Sept. 7, 1964 - The longest day of the season exposed one thing about the Yankees. They are in an edgy frame of mind that usually brings them a pennant. Their day started with a 9 a.m. wakeup call after a late plane arrival from Kansas City last night.
They played an 11 a.m. game with the Minnesota Twins that took three hours and 26 minutes, seven Yankee pitchers, and a fourth hit by Roger Maris to win in 11 innings, 5-4. Then they waited around in a motel and listened to radio reports about the White Sox and Orioles, as a prelude to an 8 p.m. scheduled game.
But tonight’s game was rained out and rescheduled for tomorrow night, and that’s why most Yankees are hopping mad. They figure Twin owner Cal Griffith played them a dirty trick to boost his beer sales. The Yankees would have preferred to play their makeup game with the Twins tomorrow afternoon before their trip to Detroit.
But Griffith can’t sell any beer in Minneapolis tomorrow until 8 p.m. because it’s Primary Day. He also figured to cadge a few more fans through his gates for a night game. Yankees blistered.
“It wouldn’t be bad if we weren’t playing for a pennant,” Tom Tresh said, “but why would he be so unreasonable except to promote his beer sales? We have a plane trip to make before a night game in Detroit Wednesday. Now we don’t know if we fly after the game tomorrow night or Wednesday. All of this is unreasonable. It’s unsettling, and we’re in a situation where one game or one play could mean the pennant.”
Manager Yogi Berra felt the longest day most. He’s never changed pitchers so often. The Yankees made it look easy through seven innings. Jim Bouton had a two-hitter, and the Yanks led, 4-0. Tony Kubek had led off the game with a homer for the second straight day. Maris pumped one out with a runner on, and Bouton singled the fourth run home in the sixth.
But in the Twins’ eighth, a two-run pinch homer by Bob Allison and a two-run single by rookie Tony Oliva tied the score. Berra gave Bouton the quick jerk.
“I was mad then,” Bouton said afterward, “but I’m happy as hell now. What a big win that was. This is getting to be a good race.”
Before the excitement died down, three innings later, the Yanks had used seven pitchers, including Whitey Ford, who got the final out.
Meanwhile, the players learned that the White Sox had lost a doubleheader and that the Orioles had split. This left the Yankees in third place, but only a game and a half out of first. It took some of the sting out of their long day.
Actually, their position is much stronger. They have the same number of defeats as the first-place Orioles and two fewer than the White Sox. The Yankees have 26 games to play, the Orioles 23, and the White Sox 20.
“I never thought,” said Berra, “we’d get that far up that soon.”
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