The world changed in the sixties. The New York Yankees entered the decade and promptly rattled off five straight pennants. As the country began to splinter, the Yankees collapsed. Meanwhile, pitching came to the forefront of the national pastime. In 1968, pitchers enjoyed perhaps their best year of the century. Pitching proved so dominant that baseball changed to help hitters. By 1969, New York was on top again. However, it was not the Yankees, but the loveable loser Mets. The following are the top 10 moments of the crazy decade of the sixties.
Bill Mazeroski (1960):
The Yankees defeated the Pirates 38-3 in their three World Series victories in 1960. The Pirates won their four games by seven runs. In Game 7, the two teams entered the bottom of the ninth inning tied at nine. Bill Mazeroski led off the Pirate half of the inning with the only walk off Game 7 homer in World Series history.
Maris hits 61 (October 1, 1961):
Throughout the summer of 1961, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris engaged in a dramatic chase. Each man challenged Babe Ruth’s unbeatable home run mark. New Yorkers hoped for their matinee idol, Mantle. Their hero eventually dropped out of the race due to injury. Commissioner Ford Frick demanded Maris break the record in 154 games. In Ruth’s day, teams did not play 162 leaving Maris with an additional eight games. Maris’ total stood at 59 after 154. He finally hit #61 on the final day of the regular season. The chase took its toll as Maris lost hair and faced unrelenting scrutiny and criticism for not being Mickey Mantle.
McCovey’s liner (October 16, 1962):
In 1960, Ralph Terry surrendered Bill Mazeroski’s walk off homer in Game 7 of the World Series. Two years later, Terry faced down Willie McCovey in Game 7 with a ninth inning 1-0 lead. With two on and two out, McCovey scorched a liner that second baseman Bobby Richardson caught for the final out. Had the ball been a foot either way, the Giants win the World Series and Terry is the goat. Instead, the pitcher won the MVP.
Koufax (1963):
Sandy Koufax emerged as pitcher for the ages in 1963. That season, he pieced it altogether for a 25-5 season. He led the league in wins, ERA (1.88), shutouts (11), strikeouts (306), and WHIP (0.875). The Yankees entered the World Series as two-time defending champions. Koufax defeated the invincible Whitey Ford in Game 1 and then again in the Game 4 clincher.
Mantle’s homer marks the end of the Yankee dynasty (October 10, 1964):
No one realized it at the time, but the Yankees got old overnight. The St. Louis Cardinals led by Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver defeated the Yankees in the 1964 World Series. In Game 3, Mickey Mantle hit a walk off homer to down the Cards 2-1. Despite having a good pitching staff, the Yankees lost the series and went into a tailspin. They did not return to prominence until Reggie Jackson joined the team in 1977.
6-0 (October 8, 1966):
The St. Louis Browns won a solitary pennant before moving to Baltimore. The Orioles did not care about the Browns history. They put together a championship caliber organization that ran for about 20 years. The period began in the Orioles four game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1966 World Series. Nothing represented the changing of the guard more than Jim Palmer’s 4-hit shutout victory over Sandy Koufax. The Orioles scored four off “the Left Arm of God” in a 6-0 whitewash. It was Koufax’s last major league start. He retired with arm problems after the series.
Yaz wins the Triple Crown (1967):
Carl Yastrzemski enjoyed his finest season in 1967. Boston’s left fielder leapt out of Ted Williams’ shadow coming into his own with a Triple Crown season. He led the American League in average (.326), home runs (44), RBI (121), runs (112), hits (189), total bases (360), OBP (.418), slugging (.622), and OPS (1.040). Yaz’s efforts led the Red Sox to a surprise pennant. In the World Series loss to the Cardinals, Yaz hit .400 with 3 homers, 5 RBI, and a 1.340 OPS.
The year of the pitcher (1968):
After expansion in 1961 and 1962, Major League Baseball worried about the offense, expanded the strike zone, and raised the mound. The balance of power shifted to the pitchers for the decade. At the same time, a phenomenal crop of young pitchers emerged. In 1968, it all came together. Only one American Leaguer hit .300 that season, the majors batted .231, and the collective slugging percentage for the AL dropped to .340.
With the sea change in offense, several pitchers dominated the game. Detroit’s Denny McLain won 31 games. Don Drysdale pitched a record 58.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Bob Gibson posted a ridiculous 1.12 ERA. Seven pitchers had ERAs under 2.00. Catfish Hunter tossed a perfect game. The dominance continued into the World Series where Gibson struck out 17 Tigers in Game One and Mickey Lolich won three contests.
The 1968 World Series:
At first, the World Series appeared a mismatch. The Cardinals won championships in 1964 and 1967. In Game One, Bob Gibson made the Tigers look like little boys by striking out 17 batters. Despite Mickey Lolich’s Game Two victory, and his only major league home run, the Cards jumped out to a three-games-to-one series lead.
Game Five turned the series around. The length of Jose Feliciano’s unorthodox rendition of the National Anthem threw Lolich off his rhythm. With the Tiger lefty out of his routine, the Cards jumped out to a 3-run lead. Detroit cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth. In the next inning, Lou Brock stood at second when Julian Javier rapped a single to left. Brock tried to score, but was gunned down by Willie Horton. Detroit rallied for three in the seventh for the win. Denny McLain drubbed the Cards in Game 6 and then Detroit won Game 7 over the mighty Gibson by a score of 4-1. Before the series, Roger Maris warned the Cardinals about Lolich who won three games. Years later, Tim McCarver admitted that the Cards relied way too much on Gibson.
The Amazing Mets (1969):
The Mets joined the Major Leagues in 1962 and promptly lost 120 games. They lost 100 or more games in five of their first seven seasons. However, there was hope in 1967 when Tom Seaver won the Rookie of the Year. Eventually, Seaver emerged as one baseball’s all time great hurlers. In 1969, Seaver helped the Mets overcome a 10 game deficit in the NL East in middle August to win the division by eight games. Seaver won 25 games in 1969 and added two in the postseason. Seaver and the Mets shocked observers by defeating a powerhouse 109-win Oriole squad in a five-game World Series. The team that lost 120 seven years earlier had somehow won the world title.
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