Yankees Yearbook Fan 1960-1969: 1961 New York Yankees Outlook

"Yankee power will not counterbalance a slender pitching staff which, surprisingly enough, was the best in the league in '60 on the basis of earned runs allowed. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra and Bill Skowron - physically sound and full of energy - constitute the most formidable hitting quartet in the loop. Berra may not be able to go the distance as of old and is penciled in for outfield duty. Mantle with his leg and knee ailments is always questionable but is also always ready to swing away. Maris is an accomplished player, as valuable in the field as he is at the plate, and Skowron continues to stay around the .300 mark and the 100 runs-batted-in level.

New York has a fine overall starting lineup with Skowron, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek and Cletis Boyer in the infield, and Maris, Mantle, Berra and Hector Lopez in the outfield. Catching is talented with Elston Howard, Berra or Johnny Blanchard. Don't look beyond this, however, because the steady stream of young Yankee talent seems to have run dry. And when handyman Gil McDougald hung up his glove in favor of a business career, the club was left short of one third baseman, one shortstop and one second baseman, positions Gil could fill so adequately over short spaces of time.

There are a lot of names on a who-knows-what pitching staff headed by Whitey Ford, fresh from his 18 innings of shutout hurling in the '60 Series. Although among the all-time leaders in percentage and ERA, Whitey, over the long haul, has grown progressively undependable due to various arm and elbow ailments. Bob Turley has been the model of inconsistency for two years despite his winning record of '60, and only Art Ditmar has been reliable and control-proof over a series of skirmishes. Ryne Duren, the very good or very bad reliever, may get a shot at a starting berth and rookie Bill Stafford, so capable in the brief encounters in '60, is another who figures prominently in manager Ralph Houk's permanent pitching rotation. The bullpen has been deprived of a pair of operators now that Eli Grba and Bobby Shantz have left, but it's possible that Jim Coates and Luis Arroyo can fill the gaps. Ralph Terry, always threatening to become a big winner, and Danny McDevitt, acquired from the Dodgers, give the staff additional quantity.

No longer will the Yankees overwhelm their adversaries with numbers. There is not enough bench strength to pursue the two-platoon system in depth and this may hurt the champions, particularly against the weaker clubs who will now, by virtue of shorter series, save their so-called key hurlers for the Bombers."

-Don Schiffer, The Major League Baseball Handbook 1961

"Man for man, the New York Yankees present the strongest lineup in the league, offensively and defensively. In the infield they Bill Skowron at first, Bobby Richardson at second, Tony Kubek at short and the rapidly improving Cletis Boyer at third. In the outfield, they can start the power-packed M's - Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris - plus Hector Lopez.

Just how valuable Mantle and Maris were to the Yankee cause a year ago is best illustrated by the voting in the Most Valuable Player poll. Maris, who hit .283, had 39 home runs and drove in 112 runs, got 225 votes to 222 for Mantle, who hit .276 with 40 homers and 94 RBIs. Maris carried the team with his hitting for the first half of the season, and then Mantle got hot in the second half when Roger was injured and slumping.

Behind the plate, the champs have depth that is the envy of the league. Either Elston Howard, elder statesman Yogi Berra, John Blanchard or a sparkling newcomer, Jesse Gonder, can put on the pads. Howard and Berra can also play the outfield and, although platooning manager Casey Stengel has been forced into retirement, Ralph Houk is fully aware of the advantages of having both men in the lineup at the same time.

Even so, Houk won't be switching men as much as Casey because the expansion draft cut down on his bench and versatile Gil McDougald has retired.

Don't be surprised, though, if Houk decides to make a full-time outfielder of Berra. Houk would like to give Blanchard more work behind the plate and may work him in as a No.2 catcher behind Howard if Berra can beat out Lopez in left field.

It doesn't take a Perry Mason to discover where the Yanks are vulnerable. Their pitching is shaky and they know it. New general manager Roy Hamey advertised it by trying to deal off Whitey Ford for a sound pitcher last winter. Obviously, the Yanks are worried about their aching, bread-and-butter southpaw. Add to this the fact that Bob Turley has become an inconsistent pitcher and you can see why Houk is talking about making a starter of Ryne Duren.

If the Yankee pitching staff does a sudden turnabout this season and returns to its old effectiveness, the team's new pitching coach can take most of the credit. Quiet, capable Johnny Sain never had much to work with in Kansas City, but baseball men say he's one of the finest teachers of pitching in the majors. The Yankees' pitching has been sour ever since wily old Jim Turner left, and Houk is hoping that Sain can supply the winning touch to a staff that needs help.

Rivals say Jim Coates' 13-3 record was a gross exaggeration of his ability. They insist that reliever Luis Arroyo did it with mirrors, too. But both of these men must repeat for the Yankees to win. Ralph Terry and Art Ditmar are solid. Bill Stafford, Billy Short, Johnny James and recently acquired Danny McDevitt still must prove themselves. Rollie Sheldon, a 15-1 winner at Auburn, is a potential golden boy.

But whether they win or lose, the Yanks just won't be the same without Casey."

-True, The Man's Magazine 1961 Baseball Yearbook

REORGANIZATION HAS SET IN, BUT THE YANKEES STILL HAVE A MODERN-DAY MURDERERS' ROW

"Deep into the winter, the disappointed clientele in Baltimore and Chicago, and even in the also-ran areas of Cleveland, Washington and Detroit, were wondering how the Yankees did it.

They looked at the pitching records and shook their heads in disbelief. The man closest to a 20-game effort was Art Ditmar, with 15, and he had the dubious distinction of throwing more home run balls (25 in one season) than any hurler in Yankee history.

They gazed along the list of batsmen and found one .300 hitter- Moose Skowron, with a .309 average. There was a sharp drop to the next man, Hector Lopez, with a .284 mark.

Of course, the explanation was easy to find for the statistical-minded. An old, familiar Yankees weapon, the home run had shattered the opposition. In Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, the long ball factory in the Bronx had produced the greatest one-two punch since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Mickey had led the circuit with 40 and Roger had trailed him by one. Collectively, the Bombers had accumulated 193, a new American League record.

Whether or not that was all it took will have to be determined by the jury in the years to come, for with this 10th pennant in 12 seasons, 25th in a span of four decades, the architects of this fabulous chain of success moved off the scene. Within a week after Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning homer had deprived Casey Stengel of an eighth World Series triumph in his ten tries, the 70-year-old manager had been replaced by one of his coaches, Ralph Houk. A few days later, George M. Weiss, 66, slipped out of his office into an 'advisory' capacity, and his portfolio as general manager was assumed by Roy Hamey.

'I'll be in full command on the field,' insisted Houk.

'I won't interfere with Hamey any more than I did with Weiss,' assured owner Dan Topping who, with his partner, Del Webb, had initiated the youth movement in the club's higher echelon. Both men, therefore, will be boldly stepping into the task of trying to match the near-perfect records of their predecessors.

In his swan song after a 29-year association with the Yankees, the first 16 as farm director, Weiss made it sound like the managerial job wasn't insurmountable.

'As presently constituted,' the retiring general manager said, 'the team should be able to hold up its position for at least three or four years. Pitching was the principal problem, and with youngsters like Bill Stafford and Ralph Terry starting the 1961 season from scratch, that situation ought to take care of itself.'

'I'm leaving behind a fine ballclub,' agreed Stengel, who readily confessed that he himself was leaving reluctantly. And he went on to point out that with Weiss in the front office, he invariably was given the players he requested. That never was more evident than in the final collaboration of the two masterful operatives.

The Yankees had finished third in 1959, with 79 victories, a low point in the New York careers of both the manager and general manager. During the winter, a seven-man deal brought Maris into the Bronx outfield from Kansas City. It's doubtful whether the Yankees could have won without him. He led the league in RBIs with 112, and his booming bat kept the club in contention during the first half of the season as he clouted 25 over the fence by June 30.

As the pitching staff floundered, Weiss reached into the farm system for Stafford, the 22-year-old right-hander; he likewise reclaimed from the minors the veteran southpaw Luis Arroyo; and as a security measure in the form of reserve power, he followed an old custom and reached into the National League for Dale Long.

These moves contributed heavily to an August-September record of 44-18, a winning pace of .710; to a closing string of 15 consecutive triumphs, the last one via a ninth-inning homer by Long; and to a pennant margin of eight games. A year earlier, the Yankees had trailed the winning White Sox by 15 lengths.

There was some difference of opinion about whether Stengel was entitled to genius rating for this final fling. Looking at his power-packed lineup, some thought he should have been riding a rubber foam cushion toward the flag all the way. Examining his patchwork pitching staff, others wondered how he won.

In general, the testimony of the experts leaned toward giving the old professor credit for an amazing juggling act. His club played 155 games, including one tie, and his starting pitchers were on the job at the finish exactly 38 times.

Jim Coates started with nine straight victories, but his 4.20 earned run average indicates his mates were scoring heavily on his behalf. His streak finally ended in July and he finished with 13-3. Bob Turley (9-3) was erratic and completed only four of his 24 starts. Whitey Ford had an off-year (12-9). Ralph Terry, in the Army during the spring, started poorly but finished well (10-8). As previously noted, Ditmar was most consistent (15-9). With Ryne Duren no longer overpowering the batsmen, Bobby Shantz was the only dependable bullpen operative until Arroyo.

Elsewhere in the cast, Casey had Yogi Berra prowling the outfield while Elston Howard caught. When both men were hurt, Johnny Blanchard went behind the plate, and the club won 12 of 16.

The lineups were typical Stengel creations. He put them together and took them apart every day. Maris was a marauder during the first half, injured his ribs and slumped during the second half. Cletis Boyer became the regular third baseman and Gil McDougald was turned into a utility infielder. Bobby Richardson continued to play a fine defensive game at second base, but his average dipped almost 50 points.

Lopez was the left fielder except when Stengel decided to use Berra or Bob Cerv or substituted Jim Pisoni in the late innings for defensive purposes. Moose Skowron escaped injury and played more games at first base than ever before in his career. He was the only solid man, for Mantle suffered from damage to his knee, shoulder, and thigh.

Nevertheless, Mickey was in there day after day, until Stengel irately benched him midway through a losing doubleheader in Washington on August 14 because he failed to run out an infielder grounder. The next day, Mantle hit two homers to beat Baltimore, and at the end of the season, Casey cited Mickey as the most valuable man on the club.

Through troubles and shakeups, the Yankees continued to batter the fences. In addition to the home run production by Mantle and Maris, Skowron walloped 26, Berra 15, Tony Kubek, Cerv and Boyer 14 apiece. The four-base wallop was credited with 41 of the 97 victories, and 20 games were won in the ninth inning or later. In the Ruth-Gehrig era, that was known as 'five o'clock lightning' ... the games started at 3 P.M. in those days, of course.

Through July, the Bombers alternately spurted and sagged, and since the other clubs were equally erratic, they maintained a challenging position. The low point was June 2, when they dropped to fourth place, six games behind. A week later, they embarked upon a seven-game winning streak and were contenders again.

After August 2, they were out of the lead only twice for brief periods, the second time following three straight defeats in Baltimore during the Labor Day weekend. That was enough to buoy the Orioles when they reached New York for a four-game series on September 16, trailing by only one percentage point. What the Birds failed to realize was that Ford invariably wins the big ones, as the left-hander later proved in the World Series.

Whitey had pitched back-to-back shutouts against Baltimore and Washington at a crucial point in August, but he had been battered in Kansas City three days before that vital September set. He turned it on again that night in the Stadium, had a shutout until the ninth and emerged with a 4-2 decision.

Properly inspired, the Yankees didn't lose a game for the rest of the season, and the unfinished string of 15, unprecedented for a pennant fight, was in a sense an unfinished symphony by Casey. As Houk picks up the baton, he'll be nodding to new coaches Johnny Sain, Jim Hegan and Wally Moses and the one holdover, Frank Crosetti.

Ralph will be leading the cast that felt it missed the World Championship by one bad hop. There will be the customary crew of arrivals from the farms, and in one other respect, the new manager will be in the same position as all of his predecessors. He'll be favored to win the 1961 flag."

-Hy Goldberg, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1961

1960

April 19: Down Red Sox, 8-4, in Opener on four RBIs on two home runs, double and single from Maris, obtained from A's.

April 30: Take lead on 16-0 rout of Orioles as Coates wins third straight and Maris drives in four.

May 2: Tied for second with 6-5 record at end of first round against East.

May 7: Tied for first after four straight wins.

May 12: Fourth after three extra-inning losses; record 10-8 after 4-3 homestand against West.

May 19: Get Bob Cerv from A's for Andy Carey.

May 25: End first trip West tied for fourth at 15-14.

May 28: Stengel down with virus; Houk takes charge in 5-1 win over Nats; fifth with 17-15 record.

June 7: Beat White Sox, 5-2, as Stengel returns; go on to win seven in a row and tie for lead.

June 17: Light sparklers on bench in Chicago as jibe at Veeck scoreboard during 4-2 win over Sox.

June 19: Complete four-game sweep of Sox and best Tigers twice on six-game spurt into lead.

July 10: Aided by another six-game streak, reach All-Star break two and a half games ahead; out of lead only once since June 16- on June 26; halfway record 45-30.

July 22: Buy Luis Arroyo from Jersey City.

July 23: Drop to second during 1-3 series against Chisox.

July 28: Regain lead in three-game sweep of Indians.

July 31: Fall to second via split with A's.

August 2: Recapture lead on four-game spurt.

August 14: Sink to third after losing three of four to Nats.

August 16: Back on top as Mantle beats Orioles, 4-3, on two two-run homers, go on to win four in a row, with Ford blanking Birds, 1-0, on two days' rest.

August 21: Buy Dale Long from Giants.

August 27: Complete five-game streak, sweeping four with Indians.

September 3: Lose lead via third straight shutout defeat, one by A's, two by Orioles.

September 10: Back on top after winning five of six.

September 18: Spurt to four-game lead on four-game sweep of Orioles- and keep winning.

September 25: Clinch 25th pennant by beating Red Sox, 4-3, for ninth straight victory.

September 30: Set American League home run record with 191 on Kubek homer against Red Sox, wind up with 193.

October 2: Beat Red Sox, 8-7, to end season with 15 straight wins.

October 18: Stengel retired on basis of age- 70.

October 30: Houk named manager for 1961.

November 1: Weiss steps down as general manager.

November 3: Hamey named general manager for 1961.

Comment: Downrated after their 1959 collapse, the Yankees kept it up from the start and left the pack with a blazing finish. Other keys were a June spurt and taking five of six in doubleheaders on August 26, 27 and 28.

Stengel did a masterful job of driving when the team let down and of juggling a shaky pitching staff. Basically young, with stars in Mantle, Maris, Skowron and Kubek, the Yankees should stay up under Houk, though their pitching remains uncertain."

-Joe Sheehan, Dell Sports Magazine Baseball, April 1961

"As anyone knows- anyone, that is, who hasn't spent the recent months in solitary confinement or on another planet- there've been some changes made around the old Yankee homestead.

Gone is Marse Casey Stengel, the gnarled oak with a gluttonous record of 10 flags in 12 years.

Gone is George Weiss, chief architect of the current Yankee dynasty. Gone is Gil McDougald, an indelible name in Bronx history.

Gone are six other Yanks, leaving seven roster holes for new faces, the biggest total of rookie opportunities in 40 years.

But one item remains unchanged and unchallenged. The Yankees still have the best eight regular players to launch from the dugout onto an American League diamond: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Hector Lopez, Yogi Berra, Bill Skowron, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Cletis Boyer and, as a bonus, Elston Howard.

And all of them- even MVP Maris- stand a chance to improve in one or more departments in 1961. Mantle, for instance, had a wonderful year despite a .275 average. Who is to say he can't up it by 50 or even 75 points this year? Maris had a banner season, but he tailed off to .283 after staying over .300 for more than half the campaign. Lopez, manager Ralph Houk indicates, will play more regularly in '61; given a chance, Hector can top his .284 batting average and 42 RBI's.

Skowron had his best year, but the sky is the limit for the Moose if he stays healthy. Richardson hit .301 in 1959 but dropped 49 points in '60. Boyer came on as a regular late in the season and hit only .242 with 14 homers while learning his way around the circuit, but his potential is far greater. And Howard, too, if he plays every day, can raise his .245 average and increase his RBIs (39) and home runs, a surprisingly meager six.

The Yanks still have the defense and the speed and the power. They still hit more homers and drive in more runs than any other team in baseball. They've had only five 20-game winners in the past 10 years (Cleveland has had 12) and only one in the last five seasons. But flingers from somewhere always seem to jump into the gap, deliver the clutch victory and ride regally on the crest of that big-bat support.

While they still have the prestige and the pride and they're still the team to beat, the Yankees no longer have that murderous bench strength. It's been gradually depleted by age, trade, drafts, retirements and other forms of erosion. McDougald's decision to quit baseball and the drafting of Bob Cerv, Dale Long, Ken Hunt and rookie Buddy Zipfel put a severe crimp in the reserve corps.

This will be one of the main threats to the new regime- manager Ralph Houk and general manager Roy Hamey. Although Houk probably won't do nearly as much platooning as Stengel did, he plans to juggle his fine catching personnel- the heart of the bench. 'Howard, Berra, Blanchard and Jess Gonder are all available for catching, pinch-hitting and help in other positions,' the new skipper announced. Berra, Blanchard and Gonder (who hit .327 at Richmond) are left-handed swingers.

'Howard can do a job around first base and in left field, too,' said Houk. 'Yogi is very likely to find himself platooned with Lopez in left.'

The sight of Gonder in a Yankee uniform is rather an oddity, because for years the New York farm system has been an assembly line providing catchers for other big-league clubs. Berra was mainly responsible for the detour of young catchers. With Yogi entrenched for all those years and Howard backing him up, the Yankees have dispatched such catchers as Hal Smith, Gus Triandos, Harry Chiti, Clint Courtney, Darrell Johnson, Sherm Lollar, Hank Foiles, Lou Berberet and Bob Oldis to other big-league clubs. But with Yogi growing older and destined for more outfield duty, the Yanks reached into the Cincinnati organization and acquired Gonder last spring.

Houk gave early notice that he would make some changes from his predecessor. Among them:

-Kubek won't be shifted around. He'll play shortstop and shortstop alone. 'He has proved he thrives when he is at shortstop only, and I intend to see that he isn't disturbed,' says Houk.

-Ryne Duren, the fireballing reliever who slumped badly during the last half of the season, will be tried as a starter. Duren was a starting pitcher for Houk at Denver in 1957 and had a 13-2 record.

-Deron Johnson, a promising power hitter who hit 27 homers at Richmond, will work at third, first and in the outfield. He could develop into one of those famous Yankee handymen.

Among American Leaguers there is an uneasy hunch that Mantle may be set for another of his tremendous years. True, his .275 average last season was the lowest in his nine full major league seasons, largely because of those 125 strikeouts. In 1957, when Mantle hit his peak of .365, he fanned only 75 times.

'I want to hit .300 this year. I'm satisfied with 40 homers [his 1960 mark], but I had about 50 too many strikeouts,' the Mick says. 'Houk thinks I can reduce strikeouts by choking my bat with two strikes on me. I'll give it a try.'

There had been rumors that Mantle might try batting right-handed exclusively; most of his strikeouts come when he's swinging from the port side. That's out, according to Mantle. 'Houk says how I bat is up to me. If he told me to stop switching, I would. But he won't.'

The Yankee slugger, now 29, approaches this season in his best mental and physical shape. Under Hamey's generosity plan, Mantle's 1959 pay cut was restored. He's back up to around $75,000 and he has a burning, if secret, desire to reach that $100,000 circle- for pride and prestige as well as the pocketbook. 'I never felt better,' said Mickey, as he signed his contract with a flourish and a big grin.

Another theory is that Mantle will find greater maturity, that he may feel more responsibility as a veteran Yankee under Houk than he did under Stengel. Although he was fond of the muscular outfielder and was quick to defend him from the criticism of others, Casey sometimes treated him like a kid. 'Houk is great,' Mickey says. 'We respect him and like him. That's a feeling that makes you win the pennant.'

As for pitching, you can almost depend on Whitey Ford, Art Ditmar and Bob Turley to have good years with that plate potential behind them. If Turley could win at least 15 games, it would be a terrific boost. The burden of championship proof, then, would rest on Ralph Terry (10-8), Jim Coates (13-3) and Bill Stafford, a fine control pitcher who had a 3-1 record after being called up from Richmond. Stafford will miss the entire training season because of Army duty. He'll probably relieve first, then get starting jobs.

Not many big-league managers inherit a club that is favored for the pennant before the season starts, but that's what Houk has done. After all, the Yankees won their last 15 games of the regular campaign and three in the World Series. And but for a bad infield hop, they might have taken the Series, too. 'They'll win it easy,' is the verdict of a respected sideline observer. Man by the name of Stengel."