Monday, January 26, 2015

World Series: Did You Know?

Roger Maris tied a Fall Classic record in game four of the 1964 Fall Classic. He made three putouts in the same innings. Kind of hard for anyone to break that, eh?

Maris took over at centre field for Mickey Mantle on September 10th of that season. It was Maris' thirtieth birthday. The New York Yankees' legend has to shift to right to protect the knees. Tom Tresh had given it a shot (In all, appearing in 69 games in centre that season), but could not handle it. Maris was fast, and had a great arm. The move paid dividens late in the seasons and in the World Series.

The St. Louis Cardinals' tested Maris and Mantle all World Series long. Ken Boyer's hit a sac fly to Mantle for the first run of game one. In game two, Tim McCarver looked like he'd have extra bases as he hit one between Mantle and Maris. Roger made a great catch. But in game three, Mantle made an error in right that allowed Tim McCarver to take an extra base on a single. Curt Simmons, the pitcher, drove in McCarver. Maris hauled down a long drive by Bob Skinner in the top of the ninth. Mantle almost missed a liner towards him. But The Mick made up for that by hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the frame. The Yankees were up, two games to one. Game four was a crucial one!

The Yankees were at home again for game four. They quickly jumped ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Maris himself scored the third run. Mantle had an RBI. It was supposed to be Whitey Ford's game to pitch. But Al Downing started instead. The Yankees might have been a little worried. But the flamethrower looked great. First inning, the Cardinals failed to get it out of the infield. In the second inning, it was more of the same, but Al made sure that there were less fielding plays for the infield, as well. Ken Boyer took a called strike three. Bill White grounded out to Phil Linz. Mike Shannon fanned. Maris, in centre, Mantle in right, Tresh in left. None of them had touched the ball yet through two.

The Yankees themselves went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second inning, though. Roger Craig had taken over on the hill and was doing a stellar job in relief of Ray Sadecki. Sadecki, like Downing, was left-handed. But he had not adjusted to the situation very well. Roger, Mickey and the rest of the Yankees had hit him well in game one.

However, the Cardinals, down 3-0, started to hit the ball a little better in the top of the third. Tim McCarver, batting for the first time, hit a fly to Maris in centre. Roger caught that for the first out, and the seventh straight batter Downing had retired to start the game. Dal Maxvill became the first St. Louis baserunner when he coaxed a walk from Downing. The other Roger, Craig, came to the dish. Could he do more then just pitch? Well, he got it to centre, but a man with the same first name made the catch for the second out of the inning. When Lou Brock also flied out to our man in centre, the inning was over. Maris had three putouts in the same inning, as record for a centre fielder and any outfielder, for that matter.

New York looked like they'd win this game, as Downing got St. Louis 1-2-3 in the next two innings. But Ken Boyer's grand slam in the top of the sixth inning erased that 3-0 deficit. Maris got two more putouts that inning and ended the afternoon with six. The Cardinals went on to win the game, 4-3.

St. Louis ended up on top of the 1964 Fall Classic, four to three. Roger and his mates had given it their all. But outside of him, few Yankees had a good series defenively. Mantle made several mistakes in the outfield. Phil Linz, subbing for Tony Kubek, made four mistakes himself. Bobby Richardson committed two costly errors, plus made a bad throw in game seven on a double steal. Those kind of mistakes will kill you, not matter who you have on the team.

But the Cardinals must have liked what they saw in Roger. The Cards, you see, also saw him make three pretty good catches in this World Series. With the rest of the Yankees so shakey, they had their chances in games two, three and six. But Roger's glove had put an end to that! And they must have liked his bat, despite hitting only .200, for they acquired him in the offseason of 1967. Roger got to play in two more Fall Classics. Notice was served that the man with a record 61 home runs had the legs and glove, too!


References



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Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print.

Halberstam, David. October 1964. New York: Villard, 1994. Print.

Major League Baseball. World Series Of 1964. Major League Baseball Productions, 1964. DVD.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Print.

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. 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.

Retrosheet. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.  <www.retrosheet.org>.


Sports Reference LLC.  Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 26 Jan. 2015.


Shalin, Mike, and Neil Shalin. Out By A Step: The 100 Best Players Not In The Baseball Hall of Fame. Lanham: Diamond Communications, 2002. Print.

Silverman, Al, et al. Yankee Colors: The Glory Years Of The Mantle Era. Abrams, 2009.

Smith, Ron. The Sporting News Presents 61*: The Story Of Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle And One Magical Summer. St. Louis: Sporting News, 2001. Print.

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