The man behind the plate.
Howard, the first black Bronx Bomber, was stationed behind the plate for 111 games in 1961 despite the presence of Yogi Berra and Johnny Blanchard.
His month of April was seemingly uneventful, but he just kept getting hits, but no homeruns or RBIs!
Yet he scored a run in his first three games, and had back to back two hit games. First on April 21st against the Orioles, Ellie was 2-4, then the next day even better, 2-3.
Howard got his first RBI on the 26th against Detroit, helping the Yankees to a wild 13-11 win. But it would be his only RBI of the month.
However, steady Ellie kept hitting and was 2-4 the next day against the Tribe to raise his average to an incredible .435!
An 0-4 performance against the lowly Senators on the 30th, dropped his average on the season to .370. Hal Woodeshick and Dave Sisler shut him down. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris both failed to hit a homerun, and the Yankees lost 4-3.
May would be a better. RBIs were suddenly not needed as Howard had 4 in his first three games that month. And by the end of that third game for Ellie on this month, his average was an even .400!
On May 17th, he got his second 3 hit game of the month, and New York lost again to the Sens despite another RBI by the catcher.
He got just one more RBI that month, but got 6 hits in his last four games, including a pinch hit on May 24th. He had raised his .370 average at the end of April to .391 by the end of May.
What about the longball? In order to get there we need to get through three, three hit games on June 4th (3 RBI), 5th (second game of a doubleheader) and 8th (again, the second game of a doubleheader. And he collected a double, a triple and scored twice).
His first homerun came June 17th and it was part of another 3 hit game. And it was part of another wild game, lost by the Yankees to Detroit, 12-10.
The Yankees went into the top of the 9th, trailing 12-5.
But Clete Boyer went yard off Paul Foytack, and then Mantle waved his magic wand and belted a three run shot. Howard would face Bill Fischer, no stranger to milestone homeruns.
So it was Howard who hit his first off him, but Terry Fox retired Bill Skowron before the Yankees could get any closer.
Elston then hit a dramatic pinch hit longball on the 24th. It was against Minnesota, and it came in the Yankees last at bat, New York was leading by two 9-7. With one out in the top of the ninth, Howard pinch hit for Johnny Blanchard. The pitcher was Chuck Stobbs, the victim of Mantle's 565 foot homerun back in 1953. Howard's longball to right put the game out of reach.
The next game, Howard didn't have to wait for heroics as he drove in Tony Kubek in the 4th with a single. Then in the top of the 6th with the Bombers trailing 3-2, Maris walked and Mantle singled him to second. That brought up Howard. Howard to a rip and sent the ball into the seats in left. The Yankees were now ahead, and they would never look back.
After going hitless in the last two June games and collecting an RBI on July 1st, he hit homerun #4 against the Senators, to help the Yankees to a 13-4 win the next day.
Then came July 6th against Cleveland.
And Elston led the swinging.
Leading off the 5th inning, Howard's homerun off Dick Stigman, broke a scoreless tie, and the Yankees went on to score two more times that inning.
In the 6th, Howard came up again with one out and Bob Allen on the mound. Elston send one into the stands in right, putting New York up 4-0 and that's how it ended as Bill Stafford tosses a 2-hitter.
The next day was even better as he drove in four including a three run homerun against Boston's Billy Muffett.
Two days later Ellie had 3 hits in 4 at bats in the first game of a doubleheader to boast his average up to .371. But he failed to score a run and collected just one RBI. He failed to get a hit as a pinch hitter in the second game.
In a span of four games from July 14th to 17th, Howard got 2 hits in each game, including a homerun on the 15th against the White Sox. His batting average on the season was a high .377! But it would never get better.
After slumping to .358 by the 23rd (but also hitting a homerun on this day), Howard was back with two hits in each game of a doubleheader on July 25th. He added a homerun in the second game to reach double digits.
He didn't do much the rest of the month, but he did collect two RBIs in his first August game (2nd) and then hit his 11th homerun two days later against the Twins, in a game that he played first base.
Then Ellie went a while before hitting another, although he did collect 2 RBIs on the 8th, 11th and 13th. His next homerun came August 18th in a 5-1 loss against the Tribe.
He didn't hit one the next day, but he did collect two hits, an RBI and a run scored. On the 20th, he got two more hits in the first game of a doubleheader, neither of which scored a run or resulted in Howard eventually scoring. He did not play in the nightcap.
Elston was only 1-9 in the next two games combined, but then he was back in a long ball state of mind on the 27th. Actually, he went out and got 3 hits, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
On August 30th, he got another dinger against the Twins and pitcher Ray Moore, on in relief of Jim Kaat, as the Yankees won again 4-0 behind another shutout by Stafford.
An 0-4 performance on the last day of August resulted in a 5-4 and Elston's average down to .351.
It is a September 3rd homerun that I think was Howard's biggest of 1961.
In the bottom of the 7th, with the Bronx Bombers ahead 4-2 to the Tigers, Howard pinch hit for Stafford and struck out against Terry Fox. But Howard stayed in the game at catcher.
The Tigers rallied and went ahead 5-4, and the Yankees went into the bottom of the ninth, down.
Mickey Mantle tied the game with a dramatic leadoff homerun in the bottom of the ninth off Gerry Staley. Then with two outs and two on, Howard won the game with a three run homerun off Ron Kline.
Then came a four game set against Washington where Howard collected 8 hits, including a homerun.
On September 8th against Cleveland, he had 3 hit, 2 RBIs and a run scored. The next day, he slammed his 17th homerun as the Yankees won 8-7. Number 18 was not far away.
It was the next day in the second game of a doubleheader. A game that saw Elston get two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored.
The Yankees next game was a rain shortened contest between the Yankees and White Sox on September 12th, and Ellie had 3 RBIs on a single and a triple.
On the 14th, Howard hit his 19th homerun in the second game of a doubleheader against Juan Pizzaro of the White Sox.
His average had steadily risen to .367 with a pinch hit in the first game of the doubleheader, but now it began to slide.
But it did not stop him from getting to 20 homeruns, which he did with a blast off Frank Larry in a 10-4 loss on September 16th.
A 1-3 first game, 3-4 second game, doubleheader performance brought his average up to .363 on September 19th. Better still, Norm Cash, his chief competitor for the batting crown, had slipped to .359.
Then came a slump, although Howard would connect for homerun #21 on September 23rd for 21 on the year. But the problem is, Ellie hit just .111 in the last 8 games of the season.
Howard was still up on Cash .356 to .354 on September 26th, but the next day saw Cash at .355 and Howard .353.
Then it was .359 to .351 on the 29th and Cash upped it to .361 on the final day of the season.
Howard would have to be content with .348. Their On Base Average was no comparison: .487 for Cash and just .387 for Howard.
Ultimately, though, all this was for not, anyway. As in, not enough, plate appearances. More on that later.
Even so, how about that season by Howard! The 129 games he got into were a career high. He caught 111 games and played 9 games at first. He pinch hit 14 times.
But how about the real numbers? I'll give you an interesting one: The Yankees team ERA was 3.46 with Howard playing the majority of the time. That was good enough for second in the AL behind the O's.
And the Yankees pitching staff tossed just 33 wild pitches all year, 4 behind Chicago and Detroit. Howard allowed only 22 of them for 9th fewest in the league. As for passed balls, Howard was eighth in the league with eight. But in both cases he was well back of the 1-2-3 leaders.
He also allowed 20 stolen bases, 12 other catchers allowed more. Two other catchers, Hank Foiles and Hal Naragon allowed 20 stolen bases in 38 and 36 games respectively. Howard threw out 20 theft attempts for 5th in the league. That's an even 50 percent Caught Stealing percentage, second in the AL behind Dick Brown.
Howard's 6.11 Ranger Factor Per Game was above league average, which was 5.47 for catchers. Only two catchers, Gus Trinandos and Earl Battey, recorded higher among catchers with 100 or more games played.
Assists saw Howard at 5th with 43, behind Battey's 60. Howard's 635 putouts was 4th behind Battey's 812. It should be noted that Battey caught 20 more games than Howard.
Actually, it was John Ramano who caught the most games that year of any AL catcher with 141. Howard was 4th behind Trinandos' 114.
As for his WAR, that is Wins Above Replacement, Howard was 7th in the league 5.9. Roger Maris was 5th at 7.2 and Mantle took it at 11.9.
On offence, Howard's WAR was 6th at 5.7. Mantle lead this at 11.9. Cash was second at 8.9.
Howard did not accumulate enough plate appearances to qualify for any of the averages.
But it should be noted that his batting average was higher than second place finisher, Al Kaline, who was at .324. His On Base Percentage would have been 8th, just behind Kaline's .393.
How about what he did chart the top 10 in? And was eligible?
Ellie did have the respect of pitchers that season, when the walked him intentionally 6 times to tie Harmon Killebrew for 9th in the AL. Norm Cash again! He lead the league with 19. Amazingly, Mantle, Johnny Blanchard and Moose Skowron all tied for 4th with 9!
As for MVP, Howard was 10th with 30 votes. Maris won it, of course, with 202 votes to Mantle's 198. Whitey Ford had 102 and Luis Arroyo had 95. Cash, by the way, had 151 for fourth place.
Howard played in both All Star games that year. What he needed was 506 plate appearances, to qualify him for the batting title. He had ended up with 482, just 24 short.
But, it was on to the World Series in any case!
His homerun in the bottom of the 4th essentially won the game for the Yankees, as Ford blanked the Reds 2-0, on a 2-hitter.
But in the sixth, Howard appeared to have another hit, and I mean a big hit, as he sent O'Toole's pitch to center, but Vada Pinson made a nice catch to avert further trouble.
In the second game it was the Reds' Elio Chacon, who was subbing for Don Blasingame, who caused Howards some fite
Chacon's first at bat saw him send Berra back for long out.
Howard, meanwhile, grounded out against Cincy's starter, Joey Jay in the bottom of the second. In the 4th, after the Yankees tied the game, Howard walked with one out, only to have Bill Skowron ground into an inning ending double play.
Then with two outs in the fifth, and the game knotted at 2, Chacon singled, then made it to third when Eddie Kasko singled to center and Maris' perfect throw to third was somehow too late. Then came the crucial play that cost the Yankees the game.
Pinson was the batter, and Ralph Terry's pitch came inside and got away from Howard. Once he caught up to it, he looked to see where Kasko was going, instead of looking at Chacon, who was on his way home. Elston ended up on top of Elio, but far to late and the Reds were on top 3-2.
In the sixth, with the Reds having tacked on another run, it was Howard who hit into a double play.
It was his last at bat in the ninth that is odd. Howard swung at one of Jay's pitch, and somehow ended up hitting the ball twice, so Ellie was out on interference. The Yankees would lose the game 6-2.
So it was on to Cincinnati for games 3, 4 and 5.
The best Elston could do was a double in the 5th with one out. And he was quickly erased as Skowron lined into a double play. But the Yankees won the game 3-2, to back in front in the Series.
Facing the Cincy's Jim O'Toole in the top of the second, Howard went down on strikes. In the fourth, with Roger Maris on third and Hector Lopez (pinch running for Mantle) on first, Howard hit into a double play. Maris scored, but Elston had stopped the Yankees from getting a big inning. 1-0 Yankees
But in the sixth, with the game still close, 2-0, and after Lopez had fanned, Howard rifled a double to right center off reliever Jim Brosnan. Yogi Berra was walked intentionally, and Skowron singled to load the bases. When Clete Boyer doubled, Howard and Berra scored.
The Yankees added 3 more in the 7th despite Ellie's strikeout, and Howard was scheduled to bat 4th in the ninth, but Bill Henry retired Tony Kubek, Roger Maris and Hector Lopez in order.
None of that could stop the Yankees from winning 7-0 and going up 3-1 in the Series.
With New York up 2-0 in their first turn at bat, Howard kept the rally going with a double of Jay. He later scored when the next batter, Skowron, hit a single.
After lining out in the second, Howard came up in the 4th with runners on second and third. The Reds walked him. But Skowron again singled, scoring everyone except Howard. And then Lopez's homerun scored Elston. The Bronx Bombers were now up 11-3. All this off Henry. Swift revenge!
Ellie would later single and score the New York's final run in the 6th after reaching on a error, although he singled in the 7th.
Fittingly, Howard was the last batter of the Yankees grand 1961. The highest average (unofficially) struck out against Ken Hunt to leave Maris on second.
Elston Howard would bat just .250 in the Series, but hit 3 doubles, a homerun, 1 RBI, 2 walks and 5 runs scored. Six Yankees topped that average in the Series, but it was Elston whose hitting throughout the season is often forgotten.
Howard had clearly arrived in 1961, taking the catching duty in earnest.
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. 20 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.
Howard, the first black Bronx Bomber, was stationed behind the plate for 111 games in 1961 despite the presence of Yogi Berra and Johnny Blanchard.
His month of April was seemingly uneventful, but he just kept getting hits, but no homeruns or RBIs!
Yet he scored a run in his first three games, and had back to back two hit games. First on April 21st against the Orioles, Ellie was 2-4, then the next day even better, 2-3.
Howard got his first RBI on the 26th against Detroit, helping the Yankees to a wild 13-11 win. But it would be his only RBI of the month.
However, steady Ellie kept hitting and was 2-4 the next day against the Tribe to raise his average to an incredible .435!
An 0-4 performance against the lowly Senators on the 30th, dropped his average on the season to .370. Hal Woodeshick and Dave Sisler shut him down. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris both failed to hit a homerun, and the Yankees lost 4-3.
May would be a better. RBIs were suddenly not needed as Howard had 4 in his first three games that month. And by the end of that third game for Ellie on this month, his average was an even .400!
On May 17th, he got his second 3 hit game of the month, and New York lost again to the Sens despite another RBI by the catcher.
He got just one more RBI that month, but got 6 hits in his last four games, including a pinch hit on May 24th. He had raised his .370 average at the end of April to .391 by the end of May.
What about the longball? In order to get there we need to get through three, three hit games on June 4th (3 RBI), 5th (second game of a doubleheader) and 8th (again, the second game of a doubleheader. And he collected a double, a triple and scored twice).
His first homerun came June 17th and it was part of another 3 hit game. And it was part of another wild game, lost by the Yankees to Detroit, 12-10.
The Yankees went into the top of the 9th, trailing 12-5.
But Clete Boyer went yard off Paul Foytack, and then Mantle waved his magic wand and belted a three run shot. Howard would face Bill Fischer, no stranger to milestone homeruns.
So it was Howard who hit his first off him, but Terry Fox retired Bill Skowron before the Yankees could get any closer.
Elston then hit a dramatic pinch hit longball on the 24th. It was against Minnesota, and it came in the Yankees last at bat, New York was leading by two 9-7. With one out in the top of the ninth, Howard pinch hit for Johnny Blanchard. The pitcher was Chuck Stobbs, the victim of Mantle's 565 foot homerun back in 1953. Howard's longball to right put the game out of reach.
The next game, Howard didn't have to wait for heroics as he drove in Tony Kubek in the 4th with a single. Then in the top of the 6th with the Bombers trailing 3-2, Maris walked and Mantle singled him to second. That brought up Howard. Howard to a rip and sent the ball into the seats in left. The Yankees were now ahead, and they would never look back.
After going hitless in the last two June games and collecting an RBI on July 1st, he hit homerun #4 against the Senators, to help the Yankees to a 13-4 win the next day.
Then came July 6th against Cleveland.
And Elston led the swinging.
Leading off the 5th inning, Howard's homerun off Dick Stigman, broke a scoreless tie, and the Yankees went on to score two more times that inning.
In the 6th, Howard came up again with one out and Bob Allen on the mound. Elston send one into the stands in right, putting New York up 4-0 and that's how it ended as Bill Stafford tosses a 2-hitter.
The next day was even better as he drove in four including a three run homerun against Boston's Billy Muffett.
Two days later Ellie had 3 hits in 4 at bats in the first game of a doubleheader to boast his average up to .371. But he failed to score a run and collected just one RBI. He failed to get a hit as a pinch hitter in the second game.
In a span of four games from July 14th to 17th, Howard got 2 hits in each game, including a homerun on the 15th against the White Sox. His batting average on the season was a high .377! But it would never get better.
After slumping to .358 by the 23rd (but also hitting a homerun on this day), Howard was back with two hits in each game of a doubleheader on July 25th. He added a homerun in the second game to reach double digits.
He didn't do much the rest of the month, but he did collect two RBIs in his first August game (2nd) and then hit his 11th homerun two days later against the Twins, in a game that he played first base.
Then Ellie went a while before hitting another, although he did collect 2 RBIs on the 8th, 11th and 13th. His next homerun came August 18th in a 5-1 loss against the Tribe.
He didn't hit one the next day, but he did collect two hits, an RBI and a run scored. On the 20th, he got two more hits in the first game of a doubleheader, neither of which scored a run or resulted in Howard eventually scoring. He did not play in the nightcap.
Elston was only 1-9 in the next two games combined, but then he was back in a long ball state of mind on the 27th. Actually, he went out and got 3 hits, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored.
On August 30th, he got another dinger against the Twins and pitcher Ray Moore, on in relief of Jim Kaat, as the Yankees won again 4-0 behind another shutout by Stafford.
An 0-4 performance on the last day of August resulted in a 5-4 and Elston's average down to .351.
It is a September 3rd homerun that I think was Howard's biggest of 1961.
In the bottom of the 7th, with the Bronx Bombers ahead 4-2 to the Tigers, Howard pinch hit for Stafford and struck out against Terry Fox. But Howard stayed in the game at catcher.
The Tigers rallied and went ahead 5-4, and the Yankees went into the bottom of the ninth, down.
Mickey Mantle tied the game with a dramatic leadoff homerun in the bottom of the ninth off Gerry Staley. Then with two outs and two on, Howard won the game with a three run homerun off Ron Kline.
Then came a four game set against Washington where Howard collected 8 hits, including a homerun.
On September 8th against Cleveland, he had 3 hit, 2 RBIs and a run scored. The next day, he slammed his 17th homerun as the Yankees won 8-7. Number 18 was not far away.
It was the next day in the second game of a doubleheader. A game that saw Elston get two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored.
The Yankees next game was a rain shortened contest between the Yankees and White Sox on September 12th, and Ellie had 3 RBIs on a single and a triple.
On the 14th, Howard hit his 19th homerun in the second game of a doubleheader against Juan Pizzaro of the White Sox.
His average had steadily risen to .367 with a pinch hit in the first game of the doubleheader, but now it began to slide.
But it did not stop him from getting to 20 homeruns, which he did with a blast off Frank Larry in a 10-4 loss on September 16th.
A 1-3 first game, 3-4 second game, doubleheader performance brought his average up to .363 on September 19th. Better still, Norm Cash, his chief competitor for the batting crown, had slipped to .359.
Then came a slump, although Howard would connect for homerun #21 on September 23rd for 21 on the year. But the problem is, Ellie hit just .111 in the last 8 games of the season.
Howard was still up on Cash .356 to .354 on September 26th, but the next day saw Cash at .355 and Howard .353.
Then it was .359 to .351 on the 29th and Cash upped it to .361 on the final day of the season.
Howard would have to be content with .348. Their On Base Average was no comparison: .487 for Cash and just .387 for Howard.
Ultimately, though, all this was for not, anyway. As in, not enough, plate appearances. More on that later.
Even so, how about that season by Howard! The 129 games he got into were a career high. He caught 111 games and played 9 games at first. He pinch hit 14 times.
But how about the real numbers? I'll give you an interesting one: The Yankees team ERA was 3.46 with Howard playing the majority of the time. That was good enough for second in the AL behind the O's.
And the Yankees pitching staff tossed just 33 wild pitches all year, 4 behind Chicago and Detroit. Howard allowed only 22 of them for 9th fewest in the league. As for passed balls, Howard was eighth in the league with eight. But in both cases he was well back of the 1-2-3 leaders.
He also allowed 20 stolen bases, 12 other catchers allowed more. Two other catchers, Hank Foiles and Hal Naragon allowed 20 stolen bases in 38 and 36 games respectively. Howard threw out 20 theft attempts for 5th in the league. That's an even 50 percent Caught Stealing percentage, second in the AL behind Dick Brown.
Howard's 6.11 Ranger Factor Per Game was above league average, which was 5.47 for catchers. Only two catchers, Gus Trinandos and Earl Battey, recorded higher among catchers with 100 or more games played.
Assists saw Howard at 5th with 43, behind Battey's 60. Howard's 635 putouts was 4th behind Battey's 812. It should be noted that Battey caught 20 more games than Howard.
Actually, it was John Ramano who caught the most games that year of any AL catcher with 141. Howard was 4th behind Trinandos' 114.
As for his WAR, that is Wins Above Replacement, Howard was 7th in the league 5.9. Roger Maris was 5th at 7.2 and Mantle took it at 11.9.
On offence, Howard's WAR was 6th at 5.7. Mantle lead this at 11.9. Cash was second at 8.9.
Howard did not accumulate enough plate appearances to qualify for any of the averages.
But it should be noted that his batting average was higher than second place finisher, Al Kaline, who was at .324. His On Base Percentage would have been 8th, just behind Kaline's .393.
How about what he did chart the top 10 in? And was eligible?
Ellie did have the respect of pitchers that season, when the walked him intentionally 6 times to tie Harmon Killebrew for 9th in the AL. Norm Cash again! He lead the league with 19. Amazingly, Mantle, Johnny Blanchard and Moose Skowron all tied for 4th with 9!
As for MVP, Howard was 10th with 30 votes. Maris won it, of course, with 202 votes to Mantle's 198. Whitey Ford had 102 and Luis Arroyo had 95. Cash, by the way, had 151 for fourth place.
Howard played in both All Star games that year. What he needed was 506 plate appearances, to qualify him for the batting title. He had ended up with 482, just 24 short.
But, it was on to the World Series in any case!
His homerun in the bottom of the 4th essentially won the game for the Yankees, as Ford blanked the Reds 2-0, on a 2-hitter.
But in the sixth, Howard appeared to have another hit, and I mean a big hit, as he sent O'Toole's pitch to center, but Vada Pinson made a nice catch to avert further trouble.
In the second game it was the Reds' Elio Chacon, who was subbing for Don Blasingame, who caused Howards some fite
Chacon's first at bat saw him send Berra back for long out.
Howard, meanwhile, grounded out against Cincy's starter, Joey Jay in the bottom of the second. In the 4th, after the Yankees tied the game, Howard walked with one out, only to have Bill Skowron ground into an inning ending double play.
Then with two outs in the fifth, and the game knotted at 2, Chacon singled, then made it to third when Eddie Kasko singled to center and Maris' perfect throw to third was somehow too late. Then came the crucial play that cost the Yankees the game.
Pinson was the batter, and Ralph Terry's pitch came inside and got away from Howard. Once he caught up to it, he looked to see where Kasko was going, instead of looking at Chacon, who was on his way home. Elston ended up on top of Elio, but far to late and the Reds were on top 3-2.
In the sixth, with the Reds having tacked on another run, it was Howard who hit into a double play.
It was his last at bat in the ninth that is odd. Howard swung at one of Jay's pitch, and somehow ended up hitting the ball twice, so Ellie was out on interference. The Yankees would lose the game 6-2.
So it was on to Cincinnati for games 3, 4 and 5.
The best Elston could do was a double in the 5th with one out. And he was quickly erased as Skowron lined into a double play. But the Yankees won the game 3-2, to back in front in the Series.
Facing the Cincy's Jim O'Toole in the top of the second, Howard went down on strikes. In the fourth, with Roger Maris on third and Hector Lopez (pinch running for Mantle) on first, Howard hit into a double play. Maris scored, but Elston had stopped the Yankees from getting a big inning. 1-0 Yankees
But in the sixth, with the game still close, 2-0, and after Lopez had fanned, Howard rifled a double to right center off reliever Jim Brosnan. Yogi Berra was walked intentionally, and Skowron singled to load the bases. When Clete Boyer doubled, Howard and Berra scored.
The Yankees added 3 more in the 7th despite Ellie's strikeout, and Howard was scheduled to bat 4th in the ninth, but Bill Henry retired Tony Kubek, Roger Maris and Hector Lopez in order.
None of that could stop the Yankees from winning 7-0 and going up 3-1 in the Series.
With New York up 2-0 in their first turn at bat, Howard kept the rally going with a double of Jay. He later scored when the next batter, Skowron, hit a single.
After lining out in the second, Howard came up in the 4th with runners on second and third. The Reds walked him. But Skowron again singled, scoring everyone except Howard. And then Lopez's homerun scored Elston. The Bronx Bombers were now up 11-3. All this off Henry. Swift revenge!
Ellie would later single and score the New York's final run in the 6th after reaching on a error, although he singled in the 7th.
Fittingly, Howard was the last batter of the Yankees grand 1961. The highest average (unofficially) struck out against Ken Hunt to leave Maris on second.
Elston Howard would bat just .250 in the Series, but hit 3 doubles, a homerun, 1 RBI, 2 walks and 5 runs scored. Six Yankees topped that average in the Series, but it was Elston whose hitting throughout the season is often forgotten.
Howard had clearly arrived in 1961, taking the catching duty in earnest.
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. 20 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.
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