The 1961 Yankees finished their season with a win, beating the 1998 Yankees four games to two. They end their season with a 74-82 record while the '98 Yankees drop from first place (by percentage) to third with a 24-12 record.
The '61 Yankees took Game One 6-1. Jim Coates pitched a complete game and struck out nine; Yogi Berra broke the game open with a three run homerun. The '98 Yankees evened the series in Game Two in dramatic fashion. After trailing 1-0 in the 9th inning, Derek Jeter hit a two-out two-run homer to give the '98 Yankees a 2-1 win. They took a 2-1 lead in the series with an emphatic 14-0 slaughter. David Wells pitched a five-hit shutout, and Paul O’Neill went 3-6 at the plate with a homerun and five RBI. The '61 Yankees won the final three games of the series. In Game Four Johnny Blanchard, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris all homered and combined for seven RBI in a 8-5 win. It was Maris’s 61st. homerun of the season. Blanchard struck again in Game Five; he hit a two-run homerun in the 9th inning to break a 4-4 tie for a 6-5 win. In the final game of the series, Maris hit his 62nd homerun to lead the '61 Yankees to a 8-7 win.
The '61 Yankees finished the season with a team batting average of .251, 18th best with 775 runs scored for an average of 4.97 runs per game. They hit 257 homeruns; currently the most among all Yankee teams. Here are the final numbers for their starting lineup:
C: Elston Howard: .338, 37 HRs,104 RBI,112 runs scored,.939 OPS
1B: Bill Skowron: .250, 29 HRs, 105 RBI
2B: Bobby Richardson: .199, 10 stolen bases
SS: Tony Kubek: .263, 12 HRs, 62 RBI
3B: Clete Boyer: .193, 60 RBI
LF: Yogi Berra: .239, 34 HRs, 81 RBI, 101 runs scored
CF: Mickey Mantle: .319, 52 HRs, 115 RBI, 132 runs, 1.077 OPS
RF: Roger Maris: .231, 62 HRs, 136 RBI, 114 runs, .921 OPS
DH: Johnny Blanchard: .363, 15 HRs, 1.270 OPS
The '61 Yankees finished with a 4.60 team ERA, 22nd best. Here are the final numbers for their top five starters and closer:
Whitey Ford: 19-9, 3.35 ERA, 10 complete games, 195 strikeouts
Ralph Terry: 12-14, 3.72 ERA
Bill Stafford: 11-9. 3.78 ERA
Rollie Sheldon: 7-9, 4.74 ERA
Bud Daley: 3-11, 5.77 ERA
Luis Arroyo: 4-5, 36 saves, 3.12 ERA
Jeter leads the ‘98 Yankees in hitting at .365 with a 1.030 OPS. Bernie Williams is hitting .329 with 12 HRs and a 1.034 OPS. Wells’ shutout improved his record to 5-0 with a 2.14 ERA. El Duque Hernandez is also undefeated at 4-0 with a 2.20 ERA. Mariano Rivera has nine saves in 12 appearances with a 1.42 ERA. The '98 Yankees will face the 65-85 1996 Yankees in the next series.
