Apr. 19, 1964 - The New York Yankees, having discovered that it doesn’t pay to work overtime, today finally rewarded their freshman manager, Yogi Berra, with a victory in regulation innings, defeating the Orioles, 5-3, at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.
The triumph was the first of the new American League campaign for the Bronx Bombers after three successive extra-inning losses — one to Boston and a pair to Baltimore.
It also brought Hank Bauer’s high-flying Orioles back to the realities of baseball life. Until today, Baltimore was the majors’ lone undefeated team with four straight successes.
A moisturized audience of 26,144 was obliged to watch overtime before the final results were in. A one-hour-13-minute fourth-inning rain delay prolonged the floodlit contest until 6:05 p.m.
Long before that, however, the Yanks had mustered sufficient hits and runs to make a winner of left-hander Bud Daley, although he required a stout relief assist from Steve Hamilton to bring it about.
Each side collected nine hits, but the Bombers’ were more robust and timely. First baseman Joe Pepitone drove two mates home with a double and single in the fourth and fifth frames, where the Yanks clustered two runs each at the expense of Milt Pappas and Mike McCormick. Singles by Clete Boyer and Mickey Mantle accounted for the other pair of runs.
Berra admitted he was sweating out Jackie Brandt’s foul smashes lined past third base before Brandt was called out on strikes for the game’s last out with Jerry Adair on first. Brandt, capable of putting one in the bleachers, constituted the tying run at the plate when Hamilton caught him looking.
Just before Hamilton’s game-ending pitch, Berra visited the mound. What did Yogi say to his tall reliever?
“I asked him where he was throwing those balls Brandt was pulling,” Yogi reported. “He said they were inside, and I told him to try a breaking pitch outside. He did pretty good, didn’t he? He got it out there. If Brandt was going to hit it, I wanted him to go the other way and not pull it.”
Bauer didn’t appear too unhappy about his first defeat as Orioles manager. “We didn’t give it to them,” he said. “The White Sox and the Yanks are two clubs we have to beat, and we beat them four out of five. It would be nice to have won all five, but I’m pleased. It’ll be McNally against the Sox tomorrow night, and Barber and Roberts against the Red Sox Wednesday and Thursday.”
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