Around the Leagues 1960s
YAZ , Mets. M&M Boys
YAZ
The National League
The 1960s – Vietnam. drugs, sex, rock n roll, hippies and the New York Mets were all featured stories of the sixties. In the National League the San Francisco Giants posted the highest grade in average annual standings. Not totally surprising as these were the days of Mays at his peak with teammates Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and pitcher Juan Marichal. The Cardinals and Dodgers each won three pennants, but both collapsed at the end of the decade. Fortunately for the Cubs, the expansion Mets came along preventing them for being the worse team for two decades in a row. The other expansion franchise, the Houston Astros, opened the first indoor stadium, the Astrodome, in 1965. Old timers – Spahn, Eddie Mathews, Musial, Duke Snider, moved on but a host of newcomers appeared including McCovey, Roberto Clemente, Billy Williams, Willie Stargell and the foundation for building the Big Red Machine – in place. Koufax and Drysdale were joined by Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson. In 1968, Gibson threw 13 shutouts, won 22 games and posted a 1.12 ERA which resulted in the lowering of the pitcher’s mound to the benefit of the batters. Negro League star Buck O’Neil became the first African American coach. Fans of the decade remember the great pitching duels between Koufax and Gibson, Giant’s pitcher Juan Marichal slugging Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro with a bat and the Cardinals Harvey Haddix throwing 12 perfect innings before giving up a run in the thirteenth to lose the game. Having posted a record poor season in 1962, the Lovable NY Mets evolved into the the Amazing Mets of 1969 and won the World Series. By the end of the decade the NL followed the AL in expanding to two divisions. The Montreal Expos became the first team to play outside the country’s borders. Off the field, but very important to the future of the game, Cardinals Curt Flood filed notice to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn in late December 1969 refusing to agree with the proposed trade of Flood to the Phillies. Although the reserve clause was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, this action marked the beginning of the successful fight for player’s right to free agency two decades later.
The American League
On the field the Yankees with Mantle, Maris, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford continued their dominance in the American league for the first half of the decade. However they floundered badly from 1965 - 1969 and ranked 4th for the decade. The Orioles added Frank Robinson in 1966 which propelled them to the number one ranking for the decade. The KC A’s were the worse. The AL added two teams, the California Angels and a new team to replace the A’s, the Kansas City. the Royals.
Two seasons stand out as never will be forgotten. In 1961, a new major league record for total number of home runs in a season was set. That year the nation became entranced with a home run battle between two Yankee outfielders, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, as they challenged Babe Ruth’s 1923 single season record of 60 homeruns. In mid-August, game number 134, both players were on a path to break Ruth’s record. Maris had 53 homers to Mantle’s 48; this compared to Ruth49 at the same mark in 1923. On September 14, Mantle with 53 homeruns conceded the battle because of lingering injuries. Maris charged on. In game 150 he hit number 57, in game 154 number 59. Four games later he hit number 60 and on the last game of the season at Yankee Stadium he broke the single season record hitting his 61st.
The final month of the 1967 American League pennant race was arguably the most exciting finish in the history of baseball. As of September 15th, three teams, the Red Sox (who had finished in last in 1966) Twins and Tigers were tied for the American League pennant with identical records of 84 wins and 64 looses. A fourth team, the White Sox, was only 1 ½ games behind the leaders. On Saturday, September 30th, the last weekend of the season, the Twins had moved one game ahead of the Red Sox and Tigers. The White Sox had fallen two games back and needed a miracle to survive. The Tigers were at a disadvantage as they were ending the season with back to back doubleheaders against the Los Angeles Angels while the Red Sox hosted the Twins for two single games. With key homeruns by Carl Yastrzemski and George Scott, the Sox won game one against the Twin 6-4 while the Tigers split their doubleheader against the Angels. On the last day of the season, this left the Red Sox and Twins tied for first place with the Tigers a half game back. The White Sox had been eliminated and the Tigers would have to sweep their final twin bill to force a playoff with either the Twins or Red Sox. In Boston, the Red Sox scored five runs in the sixth inning and went on to win 5-3. However, the suspense was not over. The Tigers won their first game and would tie for the pennant if they completed the doubleheader sweep. The entire Red Sox nation crowded around their televisions to watch the second and final game of the season. On the mound for the Tigers was the young, hard throwing Denny McLain (20-14). However, Denny did not have it that day and the Angels blasted out an 8-5 win allowing the Red Sox to complete their “Impossible Dream”.
A side note to this story is how Triple Crown winner outfielder Carl Yastrzemski led the Red Sox to their improbable last to first place finish.For the season he batted .326 with 44 homeruns and 126 runs batted in and won the Gold Glove Award. In the final 27 games, he hit .417 with nine home runs, including going 7 for 8 in the final two games.