1960

181 quotes found

"I got to my knees and backhanded it. I came up to throw to second to start a double play. But Groat had come in behind the pitcher's mound in preparation to take a throw from right field; he was on the grass instead of at second. He'd figured the ball had gone by me. So there's no one covering second. I cranked my arm twice, I was told, and then turned and stepped on the bag for a force out on Berra. But Mantle dove back into the bag and beat my tag at him. Yogi said I robbed him of a double. Mantle said he saw me catch the ball, and thought I caught it on the fly. Mantle might have been the goat if Skowron had followed with a single. Because if Mantle had gone to second he would have gotten there safely, and he would have scored on a single. Mantle wasn't more than an arm's length off the bag. Stuart said I should've gotten Mantle at first base. He told me if he'd have been at first base, the ballgame would've been over, and Maz wouldn't even have had to bat. That's the way Stuart was. He could give it and he could take it. But Murtaugh said I was the only one who could have caught the ball. I took one step off the bag with Yogi up; I couldn't take two steps off. The ball went over the bag and was in foul territory when I grabbed it. It was just one of the sequences in that game that stand out. It was probably the greatest game ever played in the seventh game of a World Series. It went back and forth. You couldn't ask for better drama."

- 1960 World Series

0 likes20th century in American sportsSports in New York City1960s in the United States1960
"The first time Mickey Mantle came up to bat right-handed in this Series I had a feeling that it was going to happen. I said to the man sitting next to me, "He's going to hit this one out of here." The Series was in its 14th inning at this point and about all Mantle had done was strike out and walk—but up until then he had been swinging lefty against right-handed pitching. Now there was a big, tall southpaw named Green out on the mound. Being a switch-hitter, Mickey was hitting from the other side of the plate. I've thought for a long time that he was a better right-handed hitter than a left-handed hitter, and he proved it here. You could tell it was gone as soon as he swung, even though he didn't quite get around on it. It went into the right field stands. This was during the 16-to-3 rout at Forbes Field when there was a parade of Pittsburgh pitchers. Next time up Mantle drew a right-hander and struck out. But the time after that a left-hander named Gibbon was pitching and I said, "Here it goes again." This one sailed over the wall in deep center field where no other right-hand hitter ever put one. They got out the tape measure and nobody talked about much else for a day or two. It was enough to make anybody wonder why Mantle ever bothers to hit left-handed. In the third game, at Yankee Stadium, he came up against Green again and hit another tape-measure job. I've never seen anybody sting a ball harder than Mantle can."

- 1960 World Series

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"Up came Yogi Berra, whose three-run homer in the sixth had given the Yankees a 5–4 lead. He hit a sharp one-hopper at Rocky Nelson, the first baseman. Nelson stepped on first—canceling the force out at second, and Mantle, momentarily frozen, turned and dove back into first. He was safe. If he was out—if Nelson had executed the unassisted double play—the World Series would have ended right there, the Pirates would have won 9–8, and Hal Smith’s eighth-inning home run would have been the big blow. But Mantle was safe and the game went on. For decades the play was hailed as brilliant. But the odds were, Mantle should have been out at first on such a play. The smarter play would have been to get into a rundown between first and second, increasing the chances of extending the inning. But the dive into first was instinctive; Mantle couldn't be sure whether Nelson caught the ball on a fly or on a bounce. Nelson wore his glove on his right hand—farther away from the sliding Mantle than it would have been had he been right-handed. It was a panicked choice for Mantle and it worked out. Then again, why didn’t Nelson begin the play by throwing to second, for a more routine double play possibility? Or why, after recording the out at first, did he not throw home, seeing McDougald headed that way. He went for Mantle who was right in front of him. And it didn’t work out."

- 1960 World Series

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"Mickey Mantle would have been the goat in a 9 to 8 Pirate victory over New York yesterday in the final game of the World Series except for his fortunate slide back to first base. That was the last play Mantle should have attempted, according to baseball critics, after Rocky Nelson had fielded Yogi Berra's sharp grounder and stepped on first to retire Berra for the second Yankee out in the ninth inning. On the subsequent attempt to tag Mantle in his return to first base (to which he was entitled only because Berra had been retired), Gil McDougald, running for Dale Long, scored from third base. If Mantle had been tagged for the third and final out before McDougald touched home plate, the run would not have counted. Pittsburgh would have won, 9-8. [...] A run cannot score on a double play involving one or more force outs. A run can score between a second and third out if a force play is not involved, provided the runner reaches the plate before the third out. Because of this rule, Mantle made a mistake. So did Nelson, when he stepped on first base to retire Berra and thus removed the force on a possible double play. Each player undoubtedly acted instinctively. Nelson could have taken many seconds to complete a double play via second base (a force on Mantle) and McDougald could not have scored. Mantle could have created a sure tie by backing away from Nelson or heading for second base to delay any possible third out."

- 1960 World Series

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"That split-second, extraordinarily heads-up base-running play Mickey Mantle performed in the top of the ninth of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, it turns out, was senseless. And as Manhattan’s Marc Salis and Walter “Wally From The Bronx” Kellermann last week pointed out — separately and in duplicate detail — Mantle’s base-running could have ended the game and the Series in Pittsburgh’s favor, at that moment — before Bill Mazeroski ever got a chance to homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Pirates’ a 10-9 win. With one out in the ninth, the Bucs led, 9-8, Mantle on first, pinch runner Gil McDougald on third. Yogi Berra hit a grounder to first baseman Rocky Nelson, who stepped on first for the second out. Mantle, realizing he had no chance to make it to second, dived back into first base, avoiding Nelson’s tag, which would have been the third out and likely would have ended the game, because it’s highly unlikely McDougald could have scored before that tag. But because McDougald scored to tie the game, Mantle always has been given credit for a fabulous decision. But had Mantle simply run to second he would have removed all risk of ending the game by being tagged by Nelson before McDougald scored. Nelson, in no position to throw home after stepping on first, had removed the force at second, thus Mantle would have had to have been tagged out at second or after a run down, allowing McDougald to easily score. The “spectacular” and legendary part of the play — Mantle diving back into first and eluding Nelson’s tag — was unnecessary, senseless. Had Nelson made that tag Mantle would have made one of the worst base-running errors in history."

- 1960 World Series

0 likes20th century in American sportsSports in New York City1960s in the United States1960