"Starting pitchers acquired by the New York Yankees from the Baltimore / St. Louis organization in the 1950s and pitched with a no-windup."
That would be Don Larsen and Bob Turley. Larsen passed away six days ago at the age of ninety. Turley had passed back in 2013.
About the same age (Larsen was born in 1929 and Turley the next year), it was the same story in St. Louis. Pitching for the woeful Browns, Turley was bombed out in his one appearance in 1951. Larsen got there in 1953, the team's last year in St. Louis, and went just 7-12 as a rookie. But Turley improved. Having spent all of 1952 in the minors, it worked! Although just 2-6 in '53, Bob's ERA was just 3.28.
The next season Turley posted a nearly .500 W%, 14-15. Larsen, though, was 3-21. It was their only season pitching for Baltimore. Off to The Big Apple!
The Yankees' best pitcher in 1955 was Whitey Ford. The 26-year old was 18-7 with a low ERA of just 2.63. But...The two new arrivals fit right in. And they were joined by Tommy Byrne, who had been reacquired by the Yankees from Washington. But before that, he'd once been a Brown, too!
But New York wasn't quite as good as they'd once been. That was due to some of their formidable pitchers either not being around, or no longer effective.
Back in 1949, the New York Yankees got a new manager, Casey Stengel. Casey was an instant hit in the Bronx. He kept 'em winning...winning...winning. It was the great Yankee pitching staff which distanced them from the rest of the American League.
Vic Raschi had won 21 games in 1949. Allie Reynolds was 17-6. Tommy Byrne, in his first tour of duty with New York, was 15-7. Then there was Ed Lopat, who was a better-than-it-looked 15-10. The Yankees had the league's top closer in Joe Page. He won thirteen games and saved 27 to go along with a 2.59 ERA. The rest of the bullpen was not very good however. And once Page lost some zip of the fastball, he wasn't the same.
The starting staff returned the next year to find another ace with them. Whitey Ford. In twenty games (twelve starts) Ford was 9-1. But no one was really able to get the job done in the bullpen. Page skidded to just 3-7 with thirteen saves and an ERA over five. Tom Ferrick was 8-4 and saved nine.
The Yankees kept winning. By the end of the 1953 season, the team had five straight World Series. In 1954, they finished second to Cleveland despite 103 regular season wins. Only Lopat and Reynolds were still around. The Superchief had gotten hurt in a fluke accident when the team bus crashed when trying to park at an airport. It had hit an abutment that overhead in a lane meant for cars, not buses. His back was damaged, and it made it impossible to do conditioning. This made pitching a chore for him. He retired after '54 despite a 13-4 record that year.
Lopat was 12-4 that year, but like Reynolds, not the pitcher he once was. As it turns out, it was his last good season. Ed was just 4-8 the next season with New York and was traded to Baltimore before the year was over.
On the plus side of '55, Byrne went 16-5 with an ERA of 3.15. Turley had an ERA of just 3.06, winning seventeen games himself. However, Bob lost thirteen games somehow. Larsen matched Turley with a 3.06 ERA in just nineteen games pitched. However, Don was an impressive 9-2 in those outings.
There wasn't room for Bob or Don in the bullpen, and both could have used more outings, there. Ford pitched six times in relief, Turley two, Larsen six. So Don only started just thirteen games.
The bullpen was just fine the way it was, alas. Ex-Phillies pitcher Jim Konstanty was 7-2 with an ERA 2.32 and twelve saves. Tom Morgan was 7-3 with eleven saves of his own. Johhny Kucks was 8-7 but posted a fine 3.41 ERA. Bob Grim was 7-5, starting eleven games. Grim failed to match his twenty-win season of 1954. Tom Sturdivant rounded out the bullpen. Although only 1-3, his ERA was 3.16.
It seemed like, while neither Larsen or Turley were "The Pitcher" on the Yankees' loaded staff during their stay in New York, there were times when Don and Bob weren't seen as that far behind Whitey Ford in terms of value. Whitey had the finesse and the smarts, which gave him the edge. Casey Stengel would save him for "Big" games, so he always seemed to have plenty of rest. In the years to come, though, Turley and Larsen would achieve some amazing results. Sometimes their pitching stats weren't an overall indication of their effectiveness, either.
Don Larsen improved to 11-5 in '56, the year of his perfect game in the World Series. Turley was only 8-4 with an ERA over five. But both were clutch in the Fall Classic that year. It was sweet redemption as both lost their only start in the World Series in 1955. New York had lost the '55 series to Brooklyn in seven. A year later, it went seven again.
Larsen lost game two at Ebbets' Field, but came back with the perfect game in the fifth contest. Turley had a perfect 1.1 innings combined in relief appearances in the first and second contests. He'd fanned three batters. In game six, Bob looked to put the Dodgers away as the Yankees had a 3-2 series edge. Over his 9 2/3 innings pitcher, Brooklyn managed just four hits and one run. But Bob's mound opponent, Clem Labine, topped that: 10 IP, 7H, 0R, and a 1-0 win.
Neither pitcher appeared in game seven, because they weren't needed. Johhny Kuck had enjoyed his best season (18-9) and shutout the home team on a fine three-hitter in the finale. What a difference a year had made for Bob, Don and the New York Yankees!
Over the next two seasons, both Larsen and Turley contributed to New York. Bob was back with a 13-6 season in 1957, lowing his ERA to just 2.71. Whitey Ford was still #1, as he went 11-5 with a 2.57 ERA (But not enough IP to qualify for the Earned Run Average title). Kucks faltered, however, going just 8-10 despite a pretty good ERA of 3.56 ERA. It must have been tough for him. Look at all the other starters! Bobby Shantz was 11-5 like Ford, so two lefties were excellent, as his ERA was 2.45 in 173 innings. Tom Sturdivant led the team with sixteen wins. And Larsen? 10-4, but more great pitching in the World Series. The Yankees ultimately came up short against the Milwaukee Braves, though.
Turley struggled in his game three start in Milwaukee, but guess who picked him up? Bob went just 1 2/3 innings, before leaving. The Braves got three hits, a run and four walks off him. Don Larsen came in. Bases loaded! Two outs. Hank Aaron at the dish. Larsen got him to fly out to Hank Bauer in right.
Don got the next six batters out. In the last of the fifth, Johnny Logan singled off him. One out later, Aaron took Larsen out of the park. But even so, it was still 7-3 New York. They added five more runs for an easy win. The Braves did not score again.
Milwaukee won the next two games at home, sending it back to New York for game six. Turley did much better this time. He managed to win a close contest, 3-2, so the Yankees were in another game seven. Larsen started it, but the Braves knocked him out early. Lew Burdette went the distance and blanked New York 5-0.
The New York Yankees seemed to be a team determined to win it back in 1958. Turley went 21-7 with an ERA of just 2.97. Ford was Ford, 14-7, 2.01 ERA. Larsen contributed nine wins and a 3.07 ERA in just nineteen games pitched. Tom Sturdivant had gotten hurt and was just 3-6. No one else put good numbers, but what they did was enough. Duke Maas came over from Detroit and went 7-3. Another new face was veteran Virgil Trucks. Trucks came over from Kansas City and was 2-1, pitching out of the bullpen, collecting two saves.
As for the rest of the starters, they posted winning records. Bobby Shantz was 7-6 in 33 appearances, thirteen starts. Johhny Kucks was 8-8 in 34 games, fifteen starts. He added four saves. Art Ditmar was 9-8 with four saves and a 3.46 ERA. Some forgotten men also started games. Zack Monroe went 4-2 in just 21 games, six of which were starts. Trucks, remarkably, was not the only starter over 40. Sal Maglie and Murray Dickson were there. Maglie was 1-1 in just seven games but was purchases by the St. Louis Cardinals. Dickson was obtained from Kansas just before the end of August, and was named to the postseason roster.
But the biggest pitching newcomer was another former St. Louis Brown property. Ryne Duren. Duren had been the property of the Browns since 1949. And he was still on the club when they moved from St. Louis to Baltimore. Then he was traded to Kansas City for the 1957 season. New York got him in a deal involving Billy Martin before the year was over. Ryne had been just 0-3 with the Athletics with a 5.27 ERA. He was going nowhere, seemingly. New York assigned him to their "AA" club, Denver. Ryne found it. The rest of the year he went 13-2 with a 3.06 ERA. 1958, and Ryne was back in the bigs. All he did was 6-4 with nineteen saves and a 2.01 ERA. He'd found his niche as a closer. Suddenly Don Larsen and Bob Turley's (And the rest of the starting staff's) jobs had gotten a whole lot easier. Just keep 'em in the game, then watch as the big bats and / or Ryne Duren will take over from there.
In the Fall Classic that year, a rematch against Milwaukee, it was the Don Larsen, Bob Turley and Ryne Duren show. Whitey Ford lost game one in Milwaukee. Turley lost game two there. Back in New York, Larsen and Duren combined on a 4-0 shutout. Ford lost game four to Warren Spahn. But Bob Turley beat Lew Burdette in the third contest at home. Burdette had won all four of his postseason starts against New York prior to that. It was a big win no matter how you slice it. The Yankees rode that confidence through games six and seven in Milwaukee.
Duren entered the sixth contest in the last of the sixth and his team tied. 2-2. Yogi Berra had driven home Mickey Mantle with a sac fly in the top of the frame. The Yankees had then gotten men to second and third against Warren Spahn (Who was looking for his third win of the 1958 World Series) with two away, and pinch hit for pitcher Art Ditmar. Spahn fanned Jerry Lumpe. So the game was in the hands of Duren.
Four the next four innings, Ryne allowed Milwaukee just a hit and a walk and fanned seven. But New York could do nothing with Spahn through nine. In the tenth, they finally broke through!
Gil McDougald led off with a home run. Three singles then made it 4-2 for the visitors. Three more outs, and the series was tied at three. But Duren faltered. Red Schoendienst grounded out to second, the throw just getting him at first. But Johhny Logan drew the second walk of Duren. Eddie Mathews fanned for the eighth K by Ryne. However, for some reason Duren forgot about Logan as he pitched to Hank Aaron. Duren used a full windup on a pitch, enabling Logan to make it to second without a throw or even anyone covering. Aaron singled. 4-3. Joe Adcock got the third Brave hit off Duren, Aaron making it to third.
The tying run was ninety feet away. The World Series-winning run was at first. Duren was spent. Guess who came in? Bob Turley! Frank Torre batted for Del Crandall, the catcher. Turley got him to pop out to the outfield near second.
Game seven was Larsen's. Then Turley's. Ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third, Larsen faltered. He'd been lucky to get out of the last of the first allowing just a single run. But Billy Bruton singled to start it. Aaron singled with one away. Turley was needed again. Wes Covington grounded out, both runners advancing a base. With first open and two down, Bob Turley walked the dangerous Eddie Mathews. Del Crandall grounded out to end that.
Turley thrived off that escape. The very next inning, he appeared to be ready to even help the cause with his bat. Elston Howard was on second and Tony Kubek was on first. There were two outs. Turley forced Kubek at second, however.
But pitching was Bob's forte. He faced just six batters the next two innings. Lew Burdette, the Braves' pitcher, was staying right with him. The Yankees held their 2-1 lead until Del Crandall blasted a game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth. Neither team scored in the seventh, and New York appeared doomed again in the eighth. Gil McDougald flied out. Mickey Mantle fanned. Yogi Berra broke Burdette's spell with a double. Elston Howard cashed him in with a single. Andy Carey singled Howard to third. Then, Moose Skowron got the big hit. A three-run home run gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead.
Turley had no such difficulty in the bottom of the frame. The Braves were retired in order. The Yankees then looked for more offence off new pitcher Don McMahon in the top of the ninth. Gil McDougald singled with two outs. Mantle followed with a walk. But Berra couldn't repeat his heroics of the previous inning and grounded out.
Eddie Mathews then got the home team off on the right foot in the last of the ninth. He coaxed a walk off Turley. Crandall and Logan were retired on fly balls, and New York needed just one more out. Joe Adcock batted for McMahon and delivered a single to keep Milwaukee's hopes alive. But then Red Schoendienst flied out to Mickey Mantle in centre. Not a bad way for Turley to finish the 1958 Fall Classic: In the last three games he'd collected two wins and a save!
But Larsen had also gotten a win. Duren picked up a win and a save of his own. The former Browns' property had delivered in this World Series! It would never quite be the same for two of them, alas.
Turley was only 8-11 in 1959 due to a sore arm. While he finished the year still on New York's roster, there was no Fall Classic for him and his teammates. The Yankees finished just 79-75. Larsen fared little better, he was 6-7 with a 4.33 ERA. Something was really wrong with the Bronx Bombers that year. Injuries played a huge part. But their pitching staff wasn't good anymore. Look at those ERA's! Turley's was 4.32. Duke Maas' was 4.43 (Although he was 14-8). Eli Grba, who looked surprisingly like Ryne Duren, wasn't pitching like him. Eli was able to go just 2-5 with a 6.44 ERA. Jim Bronstad's was 5.22. Tom Sturdivant was 0-2, 4.97 and was traded. As, too, was Johnny Kucks, 0-1, 8.64 ERA.
Larsen was traded in the off-season. New York had enough bright spots they no longer needed him. Ralph Terry, in his second tour of duty with the Yankees, was 3-7. But his ERA was good: 3.39!
The bullpen of Bobby Shantz, Ryne Duren and Jim Coates wasn't going anywhere, either. Duren posted 14 saves, a 1.88 ERA despite a 3-6 record. But he ended up finishing the year on the disabled list. Coates was 6-1 with 2.87 ERA. Shantz was good, as always: 7-3, 2.38 ERA.
At this point, Whitey Ford and Art Ditmar were the aces of the Yankees. Ford was 16-10 with an ERA just over three. Ditmar was 13-9 with a 2.90 ERA. All of this made Larsen expendable.
Turley must have felt like he was a bit alone among strangers the next season. His record of 9-3 with a 3.27 ERA and five saves was even better than it would indicate. The team didn't lose much when he pitched. How's this for New York's record in Turley's appearances in 1960: 27-7! 20-4 in his starts!
After winning just one game in May (None in April), Bob went 4-0 with two saves in June. The team really wasn't playing that well. Just 18-15 when Turley got a no decision in a fine 6-4 win over Washington on May 29th. When Bob beat Kansas 5-2 on June 28th, New York was suddenly thirteen games over .500 (38-25). He'd turned 'em from competitive to dominating in the course of a month.
But September was probably Bob's best month. In August, Turley's ERA had climbed to 3.61, and he'd failed to win a game. The next month, Bob couldn't lose a game! He went 2-0 with two saves and a 1.72 ERA. Turley made sure the Yankees were right back where they belonged come October, the World Series.
Obviously, Bob wasn't the only reason for the turnaround in '60. Ford was again, still Ford. His numbers, too, were not an indication of his effectiveness. Although 12-9, Whitey posted an ERA of just 3.08. The Yankees were 19-10 in games started by him. And like Turley, Ford had a strong finish. His ERA climbed, though. It had been 2.79 at the end of August. And Whitey lost his first two September decisions to drop his record to 9-9 as late as the thirteenth. But then Ford went into the zone. Neither he nor Turley would a game the rest of the season. Or postseason. Whitey was 2-0 in the World Series with a pair of shutouts and Turley was 1-0.
The rest of the staff wasn't quite as good as the two, sadly. Okay, Art Ditmar was 15-9 and Jim Coates was 13-3. But neither were money pitchers like Whitey and Bobby. Ralph Terry still wasn't quite a big winner yet. He was able to go just 10-8 despite a credible 3.40 ERA. The bullpen though, was excellent, as it had been when Bob Turley and Don Larsen arrived.
Duke Maas, Johhny James and newcomer Luis Arroyo all went 5-1. Eli Grba started just nine games, but ended up pitching 24 games, going 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA. John Gabler was 3-3. Bill Stafford, a rookie and destined to be in the starting rotation the next two seasons, was 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in eight starts, eleven appearances. Bobby Shantz, in his last season as a Yankee, was 5-4 but had a great ERA, 2.79.
The big let-down was Ryne Duren. He'd be traded early the next season. He ended up being the only bullpen regular to have a losing record (3-4). His ERA was nearly five (4.96). He basically lost his job as the fireman of the bullpen. Shantz saved a team-high eleven games, Arroyo seven in just 29 appearances. Duren had only eight saves in 42 appearances and Maas had four himself.
And in the World Series, managed Casey Stengel didn't use the right guys. Ditmar was beaten 6-4 in the opening game on the road against Pittsburgh. Turley won game two with amazing ease, 16-3. And two of those runs against him scored in the bottom of the ninth. Ford won game three with a complete-game 10-0 shutout at home. But neither he or Turley would start again until the Fall Classic went back to Pittsburgh. New York lost the next two games by scores of 3-2 and 5-2. Ford was back with a 12-0 shutout in game six. Another complete game...But why did Stengel leave him in when it was 6-0 after three and 8-0 after five-and-a-half? Ford should have been rested with an obvious game seven needed. Turley would start.
Alas, Bob could do it. Though he got the first two batters out in the bottom of the first, Bob Skinner induced a walk from Bob. Rocky Nelson got the crowd on it's feet by following with a two-run home run!
The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first and second. But when Smoky Burgess singled to start the last of the second, Bob was off to the showers. The Pittsburgh Pirates added two more runs for a 4-0 lead.
Ultimately, New York lost the game 10-9. Whitey Ford and Ryne Duren were not used. That was a big reason they lost. Stengel was fired.
Ralph Houk took over in 1961 and the Yankees won it all. But with little contribution from Turley. Things got off to a promising start as he won his first two starts in April. But from there Bob was not effective. His sore arm returned. Despite a win in early May to up his record to 3-1, Turley was 0-4 the rest of the season. The injury kept him from pitching after July, as Bob made just a single September appearance. New York kept him around the next season, and they won it all again, but Bob must have been frustrated by not contributing more. Here, the team was better than ever and Turley was able to go just 3-3 with a 4.57 ERA. He'd been hurt for the '61 World Series, but the good news was Bob was named to the postseason roster in '62. He did not appear in the 1962 World Series, though. His old pal Don Larsen pitched, though.
Don had gotten around to the San Francisco Giants. In a must-win game four at Yankee Stadium, Don was the winning pitcher in relief for San Fran against his old team! It wasn't enough as Ralph Terry clinched it in game seven with a 1-0 shutout of the Giants. I guess the team really didn't need Bob and Don anymore.
But Larsen and Turley had won four World Series games each. Not bad! Bob's ERA was 3.19 and Larsen's was even better, 2.75. And that's not to overlook their contribution to New York in the regular season. Larsen was 45-26 (.652 W%) and Turley was 82-52 (.612 W%). So maybe not all their stats were up there with Whitey Ford and others on the Yankees during that time, both the former St. Louis pitchers found ways to contribute to the New York dynasty.
That would be Don Larsen and Bob Turley. Larsen passed away six days ago at the age of ninety. Turley had passed back in 2013.
About the same age (Larsen was born in 1929 and Turley the next year), it was the same story in St. Louis. Pitching for the woeful Browns, Turley was bombed out in his one appearance in 1951. Larsen got there in 1953, the team's last year in St. Louis, and went just 7-12 as a rookie. But Turley improved. Having spent all of 1952 in the minors, it worked! Although just 2-6 in '53, Bob's ERA was just 3.28.
The next season Turley posted a nearly .500 W%, 14-15. Larsen, though, was 3-21. It was their only season pitching for Baltimore. Off to The Big Apple!
The Yankees' best pitcher in 1955 was Whitey Ford. The 26-year old was 18-7 with a low ERA of just 2.63. But...The two new arrivals fit right in. And they were joined by Tommy Byrne, who had been reacquired by the Yankees from Washington. But before that, he'd once been a Brown, too!
But New York wasn't quite as good as they'd once been. That was due to some of their formidable pitchers either not being around, or no longer effective.
Back in 1949, the New York Yankees got a new manager, Casey Stengel. Casey was an instant hit in the Bronx. He kept 'em winning...winning...winning. It was the great Yankee pitching staff which distanced them from the rest of the American League.
Vic Raschi had won 21 games in 1949. Allie Reynolds was 17-6. Tommy Byrne, in his first tour of duty with New York, was 15-7. Then there was Ed Lopat, who was a better-than-it-looked 15-10. The Yankees had the league's top closer in Joe Page. He won thirteen games and saved 27 to go along with a 2.59 ERA. The rest of the bullpen was not very good however. And once Page lost some zip of the fastball, he wasn't the same.
The starting staff returned the next year to find another ace with them. Whitey Ford. In twenty games (twelve starts) Ford was 9-1. But no one was really able to get the job done in the bullpen. Page skidded to just 3-7 with thirteen saves and an ERA over five. Tom Ferrick was 8-4 and saved nine.
The Yankees kept winning. By the end of the 1953 season, the team had five straight World Series. In 1954, they finished second to Cleveland despite 103 regular season wins. Only Lopat and Reynolds were still around. The Superchief had gotten hurt in a fluke accident when the team bus crashed when trying to park at an airport. It had hit an abutment that overhead in a lane meant for cars, not buses. His back was damaged, and it made it impossible to do conditioning. This made pitching a chore for him. He retired after '54 despite a 13-4 record that year.
Lopat was 12-4 that year, but like Reynolds, not the pitcher he once was. As it turns out, it was his last good season. Ed was just 4-8 the next season with New York and was traded to Baltimore before the year was over.
On the plus side of '55, Byrne went 16-5 with an ERA of 3.15. Turley had an ERA of just 3.06, winning seventeen games himself. However, Bob lost thirteen games somehow. Larsen matched Turley with a 3.06 ERA in just nineteen games pitched. However, Don was an impressive 9-2 in those outings.
There wasn't room for Bob or Don in the bullpen, and both could have used more outings, there. Ford pitched six times in relief, Turley two, Larsen six. So Don only started just thirteen games.
The bullpen was just fine the way it was, alas. Ex-Phillies pitcher Jim Konstanty was 7-2 with an ERA 2.32 and twelve saves. Tom Morgan was 7-3 with eleven saves of his own. Johhny Kucks was 8-7 but posted a fine 3.41 ERA. Bob Grim was 7-5, starting eleven games. Grim failed to match his twenty-win season of 1954. Tom Sturdivant rounded out the bullpen. Although only 1-3, his ERA was 3.16.
It seemed like, while neither Larsen or Turley were "The Pitcher" on the Yankees' loaded staff during their stay in New York, there were times when Don and Bob weren't seen as that far behind Whitey Ford in terms of value. Whitey had the finesse and the smarts, which gave him the edge. Casey Stengel would save him for "Big" games, so he always seemed to have plenty of rest. In the years to come, though, Turley and Larsen would achieve some amazing results. Sometimes their pitching stats weren't an overall indication of their effectiveness, either.
Don Larsen improved to 11-5 in '56, the year of his perfect game in the World Series. Turley was only 8-4 with an ERA over five. But both were clutch in the Fall Classic that year. It was sweet redemption as both lost their only start in the World Series in 1955. New York had lost the '55 series to Brooklyn in seven. A year later, it went seven again.
Larsen lost game two at Ebbets' Field, but came back with the perfect game in the fifth contest. Turley had a perfect 1.1 innings combined in relief appearances in the first and second contests. He'd fanned three batters. In game six, Bob looked to put the Dodgers away as the Yankees had a 3-2 series edge. Over his 9 2/3 innings pitcher, Brooklyn managed just four hits and one run. But Bob's mound opponent, Clem Labine, topped that: 10 IP, 7H, 0R, and a 1-0 win.
Neither pitcher appeared in game seven, because they weren't needed. Johhny Kuck had enjoyed his best season (18-9) and shutout the home team on a fine three-hitter in the finale. What a difference a year had made for Bob, Don and the New York Yankees!
Over the next two seasons, both Larsen and Turley contributed to New York. Bob was back with a 13-6 season in 1957, lowing his ERA to just 2.71. Whitey Ford was still #1, as he went 11-5 with a 2.57 ERA (But not enough IP to qualify for the Earned Run Average title). Kucks faltered, however, going just 8-10 despite a pretty good ERA of 3.56 ERA. It must have been tough for him. Look at all the other starters! Bobby Shantz was 11-5 like Ford, so two lefties were excellent, as his ERA was 2.45 in 173 innings. Tom Sturdivant led the team with sixteen wins. And Larsen? 10-4, but more great pitching in the World Series. The Yankees ultimately came up short against the Milwaukee Braves, though.
Turley struggled in his game three start in Milwaukee, but guess who picked him up? Bob went just 1 2/3 innings, before leaving. The Braves got three hits, a run and four walks off him. Don Larsen came in. Bases loaded! Two outs. Hank Aaron at the dish. Larsen got him to fly out to Hank Bauer in right.
Don got the next six batters out. In the last of the fifth, Johnny Logan singled off him. One out later, Aaron took Larsen out of the park. But even so, it was still 7-3 New York. They added five more runs for an easy win. The Braves did not score again.
Milwaukee won the next two games at home, sending it back to New York for game six. Turley did much better this time. He managed to win a close contest, 3-2, so the Yankees were in another game seven. Larsen started it, but the Braves knocked him out early. Lew Burdette went the distance and blanked New York 5-0.
The New York Yankees seemed to be a team determined to win it back in 1958. Turley went 21-7 with an ERA of just 2.97. Ford was Ford, 14-7, 2.01 ERA. Larsen contributed nine wins and a 3.07 ERA in just nineteen games pitched. Tom Sturdivant had gotten hurt and was just 3-6. No one else put good numbers, but what they did was enough. Duke Maas came over from Detroit and went 7-3. Another new face was veteran Virgil Trucks. Trucks came over from Kansas City and was 2-1, pitching out of the bullpen, collecting two saves.
As for the rest of the starters, they posted winning records. Bobby Shantz was 7-6 in 33 appearances, thirteen starts. Johhny Kucks was 8-8 in 34 games, fifteen starts. He added four saves. Art Ditmar was 9-8 with four saves and a 3.46 ERA. Some forgotten men also started games. Zack Monroe went 4-2 in just 21 games, six of which were starts. Trucks, remarkably, was not the only starter over 40. Sal Maglie and Murray Dickson were there. Maglie was 1-1 in just seven games but was purchases by the St. Louis Cardinals. Dickson was obtained from Kansas just before the end of August, and was named to the postseason roster.
But the biggest pitching newcomer was another former St. Louis Brown property. Ryne Duren. Duren had been the property of the Browns since 1949. And he was still on the club when they moved from St. Louis to Baltimore. Then he was traded to Kansas City for the 1957 season. New York got him in a deal involving Billy Martin before the year was over. Ryne had been just 0-3 with the Athletics with a 5.27 ERA. He was going nowhere, seemingly. New York assigned him to their "AA" club, Denver. Ryne found it. The rest of the year he went 13-2 with a 3.06 ERA. 1958, and Ryne was back in the bigs. All he did was 6-4 with nineteen saves and a 2.01 ERA. He'd found his niche as a closer. Suddenly Don Larsen and Bob Turley's (And the rest of the starting staff's) jobs had gotten a whole lot easier. Just keep 'em in the game, then watch as the big bats and / or Ryne Duren will take over from there.
In the Fall Classic that year, a rematch against Milwaukee, it was the Don Larsen, Bob Turley and Ryne Duren show. Whitey Ford lost game one in Milwaukee. Turley lost game two there. Back in New York, Larsen and Duren combined on a 4-0 shutout. Ford lost game four to Warren Spahn. But Bob Turley beat Lew Burdette in the third contest at home. Burdette had won all four of his postseason starts against New York prior to that. It was a big win no matter how you slice it. The Yankees rode that confidence through games six and seven in Milwaukee.
Duren entered the sixth contest in the last of the sixth and his team tied. 2-2. Yogi Berra had driven home Mickey Mantle with a sac fly in the top of the frame. The Yankees had then gotten men to second and third against Warren Spahn (Who was looking for his third win of the 1958 World Series) with two away, and pinch hit for pitcher Art Ditmar. Spahn fanned Jerry Lumpe. So the game was in the hands of Duren.
Four the next four innings, Ryne allowed Milwaukee just a hit and a walk and fanned seven. But New York could do nothing with Spahn through nine. In the tenth, they finally broke through!
Gil McDougald led off with a home run. Three singles then made it 4-2 for the visitors. Three more outs, and the series was tied at three. But Duren faltered. Red Schoendienst grounded out to second, the throw just getting him at first. But Johhny Logan drew the second walk of Duren. Eddie Mathews fanned for the eighth K by Ryne. However, for some reason Duren forgot about Logan as he pitched to Hank Aaron. Duren used a full windup on a pitch, enabling Logan to make it to second without a throw or even anyone covering. Aaron singled. 4-3. Joe Adcock got the third Brave hit off Duren, Aaron making it to third.
The tying run was ninety feet away. The World Series-winning run was at first. Duren was spent. Guess who came in? Bob Turley! Frank Torre batted for Del Crandall, the catcher. Turley got him to pop out to the outfield near second.
Game seven was Larsen's. Then Turley's. Ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third, Larsen faltered. He'd been lucky to get out of the last of the first allowing just a single run. But Billy Bruton singled to start it. Aaron singled with one away. Turley was needed again. Wes Covington grounded out, both runners advancing a base. With first open and two down, Bob Turley walked the dangerous Eddie Mathews. Del Crandall grounded out to end that.
Turley thrived off that escape. The very next inning, he appeared to be ready to even help the cause with his bat. Elston Howard was on second and Tony Kubek was on first. There were two outs. Turley forced Kubek at second, however.
But pitching was Bob's forte. He faced just six batters the next two innings. Lew Burdette, the Braves' pitcher, was staying right with him. The Yankees held their 2-1 lead until Del Crandall blasted a game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth. Neither team scored in the seventh, and New York appeared doomed again in the eighth. Gil McDougald flied out. Mickey Mantle fanned. Yogi Berra broke Burdette's spell with a double. Elston Howard cashed him in with a single. Andy Carey singled Howard to third. Then, Moose Skowron got the big hit. A three-run home run gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead.
Turley had no such difficulty in the bottom of the frame. The Braves were retired in order. The Yankees then looked for more offence off new pitcher Don McMahon in the top of the ninth. Gil McDougald singled with two outs. Mantle followed with a walk. But Berra couldn't repeat his heroics of the previous inning and grounded out.
Eddie Mathews then got the home team off on the right foot in the last of the ninth. He coaxed a walk off Turley. Crandall and Logan were retired on fly balls, and New York needed just one more out. Joe Adcock batted for McMahon and delivered a single to keep Milwaukee's hopes alive. But then Red Schoendienst flied out to Mickey Mantle in centre. Not a bad way for Turley to finish the 1958 Fall Classic: In the last three games he'd collected two wins and a save!
But Larsen had also gotten a win. Duren picked up a win and a save of his own. The former Browns' property had delivered in this World Series! It would never quite be the same for two of them, alas.
Turley was only 8-11 in 1959 due to a sore arm. While he finished the year still on New York's roster, there was no Fall Classic for him and his teammates. The Yankees finished just 79-75. Larsen fared little better, he was 6-7 with a 4.33 ERA. Something was really wrong with the Bronx Bombers that year. Injuries played a huge part. But their pitching staff wasn't good anymore. Look at those ERA's! Turley's was 4.32. Duke Maas' was 4.43 (Although he was 14-8). Eli Grba, who looked surprisingly like Ryne Duren, wasn't pitching like him. Eli was able to go just 2-5 with a 6.44 ERA. Jim Bronstad's was 5.22. Tom Sturdivant was 0-2, 4.97 and was traded. As, too, was Johnny Kucks, 0-1, 8.64 ERA.
Larsen was traded in the off-season. New York had enough bright spots they no longer needed him. Ralph Terry, in his second tour of duty with the Yankees, was 3-7. But his ERA was good: 3.39!
The bullpen of Bobby Shantz, Ryne Duren and Jim Coates wasn't going anywhere, either. Duren posted 14 saves, a 1.88 ERA despite a 3-6 record. But he ended up finishing the year on the disabled list. Coates was 6-1 with 2.87 ERA. Shantz was good, as always: 7-3, 2.38 ERA.
At this point, Whitey Ford and Art Ditmar were the aces of the Yankees. Ford was 16-10 with an ERA just over three. Ditmar was 13-9 with a 2.90 ERA. All of this made Larsen expendable.
Turley must have felt like he was a bit alone among strangers the next season. His record of 9-3 with a 3.27 ERA and five saves was even better than it would indicate. The team didn't lose much when he pitched. How's this for New York's record in Turley's appearances in 1960: 27-7! 20-4 in his starts!
After winning just one game in May (None in April), Bob went 4-0 with two saves in June. The team really wasn't playing that well. Just 18-15 when Turley got a no decision in a fine 6-4 win over Washington on May 29th. When Bob beat Kansas 5-2 on June 28th, New York was suddenly thirteen games over .500 (38-25). He'd turned 'em from competitive to dominating in the course of a month.
But September was probably Bob's best month. In August, Turley's ERA had climbed to 3.61, and he'd failed to win a game. The next month, Bob couldn't lose a game! He went 2-0 with two saves and a 1.72 ERA. Turley made sure the Yankees were right back where they belonged come October, the World Series.
Obviously, Bob wasn't the only reason for the turnaround in '60. Ford was again, still Ford. His numbers, too, were not an indication of his effectiveness. Although 12-9, Whitey posted an ERA of just 3.08. The Yankees were 19-10 in games started by him. And like Turley, Ford had a strong finish. His ERA climbed, though. It had been 2.79 at the end of August. And Whitey lost his first two September decisions to drop his record to 9-9 as late as the thirteenth. But then Ford went into the zone. Neither he nor Turley would a game the rest of the season. Or postseason. Whitey was 2-0 in the World Series with a pair of shutouts and Turley was 1-0.
The rest of the staff wasn't quite as good as the two, sadly. Okay, Art Ditmar was 15-9 and Jim Coates was 13-3. But neither were money pitchers like Whitey and Bobby. Ralph Terry still wasn't quite a big winner yet. He was able to go just 10-8 despite a credible 3.40 ERA. The bullpen though, was excellent, as it had been when Bob Turley and Don Larsen arrived.
Duke Maas, Johhny James and newcomer Luis Arroyo all went 5-1. Eli Grba started just nine games, but ended up pitching 24 games, going 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA. John Gabler was 3-3. Bill Stafford, a rookie and destined to be in the starting rotation the next two seasons, was 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in eight starts, eleven appearances. Bobby Shantz, in his last season as a Yankee, was 5-4 but had a great ERA, 2.79.
The big let-down was Ryne Duren. He'd be traded early the next season. He ended up being the only bullpen regular to have a losing record (3-4). His ERA was nearly five (4.96). He basically lost his job as the fireman of the bullpen. Shantz saved a team-high eleven games, Arroyo seven in just 29 appearances. Duren had only eight saves in 42 appearances and Maas had four himself.
And in the World Series, managed Casey Stengel didn't use the right guys. Ditmar was beaten 6-4 in the opening game on the road against Pittsburgh. Turley won game two with amazing ease, 16-3. And two of those runs against him scored in the bottom of the ninth. Ford won game three with a complete-game 10-0 shutout at home. But neither he or Turley would start again until the Fall Classic went back to Pittsburgh. New York lost the next two games by scores of 3-2 and 5-2. Ford was back with a 12-0 shutout in game six. Another complete game...But why did Stengel leave him in when it was 6-0 after three and 8-0 after five-and-a-half? Ford should have been rested with an obvious game seven needed. Turley would start.
Alas, Bob could do it. Though he got the first two batters out in the bottom of the first, Bob Skinner induced a walk from Bob. Rocky Nelson got the crowd on it's feet by following with a two-run home run!
The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first and second. But when Smoky Burgess singled to start the last of the second, Bob was off to the showers. The Pittsburgh Pirates added two more runs for a 4-0 lead.
Ultimately, New York lost the game 10-9. Whitey Ford and Ryne Duren were not used. That was a big reason they lost. Stengel was fired.
Ralph Houk took over in 1961 and the Yankees won it all. But with little contribution from Turley. Things got off to a promising start as he won his first two starts in April. But from there Bob was not effective. His sore arm returned. Despite a win in early May to up his record to 3-1, Turley was 0-4 the rest of the season. The injury kept him from pitching after July, as Bob made just a single September appearance. New York kept him around the next season, and they won it all again, but Bob must have been frustrated by not contributing more. Here, the team was better than ever and Turley was able to go just 3-3 with a 4.57 ERA. He'd been hurt for the '61 World Series, but the good news was Bob was named to the postseason roster in '62. He did not appear in the 1962 World Series, though. His old pal Don Larsen pitched, though.
Don had gotten around to the San Francisco Giants. In a must-win game four at Yankee Stadium, Don was the winning pitcher in relief for San Fran against his old team! It wasn't enough as Ralph Terry clinched it in game seven with a 1-0 shutout of the Giants. I guess the team really didn't need Bob and Don anymore.
But Larsen and Turley had won four World Series games each. Not bad! Bob's ERA was 3.19 and Larsen's was even better, 2.75. And that's not to overlook their contribution to New York in the regular season. Larsen was 45-26 (.652 W%) and Turley was 82-52 (.612 W%). So maybe not all their stats were up there with Whitey Ford and others on the Yankees during that time, both the former St. Louis pitchers found ways to contribute to the New York dynasty.
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