Aug. 8, 1964 - The largest American League crowd of the season — 52,796 — saw the Yankees evoke the glories of the past today at Yankee Stadium.
But once the titans of Old-Timers’ Day had left the field, they saw the Orioles evoke the problems of the present with a 6-5 victory copied right out of the pages of Yankee history — with a 10th-inning home run.
With one sweep of Sam Bowens’ bat, the Orioles won their second straight game in the struggle for first place, solidified their grip on the league lead, and knocked the Yanks into third place behind the White Sox.
They also nullified a dramatic Yankee rally that had deadlocked the Orioles in the late innings on home runs by John Blanchard, Joe Pepitone, and Bobby Richardson.
And finally, they fought Whitey Ford for two innings before the lefthander called off another experiment with his strained right hip in what may have been the costliest part of the long day for the Yankees.
It was the ninth time in 10 games that Ford had been forced to quit early.
“I just don’t know when I’ll be able to pitch again,” Ford said afterward. “In the first inning today, I felt pretty good, then I broke off two or three curves to Bob Johnson and, in the second, everything hurt.”
Sharing the hero’s mantle with the rookie Bowens, who scored three times while getting a double and a single prior to his homer, were Dick Hall, who replaced Milt Pappas and pitched two perfect innings of relief at the end, and Earl Robinson, who drove in two runs with a homer and two singles.
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