Hector Lopez, with just nine at-bats in the 1961 Fall Classic, came through with seven RBIs. Hector was there because Mickey Mantle was out with a hip injury.
It didn't seem to start well. Facing the Cincinnati Reds sans Mantle in game one, New York won. But it was only 2-0 and Hector managed a walk and nothing more. He didn't do a thing to help any of the runs score as they both came on home runs.
Hector didn't play in game two. New York again scored twice, but this time, Cincy came back with six runs of their own to make it a blowout, 6-2. Mantle didn't play either. Help was clearly needed as the two teams headed to Ohio four games three, four and five. The Mick longed for a chance to help.
Hector didn't play game three either, but Mantle did. Mickey failed to get a hit, but I think the Yankees were a bit more confident with #7 in there. They won, but this one was another tight affair, 3-2. Mickey went 0-4. The Yankees didn't score until the top of the seventh inning. This is a great team, the 1961 Yankees?
Well, it was a great team in game four. But the score was close for a while. The score itself was just zeros until the top of the fourth when the Yankees got a single tally and Hector Lopez got into the game. Roger Maris walked. Mantle slammed one to left and Maris made it to third.
Now, normally, Mantle would be right there on second, but the Mick, with that hip not feeling well, was still on first. That hip of his. It had been infected by a needle, given to him by a notorious doctor, Max Jacobson. Max had shot up Mantle with something that might still be a mystery. But it hadn't helped the Mick, as he had a fever for a while after this. He'd walked in his first plate appearance of a game played on September 26th against Baltimore, then shut it down for the season.
But Mantle was stuck on first and sore. And he could do no more. So in trotted Hector. Maris scored the first run of the ballgame. It was all New York would need, but Hector got into the action soon enough.
The Yankees extender their lead to 4-0 by the end of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Richardson singled and Maris was walked intentionally. A wild pitch from Jim Brosnan opened the door for Lopez. A singled to centre scored both runners. Lopez himself trotted on home with the seventh and final run of the for the Yankees when Moose Skowron singled.
In game five, New York wanted to end it right there and then in Cincy. They wasted no time in getting it done. In the first inning, the Yankees came out swinging, I tell ya!
Ahead 3-0 already and with Skowron on first, Lopez smashed a triple to right to score him. Lopez then scored on a double by Clete Boyer to make it 5-0. It was 6-0 going into the bottom of the third, but Frank Robinson hit a three-run home run to cut that in half. Hector was needed again.
Skowron singled home two more to make it 8-3 in the top of the fourth. And then Lopez really came through. A launched a three-run home run to put New York up 11-3! Lopez was not done, and neither were the Yankees. Cincy had some more in them, two.
Indeed, Wally Post blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 11-5. But Lopez squeezed home a run in the top of the sixth, then made it all the way to second on an error by pitcher Bob Purkey. And intentional walk and a fly ball by Yankee pitcher Bud Daley scored Elston Howard, who was on third after all that carnage. It was 13-5, New York and that was the final score.
Lopez had hit just .222 with 3 home runs and 22 RBIs in 1961. It had been an offseason, as he'd hit 22 home runs and 93 RBIs in 1959. The Reds team was not chopped liver. They'd gotten 11 hits themselves in game five, to go along with the five runs. Game four had been close until the later inning. Without Mantle, the Yankees would still have won this thing. But without Hector, it might have gone to a sixth game. Not what you want when you've got one of the best single-season teams of all time!
References
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Pepe, Phil. 1961: The Inside Story Of The Maris-Mantle Home Run Chase. Triumph Books, 2011. 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. 27 Dec. 2014.
It didn't seem to start well. Facing the Cincinnati Reds sans Mantle in game one, New York won. But it was only 2-0 and Hector managed a walk and nothing more. He didn't do a thing to help any of the runs score as they both came on home runs.
Hector didn't play in game two. New York again scored twice, but this time, Cincy came back with six runs of their own to make it a blowout, 6-2. Mantle didn't play either. Help was clearly needed as the two teams headed to Ohio four games three, four and five. The Mick longed for a chance to help.
Hector didn't play game three either, but Mantle did. Mickey failed to get a hit, but I think the Yankees were a bit more confident with #7 in there. They won, but this one was another tight affair, 3-2. Mickey went 0-4. The Yankees didn't score until the top of the seventh inning. This is a great team, the 1961 Yankees?
Well, it was a great team in game four. But the score was close for a while. The score itself was just zeros until the top of the fourth when the Yankees got a single tally and Hector Lopez got into the game. Roger Maris walked. Mantle slammed one to left and Maris made it to third.
Now, normally, Mantle would be right there on second, but the Mick, with that hip not feeling well, was still on first. That hip of his. It had been infected by a needle, given to him by a notorious doctor, Max Jacobson. Max had shot up Mantle with something that might still be a mystery. But it hadn't helped the Mick, as he had a fever for a while after this. He'd walked in his first plate appearance of a game played on September 26th against Baltimore, then shut it down for the season.
But Mantle was stuck on first and sore. And he could do no more. So in trotted Hector. Maris scored the first run of the ballgame. It was all New York would need, but Hector got into the action soon enough.
The Yankees extender their lead to 4-0 by the end of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Richardson singled and Maris was walked intentionally. A wild pitch from Jim Brosnan opened the door for Lopez. A singled to centre scored both runners. Lopez himself trotted on home with the seventh and final run of the for the Yankees when Moose Skowron singled.
In game five, New York wanted to end it right there and then in Cincy. They wasted no time in getting it done. In the first inning, the Yankees came out swinging, I tell ya!
Ahead 3-0 already and with Skowron on first, Lopez smashed a triple to right to score him. Lopez then scored on a double by Clete Boyer to make it 5-0. It was 6-0 going into the bottom of the third, but Frank Robinson hit a three-run home run to cut that in half. Hector was needed again.
Skowron singled home two more to make it 8-3 in the top of the fourth. And then Lopez really came through. A launched a three-run home run to put New York up 11-3! Lopez was not done, and neither were the Yankees. Cincy had some more in them, two.
Indeed, Wally Post blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 11-5. But Lopez squeezed home a run in the top of the sixth, then made it all the way to second on an error by pitcher Bob Purkey. And intentional walk and a fly ball by Yankee pitcher Bud Daley scored Elston Howard, who was on third after all that carnage. It was 13-5, New York and that was the final score.
Lopez had hit just .222 with 3 home runs and 22 RBIs in 1961. It had been an offseason, as he'd hit 22 home runs and 93 RBIs in 1959. The Reds team was not chopped liver. They'd gotten 11 hits themselves in game five, to go along with the five runs. Game four had been close until the later inning. Without Mantle, the Yankees would still have won this thing. But without Hector, it might have gone to a sixth game. Not what you want when you've got one of the best single-season teams of all time!
References
Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Pepe, Phil. 1961: The Inside Story Of The Maris-Mantle Home Run Chase. Triumph Books, 2011. 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. 27 Dec. 2014.
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