Baseball of the 1960s

The 1960 World Series was played between the Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) and New York Yankees (AL). It is most notable for the Game 7, 9th-inning home run hit by Bill Mazeroski, winning the game for the Pirates 10-9, and also winning them their third Championship, their first since 1925. Bobby Richardson was named MVP of the Series, the only time that someone from the defeated team has been so honored.

The 1961 World Series of baseball matched the New York Yankees (109-53) against the Cincinnati Reds (93-61), with the Yankees winning in 5 games to earn their 19th championship in the last 39 seasons. After the summer-long Roger Maris/Mickey Mantle pursuit of Babe Ruth's season home run record, the Series proved anti-climactic as the Yanks subdued the Reds easily.

The was the first year the New York Yankees were under the leadership of Ralph Houk, who succeeded Casey Stengel as manager. The Yankees, who won the American League pennant easily - eight games better than the Detroit Tigers, set a record for most homeruns in a season with 240. Along with Maris and Mantle, four other Yankees, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, Bill Skowron, and Johnny Blanchard, all hit over 20. The pitching staff was led by southpaw Whitey Ford (25-4, 3.21), and reliable righties, Ralph Terry, and Bill Stafford. The defense was air-tight with Bobby Richardson at second, Tony Kubek at short, and Clete Boyer at third.

The Cincinnati Reds, skippered by Fred Hutchinson, finished four games better than the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League and boasted four, 20+ homerun players of their own; Frank Robinson (37, 124, .323), Gordy Coleman, Gene Freese, and Wally Post. The second-base, shortstop, and catcher postions were platooned while Vada Pinson led the league in hits with 208, finishing second in batting with a .343 average. 21-game winner Joey Jay (21-10, 3.53) led the staff along with dependable Jim O'Toole, and Bob Purkey.

The 1962 World Series matched the defending champion New York Yankees against the San Francisco Giants, who had won their first NL pennant since moving from New York in 1958, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game playoff.

This Series, which was closely matched in every game, is remembered for its then-record length of thirteen days, caused by rain in both cities, and its appropriately dramatic conclusion. The Yankees took the Series in 7 games for the 20th championship in team history.

The 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years.

Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres combined to give up only four runs in four complete games. Koufax started it off with a 15-strikeout performance in Game 1.

The 1964 World Series, the 56th playing for the championship of Major League Baseball, pitted the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals against the American League champion New York Yankees, with the Cardinals prevailing in seven games. This World Series, and the season leading up to it, later became the subject for the David Halberstam book October 1964. The '64 Series is seen as an important, bellwether point in baseball history as it was the "last hurrah" for the 1950s Yankee Dynasty of Mantle, Maris, Ford and Berra, among others, and demonstrated that the National League's growing enthusiasm to sign black and Latino players (such as those of the '64 Cardinals) was a permanent paradigm shift in fielding a championship team.

The 1965 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins, who had won their first pennant since 1933 when the team was known as the Washington Senators. The Dodgers prevailed in 7 games to capture their second title in three years, and their third since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.

The Twins won the first two games of the series against Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, but once Claude Osteen shutout the Twins in Game 3, things turned around. The Dodgers proceed to win the three middle games at Dodger Stadium and Koufax would pitch two shutouts including a three-hitter with ten strikeouts to clinch. Ron Fairly hit two home runs for the Dodgers, both in losing efforts.

The 1966 World Series matched the Baltimore Orioles against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Orioles sweeping the Series in 4 games to capture the first championship in franchise history. Despite the general consensus that the Orioles were short of pitching when compared to the likes of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, Orioles pitching allowed only two runs in the entire series and ended up with a 0.50 team ERA, the second lowest in World Series history.

The 1967 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox, with the Cardinals winning in seven games for their second championship in four years and their eighth overall. The Series was played from October 4 to October 12 in Fenway Park and Busch Memorial Stadium.

The 1968 World Series featured the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning in 7 games for their first championship since 1945, and the third in their history. The Tigers came back from a 3-1 deficit to win three in a row, largely on the arm of MVP Mickey Lolich, who amazingly won three complete games in a single World Series, a feat that has not been duplicated since. In his third appearance in the series Lolich had to pitch after only two days' rest in the deciding seventh game because 31-game winner Denny McLain had proven simply ineffective in the postseason. In Game 5, the Tigers' hopes for the title would have been very much in jeopardy had Bill Freehan not tagged out Lou Brock in a home plate collision.

The narrow win for the Tigers was due, in small part, to a bold gamble by Manager Mayo Smith. Smith benched no-hit defensive whiz shortstop Ray Oyler in favor of converted center fielder Mickey Stanley. As the Tigers took the lead, Oyler was returned to the lineup as a defensive replacement, Stanley moved back into the outfield and good-hitting (but poor-fielding) outfielder Willie Horton went to the bench. Oyler finished each of the four games won by the Tigers, three of them with Lolich on the pitcher's mound.

The Series also featured dominant performances from Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson, MVP of the 1964 World Series and 1967 World Series. Gibson pitched complete games in Games 1, 4, and 7. He was the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4. In Game 1, he threw a shutout, striking out 17 batters. In Game 4, a solo home run by Jim Northrup was the only offense the Tigers were able to muster, as Gibson struck out 10 batters. In Game 7, Gibson was defeated by series MVP Mickey Lolich, allowing three runs on four straight hits in the decisive 7th inning.

The 1969 World Series was played between the New York Mets and the Baltimore Orioles, with the Mets prevailing in 5 games to accomplish one of the greatest upsets in Series history, as that particular Orioles squad was (and still is by some baseball pundits) considered to be one of the finest ever. The World Series win earned the team the sobriquet "Miracle Mets."