1962 Profile: Whitey Ford

1962 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

ANOTHER REASON FOR FORD'S GREATNESS

"The greatness of the Yankees' Whitey Ford as a pitcher was defined by Reggie Otero, the Reds' third base coach.

'In spring training I got talking to Whitey before an exhibition game,' the coach said. 'He told me he was going to work on his slider and use it against Frank Robinson and Wally Post. He said, 'Tell them if you want to, but I'm going to hit the catcher's left knee with every pitch I throw them.'

'I didn't tell Robinson or Post. I wanted them to be hitting at good stuff in training. That's what exhibition games are for. But I watched Whitey and he hit the catcher's left knee every time he threw. Robinson and Post couldn't touch him. What a great pitcher he is.' "

-Jimmy Cannon, New York Journal-American (January 1962 Baseball Digest)

"The leader of all active pitchers in earned run average and won-lost percentage is Whitey Ford, who hit a personal high of 25 triumphs in 1961. He has a 158-63 record for an incredible .715 figure. Intelligent and alert on the mound, he has a well-controlled repertoire of all the bread-and-butter pitches. Whitey set the Series mark for consecutive scoreless innings (32) and has more Series triumphs than all others. He worked the most innings (283), started the most games (39) and was second-best in strikeouts (209) last year

Whitey was born in New York City."

-Don Schiffer, The 1962 Major League Baseball Handbook

"The season of 1961 was a great and dramatic one for the New York Yankees. Not the least of the many notable accomplishments of last season was the performance of the dean of the pitching staff, Ed 'Whitey' Ford. Sometimes statistics are dry, but no biography of Whitey  Ford could possibly tell his story without recounting these remarkable 1961 feats.

He won 14 consecutive games to tie the Yankee mark set by the late Jack Chesbro in 1904. He pitched the most innings, won the most games and had the highest won-lost percentage of any pitcher in either major league. He won the coveted Cy Young Award as baseball's foremost pitcher of the year. In addition, he won the Corvette as the Most Valuable Player in the World Series [Babe Ruth Award], awarded by SPORT Magazine for his record-breaking feat of running his consecutive shutout innings streak to a still-unbroken 32 (embracing the 1960 and '61 Series).

That was just his 1961 record. The blond left-hander from the sidewalks of New York was the recipient of a rare 'day' in his honor last September 9 for his accomplishments in prior years. Ford has the best won-lost percentage and lowest earned run average of any pitcher in baseball and ranks at or near the top among all pitchers in history. Going into the 1962 season, Ford had won 158 games and lost only 63 for a .715 percentage with a remarkable 2.76 ERA.

He has won more World Series games (9) than any other pitcher, has made more starts (16) and has the most strikeouts (70).

With all these records, Whitey is still the same popular ball player with a keen sense of humor he was when he came up to the Yankees as a 21-year-old rookie in 1950. Today he is the Yankee player representative."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Edward Charles Ford (P)     #16

Born October 21, 1928, in New York, N.Y., resides in Lake Success, N.Y. Height: 5-10, weight: 184. Bats left, throws left.

Married and the father of one girl, Sally Ann (9 1/2), and two boys, Eddie (8 1/2) and Tommy (7 1/2).

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Pitched two consecutive 1-hitters, September 2 and September 7, 1955.

Named No. 1 American League Pitcher by The Sporting News, 1955.

Tied American League record by fanning six men in a row against Kansas City, July 20, 1956.

Struck out 15 men in 14 innings in 1-0 win over Washington, April 22, 1959.

Tied Yankee record for most consecutive wins (14), 1961, also held by Jack Chesbro, 1904.

Winner of Cy Young Award, 1961.

Named World Series Most Valuable Player [Babe Ruth Award] by Sport Magazine, 1961.

Holds World Series record, most consecutive scoreless innings (32.0), 1960-1961, including three shutouts: 10-0 and 12-0 against Pirates in 1960 and 2-0 against Reds in 1961.

Named No. 1 American League Pitcher by The Sporting News, 1961.

Has most World Series wins (9), lifetime.

Has most World Series games started (16), lifetime.

Has most World Series strikeouts (70), lifetime.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"The Yankees' veteran lefty made a clean sweep of pitching honors last season and was the recipient of the Cy Young Memorial Award as the Major Leagues' outstanding hurler.

Now 33 years old and in his eleventh campaign with the World's Champs, Ford was picked on nine of the 17 ballots cast by the special committee of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for the Young Award.

During the 1961 season, Ford topped the majors in wins with 25 and now owns a fantastic 158-63 lifetime record. His .715 lifetime percentage is tops in the majors as was his .862 (25-4) for last season.

The 5'10" New Yorker started 39 contests for the Bombers and worked a total of 283 innings. During this time he allowed 242 hits, walked 92, struck out 209 and permitted 101 earned runs for a 3.21 ERA.

The 209 "Ks" was the second-highest total in the American League and marked a personal high for the stylish southpaw. Whitey's previous high had been 145 in 1958 (and his minor league high was 171 with Norfolk back in 1948).

Ford was signed by the Bombers after having missed as a first baseman. They sent him to Butler in 1947, Norfolk in '48, Binghamton in '49 and Kansas City in '50. He had a 6-3 mark with the American Association Blues when he was recalled by New York during the summer of '50. All Whitey did after joining the Yanks was reel off nine straight wins, before dropping a relief assignment, and pick up credit for the final game in the Bombers' sweep during the World Series against the Philadelphia Whiz Kids.

Uncle Sam interrupted and Ford spent the next two seasons in the Army.

In his first full season following his discharge, Whitey posted an 18-6 record. He duplicated his win total in 1955 (when he tied for most victories in the AL) and hurled a pair of back-to-back one-hitters in September. The Sporting News selected him as the top pitcher for the Junior Circuit for the '55 campaign.

Whitey reached 19 wins (and led the league with a .760 won and lost percentage) in 1956. His 2.47 earned run average was the lowest in the loop and his six consecutive strikeouts in a game against Kansas City tied an AL record.

Ford repeated as the AL's ERA champ by posting a 2.01 mark in 1958, and in 1959 he fanned 15 Senators while hurling a 14-inning shutout.

Whitey climaxed his fantastic '61 campaign, after a disappointing 1960 season when he was only 12-9, with a record-shattering performance in the World Series.

During the Fall Classic, Ford shut out the Cincinnati Reds in the first game and added five more zeroes in the fourth game (before leaving the contest) to run his string of shutout innings to 32. The old mark, 29 2/3 innings, was held by the late Babe Ruth when he was hurling for the Boston Red Sox.

In 16 post season contests, Ford has worked a total of 109 innings and has won nine games while dropping four. He posted a pair of shutouts against Pittsburgh in the '60 Series and has a lifetime Series ERA of less than two earned runs per game.

The nine triumphs in Series play are the greatest number ever recorded by a hurler. A pair of former Yankee right-handers, Red Ruffing and Allie Reynolds, had shared the old mark with seven each.

Whitey is a fine glove man and his pick-off motion is one of the finest in the game. He also is a better-than-average batter for a pitcher and came through with 17 hits last season, good for 10 runs batted in.

During the off-season, Ford is a broker. He makes his home, along with his attractive wife and three youngsters, in Lake Success, N.Y.

Yankee fans honored their top hurler by giving him a day last season. Among the gifts was a large pack of Lifesavers and in the pack was Luis Arroyo, certainly a lifesaver in his short term with the Bombers.

The lefty signed for a reported $50,000 this season, thus making him the highest paid Yankee moundsman of all time.

If Whitey can repeat or come close to his '61 performance in 1962, there will be another pennant flying over Yankee Stadium next season."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

FORD NEARS WON-LOST, ERA PITCHING RECORDS

"Whitey Ford's remarkable 1961 record of 25 victories and only four losses brought his lifetime won-lost mark to 158 wins and 63 losses for a .715 percentage, only two points behind the record .717 set by former Yankee Spud Chandler. But Ford's figure already is tops among all-time pitchers winning 150 or more games.

Ford's lifetime earned run average of 2.76 also approaches the best mark by a pitcher for his career. Among active hurlers, the ace Yankee lefty is tops in both categories.

Whitey, in gaining his first 20-game-plus season in 1961, also won the coveted Cy Young Award as the top pitcher in the majors. Bob Turley took the honor in 1958. The veteran southpaw from the sidewalks of New York, and now a resident of Lake Success, also won the Sport Magazine Most Valuable Player award [Babe Ruth Award] as the outstanding performer in the 1961 World Series. In that classic, he extended his still intact consecutive scoreless innings streak to 32, breaking Babe Ruth's longstanding record of 29.2."

-1962 New York Yankees Official Program and Scorecard

"In the din of the Year of Homers, there was a tendency to overlook the fact that Mr. Ford won 25 games and lost but four, extended his World Series string of scoreless innings to 32 (breaking Babe Ruth's mark) and otherwise had the most fabulous year in his decade as the outstanding left-hander of the New York Yankee mound staff."

-Tom Gallery (Director of Sports for NBC), NBC Complete Baseball 1962

1962 Profile: Roger Maris

1962 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

MARIS WILL HIT 44 IN '62

Past Performances Indicate 28 Per Cent Dropoff

"If Roger Maris goes the way of all homer flash, he'll hit 44 home runs in 1962. That's a 28 per cent falloff from his record 61 in '61. And 28 per cent was the average decline suffered by the game's all-time homer kings the season following their boom years.

In fact, of the eight sluggers who hit 50 or more in one season before Maris- and did it 13 times between them- only one ever was able to follow through with a higher total the next year.

That was Babe Ruth, who went on to 59 homers in 1921 after hitting 54 in 1920. Ruth was the only big league player to hit 50 or more homers in each of two consecutive seasons and he did the tandem act twice. After improving his own big-league record to 60 in 1927, he hit 54 in 1928.

That was the smallest decline that ever set in after a 50-or-better season. Ralph Kiner was next-best in being able to hold the four-base line. After hitting 54 in 1949, he came through with 47 in 1950.

Other 'slumps' ranged from Jimmie Foxx's 10-off (from 58 in 1933 to 48) through Mickey Mantle's 18 (52 to 34 in 1957) down through Hank Greenberg's differential of 25 (58 to 33 in 1939) and Ruth's own 34 (from 59 down to 25 in 1922).

But the 'championship' in this reverse respect is held by the National League's home run king, the late Hack Wilson who, bothered by eye trouble and prohibition beer, dwindled all the way down to just 13 round-trippers in 1931, just a year after he had powered his way to 56 homers and 190 runs batted in, the latter a record that has withstood the assault of big leaguers for more than three decades.

Maris, already a member of one the game's most exclusive clubs, the '50-or-more' set, can join an ever more exclusive club next season. Those who have performed the feat twice are the '50-or-more' set's inner circle. Besides the Babe, only Foxx (1932, 1938) and Kiner (1947, 1949) have qualified. Two others, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, are in a position to make it next year, too. Of the other 50-or-more men, Greenberg and Mize have shown no intention of coming out of retirement and Hack Wilson is dead."

-Herbert Simons, Baseball Digest, January 1962

THE VOICE OF SENOR MARIS

"Frank Eck of the Associated Press comes up with one of the best postseason stories of the season. It was unfolded by Earl Torgeson, then a Yankee coach, on the special World Series train back to New York.

Torgeson told of an experience with two girls and roommate Luis Arroyo, the ace relief pitcher, in a Baltimore hotel late in the season.

'These two girls were in the hall of our hotel in Baltimore,' Torgeson began. 'They asked if I were with the Yankees. I told them I was.

'Then they told me they wanted to see Roger Maris, who had hit his fifty-ninth home run just days before.

' 'We just want to see Roger Maris,' one of them said.

' 'He's not in that room,' I told them.

' 'We know he is,' both girls said in unison. 'We just want to touch him.'

'So I knocked on the door and said: 'Rog, you in there?'

' 'Si,' came the answer. 'And I theenk I hit my sistieth (60th) home run manana (tomorrow).' ' "

-Frank Eck, the Associated Press (Baseball Digest, February 1962)

"A near-perfect swing has catapulted Roger Maris to national fame. His homer total of 61 in 1961 gave him the all-time one-season mark and enabled him to take the most-valuable-player prize for the second straight season. Roger's booming bat (he also paced the loop in RBIs) has generally overshadowed his excellence as a fielder; he has fine range in right field and an amazingly strong arm.

Born in Hibbing, Minnesota, Roger also toiled at Cleveland and Kansas City and has 158 homers and 457 RBIs for five campaigns."

-Don Schiffer, The 1962 Major League Baseball Handbook

"Roger Maris has been a Yankee for only two seasons. In that short time he has won two consecutive Most Valuable Player awards, has led the American League in RBIs each year, has hit a total of 100 home runs, won the coveted Hickok Belt as the Outstanding Professional Athlete of 1961, was named the Associated Press' Pro Athlete of the Year and, above all else, hit a record of 61 homers.

At 27 Roger should just be approaching his peak. He can hit with power, as every fan knows. But he can do most everything else well, too. But the pressure of his tremendous achievement last season has weighed heavily on him. He hopes this season to live his life normally and still make a big contribution to another Yankee pennant drive.

Assuming community responsibilities, Maris recently accepted an appointment as volunteer national co-chairman of the 1962 Multiple Sclerosis Society Hope Chest campaign. Fame has brought Maris stardom in a motion picture (with Mickey Mantle)- Columbia Pictures' 'Safe at Home.' He also authored a recently published book (with writer Jim Ogle) 'Roger Maris at Bat,' the story of the 61 home runs.

But for all the fame, the furor and the pressures, Roger said this spring that ' ... the only goal I have is to try to have as good a year as I can and help the club- the club comes first.'"

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Roger Eugene Maris (OF)     #9

Born September 10, 1934, in Hibbing, Minnesota, resides in Raytown, Missouri. Height: 6-0, weight: 200. Bats left, throws right. 

Married and father of one girl, Susan Ann (4), and three boys, Roger Eugene Jr. (3) and Kevin Joseph (1) and Randy Jude (4 months).

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Led American League in runs batted in (112), 1960.

Led American League in slugging percentage (.581), 1960.

Hit home run in first World Series at-bat, October 5, 1960.

American League Most Valuable Player, 1960.

Hit 61 home runs in 1961- more than any player in one season.

Combined with Mickey Mantle to break Babe Ruth's and Lou Gehrig's 1927 home run [record for teammates] (107) with 115.

Set American League record for most home runs in six consecutive games (7), 1961.

Led American League in runs batted in (142), 1961.

Tied for American League lead in runs scored (132), 1961.

Winner of Hickok Belt as Top Professional Athlete of the Year, 1961.

American League Most Valuable Player, 1961.

Associated Press Athlete of the Year, 1961.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Twenty-seven-year-old Roger Maris made baseball history last summer when he smacked 61 home runs. The Hibbing, Minnesota, native was selected as the Junior Circuit's Most Valuable Player for the second straight year and his slugging feats were the talk of the nation.

His home run assault was selected as the outstanding sports achievement of 1961 by the Associated Press and his 142 runs batted in were the tops in the circuit. The RBI title was also Maris' second in a row.

Roger came to New York from Kansas City in December 1959 along with infielders Kent Hadley and Joe DeMaestri. The Athletics received Don Larsen, Marv Throneberry, Hank Bauer and Norm Siebern in the transaction.

The blond slugger, who now resides in Raytown, Missouri, during the off-season, originally signed with the Cleveland Indians' organization. He spent four summers in the minors before joining the tribe in 1957.

As an American League rookie, Rog batted .235 and hit 14 homers. In 1958 he upped his batting mark to .240 and doubled his circuit total while sending 80 runs across the plate. The Indians dealt him to Kansas City during the '58 season for Vic Power and Woody Held, and immediately rumors had Maris heading for New York.

In 1959 the six-foot, 200-pounder was going along at a .300 clip when he was stricken with appendicitis. After 30 days on the disabled list, he returned to action and his average dropped off to .273. His HR total for the '59 season was 16.

The trade to New York was made and Maris really began to move. He rapped out four hits, including a pair of four-baggers, in his Yankee debut and wound up the 1960 season with a .283 average, 112 runs batted in and 39 homers. The 39 circuit clouts just missed winning him the title, being topped only by Mickey Mantle's 40.

Last season Roger's average was only .269, but in addition to his 61 circuit belts, he also had 16 doubles and four triples for 366 total bases; and he sent seven of his 142 runs across the plate with sacrifice flies.

In the 1960 World Series against Pittsburgh, the Rajah batted .267 and had two homers and a double. Last fall he played a major role in the victory over Cincinnati. His ninth-inning home run was the deciding blow in the third game, and he did a fine job filling in for the ailing Mantle in center field.

Maris, who has a rifle arm, moves extremely well for a big man.

Commissioner Ford C. Frick ruled that his record would go into the books with an asterisk, but Rog came close to tying the late Babe Ruth's total in 154 games. He got No.59 in the Bombers' 154th game and just missed with two long fouls on subsequent appearances at bat.

His record smasher came off Boston's Tracy Stallard and was worth $5,000 to the young fan who caught the ball.

During the summer Roger rooms with Mickey Mantle and Bob Cerv.

Nobody expects Rog to repeat his '61 performance this year. But the father of four youngsters has earned his niche in the books and is one of the game's most respected sluggers now. He's among the top salaried Yankees and his off-the-field earnings make him a very comfortable man."

-1962 Jay Publishing Yankees Yearbook

"So what if a guy only bats .269 or has an asterisk after his name. Any time he reaches the top level of achievement, as Roger did last year, his name is etched in baseball history. (Is there anyone who doesn't know about his 61 homers?) The blunt-spoken Yankee star also qualifies as an outstanding defensive outfielder and covers a wide area."

-Tom Gallery (Director of Sports for NBC), NBC Complete Baseball 1962

MARIS IN 1962: HOW MANY? A Poll of Top Experts and Roger Himself

"The difference between Roger Maris and the other great sluggers in the history of baseball- Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Ralph Kiner, Mickey Mantle- is a matter of distance. They could and did send the ball on a tape-measure journey. Roger, on the other hand, has a grooved swing; with just the right click of the bat, he gets the same results the others got (and Mickey is still getting), except that they sent the ball deeper into the stands.

Roger explains it quite coldly: 'I don't see them giving two home runs for a ball that goes 800 feet. If I hit it just right, it goes about 450.'

This almost clinical approach to the art of hitting home runs- although one shouldn't forget that Roger is also blessed with strong forearms, good eyes and a compact physique- assures Roger's niche in the slugging gallery. Once it's conceded that Roger is no fluke, the most intriguing aspect of the 1962 baseball season is what the future holds for Maris.

To give readers an authoritative glimpse, NBC Baseball went to authoritative men in all facets of the game- general managers, managers, coaches, players- to get an idea of what Maris will do in 1962.

Will he eclipse his own mark of 61 homers? How many will he hit? Will the pitchers treat him any differently?

Here's how they answered:

-Ralph Houk, manager of the New York Yankees:

'I'll settle for about 40 homers and about 100 runs batted in. I don't think he'll draw more walks than last year. They won't be pitching any more carefully. They still got Mickey to worry about coming up next. Why should they be concentrating on him any more than before? They've already concentrated on him. And you saw the results.'

-Hank Greenberg, who hit 58 home runs in one season for the Detroit Tigers and has been an American League general manager:

'You know he's not going to hit 61 home runs this year. But he doesn't have to hit that many to have a fine season. Roger is definitely a .300 hitter. He has the ability. It depends on him and what he's trying to do. They'll walk him a lot more. He won't get the good balls to hit because no pitcher likes to be known as a man who contributed to a home run record. Pitchers will be watching out for him.'

-Gil McDougald, a former Yankee infielder who played with Maris the first year he came to New York, in 1960:

'He should hit about 35 homers and knock in about 125 and maybe bat .320. He has the smooth stroke, and he's always been a good hitter from what I've seen of him. Sure, the pitchers will be bearing down more. But the way he swings I feel that Roger could also be a steady .320 hitter without cutting down on his homers.'

-Jimmy Piersall, the volatile center fielder of the Washington Senators and an improved hitter himself in '61:

'If he hits 40 home runs and knocks in 100, it'll be a helluva season. To be compared with anyone like Ruth, you know, he's got to hit 59 a couple more years. And the conditions for doing it aren't the same, or as good. He has to play under lights. He's got to travel a lot more, too, with irregular hours and increasing tensions. They'll be pitching him differently. If anybody is equipped by temperament to handle it, Roger is. The only pressures he'll have will be off the field, with endorsements and that kind of stuff and people running after him. On the field, he's not the kind to let it bother him.'

-Gabe Paul, general manager of the Cleveland Indians, the club that originally enlisted Maris for baseball:

'The pitching won't be any different. Why should it be? Maris was no stranger to them before 1961. But those kinds of years don't come two in a row. I'd say he'll be doing well if he hits 35 home runs. For average he'll probably hit higher, but .290 is close to his limit because he pulls everything.'

-Frankie Frisch, Hall of Fame second baseman and an outspoken critic of modern-day baseball:

'The home run today is the forward pass of pro football. I can see Maris hitting 75 home runs if he thinks he can do it. Didn't he get a bad start last year? His average doesn't indicate his strength. How he does this year has a lot to do with Maris. Will the chicken circuit catch up with him? A player should take two months off after the season and go away with his family for a rest. But he's strong, the ball is lively and the bat willowy. He'd have been a helluva ballplayer in my day, too.'

-Bing Devine, general manager of St. Louis:

'You know you're talking to a .200 hitter (when Devine was a minor league infielder). Maris was an established power hitter before last year. So why should anything he does be surprising? He'll never bat more than .300 because he's not going for average. But he should hit 45 homers this year. And what's wrong with that number? I'll take him, even if you say he has to play center field.'

-Jim Gentile, the first baseman of the Baltimore Orioles who hit 46 home runs last year to establish himself as a threat to Maris' laurels:

'He's a cinch to hit at least 40, and maybe more than 50. What the heck, he's a power hitter. He could even touch 60 again. He's got the good ball park and the swing. Everybody in the country is watching Maris. Everybody knows who he is. The difference in pressures between me and him is I only have to worry about Baltimore.'

-Joe DiMaggio, Hall of Fame center fielder for the New York Yankees and their springtime batting coach:

'I'm not going to say that Roger will exceed his superb mark of 61 homers this year because of the many pressures on him, but I will say this: we are entering an era in which the home run totals will continue to spiral and I expect someone to raise the total within the next five years. Maybe Roger himself.

'Everything is done to help the long-ball boys. I have noticed a sharp reduction in knock-down pitching. If you throw close, the umpires warn you. And that helps the batters. We knew about 33-ounce bats years ago. But we had respect for averages. Now the home run is the big thing. There'll be more of them.'

-Jim Bunning, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, a one-time 20-game winner noted for his strikeout ability:

'Fortunately, he didn't get any off me last year, but he had his share before that. Remember, I've been pitching to him since we were both in Triple-A ball. Roger always hit pretty good. But why should I bother to guess the number of homers he's going to hit? I work the opposite side of the street.'

And then, of course, Maris himself should be heard on the subject

'Don't expect 62 in '62. The question that bothers me most is when they ask if I'm going to hit that many. How the hell do I know how many I'll hit, or if I'll hit any? It doesn't take much to throw a hitter off. For a long while last year, I thought the whole season was going to be a mess. When I go bad, brother, I go bad. But if I don't do well, it won't be because of the record.'

Roger has historical precedent going for him when he expects fewer than a record number of homers this year. After Ruth set his first mark of 59 in 1921, he dropped off to 35 in '22. Jimmie Foxx went from 58 in 1932 to 48 a year later. Greenberg dropped from 58 in 1938 to 33 in 1939.

But since when does any homer total over 30 require apologies?"

-Murray Olderman (Sports Columnist, Newspaper Enterprise Association), NBC Complete Baseball 1962

ROGER MARIS, OCT. 1, 1961

"Maybe Rog Maris couldn't equal or surpass Babe Ruth's feat of hitting 60 homers in a 154-game season, but in the Yankees' 162nd game (163rd counting a tie) Maris still etched his name in the record books. It was the last game of the season and the Yankee Stadium crowd of 23,154 had come out with one thought in mind: to see Maris hit a home run. After flying out in the first inning, Rog obliged in his second at-bat in the fourth inning.

Boston's Tracy Stallard had got behind on a two-ball, no-strike count when Rog smashed the next pitch, a waist-high, down-the-middle fast ball into the stands in right field, ten rows back and about 12 feet to the right of the Yankee bullpen. That proved to be the only run of the game in the Yanks' 1-0 victory. More important, it made Maris the only man in the major leagues to hit 61 homers in a season.

Thus Rog finally reached his goal when it seemed the elusive 61 was going to pass him by."

-Dick Gordon, from The 20 Most Dramatic Homers, Baseball Digest (August 1962)

"Roger Maris this year did not reach the great heights of his 1961 season when he set the new home run standard of 61. But the Yankees' star right fielder led the club in home runs again, and in RBIs, and contributed to the Yankees' third straight pennant since he joined the club in 1960. Rog was the American League MVP those first two years, and an important man again this year."

-Official Souvenir Program of the 1962 World Series (Yankee Stadium)