"A National League scout who had been ordered to follow the Yankee farm clubs to compile information for possible trades came away with this report: 'They don't have much down there. About all I saw that I liked was a pitcher at Richmond named Bill Short (17-6). Even that Deron Johnson they're so high on didn't send me.'
This is the reason the mighty have fallen. The cupboard is bare. Of course, the Yanks can always turn to Kansas City for help. In their latest swap with the A's, the Yanks got Roger Maris, who should hit more homers in the Bronx Brickyard where the right field porch is short. If he bats behind Mickey Mantle, this should make the Mick tougher. Casey Stengel has fingered Maris for left, Mantle in center and Hector Lopez in right. Not a bad set-up, though Casey could change his mind within the next 24 hours.
But elsewhere the Yankees have too many question marks: Is Gil McDougald washed up? Will Bill Skowron ever have a healthy season? Have injuries taken too much out of Ryne Duren? Why does Bob Turley, known for his fast ball, persist in throwing slow stuff?
Looking at the situation as it existed last year, Gil McDougald batted only .251 and the Yankees would have loved to send him to Milwaukee for a Braves' pitcher. Mantle led the American League in nothing but strikeouts and the years seem to be running out on him in his quest for greatness. Turley won only eight games. Ford won 16 games but he wasn't the clutch man of the past. Berra hit a good .284 but night is closing in on him. Kubek blew hot and cold. Carey was sick and Skowron was hurt. The question now is - can all these players come back? If they can the Yankees will surely make life interesting for the White Sox and the Indians. If they can't - or if most of them can't - the Yankees aren't going to improve over last year. It's asking an awful lot for such a mass improvement in fortunes in one year, but then the skid seemed to hit everyone at once, too.
The most consistent Yankee last year was little Bobby Richardson at second. To back up Skowron at first base, the Yanks now have Kent Hadley. At short there's Tony Kubek, a good hitter and fair fielder, or McDougald or Joe DeMaestri. Stengel remains troubled by third base and appears ready to put Andy Carey back there. Carey is presumably fully recovered from a severe hepatitis attack.
Elston Howard, a superior player, can play anywhere, with catching his best position. But Yogi Berra still has some bounce so Stengel will platoon again to his heart's content. Which he delights to do.
Whitey Ford, Art Ditmar, Duke Mass and Ralph Terry can win when they're right. They may get help from the aforementioned Short, Jim Bronstad, Eli Grba or Jim Coates. But unless Duren comes back to save the staff, it will be Casey's last summer with the Yanks. And a long one."
-True, The Man's Magazine 1960 Baseball Yearbook
"Every one knows these fellows and every one is wondering whether '59 was 'one of those things' or the beginning of the end of a long domination. It's suggested here that the Yankees are still the same pinstripe terrors. Pitcher Bill Short is figured to be the best of a lean rookie crop."
-1960 Mutual Baseball Annual
"Anyone who selects the Yankees to close lower than second is not only suspected of senility but bordering on seditious behavior. In fact, one must have a certain sense of recklessness to even state in print that the Yankees will not win the pennant. Yet, the New York pitching seems unsound. Of course a stronger Whitey Ford, capable of staying the distance and beating the top contenders, and a return to his form of '58 by Bob Turley could supply the old champs with the proper ingredients. And a Mickey Mantle who plays up to his potential, an injury-free year for slugging Bill Skowron, a full-year renaissance by Yogi Berra and a Roger Maris of early '59 form would be enough to shoot the Bombers into Outer Space.
Hec Lopez, Mantle and Maris will form the outfield. Skowron, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek and Gil McDougald will be the infielders- all capable and certain they're the best around.
The professional people fault the Yankees on two counts: (1) a slim pitching staff and (2) a batting attack which no longer overwhelms the opposition. We are not going to disagree with these diagnoses and therefore designate Manager Casey Stengel's forces for second place."
-Don Schiffer, 1960 Mutual Baseball Annual
"New York, while a favorite in some quarters, does not seem much improved over their third-place club of last season. Much of the optimism is based on hope- hope that such as Mantle, Turley and Duren can regain brilliance of the past. Primary reason for the Yankee failure last year was the ineffectiveness of their pitching staff. Little has been done to correct this shortcoming, so it appears even the Yankees believe it was just an 'off' year. However, our board of experts feel it goes beyond this."
-Sportscope Baseball 1960
YANKS MUST TIGHTEN PITCHING IF THEY HOPE TO BETTER '59 RECORD
"The once mighty Yankees are in a new role, one that finds them in a struggle to rise above their third-place finish of last year.
That it will be a long struggle to improve over their '59 record becomes a matter of record when you consider they will attempt to make it with the same questionable pitching staff of last year.
The only bright addition to this unit is an unproven southpaw, Bill Short, up from Richmond where he toiled under the scrutiny of Eddie Lopat, then his manager and now pitching coach of the New Yorkers.
Despite such 'names' as Bob Turley and Whitey Ford, Casey Stengel's 'big' man in '60 will probably be Art Ditmar. Art appeared to be the Yanks' most impressive pitcher this past season. Another is Jim Coates, a lanky right-hander who posted a 2.88 ERA in '59 over a stretch of 100 innings.
Ralph Terry, a youngster who was 5-11 last year between play at Kansas City and New York, may step into a regular starting assignment in '60. Duke Maas, another returning starter, will see even more duty this year.
Turley, the fireball expert who was hot in '58 with a 21-7 record, cooled down to 8-11 last season and could do no better than a 4.32 ERA. Turley's fast fade is one big reason for the Yanks' sudden failure. His case is a serious one and even ol' Casey is scratching his head in concern.
Ford, though he didn't show badly with a 16-10 record and a 3.04 ERA, couldn't work with regularity because of a sore arm. He's expected to be in top condition this season, which has to be good news for [Bronx] enthusiasts.
A big disappointment was the failure of Ryne Duren to repeat his brilliant relief hurling of '58. He had a 3-6 for '59. He will, however, continue to be the head man in the Yankee bullpen. He will have support here in Bobby Shantz, the little southpaw who was 7-3 last year.
Rookies such as George Haney, John James and Hal Stowe will all be given consideration. But the top candidate is Short.
In the infield, it is expected that Joe DeMaestri will take over at short with Tony Kubek moving to third. Joe is regarded as the best clutch fielder at his position by most of the boys in the league. Combining with him at the keystone will be Bobby Richardson at second. Bobby was the top Yankee at the plate last year with a .301 average.
Kubek is the key figure inasmuch as he can be used at third or in the outfield. If Tony is switched from third, he would be replaced by Gil McDougald. Veteran Andy Carey will also be available for spare work and pinch-hitting assignments.
If Bill Skowron can enjoy a clean bill of health for the next seven months, the Yanks could have the prize first baseman in the league. Last year it was a struggle for the husky slugger to get in the 74 games he managed to play. But it is evident that he produced- he batted in 59 runs and hit 15 homers and posted a .298 mark. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure what he could do over a 154-game stretch ... and with good health in his favor.
Kent Hadley, another involved in the Kansas City dealings, will be the man behind Skowron at first. He's a rangy athlete who hits for distance and had a .253 average with the A's.
As usual, the Yankees will have power stacked up in all outfield positions. And despite a bad year last season (for him), Mickey Mantle will again lead the way. Mantle's .285 accounted for only 75 RBIs in '59 but he is confident that figure will be greatly increased during the coming campaign.
Flanking Mantle in the Yankee pastures are Hector Lopez and Roger Maris. Lopez packs a lot of power and will be a key man in the New York attack. During his play at both K.C. and New York last year, he knocked in 93 runs and hit 22 homers. Maris had 72 RBIs in only 122 games in '59 and figures to play full time this season barring unforeseen happenings.
The Yankees will present plenty of power for their opposition to contend with. But unless their pitching tightens up, third place seems to be their fate for '60."
-Sportscope Baseball 1960
Paul Richards Says-
YANKS NEED 5 PITCHERS!
Sees A.L. Free-For-All In '60 Unless Ex-Champs Rebuild Mound Staff And Add Slugger
" 'It was no fluke for the Yankees. They simply didn't have it and it's my prediction they'll be several years getting back as bona fide pennant contenders. Their pitching staff is shot and most of their power is gone.'
So says the Orioles' Paul Richards, a manager who'd give his eye-teeth to beat the Bombers and delights in their present plight. Their 79-75 finish tells the story- it was the worst New York club in years.
He elaborates:
'For the Yanks to pull back they're going to need five more pitchers and a slugger to help out Mickey Mantle, who can't carry the offensive load by himself. That's why Mickey had such a struggle this past season. Without help, he has to hit .380 or else no real punch for the club. (Mantle hit .285).
'As for their pitching, they don't have a 'leader' on the staff. It's mediocre. Bob Turley won 20 games in 1958, but where was he last season?' (Turley won eight, lost 11).
Richards doesn't mention any other names because it's not his policy to 'down' individual players, but it's known to this writer he feels Whitey Ford has lost the golden touch and that Don Larsen just isn't up to it.
As for Bobby Shantz, the little lefty has had it, and Duke Maas is a run-of-the-mine major league pitcher. Art Ditmar is one of the Yanks' hurlers whom Richards would like to have; otherwise, he's not interested.
All one has to do is look at the earned run averages of the Yankee staff.
Maas (14-8) had an earned run average of 4.44; Turley, 4.32; Larsen (6-7), 4.32. Is it any wonder, after reading those figures, why Richards blasts that the Yanks need almost a complete staff?
Only Ditmar (13-9) with a 2.90 ERA and Ford (16-10) with 3.09 (which isn't' too hot in itself) are respectable. (It was his first time in seven years in the majors that Ford's ERA was over 3.00). The fact that Shantz (7-3) owns a mark of 2.46 must be discounted in that he pitched only 95 innings for the season. And certainly Ryne Duren was no ball-o'-fire in 1959.
As for Turley, it was Richards who traded Bullet Bob, along with Larsen, to the Yanks in late 1954, and sometime later the Yanks' George Weiss came out and called that swap 'the best I ever made.' Baltimore got Gene Woodling, Gus Triandos, Willy Miranda, Hal Smith, etc. for Turley, Larsen, Billy Hunter, etc.
Weiss' statement has rankled Richards ever since but now he's getting a smattering of revenge and relishing it.
'They've got a long, long way to go now. In fact, they've got a complete overhauling job to do as I see it and that isn't done in a year or two.
'You see, the Yanks have been standing still while the rest of the league has been improving. They haven't been patching up the worn-out spots, either through their 'famed' farm system or deals.
'But Cleveland and Chicago, in particular, have been adding to their personnel. This in combination with the Yanks' decline made the big difference.'
The writer interrupted to point out to Paul that the Yanks had lost a very valuable man through injury in Bill Skowron, who hit .270 the previous year, drove in 73 runs and has a lifetime .300 average. He could have made a big difference on the attack.
Richards retorts, 'Every club has had its injuries. We had to struggle along awhile without our best hitter in Gus Triandos, for instance.
'The significant part is that they didn't have the top replacement for Skowron. They're thinner than I've ever seen them. The depth simply isn't there. Years ago they could have pulled in a replacement almost as good as the player who was injured.
'Atop this, Yogi Berra is simply not the player and slugger he was, but they were forced to keep him back of the plate because Howard isn't the player, apparently, that they expected him to be.'
He could have added that Gil McDougald has certainly slowed up and that Hank Bauer at the age of 37 is about ready to call it quits and devote his time to his business interests in Kansas City.
Also, Norm Siebern, while still comparatively young, is no gazelle in the field.
While Tony Kubek's a pretty fair hitter, he's a long way from being a power man of the Yanks [of] a few years back. And Marv Throneberry is a sad substitution for a slugger like Skowron.
I've got to agree with Richards that this is the worst Yankee club since the war years of the '40s. (And the worst in the percentages since 1925)."
-Hugh Trader, Baseball Digest, December 1959-January 1960
YANKEE STADIUM SHOULD BE CUT DOWN
Bronx Ranch Unfair To Right-Handed Power Hitters
"Now that all the hoots have died down about the Coliseum, that lopsided Los Angeles human hide tannery in which the 1959 World Series games were misplayed, this might be a good time to turn the heat on other National League ball parks in which fearsome home run reputations are puffed up annually.
And an excellent time to suggest to the Yankees, in long overdue fairness to their right-handed power hitters, that the club cut down the unreasonable reaches of Yankee Stadium to Mickey Mantle & Co. a chance to compete on equal terms with the N.L.'s Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson for home run honors.
Failing to take this step, perhaps because of a proud tradition which actually doesn't exist since the Stadium was laid out with Babe Ruth in mind, the Yankees should set their sights on moving to the proposed new stadium at Flushing Meadow. They've already expressed interest in it. I'll guarantee it won't have a 461-foot line from the plate to center, as the Bronx ranch has.
Joe DiMaggio was deprived of a chance to break Ruth's 60-homer record by the fact that dozens of his 400-foot-plus drives to center and left center in the Stadium were caught every year. The same is true of Mantle when he bats righty. Playing 77 games a season in the vast Stadium is enough to frustrate any right-handed homer record aspirant.
The Stadium's foul lines are short, but the outfield fences fall away so sharply that unless a man is a dead pull-hitter, he has scant chance of hitting homers. Neither Mantle nor Skowron is a dead pull-hitter. DiMaggio wasn't, either.
American League ball parks generally have larger outfield areas than those in the National. But I'm pointing out three N.L. layouts as prime examples of the unfairness of expecting Mantle, batting right-handed, to compete in homers with the over-rated sluggers in the older loop. These parks are the Chicago Cubs' Wrigley Field, the Milwaukee Braves' County Stadium and the Cincinnati Reds' Crosley Field.
You can't much fault Eddie Mathews' league-leading 46 homers this past season because the Milwaukee and other N.L. parks are probably a bit tougher on left-handed hitters than is Yankee Stadium.
But compare County Stadium, Wrigley Field and Crosley Field with the Bronx plant for right-handed hitters and you'll see Mantle's disadvantage. I'd say that if he played 77 games a year in any of those three National League parks and 22 games in the other two, he'd hit at least 75 homers a year.
The longest distance from home to center in Yankee Stadium is 461 feet, and it's 457 feet to left center. In Wrigley Field the corresponding distances are 400 and and 368 feet. The longest distance in Cincinnati is 390 feet, and left center is 382. In Milwaukee it's 402 feet from home to the midway fence and 382 in left-center.
And if left field, where a 360-foot fly ball would be a homer in any of these three N.L. parks, a ball would have to be hit 402 feet in the Bronx.
National League hitters for years have fattened their home run output in these flattering environs, as well as in Ebbets Field, where left-handed hitters had it even easier than righties. The Cubs' Banks hit 45 homers this past semester; the Braves' Aaron, 39, and the Reds' Robinson, 36. Mantle hit 31- and it's a good bet he had enough long drives caught on him to have given him more than Mathews' 46 if he were playing in a park like those short-haul N.L. handball courts.
Using home field dimensions as a yardstick, you find Harmon Killebrew's 42 homers more impressive than Rocky Colativo's 42 in the American League last season. Killebrew hits in Washington, where the left field foul line is 350 feet. In left the distance from the plate is 380, rising to 401 in left center and 437 in dead center.
In Cleveland, Rocky has only a 320-foot left field foul line, a 365-foot target in left and 310 in center to shoot at. But both he and Killebrew gain in stature when you consider they have the Stadium to contend with part of the time.
Other clubs have unabashedly pulled in their fences to accommodate the home town sluggers. The Yanks could slice away part of center and left center without losing face. It isn't possible to equalize outfield dimensions at all parks. The erection of screens is a sorry device, as witness L.A. Distances in future stadiums may be standardized, but I'm sure they'll be patterned more after the N.L. bandboxes than Yankee Stadium.
So Messrs. Topping, Webb and Weiss, if you can't beat 'em, jine 'em. I'm sure Yankee fans would be tickled magenta to see a right-handed Mantle hit under conditions approximating those now favoring N.L. sluggers.
Or, if you can't pull in your fences, get ready to move to Flushing, if and when."
-Murray Robinson, New York Journal-American (Baseball Digest, February 1960)
"To the bewilderment of many listeners and the entertainment of all, Casey Stengel will make hundreds of speeches between now and the opening of the American League season.
No one would attempt to predict what the New York manager will say, but everyone knows at least one thing he won't say. He won't say he has the American League by the tail.
All managers sometimes misguess the possibilities of their heroes, but Casey's exuberant appraisal of his Yankees as he led them into the 1959 campaign was about as erratic a sizeup as you'll find in baseball history.
From the standpoint of league prestige, it's unfortunate the Yankees weren't as good as their boss thought they were. The owners of the seven other clubs got their wish for a close pennant race in which the Yankees would not be involved. But they also got a World Series in which their representatives clearly were outclassed.
For in spite of their decline, a slump which dates back as far as midseason of 1958, the Bombers still are watched respectively by all opponents. They should be. To guess that such headliners as Mickey Mantle, Bob Turley and Gil McDougald will be sadly below par again would be the silliest of wishful thinking. To assume that Bill Skowron will continue as a favorite target of misfortune would be to risk some booming disappointment.
But respect is one thing. Fear is another. There's no reason the appearance of the famous pin-stripes should set anyone to trembling. For a season and one-half, the Yankees have not been the best team in their league. They've been the proverbial 'just another ball club,' and no outfit in that category gives the enemy the willies.
Uncertainties in the pitching department also keep the Yankees from prime consideration. They could recover enough to make it a multi-team race, but for the first time in five years, they'll have to prove this on the field and not in pre-season concessions.
The Yankees, of course, need pitching. If Turley returns to his form of 1958, he'll remove an entire network of wrinkles from Stengel's face. A comeback by the big right-hander would clear the picture, hopefully, for Whitey Ford, Art Ditmar [and] Duke Maas, and the bullpen ace, Ryne Duren, would fit usefully around a key man of Turley's potential.
The other Yankees- and their problems- have been discussed so frequently that the reader of any sports publication can recite the story. Essentially, Mantle must be Mantle and Skowron must stay out of the infirmary if the Yankees are to speak with their former authority.
Such other concerns as McDougald's disappointing 1959 and Yogi Berra's advancing years would not seem so significant if Mickey and the Moose were at their best.
The Yankees' big deal brought Roger Maris to the Stadium in exchange for a parcel of hands who may or may not help Kansas City. Any manager in his right mind would want Maris on his side, but his acquisition didn't automatically move the team into strong contention. Roger has been a streak hitter. But it's also true that Yankee Stadium was built for batters of his type."
-Ed McAuley (Baseball Digest, April 1960)
"During the latter stages of a season heavy with trouble, Casey Stengel, Yankee manager, made the observation, 'The bat boy had a great year.' The Perfesser didn't have to go beyond that. The implication was clear, spread across the statistical sheets in rows of figures that old Yankee fans still find difficult to believe, months after the 1959 campaign ended.
'What happened,' they ask, 'to Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Gil McDougald, Tony Kubek, Bob Turley, Whitey Ford, Don Larsen ... ?' The list is long and the exceptions are virtually nonexistent. A lone citation for merit can be awarded to Bobby Richardson, who fielded spectacularly at second base and led the club in batting with a .301 average, an improvement of more than 50 points. But Richardson is a singles hitter, and since the era of Babe Ruth the Yankees have been symbolic of power.
In recent years, Mantle has led the league in batting, homers, RBIs and slugging. This time he led in nothing; his RBI total (75) and his average (.285) were the lowest numbers since he became a regular in 1952. Ordinarily, when one member of the cast stumbles, someone else comes along with the necessary lift.
Stengel looked for a spearhead and found only spear carriers. Berra's run production dipped to a 12-year low. Bill Skowron, a vital part of the attack, was out with an injury for the last two months. McDougald and Hank Bauer faded; Kubek and Norm Siebern no longer were the golden boys of their rookie seasons; and Hector Lopez, plucked from Kansas City, often went 3-for-5 at the plate and 2-for-5 in the field. The pitching staff followed the same script.
Bob Turley, 21-game winner and hero of the World Series the previous year, posted eight victories and was beaten 11 times. Whitey Ford won 16, but he lost 10, more than ever before, and had to be used sparingly at times because of a sore arm. Don Larsen had a 6-7 mark. In 1958, that trio produced a record of 44-20. In 1959, it was transformed into a mediocre 30-28.
Art Ditmar was the only solid man, with a 12-9 record and a 2.90 ERA. Duke Mass did better than expected, 14-8; Bobby Shantz recovered from a sore arm to win seven and lose three, then developed wing trouble again. Ryne Duren, the spectacular reliever, was subpar with 3-6, and as a final blow, fell on the dugout steps during the last week of the season and fractured his valuable right wrist.
Around the American League, [fans of other teams] gazed at the standings, couldn't believe what was happening and waited for the explosion. On May 20, the ex-Bombers absorbed a 13-6 shellacking from Detroit and dropped into the cellar, the most shocking fall since Humpty Dumpty. Some 10 days later they gained a 3-0 decision over Washington, climbed out of last place and the cry went up, 'Here they come!'
They reached the first division June 9, trailing the leaders by two and half games, and when they reduced the margin to a length and a half June 20, the hopeful horde outside of New York sighed, 'It's all over.' Actually, it was all over for the Yankees less than a month later. They went into Boston for a five-game series immediately after the All-Star Game, the Red Sox swept the set, something that hadn't happened for 20 years, and the Yankees fell seven and a half behind and never recovered.
As the campaign closed, the Yankee management reaffirmed its faith by announcing that the 69-year-old pilot would return for the 1960 season. In finishing third with 79 victories, the club showed a decline of 15 games and it was the only bad year in Stengel's 11 as boss in the Bronx. He had won nine pennants, seven World Series, and in the previous failure, in 1954, the Yankees rolled up 103 victories and lost only because Cleveland accumulated a record 111 triumphs.
Normal procedure is to place blame at the manager's door, but there was a distinct disinclination to point the finger at Casey. 'How did you become so dumb this year?' asked Paul Richards, the Baltimore manager, of his New York rival, as he and the rest of the experts tried to analyze the startling collapse of the perennial champions that delighted the rest of the league.
There were various explanations ... some players were worn out ... some didn't live up to expectations ... the Yankees were overrated ... Chicago and Cleveland were underrated ... the farm system had dried up. The trouble actually started in 1958, when the Yankees were 17 games in front ... in their last 55 contest, they played under .500, and they were lulled into a false sense of security when they recovered in time to win the World Series from the Braves.
Returning from the 1959 Series, and unimpressed by the White Sox, the New York general manager George Weiss said, 'It won't take much to refurbish our team. Injuries hurt us as much a decline in talent.'
The tailspin actually brought more customers into the Yankee Stadium, the home attendance of 1,522,030 representing an increase of 123,592. 'That doesn't mean anything to us,' insisted Weiss. 'A New York team must win if it hopes to continue to be a prime attraction.'
What the Yankees have to do is determine what they require to bounce back. At least two key men, Mantle and Bob Turley, are puzzling. As Stengel points out, Mantle, at 28, can do anything. He has power, speed and a strong arm. 'But when he's not hitting he's just a fast guy going to first base.' Turley has been erratic throughout his career. He had trouble with his control and they say he has lost something from his fast ball. He conceivably could come up with another good season.
Where he used to have platoons, Stengel now has problems. Is Lopez going to be his left fielder? Is Siebern an outfielder or a left-handed substitute for Skowron? Is Kubek a shortstop, or will Cletis Boyer fill that post, leaving Kubek for third base or the outfield. How about McDougald, and is John Blanchard to be the third-string catcher behind Berra and Elston Howard, or will the promising youngster be turned into an outfielder?
Last year, the Yankee pinch hitters failed to deliver and there was no stopper on the pitching staff. The talent brought from the minor leagues leans heavily toward the mound, with Billy Short, a left-hander from Richmond, and John James, a reliever from the same club, as the outstanding prospects. Deron Johnson, slugging outfielder, has been called up [along with] Frank Leja, a first baseman who was a bonus boy five years ago.
'The Yankees won't be back for a long time,' insist their opponents. 'The dynasty is crumbling.'
'That's just wishful thinking,' retort the Yankees. But the proud Yankees, for the first time in years, knew they had to get into the off-season trading market if they wish to solve some of their problems and battle their way back.
Another question that has come up is the matter of Casey Stengel. There are many who feel this is to be Stengel's last year with the Yankees, win or lose. They point to the fact that Ralph Houk, a coach who was reportedly offered the managing job at Kansas City, turned it down to stay in the Yankee family. They also feel that the hiring of Eddie Lopat as the new pitching coach to replace the deposed Jim Turner indicates that the Yankees will choose the new man from among their present coaches. Frankie Crosetti, Houk, Bill Dickey and Lopat offer some pretty good possibilities. After all, Casey does have that banking business to look after and the garrulous one isn't getting any younger. After last season, could you blame him?"
-Hy Goldberg, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1960
1959
April 26: Tied for fifth, at 6-7, after losing four straight, three to Orioles.
May 1: Lose Mantle for week with broken finger.
May 3: In seventh place after dropping three straight to White Sox, two in a row to Tigers.
May 7: Skowron injures right thigh in Coliseum benefit game against Dodgers before record 93,103 crowd.
May 20: During four-game losing streak, drop to cellar for first time since May 25, 1940.
May 26: Get Lopez and Terry for Kucks, Sturdivant and Lumpe in fourteenth deal with A's since 1955.
May 31: Rise to sixth on four straight victories.
June 5: After dropping back to seventh, sixth again after another four-game spurt.
June 10: Rise to fourth, but only for one day.
June 20: Fourth again after five straight wins, including three over White Sox.
July 1: Third, after more see-sawing.
July 4: Fourth, with 40-37 record, at halfway mark.
July 11: Skowron re-injures back, out for season; Turley hurts shoulder in collision with Howard, out for nearly month.
July 13: Fifth, after five straight losses to Red Sox.
August 19: After see-sawing between third and sixth, take third on three straight extra-inning victories over A's during six-game winning streak.
September 8: Eliminated with White Sox win over A's.
September 9: Beat A's, 4-0, in 1:36 game at Stadium.
September 10: Take third for keeps by downing A's again.
September 27: Announce Stengel's retention as manager, release pitching coach Jim Turner.
Comment: "Injuries, particularly to Bill Skowron, hurt. But the failure of Whitey Ford and Bob Turley to provide their usual stopper pitching, and sub-par seasons from Gil McDougald and Mickey Mantle, among others, were more damaging. They never were able to muster a real move in defense of their title.
Enough talent remains to regain the top but Casey Stengel, in what may be his last year, will want to win more badly than ever, but for the first time in ages, the Yankees may not be preseason runaway favorites to win the American League race."
-Joe Sheehan, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1960
1960 Yankees Spring Training Depth Chart
C Yogi Berra
1B Bill Skowron
2B Bobby Richardson
3B Andy Carey
SS Tony Kubek (OF)
LF Hector Lopez
CF Mickey Mantle
RF Roger Maris
UTILITY:
C Elston Howard (1B)
C Johnny Blanchard (OF)
3B Clete Boyer (SS)
SS Joe DeMaestri
CF Ken Hunt (RF)
PH Gil McDougald (2B-SS)
PH Elmer Valo (LF)
PITCHERS:
Art Ditmar
Whitey Ford
Ralph Terry
Bob Turley
Duke Maas
Mark Freeman
RELIEF PITCHERS:
Ryne Duren
Bobby Shantz
Jim Coates
Eli Grba
DOUBLE PENSION FUND
"There's a current gag that the Yankees have two good selling points for youngsters- the possibility of every year sharing in the World Series loot and the 'second pension.' The first pension is what all major league players get upon retirement age of 50, if they play a minimum of five years. The second 'pension' available to the Yankees is being retired to the Kansas City Athletics where they're still active, still getting paid, and still contributing to the pension fund."
-Bob Addie, Washington Post (Baseball Digest, June 1960)
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