save #27, tying an all time single season record. And he wasn't about to stop there.

But his winning streak did end four days later. The Yankees, with some fine pitching (despite 8 hits allowed) by Jim Coates took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th. Then with two men on and one out Arroyo entered the game looking for his 28th save.

It didn't happen.

The ChiSox scored once in that inning, the erupted for 3 more in the ninth to hand Arroyo his 4th loss.

Arroyo had to live with another blown opportunity three days later (Sept 17th), but it was in that game that Luis pitched some "lights out".

Arroyo was again pitching against the Tigers, again in relief of Bill Stafford. Again Woods was involved. One out.

Arroyo entered the game in the 8th inning, Wood was on first, having singled to slice the Yankee lead to just 4-3.  Morton was the batter. Again?

Well Arroyo had Woods picked off, but Skowron made a bad throw and Wood scored all the way from first. Luis bared down and a third strike past Morton. Dick McAuliffe grounded out to end the inning. But now the game was tied.

Arroyo really was a gamer in the 9th. Despite two walks and a single, he got out of the jam by striking out Mike Roarke with the bases filled.

Wood, Fox and McAuliffe all failed to get the ball out of the infield in the bottom of the 10th. Arroyo then fanned two more in a scoreless 11th.

In the top of the 12th, Roger Maris' two run shot gave Arroyo all he needed. The Tigers got a lead off walk, but then Arroyo laid into them for win #15 on the season. Quite the pitching line: 4.2 IP 2H 3BB 6K.

It was another 1-2-3 9th on September 23rd, and Luis Arroyo had save #28 against the Boston Red Sox on September 23rd. Arroyo now stood alone!

But the Red Sox brought him and the Yankees to their knees the next game as they tagged him for 2 runs and 3 hits in only an inning of work. It was bad enough for his 5th loss on the campaign.

After another 1-2-3 ninth inning in a loss to the O's, the Red Sox deprived Arroyo of a save and Whitey Ford of a win on September 29th when the scored off Luis in the 7th. The Yankees won that game 2-1, anyway, but it was Rollie Sheldon who got the win.

October 1st, 1961, the last game of the season, and only 23,154 came to see Roger Maris hit homerun #61. But they also saw Bill Stafford toss a fine 3 hitter for 6 inning. After Hal Reniff tossed a perfect 7th inning, Arroyo came on in the 8th, with the Yankees ahead 1-0, Maris' homerun still the game's only run.

Pumpsie Green was the first batter to face Luis. Green was the first black to play for the Red Sox, who were the last team to integrate.

Arroyo fanned him. Jackie Jensen, who only 3 years earlier was AL MVP, came to bat, as it turns out, for the last time. It was a fear of flying that ultimately made him quit at 34.

Arryo got him to pop out to Tony Kubek at short. Chuck Schilling ended the inning by grounding out to Kubek.

In the ninth, rookie Carl Yazstremski singled with one out, but Arroyo got Frank Malzone to fly out to Roger Maris in center (Maris' last play in the regular season) and Lou Clinton to hit into a force play at second.

Luis Arroyo's final stats show him as the American League leader in games pitched, games finished, and of course, saves with 29. With a 15-5 record, his ERA was 2.19 in 119 IP.

But the season didn't end there. It was on to the World Series.

The Yankees won the opener behind Ford's 2-hitter. The Cincinnati Reds Yankees trail by just a single run going into the top of the 8th, but Johnny Blanchard tied the game with a pinch hit homerun. Arroyo took the mound in the bottom of the frame.

And he pushed aside Frank Robinson, Gordy Coleman and Wally Post, just like that.

Roger Maris' solo homerun in the top of the ninth gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead. Could the New York (and Arroyo) hold it?

Gene Freese, the Reds' third baseman, struck out to open the bottom of the ninth. Good start Luis!

Leo Cardenas pinch hit for catcher Johnny Edwards and got a hold of one to dead center. Oh no!

In left centerfield was the Crosley field scoreboard. The ball was heading towards it. But on either side of it was nothing. Unless the ball hits it, the game is tied! Were was it going to hit?

It's close!

Good thing it hit the scoreboard.

Man on second and one out nevertheless. The batter is pinch hitter Dick Gernert. He hit to chopper to short where Kubek threw him out, Cardenas holding at second.

Now just another pinch hitter, Gus Bell, stood between Arroyo, the Yankees and a 2-1 series lead.

Bell slashed one right back at Arroyo, who knocked it down, picked the ball up and tossed to Skowron and first. Game over.

Arroyo didn't get into the last two games, but the Yankees won them both to wrap up the series.


References


1961 World Series: New York Yankees vs. Cincinnati Reds. Major League Baseball Productions. DVD.

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000, pp. 405-445. Print.

Smith, Ron. The Sporting News Presents 61*: The Story Of Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle And One Magical Summer. St. Louis: Sporting News, 2001. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 23 Sept. 2011.

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