All four wins by the Yankees in 1961 were via left-handers. Luis Arroyo, who just passed away on the 13th, even won a game.
But it was Whitey Ford's World Series. At least, it was Ford in vintage Fall Classic form. Whitey had tossed a pair of shutouts in games three and six in 1960 vs. the Pirates, and looking for more here. The poor Cincinnati Reds might have felt a tad over-matched, but were determined not to go down meekly.
In game one at home, the Yankees took a close 2-0 ballgame over the Reds. Jim O'Toole, coincidentally, another lefty, batted Ford all the way for the visitors. Jim gave up only six hits over seven innings. But Whitey gave up just two hits over nine innings. And the Reds never touched home. But New York did via a pair of solo home runs from Elston Howard and Moose Skowron.
Ford gave up a hit to the game's second batter, Eddie Kasko, then settled down and fired a one-hitter from there. Clete Boyer made a pair of highlight reel plays at third. Ford was up to 27 consecutive shutout innings in the Fall Classic.
But the Reds won game two, 6-2. Ralph Terry and Luis Arroyo could not hold the fort. Joey Jay pitched an excellent game, limiting the Yankees to just four hits. The Yankees did not help themselves as they made three errors to the Reds' zero. Arroyo himself made one that led to a Cincinnati run.
So it was off to Cincy's Crosley Field, tied at a game each. Cincy, behind the great pitching of Bob Purkey, looked poised with a 2-1 lead over Bill Stafford (Replaced by Bud Daley) after seven innings. However, here's where Yankee pinch hitter extraordinaire, Johnny Blanchard came off the bench to deliver. Two were out in the fourth when he batted for the pitcher. On Purkey's first pitch, Blanchard hit it deep to right to tie it at 2. Luis Arroyo came in to pitch the bottom of the frame and keep things on even terms. Remember, not only was the game tied, but so was the Fall Classic itself at this point.
Arroyo fanned Frank Robinson on a 3-2 pitch. The next two batters fell behind 1-2, and went down. Roger Maris led off the top of the ninth, and made his first hit of the 1961 World Series count. He drove a 2-1 from Purkey to right for the Yankees' second solo shot in two innings. Arroyo survived an Red uprising (Leo Cardenas hit a double) in the bottom of the frame. 3-2, New York.
Ford was back in game four for another battle against Jim O'Toole. The two went at it splendidly for five innings. But it was Ford extending his scoreless streak to 33 as he shutout the Reds. New York got the ball rolling in the top of the fourth as Maris walked. Mickey Mantle, playing in just his second Fall Classic game in 1961 (Having missed the first two contests at home), hit a long single to left. The great Mickey was too sore to get to second as Maris went to third. Hector Lopez came in to run for The Mick. A double play scored the only run New York would need. O'Toole left after five, allowing just two runs. The Reds got a man on in the bottom of the fifth, as Ford left because of an injury. However, another Jim, Jim Coates, came in and pitched four shutout innings of his own. The Yankees made it look easy against reliever Jim Brosnan, scoring five more times to turn this close contest into a rout, 7-0. The Yankees needed only one of the remaining three games.
And they got it in game five, although the Reds really hit the ball well and often. New York started fast, putting a "5" on the scoreboard before Cincinnati batted. Maris doubled home a run in the top of the second, 6-0 Bronx Bombers. The Reds had a bit of an uprising as the knocked Ralph Terry out via a 3-run home run by Frank Robinson in the bottom of the third. That cut the lead in half. Lefty Bud Daley came in to try and put out the fire. Instead, he put two on before getting the last out of the frame.
The Yankees made things a little easier for Bud as they scored another five times in the top of the fourth. Having driven out poor Joey Jay in the top of the first, and continued the assault on Jim Maloney (Long before Jim would pitch two no-hitters for the Reds), it was now Bill Henry pitching. The Yankees scored their runs on a two-run single by Moose Skowron and a three-run home run by Hector Lopez.
Down 11-3, the Reds woke up mildly in the bottom of the fifth after Bob Purkey came in and resumed his fine pitching from the third contest. Purkey pitched a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. The Reds wasted no time in getting things going in the bottom of the frame. Vada Pinson singled to centre. But the swift centre fielder decided to test Roger Maris' excellent arm. Vada broke for second, Roger threw. Roger and out. Frank Robinson was retired and Daley seemed safe. Gordy Coleman grounded to Skowron at first, and it was inning over.
No, wait a minute.
Daley covered first, and had Coleman beaten. But alas...The ball! Bud dropped it!
Given some life, the Reds got some offence in. Wally Post blasted a two-run home run to left. The Reds had five runs in five innings now. And they had ten hits. But on the scoreboard, it was the Bronx Bombers up by six. None of the above really mattered. The two runs Daley allowed were the last two runs Cincinnati would score in 1961. And they were both unearned.
Daley got one of the runs back himself, anyways. Having already scored a run in the top of the sixth off Purkey, Daley came up with the bases loaded and only one out. A fly ball to centre scored Howard, 13-5.
Daley gave up only one more hit, a double to Frank Robinson. He got the Reds out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. And while the Reds had eleven hits, the Yankees ended the day with fifteen themselves. Bud had a fine 6 2/3 innings pitched for the win.
The Yankees "left" nothing for the Reds in the 1961 World Series. But it was their ace lefty starter, their ace lefty reliever, and their underrated southpaw that collected the "W's" in the World Series.
References
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. (15 January, 2016)
Retrosheet http://www.retrosheet.org/ Web. (15 January, 2016)
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/ Web. (15 January, 2016)
But it was Whitey Ford's World Series. At least, it was Ford in vintage Fall Classic form. Whitey had tossed a pair of shutouts in games three and six in 1960 vs. the Pirates, and looking for more here. The poor Cincinnati Reds might have felt a tad over-matched, but were determined not to go down meekly.
In game one at home, the Yankees took a close 2-0 ballgame over the Reds. Jim O'Toole, coincidentally, another lefty, batted Ford all the way for the visitors. Jim gave up only six hits over seven innings. But Whitey gave up just two hits over nine innings. And the Reds never touched home. But New York did via a pair of solo home runs from Elston Howard and Moose Skowron.
Ford gave up a hit to the game's second batter, Eddie Kasko, then settled down and fired a one-hitter from there. Clete Boyer made a pair of highlight reel plays at third. Ford was up to 27 consecutive shutout innings in the Fall Classic.
But the Reds won game two, 6-2. Ralph Terry and Luis Arroyo could not hold the fort. Joey Jay pitched an excellent game, limiting the Yankees to just four hits. The Yankees did not help themselves as they made three errors to the Reds' zero. Arroyo himself made one that led to a Cincinnati run.
So it was off to Cincy's Crosley Field, tied at a game each. Cincy, behind the great pitching of Bob Purkey, looked poised with a 2-1 lead over Bill Stafford (Replaced by Bud Daley) after seven innings. However, here's where Yankee pinch hitter extraordinaire, Johnny Blanchard came off the bench to deliver. Two were out in the fourth when he batted for the pitcher. On Purkey's first pitch, Blanchard hit it deep to right to tie it at 2. Luis Arroyo came in to pitch the bottom of the frame and keep things on even terms. Remember, not only was the game tied, but so was the Fall Classic itself at this point.
Arroyo fanned Frank Robinson on a 3-2 pitch. The next two batters fell behind 1-2, and went down. Roger Maris led off the top of the ninth, and made his first hit of the 1961 World Series count. He drove a 2-1 from Purkey to right for the Yankees' second solo shot in two innings. Arroyo survived an Red uprising (Leo Cardenas hit a double) in the bottom of the frame. 3-2, New York.
Ford was back in game four for another battle against Jim O'Toole. The two went at it splendidly for five innings. But it was Ford extending his scoreless streak to 33 as he shutout the Reds. New York got the ball rolling in the top of the fourth as Maris walked. Mickey Mantle, playing in just his second Fall Classic game in 1961 (Having missed the first two contests at home), hit a long single to left. The great Mickey was too sore to get to second as Maris went to third. Hector Lopez came in to run for The Mick. A double play scored the only run New York would need. O'Toole left after five, allowing just two runs. The Reds got a man on in the bottom of the fifth, as Ford left because of an injury. However, another Jim, Jim Coates, came in and pitched four shutout innings of his own. The Yankees made it look easy against reliever Jim Brosnan, scoring five more times to turn this close contest into a rout, 7-0. The Yankees needed only one of the remaining three games.
And they got it in game five, although the Reds really hit the ball well and often. New York started fast, putting a "5" on the scoreboard before Cincinnati batted. Maris doubled home a run in the top of the second, 6-0 Bronx Bombers. The Reds had a bit of an uprising as the knocked Ralph Terry out via a 3-run home run by Frank Robinson in the bottom of the third. That cut the lead in half. Lefty Bud Daley came in to try and put out the fire. Instead, he put two on before getting the last out of the frame.
The Yankees made things a little easier for Bud as they scored another five times in the top of the fourth. Having driven out poor Joey Jay in the top of the first, and continued the assault on Jim Maloney (Long before Jim would pitch two no-hitters for the Reds), it was now Bill Henry pitching. The Yankees scored their runs on a two-run single by Moose Skowron and a three-run home run by Hector Lopez.
Down 11-3, the Reds woke up mildly in the bottom of the fifth after Bob Purkey came in and resumed his fine pitching from the third contest. Purkey pitched a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. The Reds wasted no time in getting things going in the bottom of the frame. Vada Pinson singled to centre. But the swift centre fielder decided to test Roger Maris' excellent arm. Vada broke for second, Roger threw. Roger and out. Frank Robinson was retired and Daley seemed safe. Gordy Coleman grounded to Skowron at first, and it was inning over.
No, wait a minute.
Daley covered first, and had Coleman beaten. But alas...The ball! Bud dropped it!
Given some life, the Reds got some offence in. Wally Post blasted a two-run home run to left. The Reds had five runs in five innings now. And they had ten hits. But on the scoreboard, it was the Bronx Bombers up by six. None of the above really mattered. The two runs Daley allowed were the last two runs Cincinnati would score in 1961. And they were both unearned.
Daley got one of the runs back himself, anyways. Having already scored a run in the top of the sixth off Purkey, Daley came up with the bases loaded and only one out. A fly ball to centre scored Howard, 13-5.
Daley gave up only one more hit, a double to Frank Robinson. He got the Reds out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. And while the Reds had eleven hits, the Yankees ended the day with fifteen themselves. Bud had a fine 6 2/3 innings pitched for the win.
The Yankees "left" nothing for the Reds in the 1961 World Series. But it was their ace lefty starter, their ace lefty reliever, and their underrated southpaw that collected the "W's" in the World Series.
References
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. (15 January, 2016)
Retrosheet http://www.retrosheet.org/ Web. (15 January, 2016)
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/ Web. (15 January, 2016)
