1962 New York Yankees: Twentieth Championship

1962 New York Yankees: Twentieth Championship

1962 New York Yankees: Twentieth Championship

The New York Yankees plugged right along in securing opportunities of playing for the World Series Championship, though they weren’t successful in every single trip to the Fall Classic. However, the Yankees had quickly become one of the most successful franchises in the history of sports as they had won 19 World Series Championships leading up to the early 1960’s. Little did anyone, including the Yankees, know just how wild a year 1962 ended up being for Major League Baseball.

The Yankees went 96-66 to win yet another American League pennant, beating out the Minnesota Twins by 5 games. The Yankees went 11-7 against the Twins, who were only in their 2nd year of existence since moving from Washington D.C., in head-to-head play. The Yankees went 50-30 at home and 46-36 on the road. Although August didn’t play out exactly how they wanted, the Yankees cleared through every other month of regular season with relative ease, going 10-5 in April, 15-13 in May, 14-13 in June, 23-8 in July, and 17-9 in September. Blowout games in which final results were measured by 5 or more runs were handled well by the Yankees as they went 24-14 in these games.

Center fielder Mickey Mantle batted .321 with 30 home runs and 89 RBI’s off 121 hits, 15 doubles and 9 stolen bases. Second baseman Bobby Richardson batted .302 with 8 home runs and 59 RBI’s off 209 hits, 38 doubles, 5 triples and 11 stolen bases. Shortstop Tom Tresh batted .286 with 20 home runs and 93 RBI’s off 178 hits, 26 doubles and 5 triples. Catcher Elston Howard batted .279 with 21 home runs and 91 RBI’s off 138 hits, 23 doubles and 5 triples. Left fielder Hector Lopez batted .275 with 92 hits and 19 doubles in 106 games.

Third baseman Clete Boyer batted .272 with 18 home runs and 68 RBI’s off 154 hits and 24 doubles. First baseman Bill Skowrun batted .270 with 23 home runs and 80 RBI’s off 129 hits, 16 doubles and 6 triples. Right fielder Roger Maris had 33 home runs and 100 RBI’s off 151 hits and 34 doubles. Right fielder Johnny Blanchard had 13 home runs, 57 hits and 7 doubles in 93 games. Catcher and utility player Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra had 10 home runs, 52 hits and 8 doubles in 86 games.

New York’s starting rotation mainly featured 3 mainstays as starters and a revolving door for the 4th turn in the rotation. With enough ingenuity the Yankees were able to piece together a winning rotation. Ralph Terry went 23-12 with 176 strikeouts and a 3.19 ERA, recording 14 complete games, 3 shutouts and 2 saves in 298.2 innings pitched. Edward Charles “Whitey” Ford went 17-8 with 160 strikeouts and a 2.90 ERA, recording 7 complete games in 257.2 innings pitched. Bill Stafford went 14-9 with 109 strikeouts and a 3.67 ERA, recording 7 complete games and 2 shutouts. Jim Bouton went 7-7 with a 3.99 ERA, recording 3 complete games, 1 shutout and 2 saves. Rollie Sheldon recorded 2 complete games and 1 save despite going 7-8.

On December 14, 1961 the Yankees traded catcher Jesse Gonder to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for closer Marshall Bridges, and Bridges would give the pinstripes the help they needed in the bullpen. Bridges went 8-4 with 18 saves and a 3.14 ERA. Relief pitcher Jim Coates went 7-6 with 6 saves. Leavitt Leo “Bud” Daley went 7-5 with 4 saves and a 3.59 ERA. Despite going 1-3 Luis Arroyo had 7 saves. Bob Turley went 3-3 in 8 games started along with 1 save.

The 1962 regular season was unpredictable at times for the Yankees, and a game against the Los Angeles Angels on May 22 was one indicator of such unpredictability. Roger Maris drew 4 intentional walks by Los Angeles pitching. The Yankees then went on a 9-game winning streak which began with a 9-8 victory in 10 innings over the Angels on July 14, and it ended with a 4-3 victory over the new version of the Washington Senators, who were in their 2nd year of existence, on July 21.

1962 also featured two All-Star Games instead of one. The first All-Star Game would be held at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. and the second All-Star Game would be held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris would make the American League All-Star team as starters for both games. Elston Howard. Bobby Richardson, Tom Tresh and Ralph Terry all made the team as reserves for both games. Yogi Berra filled in as a reserve for the 2nd All-Star Game.

After the regular season concluded the choice for American League Most Valuable Player became obvious, and that would be Mickey Mantle.

The 1962 World Series was a fitting end to an unpredictable season as the Yankees took on the National League Champion San Francisco Giants. It wasn’t easy for the Giants to claim the National League pennant, though, as they finished tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the same regular season record. In the National League Tie-Breaker Series the Giants outlasted the Dodgers 2 games to 1 to make the Fall Classic. The 1962 World Series was the first time the Yankees and the Giants met after the Giants moved to the West Coast.

In Game 1 on October 4 at Candlestick Park, the Yankees beat the Giants 6-2. Whitey Ford pitched a complete game, giving up 10 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs while recording 6 strikeouts. In the top of the 1st inning Roger Maris had a 2-run double. In the bottom of the 2nd shortstop Jose Pagan had an RBI bunt single, and in the bottom of the 3rd center fielder Willie Mays had an RBI single. In the top of the 7th Clete Boyer hit a solo home run. In the top of the 8th pinch hitting first baseman Dale Long had an RBI single, and Boyer followed with a sacrifice fly to score Elston Howard. Boyer came back in the top of the 9th to get an RBI single.

The Giants responded by blanking the Yankees 2-0 in Game 2 on October 5. Jack Sanford was great for the Giants as he pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits and 3 walks while recording 6 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st inning left fielder Matty Alou had an RBI groundout, and then in the bottom of the 7th first baseman Willie McCovey hit a solo home run.

In Game 3 on October 7 at the original Yankee Stadium, the Yankees edged out the Giants 3-2. Bill Stafford pitched a complete game, giving up 4 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs while recording 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 7th inning Maris had a 2-run double, and Boyer followed by grounding into a forceout at second base to score Maris. Catcher Ed Bailey belted a 2-run home run in the top of the 9th, but San Francisco fell 1 run short.

The Giants quickly rebounded to win Game 4 on October 8 by the score of 7-3. Juan Marichal only pitched 4 innings but gave up only 2 hits and 1 walk while recording 4 strikeouts. In the top of the 2nd inning catcher Tom Haller hit a 2-run moon shot of a home run. In the bottom of the 6th Bill Skowrun and Boyer both had RBI singles. In the top of the 7th second baseman Chuck Hiller obliterated a grand slam home run, and he then came back in the top of the 9th to get an RBI single. In the bottom of the 9th Tom Tresh had an RBI single.

The Yankees came back to win Game 5 on October 10 by the score of 5-3. In the top of the 3rd inning Hiller had an RBI double, and in the bottom of the 4th Tresh scored the first run for the Yankees off a wild pitch. In the top of the 5th Pagan hit a solo home run. In the bottom of the 6th a passed ball allowed Bobby Richardson to score, and in the bottom of the 8th Tresh smoked a 3-run home run off the barrel of his bat. Haller’s RBI double in the top of the 9th wasn’t enough for the Giants.

Going back to Candlestick Park for Game 6 on October 15, the Yankees could have put the Giants away after going up 3 games to 2, but the Giants had other ideas. San Francisco won 5-2. Billy Pierce pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs while recording 2 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 4th right fielder Felipe Alou was picked off second base by the Yankees defense, however a costly throwing error allowed Alou to score all the way from second base. First baseman Orlando Cepeda then followed with an RBI double, and third baseman Jim Davenport followed after that with an RBI single. In the top of the 5th Maris hit a solo home run, and in the bottom of the 5th Felipe Alou and Cepeda both had RBI singles. Shortstop Tony Kubek came off the Yankee bench to get an RBI single in the top of the 8th, but it was too little too late.

The deciding Game 7 on October 16 came down to a pitching duel between New York’s Ralph Terry and San Francisco’s Jack Sanford and only 1 run would be surrendered in this pivotal game. Terry pitched a complete game, giving up 4 hits and recording 4 strikeouts. Sanford pitched 7 innings and gave up 7 hits, 4 walks and 1 run while recording 3 strikeouts. Terry would go on to win the Babe Ruth Award for the best postseason performance as well as being named the World Series Most Valuable Player.

Though he didn’t make much of any impact leading up to Game 7, Tony Kubek came through at the best time imaginable as he grounded into a double play in the top of the 5th inning to score Bill Skowrun. That would be all the Yankees needed to claim their 20th World Series Championship in franchise history.