1961 Qualifier Round: 10th seed KC A’s sweep 7th seed MIN Twins in 2 straight.

7/28 - Metropolitan Stadium
GAME 1 - KC A's 11, MIN Twins 4
Minnesota led 3-2 after 3 innings by Camilo Pascual (6IP/4ER) was not on his game.  The A's took a 4-3 lead with 2 runs in the 4th on singles by Dick Howser and Leo Posada.  A Harmon Killebrew single in the 5th scored Lenny Green to tie the game at 4 apiece.  The A's scored 7 runs over the final 3 innings to run away with the game.  Ed Rakow pitched 3 scoreless innings to get credited with the win.

 

 

7/29 - Municipal Stadium
GAME 2 - A's 3, Twins 2
Bill Tuttle tripled home Billy Martin with 2 outs to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd.  Jerry Lumpe and Norm Siebern provided RBI hits for the A's in the bottom of the 3rd to stake starter Norm Bass to a 1 run lead, which would hold up until the top of the 8th when pinch hitter Don Mincher homered to tie it at 2.  Twin starter Jack Kralick would exit after 7 innings of 2 run ball.  His replacement Ray "No" Moore would run into trouble in the bottom of the 9th when Hank Bauer led off with a double.  Pinch hitter Reno Bertoia was given an intentional pass and Dick Howser bunted them both up 90 feet into scoring position.  Posada was given an intentional pass to create forces all around, but the strategy was foiled when Jerry Lumpe lined a single to center to end the game and clinch this short best of 3 series for the 10th seeded A's

Orioles sweep Braves for 1960 World Championship

8/26-8/27 - Memorial Stadium
GAME 1 - Orioles 5, Braves 4 (15 inn)
Fans in Baltimore were treated to a marathon 15 inning affair for the series opener.  Warren Spahn was brilliant allowing 2 runs over 9 innings of work, which on most days would be part of the winning formula.  Today, where runs were at a premium, Spahn left the game knotted at 2.  His opponent, Steve Barber, hit the showers 3 innings earlier having allowed 2 runs as well.  The O's scored first with solo runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings.  Gene Woodling singled home Brooks Robinson in the 2nd and knocked Robinson in again with an RBI double in the 3rd.  Milwaukee answered back with 2 runs in the top of the 4th when Mel Roach scored on a sac fly by Joe Adcock and Ed Mathews walked home on a long single by Del Crandall.  For the next 7 innings goose eggs were registering on the scoreboard for both teams.  The top of the 12 saw Wes Covington pinch hitting for Roach in an obvious RBI spot with Johnny Logan on 3rd.  Covington sliced one deep enough to left to score Logan and put his team up 3-2.  Ron Piche was now tasked with getting 3 outs for the Braves and notching the win, but that was not be.  Gus Triandos walked with 2 outs and Albie Pearson came on to pinch run.  Pearson began to distract Piche and eventually he stole second.  That distraction gave a distinct advantage to the batter Gene Woodling, who lined a single to right to score Pearson and tie the game up once more.  Both teams scored in the 12th, but neither team could hold an advantage.  If baseball were football the Braves would have been declared the "sudden death" winner.  Fortunately for the O's,  baseball is not football and each team has a shot to win it.  We fast forward to the top of the 15th where Del Crandall singled home Ed Mathews to put the Braves back on top by 1.  This time the burden would fall on the shoulders of veteran reliever Don McMahon, who would easily get Joe Ginsberg to fly out to center for the first out.  Marv Breeding would bounce one to short where Logan's replacement Felix Mantilla charged hard, but threw errant.  Mantilla's error would put a  runner on first with 1 out.  Gil Brandt would follow this with an infield single to put Breeding in scoring position.  O's manager Justin Ryan was not about to rely on his lumber to score Breeding from second, so he chose to steal 3rd to put him 90 feet away.  Breeding barely beat Crandall's throw to third, which facilitated McMahon intentionally walking Jim Gentile.  Del Rice would come to the plate with the bases loaded.  Rice had come on in the 13th inning after Gus Triandos was pinch ran for.  With the infield in Rice layed down the perfect squeeze bunt to score Breeding and win game 1 of the 1960 series.

GAME 2 - Orioles 6, Braves 3
Down 3-2 and heading into the top of the 8th the Braves got a clutch solo shot by Johnny Logan to tie it off of Chuck Estrada to tie up the game.  Joey Jay, who replaced Bob Buhl, started the 9th by getting Marv Breeding to ground out weakly to third.  Jim Gentile singled and for some strange reason Brooks Robinson was given an intentional pass.  Gene Woodling stepped up to the plate and launched Jay's first pitch over the fence in right center for a 3 run walk off homer.  Howt Wilhem, who pitched a scoreless top of the 9th for the O's was declared the winner.

8/29-8/30 - County Stadium
GAME 3 - Orioles 13, Braves 1
The series moved to the Midwest and young Hal Brown would face 1957 World Series MVP Lou Burdette.  The matchup clearly faced the the more seasoned Burdette, but someone forgot to inform Brown who won for the 5th time in this tournament without an losses.  Brown allowed only 1 run, a solo shot to Wes Covington, as the O's completely undressed Burdette and his replacements (Nottebart and Giggie).  Covington's 9th inning homer came after the O's exploded for 6 runs in the top of the inning.  Ron Hansen had 4 of Baltimore's 19 hits.  Marv Breeding had 3 RBI's to go along with his 3 hits as the O's took a commanding 3 games to none lead in the series.

GAME 4 - Orioles 4, Braves 1
A match of game 1 starters pinned the Braves post season life on the back of ageless wonder Warren Spahn.  Young Steve Barber would return for action and simply was splendid allowing only 1 run in his near 7 innings worth of work.  Jim Gentile put the pressure on the Braves real early with a 2 run homer in the top of the first.  Spahn would settle down and not allow a run until the 8th inning when he allowed two.  Brooks Robinson singled home Breeding and Ron Hansen scored on a Gene Woodling sac fly to make it 4-1 O's.  Hoyt Wilhem, who relieved Barber for the final out in the 7th went the rest of the way to earn the save and clinch the 1960 World Championship for Baltimore.

Braves rally from 3-1 deficit to defeat Dodgers and head to World Series

8/15-8/16 - County Stadium
GAME 1 - Dodgers 2, Braves 1
Big D, Don Drysdale, tamed the fearsome Brave lineup and held them to just a solo run in the 4th.  LA jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st when Wally Moon doubled home Junior Gilliam .  Frank Howard barely missed a homer off of Bob Buhl, who settled down and began to duel Drysdale.  Milwaukee tied it up when Joe Adcock tripled home Hank Aaron with 2 out in the 4th.  It remained tied until Norm Larker singled home Frank Howard in the top of the 8th.  The Braves put Drysdale's back up against the wall when Aaron doubled with 1 out in the 9th.  Mel Roach was called on to pinch hit for Johnny Logan and popped out to Maury Wills at short to end the game.  Drysdale fanned 7 Brave batters in this complete game victory.  Buhl went 8 and gave up only 2 as the hard luck loser.

GAME 2 - Braves 9, Dodgers 3
You don't keep an offensive machine like the Milwaukee Braves down for too long, especially if you are a southpaw like Johnny Podres who doesn't throw hard enough to blow it by them.  LA actually had a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 2nd and had Lew Burdette on the ropes.  Burdette righted his ship and from inning 3 on posted goose eggs on the scoreboard in the hopes of giving his offense a chance to get him the win.  That Brave offense only needed 2 innings to tie it at 3 and with a three run 4th and a 3 run 8th they were able to give Burdette a nice cushion to cruise to victory.  Podres wasn't just victimized by the Brave bats.  He also fell victim to poor Dodger fielding and an undisclosed injury that ended his day with 2 outs in the 4th.  Larry Sherry pitched the next 3+ innings and gave up 2 additional runs.  The Braves amassed 17 hits on the day with 3 players compiling 3 hits and Red Schoendienst getting 4 hits along with 2 RBI's.

8/18-8/20 - LA Coliseum
GAME 3 - Dodgers 3, Braves 2
HOF'er Warren Spahn had an unlikely pitcher's duel with Stan Williams.  Both men went 8 innings.  Spahn left on the long side of the ledger thanks to a 2 run 7th inning that put the Braves up 2-1.  Del Crandall hit a 2 run shot thanks to a booted grounder by Junior Gilliam, which allowed Joe Adcock to reach base prior to Crandall's AB.  Williams stood to be the loser thanks to an unearned run, until Don McMahon blew a save opportunity in the 9th.  Norm Larker and Frank Howard led off the inning with singles to put runners on the corners and Charlie Neal lifted a sac fly that came close to being a double off the left field screen.  Willie Davis, who pinch ran for Larker, scored easily to force extra innings.  Both teams decided to treat the extra frames like a new game and went with guys who were normally starters to take the hill.  Joey Jay, who has struggled to find a spot in the Brave rotation took the hill for Milwaukee and Roger Craig did the same for LA.  After an  uneventful 10th inning the Braves threatened in the 11th, but could not score Aaron from second with Crandall at the plate.  LA would counter by having their first 2 batters reach base in the bottom of the 11th.  Frank Howard would single and Don Demeter would walk.  Neal bunted them both up 90 feet, so Tommy Davis was given an intentional pass to put a force at every base.  Norm Sherry came up looking to hack, but saw 4 consecutive pitches out of the strike zone and cheerfully accepted his walk off walk.

GAME 4 - Dodgers 14, Braves 8
In a game that mostly resembled a Rams vs Packers score the Dodgers were able to outlast the Braves.  The one sour note for LA would be the fact that Drysdale was spotted a 10-2 lead after 3 innings and still couldn't hold down Milwaukee.  Typically pitching is recognized in these types of offensive explosions, but it must be noted that Larry Sherry came out of the pen and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Big D, who obviously didn't have anything nearly resembling his "A" game.  Drysdale gave up 8 runs in just over 5 innings of work.  Carlton Willey was far worse giving up 8 runs before being knocked out of the box in the second.  Norm Larker (4-6, 5 RBI) was the offensive star for the Dodgers.  Frank Howard also chipped in with a 5 RBI day and a big homer.  Drydale might not have had his stuff, but he did have his "bite".  After surrendering 3 consecutive homers (Mathews, Aaron & Adcock) in the top of the 5th, Big D drilled the next batter up (Del Crandall) in the arm.  I think everyone in the house expected it.  Even Crandall expected it and walked to first without even batting an eyelash.

GAME 5 - Braves 8, Dodgers 0
On the brink of elimination the Braves offense gave Lew Burdette 8 big runs in a game that was never really competitive.  Dodger starter Sandy Koufax was victimized for 5 runs over 7 innings.  The Brooklyn native did fan 5 and did not walk a batter.  Typically his challenge has been with wildness, but today was not the case.  Koufax found the strike zone with regularity, which helped the Braves find the long ball.  Hank Aaron hit 2 homers, Bill Bruton and Alvin Dark each had 1.  Aaron, who now has 9 homers in the tournament went 4 for 5 with 5 RBI's.  His tournament average is not .442.  Talk about a HOF'er playing up to and beyond his potential !  LA was only able to scratch out 5 hits off of Burdette who looks to be in the same form that he displayed back in '57 when he won 3 games in the World Series vs the Yanks.

8/22-8/23 - County Stadium
GAME 6 - Braves 6, Dodgers 3
Call this one, "elimination game number 2" for the Braves, who were now back home in the heartland.  HOF'er Warren Spahn was given the ball, which typically means good things.  It did not look that way in the first when the Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead courtesy of a bases clearing double by Wally Moon.  County Stadium became so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop.  That feeling would last only until the bottom of the inning when Johnny Podres, who was returning from an injury in game 2, showed up in a philotropic mood.  After getting Bruton to ground out to start the inning Podres served up a double to Mel Roach and then gave up a gopher ball to lefty Eddie Mathews...who is known in these parts as Ed-die Matress.  Up next came the great Aaron and as quick as you can say "Jack Robinson" he hit his 10th homer of the tournament to knot the game at 3.  Milwaukee would add a solo run in the 2nd when Schoendienst squeezed home Johnny Logan who led off with a triple.  With the score 4-3 Braves and 2 out in the 6th Bill Bruton and Mel Roach came up with 2 clutch hits to  give Spahn a 6-3 lead.  The great lefthander had a rough opening stanza, but had now settled into a groove.  Spahn would begin to dominate the Dodgers by fanning 9 and shutting them out over the final 8 innings.  LA would get a hit here and there, but Warren Spahn would never allow them the thought of getting back into the game.  Podres would exit after the 5th having given up 4 runs on the day.  Larry Sherry would pitch the final 3 and be charged with Milwaukee's two runs in the 6th.

Game 7 - Braves 6, Dodgers 2
Game 7...the finality of it all hung over the heads of these great franchises.  LA, the unlikely 4th seed trying to scratch and claw their way to the big dance vs Milwaukee, a team that had seen the post season for the previous 3 seasons.  Milwaukee was a team that relied on the offensive power of two sure fire HOF'ers (Aaron/Mathews), while the Dodgers were a team in transition looking for a new identity.  Sporting the remnants of their fabled Boys of Summer nucleus of the great 50's teams and some young arms that would pay dividends in years to come the Dodgers upset the Braves in a 3 game playoff in 1959 to win an improbable championship.  Would this 1960 tournament be Milwaukee's chance to even the score ???  To set the stage the Dodgers were going with game 1 and game 4 winner Don Drysdale.  The Braves would be countering with Bob Buhl, who in his own right is a fine All-Star caliber right hander.  LA cracked the scoreboard first when one of their Brooklyn holdovers, Duke Snider, fought off rust and age to double home Charlie Neal to make it 1-0.  The Braves would answer right back in the bottom of the inning when Johnny Logan singled home Joe Adcock from second.  LA would take the lead in the 4th off an error by Mathews on a slicing liner by Snider.  Wally Moon, who had singled to lead off the inning and was bunted by Neal to second scored easily.  Drysdale looked dominant until the  bottom of the 6th when he made one bad pitch to Eddie Mathews who clobbered the ball deep into the right field bleachers to tie the game at 2-2.  To say tension was mounting would be an understatement.  Someone would crack ?  Would it be Drysdale who was pitching a dandy or would it be Lew Burdette, who relieved Buhl in the 6th ?  It took until the bottom of the 8th before we had our answer to that most important question.  Drysdale would be the one to crack.  In fact, once the dust cleared, the evidence would show that he disintegrated.  With runners on 1st and second and 1 out Hank Aaron stepped to the plate.  It was put up or shut up time for both HOF'er (Aaron/Drysdale).  Which one would put up ?  If  you've been following this series and you were a betting man you'd put your money on Hammerin' Hank, who had been like money in the bank.  Aaron did not disappoint and took Drysdale's first offering and flicked it into the right center power alley to easily score Bruton and Mathews and put Milwaukee up 4-2.  Joe Adcock, who had fanned the previous two AB's strolled to the plate looking for some revenge against Drysdale.  Adcock was sitting on the fastball with the count 3-1 and launched Drysdale's pitch into the left field pavilion to make it 6-2.  The 9th inning saw the Dodgers go down weakly to Burdette, who once again proved why he deserves the ball in the big moments.  Milwaukee would come back from the abyss, down 3 games to 1, to win the NLCS and earn a place in the World Series vs the Orioles.

O’s capture AL Flag with classic 7 game series win over Bronx Bombers

Series Boxscores

8/15-8/16 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - Orioles 4, Yankees 1
Whitey Ford uncharacteristically gives up 3 in the first & hits the showers early after Gus Triandos hits a 3 run shot just over the centerfield monuments.  Chuck Estrada (6IP) combines with Jack Fisher (3IP) to shutout New York on a combined 5 hitter.  Marv Breeding goes 2 for 4 to increase his tournament average to .341.  Orioles lead series 1-0

GAME 2 - Yankees 9, Orioles 2
Milt Pappas and Ralph Terry were locked in a duel until the Bombers unloaded for 3 runs  in the bottom of the 4th off of Pappas.  Roger Maris led off the inning with a homer into the short port in right.  The Mick followed that with a single and Hector Lopez walked after Moose Skowron struck out.  Bobby Richardson singled home Mantle and Clete Boyer bunted home Lopez to make it 3-0.  Two innings later the Bombers put the game away when Lopez and Boyer both hit solo shots, which also chased Pappas from the bump.  Terry did his job and allowed only 2 runs (1 earned) over 6 2/3 innings of work.  Ryne Duren got the final 7 outs to save the game.  Series tied 1-1

8/18-8/20 - Memorial Stadium
GAME 3 - Orioles 7, Yankees 1
With the Series heading south on I-95 the O's treated their fans to a comfortable 7-1 win.  Hal Brown would go 5 innings for the O's and leave on the winning side of the ledger up 7-1.  Jack Fisher (1 IP) and Hoyt Wilhelm (3 IP) would finish out the contest.  With no score in the game the O's unloaded for 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th to chase Art Ditmar from the game.  Jim Coates would fare no better as he gave up 3 runs in the 5th to help the O's put the game out of reach.  Gene Woodling would have a 3 for 4 day and Jim Gentile would hit a 2 run shot to pace the O's offense.  Yogi would hit a solo shot in the 6th to account for New York's lone run.  Orioles lead series 2-1

GAME 4 - Yankees 6, Orioles 2 (10 inn)
Forget the score, which makes it look like the Bombers had an easy time of it.  New York needed to score solo runs in the 7th and the 9th to force extra frames.  Respective starters, Whitey Ford and Steve Barber were gone after the 7th inning and had no part in the decision.  Ford lay the victim of 2 unearned runs thanks to 3 errors by his defense.  Hoyt Wilhelm was tasked with closing the game out in the 9th and easily got the first two outs, but fell victim to a Roger Maris blast that tied it at 2.  In the top of the 10th Wilhelm completely melted down and gave up 4 runs.  After Moose Skowron singled, Hector Lopez doubled him home.  Pinch hitter Gil McDouglad was given an intentional pass and Bobby Richardson bunted both runners up into scoring position.  Reliever Luis Arroyo botched a squeeze play for out number 1, but Joe DeMaestri was able to slice a 2 run single to right to provide New York it's 4 run margin of victory.  Series tied 2-2

GAME 5 - Yankees 5, Orioles 3
”Bullet” Bob Turley flashed the same brilliance that won him the 1958 Cy Young Award.  Turley went 7 strong innings and allowed just 1 earned run in this pivotal game 5.  Chuck Estrada, who had been so good all tournament finally blew a stinker.  Five runs over 7 innings just won't get it done vs the fabled Yankee lineup.  With the O's up 1-0 New York scored twice in the 5th to take a one run lead, when Yogi doubled home 2.  New York followed that up with three more runs the following inning.  After Mantle led off with a walk and Skowron singled Hector Lopez cleared the bases with a triple to death valley.  McDougald followed that with a sac fly to left to score Lopez and make it 5-1.  Ryne Duren came on for the final 2 frames for the Bombers, and allowed Brooks Robinson to double home 2 in the 8th to cut New York's lead to two before clamping down and closing it out.  The series would now head back to the Bronx with the Yanks up 3 games to 2.  Yankees lead series 3-2.

8/22-8/23 - Yankeee Stadium
GAME 6 - Orioles 12, Yankees 2
Art Ditmar was not up to the task of closing out the O's.  Staked to a 2-1 lead Ditmar  was victimized for 6 runs in the top of the 4th as the O's showed grit and determination in forcing an all decisive game 7.  Milt Pappas, who has been horrendous during the tournament, gutted it out for 5 innings and only allowing 2 runs.  Artie Portocarrero came on board to shut the Bombers out over the final 4 innings of work.  Once again Marv Breeding was a hit machine.  Baltimore's second sacker went 3 for 5 and scored 2 runs.  Gene Woodling also went 3 for 5 and added 3 RBI's.  Baltimore had 5 batters hit homers, including Gentile, Brooksie and Woodling.  Series tied 3-3.

Game 7 - Orioles 3, Yankees 1
The great big Ball Orchard in the Bronx played host to the all decisive game 7 in this fabulous 1960 ALCS.  New York fans had to have a smile on their face with "Slick", aka..Whitey Ford on the hill facing an inexperienced Hal Brown.  With both sides obviously a bit nervous the first 3 innings resembled an opening round of a classic heavyweight title bout.  Both combatants seemed to be feeling the other guy out and not looking to land a big blow.  That big blow would actually come in the form of some small jabs in the 4th inning.  Ford would walk Gentile, who would move to second when Gil McDougald booted his opposite number's (Brooksie) grounder to third.  McDougald, who has had a fantastic career in pinstripes covering all 4 infield positions is normally sure handed, but certainly not the same caliber as Clete Boyer who has been tabbed McDougald successor.  This scenario  setup one of those defining moments in a series where a pitcher needs to make a pitch.  Over the years Ford had made those pitches and made opposing hitters look bad.  This time the hitter got the best of him when Gus Triandos lined a double down the left field line that rattled around the rim of the outfield wall for what seemed like an eternity before Lopez could secure it.  During that time frame both Gentile and Robinson scored easily to make it 2-0.  Ford then walked his former teammate, Woodling, on 4 pitches to create a possible DP situation.  O's centerfielder, Jackie Brandt, would have nothing to do with a game changing DP and promptly hit a hump backed liner to center to score Triandos.  Woodling tried to follow Gus home and was nailed easily at the plate for the first out of the inning.  Ford would settle down and get out of the jam, but the damage had already been done.  Neither team would score again until the bottom of the 9th.  New York entered the home half of the 9th  down by 3 with 3 outs to go and Hal Brown riding the crest of a 3 hit shutout.  Mantle led off and hit a scorcher right at second baseman Breeding who caught the ball more out of self defense.  Moose Skowron stepped to the plate and finally put the Bombers on the scoreboard with a slicing opposite field "excuse me" homer that just dropped over the 297 mark in the short right field porch.  The home crown finally had something to cheer about, but that enthusiasm would die as then next two Yankee batters would ground out weakly to end the game and the series.  Baltimore would outlast the fabled "Evil Empire" and win itself a spot in the 1960 World Series.  Orioles win series 4-3.

O’s head to ALCS by eliminating Pale Hose in 4

8/8-8/9 - Memorial Stadium
GAME 1 - Orioles 5, White Sox 2
The O's had Early Wynn on the ropes all game, but could not deliver the knockout punch to chase the veteran right hander.  Luckily for them baseball, like boxing, allows you to win on points.  The O's nibbled away at Wynn for 5 runs over 8 innings while Chuck Estrada baffled the Chisox for 5 innings before giving way to Jack Fisher, who allowed the Southsiders to tie it a 2 in the 6th.  Baltimore responded with 3 unanswered runs to take the opener.  Jim Gentile hit a solo shot to lead off the 6th to put the O's ahead for good.  Ron Hansen led the game off with a homer.  Marv Breeding executed a perfect suicide squeeze to put the O's up by 2 in the 6th then singled home Jackie Brandt for an insurance run in the 8th.

GAME 2 - White Sox 9, Orioles 2
Lefty Billy Pierce went the distance allowing just 2 runs on 8 hits to notch the win.   Milt Papas could not survive past the 5th inning as he allowed 7 runs on 10 hits.  Chicago scored 5 in the top of the first to make a statement.  The Chisox had 5 RBI singles in the opening inning where Pappas was treated as fodder.  Roy Sievers had a 3 for 5 day, which included a solo shot in the 8th and 2 RBI's.  The White Sox posted 14 hits as all of their starters including Pierce joined in on the fun.

8/11-8/12 - Comiskey Park
GAME 3 - Orioles 4, White Sox 2
Brooks Robinson led off the top of the 2nd with a line drive homer to left off Frank Baumann.  After Gene Woodling grounded out weakly to Nellie Fox at second the O's pounded 3 consecutive singles to score a run (Marv Breeding).  Hal Brown executed a perfect squeeze bunt to score led foot Gus Triandos to make it 3-0.  Breeding singled home Ron Hansen in the 3rd and Baumann was headed for an early shower.  Chicago's pen got 6 scoreless innings out of Russ Kemmerer, Dick Donovan and Turk Lown to shut the O's out the rest of the way.  Hal Brown would give up solo runs in the 5th via a passed ball and the 6th, via a Minnie Minoso solo shot, but that would be all the offense the Chisox could post.  Hoyt Wilhelm would come on for the final 3 innings and allow just one scratch hit as he shut the door on Chicago.

GAME 4 - Orioles 9, White Sox 4
With their backs up against the wall the Pale Hose put the ball in HOF'er Early Wynn's  shoe.  Wynn, who had a glorious comeback year in 1959 has been about average this season.  The Chisox needed him to turn back the clock for just one more big game in order to get them to a decisive game 5.  To make Wynn's job easier Al Smith doubled home Roy Sievers and Minoso in the bottom of the 1st to make it 2-0 off of young Steve Barber.  Wynn looked like he had it figured out until backup catcher Joe Ginsberg led off the inning with a solid two bagger.  Barber attempted to bunt him over to 3rd, but wound up fanning instead for out number one.  Marv Breeding, who would go 3 for 5 on the day struck again with a single to put runners on the corners.  Jim Gentile followed that with an RBI single as did Brooks Robinson who did one better by knocking in 2.  The Chisox answered right back with 2 run in the bottom of the inning when Barber couldn't find the strike zone if he had a GPS.  Barber walked 5 of the 8 batters he faced in the inning to force in 2 runs and put Chicago up 4-3.  It would stay just like that until the top of the 5th when Baltimore ended Wynn's day and his team's hopes.  Wynn would leave the game in the 5th after allowing 5 runs and not recording an out.  Marv Breeding, who could easily be the series MVP doubled home Hansen.  Brooksie tripled home Breeding and Gentile and Gene Woodling double him home.  Barber, limped into the 6th inning before giving way to Wilhelm who once again was perfect for the final three to close out the series.  The O's will head to the Bronx to face the undefeated Bombers for the ALCS.

Dodgers send Philly packing in 4 games

8/8-8/9 - LA Coliseum
GAME 1 - Phillies 2, Dodgers 0
A scoreless tie until the top of the 5th when light hitting catcher Cal Neeman blasted a 2 run shot over the screen in left field off of Don Drysdale.  That would be the only blemish on Drysdale's day, but with John Buzhardt tossing a 5 hitter over 8 innings Big D was in trouble.  The Dodgers just couldn't get a timely hit off of Buzhardt who gave way to Turk Farrell who close out his 4th game of the tournament.

 

GAME 2 - Dodgers 9, Phillies 5
The Dodgers turned a close 2-1 game into a romp as they posted 6 big runs and knocked  Chris Short out of the box.  Johnny Podres was not exactly in game 7 of the 1955 Series form, but he was good enough.  Gil Hodges, who for some unknown reason is still not enshrined in Cooperstown, for one brief moment turned back the clock with a huge homer to left center.  The Dodgers posted an incredible 17 hits with every starter getting at least one.  Larry Sherry got the final 7 outs playing catch with his brother Norm, who hit a solo shot.

8/11-8/12 - Connie Mack Stadium
GAME 3 - Dodgers 8, Phillies 1
A rain delay chased Stan Williams from the hill before he could pitch the 5 full innings required for a win.  Ed "not Sears &" Roebuck go the final out in the bottom of the 5th to record the proverbial "cheap win".  Robin Roberts, who at one time held the major league record for HR's allowed, served up 2 in the Dodgers 4 run 4th.  Don Demeter hit a 2 run shot to center and John Roseboro hit a 2 run opposite field "Moon-shot" to left.  LA again scored via the long ball as Duke Snider defied time once again to hit a 3 run shot that 10 years earlier would have cleared Bedford Avenue.

GAME 4 - Dodgers 3, Phillies 2
For 6 innings it looked like the young & wild Sanford Koufax finally put it all together.  Known as "Sandy" to his friends and family, young Koufax had a 1 hit shutout going into the bottom of the 7th.  The young man who, has been plagued with wildness had fanned 11 and walked only 1 until the wheels came off his speedball.  Riding a 2 run lead thanks to a Wally Moon 2 runs shot in the 6th Koufax lost his control and hit Tony Curry on the thigh to open the inning.  After fanning Lee Walls he walked both Ruben Amaro and Neeman to load the bases.  Pinch hitter Bobby Del Greco knew he was going to get something good to hit and sat on Koufax' 100 mph fastball and slammed it off the Alpo sign in left center to 2 and tie the game.  Koufax looked dejected as he was removed from the game.  Ed Roebuck came aboard and worked out of the jam he was left by fanning Tony Taylor and Tony Gonzalez.  Turk Farrell was called upon to replace starter Art Mahaffey, who only let up 2 runs in 7 innings.  Farrell served up a clean single to Norm Larker to lead off the 8th.  Wally Moon walked with 1 out and a wild pitch pushed the runners up 90 feet.  Tommy Davis lifted a sac fly to right to score Moon and put LA up 3-2.  Roebuck, who got his third win of the tournament, pitched a perfect 8th before handing the ball off to Ed Palmquist who got Tony Taylor to end the game on a ground out after allowing Bobby Smith a two out double.  LA takes the series 3 games to 1 to advance to the NLCS.  Dodger hurlers combined to fan 15 Phightin’s on the day.

Bronx Bombers sweep Tribe…head to ALCS

Series Boxscores

8/8-8/9 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 1 - Yankees 3, Indians 2
Jim Perry was playing Russian Roulette with the Yankee hitters all day while protecting a 2-0 lead that he received in the top of the 6th thanks to a Harvey Kuenn 2 run blast.  Unfortunately for Perry the bullet that entered the chamber would come in the form of a Tony Kubek 3 run walk off homer in the bottom of the 9th.  Whitey Ford left the game after 7 innings and was on the short side of the ledger.  Luis Arroyo pitched 2 scoreless innings and gained the win.

GAME 2 - Yankees 8, Indians 0
Gary "Ding Dong" Bell got his bell rung by the Bronx Bombers.  The game started out like it was going to be a pitcher's duel.  New York posted solo runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings to give Bob Turley the lead.  Turley would go 8 shutout innings and allow only 3 hits.  New York would unload with 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th.  Mickey Mantle started it all off with a solo shot to lead off the inning.  Bell lost his control after Moose Skowron flew out and walked 3 of the next 4 batters.  Kubek for the second day in a row came through in the clutch.  This time Tony hit a bases clearing double.  The Bombers added 2 more runs in the 9th when Hector Lopez singled home the M&M boys.

8/11-8/12 - Municipal Stadium
GAME 3 - Yankees 7, Indians 2
Down 1-0 and heading into the 5th the Bombers once again had that big breakthrough inning and scored 4 runs off of Latman.  After Yogi Berra doubled home Bobby Richardson and Kubek, former Indian Roger Maris hit a 2 run shot to right center.  Cleveland would cut the lead in half when Wilson hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. It would remain 4-2 until the 9th when the Bombers scored 3 to put the game out of reach.  Berra and Mantle both hit homers as Art Ditmar had 7 easy innings of work to notch the win.