Alvin Dark's San Francisco Giants won their first pennant on the West Coast in dramatic fashion.

• For the first time, the National League included ten teams with the addition of the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets and played a 162-game schedule. The new club in the Big Apple finished last with one of the worst seasons in baseball history (40-120), but amazingly Houston didn't finish second-to-last as they edged the woeful manager-by-committee Chicago Cubs by six games.
• Entering his second season as SF head man, Dark decided to quit commuting vol­atile Latin slugger Orlando Cepeda between LF and 1B and keep him in the infield against all types of pitching after the Puerto Rican lead the NL in RBI (142) and HR (46) in 1961. Willie McCovey, instead of platooning with Cepeda at 1B, would al­ternate with Harvey Kuenn in LF.
• The Giants started strong and stayed at the top from April 28 through June 7 when the Dodgers, playing in their brand new stadium in Chavez Ravine, passed them by a half game.
• The two California rivals stayed at the top the rest of the season, exchanging first and second place numerous times. On September 17, the Giants found themselves four behind and in the midst of a six-game losing streak that started when Willie Mays collapsed from exhaustion during a game and spent the next four days in the hospital.
  Dark called a team meeting after the sixth consecutive loss and told the team, "Guys, we have a chance to win this." He also announced that he would conduct team practices before every remaining game. Naturally, the players didn't like this one bit, thinking they were being punished. But they would eventually admit that Dark's maneuver paid dividends.
• But SF won seven of their last 11 while the Dodgers, mired in a hitting slump and with Koufax struggling with numbness in his left hand, drop­ped ten of 13, including their last four, all at home (one to Houston and three to the Cardinals) to end in a flatfooted tie at 101-61.
  Felipe Alou recalled the excitement after the 162nd game. Pandemonium exploded in our clubhouse. Player after player went to Alvin Dark and hugged him. He believe in us, and he was right.
• Under Senior Circuit rules, the two teams played a best-of-three which, by coin flip, started with one game at San Francisco followed by two in L.A.
• Sandy Koufax started Game One against another southpaw, Billy Pierce, for the Giants. Sandy had missed two moths of the season (July 17-September 21) with arm miseries - a big reason why the Dodgers didn't run away with the pennant. Koufax started three games after his return, losing all of them and pitching just 7 2/3 innings. But manager Walt Alston asked Sandy to start the first game of the playoff since Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres had pitched the previous two days. However, the Giants jumped on the Dodger lefty for three runs in 1+ innings on their way to an 8-0 romp.
• In the City of Angels the next day, the Dodgers broke their five-game losing streak with an exciting 8-7 victory sparked by seven in the 6th to erase a 5-0 deficit. Ron Fairly's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th drove in SS Maury Wills with the win­ning run.
• The Bums continued their momentum into Game 3. After falling behind 2-0, they scored four straight to take a 4-2 lead into the 9th. Instead of bringing in Ron Per­ranoski, who led the club with 20 saves, Alston sent Ed Roebuck out for his 4th inning of work after he replaced Podres. A single and two walks loaded the bases with one out. With hard-throwing Stan Williams ready in the bullpen, the Dodger skipper let Roebuck face Willie Mays. The result was a single off the pitcher to make it 4-3 and keep the bases loaded. Finally, Alston relieved Roebuck, but with Williams, not Perranoski. Orlando Cepeda hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. After a wild pitch, the Dodgers intentionally passed Ed Bailey to reload the bases. But Williams unintentionally walked Jim Davenport to force in the go-ahead run. Per­ranoski finally entered and threw his sinker to get a ground ball that should have ended the inning. But backup 2B Larry Burright fumbled the ball, and an insurance run crossed the plate. Pierce came in and set the Dodgers down 1-2-3 to put the Giants in the World Series for the first time since 1954.
  
  
  The 1962 playoff bore uncanny similarities to the 1951 Giants-Dodgers playoff when the two teams resided in the Big Apple.

  • In both pennant races, the Dodgers blew a substantial lead in the final weeks.
  • The Giants won the first playoff game, then the Dodgers won the second.
  • The Giants trailed going into the 9th inning of the deciding contest, 4-1 in '51, 4-2 in '62, but scored four in the 9th to win.
  • The Giants rallied for four runs in their last at-bat to win the crown.
  • In both cases, the Dodger manager (Charlie Dressen in '51, Alston in '62) was roundly criticized for the way he handled his pitchers in the final game.

Giants rejoice after winning NL title

The race in the American League, which expanded to ten in '61, produced no fireworks as the Yankees won their third straight pennant and second under Ralph Houk.

• Houk began the season with a solid pitching staff anchored by Whitey Ford, Ralph Terry, and Bill Stafford.
• His biggest problem was replacing SS Tony Kubek, whose military service would not end until August. He settled on "can't miss" rookie Tom Tresh to fill the posi­tion.
• Three other first-year men made the roster: 1B Joe Pepitone, "the brashest young­ster the Yankee veterans had ever seen"; IF Phil Linz, "another fun-loving individ­ual"; and P Jim Bouton, another eccentric but one who kept his mouth shut and worked hard. A fourth newcomer was reliever Marshall Bridges, over from the NL after three seasons with the Cardinals and Reds.
• Houk left Florida with a team he felt had a chance to be better than the '61 jugger­naut that won the AL by 8 games and blitzed the Reds in five games in the Fall Classic.
• With a blend of hitting, pitching, defense, and bench strength, the Yanks started strong. They were 18-11 on May 18 when the injury bug bit. Mickey Mantle, hitting .326, severely tore a thigh muscle while racing down the 1B line and missed a little over a month. Two days later, top reliever Luis Arroyo was placed on the disabled list with an aching arm. The day after that, Ford suffered a muscle strain in his left arm after throwing seven no-hit innings against the Los Angeles Angels. He sat out the next month. Suddenly, the Yankees no longer seemed a shoo-in for the pennant. They played .500 ball (15-15) the next month.
• Houk didn't panic. "When Mickey and Whitey return, we will win." And that's what they did. Ford returned with a three-hitter to start a streak of nine wins in ten starts. Kubek's return for the stretch run sent Tresh to LF in place of Hector Lopez and made the Yanks even stronger.
• The only unhappy Yankee was Roger Maris. Coming off his historic 61 HR year, he was booed unmercifully on the road and at home, thanks in part to his antagonistic relationship with the media. Also, many NY fans resented the fact that Maris broke Babe Ruth's record rather than their beloved Mantle. Still, he started strong, hitting over .300 until Mantle went down. Without the threat of The Mick behind him, Roger saw fewer good pitches. His averaged dropped steadly until the other M Boy returned.
• When the dust settled, the Yankees finished 5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins. The Bronx Bombers led the league in batting average, HRs, and runs (by 72) to go along with a second place finish (by .01 to Baltimore) in ERA and another in runs allowed.
• Despite being voted Flop of the Year by the UPI, Maris led the Yanks with 100 RBI and 33 HRs. Mickey led the club in BA (.321) and ranked third in the AL as he earn­ed his third MVP award. Tresh was voted AL Rookie of the Year.
• Aided by innovative pitching coach Johnny Sain, Ralph Terry, the goat of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, added a darting slider to his repertoire in place of a roll­ing curve. The result was a 16-3 record in '61 and 23-12 with 3.19 ERA in '62. Ford managed 17 victories despite his missed time. 22-year-old Bill Stafford finished 14-9 for the second straight season. And Bridges ably replaced Arroyo in the bull­pen.

L-R: Yankee pitchers Whitey Ford, Ralph Terry, Bill Stafford

San Francisco celebrated the Giants' playoff victory as if they had won the World Series.

• Ticker tape, torn telephone books, and papers were thrown from office buildings in the financial district. Cable cars clanged, automobile horns blared.
• Market Street was jammed until well past midnight. The noise disturbed the Yank­ees in their hotel. Had the Dodgers won, the AL champs would have flown to Los Angeles that night.

Series preview

• After clinching the pennant early and waiting for the NL playoff to finish, Houk could set his rotation as he wished. To no one's surprise, he selected Ford to start Game One, with every indication pointing to Terry the following day.
• With the Series starting the day after Game 3 of the playoff, Alvin Dark didn't have the flexibility his Yankee counterpart enjoyed in picking hurlers. Having expended Billy Pierce (16-6), Jack Sanford (24-7), and Juan Marichal (18-11), in that order, against the Dodgers, the Giants skipper chose lefty Billy O'Dell (19-14) for Game One and postponed any discussion of games beyond that.
• The Yankees worked out for 90 minutes at Candlestick Park, where they had never played. "The infield doesn't look any different than any other," said Houk. "And this wind, I wouldn't think, would be too much of a factor." It must have been a calm day on San Francisco Bay.
• Houk gave this analysis of the Giants. Their club is much like our own. They have good power with men like Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Felipe Alou. And that Harvey Kuenn can hurt you, too. They are capable of having the big inning. We've heard they have good pitching, too."
• Oddsmakers made the Yankees 7-5 favorites to win the first game.
  If the bookies had known how trying the Giants' return to San Francisco turned out to be, they would have made the Yankees even bigger favorites for Game One.
  When the team charter approached San Francisco International Airport, an esti­mated 25,000 people blocked the runway. The throng had mistaken an earlier arrival for their heroes' flight and stormed the landing area. Now they refused to be dispersed.
  After circling a few times, the plane finally received clearance to land at an old United Air Lines maintenance base. Instead of boarding the bus that was availa­ble, some players hitchhiked into the city. The bus was surrounded by fans as it attempted to leave the airport. Waving signs and banners, they rocked the vehi­cle and shattered windows. "Those folks meant well," said Dark, "but they really shook us up."
  Most of the players didn't get home until after midnight.

 

The teams line up before Game 3 at Yankee Stadium

Series Results

1. Thursday, October 4 @ San Francisco: Yankees 6 Giants 2
   WP: Whitey Ford; LP: Billy O'Dell
2. Friday, October 5 @ San Francisco: Giants 2 Yankees 0
   WP: Jack Sanford; LP: Ralph Terry
   
3. Sunday, October 7 @ New York: Yankees 3 Giants 2
   WP: Bill Stafford; LP: Billy Pierce
4. Monday, October 8 @ New York: Giants 7 Yankees 3
   WP: Don Larsen; LP: Jim Coates
5. Wednesday, October 10 @ New York: Yankees 5 Giants 3
   WP: Terry; LP: Sanford
6. Monday, October 15 @ San Francisco: Giants 5 Yankees 2
   WP: Pierce; LP: Ford

• The fifth game was postponed a day because of rain. Then, with the Yank­ees ahead three games to two, the Series moved back to the West Coast just as Typhoon Frieda pelted the Bay Area to the tune of six inches of rain in four days.
• The Giants hired three helicopters to hover over the Candlestick Park turf to dry it out. Even though the weather cleared, Commissioner Ford Frick moved back Game 6 to give the field another day to dry out. Nevertheless, the turf stayed soggy for Games 6 and 7.
  The lengthy delay cost the Giants' owner quite a bit of money. AP writer Joe Reichler recalled: It rained in San Francisco the next three days, delaying the Series and subjecting the Giants' hospitality room at the Sheraton-Palace Hotel to a horde of restless sportswriters. Giants owner Horace Stoneham, who had obviously not anticipated such a crowd at his little reservoir of free booze, now learned to his dismay that there is nothing as unquenchably thirsty as a baseball writer with no baseball to write about. Hundreds of writers huddled day and night around the Palace spa, drowning their self-pity at Stoneham's expense.
• Game 6 was finally played five days after Game 5. Billy Pierce outpitch­ed Whitey Ford to end Whitey's five game Series winning streak and force a seventh game. It was the third time San Francisco evened the Series.

Game 7: Tuesday, October 16 @ San Francisco

Although both teams led their leagues in runs, the pitchers had prevailed in the Series, spiking each team's heavy artillery.

• Some Yankee averages after six games:
  Bobby Richardson: 4-25, .160, 0 RBI, 0 HR
  Mickey Mantle: 2-22, .091, 0 RBI, 0 HR
  Roger Maris: 4-19, .211, 5 RBI, 1 HR
  Elston Howard: 3-17, .176, 1 RBI, 0 HR
  Bill Skowron: 3-14, .214, 1 RBI, 0 HR
• Giants:
  Willie Mays: 6-24, .250, 1 RBI, 0 HR
  Willie McCovey: 2-11, .182, 1 RBI, 1 HR
  Orlando Cepeda: 3-16, .188 (with all three hits in Game 6), 0 HR, 2 RBI
  Jim Davenport: 3-19, .158, 1 RBI, 0 HR

Game Seven became Terry vs Sanford III.

• The Giants ace, Marichal, was not available because he had broken a finger on his pitching hand while attempting to sacrifice in Game 5.
• Sanford had won the Game 2 duel, 2-0.
• The one-day delay of Game 5 allowed the two righthanders to face off again. This time Ralph prevailed 5-3.
• Terry told a reporter before Game 7, After that Mazeroski home run in 1960, the fact that this team is letting me pitch the seventh game is like a tonic to me.
  The night before Game 7, Yogi Berra, Mantle, Ford, Clete Boyer, and Terry played poker in Mickey's hotel room. Yogi had a reputation as the best poker player on the team, but Terry beat him. Ralph considered that outcome an omen for the next day.
• Dark might have started his ERA leader, 24-year-old Juan Marichal. But the Dominican Dandy had injured the index finger of his throwing hand while fouling off a bunt in Game 4 and was lost for the duration.

The managers took different approaches when filling out their lineup cards.

• Houk went with the same batting order he had employed in the first six games.
• Dark, on the other hand, tailored his lineup to the pitcher. He had stacked his order with righthanded hitters against Ford in Game 6 but would use more lefthanders against Terry. Specifically,
  • Willie McCovey replaced Harvey Kuenn in LF and took over the clean­up spot, with Mays moving up to 3rd.
  • Tom Haller took over from Ed Bailey behind the plate. Both hit from the left side, but Alvin felt Tom did better against southpaws.
    In Game 4, Haller hit the first grand slam by a National Leaguer in World Series history.
  • Felipe Alou jumped from 3rd to leadoff in place of Kuenn.
• Both managers prepared to use any pitcher on their staff if needed, including the Game 6 starters, Ford and Pierce.

43,948, the same number as Game 6, filled Candlestick Park, the vast majority ho­ping the alternating victories pattern of the series would not continue and their Giants would become the first team to win two in a row.

• Fielders would have to contend with a "high sky," sunny with no clouds.
• In addition, a strong breeze blew from LF to RF. The wind was normally quiet at Candlestick Point until 3 PM, but this day it moved in at 10 AM. Left fielders on both sides would play more shallow than usual regardless of the batter. A
• As the players warmed up before the game, they noticed that the grass had been cut in the outfield. It had been too damp to do so the day before. That made for a slightly quicker track but still not as fast as normal.
  Mantle: I had another forgettable Series, hitting .120, and the unhappy Maris, playing himself out of New York, hit .174. Willie Mays struggled, too, batting .250 with no homers and one run batted in. During the final game, I heard a fan yelling at me from the bleachers. He said, "I came out here to see which one of you guys was the better center fielder. But it looks like I have to decide which one is worse." There was a momentary pause and then his foghorn voice echoed: "Hey, Mantle, you win."

• Jack Sanford immediately dug himself a favorite spot on the pitcher's mound even before throwing his warmup pitches.
  SS Tony Kubek, whose .280 average (7-25) led the Yankee starters, tried to bunt the first pitch. He then hit the 2-1 pitch to Mays in CF, who made his usual basket catch.
  2B Bobby Richardson walked on four pitches.
  LF Tom Tresh led all Series batters in hits with eight for a .333 average. Included was a three-run HR to beat Sanford 5-2 in Yankee Stadium in Game 5. Continuing the pattern he started with Kubek, Jack aimed his pitches at the outside corner against the lefthand batters. Tresh popped one of those foul down the LF line.
  The wind kept the ball in play, and Davenport caught it just before crashing into the barrier.
  CF Mickey Mantle hit a high fly to LF that McCovey took in.
  
• RF Felipe Alou (7-22, .318) batted righthanded in contrast to his younger brother and teammate Matty. Felipe fouled out to 1B Moose Skowron, who battled the wind and glare.
  The Alou brothers along with Juan Marichal were the first players from the Dominican Republic to play in the World Series. Felipe considers 1962 to be "the best season I had in the big leagues - a .316 batting average, with 25 home runs and 98 RBI." Manager Dark shuffled him all over the lineup, hitting everywhere except eighth. When asked why he used the older Alou everywhere, Alvin replied, "Felipe is a time bomb in the lineup. He can surprise you anytime, anywhere in the lineup."
  Next came 2B Chuck Hiller (7-22, .318), whose grand slam with his thick-handle bat in Yankee Stadium sparked the Giants' Game 4 victory. With Terry also keeping the ball away from the lefthanded batters, Chuck bounced the 2-2 pitch to Skow­ron.
  A round of applause greet CF Willie Mays (6-24, .250). He hit the first pitch to Tresh in LF.

• RF Roger Maris faked a bunt on the first pitch. He then lined a bullet straight to 3B Jim Davenport, the only fielder to the left of 2B.
  C Elston Howard grounded out 5-3.
  1B Bill Skowron ran the count full before hitting a slow roller to SS Jose Pagan.
  
• LF Willie McCovey hit a HR off Terry in Game 2 in Candlestick Park. Terry followed Sanford's pattern to keeping the ball away from the lefthanders. McCovey fouled out to Howard near the Giants dugout.
  Orlando Cepeda had three hits, all in Game 6, to raise his average to .188. Stand­ing deep in the box, the big 1B stepped into pitches. He got a piece of a 1-2 deli­very, but the ball went straight into Howard's mitt for a strikeout.
  C Tom Haller (4-11, .364) popped to Kubek.
  

3rd inning

• Sanford started the inning strong, then ran into trouble as he had difficulty getting his fastball down.
  3B Cletus Boyer (5-18, .278) hit the first pitch on a line to Alou in RF.
  P Terry whiffed on three pitches for the first K of the ball game.
  Kubek punched a 2-1 fastball on the ground between 3B and SS for the first hit of the game.
  Richardson became the third Yankee to fake a bunt. Fearing a steal attempt with two outs, Sanford threw to 1B. After the next pitch, Haller shot one to Cepeda but too wide to pick off Kubek, who slipped trying to get back to the bag. Richardson eventually walked for the second time.
  With a runner in scoring position for the first time, Tresh grounded the 3-2 pitch to Hiller to end the threat.
  
• Jim Davenport made Terry pitch. The 3B popped the 2-2 pitch down the RF line. Maris and Richardson chased the ball as the wind blew it toward the stands. But it dropped in foul territory as Bobby actually overran the ball. After several more fouls, Jim hit a high fly into short CF that Richardson caught on one knee.
  SS Jose Pagan bounced the first delivery to Boyer.
  The Giants fans gave Sanford a nice round of applause as he stepped to the dish. Sanford got hold of an 0-2 pitch, but Mantle took the fly easily.

• After a shaky 3rd, Sanford breezed through the 4th.
  Mantle struck out for the fifth time in the Series, the most of any Yankee.
  Trying to punch the ball into LF, Maris bounced to Davenport.
  Howard popped to SS.
  
• Terry continued to match Sanford goose egg for goose egg with the wind a bigger problem than the hitters.
  Alou hit a high fly to shallow LF that got caught in the breeze. Tresh kept running in and caught the ball knee high.
  The same phenomenon occurred when Hiller hit the first pitch to CF. Mantle came in hard to make a running catch.
  Mays followed suit, swatting an 0-1 pitch to CF. Battling the sun and wind, Mantle almost missed the ball but made a one-handed catch at the last instant in front of Maris.
  

5th inning

• For the first time, a leadoff batter reached base to start an inning, and it paid off for the Yankees.
  Skowron grounded the 2-2 pitch just out of the reach of Pagan into LF.
  Sanford put Boyer in an 0-2 hole, but, after a wide one, Clete hit a liner in LCF for a single, Skowron motoring to 3rd. On a dry field, the ball might have rolled to the wall.
  Davenport played even with the bag at 3rd while Pagan and Hiller moved in a few steps ("double play depth"). Showing no sign of bunting, Terry took four straight balls.
  Manager Dark came out to talk to his pitcher as two relievers heated up in the bullpen.
  Obviously laboring, Sanford started Kubek with two more wide ones. Tony took a fastball at the knees for strike one. Then he rapped into a 6-4-3 DP, Skowron scoring.
  Richardson fouled to Cepeda.
  Yankees 1 Giants 0
  
• Still looking for their first base runner, the Giants tried to answer the Yankees' run.
  McCovey flied to LF.
  Cepeda popped to 2B.
  Haller grounded back to Terry.

6th inning

• Tresh tried a drag bunt but popped to Cepeda in foul territory.
  Still having trouble putting the ball where he wanted it, Sanford walked Mantle on four pitches.
  With Maris at the plate, Sanford made a quick throw to 1st to pick off Mantle.
  With no one on, Maris gave up his hit-to-left strategy. Trying to pull, he grounded weakly to 1B.
  
• Davenport made Terry work, flying to LF on a 3-2 pitch. Without the wind, the ball may have carried over the fence, which is why Ralph had no fear in throwing high fastballs.
  Pagan fouled to Boyer. Howard ran down the line in case the wind blew the ball back toward home plate.
  Of all people, P Sanford got Giants' first hit and baserunner, a line single to CF.
  Alou hit a slow bounder to Boyer who made a hurried, accurate throw to Skowron.
  

• Sanford struck out Howard swinging at a 3-2 curve ball.
  Moose smacked the first pitch to deep CF. Mays went back, then came in, but LF McCovey ended up catching the ball easily.
  For the third straight at-bat, Boyer get the ball hard, a ground single up the mid­dle.
  That allowed the pitcher to bat this inning rather than lead off the 8th. Terry, who said before the Series that his biggest ambition was to get a hit, smacked a single into LF to send Boyer to 2nd.
  Lefty Billy O'Dell and righthander Don Larsen jumped up in the Giants pen.
  Kubek lofted a fly into LCF that McCovey caught.
  
• Trying to get something started, Hiller bunted the first pitch, but Terry speared it.
  Mays smacked a liner toward the LF corner, but Tresh raced to the line and made a one-handed "snow cone" catch to save an extra base hit.
  Houk had a righty and a lefty, Bill Stafford and Bud Daley, warming up.
  McCovey smashed a prodigious tee shot over Mantle's head to the CF fence 410' away. The 6'4" Mobile native, covering lots of ground with long strides, roared into 3rd and rounded the base until 3B Coach Whitey Lockman held him up. Tresh's great catch loomed even larger now.
  Terry got ahead of Cepeda 1-2. Howard went to the mound to give the relievers more time to get ready. Whatever Ellie told his P paid off as Orlando whiffed on a sharp curve.
  

8th inning

• O'Dell was joined by ace reliever Stu Miller in the bullpen as Sanford started the 8th.
  Alvin Dark would praise Miller in his 1980 autobiography. Stu Miller was a great relief pitcher for us in 1962, the best for a single season in my experience as a mana­ger. So it's odd that the Giants skipper didn't use him in the most important game of the year.
  Whitey Ford began throwing in the NY pen.
  Richardson liked the first pitch, hitting a chopper to Pagan whose throw in the dirt bounced off Cepeda for an error.
  Houk wanted to sacrifice Richardson to 2nd before Mantle and Maris came up. But he took off the sign after Tresh bunted two foul. Tom seized the opportunity to do even better, rapping a low liner that took a short hop off Pagan's knee. Jose would still have gotten a force at 2nd except that Richardson took off on the full-count pitch. Tresh was credited with a single.
  That gave Mantle another chance to drive in his first run of the Series. The count went full, but Houk didn't send the runners this time. That cost the Yanks when Mickey smashed a liner to RF that dropped in front of Alou. Richardson started back to 2nd, fearful the ball would be caught. As a result, he had to stop at 3rd.
  Dark pulled Sanford in favor of O'Dell. The crowd gave their workhorse an appreci­ative cowbell-laced hand as he headed to the dugout.
  O'Dell faced Maris with the bases loaded and no one out. With Terry pitching a masterpiece, Dark played his infield in.
  The strategy paid off as Maris grounded straight to Hiller, who fielded it just as Mantle passed in front of him and threw to Haller for the force at home. But Tom's throw to 1st was too late to complete the DP.
  Dark ran back to the mound, and observers expected him to go to his righthander, Miller, to face Howard. But Al returned to the dugout without making a change.
  His faith in O'Dell paid off as Howard spanked a grounder straight to the Davenport just inside the line behind the bag. Jim stepped on 3rd and threw to 1st to complete the double play that ended the inning with no scoring. The cowbells rang even louder as the Giants ran to the dugout.
  
• Stafford and Daley resumed throwing for the Yankees.
  Haller flied to Tresh to ran in to take it in LCF.
  Davenport fouled to his counterpart, Boyer.
  Ed Bailey, a lefthanded hitting C, hit for Pagan. Skowron ran down Ed's foul fly.

• O'Dell began his first full inning of work by getting Skowron to ground out to the new SS, Ernie Bowman.
  Davenport knocked down Boyer's screamer down the 3B line and threw Clete out.
  The partisan crowd gave Terry a nice round of applause as he hit for himself (something unthinkable in today's baseball). Having gotten his hit the last time up, Ralph fanned on three pitches.
• Pierce warmed up for SF while the Stafford-Daley duo started again for NY.
  The home team's last chance started with a pinch-hitter, Matty Alou, for O'Dell. Dark had made the same choice in the 9th at L.A. in the third playoff game, and Matty started the winning rally.
  Alou popped the 1-0 pitch over the 1B line. But the wind blew it toward the stands. Skowron raced for it futilely into the Giants dugout. Matty then dragged a perfect bunt past Terry and raced to 1st without a throw from Richardson.
  Felipe tried to move his younger brother to 2nd with a bunt. But after he fouled off his first try, Dark switched to hit away. Alou swung furiously at the next pitch but missed to the relief of Boyer who played 5' in front of the infield dirt. Felipe then whiffed.
  Felipe recalled: I received the bunt sign. I hit 25 HRs and knocked in 98 runs that season and had been asked to bunt maybe twice. Now I was bunting for the first time in the World Series. I squared and pushed a bunt down the 1B line. It stayed fair for a bit, but the 1B, Moose Skowron, let it roll foul. I blame the wind. But that's still no excuse. Even though I hardly bunted all year, you have to be ready to bunt in the World Series - and I wasn't ready. It still pains me that I didn't get that bunt down, and I consider it one of the lowest points of my professional career, something I'll take to my grave because I failed in that situation.
  I got the hit-and-run sign before the next pitch, which came in high. With the infield charging, expecting a bunt, I fouled it straight back. I took a big roundhouse cut at the third pitch and missed. Strike three. That at-bat still haunts me. I failed to advance my brother with a bunt, and then I struck out. Little did I realize it would be the last pitch and the last at-bat I would ever have in a World Series.
  Showing no signs of tiring, Terry also disposed of Hiller on strikes, the second of which came on a bunt down the 3B line that just went foul.
  Just when it looked like the game would end uneventfully, two of the most famous plays in World Series history took place.
  Up strode Willie Mays representing the Giants' last gasp. He was thinking home run all the way. Terry tried to jam the Giants star, but the first two fastballs were inside. So Ralph tried a low and away hard one. Mays didn't try to pull it but in­stead flicked his wrists and lined the ball down the RF line. Fans jumped up, think­ing Alou would score all the way from 1st. But Maris, a Gold Glove outfielder, hus­tled to the ball, which was slowed a bit by the soft turf, and fielded it in front of the warning track about 15' inside the foul line. He quickly wheeled and fired the ball toward the infield. When Roger hit the cutoff man, Rich­ardson, Lockman stopped Alou as he rounded 3rd. So Richardson held the ball and made no throw home.
  
  Maris fields Mays's double.
  Felipe Alou on his brother holding at 3rd: This is where I'm convinced the soggy field came into play. Under normal circumstances, maybe Mays's hit would've traveled all the way to the fence. ... The soggy field also slowed my brother, as it would any runner. 3B coach Whitey Lockman stopped Matty at third, and that's a good thing. I know there is controversy over whether Lockman should have sent Matty home, but he would've been out. To this day I can replay it all in my head, and to this day I still believe Matty would have been out. I know that Willie Mays ... knows, too, that Matty would not have scored. Whenever we talk about that World Series, Willie tells me, "Chico, if you had been on 1B, you would've scored." I believe that, too. I was faster than Matty, and I was taller, with longer strides. ...
  Besides, holding Matty made sense because the next two batters were Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. I can only imagine the uproar if Matty had been thrown out at the plate to end the World Series - with McCovey on deck and Cepeda in the hole. ... We were convinced that the Yankees, with 1B open, were going to intentionally walk McCovey.
  Terry slipped in the mud and fell down backing up home plate. As he returned to the mound brushing himself off, Houk visited, not to change pitchers but to decide what to do with the next batter, McCovey, who had clouted a triple his last time up and had also homered off Terry in Game 2. The Yanks could walk Willie and take their chances with Cepeda.
  
  Peter Golenback recounted the conversation on the mound like this:
  "I really don't know what the hell I'm doing out here," Houk grinned at Terry, "but I thought I'd better come out and talk with you anyway." Terry smiled at his mana­ger's levity in the face of the situation. "What I'm getting at is," Houk continued, "do you want to pitch to this guy or walk him?"
  "I'd rather pitch to him in good spots than walk him," Terry said. "If I walk him I'd be losing my advantage, 'cause I'd have to be much more careful pitching with the bases loaded." Terry had remembered that Dodger pitcher Stan Williams had walked in the winning Giant run with the bases loaded to lose the pennant to the Giants. "Let's give McCovey good stuff just outside the strike zone and hope he'll fish for it." Houk agreed and left the mound for the dugout.
  Around second base, Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek were talking things over. "I hope McCovey doesn't hit the ball to you," Kubek said. Richardson wanted to know why. "'Cause you've already made a couple of errors, and if you blow this one, we're in real trouble." Tony smiled, and both Richardson and Willie Mays, standing on second, laughed. The second-base umpire joined the Yankee infielders. "Can I have your cap if this guy makes out?" the ump asked Bobby. "I have a little nephew who would like to have it." Bobby agreed to give it to him.
  Terry admitted that, after his manager left the mound, his mind flashbacked not only to 1960 Game 7 but to Game 5 the week before when Ed Bailey lined out hard to Maris with a man on second.
  Kubek didn't say it, but he was glad that McCovey was a lefthanded pull hitter who was unlikely to hit the ball to the left of 2B. Likewise, Tresh in LF was grate­ful that he no longer played SS.
  Felipe Alou recalled the feelings of the Giants. We couldn't believe it when we saw they were going to pitch to him (McCovey). On top of that, even though Terry was in trouble, ... Houk didn't bring in a reliever. We were looking at each other in the dugout, saying out loud, "Can you believe they are going to pitch to McCovey?" We were that surprised.
  Years later, Houk told Felipe how nervous he was. I knew if he got a hit, I was going to be crucified. I was begging God that we would make an out. Ralph was influenced by the fact that Cepeda had three hits in Game 6, including a double off Whitey Ford.
  
  Terry surprised McCovey with a slow curve. Out in front, Willie hit the ball off the end of his bat down the RF line. Maris thought he had a chance to catch it, but the crosswinds pushed the ball into the stands. Richardson, already stationed closer to 1st than 2nd, took another step to his left.
  Richardson recalled: McCovey hit the ball foul ... He really hit it hard. When he did that, I realized he was out front. So I moved over a little bit. McCovey has always said he thought I was playing out of position. The pitcher, Ralph Terry, told me later on he felt I was way out of position. He started to move me but then he thought, You know, he's played 800 games at second base, maybe I better not move him.
  Changing his approach, Terry threw the next pitch as hard as he could, trying to jam McCovey as he had Mays. But Willie uncoiled his long arms, swung fero­ciously, and walloped the pitch even harder than he hit the triple earlier. But the screamer went straight to Richardson, who caught it slightly to his left to end the Series! If the ball had been three feet to either side, both runners would have scored, and the Giants would have taken the crown.
  Richardson: McCovey hit it hard, with topspin. When he first hit the ball, it looked like a sure base hit, but then it came down. That's what made it a little bit of a difficult play because it was coming down so quick.
  Dark: With two outs Mays doubled to right field. Maris had to make a great play on the ball to keep Alou from scoring. The Yankees then elected to pitch to McCovey, who hit a long foul, ... then hit a screamer to right. We all leaped up on the bench, thinking it was through to score both runs and win the Series. We had done that so often that year, come from behind with late-inning dramatics. But Bobby Richardson threw up his glove deep in the hole at second, and the ball stuck.
  Mantle: Looking on from center field, I wondered why Houk didn't walk this monster with first base open. I was still wondering when McCovey hit the second pitch, a rifle shot right into Richardson's glove. It was weird. For just a fraction of an instant, there was no sound and no movement, so quickly had the ball flashed through the air. Then Terry brandished his fist, tore off his cap and flung it in the air, and the rest of the Yankee players met and collided between the mound and first base.

Richardson catches the final out, the force of the hit forces his hands almost to the ground..


Right after the final out; note Richardson's cap in the umpire's hands.