3rd base coach Frank Crosetti is behind Mantle.
Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver and an unidentified Yankee
are behind the others.
October 10, 1964: The New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals are tied, 1-1 in Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium, going into the bottom of the 9th. Barney Schultz, a knuckleballer, comes on to relieve for the Cardinals.
In the on-deck circle, Mickey Mantle watches Schultz warm up, times Schultz's knuckler in his head, and says to Elston Howard, standing there with him, "You can go back to the clubhouse, Elston. This game is over."
Schultz threw Mantle one pitch. Mickey deposited it in the upper deck in right field. Yankees 2, Cardinals 1 -- which was also now the Yankees' lead in the Series.
It was Mickey's 16th home run in World Series play, surpassing the record he shared with Babe Ruth. He would hit a 17th in Game 6 and an 18th off Bob Gibson in Game 7, but the Cards would come back and win the Series.
Whether the earlier Yankee legend Babe Ruth called his shot in the 1932 World Series is still debated, but Mickey sure called his shot here. He was once asked how many others he called. "Well, I called my shot about 500 times," he would say with a laugh. "This was about the only one that worked."
Mickey would later call this home run the highlight of his career. It was understandable: Not only did it win a World Series game, something only 4 other players had ever done with a home run to that point (Tommy Henrich of the '49 Yankees, Dusty Rhodes of the '54 Giants, Eddie Mathews of the '57 Braves and Bill Mazeroski of the '60 Pirates), but it was against the Cardinals, the team he grew up rooting for as a boy (since they were the closest team to Commerce, Oklahoma, over 300 miles away)
*
October 10, 1964 was a Saturday. This was also the day that the Olympic Games opened in Tokyo, marking Japan's effective return to the family of nations after World War II. I have a separate entry for this event.
There was 1 game in the NFL on this day, and it was both a notable rivalry and an upset: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns, 23-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Browns would rebound, and go on to win the NFL Championship.
There was 1 game in the American Football League on this day: The New York Jets beat the Oakland Raiders, 35-13 at the new Shea Stadium.
Among the college football games played that day were these:
* In a rivalry game, Number 1 Texas beat Oklahoma, 28-7 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The very next week, Texas, the defending National Champions, would be upset by another rival, Arkansas.
* Number 2 Illinois were upset by Number 4 Ohio State, 26-0 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.
* Number 3 Alabama beat North Carolina State, 21-0 at Denny Stadium (now Bryant-Denny Stadium) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They went on to win the Southeastern Conference title. At the time, the Associated Press picked its National Champion before the bowl games, and they picked 'Bama. But instead of going to the Sugar Bowl, as the SEC Champions usually do, the Crimson Tide went to the Orange Bowl, and were beaten by Texas.
* Number 5 Kentucky were not merely upset, but were crushed by Florida State, 48-6 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.
* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Air Force, 34-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As for the other service academies, Army lost to Penn State, 6-2 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and, in a neutral site game the day before -- well, perhaps not totally neutral, since there is a major naval base in the city -- Navy lost to Georgia Tech, 17-0 at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.
* In another rivalry game, Number 7 beat Number 10 Michigan State, 17-10 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. Michigan would beat Ohio State to win the Big 10 title.
* Number 8 Nebraska beat South Carolina, 28-6 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.
* Number 9 Arkansas beat Baylor, 17-6 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Razorbacks went on to beat Number 1 Texas the next week, and won the Southwest Conference title. They rose to Number 2, beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl to finish undefeated, and claimed the National Championship after Alabama lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl. Today, both Alabama and Arkansas claim that title, but Arkansas finished undefeated, while 'Bama did not.
* Oregon State beat Washington, 9-7 at Multnomah Stadium (now Providence Park) in Portland, Oregon. Oregon State went on to win the title in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), a precursor to the Pacific-12 Conference, but they lost the Rose Bowl to Michigan. It would take the Beavers until 2000 to win another Conference Championship.
* Louisiana State University beat North Carolina, 20-3 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. With 'Bama giving up the berth in favor of the Orange Bowl, LSU accepted the SEC's bid to the Sugar Bowl.
* Syracuse beat UCLA, 39-0 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York. 'Cuse went to the Sugar Bowl, and lost to LSU.
* In another rivalry game, the University of Pittsburgh beat West Virginia, 14-0 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* And among New Jersey's teams, Rutgers beat Lehigh, 20-7 at Taylor Stadium in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Princeton beat Dartmouth, 37-7 at Memorial Field in Hanover, New Hampshire.
In New Jersey high school football, the school I would one day attend, East Brunswick, beat Ewing, of Ewing, Mercer County, 12-8, at home on a field that never had a name. The current EBHS practice field is roughly on the site.
The NHL season began 2 days later; the NBA season, 4 days after that.
In English soccer, there was a North London Derby, and Tottenham Hotspur beat Arsenal F.C., 3-1 at Tottenham's ground, White Hart Lane.
Also on this day, legendary entertainer Eddie Cantor died of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 72 years old.
No comments:
Post a Comment