Now how could this be? Richardson topped all batters in that World Series in batting average (Although, had Johnny Blanchard gotten on base one more time via a hit or a walk, the Yankees' catcher / right fielder would have taking home the batting average lead), and batted leadoff in front of some pretty good hitters.
The pretty good hitters were the likes of Tony Kubek, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Elston Howard, Yogi Berra (Who played in left field most of the year) and Moose Skowron. Even guys like Clete Boyer, who hit low in the lineup, had some pop. Boyer hit eleven home runs, but in reality had one more.
There'd been what seemed like a double-header on July 17th between Bobby Richardson's New York Yankees, and the Baltimore Orioles. The opening tilt was all New York, 5-0. In what should have been the nightcap, the Yankees led, and Clete Boyer had a home run. But the game was not finished prior to the bottom of the fifth because of rain.
And there were guys like Bob Cerv and Hector Lopez who got into games. The team's only weakness, hitting-wise, appeared to be when one of their hitters grabbed some lumber. However, it didn't stop the mighty Yankees. They ended 1961 in first place, and swatted 240 home runs. They indeed were "Bronx Bombers" that season.
So the World Series seemed like merely a formality. The Cincinnati Reds, winning their first pennant in twenty-one seasons, seemed overmatched.
Whitey Ford (Ironically enough, the winning pitcher in the one game that was finished on July 17th), made the Reds look like the Orioles. The Yankees ace pitcher shutout the opposition, permitting just two hits. New York seemed a little less than overwhelming at the dish. There was good reason, their cleanup hitter was out of the lineup. The great Mickey Mantle had some serious problem with his hip, and would not be back until game three.
So The Mick's team needed him if they were going to make Cincinnati look bad. His friend Whitey Ford sure did his part. But New York's offence stalled. They managed six hits off Jim O'Toole. They got none of reliever Jim Brosnan, who proved he could pitch as well as he could write.
In any event, Elston Howard and Moose Skowron hit home runs, both of them solo shots. As for Bobby Richardson, he ended the game with half of his team's hits. But New York were just fine with all that, so as long as they won. They'd sort of let the previous World Series get away from them. The team set out to make sure there would be no repeats of that.
The Yankees had ways of making you pay for the slightest mistake back then. It appeared as though Jim O'Toole made too many of them in the bottom of the first. Richardson looked to kickstart the mighty offence by singling. Tony Kubek walked. Now, the man up led the team and the majors in RBI, Roger Maris. 141 runs batted in. All he did was pop out. Elston Howard then flied out and it seemed like all of Cincinnati was taking a big sigh of relief. However, O'Toole prolonged the frame by walking Moose Skowron.
So, just a single given up, and somehow the New York Yankees had loaded the bases. The two walks that the home team had coaxed off Jim O'Toole had been easy. One pitch, total, managed to find the strike zone. You could say Jim was a tad nervous.
Yogi Berra was one of the Yankees' elders, having played in a World Series fourteen years earlier. He threw a 1-1 offering that missed and catcher Darrel Johnson made sure to block. Johnson had seen many-a-heroic act by Berra, having been his teammate in 1957-1958. It had to be a tough one for the Cincinnati catcher. The count went to 3-2. The runners were, of course, off on the next pitch. However, Bobby Richardson's hope of scoring were dashed as Berra popped it up to short.
In the third, Richardson collected another hit, but Tony Kubek was then retired. Roger Maris took Jim O'Toole to a full count. But here, the Reds' pitcher really came through. Maris hit into an inning-ending double play.
So is this poor hitting on the Yankees' part, or gutsy pitching on Jim O'Toole's part? The Cincinnati pitcher won nineteen games in 1961, so he was no fluke. The Reds seemingly had more pennants on their way come 1963, as they added rookie Pete Rose to the club. But O'Toole added seventeen wins to the cause that year. His earned run average was 2.88 that year. 1964 saw another seventeen wins and an ERA of 2.66. But here we are in 1961 and it's 3.10. Maybe not great, but still pretty good.
Bobby Richardson connected for a one-out single in the seventh off Jim O'Toole, but once again the Cincy pitcher just was clutch. Tony Kubek flied out. Roger Maris popped out.
Well, the Yankees had the win, but Richardson had nothing to show for his efforts. In game two, the Reds upped their play both on the mound and with the bat. They won 6-2 behind Joey Jay, another good pitcher on Cincinnati. Bobby Richardson had to settle for just 1-4. And no runs or RBIs.
Bob Purkey then tried to keep the ball rolling for Cincinnati as they headed home to Crosley Field. The home team led 2-1 after seven innings. Bobby Richardson had no hits at that time. But with two away in the top of the eighth, New York reached down for that something extra they always seemed to have. Johnny Blanchard tied the contest with a pinch-hit home run. Better still, looked who was up next? Drawing inspiration from this, Richardson got an 0-1 pitch he liked. The single kept the ball rolling.
On the first pitch to Tony Kubek, the Yankees' second basemen stole second. All Kubek could do was fly out to the gap in right.
Still, momentum was on the New York side now. Luis Arroyo, the Yankees' star reliever, retired his old club in order in the bottom of the eight, and then the offence kicked in to help his cause. Roger Maris belted a solo home run in the top of the ninth, making the New York Yankees 3-2 winners.
But Jim O'Toole was back in game four. Back to face Whitey Ford again. This seemed like an impossible task, although the Reds' pitcher gave an admirable performance. The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the first. 1-2-3 in the second. But Ford was, Ford.
So, the Yankees batted in the top of the third, and O'Toole did what you don't want to do to start the inning. He walked Bill Showron. The next two batters hit into force plays, but now Richardson was back up. He collected his first extra-base hit of the Fall Classic. The double put two runners in scoring position. Tony Kubek flied out to end the top of the third.
The fourth frame was better as New York broke the scoreless deadlock. Still, it was just one run. They needed more. Thanks to Richardson, they got it the next inning.
Skowron, who's given name was Bill, singled. But then all appeared hopeless as Clete Boyer hit into a double play. Jim O'Toole seemed to find a way. But then again, so did the Yankees. Whitey Ford was not a great hitter, but remember what I told you about walks? Well, the Yankees' pitcher drew one to keep the inning going. Bobby Richardson moved him to second with a grounder that got through. Tony Kubek might have failed earlier in the series, but not here. His single scored Whitey Ford, and everyone took another base on the throw home. Sadly, Roger Maris could not come through, so the Yankees had to settle on another single tally.
But Whitey Ford liked two-run leads. It had been more than enough in game one, and more than enough here. Sure, he gave up hits in the third, fourth and fifth inning, but wasn't allowing anyone to score.
The Yankees must have been pleased to see Jim O'Toole lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the fifth. Just like that, New York's offence was ready to take off like a rocket. Clete Boyer hit a two-run double in the top of the sixth, to make things a little easier on Whitey. And this seemed to be the type of inning where Bobby Richardson might knock home a run or two. A 4-0 lead took the pressure of not only Ford, but the rest of the team. Speaking of Whitey, he was up with just one away and two runners in scoring position. He grounded to first on a squeeze attempt, and then Moose Skowron got trapped between third and home. But Skowron decided it was too risky, and after taking some steps towards home, retreated. But he couldn't go back to third as Clete Boyer was now there. The end result? The Reds' Gordy Coleman, who'd made the putout unassisted at first, wasted no time in catching up to Moose Skowron across the diamond. Another unassisted putout.
This was, however, just a temporary setback for New York. Bobby Richardson led off the next inning with a single. And he later scored on Hector Lopez' base hit. The 5-0 would be quite a gap. And the gap was turned into a chasm as the visiting Yankees tacked on two more runs. It seemed like everything settled down after that. Jim Coates had relieved Whitey Ford in the top of the sixth. Ford was sent to the showers, the result of something that had transpired in his last plate appearance. The pitcher fouled a ball of his foot and couldn't really go on. No matter, Coates shutout the Reds the rest of the way. And while Jim Brosnan (Who had relieved Jim O'Toole and recovered from the shocking series of events in the top of the sixth and seventh) and Bill Henry pitched splendidly for Cincinnati from there, it was too late. Coates had gotten New York out of trouble in the bottom of the sixth, breezed through innings seven and eight, then made Whitey Ford proud in the ninth. The Reds got two on, but could not score. The 7-0 final score was a bit awkward, as the visiting team could have made it even more one-sided. But nonetheless, this was a display of offence that was the New York Yankee trademark back then. Perhaps also missing was the long ball. Cincinnati also made some fine fielding plays this game, making it more interesting than the final score would suggest. Yogi Berra was nailed at third on a run-scoring single by Moose Skowron in the top of the seventh. Bobby Richardson appeared to have his fourth hit of the game in the top of the eight, as he sent a liner over second. There was Elio Chacon, the Cincinnati second basemen, to leap up and snare it.
So, New York looked so settle this thing in the next game. Or go home for a game six (And possibly seven). I don't think the Yankees wanted to go home. Bobby Richardson started the game out with a single. And when he scored later that inning on Johnny Blanchard's two-run home run, the Yankees were ahead for good. Richardson also led off the second inning, but could only fly out. But, now it didn't matter. Five runs had crossed the dish in the top of the first. Another one did for New York the next inning. The third inning had New York not scoring. Richardson did have a chance when he batted with two away and Clete Boyer on second. He grounded out. But that 6-0 lead looked huge.
Not that the Reds were about to be shutout again. Frank Robinson hit a three-run home run off Ralph Terry in the bottom of the third. Cincinnati might have had a comeback in their minds. In only 2 1/3 innings, they had six hits off Terry. But Bud Daley relieved him, and worked New York out of the innings. Cincinnati had gotten two additional hits in that third (Off the new pitcher), but would find scoring runs a difficult task from there.
New York didn't. They scored five more times in the top of the fourth. This game was over already. But there were more chances for Bobby Richardson to succeed. Facing Bob Purkey in the top of the fifth, who'd pitched well in the third contest, Bobby could only ground out. The Reds, by the way, actually had a mild uprising in the bottom of the frame. They scored two runs via a Wally Post home run. But it could have been three. Vada Pinson had led off the inning with a single, but was out trying to stretch it into a two-bagger.
The Yankees took little notice of this. They had more work to do. A walk, and error and a fielder's choice scored the twelfth New York in the top of the sixth. An intentionally walk to Clete Boyer and a flyball by Bud Daley made it 13-5. There were two runners on and two away when Bobby Richardson came back up. He popped out in foul territory.
Bobby's next at bat was in the top of the eighth against Jim Brosnan. Clete Boyer was at second with two outs after singling and advancing on a bunt. Richardson grounded out to short.
That was it for Bobby Richardson with the bat in the 1961 World Series. The Yankees had truly woken up in games four and five, but their second basemen had just two runs scored to show for hitting .364 (4-11) in the last two contests. It seems hard to believe that Richardson didn't collect at least one RBI the whole Fall Classic. In the previous World Series, Bobby set a still-standing record for RBIs with twelve.
The New York Yankees were one awesome baseball club in the early to mid 1960s. They played in five straight World Series (1960-1964). It was sadly, very easy to get overlooked on the team. Whitey Ford was the big pitching star, but hurlers like Ralph Terry, Bill Stafford and Luis Arroyo were also big-time contributors to the 1961. As, too, were pitchers like rookie Rollie Sheldon, Bud Daley (Despite going only 8-9 after New York got him from Kansas) and Jim Coates.
With batters, you had to be Mickey Mantle or Roger Maris to get noticed on the 1961 Yankees. Elston Howard hit .348 that year. Moose Skowron and Yogi Berra helped. And Clete Boyer could hit the occasional home run and was a great third basemen. But they were overlooked. So, too, were the middle infielders. Tony Kubek and Bobby Richardson. They helped not just in 1961, but from the time they joined the Yankees in the late 1950s. It was just too easy to get overlooked.
References
Allen, Maury. Roger Maris: A Man For All Seasons. D.I. Fine, 1986.
Fonseca, Lew, director. World Series of 1961. American and National Leagues of Professional Baseball Club, 2002. DVD
Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick: My Life in and Around Baseball. Dell, 1988.
Gallagher, Mark. Explosion!: Mickey Mantle's Legendary Home Runs. Arbor House, 1987.
Houk, Ralph, and Robert W. Creamer. Season of Glory. Pocket Books, 1989.
Mantle, Mickey, and Herb Gluck. The Mick. Doubleday, 1985.
Mantle, Mickey and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of 12 World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. Harper Paperbacks, 1994.
Smith, Ron. 61*: The Story of Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and One Magical Summer. Sporting News, 2001.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. 22 Mar. 2022.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 22 Mar. 2022.
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