Chasing the Pin Stripes

For the first half of the season, the American League pennant race seemed as unpredictable as a frog-jumping contest. In the first three months, four teams swapped the lead -Cleveland, Minnesota, New York, even the improbable Los Angeles Angels (TIME, July 13). At one point last month, only 3 1/2 games separated the first seven teams. But by last week, the league had settled down to a scramble for second place. On top of the pack once again were the perennial champion New York Yankees. They were just a little overdue.

As the season opened, tobacco-chewing Manager Ralph Houk, winner of a world championship in his first year on the job, was two-or three-men deep at most positions. Between them, Pitchers Whitey Ford and Luis Arroyo had won 40 games in 1961. Roger Maris had clouted 61 homers; Mickey Mantle had hit 54; Catcher Elston Howard had batted .348. The slick-fielding Yankee infield was the best in baseball. The Yankees seemed a sure shot to win their twelfth pennant in 14 years.

But things began to go wrong. Though he has won eleven games (compared with 19 last year at this time), Whitey Ford up to last week had pitched only three complete games all season long. His arm ruined by years of throwing a tortuous screwball. Bullpen Ace Arroyo retired temporarily to the disabled list. Taunted almost beyond his endurance by beercan-throwing fans and ill-equipped to handle the problems of instant fame, Maris was hitting an anemic .249, will be lucky to manage 40 home runs this year. Manager Houk had only one .300 hitter -Mickey Mantle -in his lineup.

With no particular talent for winning, the Yankees still won, simply because they had no talent for losing. Hobbled for a month with a painful leg injury, Mantle returned to the lineup, limping badly, and hit seven homers in five games. Inspired by Mantle's return, Maris clouted nine in 17 games, and the Yankees hurtled from fourth place to first in a single week, ran off nine victories in a row. Yankee bats might turn cold again, but there was still the Yankees' subtle pressure. "You look at the Yankee line-up," said a rival manager "and you say there's no reason why we shouldn't clobber these guys. Hell, they had to score four runs in the eighth inning to beat West Point in an exhibition game. Then you get in that Yankee Stadium, and you see those Yankee uniforms, and you say, 'What are we doing here? We just don't belong in this league.' "

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