Hector Lopez hit the only triple of the 1961 Fall Classic. To say that seems so unlikely is an understatement. You have to excuse Hector. He wasn't supposed to be there. He wasn't supposed to be the star that year. The New York Yankees were loaded with talent. A guy coming off the bench didn't get to do much that year.
Certainly, he wasn't in the regular season. To fellows...Let's just call them Mickey and Roger. Mantle, for the second straight year, played 153 games. Not all of them were complete games, however. But he hit 54 home runs, second to Roger Maris' 61. Hector Lopez, in 93 games, hit just .222 with 3 home runs and 22 RBIs. By comparison, Johnny Blanchard, the second-string catcher, hit .305, 21 home runs and 54 RBIs in the same amount of games. Yogi Berra was in left at this point. And that was the spot Lopez played sometimes.
And the Yankees were facing the Reds in the 1961 Fall Classic. But the Yankees got a bad break late in the season. A damaged hip forced Mantle out of the home run race. And he'd miss the first two games in the Fall Classic.
Lopez played game one in right, as Roger Maris was in centre. But all Lopez could do was draw a walk. Blanchard pinch hit for him late in the game. Lopez had the same result in game two, but it was a better game for him, as he was pinch-hitting for pitcher Ralph Terry.
The Yankees came away with a split, as the Fall Classic moved to Cincinnati. Mantle was back in the lineup for game three. So Lopez did not play. In the fourth game, Mantle lashed a long single to left in the top of the fourth. The pain in his hip was too much. He had to leave. Lopez came in to pinch run. He was quickly erased via a double play, but a run scored. It was the only run the Yankees would need. Hector later singled home two more runs. The Yankees, 7-0 winners, were now just a game away from winning it all.
And in game five, Lopez was in the starting lineup!
But no one had hit a triple yet!
Lopez did just that in the top of the first. It was a booming one, and it scored a run. When Clete Boyer followed with a double, Lopez scored. It was the kind of bat around inning that New York did all year long. Only this time, Mickey Mantle was missing from it. Lopez run was the Yankees fifth of the inning. We are only in the top of the first, remember. Roger Maris hit a double the next inning to make it 6-0.
But the Reds were hitting the ball well, too. They scored three themselves on a three-run home run by Frank Robinson in the bottom of the third. They got a double and a single that inning after the blast, but no runs scored.
The Yankees put another "5" on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. And Lopez trumped his triple. He hit a three-run home run of his own. The game was now a rout again, but also a slugfest. Even the Reds weren't done. A two-run home run by Wally Post in the bottom of the fifth made it 11-5. The Reds could have gotten another run as Vada Pinson led off the inning with a single, but was cut down by Maris trying for two.
Lopez got another RBI as the Reds messed up a squeeze by him the next inning. An intentional walk and a sac fly by pitcher Bud Daley restored the lead to eight runs.
Both teams continued to hit the ball hard. While the final score was a rout, the hit total was 15-11 by New York. The Reds didn't help themselves by making three errors and issuing six walks. The Yankees did not walk a man this game. Neither team scored again after the sixth inning, however.
New York won this game, 13-5. With that, they had the crown in five games. And while Mickey Mantle and Rogers Maris will always be remembered for this magical Yankee year (Whitey Ford and Luis Arroyo should be, too), the World Series itself might not have been won without Hector Lopez!
References
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 4 August 2015.
Certainly, he wasn't in the regular season. To fellows...Let's just call them Mickey and Roger. Mantle, for the second straight year, played 153 games. Not all of them were complete games, however. But he hit 54 home runs, second to Roger Maris' 61. Hector Lopez, in 93 games, hit just .222 with 3 home runs and 22 RBIs. By comparison, Johnny Blanchard, the second-string catcher, hit .305, 21 home runs and 54 RBIs in the same amount of games. Yogi Berra was in left at this point. And that was the spot Lopez played sometimes.
And the Yankees were facing the Reds in the 1961 Fall Classic. But the Yankees got a bad break late in the season. A damaged hip forced Mantle out of the home run race. And he'd miss the first two games in the Fall Classic.
Lopez played game one in right, as Roger Maris was in centre. But all Lopez could do was draw a walk. Blanchard pinch hit for him late in the game. Lopez had the same result in game two, but it was a better game for him, as he was pinch-hitting for pitcher Ralph Terry.
The Yankees came away with a split, as the Fall Classic moved to Cincinnati. Mantle was back in the lineup for game three. So Lopez did not play. In the fourth game, Mantle lashed a long single to left in the top of the fourth. The pain in his hip was too much. He had to leave. Lopez came in to pinch run. He was quickly erased via a double play, but a run scored. It was the only run the Yankees would need. Hector later singled home two more runs. The Yankees, 7-0 winners, were now just a game away from winning it all.
And in game five, Lopez was in the starting lineup!
But no one had hit a triple yet!
Lopez did just that in the top of the first. It was a booming one, and it scored a run. When Clete Boyer followed with a double, Lopez scored. It was the kind of bat around inning that New York did all year long. Only this time, Mickey Mantle was missing from it. Lopez run was the Yankees fifth of the inning. We are only in the top of the first, remember. Roger Maris hit a double the next inning to make it 6-0.
But the Reds were hitting the ball well, too. They scored three themselves on a three-run home run by Frank Robinson in the bottom of the third. They got a double and a single that inning after the blast, but no runs scored.
The Yankees put another "5" on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth. And Lopez trumped his triple. He hit a three-run home run of his own. The game was now a rout again, but also a slugfest. Even the Reds weren't done. A two-run home run by Wally Post in the bottom of the fifth made it 11-5. The Reds could have gotten another run as Vada Pinson led off the inning with a single, but was cut down by Maris trying for two.
Lopez got another RBI as the Reds messed up a squeeze by him the next inning. An intentional walk and a sac fly by pitcher Bud Daley restored the lead to eight runs.
Both teams continued to hit the ball hard. While the final score was a rout, the hit total was 15-11 by New York. The Reds didn't help themselves by making three errors and issuing six walks. The Yankees did not walk a man this game. Neither team scored again after the sixth inning, however.
New York won this game, 13-5. With that, they had the crown in five games. And while Mickey Mantle and Rogers Maris will always be remembered for this magical Yankee year (Whitey Ford and Luis Arroyo should be, too), the World Series itself might not have been won without Hector Lopez!
References
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 4 August 2015.
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