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The 1961 World Champion Yankees Almost Lost
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by Harold Friend
The 1961 Yankees won the World Series in five games. Many fans believe that it had been an easy series. However, beating the Cincinnati Reds was extremely difficult.
The 1961 Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds in a five game World Series. It was one of the finest seasons in Yankees' history, but the passage of time often creates a false reality. Recently, the hosts of a New York based listener call in show discussed that World Series, telling their audience that beating the Reds was almost a cakewalk. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
The World Series opened in New York on Wednesday, October 4. It would be Yankees' 25 game winner Whitey Ford facing the Reds' Jim O'Toole in a battle of left handers. The Yankees, however, had a big problem. Yankees' manager Ralph Houk wasn't sure if Mickey Mantle would be in the starting lineup. According to reports, Mickey was suffering from a virus that preceded minor surgery on a hip abscess. In the beginning...
The game started with Mantle on the bench and both Ford and O'Toole living up to their advanced billing. Neither team scored until Yankees' catcher Elston Howard, leading off the fourth, sliced a drive to right field for a home run. In the sixth, Bill Skowron hit a home run to left field for the Yankees' second run. It was a close game that wasn't decided until the final batter was retired. Ford pitched a two hit shut out as the Yankees won Game 1.
The next day the Reds won Game 2 as Joey Jay defeated Ralph Terry, 6-2. Mickey Mantle once again did not play and the Reds were going back home with a split. In the series' first two games, the Yankees had scored only four runs.
Game 3 exemplified how difficult it was for the Yankees. Bill Stafford (14-9, 2.68) faced Bob Purkey (16-12, 3.73) with Mickey Mantle in the lineup. Purkey out pitched Stafford, who was taken out in favor of Bud Daley after 6 2/3 innings. At the end of seven innings, the Reds were in front, 2-1. The Yankees' vaunted offense, the offense that had set a new major league team record of 240 home runs in a season, the offense that was led by the "M & M" boys with Roger Maris breaking Babe Ruth's single season home run mark, the offense that averaged more than 5 runs a game, was being stopped.
Purkey retired the first two Yankees in the eighth. The Reds were now within four outs of grabbing a 2-1 World Series lead in games. Daley was the scheduled batter. Ralph Houk sent up left handed power hitter Johnny Blanchard to pinch hit. He promptly tied the game with a home run to right field. Relief?
The 1961 Yankees' best relief pitcher was Luis Arroyo. No one knew what a closer was in 1961. Teams had starters, relievers, and mop up men, but no closers. Ralph Houk brought in Arroyo to pitch the eighth inning with the heart of the Reds' batting order coming up. Luis struck out Frank Robinson, got Gordy Coleman on a foul out to the catcher, and retired Wally Post on a grounder to Boyer at third. Bob Purkey stayed in the game to pitch the fateful ninth inning.
Roger Maris led off by hitting a long home run to put the Yankees ahead for the first time. Purkey then retired Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Elston Howard, but the game was lost. After Arroyo struck out Gene Freese leading off the bottom of the ninth, Leo Cardenas hit a long double off the top of the scoreboard to put the potential tying run into scoring position, but Luis retired pinch hitters Dick Gernert and Gus Bell to end the game. This was not quite a calk walk.
In Game 4, Ford again faced O'Toole and the two matched zeros for the first three innings. The Yankees got a run in the fourth, another in fifth, and finally opened it up a little with two runs in the sixth, but Ford had to leave the game with an ankle injury. He would probably be finished for the series. Jim Coates completed the shutout as the Yankees won 7-0, to take a commanding lead in games, 3-1.
Terry (Again) Appears in a Pivotal World Series Game
Ralph Terry was the Yankees' starter for Game 5. Racked by injuries, the starting outfield was Maris in center field, Blanchard in right field, and Hector Lopez in left. Mantle had left Game 4 with his uniform bloody from his abscessed hip and could not play again in the series. Berra was also out, as was Ford. The Yankees needed only one more to win the championship, but it suddenly was far from a sure thing.
Ralph Terry continued to pitch poorly, but the offense came through. The Yankees jumped on Joey Jay for five runs in the first, led by Blanchard's home run and Lopez' triple. Pretty good fill ins. The Yankees extended the lead to 6-0 on Maris' RBI double in the second, but in the bottom of the third, the Reds got to Terry for a three run home run by Frank Robinson. Houk brought in Bud Daley, who went on to finish the game, allowing the Reds no earned runs over 6 2/3 innings as the Yankees offense continued to pound away, and the final score was 13-5. The Yankees had won a World Series they had to win. It was a hard-fought battle against a tough opponent. Not too many who lived through it would call it a cakewalk.
References:
Drebinger, John. "Ford of Yanks to Face O'Toole of Reds in Opener of World Series Today; Mantle's Status is Still in Doubt." New York Times. 4 October 1961, p.53.
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Great recap of the series though, I really enjoyed it.