The last out of every World Series from 1958 to 1962 has something in common! The last letter of the pitcher on the mound when the last pitch was thrown, ended with a "Y". Although, not all of the last pitches resulted in outs! There was the 1960 World Series!
Bob Turley came into game 7 of the 1958 World Series vs. the Milwaukee Braves. The Yankees' Don Larsen had a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, but he was struggling. The Braves scored a run in the first, then loaded the bases before Don escaped.
New York scored twice in the top of the second to take the lead, but Larsen faltered again in the bottom of the third. There were two men on with only one out. Turley came in, got an out, then issued an intentional walk to Eddie Mathews. Del Crandall hit a ball that hit Turley, and went to Gil McDougald. Gil threw out Del at first to end another Milwaukee threat. But the Yankees' pitchers had now issued 4 walks in only 3 innings. And the lead was still only 2-1.
Lew Burdette had to wiggle out of trouble in the top of the 4th as the Yankees put 2 men on. But from there, he settled down. 1-2-3, went the Yankees in the next 2 innings.
Turley had a 1-2-3 4th and a 1-2-3 5th to keep pace with Burdette and keep the Yankees up by that single run. But in the bottom of the 6th, Crandall tied the game with a home run.
Bill Skowron broke Burdette's spell with a single to lead off the top of the 7th. After one out, Turley bunted him to second. The Yankees could not get Moose home.
Turley retired the side in a 1-2-3 7th. And then the Yankees proceeded to win the game in the top of the 8th. With two outs, Yogi Berra doubled and was driven home by Elston Howard. After a single by Andy Carey, Skowron took Burdette deep! 6-2, New York in a blink of an eye!
Turley gave up a hit and a walk in the top of the 9th before recording the last out.
The next year was the Dodgers' Larry Sherry's time to shine. The Chicago White Sox won game 5 to force the Fall Classic back to The Windy City for game 6. The Dodgers seemed to put it away early as they raced out to and 8-0 lead behind the pitching of Johnny Podres.
But Ted Kluszewski smacked a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 4th to make it 8-3, Los Angeles. When Al Smith walked, Podres was finished. In came Larry Sherry, who had a win and 2 saves so far in the 1959 Fall Classic.
Sherry gave up a single and a walk to load the bases, but made sure Chicago didn't touch home in this, or any other inning.
Sherry gave up a leadoff double to Nellie Fox in the bottom of the 5th, but retired the next three batters. In the 6th, Larry got 'em 1-2-3. Aparicio singled with one out in the 7th, but Sherry got Fox out on a liner to left. Then Jim Landis ended the inning by forcing Aparicio at second.
After Sherman Lollar flied out to Don Demeter in center, Klu again made solid contact, doubling down the left field line. Larry bore down and got the next two batters out on grounders.
Chuck Essegian hit a pinch hit home run to make it 9-3 Dodgers in the top of the 9th. Better still, Sherry was just three more outs away from the Dodgers' first World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers!
Billy Goodman went out on a comebacker to start the bottom of the 9th. Norm Cash lined out to Demeter in center. And when Aparicio flied out to Wally Moon in left, the 1959 Fall Classic belonged to the Dodgers.
How The West Was Won By Baseball!
Ralph Terry was on the mound in the bottom of the 8th inning of game 7 of the 1960 World Series. The Pirates were all-too eager to face him, as Ralph was in no way shape or form to be pitching. He had warmed up, not pitched, warmed up, not pitched, all game long. The Yankees had watched their 7-4 lead evaporate in this inning and finally Terry was in the game. The Yankees now trailed by 2 runs, 9-7. Don Hoak flied out, and the inning was mercifully over. But now the Yankees needed a miracle to get to the bottom of the next inning. They managed to get one.
With one out and two men on, Mickey Mantle stroked a clutch single to center to cut the lead to 9-8. Yogi Berra grounded out. But Rocky Nelson, after stepping on first, forgot about Mickey diving back into first. Mantle slipped under the tag. While this was all happening, the tying run scored! That's the Yankees for you: Just when it looks like they are down and out, comes an unexpected uprising!
However, that great moment was cut short as Skowron forced Mantle out at second. Dick Groat took the grounder and tossed it to second basemen Bill Mazeroski. No one could have known, but as Bill made the putout on second, he was holding on to the last ball of the game. And Mazeroski was the reason it was the last ball. The score was 9-9, going into the last of the 9th.
The first batter Terry faced was Mazeroski. Ralph's first pitch was a slider that was too high. His next pitch was a slider as well, but it came in at waist level and over too much of the plate. Bill slammed it over Berra's head in left to end a very exciting World Series. It was the first time the Fall Classic had ended with a home run.
Ralph Terry got a shot at redemption the next year. Having lost game two of the 1961 Fall Classic to the Cincinnati Reds, he watched as the Yankees build a 3-1 advantage after 4 games. Who better to put the final nail in the coffin of Cincy? And a nice way to redeem yourself!
With a 6-0 lead after 2 1/2, things looked up for Terry. But then, Frank Robinson cut the lead in half with a 3-run home run. Terry was pulled, and since it was not past the bottom of the 5th inning, Ralph was not eligible for the win. Bud Daley came in. He didn't exactly have a "walk in the park" that inning either, Bud allowed a single and a double before he got out of it without giving up another run.
New York plated five more runners (3 via a 3-run home run by Hector Lopez) to make it 11-3, after 3 1/2 innings. Daley got things settled down with a 1-2-3, 4th
The Yankees were retired 1-2-3, themselves in the top of the 5th. A 2-run home run by Wally Post in the bottom of the frame, and it was the Yankees with a 6-run lead again, just like it was after 2 1/2 innings.
But Lopez drove in another run in the top of the 6th, and Daley himself cashed in the Yankees' 13th (and final) run of the game with a sacrifice fly.
Daley had another 1-2-3, inning in the bottom of the frame. The Yankees actually looked like they might get more in the top of the 7th as they got runners to second and third with two outs. But Skowron flied out against (not the author yet) Jim Brosnan.
Daley allowed a booming double to Robinson in the bottom of the 7th, but nothing more. New York got a runner on in the top of the 8th as Clete Boyer singled, but could not get him home.
In the bottom of the 8th, Bud hit Wally Post, but again settled down. Gene Freese went out on a fly to Roger Maris in center, Johnny Edwards forced Post, and Jerry Lynch (pinch-hitting for Brosnan), grounded out to Bobby Richardson at second.
Maris walked with one out in the top of the 9th, but Johnny Blanchard forced him at second. Elston Howard fanned to end the inning. But now the Yankees were three outs away from ending a magical year for guys like Maris, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.
But it was up to Bud Daley got them that last World Series out of 1961.
Elio Chacon grounded out. Eddie Kasko flied out to Maris (who moved from center to right as Jack Reed came in to play centerfield) in right. It would have been an appropriate that Roger get the last out in a season where he set the single-season home run record.
But it was not to be.
Vada Pinson flied out to Hector Lopez in left. Lopez, playing for the injured Mantle, came to bat 12 times in this World Series and had 7 RBIs.
But stick with me, here. The pitcher who got the last out was Daley!
Terry was back the next year and looking to nail it down in the 1962 World Series. But this time, it was game 7, as in 1960. But unlike 1960, Terry started this game. The San Francisco Giants stood in Ralph's way.
Terry, having lost game 2 of '62 to Jack Sanford, was looking at a lifetime Fall Classic record of 0-4 at that point. But a win in game 5 over Sanford gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the World Series. Terry finally had his first World Series win.
And he was even better in game 7. Down went the Giants in order in the first 5 innings. In the meantime, New York scored Terry a run when Kubek hit into a double play in the top of the 5th.
Then, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, Sanford himself broke up the no-hitter with a single. But Terry got Felipe Alou out on a grounder.
The Yankees had gotten two men on in the third, but failed to score. A walk to Mickey Mantle in the 6th was erased when The Mick was picked off first. With a man on and two away in the 7th, Terry himself got a single. Kubek ended the inning by flying out to leftfielder Willie McCovey.
Terry needed some luck in the bottom of the frame. Tom Tresh, McCovey's counterpart in left, robbed Willie Mays with a fine backhand catch in deep left. That was the second out. But then McCovey (who had him a home run off Terry in game 2 of this Fall Classic) hit a triple that would have scored Mays if not for Tresh's catch. Orlando Cepeda fanned and Ralph Terry was out of the inning.
In the top of the 8th, New York looked like they had the game wrapped up. Bobby Richardson reached on an error, and when Tresh and Mantle followed with singles, a potential big inning presented itself to the Bronx Bombers! Billy O'Dell replaced Sanford.
But Roger Maris forced Richardson out at home and Elston Howard hit into an inning-ending double play. Would the Yankees rue these missed opportunities?
Terry had a 1-2-3 8th, for a fine 1-hitter through that stretch. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 against O'Dell in the top of the 9th.
Three more outs to go and Terry erases 1960 from his upset stomach.
Matty Alou led off with a bunt single for only the second hit off Terry. But Ralph bore down and K'd the next two batters, giving him 4 strikeouts on the afternoon. Willie Mays was next.
The Say Hey Kid avoided Tresh and went the opposite way to Maris in right. Maris made a fine throw to Richardson at second. Bobby then also made a fine throw himself to home, to stop Alou from scoring. But now, the World Series winning run was only a hit away.
And the batter was the other Willie. McCovey. He'd been hitting the ball hard this game. Although not having a great Fall Classic of 1962, he was going to be one tough last out. Big, tall, left-handed. Not the hitter you want to face, even with the bases empty!
Managed Ralph Houk came out to talk to Terry. It was decided not to pitch around McCovey. Willie got under one and sent a fly to right that Maris pursued. The ball ended in the seats, foul and short of the fence.
McCovey hit Terry's 0-1 pitch on a line between second and first. Richardson, playing it perfectly, caught it. It was not too difficult a play, but 3 or 4 feet to the left or right, and the Giants would have won the game, 2-1. But in any event, it was redemption for Terry, who finished with a fine 4-hit shutout.
And for the 5th straight year, why had the World Series ended? Because the pitcher's name who tossed the last ball ended with a "y"!
That's also "Y" I am so interested in baseball history!
Bob Turley came into game 7 of the 1958 World Series vs. the Milwaukee Braves. The Yankees' Don Larsen had a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third, but he was struggling. The Braves scored a run in the first, then loaded the bases before Don escaped.
New York scored twice in the top of the second to take the lead, but Larsen faltered again in the bottom of the third. There were two men on with only one out. Turley came in, got an out, then issued an intentional walk to Eddie Mathews. Del Crandall hit a ball that hit Turley, and went to Gil McDougald. Gil threw out Del at first to end another Milwaukee threat. But the Yankees' pitchers had now issued 4 walks in only 3 innings. And the lead was still only 2-1.
Lew Burdette had to wiggle out of trouble in the top of the 4th as the Yankees put 2 men on. But from there, he settled down. 1-2-3, went the Yankees in the next 2 innings.
Turley had a 1-2-3 4th and a 1-2-3 5th to keep pace with Burdette and keep the Yankees up by that single run. But in the bottom of the 6th, Crandall tied the game with a home run.
Bill Skowron broke Burdette's spell with a single to lead off the top of the 7th. After one out, Turley bunted him to second. The Yankees could not get Moose home.
Turley retired the side in a 1-2-3 7th. And then the Yankees proceeded to win the game in the top of the 8th. With two outs, Yogi Berra doubled and was driven home by Elston Howard. After a single by Andy Carey, Skowron took Burdette deep! 6-2, New York in a blink of an eye!
Turley gave up a hit and a walk in the top of the 9th before recording the last out.
The next year was the Dodgers' Larry Sherry's time to shine. The Chicago White Sox won game 5 to force the Fall Classic back to The Windy City for game 6. The Dodgers seemed to put it away early as they raced out to and 8-0 lead behind the pitching of Johnny Podres.
But Ted Kluszewski smacked a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 4th to make it 8-3, Los Angeles. When Al Smith walked, Podres was finished. In came Larry Sherry, who had a win and 2 saves so far in the 1959 Fall Classic.
Sherry gave up a single and a walk to load the bases, but made sure Chicago didn't touch home in this, or any other inning.
Sherry gave up a leadoff double to Nellie Fox in the bottom of the 5th, but retired the next three batters. In the 6th, Larry got 'em 1-2-3. Aparicio singled with one out in the 7th, but Sherry got Fox out on a liner to left. Then Jim Landis ended the inning by forcing Aparicio at second.
After Sherman Lollar flied out to Don Demeter in center, Klu again made solid contact, doubling down the left field line. Larry bore down and got the next two batters out on grounders.
Chuck Essegian hit a pinch hit home run to make it 9-3 Dodgers in the top of the 9th. Better still, Sherry was just three more outs away from the Dodgers' first World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers!
Billy Goodman went out on a comebacker to start the bottom of the 9th. Norm Cash lined out to Demeter in center. And when Aparicio flied out to Wally Moon in left, the 1959 Fall Classic belonged to the Dodgers.
How The West Was Won By Baseball!
Ralph Terry was on the mound in the bottom of the 8th inning of game 7 of the 1960 World Series. The Pirates were all-too eager to face him, as Ralph was in no way shape or form to be pitching. He had warmed up, not pitched, warmed up, not pitched, all game long. The Yankees had watched their 7-4 lead evaporate in this inning and finally Terry was in the game. The Yankees now trailed by 2 runs, 9-7. Don Hoak flied out, and the inning was mercifully over. But now the Yankees needed a miracle to get to the bottom of the next inning. They managed to get one.
With one out and two men on, Mickey Mantle stroked a clutch single to center to cut the lead to 9-8. Yogi Berra grounded out. But Rocky Nelson, after stepping on first, forgot about Mickey diving back into first. Mantle slipped under the tag. While this was all happening, the tying run scored! That's the Yankees for you: Just when it looks like they are down and out, comes an unexpected uprising!
However, that great moment was cut short as Skowron forced Mantle out at second. Dick Groat took the grounder and tossed it to second basemen Bill Mazeroski. No one could have known, but as Bill made the putout on second, he was holding on to the last ball of the game. And Mazeroski was the reason it was the last ball. The score was 9-9, going into the last of the 9th.
The first batter Terry faced was Mazeroski. Ralph's first pitch was a slider that was too high. His next pitch was a slider as well, but it came in at waist level and over too much of the plate. Bill slammed it over Berra's head in left to end a very exciting World Series. It was the first time the Fall Classic had ended with a home run.
Ralph Terry got a shot at redemption the next year. Having lost game two of the 1961 Fall Classic to the Cincinnati Reds, he watched as the Yankees build a 3-1 advantage after 4 games. Who better to put the final nail in the coffin of Cincy? And a nice way to redeem yourself!
With a 6-0 lead after 2 1/2, things looked up for Terry. But then, Frank Robinson cut the lead in half with a 3-run home run. Terry was pulled, and since it was not past the bottom of the 5th inning, Ralph was not eligible for the win. Bud Daley came in. He didn't exactly have a "walk in the park" that inning either, Bud allowed a single and a double before he got out of it without giving up another run.
New York plated five more runners (3 via a 3-run home run by Hector Lopez) to make it 11-3, after 3 1/2 innings. Daley got things settled down with a 1-2-3, 4th
The Yankees were retired 1-2-3, themselves in the top of the 5th. A 2-run home run by Wally Post in the bottom of the frame, and it was the Yankees with a 6-run lead again, just like it was after 2 1/2 innings.
But Lopez drove in another run in the top of the 6th, and Daley himself cashed in the Yankees' 13th (and final) run of the game with a sacrifice fly.
Daley had another 1-2-3, inning in the bottom of the frame. The Yankees actually looked like they might get more in the top of the 7th as they got runners to second and third with two outs. But Skowron flied out against (not the author yet) Jim Brosnan.
Daley allowed a booming double to Robinson in the bottom of the 7th, but nothing more. New York got a runner on in the top of the 8th as Clete Boyer singled, but could not get him home.
In the bottom of the 8th, Bud hit Wally Post, but again settled down. Gene Freese went out on a fly to Roger Maris in center, Johnny Edwards forced Post, and Jerry Lynch (pinch-hitting for Brosnan), grounded out to Bobby Richardson at second.
Maris walked with one out in the top of the 9th, but Johnny Blanchard forced him at second. Elston Howard fanned to end the inning. But now the Yankees were three outs away from ending a magical year for guys like Maris, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.
But it was up to Bud Daley got them that last World Series out of 1961.
Elio Chacon grounded out. Eddie Kasko flied out to Maris (who moved from center to right as Jack Reed came in to play centerfield) in right. It would have been an appropriate that Roger get the last out in a season where he set the single-season home run record.
But it was not to be.
Vada Pinson flied out to Hector Lopez in left. Lopez, playing for the injured Mantle, came to bat 12 times in this World Series and had 7 RBIs.
But stick with me, here. The pitcher who got the last out was Daley!
Terry was back the next year and looking to nail it down in the 1962 World Series. But this time, it was game 7, as in 1960. But unlike 1960, Terry started this game. The San Francisco Giants stood in Ralph's way.
Terry, having lost game 2 of '62 to Jack Sanford, was looking at a lifetime Fall Classic record of 0-4 at that point. But a win in game 5 over Sanford gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in the World Series. Terry finally had his first World Series win.
And he was even better in game 7. Down went the Giants in order in the first 5 innings. In the meantime, New York scored Terry a run when Kubek hit into a double play in the top of the 5th.
Then, with 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, Sanford himself broke up the no-hitter with a single. But Terry got Felipe Alou out on a grounder.
The Yankees had gotten two men on in the third, but failed to score. A walk to Mickey Mantle in the 6th was erased when The Mick was picked off first. With a man on and two away in the 7th, Terry himself got a single. Kubek ended the inning by flying out to leftfielder Willie McCovey.
Terry needed some luck in the bottom of the frame. Tom Tresh, McCovey's counterpart in left, robbed Willie Mays with a fine backhand catch in deep left. That was the second out. But then McCovey (who had him a home run off Terry in game 2 of this Fall Classic) hit a triple that would have scored Mays if not for Tresh's catch. Orlando Cepeda fanned and Ralph Terry was out of the inning.
In the top of the 8th, New York looked like they had the game wrapped up. Bobby Richardson reached on an error, and when Tresh and Mantle followed with singles, a potential big inning presented itself to the Bronx Bombers! Billy O'Dell replaced Sanford.
But Roger Maris forced Richardson out at home and Elston Howard hit into an inning-ending double play. Would the Yankees rue these missed opportunities?
Terry had a 1-2-3 8th, for a fine 1-hitter through that stretch. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 against O'Dell in the top of the 9th.
Three more outs to go and Terry erases 1960 from his upset stomach.
Matty Alou led off with a bunt single for only the second hit off Terry. But Ralph bore down and K'd the next two batters, giving him 4 strikeouts on the afternoon. Willie Mays was next.
The Say Hey Kid avoided Tresh and went the opposite way to Maris in right. Maris made a fine throw to Richardson at second. Bobby then also made a fine throw himself to home, to stop Alou from scoring. But now, the World Series winning run was only a hit away.
And the batter was the other Willie. McCovey. He'd been hitting the ball hard this game. Although not having a great Fall Classic of 1962, he was going to be one tough last out. Big, tall, left-handed. Not the hitter you want to face, even with the bases empty!
Managed Ralph Houk came out to talk to Terry. It was decided not to pitch around McCovey. Willie got under one and sent a fly to right that Maris pursued. The ball ended in the seats, foul and short of the fence.
McCovey hit Terry's 0-1 pitch on a line between second and first. Richardson, playing it perfectly, caught it. It was not too difficult a play, but 3 or 4 feet to the left or right, and the Giants would have won the game, 2-1. But in any event, it was redemption for Terry, who finished with a fine 4-hit shutout.
And for the 5th straight year, why had the World Series ended? Because the pitcher's name who tossed the last ball ended with a "y"!
That's also "Y" I am so interested in baseball history!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Gallagher, Mark. Explosion!: Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. New York: Arbor House, 1987. Print.
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 30 Jun. 2014. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.
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