New York Yankees - The Psychedelic Era (1960-1969)

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1960

1963

104

Decade

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Championships

Top New York Players of the Sixties

1960 A.L. Champs (Lost to the Pirates)

1961 World Champs (Beat the Reds)

Pitchers:

1962 World Champs (Beat the Giants)

Whitey Ford (27.27) - 80

1963 A.L. Champs (Lost to the Dodgers)

Mel Stottlemyre (26.33) - 73

1964 A.L. Champs (Lost to the Cards)

Ralph Terry (8.95) - 47

Al Downing (15.3) - 40

BallPark:

Jim Bouton (9.72) - 32

Yankee Stadium

Fritz Peterson (9.82) - 21

Stan Bahnsen (7.51) - 17

Team Name:

Bill Stafford (7.43) - 16

Yankees

Jim Coates (0.22) - 13

Luis Arroyo (2.58) - 12

Owner:

Art Ditmar (1.62) - 10

Del Webb & Dan Topping (1960-1963)

Steve Hamilton (8.6) - 10

CBS (Mike Burke CEO) (1964-1969)

Hal Reniff (3.78) - 9

Pedro Ramos (2.67) - 9

General Managers:

George Weiss (1960)

Catchers:

Roy Hamey (1961-1963)

Elston Howard (22.25) - 66

Ralph Houk (1964-1966)

Yogi Berra (5.66) - 19

Lee MacPhail (1967-1969)

Jake Gibbs (4.11) - 13

Managers:

First Basemen:

Casey Stengel (1960)

Joe Pepitone (7.41) - 47

Ralph Houk (1961-1963,1966-1969)

Moose Skowron (8.92) - 21

Yogi Berra (1964)

Johnny Keane (1965-1966)

Second Basemen:

Horace Clarke (9.48) - 21

Hall of Famers:

Bobby Richardson (6.23) - 12

Whitey Ford

Mickey Mantle

ShortStop:

Yogi Berra

Tom Tresh (21.36) - 59

Tony Kubek (10.83) - 35

Rookie of the Year:

Phil Linz (4.16) - 9

Tom Tresh (1962)

Stan Bahnsen (1968)

Third Base:

Clete Boyer (20.12) - 41

MVP:

Roger Maris (1960)

Outfield:

Roger Maris (1961)

Mickey Mantle (42.26) - 118

Mickey Mantle (1962)

Roger Maris (26.3) - 57

Elston Howard (1963)

Roy White (8.58) - 31

Hector Lopez (1.22) - 21

No Hitters:

Bill Robinson (1.97) - 8

None

Bobby Murcer (2.33) - 7

Cy Young

Notable Events:

Whitey Ford (1961)

1964 - Roy Hamey resigns. Ralph Houk is kicked upstairs to GM.

Notable Events:

Yogi Berra retires as a player and takes over as Manager.

They fail.

1960 - The Yankees' remarkable post war success, specifically from 1947-1964,

in which they won fifteen pennants and ten world series in an eighteen year

1964 - The Yanks win the final pennant in their remarkable run and

span was due mainly to the efforts of three men in management:

lose the World Series to the Cards

□ General Manager George Weiss,

□ Farm Director Lee MacPhail

1964 - Yogi Berra is fired as manager. Cardinals manager Johnny Keane

□ Field Manager Casey Stengel

takes over after the World Series ends.

They brought in and cultivated the multitude of great ballplayers that

passed thru Yankee Stadium during that period.

1965 - The Yankees get old, have unexpected retirements, and get

Weiss was promoted to General Manager in 1948 after Larry MacPhail

some key injuries to players at a relatively young age:

imploded and left the club. George was fired after the 1960 season.

□ SS Tony Kubek retires with a bad back

Unclear why the Yankees dumped Weiss. They hired on Roy Hamey

□ 2B Bobby Richardson ups and leaves

who had been with the Yankees previously in lesser capacities and had

□ CF Tom Tresh suddenly forgets how to hit in his prime years

been GM at Pittsburgh and unsuccessful GM at Philadelphia.

□ RHP Jim Bouton blows out his arm.

He does nothing in his three year tenure with the Yankees which is a big

In the past, New York would have plugged in ready replacements.

problem for New York because the talent flow to the major leagues begins

There are none this time around.

to dry up. Meanwhle George Weiss moved on to be GM of the Mets and

During the first half of the decade, the team had been living off of the

while, on the surface, it looked like his stint with the NL club was a failure,

foundation that the Weiss, MacPhail, Stengel trio had previously built

just the opposite was true. He brought in to the Mets most of the players,

Once that base was gone, the cupboard was bare.

particularly the young pitchers, that the 1969 World Championship

Met team was built on.

1965 - As the roof falls in and the Yanks plummet to sixth place,

MacPhail became the Yankees' Farm Director, ironically, when his father quit

they bring up several promising youngsters, prematurely:

the Yankees in a huff following the 1947 season. George Weiss moved into

□ shortstop Bobby Murcer, 19

Larry MacPhail's abandoned GM position and Lee MacPhail moved into

□ outfielder Roy White, 21

Weiss's old Farm Director slot. Under the younger MacPhail, the Yankees

□ 2B Horace Clarke, 25 - a MacPhail signee,

had the number one farm system in the majors that churned out one

Hoss was unfairly the poster boy for the Yankees decliine.

excellent major leaguer after another. Lee left the Yankees for Baltimore

Aside from coming up the first year of dark times, he was a squat little guy

after the 1958 season and he built the Orioles into the powerhouse in the

with huge horn rimmed glasses - he looked nothing like the way a Yankee

Sixties that overtook the Yankees. Meanwhile, the Yankees farm system

should look. Clarke also replaced Bobby Richardson who had suddenly

never recovered from the glory days of Weiss and MacPhail as the club's

retired and who was highly associated with Yankee success

Farm Directors.

We've already said a lot about Stengel in the 1950's decade section.

1966 - A couple of quality young pitchers debut as the Yankees hit

He was fired and was replaced by Ralph Houk after the 1960 season.

rock bottom in the standings and finish dead last in tenth place:

Houk was a good manager, but he was no Stengel.

□ Lefty Fritz Peterson, 24 - signed in '63 out of Northern Illinois U

□ Righty Stan Bahnsen, 21 - 4th round pick in inaugural 1965 amateur draft

1960 -Righty Bill Stafford, 21, comes up as a rookie

he has a couple of nice years for the Yanks

1966 - After the disastrous season, Ralph Houk is kicked back downstairs to

take over as manager and Lee MacPhail is hired on as GM. MacPhail had

1960 - The Yankees make a seven player deal with Kansas City

inherited a well oiled machine his first time around.

featuring Norm Siebern for Roger Maris. The rest of the

This time he would have to rebuild from scratch. Plus there was the amateur

league howls as the A's handed the Yankees the pennant with this one.

draft in place now - leveling the playing field.

Things don't go nearly as smoothly this time around for MacPhail.

1960 - The Yankees lose the World Series to the underdog Pirates.

It looks like owners Webb and Topping lost sight of who was really

1967 - Clete Boyer is traded to the Braves for outfielder Bill Robinson, 24,

responsible for the Yankee's success and fire both

Robinson, a late bloomer, would turn out to be an excellent hitter,

Casey Stengel and George Weiss after the Series.

just not for the Yankees, as they end up losing patience with him.

1961 - Lefty Al Downing, 20, comes up as a rookie

1968 - Whitey Ford retires

he always seemed thisclose to becoming a star

1969 - Mickey Mantle retires

1961 - Ralph Houk is manager and presides over one of history's great teams,

the '61 Yankees. Maris hits 61 homers, Mantle 54, and four other players

1969 - A couple of first round picks from the new free agent draft make their debuts:

(Berra, Howard, Blanchard, Skowron) hit twenty or more homers.

□ Ron Blomberg, 20, first overall pick in the 1967 draft

The team hits a then record 240 home runs.

□ Thurman Munson, 22, fourth overall pick in the 1968 draft

Whitey Ford, who was probably way overused by Houk, dominates and

is Cy Young winner, Luis Arroyo is the great closer.

1969 - by the end of the decade, the Yankees were slowly inching their way

back to respectability. They were still nowhere near being a contender,

1962 - Lee MacPhail's Legacy.

but they at least started building a youthful core:

Three of his signings in his last year at the helm, 1958, come up:

□ C Thurman Munson, 22

□ Righty Jim Bouton, 22 - had two huge years before blowing out his arm

□ 1B Ron Blomberg, 20

□ First baseman Joe Pepitone, 21, never played up to his potential,

□ 1B Joe Pepitone, 28

but was still a very good player

□ 2B Horace Clarke, 29

□ Shortstop Tom Tresh, 23 Rookie of the year in '62,

□ OF Bobby Murcer, 23

a star until suddenly one year (1966), he forgot how to hit

□ OF Roy White, 25

□ OF Bill Robinson, 26

1964 - Del Webb and Dan Topping sell the team to CBS.

□ Righty Mel Stotlemyre, 27

Mike Burke, the classic empty suit corporate executive becomes

□ Lefty Fritz Peterson, 27

Team President. Mike brings nothing to the table but a corporate

□ Righty Stan Bahnsen, 24

presidential looking facade. The Yankees will flounder and be a bad

team as long as CBS owns the club and Burke is in charge

1969 - The Yankees finish in the middle of the pack at 80-81 fifth place