1962 Profile: Jim Bouton

"Listed on the Amarillo (Texas League) roster during spring training, Jim Bouton (pronounced Bow'-ton) made such a strong impression on manager Ralph Houk that the Yankees retained him when the season opened. A native of New Jersey, Jim lived in Chicago, where he was a high school pitching star. The Yankees signed him out of Western Michigan University, which he still attends in the off-season.

Jim has unusual poise and a surprising variety of pitches for a youngster of fewer than three years of pro experience. You'll be seeing more of this young man."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

James Alan Bouton (P)     #56

Born March 8, 1939, in Newark, N.J., resides in Ridgewood, N.J. Height: 6-0, weight: 180. Bats right, throws right.

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Signed off the campus of Western Michigan University, which he still attends during the off-season.

Second in the Texas League in strikeouts (151), 1961.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"This is Jim Bouton's fourth year in pro ball. At the age of 23, this Ridgewood, New Jersey, right-hander has made the jump from AA ball to the defending World Champions. He has been a 'find' for manager Ralph Houk, who has used him successfully as a spot starter and as a long and short relief man.

Jim has a varied repertoire of pitches, plus poise and control ... and a future."

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

1962 Profile: Bob Turley

TURLEY BECAME FORGOTTEN MAN SO QUICKLY

But He Hopes Operation Brings '62 Comeback

"Always, Bob Turley knew it would be this way. But it's still a jarring emotional experience suddenly that the glad-handers aren't coming around any more and that the applause has diminished.

The sudden change in Bob Turley's baseball life was dictated by the fact that he won three games and lost five for the world champion New York Yankees in their otherwise all-victorious season of 1961.

In other years the Turley name was up in lights with Mickey Mantle ... Whitey Ford ... Yogi Berra. He made the mistake of winning only three games and it's strange the way his popularity suffered.

The advertising whiz kids, who pay fees for saying you wear a certain brand of underwear or eat Brand X breakfast food, don't come around much any more. They see Bob Turley and keep going.

At the World Series victory celebration in the dressing room at Cincinnati, Turley, who had been a focal point of such festivities in the past, climbed on a top row of lockers and- of all things- took pictures.

In other settings of this type it would have been Turley being photographed as the sports writers crowded around to ask questions and the rich offers for commercial endorsements awaited his approval.

At the latest World Series, Bob Turley, a leading contributor to Yankee success in the past, was a forgotten man. 'I feel kind of useless around here,' he said as he picked up a fungo stick and lofted flies to the outfield.

Turley was knocked out of the box by a sore arm this season. He pitched only 72 innings, the lightest load he has carried since entering the American League as a rookie with the Baltimore Orioles in 1954.

Five straight times in May and early June he tried to pitch but couldn't last. The Yanks dropped him from the starting rotation.

Finally, Turley admitted his arm hurt, but X-rays failed to show any trouble. 'The pain was in my forearm and I couldn't twist my wrist to break off a curve,' he says.

Turley wanted to be operated on in midseason but the Yankees decided to wait and give the arm every chance to come back with rest and treatment. It didn't work.

So the resident of Lutherville, Maryland, which once had been known as Turleyville, underwent surgery on his elbow as soon as the World Series was over. The arm problem was there, all right, as the doctors located bone chips which had inflamed the ligament.

'They tell me I should be the same,' says Bob hopefully. 'In fact, they give me five or six years of pitching. Once they started the operation, they certainly found out why I was in so much pain. There was definitely trouble in the elbow.'

Manager Ralph Houk isn't so sure about Turley's future. 'He'll have to make the team in spring training,' he says.

'That's how it should be,' answers Bob. 'I wouldn't expect it to be any other way. I made the Yankees in spring training in 1955, and I'll be back ready to prove I still belong.'

Turley can't recall when he injured the arm, but he came up with the 'bad hose,' as the players say, in training camp.

Five years ago Turley was an overhand fastballer. But gradually he dropped down and was throwing almost exclusively from the side in the 1960 World Series when the Pirates defeated the Yankees.

The side-arm pitching, Turley feels, put more strain on his shoulder. He'd now prefer to get back on top and come overhand again.

'It hurt almost as much mentally to sit around and not do anything last season,' says Bob. 'We probably had our best club in all the time I have been there.

'We had our finest defense and the runs were plentiful. Ralph Houk is an outstanding manager. I have no complaint and there was a closeness among the players we never seemed to have before.'

After the operation, Turley's arm was put in a sling and he wore a partial cast. He insists that he didn't hurt his arm pitching underhand at the Bob Turley Bowling Emporium in Bel Air, Maryland. As soon as possible, he planned to go back to running the business and, in fact, rolling the ten-pin balls to keep in shape.

As for physical condition, Turley never lets himself get over 215 pounds but now he has the arm to bring around.

Bob Turley never figured himself as being part of a comeback story but that's precisely what faced him as he left the hospital with his arm in a sling.

He doesn't honestly know if the fastball is there any more. But as long as he's in baseball, and still wearing the uniform, he knows that he wants to pitch, to be part of the game and figure that he's making a contribution to what has to be done.

This being a paid spectator doesn't have it when you have once been the greatest pitcher in the major leagues."

-John F. Steadman, Baltimore News-Post (Baseball Digest, February 1962)

"Perhaps the recent Yankee spring training session in Fort Lauderdale was the most important training camp in Bob Turley's career. The veteran fireballer had dropped off markedly since winning 21 games and capturing the Cy Young pitching award after the 1958 season. Bob suffered from arm miseries last summer for the first time in his career. He was placed on the disabled list in July and submitted to surgery for the removal of bone chips in his right elbow, after the last World Series.

After carefully testing his once trusty right arm in spring drills, Bob indicated he was ready to help Ralph Houk's pitching staff with some degree of his old mastery. It will take time for  Bob to develop pin-point control, but his arm is coming back strong and he is confident that he can help the Yankees.

In 1958, when he sparked the Yanks to their pennant drive and pitched the club to a World Series victory from a 3-1 deficit to the Braves, Bullet Bob was named winner of the Hickok Belt as Professional Athlete of the Year and was Sporting News Player of the Year. In 1,513 innings of big-league pitching up to this season, Bob has yielded a scanty total of 1,185 base hits or a per game average of only seven base hits.

Bob has not set any personal goals for 1962. 'I want to help the Yankees win another pennant and I think I can improve on my record of recent years,' Bob said just before the season opened."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Robert Lee Turley (P)     #19

Born September 19, 1930 in Troy, Illinois, resides in Lutherville, Maryland. Height: 6-2, weight: 218. Bats right, throws right. 

Married and the father of two sons, Terry Lee (7) and Donald Lee (5).

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Winner of Cy Young Award as top pitcher in the majors, 1958.

Named Major League Player of the Year by The Sporting News, 1958.

Winner of Hickok Belt as Top Professional Athlete, 1958.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Bob Turley came to the Yankees in 1955 and had to earn a place on the club. He did better than that; in fact, he became one of the Bombers' outstanding hurlers. A sore arm and ensuing surgery, however, have him in the same spot this season and the strong-armed right-hander from Troy, Illinois, is out to prove himself capable and ready to regain his former spot with Ralph Houk's World Champions.

The 31-year-old moundsman broke into Organized Ball in 1948 with Belleville of the Illinois State League. He was 9-3 in his first season and had a fine year in 1949, winning 23 for Aberdeen of the Northern League. His 205 strikeouts were tops that season and he was up to Double A ball in 1950.

After he spent time in San Antonio (1950-1951) and Wichita (1951), the old St. Louis Browns called up their fireballing prospect. Turley lost his lone major league contest at the tail end of the '51 campaign and spent the next season in the Army.

Returning to St. Louis late in 1953, Bullet Bob posted a 2-6 record. The Browns' franchise transferred to Baltimore in 1954 and Turley was a star in his new surroundings. He had a 14-15 record and led the American League in strikeouts with 185. However, his control was faulty and he also was the bases-on-balls leader, issuing 181 passes.

In November 1954, the Bombers obtained both Turley and Don Larsen from Baltimore. The Orioles received nine players for the two hurlers, including Gene Woodling, Gus Triandos, Willie Miranda and Harry Byrd.

Turley was 17-13 for New York in 1955, but once again was the softest touch for free passes, giving up 177. He fanned 210 batters and had a respectable 3.06 earned run average, forty points lower than his mark in Baltimore the previous year.

Bullet Bob had two disappointing seasons in 1956 and 1957, but in 1958 he was the pitcher the Yankees had hoped he would be when they dealt for him. He led the Junior Circuit in wins (21) and won and lost percentage (.750), posted a pair of victories in the World Series and was the recipient of the Hickock Belt as the professional athlete of the year.

The 214-pounder slipped to 8-11 in 1959, a year the Yankees didn't win the pennant. But he was 9-3 in 1960 and picked up a win over the Pirates in the World Series.

Last season, Bob was on the disabled list for most of the campaign after giving it his all in spite of constant arm pains. He submitted to surgery after the Series and spent the Winter getting back into shape.

Now a resident of Lutherville, Maryland, Turley is ready to prove that he can once again be one of the team's mound mainstays. He needs only six more wins to reach the century mark.

If his arm is okay, the Yankees will have one of the best mound staffs in baseball, for Bob Turley has the heart and is a big leaguer all the way."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

"This has been a difficult year for Yankee Player Representative Bob Turley. Recuperating from surgery on his pitching elbow, Bob was used sparingly this year.

In 1958, Bullet Bob won 21 games, plus two more in the World Series, and was named winner of the coveted Cy Young Award and the Hickok Professional Athlete of the Year Award."

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

1962 Profile: Rollie Sheldon

"There were many outstanding stories on the 1961 New York Yankees. One of these certainly was the rapid rise of rookie Roland Sheldon to regular rotation on the Yankee pitching staff. Rollie came to camp a year ago after having pitched just 150 innings of Class D ball. True, he had a 15-1 record that excited manager Ralph Houk's curiosity. Ralph liked what he saw, gave Rollie further opportunities, and the 'Connecticut Yankee' made the most of them.

A veteran of two and a half years of military service, Rollie was signed off the University of Connecticut campus where he was a baseball and basketball star. In the off-season he still attends Connecticut.

Sheldon, a recent bridegroom, walked only 55 men in the 163 innings he pitched last year. In mid-season when arm miseries affected several members of the staff, Rollie filled the breach with consecutive shutouts. He slumped a bit after that but came back strong in September. Despite his sharp control, Sheldon is still working on improving this department of his work ... not just on the fastball, but also on his other pitches.

An 11-game winner as a rookie was highly acceptable. But Rollie Sheldon aims for an even better sophomore year ... and he doesn't care if he starts and/or relieves."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Roland Frank Sheldon (P)     #45

Born December 17, 1936, in Putnam, Connecticut, resides in Woodstock, Connecticut. Height: 6-4, weight: 192. Bats right, throws right.

Married.

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Winner of James P. Dawson Award as outstanding Yankee rookie in spring training, 1961.

Attends University of Connecticut.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Rollie Sheldon was signed by the Yankees in 1960 and assigned to Auburn of the New York-Pennsylvania League. The 6'4" righty posted a fantastic 15-1 mark in Class D competition along with a splendid 2.88 earned run average and earned a trip to the Bombers' rookie camp last Spring.

Sheldon, who came to the Yanks from the University of Connecticut, impressed Ralph Houk and pitching coach Johnny Sain and was invited to remain on with the varsity. When the first cuts were announced, Sheldon was still with New York.

The 24-year-old bonus baby survived the spring training camp and was promoted to the varsity prior to Opening Day.

Manager Houk used Sheldon in spots, gradually working him into the regular rotation. In his rookie year, and after less than a year in the minors, Roland Sheldon earned his spurs. He worked a total of 163 innings for the World Champs and ended the campaign with an 11-5 record. His ERA was a very respectable 3.59.

Sheldon, who was signed for a reported $50,000 bonus by New York, posted three victories over Boston and Minnesota in his freshman year, added a pair against Cleveland, and took one verdict each from Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles. Only the White Sox were able to beat him twice in his initial campaign as a big leaguer.

Roland, who makes his home in Woodstock, Conn., attends the University of Connecticut during the off-season. He played basketball with the UConn frosh before signing with the Bombers.

Roland left the bachelor ranks this past winter.

This Spring Sheldon was invited South early, not for a look-see, but to develop another pitch. The Yankees feel that the tall youngster will be even more effective this season, and for many more years to come.

Certainly, Roland Sheldon was the surprise of the 1961 campaign."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

"That Connecticut Yankee made the great jump from Class D to the majors last year as a winner, but Rollie Sheldon found the second year a bit more difficult than his fine 11-5 freshman season of 1961. The tall right-hander has been in and out this year, with flashes of his 1961 form that made him a contender for Rookie of the Year honors."

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

1962 Profile: Bud Daley

"It took some time for Bud Daley to adjust to pitching for a pennant contender. The crafty 28-year-old left-hander had been a 16-game winner for Kansas City in 1959 and 1960. He was the workhorse of the staff for two years. But in 1961, Bud was off to a so-so start.

When the Yankees were looking for pitching insurance, the New Yorkers coveted Daley. It was an appropriate time to obtain the balding Californian, and Art Ditmar and Deron Johnson were traded to obtain the southpaw. It was a new experience for Bud and he had some trouble adjusting to the daily pressure that exerts itself on players working for a top contender. But, after a few turns in the bullpen, Daley came fast toward the end of the season.

When the  Yanks faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, Buddy Leo Daley was ready. He got in the fifth and deciding game at Cincinnati. He relieved Ralph Terry in the third inning and pitched the rest of the way to gain the big win over the National League champs.

The knuckleball specialist has a good assortment of pitches and his strikeout record has averaged better than 120 a year in the last three seasons. The Yankees are counting on him for some important victories in 1962 and the years ahead."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Leavitt Leo Daley (P)     #28

Born October 7, 1932, in Orange, California, where he resides. Height: 6-1, weight: 187. Bats left, throws left.

Married and father of two boys, Eddie (9) and Jeff (3), and two girls, Debbie (7) and Laurie (5).

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

"The Yankees finally captured Bud Daley last summer after having pursued the stouthearted southpaw for two seasons. While his 1961 record was far from being impressive, Daley pitched some fine ball for the champs and should be ready to take his place in the starting rotation this semester.

Bud broke into Organized Ball in 1951 with Bakersfield of the California State League and had a 9-10 record. Advancing to the Three-Eye loop in 1952, he racked up a 14-9 mark with Cedar Rapids.

The 29-year-old native of Orange, California, was 7-1 at Reading (Eastern League) when the Cleveland Indians, who owned him, moved him to Triple A company with Indianapolis in 1954. The Tribe optioned him to Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League in 1954 and again in '55, and Daley produced records of 13-9 and 18-16 with the Solons.

In late '55 he got the call to join the Ohioans. The 6'1" southpaw dropped his first major league verdict but posted a win in 1956 before being farmed out to Indianapolis once again. His record there was a brilliant 11-1.

Daley, who has a crippled right arm, divided 1957 between Cleveland and San Diego of the PCL. With the Indians, he was 2-8, with the Padres, 3-0.

Cleveland dealt him to Baltimore during the off-season, and the Orioles passed him on to Kansas City for pitcher Arnold Portocarrero.

During the 1958 campaign, Bud was 3-2 with the A's, and with Buffalo of the International League was 4-6. Daley won 16 games in each of the next two summers in Kansas City. His name crept into the rumored trades repeatedly, until New York finally managed to close the deal for him.

K.C. received veteran hurler Art Ditmar and outfielder Deron Johnson from the Bombers for the 185-pound moundsman.

Bud's record for the '61 campaign was 12-17. Two of the defeats came at the hands of the Yankees. On the credit side of the ledger, three of Daley's victories were against the Baltimore Orioles.

And he relieved Whitey Ford and hurled shutout ball in an all-important night game against Detroit late in the season. Many experts, in fact, call this game the turning point of the 1961 pennant race, as the Yankees won 1-0 and went on to sweep the Bengals.

Daley has the desire, plus an assortment of baffling stuff - including a knuckler - to be a winner. He's also a fairly good batsman and fields his position well.

Bud has had a taste of victory - the 1961 Series - and he likes it. You can bet he'll be giving it his all this season."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

DALEY YANKS' NEW MAN OF THE HOUR AS RALLY SNUFFER

Bud Yielded Only One Single Run in 33-Inning Stretch

"Only a few weeks ago, Bud Daley's status as a productive Yankee was what you might call a bit on the iffy side. The left-hander was almost completely the forgotten man of Ralph Houk's pitching staff.

Oh, he'd get a turn here and there. But there was neither rhyme nor reason for the schedule of Daley's employment. He worked manfully, if not with great distinction, on a hit-or-miss basis and there were whispers among certain of the pitchers' brotherhood that Buddy Leo Daley's days as a front-line pitcher were numbered.

That's the way it used to be because nobody is making any clucking noises about poor old Buddy these days. Not since Daley found a new home in the bullpen, that is. Ask any Yankee pitcher who the hottest member of the firm is nowadays and chances are he'll point in the direction of the fellow with the Yul Brynner pate. The reasons for Daley's new lease may be found in the comforting statistics alongside his name. Going into the doubleheader with the Orioles on August 8, Daley had allowed one run in his last 33 1/3 innings, all of which was logged in relief chores.

In his last five appearances, the veteran left-hander has not allowed a run and [allowed] only seven hits in 12 1/3 innings. All this testimony was enough to convince Houk that Daley's future was set in the bullpen. The Yankee manager said, 'Until further notice, Daley's going to work out of the bullpen.'

Wide Range of Pitches

"This rather sudden spurt by the left-hander as a relief specialist needs some explaining. Here is no typical bullpen performer. Daley doesn't fog his hard stuff by the hitters a la Marshall Bridges. Neither does he get them out the one-pitch way, as does Luis Arroyo with his screwball.

Daley's repertoire features 'a little bit of everything,' as he puts it.

'On any given day, my 'out' pitch may vary,' he said.

No matter what Daley's pitch of the day may be, one look at the left-hander on the mound is enough to inspire extreme confidence in the breast of any hitter foolish enough to let his ambition govern his common sense. Watching Daley from close view, you get the impression he'd be a soft touch. He is far from overpowering- on any of his pitches, and he has several.

The screwball and the knuckleball, for instance. The big curve, the little curve, the slider and changes of speed on everything.

Three Types of Curves

Daley describes his assortment as being something like Stu Miller's.

'You know,' he said, 'a little bit of this, a little bit of that, then bust through there with a fastball now and then. I guess you'd call it mostly junk, but I feel I can throw three different types of curves. I can come straight overhand, three-quarters and then sidearm.'

Daley's spectacular success lately as a relief pitcher is, according to Houk, 'one of the very good reasons the Yankees have been doing so well.'

The relief pitching has been excellent. Without it, the Yankees would be floundering around in the league standings a lot lower than first place.

After 106 games, for instance, Yankee pitchers had completed only 20 games. Of the 86 in which more than one pitcher was required to do the job, Bridges alone had saved ten in addition to posting four victories against no losses.

Houk makes no secret of the fact his pitching will be the important factor in the drive to another pennant.

'Unless we fall apart completely on the mound, we should do all right,' he said."

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

MRS. DALEY HILL STAR, TOO - FOR COAST MOTHER'S TEAM

"Every now and then, the Bud Daleys contribute an interesting twist on the togetherness theme. Just a couple of weeks ago, for example, Mr. Bud Daley of the Yankees was the winning pitcher against the Chicago White Sox. About the time papa was logging his triumph in Yankee Stadium, mama- Bud's pretty wife, Dorothy- was the winning pitcher in a softball game out in Long Beach, California.

Mrs. Daley's primary job concerns itself with running the Daley menage, and that includes tending to the wants and needs of Eddie, 9; Debbie, 7; Laurie, 5, and Jeff, 3. Now and then, though, she performs on the mound for a team made up of mothers, just like herself ... Mothers of Little Leaguers, that is."

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

"Winner of the fifth and final game of the Series with Cincinnati a year ago, Yankees southpaw Bud Daley has served ably this year, primarily as a bullpen operative. A June trading acquisition in 1961, Bud has pitched well in both spot starting and long and short relief jobs with New York.

Bud is a native Californian."

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

1962 Profile: Jim Coates

"Jack of all pitching trades at Yankee Stadium is Jim Coates, the tall man who can start, serve as a middle reliever and come in in the later innings. Born in Farnham, Virginia, fastballs and curves are his main pitches and he's rather difficult to get to once he gets past the early innings. His 11-5 in '61 gives him 30-9 record over three seasons for a high percentage of .769."

-Don Schiffer, The 1962 Major League Baseball Handbook

"With apparently greater depth on this year's Yankee pitching staff, Jim Coates may become a regular in the starting rotation. The 6'4" Virginian has been a combination starter-long and short relief man. In three full seasons as a  Yankee, the hard-throwing right-hander has won a total of 30 games, lost only nine. This is a .769 winning percentage, higher even than Whitey Ford's lifetime mark.

While Jim still relies on his high,  hard one- the fast ball- as his 'bread and butter' pitch, he has developed a much better breaking ball and has learned more about the art of pitching. He came to training camp early this spring, along with the rookies and prospects. 'I asked Ralph Houk to let me come down early,' said Jim, 'for I find that I can work myself into better shape if I do it gradually.' The Yankee hitters who faced him in batting practice this spring thought Coates was way ahead of his normal pace.

Coates may not win many popularity contests in rival American League dugouts. It's not that he isn't a pleasant fellow. But Jim is a fiery competitor and he's in there to get the other fellow out at all costs. Throwing hard is his business. That he is succeeding at it becomes apparent when you glance at his record. Manager Houk will settle for that kind of desire and he knows that Jim Coates will be giving the Yankees his best, whether it's as a starter or as long or short relief man."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

James Alton Coates (P)     #39

Born August 4, 1932 in Farnham, Virginia, resides in Warsaw, Va. Height: 6-4, weight: 180. Bats right, throws right. 

Married and father of one boy, Jimmy, Jr. (3 1/2), and one girl, Jane Leigh (2 1/2).

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Won his first nine decisions of 1960.

Lifetime winning percentage of .769 tops among Yankee pitchers with more than 10 decisions.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Big Jim Coates has a brilliant won and lost record since becoming a Yankee three years ago. During this span, he has posted 30 victories and has tasted defeat only nine times. The 30-year-old hurler, however, is just nearing his peak.

Last Fall, when Whitey Ford had to retire in the fourth game of the World Series, it was Coates who got the call from the bullpen. The lanky Virginian came through with shutout ball to preserve the victory for the Bombers and keep Ford's streak of scoreless innings intact.

A sore arm almost ended Jim's career before he made the majors. He was out virtually the entire 1958 campaign (appearing in only eight games and working 29 innings), his last as a minor leaguer. Fortunately for both Coates and the Yankees, his pitching arm came around the following season and the rest is history.

The Yanks signed him in 1952 and sent him to Olean. He was 13-15 in his first season in Organized Ball but impressed the New York front office with his 223 strikeouts in 226 innings on the mound. In '53 he was 12-13 with Joplin and in '54 Coates' record was 9-6 with Norfolk, after a brief Class A whirl at Binghamton.

Jim picked up steam in 1955, toiling for Binghamton and the Southern Association's Birmingham Barons; and in 1956, after a rather dismal 6-12 year at Richmond, the Yankees called him up for a cup of coffee.

Coates was back with the International League Virginians in 1957. He had a fine year, winning 14 of 25 decisions and posting a 2.63 earned run mark.

Then came the sore arm. But everything worked out for the best and, in 1959, it was back to the Bronx. In his first season as a Yankee, Coates' record was 6-1 and he permitted only 32 earned runs in 100 innings for a 2.88 ERA."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook

"The 1962 season has not been the best in Jim Coates' Yankee career. But the lanky right-hander has served in the dual role of spot starter and long relief man for Manager Ralph Houk and has been a valuable pitcher. Lifetime, the Virginian has a 37-15 won-lost record. He was unscored on in last year's Series."

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

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

STAFFORD'S ALWAYS REAL COOL

Poise Keys Yankee Hurler's Success

"'I never get excited,' says Bill Stafford. 'I really don't know why.'

The Yankees' young right-hander is apologetic and mystified by his ability to stay cool during hot ball games. Stafford has an air-conditioned mind, a businesslike manner and an ability to control his emotions on the mound.

In fact, the last time he got flustered was in 1956 when he was faced with the problem of deciding which of 15 big league clubs he ought to sign with. 'I was graduating from high school in Athens, New York,' he says. 'It was a lot of pressure, going in the box and knowing that 15 scouts were watching me. I knew if I didn't go good on that particular day they wouldn't come around anymore. But once I signed a contract, I knew I could have a bad day, as all kids do, and it wouldn't  hurt much.'

Athens (population 1,800) is a town on the upper reaches of the Hudson River south of Albany, south of Coxsackie, where Bill went to high school. It was there that he staked some mound performances that set both communities afire and brought baseball men from all parts of the country. 'I was playing shortstop for Coxsackie in 1954, my freshman year,' he explains. 'Our pitcher got hurt in the third inning and the coach sent me into the box.' With typical modesty, he adds: 'I struck out the next 15 men I faced. After that I was a pitcher. Four days later I pitched the biggest game of my high school career.

'Coxsackie and Ravena-Clemons were big rivals. I started that day and had to pitch 17 innings. No one scored until the fifteenth when we broke through with one run but they tied us up in the bottom of the fifteenth. We finally won, 2-1, in the seventeenth. I was fortunate enough that day to walk only four and strike out 31.'

Striking out 31 batters must be some kind of record; the cool Mr. Stafford really doesn't know. 'I got a lot of publicity at that time and the scouts started coming around,' he says. 'I  had a curve ball then but I didn't throw many. But I knew a lot about pitching, thanks to my father.'

Bill Stafford, Sr., was Bill, Jr.'s hero since his toddling days. 'He was a pretty good semipro pitcher who believed that practice makes perfect. When I was old enough to play baseball he ripped up the lawn and installed a pitcher's mound. He hung up a canvas with different-sized holes and made me work on my control. I kept pitching to those holes until I could put the ball through each of them. Control was my biggest asset as a high school pitcher and it's been my chief weapon as a big leaguer. As soon as I got my starting job in school I was out there throwing every day. There's nothing like knowing where the plate is if you want to succeed as a pitcher.

'My father was one of those semipros who would have been a major leaguer if they'd had adequate scouting systems in his day. Every little thing he has taught me has been valuable to me. He didn't urge me to become a ball player. He told me to make up my own mind. Well, if you know how to do a thing right you like to do it. Maybe this accounts for the way I act when I go in the box.'

Immediately after winning that 17-inning game scouts began to ring the Stafford doorbell. 'From then on they followed me through  my every high school game. I worked out with the Dodgers during the summer when I was only 15  years old. Al Campanis looked my over and tried to induce me to agree that I'd sign with him when I graduated. The next two years I worked out with the Yankees. The rest of the clubs went after me during my senior year. That season I pitched two no-hitters and didn't give up a single earned run in any game.'

All of which gave young Bill the only serious problem he has ever faced. 'I had 15 offers the day I graduated,' he says. 'At that time there was a rule which said that if you received a bonus over $4,000 you had to stay on the big league club. My father and I looked over the contracts. None offered me more than $4,000. I decided to play with the Yankees, though other scouts warned me it would be harder to make the Yankees because they were always up at the top and had top-notch players ahead of a rookie like me. I decided that if I was going to make it I'd rather make it with the best club in baseball, the Yanks.'

Bill banked the $4,000 Yankee scout Tom Kane paid him and reported to Richmond in September 1956, sitting on the bench until the season opened. 'The next season I went to D Ball in St. Petersburg,' he says. 'I was fortunate to get off to a real good start. In my first game, against the Palatka Reds, I pitched a 2-hit shutout. My record for the year at St. Pete was five wins and three losses for a 0.88 earned run average.'

All of this is said with little emphasis. Bill took for granted that if you know how to pitch you ought to pitch well. For example, he again thinks he was 'fortunate' to have led the Eastern League in 1958 with a 2.25 ERA, 11 victories and seven defeats. The fact is that he averaged approximately two strikeouts to one base on ball, the mark of a contol pitcher. He was ahead of most batters; he could work them into holes, compelling them to swing at his best pitches. And, even in crises, he kept cool.

'1959 was my worst year in professional baseball,' he says. 'I was sent up to Triple-A ball in Richmond and didn't win a game until mid-August- it was the only game I won all year. It was rather discouraging to look at my 1-8 record and 6.17 earned run average. It was hard to say what my trouble was. I just seem to be able to do anything right. I was facing good hitters and when I made mistakes I got hurt. I was throwing too many good pitches when I got ahead of hitters, trying to protect the plate. And there were too many veteran pitchers ahead of me on the staff. I didn't start often enough, with the result that me control was off, and when my control is off I'm likely to be hit hard. In my first game of the season I got beaten, 2-0, and didn't get another chance to start for 35 days. It wasn't manager Steve Souchock's fault- he wanted to win games with seasoned AAA pitchers, and I was just a kid coming up.'

He was a 'little let down' over his poor season, but not enough to let it affect him emotionally. That year's scouting reports invariably tagged him as a sure prospect for the Big Team. He was off to a poor start in 1960, 'but I soon got going and by August had won 11 games with a 2.06 earned run average. The Yanks brought me up to the Stadium.'

The Yankees were in dire difficulties the day Bill reported. They were in third place behind Baltimore and Chicago. Chief scout Bill Skiff was haunting International League ball parks. He had 'discovered' Luis Arroyo in Jersey City and recommended that Stafford be tried out. The two new Yanks added strength to the wobbly box staff at once.

Bill unpacked his bags that first day and was assigned to the 'rookie locker,' a cubicle at the right of the clubhouse door. Newspapermen were immediately impressed by the cool, professional way he handled himself. They had to pry out of him the back story that he'd tossed five shutouts and two 3-hitters for Richmond. They said his poise was remarkable for a kid just 22 years of age.

Bill's first big league start was in Boston a few days later. 'It was a big day for me,' he says. 'I faced the greatest hitter in the game, Ted Williams. I made him roll out to the infield three times. We were trailing, 2-1, in the seventh inning when I was relieved, but we won, 3-2, in the tenth. I was very fortunate that day.'

He was again what he calls 'fortunate' in his first Stadium start. 'Ray Herbert pitched for Kansas City and he held us to five hits but I held the A's to four and won, 1-0, for my first big league shutout.' Bill won three and lost one by the season's end.

Less than two months after he reported Bill appeared in a World Series game. Veteran Yankees may have been annoyed by butterflies in their bellies, but not the kid from Athens. And baseball writers may have so busy that they overlooked Bill's contribution to the Yankees' vain effort to conquer the Pirates. 'I was supposed to start the fifth game,' he recalls. 'However, Art Ditmar got the assignment at the last minute. He was knocked out early and after Arroyo stopped the Pirates' rally I went in. I pitched five innings and gave up three singles and no runs. And I was in that wild last game- they got one run and one hit off me in one inning.' Series statistics show Bill led the Yankee staff with a 1.90 earned run average.

Thirty-six hours after the defeated  Yankees sadly trooped off Forbes Field, Bill was in the Army. At Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Lee, Virginia, he planned his return to baseball. 'I knew I'd have to miss the first six weeks of spring training. I remembered by father's advice to work hard. I spent every spare running and throwing, indoors and out. Running outdoors was impossible on snowy and sleety days and tough on the leg muscles because the ground was hard with frost. And indoor workouts weren't much better. I may have thougtht I was in shape when I reported at St. Petersburg late in March, but I wasn't.

'I did a further injustice to myself and the team by overworking myself after I reported. Ralph Houk eased me into a few games in relief after the season opened. By May I'd lost two games and won none and had something a 5.00 earned run average. I think that if I'd had any other manager than Ralph I'd have been sent back to the minors. He called me into his office and told me not to worry, that I'd stay on the staff all season. He sort of read my mind and took the worries off it. I'm thankful to him for the real good year I had in 1961.'

On June 1 Houk announced at clubhouse meeting that Bill would henceforth work in four-day rotation. Four days later he held the White Sox to seven hits, winning 4-3. Four days more and he eased to a 6-1 victory over the A's. 'But I still suffered from lack of slow rounding into shape in camp. My arm began to feel tender and I had to miss several starts. That's why I asked Ralph to let me report this spring on February 5. A pitcher's arm must be nursed into shape. Tension must be worked out of the muscles. The extra training I did last February has done me a lot of good. My arm feels better right now than ever in my career. It's strong and loose.'

Bill's arm was strong and loose on July 6 last year when he twirled a 4-0 2-hitter against the Indians at the Stadium. Willie Kirkland doubled in the second and Mike de la Hoz singled in the ninth- that's all, brother! From August 1 to the end of the season he was the Yankees No. 3 starter behind Whitey Ford and Ralph Terry, pouring it on in the great stretch drive after doing his bit to stop the Detroit Tigers in the super-duper early September series at the Stadium.

Bill held the fort in the fourth Series game with the Cincinnati Reds. He was trailing, 2-1, and still strong when Manager Houk removed him in the seventh in a rare switch for Ralph, who believes in leaving in men in the box until they obviously need relief. With a man on base and left-handed Vada Pinson up, Ralph removed Bill for southpaw Bud Daley. The Yanks won, 3-2, on homers by Johnny Blanchard and Roger Maris.

'Yes, it was a big game,' says Bill. 'But not the biggest for me. The biggest games were ones I wasn't in, the game that won the pennant and the game that won the world's championship.' Which is about par for modesty for a 23-year-old who won 14 games in his first full season.

Bill uses a good fast ball and fast curve with speed variations, a change-up and a slider. 'A lot of people have helped me develop my stuff, my father first, then the minor league managers and coaches who worked with me. I've been lucky and so have the Yanks to have a coaching staff like the one that's guiding the team now. I had a flat slider in the minors, but Johnny Sain showed me how to get a sharper break on it and that's been a big help to me. My slider now goes down and out.

'I don't keep book on hitters. I find it better to rely on my head. And here's another thing that's helped me greatly- the receiving by Ellie Howard. Ellie is the best catcher I've seen in the majors. He's more than just a receiver to me. He studies the hitters just as much as I do, and knows a lot more about them than me. He makes pitching easy. If I'm pitching a batter outside and getting him out regularly, the guys likely to shift his feet on me. It's pretty hard to see such things from the mound. Ellie sees them. If a catcher isn't alert in noticing changes of stance and spreads of feet like Ellie is, the pitcher can get into an awful lot of trouble. When a hitter steps back for an inside pitch, Ellie calls 'em outside. He's won a lot of games for me by just helping me think.

'We think along the same lines which is why he likes to catch me and I like to pitch to him. We have a theory that nothing can go wrong if we agree. Sometimes I'll shake him off, sometimes he'll overrule me. We work as a two-man team in a wonderful relationship.

'I pitch the same way to everyone. I mean, every man who's got a bat in his hands is dangerous and you can't afford to ease up at any time. Just because a batter's hitting .360, as Norman Cash did last year, doesn't faze me. I'm not going to walk him. I not going to try to get him out with the best stuff I have. If a pitcher hasn't enough confidence to keep cool against the best hitter in the league, he doesn't belong on the staff. Otherwise the battle's lost before it really begins. All hitters are tough until I get 'em out. They can be got out by outthinking them.'

In every respect Bill Stafford is a model pro. Like Cletis Boyer, his roommate on the road, he is young, ambitious and determined to overlook nothing that will help him become a star. He has no outside interests, plays golf occasionally and bowls. If he's fortunate enough to rise into the high-income brackets, he hopes he'll go into the ball player's favorite sideline, operating bowling alleys.

'Clete and I are real pals,' he says. 'We enjoy being together. I married Janice Maher, who went to high school with me, two years ago. We rent a house in Yonkers, just over the New York City line. If things break right, we'll buy a house near New York and settle down. Janice is a registered nurse. She's planning to go back to it this year. In the meantime, baseball is plenty for me.'

The wise men who preside over the world's champion Yanks have no doubt that things will break right for Bill. Their unanimous opinion is that he is destined to become one of the American League's leading hurlers during the next decade, with more than one 20-win season under his belt.

'A cool cucumber with a good head,' is their estimate of the young Athenian- that is, if cucumbers have heads.

Bill Stafford has ... "

-Charles Dexter, Baseball Digest, June 1962

"Bill Stafford at the age of 24 is a member of the Yankees' 'Big Three' pitching rotation. The Athens, New York, right-hander has had a winning record since coming up to the Bombers late in 1960 and his lifetime ERA is well under 3.00.

He has no Series decisions, but does have an imposing 2.25 ERA in the fall classic."

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

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

"At the age of 26, Ralph Terry already is a veteran of six and a half seasons in the majors. This year he became a 20-game winner for the first time, after his brilliant 16-3 season in 1961. Ralph pitched the most innings in the league and had a chance to top both leagues.

His victory total was the biggest by any Yankee right-hander since George Pipgras with 24 and Waite Hoyt with 23 in 1928.

With all of this success for Ralph, the elongated Kansas is seeking his first World Series victory for the Yankees this fall."

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