Even without Mickey Mantle, the New York Yankees offense unloaded on the 1969 Baltimore Orioles, topping them 7-2 to advance in the Winner’s Bracket of the Best of the 1960s Tournament. Mantle was injured colliding with the wall in the last game between the teams. Roger Maris entered the game in a slump, but that quickly changed as he connected for a solo home run off Dave McNally in the 1st inning. Boog Powell evened things up with a solo homer of his own off Ralph Terry in the 3rd. Things got interesting in the bottom of the inning. Tony Kubek hit one into the corner that bounced away from Frank Robinson. Kubek was called safe on a very close play at the plate for an inside-the-park homer. Maris followed that with another solo shot to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. McNally loaded the bases in the 4th, but a couple of strikeouts and a popout got him out of it. He wasn’t so lucky the next inning when Yogi Berra hit a 3-run homer to put New York up 6-1. Terry allowed just 5 hits heading into the 9th before tiring. After 3 Baltimore base hits, Bud Daley was brought in to get the final out, sealing a 7-2 win for New York. Baltimore will face off against the 1964 Chicago White Sox in an Elimination Series tomorrow. Maris finished 3 for 4 with a walk.

’69 Orioles @ ’61 Yankees – 9/21/25

With Sandy Koufax waiting in the wings for a potential Game 5, the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers turned to Bob Miller for their Game 4 starter against the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals. St. Louis took advantage of Miller’s nerves to jump out to an early lead when Roger Maris doubled in the 1st and Orlando Cepeda singled him home. But Miller allowed just 4 hits the rest of the way. LA struck back in the 3rd against Ray Washburn when Maury Wills tripled in Willie Davis and scored on Jim Gilliam’s single. Washburn would balk later in the inning to allow another run. A sacrifice fly in the 6th extended the Dodger lead to 4-1. Lou Brock tripled with 2 outs in the 7th, and scored when Tommy Davis misplayed a flyball, but Davis made up for it with a key RBI single to get the run back in the bottom of the inning. Things did get interesting in the 9th when Ron Perranoski walked Dick Schofield with 2 outs. Brock doubled, and Curt Flood singled to put runners on the corners with Maris up in a 5-3 game. But Maris popped out to end the game, sending the #1 seed Cardinals home with an embarrassing 2-6 record. Miller picked up the win, allowing just one earned run on 6 hits in 8 innings. The Dodgers face the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates in the next Elimination series.

’68 Cardinals @ ’63 Dodgers – 9/19/25

Once again, the San Francisco Giants’ offense came through. Staking an early lead, the Giants held off a late rally by the Pittsburgh Pirates to win 7-5 and advance in the Winner’s Bracket of the Tournament. Tom Haller beat out a double-play ball to put San Francisco on top 1-0 in the 2nd. After Dick Stuart tied it with a solo home run off Billy Pierce in the bottom of the inning, the Giants’ offense let loose. Harvey Kuenn hit a solo homer to lead off the 3rd to put the Giants back on top, and Jim Davenport capped the 4-run inning with a 2-run double. Another RBI double by Davenport in the 5th extended the lead to 6-1. But Bob Skinner drove in a run with a double in the bottom of the 5th, and one of two Chuck Hiller errors led to two unearned runs on a Dick Groat single in the 6th. Kuenn added an RBI double in the 8th off Clem Labine to give San Francisco a little breathing room. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Bill Virdon drew a walk off Bobby Bolin, and Groat drove in a run and put runners on the corners with a single. Bolin got Skinner to ground out to end the threat. Stu Miller pitched a scoreless 9th to get the save. With the loss, the Pirates fall to the Elimination Bracket. Kuenn finished the game 4 for 5, and Davenport was 3 for 3, driving in 5 runs between the two.

’62 Giants @ ’60 Pirates – 9/19/25

Whitey Ford continued to struggle in the Tournament, while Jim Palmer continued to shine, as the 1969 Baltimore Orioles downed the 1961 New York Yankees 7-3 to even the series and force a Game 5 in the American League Winner’s Bracket. Ford had allowed 5 runs in each of his 1st two starts entering this game, and still couldn’t find his rhythm on the mound. Boog Powell drove in the 1st run with a double in the 1st inning, and Frank Robinson added an RBI single in the 3rd. Palmer allowed just one hit through 5 innings. In the 6th, the Yankees finally mounted an offense, but baserunning blunders limited their effect. Tony Kubek walked to lead off the inning, and then Roger Maris drilled a base hit to leftfield. Kubek tested Merv Rettenmund’s arm and got thrown out at 3rd. The Orioles then caught Maris trying to advance on the throw to 2nd. Palmer surrendered 4 more straight base hits, as the Yankees still managed to tie the game. Brooks Robinson doubled in Powell in the bottom of the inning to put the O’s back on top. Davey Johnson drove one to the wall in center. Mickey Mantle nearly made a dramatic catch, but collided with the wall. When the inning was over, Baltimore had scored 4 runs, and Mantle hobbled off the field and was expected to miss the rest of the series. Palmer finished the game, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits while striking out 10. Ford allowed 7 runs on 15 hits in the loss, leaving Yankees fans to wonder when or if he’ll turn things around. The series heads back to New York for the deciding game.

’61 Yankees @ ’69 Orioles – 9/19/25

Willie Mays did it again. Mays went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI to lead the 1962 San Francisco Giants over the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1. It started in the 1st inning when Mays took Harvey Haddix deep with 2 outs and nobody on. A couple of singles in the bottom of the 2nd against Billy O’Dell tied things back up for the Pirates. It looked like it would be a tight game after that, until the 6th when Mays hit another solo shot to give the Giants the lead again. José Pagán and Harvey Kuenn had back-to-back singles in the 8th, but Chuck Hiller flew out for the 2nd out. That brought up Mays, who drilled one into the gap for a 2-run double. He’d score on a base hit by Willie McCovey. Felipe Alou added another solo home run for San Francisco in the 9th off Jim Umbricht, as the Giants won it 6-1. O’Dell allowed just 5 hits to improve to 2-1 in the Tournament. The Giants are just one win away from advancing in the Winner’s Bracket.

’62 Giants @ ’60 Pirates – 9/18/25

Bill Stafford continued his Tournament success, allowing 7 hits and shutting out the 1969 Baltimore Orioles. Stafford allowed just 1 run in 8 innings in his 1st start. Bob Cerv hit a 2-run home run in the 2nd inning to give the 1961 New York Yankees a 2-0 lead against Mike Cuellar. Elston Howard added a solo homer in the 4th. Mickey Mantle capped the scoring with a solo shot of his own in the 9th. The three homers accounted for half of the Yankees’ hits. Howard finished 3 for 4 to lead the Yankee offense. The Yankees now hold a 2-1 series lead. Baltimore hopes to even the series in front of the home crowd.

’61 Yankees @ ’69 Orioles – 9/18/25

For 10 innings, Steve Carlton and Don Drysdale battled to a stalemate, as the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals and the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers found themselves scoreless and struggling. Drysdale allowed 7 hits in those 10 innings, but the Cardinals only got into scoring position twice. The Dodgers never did against Carlton, who held LA to just 3 hits. In the 11th, Lou Brock led off with a single against Dick Calmus and stole 2nd. When Johnny Roseboro’s throw sailed into center field, the speedy Brock moved to 3rd with no outs. Roger Maris singled him home, giving St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Joe Hoerner came in to close the game, despite Carlton pleading to keep the ball. The gamble failed right away. After Ken McMullen grounded out, Moose Skowron singled. Lou Walls pinch hit for Roseboro and blooped another single past the infield. Willie Davis was 0 for 3 and hitting below .100 in the Tournament, but he drilled one into the corner. Maris’ throw in was too late, as Walls beat the throw to the plate to win it on the walk-off triple. The Dodgers take a 2-1 series lead into Game 4.

’68 Cardinals @ ’63 Dodgers – 9/18/25

The 1964 Chicago White Sox scored just 6 runs on 16 hits over the three games against the 1968 Detroit Tigers. It was still enough for a sweep, as the Tiger offense never showed up. Detroit had a little hope when Norm Cash hit a solo home run off Juan Pizarro. Mickey Lolich was pitching an amazing game, allowing just one hit heading into the 5th. That’s when Don Wert’s throwing error and two walks loaded the bases with 2 outs. Lolich struck out Jim Landis to end the threat. But, in the 6th, Moose Skowron took Lolich deep for a 2-run homer. Pizarro retired 17 straight hitters after the Cash home run, walking Cash in the 8th. Holding on to a 2-1 lead, Pizarro struck out pinch-hitter Eddie Mathews to lead off the 9th. Dick McAuliffe singled for just the 2nd Tiger hit, but Mickey Stanley grounded into a double-play to end the game, and with it, the Tigers’ Tournament. The Tigers scored just 2 runs on 9 hits over the 3 games.

’68 Tigers @ ’64 White Sox – 9/18/25