1961 Yankee Of The Day: Johnny Blanchard

Blanchard comes off the bench, hits a homerun.

Blanchard comes off the bench, hits a homerun.

Again and again? It seemed like it.
 
April didn't give any hint of that. He played three straight games, all as a pinch hitter and did nothing, except strikeout in his last at bat of the month.
 
After failing to get a hit in another pinch hit appearance on May 2nd, he started the very next day. Blanchard only went 1-5, but he collected his first RBI.
 
Then he went 0-2 in his next two pinch hit at bats. But on May 7th, he was back behind the plate against Los Angeles, and he smacked his first homerun, and drew an intentional walk. The downside was losing the game 5-3 and doing nothing else other than walk and homerun.
 
5 days later he was walked intentionally again in a game against the Tigers. He also collected a hit, but it only lifted his average to .167!
 
The next day, he hommered against Phil Regan to bring the Yankees within one of the Tigers, 3-2. Yogi Berra, playing in left field tied the game in the 6th with a solo shot. Alas, the Yankees watched helplessly as the Tigers put 5 runs on the board the rest of the way, to their zero.
 
He was back on May 14th, in the second game of a doubleheader. This was John's forth straight game the he made an appearance, three of them starts. In the first game, he came in as a defensive replacement in the 10th inning and failed to collect a hit in his only at bat. In the nightcap, however, he collected a hit, 2 walks and an RBI. Now his average was a season high .240, so far.
 
His next big game came 11 days later. Kind of fitting that it was against the Red Sox, as you will see later. Mickey Mantle was off, so Roger Maris started in centerfield, Yogi Berra in right, and Bob Cerv in left. You had Clete Boyer batting second and Bobby Richardson batting eighth in front of Whitey Ford.
 
In the bottom of the first with Tony Kubek on first and one out, Blanchard faced former Cardinal Billy Muffett. Johnny whacked a homerun to right, and the Yankees would tack on another run that inning. It was 6-0 after 5 innings, and the Yankees held off Boston's 4 runs late in the game to win.
 
Blanchard collected just one more RBI the rest of the month, however, and his average was now down to .204.
 
On June 1st, he collected two hits and two walks. His two hits were doubles, and he got another RBI.
 
Four days later, Blanchard really came up big!
 
With the Yankees trailing 2-0 to the Twins in the bottom of the 7th. Blanchard faced Don Lee with two on.
 
WHAM! Three run homerun!
 
Not only did the Yankees have the lead, but Mantle's two run shot the next inning put the game out of reach.
 
On June 8th, it was Johnny Blanchard who got 2 hits and scored twice. He failed to pick up an RBI, however. The Yankees beat KC, 6-1.
 
He did get RBIs in back to back games on June 14th and 15th, then he upped his heroics with a performance on June 18th against the Tigers. Blanchard helped the Yankees to a 9-0 win.
 
In the bottom of the 2nd, Bill Showron went deep, and then Blanchard, on cue, followed suit for back to back dingers. It was 2-0 against Yankee killer Frank Larry. Boyer and Mantle then each hit sacrafice flies to make it 4-0 before the inning was over.
 
Jerry Casale was the Tigers pitcher in the 7th and the Yankees were now up 6-0. Blanchard, made it clear that he and the Yankees weren't finished by hitting another homerun. He ended the game with a season high 3 runs scored.
 
This performance lifted his average to a more than respectable .278.
 
On the 24th, he helped the Yankees to another win over the City Twin with a homerun, then two days later, smacked one pinch hitting.
 
So June ended with Johnny Blanchard hitting 5 homeruns, upping his total to 8 on the season. His also knocked in 12 and batted .359 for the month.
 
On Independence Day of 1961, Blanchard raised his average to .293 by going 3 for 4. Amazingly, he did not get an RBI or a run scored. The Yankees lost to Detroit, 4-3.
 
4 days later, he once again torched the Red Sox with a homerun. Then he got two RBIs against the other Sox on the 15th. And he was know just one decimal point below .300!
 
He did reach .300 on July 19th in the first game of a doubleheader against the Sens, but he dropped below the mark in the nightcap.
 
But on the 21st, Blanchard came up in the top of the 9th against Boston, of course. The Yankees trailed 8-6, with two outs and the bases loaded. Hey! Don't we all go to bed dreaming of this scenario? As in hitting a grand slam.
 
Which Blanchard did, against Mike Fornieles. Did I mention he was pinch hitting?
 
So the very next day, Blanchard again pinch hit in the 9th inning. And again the Yankees trailed, this time 9-8. The pitcher was Gene Conley, who also played for the NBA's Boston Celtics.
 
And I'll bet he wished basketball season started early that season, as Blanchard smacked another homerun, tying the game. The Yankees went on to win, 11-9.
 
So his next game was four games later. This time, the Yankees got the idea: We gotta start this guy more often.
 
The strategy would pay off.
 
In the bottom of the 1st, Mantle greeted Ray Herbert with a two run shot. Blanchard was up next. Could he duplicate that?
 
Well, he couldn't his a two run homerun, obliviously! But he settled for a solo shot!
 
It was still 3-0 in the bottom of the 4th as Blanchard came up again.
 
And again hit a homerun.
 
Johnny Blanchard now had 4 homeruns in 4 plate appearances.
 
Herbert, now shaken, allowed another blast by Boyer before the inning ended.
 
So Blanchard came up again the bottom of the 6th, with Herbert settling down.
 
Blanchard gave it a ride, deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep to right. Can it be? Blanchard turned on the jets, to give the ball some imaginary weight. Floyd Robinson in right field ran, backed up to the fence.
 
And he hauled it in! So close.
 
Blanchard's next at bat resulted in a double play, but the Yankees starved off the ChiSox's two run uprising in the top of the 7th and won 5-2.
 
Blanchard knew that it was still all about Mantle, and Maris (who didn't hit one) after the game. Johnny made that clear to the reporters who came up to ask him about his slugging rampage.  Everyone knew exactly what he meant.
 
The month ended with Blanchard going 3-3, plus a walk, in a game against the O's . But just like his first appearance this month, there was no RBIs or runs scored. And again it was a loss by one run, 2-1.
 
But this performance put his average at .315 for the season.
 
Kansas was the victim of two hits, a walk and three RBIs on August 2nd. And his batting average was now a season high .321, but it would not get any higher.
 
Blanchard managed just one hit against Minnesota two days later. The Yankees were tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 10th inning. With one out, Mantle walked and Yogi Berra singled him to second. Johnny Blanchard would face Bill Pleis.
 
Hero time!
 
BLAM! Homerun! The Yankees won 8-5.
 
He had just one hit in 7 trips to the plate the next day, but, you guessed it, it was a homerun.
 
His average sagged the next few days, but he was back at it on the 13th, with 2 hits (one a triple), 2 runs scored and an RBI.
 
This would be his last RBI of the month, and Blanchard close out the month with just a run scored in the last 9 games.
 
September started out no better as he was 0 for 2 on September 3rd to drop his batting average to .282. But the next day was a new day, a 3 for 3 day!
 
And it included a homerun.
 
On September 6th, it was a 2 for 4 day, but the "2" represented homeruns, giving him 18 for the season.
 
On the 8th, a 2-3 performance at the plate put his average back over .300, for good on the season.
 
Another homerun came the very next day against Cleveland, and he had two other hits for good measure.
 
The big moment came the next day (September 10th) in the first game of a doubleheader against the Indians. Blanchard was in left field It came in the bottom of the second, after Mickey Mantle tripled. Johnny Blanchard faced Barry Latman and went deep to right to give him 20 homeruns on the year. It had taken him just 78 games, 197 at bats and 225 plate appearances. The Yankees won the game 7-6.
 
In the second game, he actually failed to hit a homerun, but, playing left field again, Blanchard again made his presence felt with 2 hits, 2 RBIs, a run scored and one hit by pitch. Mantle kept everyone interested with homerun #53.
 
It wasn't until September 20th that he got two hits again, as the Yankees beat Baltimore 4-2. Blanchard did fail to get an RBI, although he did score a run. And the run ended up being the Yankees forth and final run. In that game Maris (#59) and Berra (#21) went back to back in the top of the third before Elston Howard's double scored Blanchard, who had singled. I wonder if anyone noticed?
 
After getting a hit in his only at bat of a September 24th game against Boston, Blanchard had 2 more hits and his first RBI in two weeks.
 
Then, in his final highlight of the 1961 regular season, he went 2-4 with his final homerun against, why Boston, of course. In the bottom of the 4th, he hit a dinger off  Bill Monbouquette to put the Yankees up 1-0. After the Red Sox tied it in the 7th, Blanchard won the game in the bottom of the 9th with a walk off single of Monbouquette  to score Roger Maris.
 
Blanchard finished the 1961 season as having participated in 93 games, accumulated 243 at bats, hitting 21 homeruns, knocking in 54 runners, and touching home 38 times. He recorded 27 walks, 9 intentional. Plus he was hit by a pitch four times. His finals batting average was .305 and his on base percentage was a very impressive .382.
 
He caught 48 games, played in left field 8 times and right field 7 times. He pinch hit 33 times.
 
With the Yankees up 2-0 in game 1 of the 1961 World Series against Cincinnati, John came up in the bottom of the 8th against Jim Brosnan. New York had Berra on first and two outs. Brosnan got him on a popup.
 
Game 2 was an 0-4 performance against Joey Jay, as the Yankees lost 6-2.
 
Blanchard had a chance to redeem himself in game 3 as the Yankees trailed 2-1 in the eighth. There were two outs and he faced Bob Purkey, having one hell of a game.
 
Purkey had kept the Yankees off guard all game long with knuckleballs. But Mickey Mantle reminded Blanchard before he batted to look out for a slider on the first pitch. That was the best pitch to go after, because it was all knuckles after that.
 
Mantle's advice paid off as Blanchard slammed Purkey's first pitch (a slider, of course) into right for a homerun. Maris won the game an inning later.
 
Johnny Blanchard did not play in game 4, but in game 5 with Mantle back out, there John was out in right field, with Maris in center and Berra in left.
 
In the top of the first with two on, two outs and Joey Jay back on the mound, Blanchard put the Yankees ahead for good with a homerun.
 
After walking in the second inning off Jim Maloney, he doubled to right in the 4th inning of Bill Henry, which moved Tony Kubek to third. Skowron scored both of them with a single, putting New York up 8-3.
 
In the sixth, it was Purkey back on the mound. Blanchard drew a lead off walk, and would later score again. Now the Bronx Bombers were up 12-5. They would add another tally that inning.
 
Then in the 9th, with the Yankees up 13-5 with Maris on first and one out, Blanchard faced Ken Hunt, the Reds' 8th pitcher on the day. Blanchard grounded out.
 
In four World Series games that year, Blanchard had 2 homeruns, 3 RBIs, 4 runs scored, 2 walk and a .400 average in 10 at bats.
 
Overall, the 1961 season was a momentous one for Johnny Blanchard. While Mantle and Maris grabbed the highlights when it came to the long ball, Blanchard did that two in limited duty in both the regular season and post season.


References


Golenbock, Peter. "1961." Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print, pp. 405-445.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. "The M &M Boys." All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print, pp. 129-145.

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. 15 Oct. 2011.

The World Series Of 1961. Dir. Lew Fonseca. Prod. Dick Borden. Perf. New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 1961. Major League Baseball Productions Inc, 1961. DVD. DVD Released in 2006.

1961 Yankee Of The Day: Hector Lopez

Lopez was someone who was stuck with a sarcastic nickname after coming to New York: What-A-Pair-Of-Hands-Hector.

This was because Hector had a notorious problem fielding.

But their was nothing wrong with his hitting, except in the 1961 regular season.

Lopez started the season in left field alongside Mickey Mantle And Roger Maris. Too bad he wasn't hitting like them.

After going 0 for 4 in the season opener, Lopez managed a hit and a walk against Kansas City, where he also scored a run, four days later.

But in his next six games, the best he could manage was 1-4, which did not much for his average. An April 23rd 1 for 3 with a walk left his average at .176. An 0-4 performance the next day against the Tigers (and Yankee killer Frank Larry), dropped his average even lower (.158).

Then came a bit of a resurgance. First Lopez was 3-6 with an RBI and a run scored two days later. He followed that up with a 1-2, RBI day against Cleveland on the 27th.

Despite getting a hit in the 3 games that followed that, Hector ended April with his average at .220.

May started out on a, hey-that-doesn't-make-sense note. Lopez managed just one hit in the first four games. Just one RBI, too. But 4 walks resulted in 4 runs scored for Lopez.

May 7th saw Lopez get his first extra base hit in about a month with a double of the Angels Ned Garver in the 8th inning. It was actually a lead off double as the Yankees eventually loaded the bases with two outs. Clete Boyer's grounder forced Johnny Blanchard at third. The Yankees eventually lost, 5-3.

After going a combined 1-10 in the next two games, Lopez smacked hit first homerun with a longball of Lary on the 12th. Moose Skowron scored infront of him on that blast in the 4th, overcame the Tigers 1-0 lead that they had established in the top of the frame. Despite another run in the 5th for a 3-1 lead, the Yankees did no more, and Lary and the Tigers won again, 4-3.

His next two games were just pinch hit appearances, first drawing a walk off Hank Agguire of Detroit on the 14th, then walking once, staying in the game and walking again, two days later.

He drew still another walk on May 17th, but also added two hits, as the Yankees lost 8-7 to the Senators.

On May 19th, Hector Lopez got a pitch he liked in the top of the 7th of the Yankees game against Cleveland. His homerun put the Yankees up 6-4, but 5 runs by the Indians in the bottom of the 8th cost the Yankees the game.

Lopez was relegated to pinch hit duties the following day, and the Yankees were again relegated to mortals as they suffered their forth straight loss, 4-3.

But Lopez's RBI in the first game of a doubleheader (against Baltimore) had the Yankees back in the winners column. He managed a hit in 4 trips to the plate in the nightcap.

But he would be held hitless by Jack Fisher (who had given up Ted Williams' last homerun the year before, and later on this season, Roger Maris' 60th) on the the 22nd.

His last May appearance was on the 24th as he went 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts and a walk.

In June, Lopez would appear in only 9 games, and four of them would be as a pinch hitter.

But on the very first day on the month, Lopez pinch hit in the top of the 8th in a game against Boston. He hit into a fielder's choice, but got an RBI in the process. Then, four days later, Hector was back in left, and went 1 for 3 with 2 more RBIs. The next day he helped the Yankees to a 7-2 win over Minny by touching home twice.

He got his next RBI on June 12th against Los Angeles, then got a pinch hit the next day. But for the rest of the month he did little to none for the Yankees.

He next hit was on July 4th, and again it was as a pinch hitter. And again, it got him and RBI.  On July 7th against Boston, he got a hit and scored a run against Boston, as the Yankees ran away with a 14-3 win.

Another pinch hit single of July 15th against the White Sox and pitcher Turk Lown, got his average back over .200. Mercifully, it would go only up the rest of the way.

After going hitless the next day, he got an RBI (but not a hit) pinch hitting against Washington on the 18th. It was in the 7th inning, on a sacrifice fly. That tied the game 3-3. Mickey Mantle then put the Yankees ahead for good with his second homerun of the game an inning later.

Lopez would pinch run the next day for Yogi Berra and later collect a single, but the Yankees lost 12-2.

He seemed stuck in, 1 for 4 as the month ended with this happening 3 times, plus a one for three day. His hit on July 27th was triple.

He set a fine example in his first August appearance as he went 3-3 with and RBI and a run scored. Three games would pass before he got another hit, and then after that he picked up a hit on August 11th in his only plate appearance against Washington. Then he got 2 hits, a walk, and RBI and a run scored against Washington on the 13th.

That brough his average up to .228, but struggling the rest of the month brough it down to .218. However, on the last day of August, he came up to the plate in the 8th inning with Mantle on second after a single and a steal. Jack Kralick then became the victim of a Lopez longball deep to left to bring the Yankees from 5-2 down to within a run. All for not as the Yankees lost 5-4.

September was a slow month for a while. But on September 8th, he scored a run while pinch running for Mantle in the bottom of the 8th against Cleveland. The next day he got still another pinch hit, a triple, and scored a run against the Tribe.

After striking out in his next pinch hit appearance, Hector was 1-3 against the White Sox on September 12th.

On the 14th, he drew a walk pinch hitting in the first game of a double header against Chicago. In the nightcap, he went 2 for 4.

Lopez then struggled for a while, altough he walked twice and scored a run on the 26th against Baltimore. Then he went 2-4 with his only September RBI the next day. His last notable game was on the second last game of the season against Boston, where he went 2-4 with 2 runs scored.

Lopez's numbers were a dissappointment. Just a .222 average, 3 homeruns and 22 RBI, plus 27 runs scored. Of the 93 games he played in, 65 games were in left field, nine were in right, 22 had Lopez comming into the game as a pinch hitter and 3 as a pinch runner.

But it was on to the World Series. And that's what I'll remember best about Hector.

It didn't get off to a promising start. It was like his regular season. Playing in right field, since Roger Maris started in center for the injured Mantle, he managed just a walk in 3 trips to the plate against the Reds Jim O'Toole. Manager Ralph Houk would send Johnny Blanchard to pinch hit for him in the 8th.

In game 2, it was Lopez who pinch hit. In the 7th, he batted for Ralph Terry and drew a walk, but was left stranded as the Yankees lost, 6-2.

In game 4, Mantle played for the second time in the series. In the top of the fourth with Roger Maris on first, he lashed a hit to left.

It should have been a double, but Mantle's hip was hurting, and Ralph Houk sent in Hector Lopez to pinch run for Mickey, who had only reached first.

A double play scored Maris, but erased Lopez from the basepaths.

Maris had to go back to center after a two game return to right. Lopez took over from the vacancy.

In the sixth, with the Yankees up now 2-0, Lopez fanned against Jim Brosnan, who had relieved O'Toole's fine 5 IP 5H 2R performance.

But the Yankees would get to Brosnan soon enough. They picked up 2 against him that inning, and when Hector batted in the next inning, the Yankees had a man on first and second, and just one out. A wild pitch moved both Bobby Richardson and Roger Maris, who were the baserunners, into scoring position.

Lopez would knock a single to center to put the game out of reach as both runners scored. Hector reached second on Vada Pinson's throw home.

Brosnan beared down to strikeout Elston Howard, but Yogi Berra drew a walk.

A single by Bill Skowron scored Lopez, although Berra was gunned out at third by Pinson. Still, you can't argue with a 7-0 lead can you? That would be the final score as Jim Coates pitched shutout relief ball after taking over from Whitey Ford, and Brosnan and Bill Henry closed the door on the Yankees after that. Lopez was the only batter in the 9th not to strikeout against Henry as he flew out.

Gordy Coleman ended the game by flying out to Hector with two on in the bottom of the frame.

The next game saw the Yankees up 3-0 in the first against Joey Jay as Lopez came to bat. Only he would not face Jay. Jim Maloney came in. Hector (playing in his familiar left field position) would greet him with a triple to drive in Moose Skowron. Lopez then scored himself as Clete Boyer hit a double. The Yankees, as a team, had hit for the cycle in that inning, and were up 5-0.

It was now 6-0 as Lopez fanned against Henry in the top of the third. But in the top of the fourth, with the Reds a little back in it, 8-3, Lopez put a damper on any comback thought with a three run shot of Henry. 11-3 Yanks!

But the Reds still didn't quit, as Wally Post's 2 run shot in the bottom of the 5th made it 11-5 Yankees. So it was back to work in the top of the 6th.

Lopez would get an RBI on a bunt to first which the Reds tried unsucessfully to nail Johhny Blanchard at home. Lopez made it to second on the error. Bud Daley, who had relieved Ralph Terry, then hit a sacrifce fly to center for the Yankees 13th and final run.

Hector grounded out in top of the 8th against Brosnan, the Reds 7th (of 8) pitcher of the afternoon. But the Yankees had enough of that, keeping the Cincinatti at bay after Post's blast.

The World Series ended with Vada Pinson flying out to Hector Lopez in left. Fitting.

In just 12 plate appearances (2 walks and a sacrifice bunt), Lopez had 3 hits, 1 triple, 1 homerun, 7 RBIs and 3 runs scored. That was good enough for a .333 average.

Hector Lopez may not have helped the Yankees much in the regular season, but when pressed into service at key points in the 5 game World Series, he delivered.


References


Golenbock, Peter. "1961." Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print, pp. 405-445.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. "The M&M Boys." All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print, pp. 129-145.

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. 12 Oct. 2011.

The World Series Of 1961. Dir. Lew Fonseca. Prod. Dick Borden. Perf. New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 1961. Major League Baseball Productions Inc, 1961. DVD. DVD Released in 2006.

Hockey Is Back...

...and I'm having difficulty putting it into my schedule right now.

But I did catch some of the opening game(s) on the season. Out driving, I caught some of the Canadians/ Leafs game. Basically, it was a case of a goalie (James Reimer) stealing a game for the Leafs. It will be interesting to see how he performs this year, especially if the Leafs make the playoffs. It is always fun watching the Leafs and the Habs, no matter where they are in the standings. Matt Lombardi had a fine game, and I'm glad to see him back from a concussion.

Speaking of which, I went to a bar to watch the next game. Well, the first two periods, anyway. It was the Pens and Canucks. Call me in the minority here, but I have a feeling that, even without Crosby, the Pens are going to be strong this season.

The Canucks looked step slower in the first, and Roberto Luongo really gave up a bad goal to James Neal. Matt Cooke somehow got left alone in front and made it 2-0. A late tally by Maxim Lapierre was sort of as bad as Neal's goal. 2-1 Pens after one.

The second period looked bad for the Canucks for a while. Cooke somehow notched his second goal shorthanded, and things looked mighty bleak for Vancouver.

But a great passing play resulted in a Keith Ballard goal. Henrik Sedin made a beautiful pass! This seemed to turn the tide as the period ended.

In the third the Canucks dominated, and tied the game as Daniel Sedin scored, with his brother drawing an assist. However, there was no further scoring and the game went into OT.

Vancouver seemed poised to win and had some good chances. They could not convert, however and the game went to overtime.

The Canucks elected to shoot first, with Mikael Samuelson fired a writst shot that Mark Andre Fleury made a save. But at the other end, Luongo could not duplicate that as Kris Letang scored.

When Alex Burrows came up empty, it was Evgeni Malkin with a chance to win it.

And he did just that by scoring on Luongo, as he waited for Luongo to go down, and flipping it over him.

Overall this was good game, with two fast skating and exciting teams.


References


“Official Site of the National Hockey League.” NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. <https://www.nhl.com>.

Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. Web. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. 8 Oct. 2011.

1961 Yankees Of The Day: Bob Cerv

The third time would not quite be the charm for Bob Cerv, who had played for the Yankees so well before. Then he got traded to Kansas City.

But Cerv rejoined the Yankees during the 1960 season, only to be the 38th pick of the expansion Los Angeles Angels.

But with Ryne Duren expendable because of the emergence of Luis Arroyo, a trade with the Angels brought Cerv back for the third time, on May 8th.

He wasn't doing much at the time, his average down to .158, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R in 18 games. But the Yankees hadn't really settled on a left fielder that year, as Hector Lopez's nickname (sarcastic) What-A-Pair-Of-Hands, still haunted him.

His first two games did little to change that.

His Yankee third time around got underway as he made a pinch hit appearance in the 9th inning, the day after the trade, against his old team, Kansas City. Facing Jim Archer, he grounded out to third baseman and former Yankee Andy Carey. Carey had been the player the Yankees sent to Kansas in 1960 for Cerv. And the trade had been made on May 19, 1960, almost a year to the day of this game!

Then he entered the game (in the 9th) as a pinch runner 3 days later against the Tigers. Actually, the batter had just drawn a walk. Who was it you say? Oh, how about Mickey Mantle. They'd get to know each other quite well that season.

Then he played all 11 innings of the first game of a doubleheader two days later. In 5 at bats, he managed 2 hits, one of them a 2 run homerun of Don Mossi. It helped the Yankees win 5-4.

He would end up playing 12 games in total the month of May. On the 25th, Cerv enjoyed his second 2 hit game for the Bronx Bombers. Then three days later, he hit belted a grand slam of Early Wynn of the White Sox. But the Yankees lost 14-9. That was the first game of a doubleheader. In the nightcap, he went 2-3.

His last May appearance was against Boston the next day. Although he failed to get a hit, this month had raised is average 36 points from April's low .184.

After scoring two runs on June 4th, he scored a run on a walk as a pinch hitter in a game 11 days later against Cleveland. It proved to be the winning run as the Yankees won 3-2.

In two straight games he participated in, June 25th and 27th, he added a homerun in each of them. Still, Bob ended the month at just a .225 batting average.

July would not be much better despite the fact that, at this point, he, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were staying in a Queens apartment, which, to all you tennis fans out there, practically overlooked the Forest Hills Tennis Club where the US Open took place, back then.

After driving in 2 runs on July 2nd against Washington, he didn't do much the rest of the month. His only homerun came on July 15th against White Sox pitcher Turk Brown in the 9th inning. Batting for Hal Reniff, who trailed 8-6 going into the inning, Cerv's hit rallied his team to eventually win 9-8.

This would be his last RBI of the month, and he scored just one more run. Now his average was down to .222, or 2 hits for every 9 AB.

On August 2nd, again against Kansas, he went 2-5 as he got a double against Archer, struck out twice, and then singled to left in the eight. He then scored on Whitey Ford's single.

After Kansas City tied it 5-5 in the top of the ninth, Cerv came to bat with the bases loaded. He actually grounded to third, but third baseman's Wayne Causey's throw home was dropped by Joe Pignatano. Roger Maris scored the winning run as a result.

But Bob started September strong, as he raised his average 8 points by going 2-3. He led off the bottom of the 5th with a double against the Sens Pete Burnside. But the next three batters failed to get the ball out of the infield, leaving the game tied at 2. But with one out in the 7th and the score still tied, Cerv rifled a triple to left. When Clete Boyer followed with a long fly, the Yankees had the lead for good.

Cerv continued his fine September by getting two pinch hits in consecutive appearances. On September 10th, he came off the bench in the bottom of the 8th to deliver an RBI single of Cleveland's Bobby Locke to score Elston Howard with the winning run.

Five days he was called on again to pinch hit in the 7th inning with the Yankees down, 4-1. Clete Boyer, whose homerun had hommered earlier in the game to get the Yankees on the board, was on first. Bob batted for Rollie Sheldon and singled  of Ron Kline to move Boyer to second. But Bobby Richardson hit into a double play to end that.

The Yankees tacked on another run later as Elston Howard also went deep, but ultimately lost to Detroit, 4-2.

If you're going to go, go with a bang. Which is what Bob Cerv did in what turned out to be his last game with the Yankees, ever.

It was on September 23rd against the Red Sox. The Yankees had build a 6-3 lead into the top of the ninth. Elston Howard then hommered, and with pitcher Jim Coates due to bat, Cerv went up again. Earlier in the game, he had hurt a cartilage in his right knee.

Facing Boston's Arnold Earley, Cerv hit a pitch to deep left for his sixth homerun of the year with the Yankees and 8th this season overall. That put the Yankees on top 8-3 and they stayed that way as Luis Arroyo held the fort.

But it was his last game, as mentioned. The cartilage would require season ending surgery, which would keep Cerv out of the World Series against Cincinnati. The Yankees would replace Bob on the roster with Jack Reed.

Cerv's final numbers aren't much to look at. In 75 games he posted a .234 average (or .289 OBP!) 8HR 26RBI 20R. But with the Yankees he was at .271 BA with 6HR, 20RBI and 17R in 57 games (.344 OBP). Of his 57 games for the Yankees that season, 28 were in left field, 2 in center field and 3 at first. 25 times he pinch hit and his May 12th appearance for Mantle was his only turn as a pinch runner.


References


“For Cerv, '44 Was The Real Drama.” Tribunedigital-Thecourant, Hartford Courant. 22 July 2001. Web. 6 Oct. 2011. <articles.courant.com/2001-07-22/sports/0107221977_1_roger-maris-mickey-mantle-yankee-stadium>.

Golenbock, Peter. "1961." Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print, pp. 405-445.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. "The M&M Boys." All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print, pp. 129-145.

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.

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print, pp. 287-291.

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. 06 Oct. 2011.

The World Series Of 1961. Dir. Lew Fonseca. Prod. Dick Borden. Perf. New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 1961. Major League Baseball Productions Inc, 1961. DVD. DVD Released in 2006.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vZdRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2hAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4519,2972836&hl=en

1961 Yankee Of The Day: Whitey Ford

So the time has come to look at the Chairman Of The Board's 1961 season.

His season did not get off on the right foot as he lost the season opener 6-0, lasting less than 7 innings as Minnesota Twins got 5 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs against Ford.

But then Ford went out and shutout KC 3-0 with a masterful 3 hitter despite 4 walks. He fanned 8. Four days later he tossed another complete game against the O's and won 4-2.

But the Detroit Tigers brought Slick down to earth in his next start, as Ford failed to make it to 7 innings for the second time in the month. This time Whitey allowed 11 hits, 2 walks and 6 earned runs. The Yankees scored 11 runs in this game, but the Tigers scored 13. Ford also had 2 hits and 2 RBIs.

His final start in April was on the 30th, the first game of a doubleheader against the new Washington Senators. Ford only pitched 6 innings again, but allowed just 4 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs and struck out 5. The Yankees won the game 4-3, and The Chairman had his third win on the month.

May began with start on the 4th. For the second straight start, he pitched exactly 6 innings, but once again, allowed only 2 earned runs. Ford avenged his loss a month ago to the Twins with a 5-2 win.

His next two starts weren't bad: 6 earned runs in 15 innings, but Ford failed to get a decision in both of them. But then he beat the Orioles again, again by a 4-2 score on the 21st. Ford got an RBI single in the forth that scored an unearned run.

Ford won his next start as well, although he gave up 4 earned runs. In beating the Red Sox 6-4, he lasted 7 innings, gave up 5 hits and walked 2.

Whitey lost just his second game on the season when Boston nipped him 2-1 on the 29th of May. Ford gave up just 2 earned runs and matched his season high so far with 8 K's.

Then came June.

He started 8 games.

And won them all.

He beat the Chicago White Sox on a fine 7 hitter on June 2nd.  Then, thanks to Ford's pitching (7.1 IP 3H, 2ER, 2BB 8K) and hitting (2-3, 1RBI, 1R) the Yankees topped the Twins 7-2 on the 6th.

He was even better his next outing. The poor Kansas City A's could attest. Ford sent them down on slick 5 hitter with 6 strikeouts. He hit his only extra base hit, a double, in the 7th. The downside was he allowed an inside the park homerun to his ex-teammate, Hank Bauer. One of the K's was a pinch hitter and also ex-Yankee, Don Larsen.

The Chairman was anything but in his next start (June 14th) as he allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs. But the Yankees beat the Indians 11-5 and Whitey was at 10 wins already.

He made it 11 as he turned back the Tigers 9-0 four days later. In 8 innings, he allowed just 3 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 11 batters, a season high to date.

It would again be Kansas City's turn in Slick's next start. They managed to get 3 runs off Ford in 7, but Ford struck out 9, and won 8-3.

The expansion Angels hit Ford hard his next start, with 6 hits, 6 runs (all of them earned), and 4 walks in 7 innings. But the Yankees won anyway, 8-6, as Ford fanned 7 more.

Finally, Washington got their first crack at Ford on the last day in June. But they might have wished they hadn't.

Ford gave up just 5 hits, 3 walks and an unearned run, while fanning 8. I guess the bad part is, Ford failed to reach first base safely, as his 10 game, reaching base streak came to an end.

But in any event, Ford was now 14-2, at the end of June.

Here is The Chairman Of The Board's June statistics:

8 GP
8 GS
8 W
0 L
0 S
64.1 IP
43 H
21 ER
22 BB
55 SO
2.94 ERA
.186 OBA
.253 OBP

And he had no intention of stopping as he won his first July start, 6-2, a complete game, 5 hitter with 11 strikeouts against Detroit. This dropped his ERA to 2.98

The Red Sox got 10 hits and 5 earned runs against Whitey on the 8th, but Ford won his 16th game, 8-5. Then he came back with his second shutout on the season against Baltimore four days later. He gave up 6 hits and K'd 9.

Ford finally had his first no decision since May 14th when he was knocked out after 4.2 innings against Boston on the 21st. The Yankees eventually won, 11-8, but The Chairman had allowed 7 hits, 7 earned runs and 6 walks. His ERA was back over three. And it would stay there for the rest of the season.

But he beat the other Sox, 5-1 with a masterful 7 hits, 0 earned runs in his next start.

And he finished July with another win, 5-4 over the Orioles. Slick was a little less slick in this one as the O's got 7 hits and 4 runs off him, but they ended up losing. Ford had tied a career high in wins with his 19th.

Ford opened August with a pair of no decisions, neither of which was very impressive, unless you want to count his two RBIs on the 2nd. So Whitey had to wait until August 10th to pick up his 20th win and a new career high against the Orioles. The O's made him earn it, as they got 8 hits of Ford in 7 innings but lost 3-1.

The White Sox would also get 8 hits off Ford in only 7 innings. Unlike the O's, it was enough for a 2-1 win over him and the Yankees. But it was just his 3rd loss on the season.

And that 3rd loss was followed by Slick's 21st win in his next outing.

He had to go a little more than nine 9 (9.2). But the Yankees prevailed 4-3 over Cleveland in 10 innings.

Following a no decision on August 23rd, Whitey won his 22nd game against Kansas, even though he went just 5 innings.

He was pitching well on the first of September against Detroit, when he left the mound with 2 outs in the fifth, too early to get a win. Later it was determined to be a strained hip muscle. The Yanks got the win, 1-0.

But then, back and healthy, he tossed his 3rd and final regular season shutout when he blanked the Senators 8-0. He surrendered just 5 hits and 2 walks. He fanned 7. Despite this, his ERA was still 3.22.

Then came his shortest outing on the season.

It was just two innings on September 10th against Cleveland. And he surrendered 7 hits and 5 earned runs. Amazingly, the Bronx Bombers won this game anyway, 7-6.

He beat Detroit 11-1 to move the Yankees closer to push the Tigers to 10 1/2 games out with only 15 games left for catchup. (Ford's buddy Mantle helped not with a homerun, but with 2 runs scored and an RBI.) Ford had a complete game and his 24th win.

But he suffered his 4th loss in his next start against the O's. Actually, Ford lost the game 1-0, so he can hardly be blamed. He allowed 7 hits but just 1 earned run, and fanned 7 batters.

The next start for Slick saw the Yankees make it up to him. Ford allowed 9 hits in only 5 innings against Boston. Yet the Yankees won the game 8-3 making Whitey a 25 game winner on the year.

It was his last win in the regular season, although he pitched a 6 inning scoreless outing in an eventual 2-1 Yankee win on September 29th. And he fanned 9 more to up his career high in strikeouts in a single season to 209.

Ford's final ERA of 3.21, while high, was good enough for 10th in the AL that that year. It was well back of Washington's Dick Donavan who lead the league in that category at 2.40.

Ford's 25 wins were tops though, two more than Yankee Killer (or this year's AL Killer) Frank Lary. And his .862 W% in tops in the league as well. In innings pitched (283), starts (39), and batters faced (1,159) Ford also stood alone atop the league.

His WHIP of 1.2 was good enough for 7th.

On just hits allowed per 9 innings, Ford ranked 8th, just ahead of teammate Ralph Terry with 7.7.

Although not a strikeout pitcher normally, his 209 strikeouts gave Slick an average of 6.6 per nine innings, good enough for 5th, American League-wise.

As for the 209 strikeouts, even better, that was second only to Camilo Pascual's 221.

Ford was one of 7th pitchers tied for 9th in complete games with 11.

As for shutouts, he was tied for 5 others (including teammate Bill Stafford) for 6th place.

On bit a of a negative side, Ford's 242 hits allowed were the 7th most allowed. He also allowed the 8th in the league in homeruns allowed per nine innings (0.73) and also tied for 6th in the league in wild pitches with 8. His 101 earned runs allowed was the 9th most. And his 5 errors topped all AL pitchers.

His 2.3 strikeouts to walks ratio was third in the league.

And his 45 assists was 5th among AL hurlers.

All this was enough to win his first Cy Young award (They only handed out one among both leagues, so Ford had to beat out the likes of Spahn, Koufax, Gibson, Burdette and even others like Joey Jay, Jim O'Toole, Johnny Podres and Stu Miller), his second Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year, and 5th place in AL MVP voting. Ford was selected for both All Star Games.

And his season, of course did not end there. In the 1960 World Series, Slick had tossed a pair of shutouts. So, not surprisingly, he started game 1 of the 1961 World Series against Cincy.

And Whitey picked a fine time to pitch his best game on the year!

In a pitcher's duel with the Reds' Jim O'Toole, Ford came out on top 2-0 on a 2-hitter. Ford got help from a pair of solo homeruns by Moose Skowron and Elston Howard. Not to mention two fine plays by Clete Boyer at third.

Then with the Yankees leading the series 2-1, Ford took the mound to try and push Cincinnati to the brink. He had upped his World Series consecutive scoreless innings streak to 27.

O'Toole could not be touched through 3. Ford retired the first 7 batters he faced. The Yankees threatened Jim with a walk and a double in the third, but it lead nowhere.

Babe Ruth had the record of consecutive scoreless innings in a World Series with 29 2/3. Ford was now at 29 1/3. Could he do it?

Darrell Johnson singled, bringing O'Toole to the plate. O'Toole hit a tough chopper that Tony Kubek made a fine play on to force Johnson at second. There was no time to get O'Toole.

But when Elio Chacon grounded out to Bobby Richardson, Ford had the record!

A double play in the top of the 4th gave Ford all he would need, although the Reds gave it a great try in the bottom of the frame. Ford gave up a single to Eddie Kasko. Then with only one out, he hit Frank Robinson. He had to induce the dangerous Wally Post to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to get out of that.

Kubek's single drove in the Yankees second run (actually, it was Ford who scored it, having reached base on a walk) in the top of the 5th. Ford retired the first two Reds in the their half of the inning. But once again Johnson, who had once been a teammate of Whitey Ford (actually his catcher occasionally in the late 50s) singled, bringing up Dirk Gernert to bat for O'Toole (who once again had not pitched badly, 5IP 5H 2ER 3BB 2K, and was once again in line for a loss). Gernert bounced to Clete Boyer at third, who fired to second to get Johnson.

Then Boyer helped out Ford with his bat, doubling to left (right to the "328" sign in left) in the sixth against relief pitcher and soon-to-be-author-pre-Jim-Bouton-but-like-it, Jim Brosnan. Moose Skowron, who had beaten out an hit to third, was now on third, and Ford had a chance to add to the 4 run lead.

Old Slick lashed at a pitch and foul tipped it of his right toe. Ouch. This would not hurt as much as the play Coleman was about to make.

Ford grounded to him at first, and Coleman took it and made the putout unassisted. Skowron decided to try and score, but somehow Coleman raced across and, without the ball leaving his hands, tagged Moose out for an unassisted double play.

But when Elio Chacon opened the bottom of the sixth with a single (just out left fielder Yogi Berra's reach, the result of which had Yogi flat on his face), that was it for Ford. Jim Coates came in to pitch and got out of the inning despite the fact that he also hit Frank Robinson with a pitch.

Coates would finish up the shutout, and the Yankees would add three more runs for a 7-0 win. Then the Yankees put the final nail in the Reds coffin with a methodical 13-5 win in game 5, the World Series theirs in 5 games.

Although he was not able to finish the game, it was Ford who would be named the Series MVP with two wins and shutout. This would be the second straight World Series where Ford had two wins, no losses and an ERA of 0.00 in two starts.


References


Golenbock, Peter. "1961." Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print, pp. 405-445.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. "The M&M Boys." All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print, pp. 129-145.

100 Years Of The New York Yankees. Major League Baseball Productions, 2003. DVD.

Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick. New York: W. Morrow, 1987. 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. 03 Oct. 2011.

“1961 World Series.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1961_World_Series.

The World Series Of 1961. Dir. Lew Fonseca. Prod. Dick Borden. Perf. New York Yankees Cincinnati Reds 1961. Major League Baseball Productions Inc, 1961. DVD. DVD Released in 2006.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=OMpOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fUkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7218,229046&dq=whitey+ford&hl=en

1961 Yankee Of The Day: Ralph Terry

Ralph Terry entered the 1961 season trying to shake off the effects of Bill Mazeroski's World Series winning homerun he gave up the previous year. Tough on Ralph, who, at 6 '3 was one of the tallest pitchers in baseball at the time.

He ended the year as one of the best right handed pitchers in the AL!

But he had to earn it first.

The Yankees didn't seem to interested in Terry in April. He pitched a total of three time. Actually, he pitched in relief in the very first game of the year, April 11, and was ineffective. The same could be said about his first start 11 days later. His only other April appearance was a little better, a win over Cleveland, despite 9 hits in only 7 innings.

His first four May starts brought not a win (or a loss) and Terry had still not showed much.

But then came May 24th against Boston. And was it ever a dandy.

Terry fired a complete game 3 hitter. And then Yankees needed it, for they scored only 3 runs. Terry game up 2.

But he still wasn't there, as he was knocked out against the same Red Sox six days later. 5 hits in only two innings. Two months and his ERA is 5.16!

June would bring Terry back on track.

Now his first game in June was a no decision. That's the bad part, as is the 4 earned runs. But the good part is he allowed just 7 hits and no walks. Terry was just that, a control pitcher.

On June 7th, Terry pitched a fine 2 hitter against the Twins. This time he gave up 3 walks, but he went the distance to pick up his third win.

His next start was on the 11th as he gave up just 5 hits and 1 walk.

Then 4 days later, he went 11 innings to beat Cleveland 3-2. He gave up 7 hits, but fanned a season high 8 for his 5th win of the season.

But there was some bad new from this: Terry had a stained shoulder. All those fine curveballs were having an effect on him.

His first start back was on July 9th against the Red Sox. Terry looked a little rusty. And with one out and two man on in the top of the second, Jim Coates replaced Terry. The Yankees lost the game 9-6. It was a game that featured a rare 3 run homerun by Bobby Richardson in a losing effort. It was also Terry's first loss on the year.

After lasting just two innings in his next start, then tossing 4.2 innings in a rare relief appearance, Terry hit a season low in his next appearance.

Terry didn't retire one batter when he appeared in relief in the 6th inning of a July 22nd game against the BoSox again. The two batters he faced both hit safely.

So only a July 27th game was left to try and salvage July.

Actually, Terry would pick up his 6th win as he went 8.1 innings and gave up just 5 hits and 3 walks, dropping his ERA to 3.59. The Yankees downed the ChiSox, 4-3.

Then came the big month for Ralph Terry, 1961.

August.

His first two starts had the following in common:

Hits allowed: 9

Earned runs allowed: 5

Run support: 12 runs

Result (team): win 12-5

Result (Terry): win 7 and 8 on the season.

He was back in the pen on August 16th as he pitched against the ChiSox. In four innings, he allowed just two hits, no walks and no runs for his 9th win. Now his W% on the season was .900, although his ERA was 3.76.

Then came back to back shutouts over Clevenland and Kansas City. First he gave up 4 hits and no walks, and then 5 hits and one walk, pushing his record to 12-1!

Finally, he lost a game.

It was his last start of the month, against Minnesota.

It actually wasn't that bad. Despite 8 hits in 7 innings, Terry walked only 1. And he allowed just two earned runs. But Terry emerged as the loser, as the Yankees were themselves shutout, 3-0, as his mound opponent Camilo Pascual used that fine, roll off the table curveball to allow only 4 hits, two walks and strikeout 9! It was his 12 win, one more than Terry.

So how good was August?

Let's look:

Terry went 5-1, with 5 straight wins at one point. His ERA was 2.45, and batters hit just .234 against him. More impressive, batters managed just a .239 one base percentage against Terry! That is because in 44 innings he gave up just 37 hits and 2 walks, total! And for the season, his ERA was now a very respectable 3.24.

On September 2nd, against Detroit, and it was a very key game, Terry beat the Tigers 7-2 with a fine outing. 7 innings, 6 hits and 1 walk. Now Terry had 12 wins to tie Pascual, who would lose his start the next day.

5 days later, Terry went the distance, gave up 5 hits, no walks and just 3 earned runs as the Yankees beat the Indians, 7-3.

And, again 5 days later, Terry was the winner in a 4-3, rain shortened game against Chicago. This was a little messy. 5.2 IP, 7H, but again, no walks. Terry had upped his record to 14-2.

How good was his control at this point? Consider this: in his last 10 appearances (9 starts, 1 relief) or 74.2 IP, Ralph had walked 6 batters!

It had to end somewhere, though.

And it did with a thud! September 16.

The Tigers realized this was about their last chance to catch the Yankees and won for the second straight game over the Bronx Bombers, 10-4, despite homeruns from Maris (#57) and Howard (#20 and also saw his batting average drop to .360).

But Terry was very off that day.

Roger Maris hit a two run shot in the to third to tie the game 2-2. But in the bottom of the third, with Al Kaline on first, Norm Cash (who had 2 hits and 4 RBIs on the day, raising his average to .359, right behind Howard) hit a homerun to give Detroit the lead for good.

In the next inning with two on, Rocky Colavito scored Billy Bruton with a single to put Detroit up 5-2. That was the end for Terry and the Yankees, who lost the game 10-4. Terry surrendered 10 hits and 6 earned runs. Frank Lary had beaten the Yankees, again!

But that was just Terry's third loss, and his next start was his 15th win, September 20th.

But hardly anyone remembers this game for who the winning pitcher was.

Actually, it was Roger Maris who everyone was watching.

But no one seemed to care that Terry pitched a complete game, gave up just 4 hits, 1 walk and 1 earned runs and the Yankees triumphed 4-2 and clinched the pennant. Maris did hit a homerun (#59) and followed with one of his own.

Terry also tied a season high as he struck out eight, including pinch hitter Marv Throneberry in the bottom of the eight.

With the pennant in hand, Terry was back on the mound four days later. He lasted 6 innings and gave up 4 hits and 0 walks. Then Yankees lost  this game to the Red Sox, 3-1. Terry didn't get a decision.

It was game #162 on the season for the Yankees (although not the last regular season game as the Yankees played a tie) and who better to pitch (and win it) than the man who had pitched in the opening game?

Again he lasted only 6 innings, but for the second straight start, Terry didn't give up a walk and surrendered one earned run. He also fanned 5 and gave up just 5 hits. The Yankees won 3-1. Terry had his 16th and last win on the season against just 3 losses.

Although he tossed just 188.1 innings, his 3.15 ERA was good enough for 6th lowest in the American League that year. His 16 wins (despite only 27 starts) was good enough for 5th. His .842 W% was second to Whitey Ford. And most impressive was being second in WHIP with only 1.08. Ralph had walked just 42 batters, or about 2 per nine innings (He was 4th in the league in that category).

The one thing Terry lacked was a World Series win at this point!

Still shaking off  the dire effects of the Maz homerun of a year before, Terry took the hill in the second game of the 1961 World Series.

He didn't pitch too badly. In his 7 innings, he gave up just 6 hits 2 walks and struck out 7.

After 4 innings the game was tied at 2. But in the top of the 5th, the Reds Vada Pinson scored on a passed ball. It was all Cincy would need.

Johnny Edwards then scored Wally Post with a single in the 6th. Terry was removed for pinch hitter Hector Lopez in the bottom of the 7th despite a 1-2-3 top of the innings. The Yankees ultimately lost the game 6-2.

But with the Yankees up 3-1 in the Series, Terry took the mound in the 5th game in Crosley Field.

Better still, the Yankees gave him a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the third.

But then Terry ran into trouble.

Don Blasingame and Eddie Kasko opened the inning with singles. Terry then retired Pinson on a fly ball that moved Blasingame to third.

Frank Robinson then hit a three run homerun to finish off Terry, although the Yankees won the game 13-5.

Ralph Terry was a pitcher who held the Yankees in the race in the last two months of the season. When the other starters faltered he (and Whitey Ford) kept the Yankees on course for their 26th pennant.


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.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 29 Sept. 2011.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8dZdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yV4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=4670,6414776&dq=ralph+terry&hl=en

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.

Baseball: 200,000 Games At The Major League Level

(Disclaimer: I use major league from the birth of the National League in 1876 to the present. For now, The National Association (1871 to 1875), The American Association (1882 to 1891), aren't going to be included.The American League joined the fray in 1901. I will include the Federal League, however, as one of my all time favs, Chief Bender, pitched one season and sported a 4-16 record. Must have been one tough league!)

So baseball approaches 200,000 games played tomorrow.

That many?

Through the years, it has provided some of the greatest excitement ever seen from sports fans.

Here, for your pleasure, is my Top 10 Most Memorable Games EVER In Baseball:

10)  Game 6, 1993 World Series, October 23, 1993. Joe Carter's homerun, I must have jumped so high, I hit my head on my basement ceiling!

9)  September 9, 1965: Poor Bob Hendley. He tosses a 1-hitter over 8 innings. That's enough to beat anyone. Anyone, that is, except for Sandy Koufax, who tosses a perfect game and wins 1-0.

8)  July 2, 1963: Warren Spahn is nearing the end of his career, while Juan Marichal was just sort of starting his. But it was Juan heck of a long game, that ended with Marichal on top 1-0...in 16 innings via Willie Mays' homerun!

7)  May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix retires 36 straight batters to start the game, then ends up losing it somehow!

6)  Game 5, 1956 World Series, October 8th: Don Larsen commits grand larceny by throwing the only perfect game, or even no-hitter, in World Series history

5)  Game 1, 1954 World Series, September 29th: Mays makes THE CATCH!

4)  Game 6, 1975 World Series, October 21st: First Bernie Carbo's dramatic 3-run pinch hit homerun ties the game, then brilliant plays by George Foster and Dwight Evans keep it tied. And then Carlton Fisk leads off the bottom of the 12 and...

3)  Game 7, 1991 World Series, October 27th: Gene Larkin is sent up to the plate in the bottom of the 10th to pinch hit for DH (?!)  Jarvis Brown and delivers the blow that ended a World Series that, honestly, seemed to have no end in sight!

2)  Game 7, 1960 World Series, October 13th: Bill Mazeroski! Sorry Dad, that game!

1)  Game 3, 1951 National League Playoffs, October 3rd: Need I say more?


References

Anderson, Dave. Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print.

Baseball's Greatest Moments. Prod. Major League Baseball Home Video. Perf. Warner Fusselle. Major League Baseball, 1991. Videocassette. Narrated by Warner Fusselle.

Bingley, Phil, et al. Another World: the Toronto Stars Tribute To The’ 93 Blue Jays. Toronto Star for Doubleday Canada, 1993. Print.

Brenner, Richard J. The World Series: The Great Contests. East End Publishing, 1989. Print.

Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. Print.

Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Ford, Whitey, and Phil Pepe. Slick. New York: W. Morrow, 1987. 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.

Golenbock, Peter. Fenway: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print.

Kahn, Roger. The Boys Of Summer. Harper & Row, 1972. Print.

Kaplan, Jim. The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century. Chicago, IL: Triumph, 2011. 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.

Paper, Lewis J. Perfect: Don Larsen's Miraculous World Series Game And The Men Who Made It Happen. New York, NY: New American Library, 2009. Print.

Seaver, Tom, and Martin Appel. Great Moments in Baseball. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1992. Print.

Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. San Francisco: Chronicle, 1995. Print.

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

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Al Kaline

The famed #6 of the Tigers waited...

...waited for his chance to be in a World Series.

Year after year the Tigers had to deal with the Yankees, who they could not overtake. Then it would be the Twins in 1965 and the Orioles the next year. In '67 the Tigers lost to the Angels on the last day of the season to fall just a game short of the Red Sox.

But then in 1968, it all came together for Detroit. Denny McLain won 31 games, Mickey Lolich 17. Amazingly, Kaline was just a part time player that year, as Jim Northrup played 105 games in right field. Kaline, meanwhile, played 70 games in right, 5 in left and 22 at first base.

The problem here was Ray Oyler. Despite his 111 games for the Tigers that year at shortstop, he batted .135. Needless to say, Mickey Stanley, the centerfielder, would be at short as the World Series started. Northrup moved to center, Kaline back right.

The Tigers could do little with the Cardinals, Bob Gibson in the series opener. Kaline fanned three times, as Gibson K'd 17. Kaline, did however, hit a tremendous double to left in the sixth to move Dick McAuliffe to third with 2 outs. Gibson then fanned Norm Cash to end the inning. Kaline's K's, if you want to know, were in the 1st, 4th and 9th inning. The 9th inning one was Gibson's 15th.

After going 2 for 5 in game 2 (an 8-1 Tiger victory), the Tigers came home for games 3, 4 and 5.

Game 3 was a game of homeruns, and in the bottom of the 3rd with McAuliffe on first, Al faced Ray Washburn. The Tiger fans went wild when Kaline put in deep to left for a 2-0.

Alas, it was a game of homeruns. Tim McCarver would hit a 3 run homerun off reliever Pat Dobson, putting the Cardinals up 4-2 in the 5th. McAuliff's homerun in the bottom of the frame brought the Tigers to within one, but Orlando Cepeda's 3 run shot put the game out of reach in the 7th.

Game 4 was all Bob Gibson, as the Cardinals rolled to a 10-1 win. However, Kaline made a play that I will never forget in the 4th inning.

The Cardinals speedster, Lou Brock, tripled with no one out. Then Curt Flood flied out to right.

It was a short fly, but one that Brock could have scored on against many a right fielder.

But Al fired a perfect strike to home, right on the money. Brock dared not challenge his arm.

Imagine that: you've got the fastest runner in the game, showing the great arm a lot of respect by not going home.

It's a play, when you look in the box scores of a game that, doesn't show up, other than, "A fly ball to right". But what that doesn't say is that Kaline had a arm that was respected by everyone, even the fleet footed Brock.

Brock would score anyway, as the next batter, Roger Maris, grounded out.

Kaline got two meaningless hits that game, and the Tigers were now down 3 games to 1. Were they dead? Don't you dare think so!

Game 5 had the Tigers down 3-0 early, but Kaline's single in the 7th brought home the tying and eventual winning run. The Tigers would win, 5-3.

In game 6, Kaline was the big bat of the game, as Kaline was 3/4 with 3 runs scored and 4 runs batted in. Kaline had two of his hits in the third inning, as the Tigers scored 10 runs. In the 5th, Al added a homerun. It was down to one last game!

They had to beat Bob Gibson, 6-0 in his last 6 World Series starts! The odds seemed dim. But Mickey Lolich was 2-0 in the series, and matched Gibson in 0's on the score sheet until the 7th.

Then Detroit got a break.

Mickey Stanley and Kaline went out, and Gibson had retired 20 of the first 21 batters he faced. But suddenly, Norm Cash and Willie Horton singled. Northrup was up, and he sent one to center, where Curt Flood misgudged it, (He later said he lost sight of it in the white shirts behind home plate). The Tigers added another run before the innings was over. 3-0 Tigers!

In the ninth, the Tigers nipped Gibson for another run, and the Cardinals finally got on the board when Mike Shannon homered in the St Louis half. But when McCarver popped out to Bill Freehan, the Tigers were World Series Champions!

They would not have done it without Kaline. Taking nothing away from Lolich's 3-0 record, it was Kaline who hit .379 (second on the team to Cash), 2 homeruns (tied for first with Northrup), 8 RBIs (again tied for team lead with Northrup) and 6 runs scored (tied for team lead with Horton). Amazingly, Kaline did not draw a single walk in the Series!

But it was typical of Kaline, who did so much but didn't get noticed. In his career he only once lead the league in hits, batting average and total bases, and that all came in 1955. A guy by the name of Mantle made it tough to lead the league in much of anything the next year.

Al did, however, lead the league in S% and OPS, plus also IBB in 1959. In 1963, he again lead the league in IBB.

He ended his career with a .297 batting average, 399 homeruns, and 3007 hits. A shame he couldn't hit one more homerun, as Al Kaline would have been the first player to have 3000 hits and 400 homeruns. That honour would go to Carl Yastrzemski.

In 1980, Al received his highest accolade when he was inducted into the Hall Of Fame.


References


World Series Of 1968. Dir. Dick Winik. Perf. Curty Gowdy, Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals. Major League Baseball Promotion Corp., 1968. DVD. Narrated by Curt Gowdy. DVD released in 2002.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 17 Sept. 2011.

1961 Yankee Of The Day: Bill Stafford

Bill Stafford was tall and imposing, and had not pitched much for the Yankees the year before. Yet suddenly, there he was, at 21, in the starting rotation for most of the 1961 season.

He kicked off hi s 1961 season by finishing two games (April 15th and 20th) and getting credit for the save in both. He pitched 5 more times that month with little effectiveness.

In May however, he got his first start. On the 16th he faced Washington. However, he was driven off the mound in just 3 innings. He would pitch only three more times that month (exclusively in relief), getting hit hard in the first two, but then firing 4 innings of no hit ball against Boston on the 30th for his first win. But at this point, he had already suffered two losses.

Then in June, Bill was in the rotation. And he responded with a 7-hitter against the White Sox, a 5- hitter against the Athletics and a 4-hitter against the Los Angeles Angels. He picked up the win in all of those games.

He was hit hard in his next three starts, yet amazingly, he still won two of them (The other, a June 16th start, was a loss against Detroit). Now, Stafford was 6-3 with a 2.55 ERA.

But it was back to the drawing board after his first start of July, as the problems of April and May returned. He didn't get charged with the loss against Washington on that day, but then he lost a game that he pitched in relief against Detroit on Independence Day.

He really rebounded splendidly against the Cleveland Indians in his next start, just two days later. Not only did he go the distance and pick up the shutout, but Stafford allowed just two hits (to Willie Kirkland and Mike de la Hoz) and no walks. He even singled in the Yankees second run in the 7th as the Yankees triumphed, 4-0.

He beat the White Sox in his next start despite only going 6 innings. Then he tossed 9 innings of 6 of six hit ball in a 12-0 win over the Sox on July 25, the second game of a doubleheader.

But the month ended on a sour note as he lost 4-0 to the Orioles.

He failed to get a decision in his first August start against the Twins, then another no decision followed against Angels, but he gave up nine hits in 5.1 innings. His next start on August 12th was little better, and he lost 5-1 to the Senators.

A fine 7-hitter over 8 innings meant Stafford had reached double figures in wins, but then on August 22nd he lost again, this time to LA. Loss #7.

Stafford was superb in his next outing, a 3-hitter and 8 Ks against KC on August 26th. 4 days later he tossed a 4-hitter and a shutout against Minny.

September 3rd hard Stafford toss 7 innings and give up just 6 hits against the Tigers. Alas, it was a no decision. Then he beat the Indians again for win #13.

The Tigers got some revenge when they tagged Stafford for 10 hits in only 7.1 innings. Stafford didn't lose that game, but he lost his next two starts, both against the Orioles.

Oct 1st was the season's final game. And while Roger Maris did hit his 61st homerun in this game, it was Stafford (6 IP 3H 0R/ER 1BB 7K) who was the winning pitcher in an 1-0 Yankee win.

So Bill Stafford finished 1961 with 14 wins 9 losses 2 saves, an ERA of 2.68 (2nd in the league behind the Sens Dick Donavan) and 3 shutouts (tied for 6th with 5 others) in 195 innings.

Stafford did pitch in the World Series. He was the starting pitcher in game 3, which to me was the most important game of the series.

He set down the Reds again and again, yet trailed 1-0 going into the 7th.

But Yogi Berra singled home a run to tie the game. The Reds weren't finished either, and reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the frame, when Eddie Kasko singled home catcher Johnny Edwards.

That was all for Stafford as Bud Daley took over. The Yankees, on homeruns by Johnny Blanchard and Roger Maris in the 8th and 9th innings respectively, won the game 3-2, to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Stafford didn't pitch again that 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. 8 Sept. 2011.

Baseball Playing Card Of The Day: Carl Hubbell

Whenever I talk about Carl Hubbell, the subject of the 1934 All Star Game comes to mind.

Now, me personally, I don't put much stock into them. I've never been to one in any sport. Everyone is in it for fun. You're only their based on half a season.

But in Hubbell's case, it's part of his legacy, so why not?

It was the second ever All Star Game, July 10, 1934 at the Polo ground. Hubbell, who would win 21 games that season, stated for the NL.

Leading off for the AL was Charlie Gehringer. He greeted Hubbell with a single, and then advanced to second on center fielder Wally Berger's error.

When Heinie Manush walked. it was first and second, nobody out.

The batter was Babe Ruth!

Yet Hubbell struck him out with a screwball.

Then Lou Gehrig came to bat.

Hubbell fanned him, two. I guess there was too much excitement at this point because Gehringer and Manush pulled off a double steal. They caught 'em napping!

Hubbell was unruffled. He struck out Jimmy Foxx to end the inning.

The top of the second began with Al Simmons going down on strikes.

Joe Cronin followed suit. Hubbell had fanned 5 straight Hall Of Famers.

But Bill Dickey broke that up with a single. Hubbell fanned pitcher Lefty Gomez. Gomez also went to the Hall Of Fame. 6 of 7 Hall Of Famers K'd!

As it turns out, Hubbell was through for the day, and the AL ended up winning the game 9-7, as Mel Harder tossed 5 innings of 1 hit ball for the senior circut.

That takes nothing away from the above.

Yet when I think of Hubbell, I think of one of Babe Ruth's last great performances.

See, after the 1934 season, the 15 year marriage of The Bambino and the Bronx Bombers was over. So he was back to Boston, but this time with the Braves.

So his very first game as a National Leaguer was against the Giants. And Hubbell was starting!

(Understand this about this blog's author. Anytime someone does something spectacular against some team or someone, I always like to know what happens the next time out.)

So this was Ruth's first time facing Hubbell since the All Star Game the year before. It was also the first time he'd faced Hubbell in a non-allstar game.

Ruth, true to his flare for the dramatic, singled in the game's first run in his very first at-bat. He then scored a run himself later that inning. Then King Carl fanned him in the second inning

In the fifth, Ruth came up with a man on and crashed a 2 run homerun. Later that game, he made a great catch to rob Hubbell of a sure hit. Hubbell managed to fan him later that game.

In the 1933 World Series, the last World Series to feature the Washington Senators (Here that Nationals?) Hubbell held off the Sens 4-2 in game 1, then went 11 innings before emerging a 2-1 winner in game 4. The Giants went on to win the series in 5 games.

Carl would face the Yankees in the World Series (sans Babe Ruth, of course) in 1936 and 1937.

He beat Ruffling and the Yankees 6-1 in the '36 opener, a fine 7 hitter. But he couldn't hold off the inevitable, and lost game 4, 5-2, allowing 3 earned runs and 8 hits in 7 innings. The Giants managed to win game 5 in extra innings, but the Yanks won game 6 easily.

In '37 the Yankees were even stronger. Hubbell was routed off the mound in game one. Hubell managed to hold the Yankees off for 5 innings. But in the sixth, the Yankees scored 7 times off him.

The Giants soon found themselves down 3-0 in the Series, but Hubbell would save them from total embarrassment.

He must have smiled as the Giants scored him 6 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. The Yankees scored a run off him in the first and third, and still another in the ninth, but Carl spun a fine 6 hitter to win 7-3. The Yankees would win the series the next game.

As for Hubbell, he would live long enough to watch another screwball master, Vernando Valenzuela, strikeout Don Mattingly, Cal Ripken Jr., Jesse Barfield, Lou Whitaker and Teddy Higuera. Kirby Puckett the got ahold of one and grounded out.

Hubbell would carry on until 1943. He died on November 21, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona. He had been elected to the Hall Of Fame in 1947.

References

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 6 Sept. 2011.

Baseball's Greatest Moments. Prod. Major League Baseball Home Video. Perf. Warner Fusselle. Major League Baseball, 1991. Videocassette. Narrated by Warner Fusselle.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9opTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OjgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1584,5537937&dq=babe+ruth&hl=en

Seaver, Tom and Marty Appel, Great Moments In Baseball, Birch Lane Press, New York, 1992.