World Series: Did You Know?

In the first 14 innings of the 1963 World Series, the Yankees had 16 K's.

All that was overshadowed by one Dodger getting 15 strikeouts in the first game alone!

But the Yankees had no shortage of pitching in 1963. And there were a few guys who could get three pitches by you in the strike zone. In one plate appearance!

Whitey Ford, despite the loss, managed to fan 2 batters in the first inning of game 1. And he didn't stop there.

Ford really only had one bad inning. But it was in the second and the Dodgers scored 4 times. Ford fanned speedster Maury Wills to end the threat. But the Dodgers had more than enough runs.

And Sandy Koufax had K'd the side in the first and two more in the second. Really hard to keep pace, isn't it?

The Dodgers scored another run off Ford in the top of the 3rd. But it was the last run LA would score. They needed 3 hits to get it. However, Los Angeles would get only 2 more hits the rest of the game. This after getting 7 hits in the first 2 2/3 innings.

Whitey failed to get a K in that inning, but got Los Angeles 1-2-3 in the 4th. He fanned Johnny Roseboro for good measure.

Koufax was unfazed as he got 1 K in the bottom of the 3rd and 3 more in the bottom of the 4th. That's 9 strikeouts in 4 innings for Koufax.

Ford no more K's but managed to get out of a tight 5th as the Dodgers left the bases loaded. This was it for Ford as Hector Lopez batted for him in the bottom of the frame. The Yankees managed to get 3 hits off Koufax, but failed to score.

Stan Williams failed to K a batter in the top of the 6th, but Koufax (who walked 2 batters in the bottom of the 6th) also failed to get any in his half. But with 2 more the previous inning, he was more than past double digits. 11.

In the 7th, Williams' K'd the side. New York was closing in on Sandy. They now had 7 as a team.

Koufax must have been like, "Oh, really?" He fanned Elston Howard to make it 12 in the bottom of the 7th.

Stan fanned two more in the top of the 8th. Now the Bronx Bombers were going to average a K an inning no matter what!

Koufax made it 14 himself with 2 strikeouts in the bottom of the frame. But the Yankees got two runs on Tommy Tresh's 2-run home run. It was 5-2, LA. Koufax also walked his third (and final) batter of the 8th. Sandy was now up to 14 strikeouts, tying a World Series record. That record was set, by the way, exactly 10 years earlier. It was by Carl Erskine in game 3 of the 1953 World Series. Erksine pitched for the Dodgers at the time. But the Dodgers were in Brooklyn at the time. The Yankees were their opponents in that World Series and every World Series, so it seemed. All the time! The game was played on October 2nd. This game was also being played on October 2nd. #yankees #dodgers #coincidence #everyyear

Oh wait, this isn't Twitter. This is Blogger! Where was I?

Phil Linz had batted for Williams in the bottom of the 8th and fanned. Ex-basketball player Steve Hamilton (all 6'6 of him) was on the hill for new York in the top of the 9th.

And he fanned Koufax himself for K #10 for the Yankees. Hey, they finished the game only 4 strikeouts less than Koufax. Unless...

Well, Koufax fanned Harry Bright (batting for Hamilton) to end the game. K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-Koufax!

In game 2, it was lefty vs. lefty.

Again!

Al Downing, who can K 'em, took the hill for the Yankees. Johnny Podres, who beat New York twice in the 1955 World Series (Brooklyn Dodgers' pitcher at the time!), took the hill.

The Dodgers scored twice off Downing in the first inning off three hits. But he fanned Moose Skowron to end it. No such luck for Podres in the bottom of the frame. But New York failed to score.

Downing made it look easy in the top of the 2nd as he regained his confidence. I mean, Al has got to be shaken after that rough greeting in the 1st. He allowed a single by...Podres, but K'd 2 more batters. 3 on the day so far, and 13 by the Yankees in 11 innings!

Podres gave up a hit and a walk in his half of the inning. But he fanned Clete Boyer and Downing.

In the top of the 3rd, Downing gave up a triple to Tommy Davis. Roger Maris hurt his arm and had to leave the game. He did not play again this Series. Davis would be stranded. Downing fanned 2 more (including the other Davis on a deadly curve) to give him 5.

That's just one less than Koufax had the day before at this point. The rookie (Downing was not considered one because he had pitched a bit in '61 and '62 for New York) has settled down!

But he was behind 2-0.

Podres failed to strike out anyone in the bottom of the 3rd, but retired the Yankees 1-2-3.

Skowron atoned for his earlier K against Downing by going yard on a solo job. The 4th inning dinger made it 3-0. Ouch. Downing also failed to fan a batter.

Podres, again had no strikeouts in his half of the inning. But the Dodger hurler (who would finish his post-season career with a 4-1 mark and an impressive ERA of 2.11), retired Mickey Mantle, Hector Lopez and Elston Howard (The Yankees had 4 MVPs in a row starting in 1960: Maris back-to-back, Mantle 1962, and Howard in 1963) in order.

Maury Wills' leadoff bunt single was quickly erased as the Yankees got a double play for the second straight inning. That hurts Downing's strikeout chances. In any event, he got Willie Davis again to fan. That is 6 for Downing and the Yankees today. 10 yesterday. We've only played 14 innings so far. At least the Yankees hurlers have.

Podres got two more himself in the 5th as he fanned Clete Boyer and Harry Bright (pinch-hitting for Downing). Podres had 4. The Dodgers were up to 18 themselves so far this Series.

Downing was through for the day. Podres went on to win. The Yankees didn't get another strikeout the rest of the game.

And while they lost the first two games, New York stayed close to the Dodgers in the strikeout department.


References


Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. Dec 3, 2013.