"Y" had something to do with the pitcher who tossed the last ball in every Fall Classic from 1958-1969.
So I posted some time ago about the surname ending with the letter "Y" from 1958-1962, right? Well, that seemingly came to an end in the 1963 World Series. Previously, Bob Turley, Norm Sherry, Ralph Terry (Twice) and Bud Daley had tossed the last pitch in October's Classic. Terry had mixed success, giving up a walk-off to Bill Mazeroski to end the 1960 World Series, and then winning game seven, 1-0 two years later.
Sandy Koufax opposed Ralph Terry's New York Yankees in the 1963 Fall Classic. Terry didn't start a game, because the series lasted just four contests. All were won by Koufax's Los Angeles Dodgers.
Terry had followed up his 23-win season of '62 with another 17-win season in '63. 40 wins in 2 years. Normally, you are the "ace" of the staff. But this was no ordinary Yankee team. Whitey Ford and Jim Bouton each won 20. Al Downing, a rookie, won 13 games despite not making the club until June. Stan Williams had an up-and-down year (9-8), but still posted a fine ERA of 3.21. Bill Stafford, who'd been excellent the two previous seasons, struggled to a 4-8 record. Bud Daley had pitched just once in 1963, however. He earned the save on April 10th in a game against KC, but that was it for him that year. He had damaged his arm.
So who were candidates to finish the job in October?
Koufax won 25 games. His buddy Don Drysdale won 19 himself. Old pro Johnny Podres won 14. Larry Sherry was still there, by the way. But he was only able to go 2-6 that season. The closer was Ron Perranoski, who won 16 games himself. Bob Miller and Pete Richert were also part of the rotation. They would not be part of the World Series.
Koufax was deadly. He beat the Yankees 5-2 in the first game, fanning 15. Podres and Drysdale won games two and three (Don edged Jim Bouton 1-0 in an excellent pitcher's duel). Sandy then narrowly beat Whitey Ford (Who tossed a combined 2-hitter with help from reliever Hal Reniff) 2-1 in the fourth contest. It was hardly overwhelming, but the Dodgers had a sweep.
Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals had his chance to beat the New York Yankees in 1964. But it was very difficult. The right-handed pitcher went 19-12 in 1964. His nickname was "Gibby"!
Well, Gibby lost game 2, 8-3 at home. He didn't pitch too bad. But New York scored four times off Bob in 8 innings. Gibson won game 5, 5-2 in ten innings. The series went the distance. Gibson was back in game seven. Though the Yankees scored five runs off him and hit three home runs, Bob Gibson won it, 7-5.
Sandy was back in 1965. But his Los Angeles Dodgers would not face the New York Yankees. This time, it was the Minnesota Twins. Koufax actually lost game two. Don Drysdale had lost game one. Were the Dodgers in trouble.
Well, they came home for game three and won it, 5-0 behind Claude Osteen. Drysdale continued to right the ship with a 7-2 win in game four. Koufax was awesome in game five, 7-0 for the Dodgers.
Osteen lost game six, so it was back to Koufax for game seven. Sandy did it! He beat the Twins, 2-0 on a three-hitter. But Los Angeles would not be so lucky next year against Baltimore.
The 1966 World Series was Koufax's last. He retired after the season. Sandy lost game 2, 6-0 as the Dodgers made six errors. Osteen and Drysdale pitched well in games three and four. However, the Dodgers lost them both, 1-0. With that, it was a sweep for the Baltimore Orioles. Dave McNally went the distance for the O's in the fourth contest. He blanked the Dodgers on just four hits.
Bob Gibson and the Cardinals would be back themselves for the 1967 and 1968 World Series. Gibson won game 1, 2-1, game 4, 6-0, and finally game 7, 7-2. Gibby went the distance all three games. He even hit a home run in the finale. The beaten Boston Red Sox got just 14 hits off him.
Gibby looked even better the next Fall Classic. Facing the Detroit Tigers, Gibby was opposed by Denny McLain in the first and fourth contests. Gibson seemed overwhelming. He beat McLain 4-0 in the first game (Denny allowed just 3 hits and 2 earned runs over 5 innings), then 10-1 in the fourth game. St. Louis now had a 3-1 stranglehold on the World Series. But Mickey Lolich won game four at Tiger Stadium, 5-3. Back to St. Louis. McLain got some run support at last in the sixth game, as the Cards tried seven different pitchers to try and stop the Tiger onslaught.
Bob Gibson was not one of them. The year before, he faced Jim Lonborg in the seventh game. Coming into that game, both pitchers were 2-0. Now, a year later, both he and Lolich were 2-0. And once again, the seventh game had both pitchers going for a third win. And a World Series crown.
Gibson pitched well, but Curt Flood misjudged a flyball to centre by Jim Northrup in the top of the seventh. Detroit ended up with three runs that inning. They added a fourth in the top of the ninth. A Mike Shannon home run off Lolich made it 4-1 in the bottom of the frame, but St. Louis got no closer. Lolich had beaten Gibson. Detroit had beaten St. Louis.
Neither team was in the World Series in 1969. But Baltimore was back. They looked for another World Series crown against the underdog New York Mets.
It got off on the right foot for the home team (Baltimore) in the first contest. Mike Cuellar beat Tom Seaver, 4-1. But then Jerry Koosman won the second contest, 2-1. It was off to Shea Stadium for the next three games.
There, it was the Mets with a 5-0 win in game three as Gary Gentry overcame Jim Palmer. But, that really doesn't show how close it was. Tommie Agee did it all. Batting in the last of the first, he hit a Palmer pitch outta here for a 1-0 lead. Then he made two great catches in centre to keep Baltimore off the scoreboard.
Tom Seaver edged the Orioles 2-1 in extras in game four. Ron Swoboda got into the act with an excellent catch off Brooks Robinson in the top of the ninth. Though Boog Powell scored on the play, Baltimore had looked poised for more than inning.
Baltimore wasn't about to let the underdogs think it was ever gonna be easy. McNally was back after pitching so well in game two. And he pitched well in game five. Would you believe it? He even hit a home run. A two-run blast by Frank Robinson made it 3-0, Orioles in the top of the third.
Now New York needed some magic, or it was back to Baltimore. They got some in the last of the sixth. Cleon Jones was hit by a pitch after shoe polish showed that fact. Don Clendenon followed with a home run to left. 3-2.
McNally got the next three batters out. New York then got a home run from a most unlikely source the next inning. Al Weis, who was never much of a player (.219 with 7 home runs in his career), tied the game with a home run! Wow! Were these guys unreal?
Better still, Jerry Koosman had shook of his earlier troubles and held Baltimore at bay since. 1-2-3 went the O's in the eighth. The Mets? They had just been warming up in the bottom of the sixth and seventh.
Cleon Jones started the rally again. Double. An out later, it was Ron Swoboda with one of his own for a 4-3 Met lead! A Jerry Groat grounder was bobbled by Boog Powell. His toss to reliever Eddie Watt was dropped by the new pitcher. Swoboda scored! Perhaps taking McNally out hadn't been a good idea by Baltimore's manager Earl Weaver.
Weaver, though, was a genius. However, none of his task-master skills could stop the good fortune that was going the way of the hometown New York Mets in game five! Though Frank Robinson drew a walk off Koosman to start the top of the ninth, Jerry bore down again.
Powell forced Robinson. Then the other Robinson, Brooks, was retired on a fly to right. When Davey Johnson flied to Jones in left, the Mets were on top of the world in 1969!
Jerry...There's another "Y"! Koosman and the New York Mets, World Series winners the year of Woodstock? "Y" not?
So I posted some time ago about the surname ending with the letter "Y" from 1958-1962, right? Well, that seemingly came to an end in the 1963 World Series. Previously, Bob Turley, Norm Sherry, Ralph Terry (Twice) and Bud Daley had tossed the last pitch in October's Classic. Terry had mixed success, giving up a walk-off to Bill Mazeroski to end the 1960 World Series, and then winning game seven, 1-0 two years later.
Sandy Koufax opposed Ralph Terry's New York Yankees in the 1963 Fall Classic. Terry didn't start a game, because the series lasted just four contests. All were won by Koufax's Los Angeles Dodgers.
Terry had followed up his 23-win season of '62 with another 17-win season in '63. 40 wins in 2 years. Normally, you are the "ace" of the staff. But this was no ordinary Yankee team. Whitey Ford and Jim Bouton each won 20. Al Downing, a rookie, won 13 games despite not making the club until June. Stan Williams had an up-and-down year (9-8), but still posted a fine ERA of 3.21. Bill Stafford, who'd been excellent the two previous seasons, struggled to a 4-8 record. Bud Daley had pitched just once in 1963, however. He earned the save on April 10th in a game against KC, but that was it for him that year. He had damaged his arm.
So who were candidates to finish the job in October?
Koufax won 25 games. His buddy Don Drysdale won 19 himself. Old pro Johnny Podres won 14. Larry Sherry was still there, by the way. But he was only able to go 2-6 that season. The closer was Ron Perranoski, who won 16 games himself. Bob Miller and Pete Richert were also part of the rotation. They would not be part of the World Series.
Koufax was deadly. He beat the Yankees 5-2 in the first game, fanning 15. Podres and Drysdale won games two and three (Don edged Jim Bouton 1-0 in an excellent pitcher's duel). Sandy then narrowly beat Whitey Ford (Who tossed a combined 2-hitter with help from reliever Hal Reniff) 2-1 in the fourth contest. It was hardly overwhelming, but the Dodgers had a sweep.
Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals had his chance to beat the New York Yankees in 1964. But it was very difficult. The right-handed pitcher went 19-12 in 1964. His nickname was "Gibby"!
Well, Gibby lost game 2, 8-3 at home. He didn't pitch too bad. But New York scored four times off Bob in 8 innings. Gibson won game 5, 5-2 in ten innings. The series went the distance. Gibson was back in game seven. Though the Yankees scored five runs off him and hit three home runs, Bob Gibson won it, 7-5.
Sandy was back in 1965. But his Los Angeles Dodgers would not face the New York Yankees. This time, it was the Minnesota Twins. Koufax actually lost game two. Don Drysdale had lost game one. Were the Dodgers in trouble.
Well, they came home for game three and won it, 5-0 behind Claude Osteen. Drysdale continued to right the ship with a 7-2 win in game four. Koufax was awesome in game five, 7-0 for the Dodgers.
Osteen lost game six, so it was back to Koufax for game seven. Sandy did it! He beat the Twins, 2-0 on a three-hitter. But Los Angeles would not be so lucky next year against Baltimore.
The 1966 World Series was Koufax's last. He retired after the season. Sandy lost game 2, 6-0 as the Dodgers made six errors. Osteen and Drysdale pitched well in games three and four. However, the Dodgers lost them both, 1-0. With that, it was a sweep for the Baltimore Orioles. Dave McNally went the distance for the O's in the fourth contest. He blanked the Dodgers on just four hits.
Bob Gibson and the Cardinals would be back themselves for the 1967 and 1968 World Series. Gibson won game 1, 2-1, game 4, 6-0, and finally game 7, 7-2. Gibby went the distance all three games. He even hit a home run in the finale. The beaten Boston Red Sox got just 14 hits off him.
Gibby looked even better the next Fall Classic. Facing the Detroit Tigers, Gibby was opposed by Denny McLain in the first and fourth contests. Gibson seemed overwhelming. He beat McLain 4-0 in the first game (Denny allowed just 3 hits and 2 earned runs over 5 innings), then 10-1 in the fourth game. St. Louis now had a 3-1 stranglehold on the World Series. But Mickey Lolich won game four at Tiger Stadium, 5-3. Back to St. Louis. McLain got some run support at last in the sixth game, as the Cards tried seven different pitchers to try and stop the Tiger onslaught.
Bob Gibson was not one of them. The year before, he faced Jim Lonborg in the seventh game. Coming into that game, both pitchers were 2-0. Now, a year later, both he and Lolich were 2-0. And once again, the seventh game had both pitchers going for a third win. And a World Series crown.
Gibson pitched well, but Curt Flood misjudged a flyball to centre by Jim Northrup in the top of the seventh. Detroit ended up with three runs that inning. They added a fourth in the top of the ninth. A Mike Shannon home run off Lolich made it 4-1 in the bottom of the frame, but St. Louis got no closer. Lolich had beaten Gibson. Detroit had beaten St. Louis.
Neither team was in the World Series in 1969. But Baltimore was back. They looked for another World Series crown against the underdog New York Mets.
It got off on the right foot for the home team (Baltimore) in the first contest. Mike Cuellar beat Tom Seaver, 4-1. But then Jerry Koosman won the second contest, 2-1. It was off to Shea Stadium for the next three games.
There, it was the Mets with a 5-0 win in game three as Gary Gentry overcame Jim Palmer. But, that really doesn't show how close it was. Tommie Agee did it all. Batting in the last of the first, he hit a Palmer pitch outta here for a 1-0 lead. Then he made two great catches in centre to keep Baltimore off the scoreboard.
Tom Seaver edged the Orioles 2-1 in extras in game four. Ron Swoboda got into the act with an excellent catch off Brooks Robinson in the top of the ninth. Though Boog Powell scored on the play, Baltimore had looked poised for more than inning.
Baltimore wasn't about to let the underdogs think it was ever gonna be easy. McNally was back after pitching so well in game two. And he pitched well in game five. Would you believe it? He even hit a home run. A two-run blast by Frank Robinson made it 3-0, Orioles in the top of the third.
Now New York needed some magic, or it was back to Baltimore. They got some in the last of the sixth. Cleon Jones was hit by a pitch after shoe polish showed that fact. Don Clendenon followed with a home run to left. 3-2.
McNally got the next three batters out. New York then got a home run from a most unlikely source the next inning. Al Weis, who was never much of a player (.219 with 7 home runs in his career), tied the game with a home run! Wow! Were these guys unreal?
Better still, Jerry Koosman had shook of his earlier troubles and held Baltimore at bay since. 1-2-3 went the O's in the eighth. The Mets? They had just been warming up in the bottom of the sixth and seventh.
Cleon Jones started the rally again. Double. An out later, it was Ron Swoboda with one of his own for a 4-3 Met lead! A Jerry Groat grounder was bobbled by Boog Powell. His toss to reliever Eddie Watt was dropped by the new pitcher. Swoboda scored! Perhaps taking McNally out hadn't been a good idea by Baltimore's manager Earl Weaver.
Weaver, though, was a genius. However, none of his task-master skills could stop the good fortune that was going the way of the hometown New York Mets in game five! Though Frank Robinson drew a walk off Koosman to start the top of the ninth, Jerry bore down again.
Powell forced Robinson. Then the other Robinson, Brooks, was retired on a fly to right. When Davey Johnson flied to Jones in left, the Mets were on top of the world in 1969!
Jerry...There's another "Y"! Koosman and the New York Mets, World Series winners the year of Woodstock? "Y" not?
No comments:
Post a Comment