June 30, 1963 - The New York Yankees fattened their American League lead by sweeping a doubleheader from the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 and 11-4, today on Yogi Berra’s 3-run homer in the opener and first baseman Dick Stuart’s horrible fielding in the nightcap. The two wins moved New York two games ahead of second-place Chicago, which divided a pair with Cleveland, and dropped Boston four-and-a-half back. The Red Sox looked as if they might gain a split in the nightcap when they battered Yankee starter Bill Stafford for 8 hits and a 2-0 lead, but Stuart’s 3-base error with the bases loaded in the fourth put the Yanks in front for good. Stuart botched things up for Boston when he allowed Tony Kubek’s grounder to go through his legs with the bags jammed, permitting three to score. A Yankee Stadium crowd of 41,025 saw the Red Sox come within 5 men of the major league record by leaving 15 runners stranded in the nightcap. Afterward, Boston manager Johnny Pesky (pictured) told reporters he had held a team meeting to talk things over. “I told them some things,” Johnny said. “Certainly we had chances to win that second game. Look at all the hits we got [14] and the men we left on. I think Stuart should have at least stopped the ball, not let it go through him so that three scored. Of course, we all know he didn’t do it on purpose. But if he had only kept it from going into the outfield, we’d have been even — only one run would have scored, not three.”
