Maris Hurt, Yanks Win, 5-1

Apr. 28, 1965 - The only good sign about Roger Maris’s injury is that Maris isn’t talking about going home just yet. The Yankee right fielder, who pulled his right hamstring today, is staying in New York for now. But that’s stretching it to find a good sign.

The other signs say Maris may not recover quickly from this injury and that the Lopez boys, Hector and Arturo, are likely to play a lot of outfield for the next month.

Maris hurt himself catching a fly ball in the seventh inning of Al Downing’s 5-1 victory over Kansas City at Yankee stadium. He had a hard run to reach the ball, with two runners going. He says he pulled the muscle while catching the ball. He was already hurt when he tumbled to the soggy Stadium turf.

“Why say it’s August when you know it’s gonna be October?” Maris grumbled when asked how long he would be out. “It’s too early to tell. The doctor says he won’t know until Friday.”

Yankee officials surprised everyone by conceding that Maris could be out “for up to three weeks.” An old Yankee tradition says that any injury is a day-to-day proposition. 

The last time Maris pulled his right hamstring, he was out three weeks. That was April 1, 1963, when he robbed Al Kaline of an extra-base hit by diving for a line drive in Lakeland, Fla. 

“At the least, a pulled hamstring is not good,” Yankee manager Johnny Keane said today. “We’ll have to wait on it for a few days to see how serious it is. But it isn’t good.”

Keane had three innings to make plans for his latest crisis. When the game ended, he announced that “I’ll probably play either of the Lopezes, depending on the pitchers.” This would mean Tom Tresh will continue to play center field, and Mickey Mantle will stay in left.

The Yankees (6-6) drew 3,001 paying fans today — and that may have been counting Charles O. Finley’s mule and cowboy.

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