The 1961 Yankees, 1919 White Sox, 1906 Cubs and the 1936 Yankees earned spots in the semifinals of the Roger Maris Bracket in the Press Room Pass Strat Madness Tournament.
Roger Maris Bracket Results, Schedule and Round-Up
(1) 1961 Yankees 4, (9) 1933 Giants 0
(12) 1919 White Sox 1, (4) 1931 A’s 0 (10)
(12) 1919 White Sox at (1) 1961 Yankees
- Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford took care of business as the New York Yankees defeated the New York Giants 4-0. Mantle hit a solo homer in the fourth and added a two-run blast in the eighth. Yogi Berra also had a homer in the fourth. Ford went the distance in recording the shutout with eight strikeouts. Elston Howard topped the Yankees with four hits. Hughie Critz led the Giants with two hits, while Hal Schumacher took the loss for the Giants.
- Chicago’s Swede Risberg knocked in the only run of the game in the 10th inning as the White Sox downed the Philadelphia A’s 1-0. Shoeless Joe Jackson started the 10th for Chicago with a single off Eddie Rommel, who entered the game after Lefty Grove worked the first nine innings. Jackson was sacrificed to second by Happy Felsch. After Chick Gandil lined out, Risberg doubled to give the White Sox the lead. Lefty Williams tossed a complete game for the White Sox giving up six hits with three by Jimmie Foxx.
(3) 1906 Cubs 8, (6) 1934 Cardinals 1
(2) 1936 Yankees 5, (10) 1929 Cubs 2
(3) 1906 Cubs at (2) 1936 Yankees
- Five players had two hits each for Chicago as the Cubs posted an 8-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. After Joe Medwick homered in the second inning for the first of his three hits, the Cardinals led 1-0. However, the Cubs offense scored all eight of their runs from the bottom of the second to the fourth against St. Louis starter Daffy Dean. Jimmy Slagle, Jimmy Sheckard, Frank Schulte, Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers each collected a pair of hits. Schulte and Evers both drove in two runs. Mordecai Brown went the distance and had seven strikeouts to get the win.
- New York’s Red Ruffing had a rough first inning, but he bounced back to toss a complete game as the Yankees defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-2. Hack Wilson smacked a two-run homer off Ruffing in the top of the first. Joe DiMaggio cut the deficit in half for the Yankees with a RBI single in the bottom of the frame. In the third, Lou Gehrig and Jake Powell each had a two-run long ball to put the Yankees on top for good. Offensively, Ruffing led the way with three hits. Charlie Root went the distance for the Cubs as he suffered the loss.
IN REAL LIFE:
Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris staged a famous home run battle during the 1961 season, with Maris winning as he hit 61. Mantle finished the season with 54 long balls, 128 RBI and a batting average of .317. He was also second in the Most Valuable Player balloting to Maris for the second straight season. He would win the award for the third time the following year.
An all-star from 1952 to 1965 and again in 1967 and 1968, Mantle hit 536 homers in his 18-year career. He won the triple crown in 1956 as he had 56 homers, 130 RBI and a .353 batting average. The Oklahoma native was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.