Still Some Dying to Do

Mantle's swing has lost its zing and

Marls's bat is rusty.

The pin-striped gods now play like

clods; their pennant deeds grow

musty.

Nostalgia haunts the golden days;

the jolly boys are cranky.

What mockery now lies in that

phrase--"It's great to be a

Yankee."

Mockery of the New York Yankees? And in the Washington Post, no less! Only two years ago, no sportswriter in Washington--or anywhere else--would have dared such doggerel about the Yankees, perennial overlords of the American League, winners of 29 pennants and 20 World Series. But last season the champion Yanks plummeted to sixth place, and rival teams started hooting that they ought to change their name to the Toledo Mud Hens. "Don't you believe it," growled General Man ager Ralph Houk. "We're not dead yet." He was right. The Yankees still had some dying to do.

Last week, with the 1966 season well into its first month, the Yanks were off to the worst start in their 64-year history. Of their first 14 games, they had won only three--and were only percentage points out of last place, 9 games behind the league-leading Baltimore Orioles. Yankee hitters were batting an embarrassing .210. Yankee pitchers had an unspectacular 3.82 earned-run average. And that once airtight Yankee defense had committed 16 errors.

"You just have to tough it out, that's all," muttered Manager Johnny Keane. "It's a struggle sometimes." Keane, who performed a minor miracle in leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the National League pennant in 1964, was at a loss for explanations--at least he offered none. Everybody else had a theory, and some of them started with Keane him self. New York sportswriters grumbled that Keane, in his second year with the Yanks, was still a stranger to the team. Rumors flew that before the season was much older Keane would be replaced by General Manager Houk, who had won three pennants in a row before moving up front.

Matter of Age. The chances were that neither Keane nor Houk could revive these Yankees. Old age had destroyed their skills. Slugger Mickey Mantle, at 34 and in his 16th season, was playing with his shaky legs encased in tape; his right shoulder was still sore after an operation for a bone chip, and he had yet to hit his first home run. Roger Maris, 31, the second half of the M. & M. twins who tore the league apart a few years ago, sat out 116 games last year because of injuries. He seems healthy enough now, but his batting average is a minuscule .179. Then there is Pitcher Whitey Ford, 37, winner of 232 games in 14 years. Whitey says his left arm is as good as ever after his 1964 operation for poor circulation, but he has yet to win in three starts.

Diehard fans insist that the Yanks will come around. But the Orioles have already walloped them four out of five, and the second-place Cleveland Indians, who tied a modern major-league record with ten straight victories, have beaten them twice in a row. Says Detroit Outfielder Al Kaline: "They used to come out on the field, and you just knew they expected to win. There isn't much of that any more."

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