Aug. 25, 1964 - Whitey Ford was his old self in pitching eight innings of the Yankees’ 4-1 victory over Washington tonight at Yankee Stadium. The return of Ford not only gives the Yankees four top starters again, it also bolsters the bullpen.
Manager Yogi Berra can now safely name his pitching rotation as Ford, Mel Stottlemyre, Jim Bouton, and Al Downing. And the bullpen? “I’m gonna use all those guys there, too,” Berra said.
Berra used Downing to protect the 4-1 lead the Yankees gave Ford in the eighth inning tonight. And the fireballing southpaw responded with three strikeouts to handcuff the Senators in the ninth.
“Too bad, Al was a good starter too,” Whitey joked afterward. “What are you laughing at, Bouton? You’re gonna be in that bullpen tomorrow.”
Bouton is, too. Stottlemyre was scheduled to start tomorrow’s game with Washington, and he’ll go to the bullpen Friday night against Boston. “It’ll be that way as long as our starters can get three days’ rest,” Berra said.
The Yankee optimism was all built around Ford. Of course, Mickey Mantle’s bases-loaded double which scored two runs in the eighth and Joe Pepitone’s pinch single which scored the other two had something to do with it. But Ford’s troublesome hip didn’t hurt a bit tonight, and that is good news for Yankee fans.
Mantle was feeling good on his double. His creaking knees were moving well as he legged out the hit and wound it up with a long slide. The hit came off Washington’s second reliever, Ron Kline.
“He’s always given me trouble,” Mantle said. “I never usually hit off him, but I don’t think about those things when I’m up.” Kline is a known knuckleball pitcher. “He may be, but he only throws me fastballs,” Mantle said.
Mantle may never see another fastball from Kline again.
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