October 16, 1962, 60 years ago: Game 7 of the World Series at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Oddly, the Yankees' 1956 World Series hero, Don Larsen, is available to pitch against them, for the San Francisco Giants.
Tony Kubek, who missed much of the season due to military service, grounds into a double play in the 5th inning, but a run scores on the play. The score remains Yankees 1, Giants 0 in the bottom of the 9th. With 2 outs and Matty Alou on 1st‚ Willie Mays rips a double to right off Ralph Terry‚ but great fielding by Roger Maris keeps Alou from scoring.
The Yankees now have a choice to make: Have the righthanded Terry, who gave up Bill Mazeroski's Series-winning homer in Game 7 in 1960, pitch to the next batter, the dangerous lefthander Willie McCovey; or walk him to load the bases, and set up the Series-clinching out at any base, and pitch to the equally dangerous but righthanded Orlando Cepeda. (Keep in mind, Mazeroski was righthanded.)
Between them, they would hit 900 home runs in the major leagues: McCovey 521, Cepeda 379. Nobody knows that yet, but everybody knows that both were already All-Stars, and that both had been Rookie of the Year: Cepeda in 1958, McCovey in '59. It's like choosing between the guillotine and the hangman's noose.
Oddly, despite all the talk about whether to pitch to McCovey or Cepeda, removing Terry for a relief pitcher, possibly a lefthander to pitch to the lefthanded McCovey, seems never to have been discussed.
They decide to pitch to McCovey. "Stretch" hits a screaming liner toward right field‚ but 2nd baseman Bobby Richardson takes one step to his left and snares it. Ballgame over, Yankees win, theeeeeeee Yankees win. Barely. It is the 1st World Series Game 7 that ends 1-0. There has since been only one more, in 1991, and that one went 10 innings.
It is the Yankees' 20th World Championship, their 2nd in a row. Terry, who had also won 23 regular season games, Game 5 of the Series, and soon the Cy Young Award, is awarded the Series MVP award. He is fully redeemed for having given up the Mazeroski homer.
The Yankees now have a choice to make: Have the righthanded Terry, who gave up Bill Mazeroski's Series-winning homer in Game 7 in 1960, pitch to the next batter, the dangerous lefthander Willie McCovey; or walk him to load the bases, and set up the Series-clinching out at any base, and pitch to the equally dangerous but righthanded Orlando Cepeda. (Keep in mind, Mazeroski was righthanded.)
Between them, they would hit 900 home runs in the major leagues: McCovey 521, Cepeda 379. Nobody knows that yet, but everybody knows that both were already All-Stars, and that both had been Rookie of the Year: Cepeda in 1958, McCovey in '59. It's like choosing between the guillotine and the hangman's noose.
Oddly, despite all the talk about whether to pitch to McCovey or Cepeda, removing Terry for a relief pitcher, possibly a lefthander to pitch to the lefthanded McCovey, seems never to have been discussed.
They decide to pitch to McCovey. "Stretch" hits a screaming liner toward right field‚ but 2nd baseman Bobby Richardson takes one step to his left and snares it. Ballgame over, Yankees win, theeeeeeee Yankees win. Barely. It is the 1st World Series Game 7 that ends 1-0. There has since been only one more, in 1991, and that one went 10 innings.
It is the Yankees' 20th World Championship, their 2nd in a row. Terry, who had also won 23 regular season games, Game 5 of the Series, and soon the Cy Young Award, is awarded the Series MVP award. He is fully redeemed for having given up the Mazeroski homer.
However, the Yankees will not win another World Series for 15 years. The Giants? They would have to wait another 27 years just to get into another Series, and won't win one until 2010.
Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, a Giants fan living in nearby Santa Rosa, soon draws a cartoon having Charlie Brown yell to the heavens, "Why couldn't McCovey's drive have been just three feet higher?" McCovey did his job, and the Giants took the Series to the last out of the last game. They just got beat by a team that was a little bit better.
Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, a Giants fan living in nearby Santa Rosa, soon draws a cartoon having Charlie Brown yell to the heavens, "Why couldn't McCovey's drive have been just three feet higher?" McCovey did his job, and the Giants took the Series to the last out of the last game. They just got beat by a team that was a little bit better.
Still alive from the 1962 World Champion Yankees, 60 years ago, are 8 players: Richardson, Kubek, Bud Daley, and Hector Lopez; plus Joe Pepitone, Rollie Sheldon, Jack Reed and Jake Gibbs, who never got into any of the Series games. Surviving from the Giants are 6 players: Cepeda, Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Felipe Alou, Gaylord Perry and Bobby Bolin.
2 comments:
A small correction, Terry didn't win the Cy Young that season due to the award being for ML rather than having one for AL and one for NL which wouldn't be a thing until few years later in 1967. In 1962 it was won by Drysdale though had there been one for the AL, Terry definitely would have won.
You're right, and I just remembered that I've made that mistake before.
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