1962 Profile: Bill Stafford

"Rarely does a hurler come along as quickly as Bill Stafford, the cool curver out of Athens, New York, who was a World Series starter as a sophomore. Bill arrived as a Yankee in his 1960 rookie season and continued in '61, winning 14 games and recording a 2.68 ERA. His refusal to panic in the face of enemy firepower made his second year a sparkling success. He worked his way to the Yanks via St. Petersburg, Binghamton and Richmond."

-Don Schiffer, The 1962 Major League Baseball Handbook

"If his 1962 spring training performances are any criterion, Bill Stafford is heading for a great season. The long, lean right-hander, who is just 23, pitched eight consecutive hitless, runless innings in his first two outings at Fort Lauderdale.

He's been a Yankee only since mid-August, 1960, and in that time has won 17, lost 10 and recorded an amazingly low earned run average of 2.58. Last year, his 2.68 ERA was second-lowest in the league. In World Series competition, Bill has a 2.25 ERA.

Bill is one of a growing group of Yankees and future Yankees who come from New York. Born in the Catskills, he resides in Athens. It was his Dad who helped him on his way to the majors. Throwing to targets erected in his backyard as a youngster, Bill learned control. In 255 major league innings, he has walked only 77 men for a per-game average of less than three.

Bill has a confident gait when you watch him walk to and from the mound. He's not cocky at all, but he goes out there to retire the opposition and believes he can on every pitch. The coolness and ease of his performance always are apparent.

Last season, Bill started slowly. He was in military service until late in the training season and really didn't get going until June. With a fine start, Bill Stafford may blossom into a top right-hander in only his second full big league season."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

William Charles Stafford (P)     #22

Born August 13, 1938, in Catskill, NY, resides in Athens, NY. Height: 6-1, weight: 183. Bats right, throws right.

Married.

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Second lowest ERA in American League (2.68) in first full season in major leagues, 1961.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"If Bill Stafford's first full season in a Yankee uniform is any measure of things to come, the rest of the American League is in for some bad times.

The 23-year-old hurler posted 14 wins and was the team's earned run leader with a splendid 2.68 ERA. Only Dick Donovan (traded to Cleveland during the off-season) of Washington bettered Stafford's mark among Junior Circuit hurlers working in the prescribed 162 innings necessary to qualify for the title.

Bill's favorite opponents were the Chicago White Sox. In picking up four victories against no losses against the "Go-Go" Sox, he permitted only six earned tallies in 36 frames. Kansas City was his victim on three occasions and the A's touched him for but four earned runs in 26 innings.

The Bronx Bombers signed Stafford in 1957 and sent him to St. Petersburg of the Florida State League. In nine games he posted a 5-3 record and allowed only 0.86 earned runs per contest.

The Athens, New York, resident moved up to Class A ball in 1958 and had an 11-7 slate with the Eastern League Binghamton Triplets. In '59 Bill ran into his only losing campaign. He was 1-8 with Richmond of the International League and 1-0 with Binghamton.

Bill received his big break midway through the 1960 season when he was called up from the IL by New York after winning 11 of 18 and having a 2.06 ERA for the Virginians. In his abbreviated rookie year (11 games), Stafford was 3-1.

His control is one of his biggest assets as his strikeouts versus bases-on-balls record indicates.

Bill's batting also helped the Bomber cause last season. He contributed 12 hits, including a brace of doubles and a triple, to the attack, a vast improvement over his previous effort with the willow (one hit in 22 1960 at-bats).

Now that he has had a full season of big-league experience, the Yankees are counting on Bill Stafford to be one of their big guns on the mound. He has certainly given Manager Houk every reason in the world to believe that he can produce in the majors."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

1962 Profile: Ralph Terry

1962 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

"The right-handed hurling ace in the 1961 pennant push was Ralph Terry. He won 16 and lost only three times, gaining the second-best percentage in baseball (Ford's .862 topping all others).

Terry started as a Yankee in 1956 but was dealt to the Athletics in '57; he returned to New York in '59 and has 48-49 lifetime totals. His fastball and curve are his main assets. He was born in Big Cabin, Oklahoma."

-Don Schiffer, The 1962 Major League Baseball Handbook

"Since 1954 the Yankees have been watching Ralph Terry develop, always believing that he would become an outstanding star. Eventually, he was traded to Kansas City, later re-acquired. Still, the promise was greater than the performance ... then came 1961! Ralph arrived! He posted a 16-3 record and a fine earned-run average of 3.16. Never in his major or minor career had Terry won as many as 16 nor posted an ERA as low as 3.16.

Now he has won his place as the ace right-hander of the Yankee squad, although that position could be challenged by Bill Stafford and others this season. But the Terry promise of 1954 has now been realized. At the age of 26, Ralph should have his 'big' years still ahead of him.

In the last two seasons, Terry has pitched the pennant-clinching game on the road and last August he produced a run of 25 consecutive scoreless innings. Injuries retarded him in the first half of last season, but he won 11 games in the last half when the chips were down.

He possesses a good variety of pitches and the knowledge of how to use them. And in 188 innings last season, Ralph walked only 42 men, or an average of only two a game. Though he enters this season with a lifetime mark under.500, Ralph hopes his 1962 performance will alter that and give him his first 20-victory campaign."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Ralph Willard Terry (P)   #23

Born January 9, 1936, in Big Cabin, OK, resides in Larned, Kansas. Height: 6-3, weight: 184. Bats right, throws right.

Married and father of one boy, Raif Galen (4 months).

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Won pennant-clinching game for Yankees at Boston, September 25, 1960.

Pitched 25 consecutive scoreless innings, August 11-29, 1961.

Won pennant-clinching game for Yankees at Baltimore, September 20, 1961.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Ralph Terry's fifth full season in the American League was by far his best one. The 26-year-old right-hander compiled one of the best won and lost records in the Junior Circuit, 16-3, and had a splendid earned run average, 3.16.

The 6'3" native of Big Cabin, Oklahoma, had posted only 32 victories in his major league career prior to the 1961 campaign. His splendid work brought his lifetime mark up to 48-49.

New York and the St. Louis Cardinals had both signed Terry in 1954, but the commissioner ruled in favor of the Bombers. St. Louis' loss was New York's gain.

Ralph spent his first season in O.B. with the Yankees' Eastern League affiliate, Binghamton, and had an 11-9 record in Class A company. He divided the 1955 season between Denver of the American Association and Birmingham of the Southern loop.

In 1956, after setting the AA on fire with a 13-4 mark, he was promoted from Denver to the Yankees. His stay in the Bronx wasn't long-lived though.

The Bombers traded him to Kansas City in June of 1957, along with Billy Martin, for outfielder Harry "Suitcase" Simpson. Ralph was only 5-12 in '57 but had a 3.34 ERA. In 1958 his record at Kansas City was 11-13.

Then, in 1959, the New Yorkers reacquired the 192-pounder in a deal that also brought Hector Lopez to the club. The A's received pitchers Johnny Kucks and Tom Sturdivant and infielder Jerry Lumpe for the duo.

Ralph's '59 record was 5-11 and in 1960 was 10-8, but the Pirates bombed him for two losses in the '60 Series.

Terry was moved into the Yankees' regular starting rotation by manager Ralph Houk last summer and proceeded to post at least one victory over each of the other nine AL teams. His "cousins" were Cleveland (4-0) and Chicago (3-0). In 188 innings, the powerful righty was touched for only 66 runs.

Terry did okay as a batsman last season, getting 15 hits including a pair of doubles. Only Whitey Ford had more safeties among New York moundsmen.

Ralph's control has always been an asset as his strikeouts versus bases on balls indicates.

Cincinnati's lone victory in the World Series was against Terry, who now has a record of 0-3 in the Fall Classics.

Helping the Yankees win the championship is, of course, Ralph's No. 1 objective for 1962. But you can bet that his No. 2 aim is to post a victory against the National League in the '62 Series."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

1962 Profile: Phil Linz

"Built along the long, lean lines of Marty Marion, 22-year-old Phil Linz has the credentials to fill the Yankee shortstop berth. In nearly five seasons in the Bombers' farm system, the bespectacled Phil has been increasing his batting average while moving up in the minors. In 1960, he led the Carolina League with .321 and last season topped the AA Texas League with a robust .349 mark. This is his first try with the Yankees."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Philip Francis Linz (IF)     #34

Born June 4, 1939, in Baltimore, Maryland, where he resides. Height: 6-1, weight: 180. Bats right and throws right.

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Leading hitter in Carolina League (.321), 1960.

Leading hitter in Texas League (.349), 1961.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Twenty-three-year-old Phil Linz is one of the Yankees' top rookie prospects for the 1962 campaign. He'll be given a shot at both the vacant shortstop post and a utility berth and, on the strength of his minor league record, he seems a sure bet to stick with the club.

In 1961 the 6'1", 160-pounder was the Texas League's batting king. Playing for the Bombers' Amarillo farm club, he posted a .349 batting average in 105 games. He was also with Richmond of the International League during the '61 season, batting .239 in 14 contests.

A bachelor, Phil hails from Baltimore. He's a righty all the way, and while he doesn't hit for power, he can slap the ball to all fields.

Phil, who wears glasses, has good speed, both in the field and on the bases."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

LINZ'S CLASSY PINCH-HITTING

"Although Phil Linz has been overshadowed by Tom Tresh- his rookie counterpart at shortstop for the Yankees- he needs no one to make any excuses in his behalf to Ralph Houk. The Yankee manager tabs Linz as 'one of the best-looking young pinch hitters I have ever seen.'

Going into the doubleheader of August 8 with the Orioles, Linz had seven hits in 12 pinch-hitting appearances. The rookie, who led the Texas League in batting last year, also is a man-in-motion for the Yankees. He plays short, third and second, and in the outfield."

-Til Ferdenzi, The Sporting News (August 18, 1962)

1962 Profile: Tom Tresh

1962 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

"As this was written, switch-hitting Tom Tresh and Phil Linz were waging a battle for Tony Kubek's temporarily vacated shortstop berth. These two rivals are long-time friends and competitors.

Tom is the son of the former star catcher, Mike Tresh. While Tom was in high school in Detroit, Mike urged his son to try switching from his normal right-handed stance. It worked and the young shortstop has been hitting with authority ever since. He was the International League's 1961 Rookie of the Year. He would like to repeat this season in the American League."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Tom Michael Tresh (SS)     #15

Born September 28, 1938, in Detroit, Michigan, resides in Taylor, Michigan. Ht.: 6-1/2 inch., weight: 180. Bats left and right, throws right. 

Married.

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Son of former major league catcher Mike Tresh.

Named Rookie of the Year in International League, 1961.

Attends Central Michigan University during off-season.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Young Tom Tresh, who came up to the Yankees at the end of the 1961 campaign, looms as the number one candidate for the Bombers' shortstop job this season. Certainly, based on his showing last season, he will be the man to beat for the job formerly held by Tony Kubek, who is now in the Army.

The 23-year-old rookie batted a healthy .315 in 141 games for Richmond last season and was the International League's All-Star shortstop. He had fair power, was an excellent bunter and showed plenty of desire.

In his brief stint with the Bronx Bombers, nine games, Tom had two hits in eight official appearances at the plate.

A six-foot and one half-inch, 180-pounder, Tom is the son of former American League catcher Mike Tresh. His dad toiled for the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians during the '30s and early '40s. Tom was born in Detroit and now makes his home in Taylor, Michigan.

He's a switch-hitter and rates highly as a glove man."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook