1962 Qualifier Round: O’s sweep Sens in pair of 4-2 victories

7/28 - Memorial Stadium
Orioles 4, Senators 2
The O's were first to score when Brooks Robinson doubled home the re-incarnated Jerry Adair with two out in the bottom of the first off of Dave Stenhouse.  Washington would take the lead with 2 runs in the 5th off of Chuck Estrada thanks to a Bud Zipfel 2 run homer.  That lead wouldn't last long as Whitey Herzog bunted home Russ Snider on a perfectly executed safety squeeze with the bases loaded and 1 out.  The game remained tied until the bottom of the 7th.  Brooksie singled and moved to second on a balk by Bennie Daniels, who had replaced Stenhouse after Gene Woodling unsuccessfully pinch hit in the top of the inning.  Chuck Hinton booted Gil Brandt's grounder to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  A walk to Herzog loaded the bases and a deep fly by future hitting guru, Charlie Lau, plated Robinson.  Brandt would score to make it 4-2 on a slow grounder to Hinton by Johnny Temple.  Hoyt Wilhelm came on to close it out for the O's but got booted from the game for contesting balls and strikes...mainly balls.  1960 hero Hal Brown would take his place to lock down the victory to put the O's up 1-0 in the Beltway Series.

7/29 - D.C. Stadium
Orioles 4, Senators 2
On September 12, 1962 Tom Cheney fanned 21 Orioles over the course of 16 innings for a 2-1 Senator victory.  Washington would need that type of performance from the hard throwing righty from Morgan, GA.  What they got instead was a sub par effort that lasted just 2 innings and was responsible for 4 Baltimore runs.  It is not know if Chenney's performance or the 2+ hour rain delay ended his day.  All we can surmise is that the Nats were in a deep hole down 4-1 after 2 innings.  To their credit relievers Steve Hamilton (3IP), Claude Osteen (2IP) and Pete Burnside (2IP) shut down the O's for the final 7 frames.  Dick Hall, who replaced O's starter Steve Barber in the 3rd, kept up the good work and allowed just 1 run on 5 hits over 6 innings of fantastic relief work.  Washington would threaten in the 6th only to have Don Lock thrown out at the plate by a perfect throw from Russ Snyder after playing Harry Bright's double off the right field wall perfectly.  An almost exact scenario would play out the following inning when Gil Brandt would nail catcher Ken Retzer at the plate as he attempted to tag up and score the second run of the inning.  Those 2 outfield assists were game savers.  Wilhelm would come on to pitch a perfect 9th to notch the save and ensure the series sweep.

Mantle Walk Off homer + White Ford shutout give Bombers games 6 and 7 to clinch 1961 World Championship

9/1-9/2 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 6 - Yankees 4, Reds 3
Down 3 games to 2 New York was forced to put their hopes on the right shoulder of 4th starter Rollie Sheldon.  Cincy went with game 2 winner Ken Hunt.  With 2 outs in the bottom of the 2nd Hunt plunked Johnny Blanchard, which brought up Moose Skowron  New York's flat topped first baseman crushed a 2-2 offering and hooked it right inside the foul poll just over the 297 mark to make it 2-0.  Hunt would help his own cause by doubling Johnson over to 3rd, where he easily scored on a Vada Pinson ground out to second to make it 2-1 New York.  Elston Howard would hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 4th to make it 3-1 Yanks, but Gene Freese would go deep in the 6th to bring the Yankee lead back to 1.  Yogi Berra would pinch hit for Sheldon in the bottom of the 7th, so Luis Arroyo was called upon to get 6 outs, which would tie the series.  After striking out Gordy Coleman, Arroyo grooved one to Freese, who hit a Mantle-like blast over the monuments to tie the game at 3.  It was as if all of New York went quiet.  Almost 70,000 fans went silent.  You could drop a pin on the Babe's plaque and hear it echo, that's how quiet the  Stadium got.  Jim Brosnan was easily able to get the Yankees out in the 8th.  Bill Henry would start the 9th, but on his 3rd pitch his day would end abruptly and Charles Mickey Mantle hit one high into the upper deck to end the game in dramatic fashion.  The Mick could barely round third before coach Frank Crosettie jumped on his back and took a free ride all the way home.  The normally stoic Bronx Bombers mobbed Mickey at the plate.  The fans lavished the Commerce Comet with chants of "Mickey, Mantle" for 4 long minutes.  At this point one sensed the tide had turned in New York's favor and would not slip back to the Reds.

Game 7 - Yankees 5, Reds 0
Less than 24 hours after celebrating The Mick's game winning homer his drinking buddy Whitey Ford was about to take the mound for all the marbles.  Game 7's are nothing new to the Bronx Bombers.  Having a cool cat like Ford on the mound for a game 7 is a decided advantage.  Whitey won 25 games and the Cy Young Award that season.  The Queens native is known for coming up big on the biggest stage.  His opponent Joey Jay was also a 20 game winner.  Jay had a renaissance year after coming over from the Milwaukee Braves where he just never got a chance to pitch.  Once he cracked Cincy's rotation he was the final piece to the puzzle, which put them over the top en route to the pennant.  New York would strike first by scoring 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 2nd.  Mantle would lead off with a double, but he looked to be stranded at 2nd after Howard and Berra flew out.  Up came Moose Skowron, who was going to have one of those great offensive days.  It started out with line shot double that rolled all the way to the wall in left center to easily score Mickey.  Clete Boyer would follow that with a line shot single that almost took off Jay's head.  That single would score the Moose and give Ford a 2-0 lead to protect.  This tense game 7 remained 2-0 Yanks until the bottom of the 6th when Mickey led off the inning with a home run off the Ballantine sign on the big scoreboard in right center.  Nobody hits those majestic tape measure shots like the Mick and nobody has ever hit more in the Fall Classic either.  With a 3-0 lead and as Yogi would say, "it was getting late real early over here", Ford looked like a safe bet to put the game away easy.  Not for a second can you think anything is going to be easy when both teams are fighting for a championship.  The top of the 7th looked to be one of those half innings where one pitch can decide it all.  After Frank Robinson and Gordy Coleman singled to put runners on 1st and second with no outs things got real tense.  Most average pitchers crack in these spots, but not the man they call "Slick".  Whitey Ford is that man.  He's got the face of the boy next door but the heart and guts of a riverboat gambler.  Ford was able to get Gene Freese to line out to Clete Boyer at third for the first out of the inning.  Boyer, to those who see him play every day, is viewed as Brooks Robinson's equal with the glove.  Most say he has the better arm.  Nobody has better timing for the big moment.  That big moment would come on a hot smash hit down the line by Andy Kasko.  Boyer sucked it up like a Hoover vacuum then had the presence of mind to step on third to force Robinson and throw to Skowron at first all in one motion to nail Kasko for the unconventional 5-3 DP to end the inning.  Cincy would once again threaten to score in the following inning (8th).  Gus Bell would double off the wall in right to lead off the inning.  Wally Post would fly to deep left, which allowed Bell to tag up and go to third.  Cincy figured to at least get one run to cut the deficit to 2.  This is where the ridiculous occurred.  Joey Jay was allowed to hit for himself and he lined a shot down the line at third that somehow hit Bell in fair territory to stop play with Bell being automatically out and Jay reaching 1st and getting credit with a single.  Cincy's manager vehemently argued with the plate up, but to no avail.  The play stood as cal and when Vada Pinson struck out looking to end the inning the Reds were now in need of 3 runs with 3 outs left to go.  That mountain would become even harder to climb when Skowron hit a 2 run shot with 2 outs to make it 5-0.  At this moment everyone in the house that Ruth built was thinking "Lock it Up", and they were correct in their thought process.  Ford would walk Ellio Chacon to open the 9th, but strike out Frank Robinson and then get the next two batters in order to clinch the 1961 World Championship for the New York Yankees.  Amazingly the Bronx Bombers rallied from a 3 games to 1 deficit to win this one.  Ford would author a "slick" 7 hit shutout to win it for New York.  Mantle would be voted the series MVP.  The Mick would go 11-26 (.423) and hit 4 homers with 8 RBI, including the walk off homer in game 6.

1961 World Series Games 3-5: New York takes 2 of 3 to force game 6 in the Bronx

8/28-8/31 - Crosley Field
GAME 3 - Yankees 20, Reds 5
With their backs up against the wall being down 2-0 and hearing all the clamor about their so called offensive slump the '61 Yankees broke out and bombarded Joey Jay and his minion of replacements.  With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the 4th the Yanks went on a offensive tear, which made Ralph Terry's (8 IP / 3 ER) afternoon a breeze.  New York would hit 7 homers in total, which included 2 by Mickey Mantle, who had a drought of 2 games without a long ball.  It wouldn't be an M&M Boys day without Roger Maris going deep as well.  Mantle would knock in 4 runs on a day when his team would score 20 runs on 19 hits.  With the game terminally out of reach Cincy let Jay Hook mop up and take one for the team to the tune of 10 runs in 3 1/3 innings.

GAME 4 - Reds 5, Yankees 3
Once again Whitey Ford pitches just good enough to get a no decision.  For a while it looked like he was going to lose thanks to a 2 run 7th inning by Cincy.  Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th with Tony Kubek on second Mantle lined a clutch single to left off Jim O'Toole to tie the game.  Cincy could not score in the bottom of the inning, so the game headed to extra innings.  O'Toole would pitch into the 11th inning and depart without a decision.Howie Nunn would start the top of the 12th, but never record an out as New York looked to take the lead.  After walking Maris, Nunn gave up a double to Mantle to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no out.  Jim Brosnan would be called upon to replace Nunn and do the impossible:  Get 3 outs and not let a run score.  Brosna would jam Howard, who flew out to shallow right...too shallow for Maris to tag up.  Skowron would be next, and he hit a bullet to left that Ellio Chacon charged and made a running catch.  Maris broke from third, but was nailed at the plate by a perfect throw to end the inning.  New York missed a golden opportunity to go ahead.  As it would turn it 1 run would not have made a difference.  Jim Coates, who had thrown 3 scoreless innings in relief of Ford was not going to get a 4th.  A lead off walk to Frank Robinson was followed by Gordy Coleman striking out looking.  Gene Freese, who was the offensive hero in game 1 turned on a 1-1 offering by Coates and hit it over the left field fence for the game winner.  Brosnan, who saved Howie Nunn's bacon by getting 3 outs with 2 men on was the deserved winner.

GAME 5 - Yankees 5, Reds 3
Three New York homers and a clutch relief performance by Luis Arroyo did the trick as New York was able to stave off elimination and force a game 6 back in the Bronx.  Cincy's game #1 hero, Bob Purkey, reverted back to form and gave up 5 runs on 10 hits in 8 innings of work.  Bill Stafford allowed just 1 run over the first 7 innings, but tired badly in the 8th when Cincy scored 2 to cut the lead to 2.  Arroyo came on to face the lefty Gordy Coleman with 2 outs in the 8th and easily got him to pop out to Richardson at second.  That would happen after Stafford gave up a solo shot to pinch hitter Leo Cardenas and Frank Robinson launched a bomb to deep center that Mantle was able to outrun.  On the play Vada Pinson was able to score to make it 5-3.  New York got on the board with a home run from an unlikely source, Tony Kubek.  Solo shots by Elston Howard and Bill Skowron rounded out the power numbers.  Mantle and Maris would each have two garden variety singles as the supporting cast paced the offense and help extend the series to game 6.

1961 World Series Games 1 & 2: Reds pitching stifles Yankee bat to take 2-0 series lead

8/25-8/26 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - Reds 2, Yankees 0
Nothing says World Series more than seeing the House that Ruth build all draped in red, white and blue bunting.  Having Whitey Ford on the mound to start the series is usually the punctuation mark for victory.  Ford went 8 solid innings and allowed just 2 runs on 4 hits.  On most days this would be the recipe for victory, but today was the day that knuckleball specialist Bob Purkey would pick to confound and confuse the Yankee hitters.  The much feared New York lineup was only able to muster up 3 hits off of Purkey.  A leadoff single by Moose Skowron to start the bottom of the 3rd was New York's only hit until a two out double by Bobby Richardson in the 8th.  Mickey Mantle singled in the 9th and the game all came down to a Yogi Berra fly ball that died in Frank Robinson's glove on the warning track in right center.  Gene Freese's two run shot in the 3rd would be all the runs that Purkey would need.

GAME 2 - Reds 1, Yankees 0
Fans in New York are starting to wonder if the 4 days off between the ALCS and the World Series is responsible for cooling the red hot Yankee bats.  Quite possibly it could be the Red staff, which now has 18 consecutive shutout innings vs an offense that hit 240 regular season homers.  Ken Hunt took the hill for Cincy after not pitching at all in the NLCS.  If rust slowed down the Yankee offense it did noting but make Hunt that much more effective.  Cincy would take a 1-0 lead in the 3rd when rookie shortstop Leo “don’t call me Chico” Cardenas doubled home Jerry Zimmerman with 2 outs.  That would be the only run scored off of Yankee starter Bill Stafford all day.  If fact it was to be the only run scored in the game.  Stafford would only have himself to blame for the run as he booted Zimmerman's comebacker, which allowed Cincy's light hitting catcher to reach base.  Jim Brosnan and Bill Henry each threw a scoreless inning in relief of Hunt with Henry getting the save.  Hunt would fan 7 Bombers on the day including Mantle twice.

1961 ALCS: Bombers outmuscle Tigers in 5

8/15-8/16 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - Tigers 4, Yankees 3
Frank Larry went all 11 innings allowing just 3 earned runs (3 total) on 9 hits.  His opponent, White Ford, "petered out" after only going 8 1/3.  What a wimp !!!  Ford was replaced by Luis Arroyo who had things under control until the top of the 11th when his gold glove caliber third baseman (Clete Boyer) really let him down.  Steve Boros hit a ball into the hole that Boyer ranged to get.  Picking the ball up was the easy part of the play.  Throwing to first was the hard part, which was evidenced by the fact that Boyer bounced it in the dirt with so much spin that Skowron could not scoop it and Boros wound up on second.  Brown singled to put runners on the corners and Boros scored easily on a diving stab hit by Fernandez that Boyer saved from going into left.  New York would go quietly in the bottom of the 11th to ensure a 1-0 series lead for Detroit.

GAME 2 - Yankees 4, Tigers 3
Same score...different results, plus the game completed in regulation.  New York took a 3-1 lead into the 6th only to see starter Ralph Terry yield 2 runs to allow Detroit to tie it.  Rocky Colavito singled home Billy Bruton and Norm Cash scored on a ground out by Boros.  Yankee power would put the Bombers back on top for good thanks to a lead off homer by The Mick in the bottom of the inning.  That would be Mickey Mantle's 2nd homer of the game, which gives him a homer in each of the 1st two games of the series.  Hal Reniff took the Yankees to the doorstep of victory, but needed a little lefty help in the form of Arroyo, who got Billy Bruton to pop out to Elston Howard behind the plate to end the game.  Renif did a masterful job in the 8t by getting out of a bases loaded jam.  Three's were running wild for Mantle today:  3 for 3 with 3 RBI.

8/18-8/20 - Tiger Stadium
GAME 3 - Yankees 9, Tigers 2
After splitting 2 one run games at "the Stadium" the Tigers headed home with a huge amount of confidence that the Bombers were beatable.  This confidence was backed up by the fact that their ace, Jim Bunning, would be toeing the rubber.  Right from the start you could see that Bunning was not going to have an easy day.  A 3 run homer by Roger Maris and a solo shot by Yogi Berra, all in the top of the first put the Tigers behind the 8 ball real early.  Detroit would battle back to get a solo run in the bottom of the 1st as well as the 3rd off of Yankee starter Bill Stafford, but they could not overcome the 4 run jumpstart that Bunning allowed New York's potent lineup.  On the day New York would hit 4 homers, including one by the Mick to give him a homer in every game of this series so far.

GAME 4 - Yankees 15, Tigers 3
Staked to a huge 8-0 lead after 3 innings Rollie Sheldon cruised to victory.  Frank Larry  departed after giving up those 8 runs, but his replacements fared no better.  New York would hit 8 homers on the day, including 3 by Roger Maris (3 for 5, 5 RBI).  Mantle would hit another homer to keep his streak of 4 consecutive games with a homer alive.  The Mick would also chip in with 4 RBI's.  Tony Kubek would go 4 for 5 and set the table all day for the big bats.

GAME 5 - Yankees 1, Tigers 0
Paul Foytack would be brilliant all day going 8 innings and allowing just one measly run.  Unfortunately for Foytack and the Tigers that run would be a solo homer by The Mick in the bottom of the first.  Even less fortunate for the Tigers was the fact that the "Chairman of the Board", Whitey Ford threw a tidy 6 hit shutout.  In this series the Bombers have shown that they are capable of winning with their bats in blowout type games and with their arms, as evidenced by Ford's performance.  Mantle would be voted the ALCS MVP for his offensive exploits.  Mickey's 1st inning salvo added to his streak of consecutive games with a homer, making it 5 in a row.  The Bombers will head home to the Bronx to host the Reds in the 1961 World Series and hope to take advantage 3 off days, and a tired Red team that had to go 7 to beat the Giants.

Reds come back from 0-2 deficit to defeat Jints in 7 to take NL Flag

8/15-8/16 - Crosley Field
GAME 1 - Giants 2, Reds 1 (10 inn)
Mike McCormick dueled Joey Jay for 9 innings.  Both hurlers were splendid in only giving up 1 run.  San Fran scored first when Matty Alou sliced one down the left field line that barely cleared the wall, but still was worth 1 run.  That held up until Frank Robinson hit one over the scoreboard in left center to tie it.  Jay would start the 10th inning, but his tank was empty and it showed when Ed Bailey jumped all over a ball that was right down the middle of the plate.  There was no doubt that it was gone as soon as it hit the bat.  Stu Miller would come on to toss a scoreless bottom of the 10th to save it for Mac.

GAME 2 - Giants 7, Reds 4
Cincy jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead thanks to a 3 run shot by Wally Post off of Jack Sanford.  Harvey Kuenn would make it 3-1 with an RBI single that scored Jim Davenport in the 4th.  Cincy would bump their lead back to 3 when Frank Robinson would hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 6th.  That looked to be enough for Bob Purkey who was having his way with the Giants lineup until the top of the 7th when everything went wrong.  Joey Amalfitano was able to reach base thanks to an errant throw by Red thirdbaseman Gene Freese.  Jose Pagan would single Amalfitano home and Ed Bailey's double would put the Giants 1 back.  At this point it looked like Howie Nunn was going to come on to replace Purkey, but instead the embattled hurler talked his manager into letting him face one more batter.  That batter, Matty Alou, would be one batter too many for Purkey as the normally light hitting Alou would hit his second homer in as many days to put the Jints up by 1.  Two more Giant runs in the 8th were more than enough for reliever Bobby Bolin to protect as the Giants were heading home up 2 games to none and the Reds were in big trouble.

8/18-8/20 - Candlestick Park
GAME 3 - Reds 2, Giants 1
The weight of Cincy's season rested squarely on the shoulders of lefty Jim O'Toole.  Add to that pressure is the fact that San Fran has two big righty sluggers named Mays and Cepeda.  To say O'Toole had a tough road ahead of him was an understatement.  To make O'Toole's task even tougher his opponent on the hill was none other than the Dominican Dandy himself, Juan Marichal.  Cincy would score in the first on a Gordy Coleman sac fly and San Fran would knot it up an inning later when Cepeda went deep.  Both hurlers would then be locked in and not allow a run until the top of the 7th when Cincy had runners on the corners with 2 outs and Marichal would uncork a wild pitch that would allow Don Blasingame to score the go ahead run.  The Giants put pressure on reliever Jim Brosnan in the 8th when their first two batters singled, but Jim Davenport would pop out to short and Mays would hit one into the left field wind that held the ball up just long enough for Vada Pinson to catch it on the track.  Cepeda would brave the wind himself and meet a similar fate as Gus Bell stood with his back against the chain link fence to corral out number 3.  O'Toole would go the seven and fan 7.  Brosnan would pitch 2 perfect innings in relief to garner the save.  Marichal would go the distance and give up only 1 earned run, but come up on the short side of the ledger thanks to an error of his own and no offensive support.

GAME 4 - Reds 4, Giants 2
Game 1 starter Joey Jay was back for more.  Once again he gave up 2 runs, but this time the Red offense was able to stake him to 4 runs, so this time he wound up on the right side of the ledger.  With the score knotted at 2-2 in the top of the 5th Frank Robinson slammed a double in the left center gap to knock in Vada Pinson, who had just stolen second after walking.  Robinson had hit a 2 run homer in his previous at bat and would hit a solo shot in his next one for a huge MVP type performance.  Frank Robby knocked in all 4 of Cincy's runs off of Giants starter Bill Loes to tie the series at 2 games apiece.

GAME 5 - Giants 5, Reds 2
After jumping out to a 2 games to none lead in the series the Giants seemed to have lost all of their momentum.  Thankfully for them it was game 1 starter Mike McCormick's turn to toe the rubber.  Mac would blank the Reds until the 6th when Frank Robinson singled with one out and stole second, so with 2 out Gene Freese singled him home to make it 2-1 Giants.  Things looked very iffy for the Jints when Gordy Coleman singled home Leo Cardenas in the 8th to tie the game at 2.  That's when Bob Purkey had another one of his meltdown innings, which has been his MO in this tournament.  After getting the first 2 batters to ground out weakly Purkey let up and allowed a seeing eyed single by catcher Hobbie Landrith.  Pinch hitter Willie McCovey stroked a double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  The ever so hot Matty Alou was given an intentional pass in order to get the righty vs righty matchup against 3rd baseman Jim Davenport.  Purkey was able to run the count to 0-2, but could not put Davenport away.  Finally he threw a pitch that caught way to much of the middle of the plate and Davenport shot it into the right center gap for a stand up 3 run triple.  Stu Miller would have an easy 9th inning in relief as the series headed back to Cincy with the Jints up 3 games to 2.

8/22-8/23 - Crosley Field
GAME 6 - Reds 7, Giants 0
For a while it looked like Jim O'Toole and Jack Sanford were going to hook up in one of those edge of your seats post season pitcher's duels.  That was the case until the bottom of the 4th when the Reds unleashed an offensive barrage that tallied 6 runs.  Gus Bell led off the inning with a homer, which was followed by a clean single by Frank Robinson.  After Coleman popped out to short the reds recorded 4 consecutive singles.  Runs 5 and 6 would score on a line shot single by Vada Pinson.  By that time the Giants were looking toward tomorrow and O'Toole was locked into a groove that made him virtually unhittable.  O'Toole would go the distance and throw a 3 hit shutout as the series headed to the all decisive game 7.

Game 7 - Reds 8, Giants 1
For the third time in the series Joey Jay would take the mound for the Reds.  He would be facing the Domenican Dandy, Juan Marichal.  Early on it was apparent that Marichal could not control any of his pitches.  Solo runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings gave Cincy a 2-0 lead.  Marichal was working purely on guts and found a way in both innings to prevent the big inning from occurring.  By the 4th inning he was in deep trouble.  The Reds censed it and took full advantage of the young Latino hurler.  Cincy would bat around and post 4 runs on the scoreboard to bump their lead to 6-0.  Even Joey Jay would get a key hit.  Frank Robinson, who went 3 for 5 had his 2nd RBI double in the 7th to add another run and make it 7-0.  A Willie McCovey homer to lead off the top of the 9th was the only scar that Jay would have on the day as he went the distance and fanned 6.  Cincy worked real hard to dig themselves out of an 0-2 deficit to start the series vs a San Fran team that is dangerous.  The key reason that the Giants did not win was the 3 for 29 series that Willie Mays had.  I found it amazing that they could even get to a game 7 with their all world HOF superstar mired in such a deep slump.  Mays' 3 hits were routine singles.  Without the extra base hit power from the Say Hey kid the Jints were destined to lose.

#1 seed Reds barely outlast #4 seed Braves in 5

8/8-8/9 - Crosley Field
GAME 1 - Braves 7, Reds 6
Both offenses had their way with each team's respective starter.  Both Lew Burdette and Jim O'Toole gave up 6 runs, and so the game was tied heading into the 8th.  Nothing seemed special for the Braves in light of the fact that they grounded out weakly for the first 2 outs of the inning before Burdette blooped a single to right.  A wild pitch moved him up to second and a single by Lee Maye put runners on the corners.  Maye stole second, so batter Frank Bolling got an unintentional/intentional pass to load the bases and reliever Howie Nunn uncorked another wild pitch to allow the go ahead run to score.  Burdette settled down to allow no runs for the final 2 innings to get the win.  Joe Adcock had a 3 for 4 day with 4 RBI and a homer.  Gene Freese homered for the Reds.

GAME 2 - Reds 3, Braves 2
Bob Buhl carried a d 2-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th when the Reds tied the game up.  Gene Freese hit a 2 out two run triple to make it 2-2.  It would stay tied until the bottom of the 9th when Vada Pinson led off with a clean single off reliever Don McMahon, then barely stole second while Wally Post struck out swinging.  Frank Robinson hit a bullet to third that Eddie Mathews juggled then threw into the stands, which allowed Pinson to walk home uncontested for the winning run to tie the series a 1 all.

8/11-8/12 - County Stadium
GAME 3 - Braves 4, Reds 1
Joey Jay hung tough vs his former mates until the bottom of the 7th when he gave up 2 runs to give he Braves a 4-1 lead.  The ageless Warren Spahn went the distance allowing only 1 run that was scored in the first, thus shutting the Reds out over the final 8 innings.  Spahn hit a 2 run shot in the 7th to give himself some breathing room and put the Braves up 2-1 in the series.

 

GAME 4 - Reds 4, Braves 2
Two unlikely hurlers (Ken Johnson & Carl Willey) hooked up in a pitcher's duel that sore  both hurlers cone before the 9th inning where the score still remained tied.  Cincy, with their backs up against the wall, scored twice in the top of the 9th off of reliever Ron Piche.  Both runs were scored on bases loaded walks.  Frank Robinson would hit a solo shot and a double and was a triple short of a cycle.  Milwaukee's only 2 hits were solo shots by Joe Adcock.

8/13 - Crosley Field
GAME 5 - Reds 6, Braves 5
This decisive game 5 would go right down to the wire.  After scoring a solo run in the top of the 9th the Braves decided to call on relief specialists Don McMahon to close the game out for Lew Burdette.  Ed Bailey would lead off the inning with a single.  Blasingame would follow with a walk and pinch hitter Leo Cardenas would single home Bailey to make it 5-4 with nobody out.  Pinson would hit into a force play at second for the first out, then steal second to open up first base for the Braves to walk Jerry Lynch in order to face 1961 NL MVP Frank Robinson.  Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.  Frank Robby showed everyone why he's a HOF caliber talent, by lining a single down the line in lefty.. Frank "the original" Thomas made his best effort to track it down.  Bailey was easily able to score from third.  Pinson rounded third and headed home, then slid in just a hair ahead of Thomas' throw to catcher Charlie Lau to allow the Reds a walk off hit to clinch the series.

A-dair-ing betrayal

Sad news to report out of Baltimore, MD today.  Game 5 in the 11th inning, superstar bat, subpar glove 2B Jerry Adair was cold cocked with a champagne bottle stolen by an unidentified teammate.  Adair was then dragged under the Tigers team bus, where he was crushed to sadly crushed to death.  2B Marv Breedling, who was an integral part of the 1960 KOD Championship team was heard muttering "I would've made that play"...It is safe to assume the Baltimore police department will investigate...however, the body of Adair was nearly gone, as the rat problem in 1961 Baltimore was so bad, they devoured the deceased second sacker.  --submitted by Justin Ryan--

Authenticity can not be verified…

Tigers eliminate O’s on Adair error in game 5

Tuesday August 8 at Tiger Stadium

Jim Bunning (2-0, .57) scattered 7 hits, walked 1 and struck out 10 in shutting out the Orioles 7-0.  Jake wood and Dick Brown each had 2 rbis for the Bengals.  Oriole pitchers were able to hold the triumvirate of Kaline, Cash and Colavito to 0 for 10 in the game but the damage came from everywhere else.  Chuck Estrada (0-1, 5.56) who had only given up 1 hit in his previous 7 innings of work was slammed around by Boros, Brown and Wood  Tigers 7  Orioles 0

Wednesday August 9 at Tiger Stadium

Jim Gentile (2) and Brooks Robinson (2) each had a homerun to pace the Oriole offense  in Game 2.  Frank Lary (1-1, 4.50) went the distance for the Tigers and was okay until the 9th inning.  After walking Jackie Brandt and then intentionally passing Gentile after Brandt stole second, Brooks Robinson doubled home both and then scored on Russ Snyder's single.  Billy Hoeft who worked just one third of an inning, got the win (2-0, 0.00)  Hoyt Wilhelm picked up his third save.  Orioles 7 Tigers 4

Friday August 11 at Memorial Stadium

This game may have turned out different if Oriole starter Milt Pappas had not left the game in the 5th with an arm injury.  The game was 2-1 at that point in favor of the Tigers and Pappas had been pitching well.  As it was, reliever Wes Stock surrendered three runs in the 6th and Tiger starter Don Mossi (2-0, 2.00) made the most of the support he received.  Norm Cash (3) and Earl Robinson (1) both had solo homers.  Pappas took the loss (0-1, 2.25)  Tigers 5  Orioles 2

Saturday August 12 at Memorial Stadium

Tiger starter Paul Foytack only lasted four innings, surrendering 8 runs on 11 hits,  including three homeruns.  The big blow was Brooks Robinson's three run homer (4) after Gentile had again been intentionally passed.  Hank Foiles(1) and Gentile (3) both added two run shots of their own.  The Tigers tried to come back, scoring 5 runs in the 7th and 2 in the 8th but the deficit was too much.  Steve Barber got the win (2-0, 0.00) and Billy Hoeft got his first save.  Orioles 9  Tigers 7

Sunday August 13 at Tiger Stadium.

The fifth game would see a match up of the first game pitchers, Jim Bunning and Chuck Estrada. The Orioles opened the scoring in the first.  Gentile walked, though not intentionally.  Brooks was hit by a pitch and Whitey Herzog singled home Gentile.  Gentile's solo shot in the 5th (4) pushed the lead to 2-0.  Estrada lost all command of his pitches in the bottom of the 6th as the Tigers scored twice without the aid of a hit or an error.  Walks to Bunning, Wood and Kaline loaded the bases with one out.  With two out, Estrada walked Colavito to give the Tigers their first run.  Estrada then hit Steve Boros to force in the tying run.  The game would stay that way until the bottom of the 11th.  Wes Stock walked Colavito to lead off the inning, then gave up a single to Boros.  Chico Fernandez forced Boros at second on a ground ball to Stock on which Baltimore second baseman Jerry Adair had trouble getting the ball from his mitt to turn the double play.   Charlie Maxwell came up to pinchhit for Mike Rourke and hit a routine double play ball to Jerry Adair.  Inexplicably the ball bounced off the heel of his glove and before  he could recover it, Colavito scored from third to end the game and win the series for the Tigers.  Hank Aguirre was the winner (1-0,,0.00), Stock the loser (0-1, 7.71).  After the game, some distraught Baltimore fans who had travelled by bus for this penultimate game waited for Adair outside the Baltimore locker room.  Security left the group alone when they stated they only wanted to console Adair and congratulate him on a good tournament (he hit over 400).  But Adair did not report to the team bus and his room at the Detroit Ponchartrain Hotel was not used last night.  Team officials are trying to locate him but are not concerned.  "Jerry is not the type of ballplayer to take this lying down.  We fully expect him to be back next year."  More to come  Tigers 3  Orioles 2

--submitted by Tom “Crash” Davis--

‘Jints sweep hapless Cubbies in 3 straight

8/8-8/9 - Candlestick Park
GAME 1 - Giants 2, Cubs 1
Don Cardwell, who was outstanding on the hill in Chicago's opening round taming of the Dodgers, was fantastic once again vs the "other" team from California.  Unfortunately for Cardwell Mike McCormick was even more spectacular.  Cardwell went the distance giving up just 2 runs, but McCormick's only blemish on the day was a solo homer at the hands of George Altman in the top of the 2nd.  "Mac" would yield just 2 inconsequential singles the rest of the way with no hits coming after the third inning.  Cardwell's undoing, if you can call it that, would be the 2 run homer he gave up to Joey Amalfitano in the 6th, which would provide the final 1 run margin for victory.

GAME 2 - Giants 8, Cubs 1
Glenn Hobbie was victimized by both his team's poor defense and his own bad pitching,  not to mention the pressure of having to be nearly perfect against the Dominican Dandy, Juan Marichal.  The Giants scored early and often off of Hobbie.  The offense, as expected, went through Willie Mays who had a homer, a double and 3 RBI's.  Marichal himself chipped in with two RBI's via the sac fly route in his complete game gem that would have been a shutout if not for Ron Santo's solo homer in the top of the 5th.

8/11 - Wrigley Field
GAME 3 - Giants 10, Cubs 2
Returning to the "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field the Cubbies needed a win desperately to stave off elimination.  On the hill was Jack Curtis, who nearly threw a no hitter vs the Dodgers in the opening round.  Curtis battled a vastly superior lineup in the Giants for 5 innings and gave up 3 runs (2 earned) before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 5th.  Chicago did score a run that inning to make it 3-2, but Curtis' replacement Dick Drott was tattooed for 7 runs in 4 innings of work.  Giant left fielder Orlando Cepeda paced the offense with 3 homers, all solo shots.  Mays also continued his hot hitting (2 for 5) by chipping in with another homer of his own.  San Fran closed out the sweep with Bill O'Dell finishing off the final 2 innings without incident after Jack Sanford left after 7 innings.

Bronx Bombers sweep Tribe

8/8-8/9 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - Yankees 1, Indians 0
On a soggy day at the Big Ball Orchard in the Bronx runs came at a premium and pitching and weather ruled the day.  Ralph Terry had a 6 hit shutout going when the heavens opened up and a 2+ hour downpour came down on the Big Apple.  When the clouds cleared both Terry and his opponent, Gary "Ding Dong" Bell were not to return.  The Yankees, still suffering from a huge offensive slump put their hope and faith in the hands of Hal Reniff and Luis Arroyo with both coming through with flying colors.  The game's lone run came way back in the bottom of the 3rd when Bobby Richardson singled home Clete Boyer, who doubled with one out.  Richardson's clutch single came with 2 out and was just one of New York's 3 hits on the day.  Cleveland was able to post 8 hits, but could not crack the scoreboard in the most important category, runs.

GAME 2 - Yankees 7, Indians 3
Finally the fans up in the Bronx were treated to some offensive fireworks from their team  that ran roughshod of the AL during the regular season.  Both Roger Maris and Yogi Berra hit homers, with the latter going 4 for 4 with 3 RBI's.  Whitey Ford was his normal crafty self getting to within one out of a complete game before tiring.  Jim Perry took the loss for the Tribe in a bit over 4 innings of miserable work, where he gave up 6 runs (5 earned).  If the Bombers bats have awoken this will spell bad news for the rest of the league.

8/11 - Municipal Stadium
GAME 3 - Yankees 6, Indians 3
With their bats heating up the Bronx Bombers jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 3 innings off of Cleveland starter Mudcat Grant.  New York scored 3 of those runs in the top of the 1st when Tony Kubek tripled home Bobby Richardson.  Roger Maris worked out a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd, but The Mick went down hard swinging.  Elston Howard worked out a walk of his own to load the bases.  Yogi hit a shot that would have been out of the Stadium, but wound up just shy of the warning track and safely in the glove of Willie Kirkland in right.  Kubek tagged and scored easily to make it 2-0.  Moose Skowron followed with a line shot single to left, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, but on the play Maris scored the third run of the inning.  The Tribe struck for 2 runs off of Bill Stafford in the 6th when Johnny Temple scored on a wild pitch and Tito Francona, who doubled, was singled home by Willie Kirkland.  The Tribe made it a 1 run game when Jimmy Piersall doubled home Vic Power in the bottom of the 7th.  Luis Arroyo would come on board in the 8th to close the door on any hopes for the Indians.  New York added 2 much needed insurance runs in the top of the 9th to pretty much put it away.  Once again Cleveland (9 hits) out hit New York (8 hits), but New York had the timely hits plus they took advantage of Cleveland's suspect fielding (2 errors) to seal this series sweep.

O’s knock out Bosox in 4 close games

8/1-8/2 - Memorial Stadium
GAME 1 - Orioles 3, Red Sox 1
Tied at 1 apiece and heading into the bottom of the 7th the O's took advantage of some poor defense by the Bosox.  After Jerry Adair singled with 1 out Gil Brandt attempted to bunt him over to second, but a throwing error by Frank Malzone at third allowed Adair to score all the way from first plus Brandt easily walked into second.  Malzone would follow up his first gaffe with a second one in a row as he booted Russ Snyder's slow roller then inexplicably tried to throw to first.  The throw needed a postage stamp since it was air mailed into the dugout, which allowed Brandt to score.  Hoyt Wilhelm would come on board to pitch two perfect innings in relief to save the game for Billy Hoeft, who pitched a scoreless 7th inning and got the win in relief.  Chuck Estrada started and deserved to get the win, but he left after 6 with the score tied 1-1.  Don Schwall was the Boston righthander who was let down by his defense, specifically Malzone.

GAME 2 - Orioles 2, Red Sox 1
Frank Malzone's lead glove struck again. This time it erased a 1-0 lead that Bill Monbouquette was diligently protecting.  The score remained tied until the bottom of the 8th when Jerry Adair singled home Whitey Herzog with 1 out.  Hoyt Wilhem would pitch 2 scoreless innings in relief to get the win in relief of Hal Brown, who went 6 and allowed just 1 run on 3 hits.  Monbouquette went the distance and gave up 1 earned run, but could not get any offensive support.  Boston's Pumpsie Green was a home run away from hitting for the cycle.  He recorded 3 of Boston's 5 hits.

8/4-8/5 - Fenway Park
GAME 3 - Red Sox 4, Orioles 3
Up 3-1 and heading to the bottom of the 9th the O's were poised to get out of Boston with a clean sweep of the Sahx.  With Hoyt Wilhelm on the hill everything looked good.  Frank Malzone led off with a homer that made the crowd cheer, but certainly did not atone him for his defensive gaffes over the past 2 days that cost Boston games.  Rookie Carl Yastrzemski followed with a double and Jackie Jensen walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd.  Gary Geiger bunted the runners up 90 feet and Jim Pagliaroni would get an intentional pass to load the bases and create forces all around.  Yaz would score on a Russ Nixon grounder to tie the game at 3 all.  Pinch hitter Pumpsie Green would single to center to score Jensen to give the Bosox a 4-3 win and stave off elimination.

GAME 4 - Orioles 5, Red Sox 4 (10 inn)

Starters Ike Delock and Jack Fisher both went 7 innings with Fisher leaving the game up by 1 with the score 3-2.  The O's added a solo run in the top of the 8th off of reliever Dave Hillman to give themselves a nice 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th when the Bosox bats came alive.  Russ Nixon doubled off of Baltimore reliever Wes stock with 1 out.  Boston's Chuck Schilling singled to put runners on the corners for Pete Runnels who promptly singled home Nixon to cut the O's lead to 1.  That set the stage for Frank Malzone to fully atone for the sins of his leather in games 1 and 2.  Malzone lined a bullet off of the Monstah out in left to easily score Schilling.  The ball was hit so hard and played so well by O's Dave Philley that only 1 run could score and Malzone had a long single, which tied the game at 4 all.  It would stay tied at 4 until the top of the 10th when Wilhelm walked with the bases loaded to force in Gil Brandt with 2 outs.  Bosox reliever Tom Brewer did everything but kick himself in the butt for walking the opposing pitcher.  Wilhelm ran into a bit of trouble thanks to Jim Gentile booting a slow roller by Schilling with 1 out.  A passed ball was charged to catcher Gus Triandos, but who could not be blamed, since he was catching a knuckleballer like Hoyt Wilhelm.  That put Schilling on 2nd with 1 out.  Pete Runnels was a tad late on his swing and hit a slow roller to short that Ron Hansen easily fielded and threw to first for out number 2.  It all came down to Wilhelm vs Malzone.  A mano y mano matchup of me who have fluctuated from hero to goat in this series.  This time it was Wilhelm's turn to be hero as he confounded Malzone with 3 straight butterfly knucklers that Malzone couldn't hit if he was swinging a spatula instead of a Louisville Slugger.  Wilhelm's strikeout of Malzone ended this close and entertaining series with the O's heading to Detroit to face the #2 seeded Tigers.

Hitless Bombers using pitching to outclass A’s in 4

8/1-8/2 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - A's 7, Yankees 0
A stunned crowd at the House that Ruth built couldn't believe that their dynasty Yankee ballclub could succumb to the lowly A's, who have been nicknamed "The Yankees farm team".  KC's Jim Archer pitched the game of his life vs this All-Star lineup.  Archer threw a tidy 6 hit shutout vs the Bronx Bombers.  New York's only threat occurred when The Mick tripled off the monuments with 2 out in the 6th, but Archer was able to strike out Roger Maris and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way.  Crafty White Ford battle Archer until the 7th when he and Ryne Duren combined to allow KC to score 4 big runs to make it 6-0.  The big hit of the inning was a 2 run single by none other than Archer himself.  KC Left Fielder Leo Posada had himself a 3 hit day in support of Archer.

GAME 2 - Yankees 3, A's 1
If Game 1's blowout win by KC was to serve as a wake up call to the Yanks, the alarm was not to go off until the bottom of the 7th inning.  With the score deadlocked at 1 thanks to some fantastic pitching on behalf of Ralph Terry and Norm Bass.  Could the A's pull the upset of the decade and knock off arguably the greatest team of the decade ?  Not a chance !  Only Hollywood can write such stories.  In fact if Hollywood was writing this one they would have at least had the M&M Boys wreak havoc on Bass for a heroic victory.  That too was not the case as the 2 big runs that Terry would need would come from the bottom of the order.  Glove man Clete Boyer, a former Athletic, doubled home Yogi with 2 outs and Terry (himself a former KC player) singled home Boyer.  That recipe of pitching and clutch hitting spelt doom for the A's when they had a great chance to put the Bombers on the brink of elimination.

8/4-8/5 - Municipal Stadium
GAME 3 - Yankees 2, A's 1
The regular season (109 wins) juggernaut Bronx Bombers seemingly forgot to hit.  What is more troublesome is that this dry spell or dare we say "slump" is occurring verse one of the worst pitching staffs in the AL.  Bill Stafford toed the rubber for New York and gave up a quick run to the A's in the bottom of the first when Dick Howser singled, stole second and was knocked home by Wayne Causey.  For the next 6 innings it looked like that 1-0 lead would hold up.  That is because Jerry Walker, who was 8-14 (4.82) had one of those rare moments on the big stage where everything breaks right.  Then in the top of the 8th the bubble burs when Tony Kubek led off with a single and catcher Elston Howard ripped one down the left field line just over the fence to make it 2-1.  Stafford would tire and Luis Arroyo would replace him for the final 4 outs to record the save and put the suddenly offensively challenged Bombers up 2-1.

GAME 4 - Yankees 11, A's 3
Whitey Ford once again graced the mound with his presence and once again the Bombers spotted the A's a run in the first plus their bats remained cold once more.  That was until the top of the 4th when Roger Maris (another former Athletic) doubled.  Moose Skowron singled to put runners on the corners and Berra then walked to load up the bases.  Maris scored on a ground out by Bobby Richardson and Skowron scored on a sac fly by Boyer to make it 2-1 Yanks  With the score 5-1 New York blew it open with a 6 run 8th inning that included back to back to back homers by Maris, Skowron and Berra off embattled reliever Bill Kunkel.  Maris would have 4 RBI's on the day and the A's would make this Yankee series win a tough one for sure.