1964 : Yankee Tidbits from Dog Days by Philip Bashe

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Dog Days : The Yankees fall from Grace and Return to Glory - 1964-1976

By Philip Bashe, the 1994 novel is not only one of the best sports book I have ever read, for me, it’s one of the best books period. Maybe a time Yankee fans would like to forget, the people behind the unraveling provide just as human a story as all the glory that proceeded. That said, Bashe does a masterful job conveying anecdotals and keeps you wanting more. So I just wanted to provide some tidbits and here is my first installment. 1965 will be next.

After Casey Stengel managed the Yankees to the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, ownership thought he was too old. So the Yankees prepared a resignation statement, and in hopes of saving face, they made Casey read it. Backfiring, the awkward moment left a reporter seeking clarification. “Were you fired,” so Casey went off script.

“You’re goddamn right I was fired,” the sage shot back

The Yankees looked soulless, and in 1963, a retiring Yogi Berra gave the Bombers the chance to repair the damage. But that wasn’t the only issue at hand. The Yankees didn’t want to see Yogi in another uniform - especially in Met attire. In accordance, attendance dropped by 200,000 despite winning their fourth straight pennant in 1963, and across town, 120 losses had the Mets right in the same neighborhood. 1.3 million for the Yankees and 1.1 for the Mets, Yogi stealing headlines sounded like a good way to reassert from the revelry at the Polo Grounds. Baseball wise, the Yankees also felt that any man at the helm could bring home another first place finish, but the switch from labor to management was not an easy one, according to Tom Tresh. “It was tough for veterans to differentiate between Yogi the teammate and Yogi the manager,” he remembered.

And it was no easier with the younger players either. Squatty and inarticulate, Yogi was a bit of a joke, according to Bobby Richardson. “There was probably not the respect there should have been,” said the 1960 World Series MVP.

So bumpy for sure, while the strategic learning curve could be forgiven, Yogi stood in stark contrast to Ralph Houk. Beloved by his players, Houk knew how to assuage players when their confidence suffered, while Yogi only knew success as a player and never needed to be talked down. At the same time, Houk refused to publicly criticize his players, but Yogi often made his feelings known in earshot of teammates. Still Yogi persisted. He had a ton of injuries to aging stars, and the leadership component always in question, the Phil Linz harmonica incident went a long way to bonding the team and their relationship to the manager. That aside, Jim Bouton had the perfect summation. “Yogi’s strength was that he was low key, easy going and played down controversies. If you got a good team, you mostly want the manager to get out of the way and just let the good guys play ball and Yogi did that,” remembered Bouton. “I thought he did a very good job.”

Otherwise, the defining moment of the season came in under the radar on September 5. For two players to be named later, the Yankees traded for the pitcher who had the worst record in the American League since 1960. Pedro Ramas obviously came in unheralded and ended up saving six games and winning one. 5.5 games out on August 22, the Yankees went 29-12, and Ramos was on the mound for the clincher. Only 15,000 people in attendance for game 161, the fans took winning for granted, and the reliever was shocked that the players were of the same vain. He expected an outburst of emotion and simply got a few handshakes. “It was just like another game,” remembered Ramos.

Onto the World Series, the turnabout of events didn’t provide for the tidy ending Ralph Houk hoped for. In August the decision had already been made to fire Berra, and as Keane had already decided to leave St Louis, the transition to the new manager would be easy. Instead, the sale of the Yankees mostly required that the action be put off until season’s end, and the Cardinals even more improbable success made things more difficult for Keane. In 1965, he was going to be managing the team faced in the fall classic.

Nonetheless, Gibson won game 7, and the disappointment still had Yogi posing a straightforward question for Bobby Richardson on the plane ride home. “Should I ask for one year or two?”

The next day Yogi was fired, and on the St. Louis side, Keane really threw a curve. 30 minutes before the announcement of his rehiring, the manager handed Gussie Busch his letter of resignation. Four days later, he was hired by Houk, and accusations of tampering were put on Ford Frick’s desk. He cleared Houk but not really to the satisfaction of Maury Allen. “It’s an absolute lie,” the writer accused.

Messy indeed but more impropriety may have had an impact on game 7. Ralph Terry was one of the two players to be named later, and despite throwing two scoreless innings in game 4, the Yankees wanted no part of having the former 20 games winner bring home the series. “That’s why they hardly even let me near the bullpen. Because suppose Yogi or Houk know they’ve put me in an irrevocable trade, pitch me in the seventh game and I win it. They’re going to look bad trading me, aren’t they,” Terry reasoned. “I knew I wasn’t getting anywhere near that mound in the last game.”

And the dysfunction was just beginning.

All quotes and material from Dog Days : The Yankees fall from Grace and Return to Glory - 1964-1976 by Philip Bashe