Cheap 1961 World Series - New York Yankees vs. Cincinnati Reds (DVD) Price

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What happened after Roger Maris hit home run number 61*
The 1961 World Series might have been one of the most anti-climactic Fall Classics in baseball history, after Roger Maris hit home run 61* on the last day of the season (it is shown on this video). But even with Mickey Mantle playing in only two games and getting only one hit, the New York Yankees defeated the Cincinnati Reds in five games. The series was memorable for the Bronx Bombers for several reasons. Series MVP Whitey Ford, 25-4 during the regular season, won two games and continued the bad year for the Bambino as he broke Babe Ruth's 1918 record of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings with 32. Ralph Houk became only the third first-year manager to win the Series, and second baseman Bobby Richardson, who set a record with 12 RBI's the previous year, set another record with nine hits in a five-game Series.

The 1961 Series started out being dominated by pitching and the long ball. Ford pitched a 2-0 2-hit shutout in Game 1 with Elston Howard and Moose Skowron hitting home runs. Joe Jay, who won 21 games for Fred Hutchinson's club, evened the series with a 6-2 victory but when the Reds returned home to Cincinnati the Yankees won all three games. In Game 3 Red's pitcher Bob Purkey gave up only six hits but lost when John Blanchard hit a pinch-hit homer in the 8th inning to tie the game and Roger Maris hit his only long ball of the Series in the 9th to give the Yankees the lead. Ford, who hurt his ankle in the 5th inning and had to leave the game, combined with Jim Coates for 7-0 victory in Game 4. Then the Yankees scored 5 runs in the top of the first of the final game on way to a 13-5 route (with both Mantle and Yogi Berra out of the lineup no less) as scrub Hector Lopez drove in 5 runs.

In winning their 19th world title the Yankees hit 7 home runs to the Reds' three. NL MVP Frank Robinson had his first taste of World Series play but only batted .200 with one home run, but things would go better for him in the future in the other league. However, let no one pretend that taking care of the Reds in five games got rid of the bad memories from losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates the year before. This black & white video runs 37 minutes.