So what did baseball fans have to talk about around the hot stove 50 years ago? Well the winter of 1961-62 probably had some very interesting conversations.
The first may have been whether New York Yankees outfielder and American League Most Valuable Player Roger Maris’ 61 home runs should be considered a single season record. Maris had broken the record of 60 set by Yankees great Babe Ruth in 1927 in a new 162 American League schedule. Ruth had set his record in 154 games. Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that since Maris did not hit his 61 in 154 games there would be and asterisk placed beside his accomplishment.
Hot stove old-timers and Mickey Mantle fans were pleased by this, but the asterisk would haunt Maris for years.
The Yankees were back on top 50 years ago as well having beaten the Cincinnati Reds and National League MVP Frank Robinson in the World Series four games to one. It was New York’s first World Series win without Casey Stengel at the helm since 1949. The old man may have been gone, but the machine rolled on.
But Stengel was still a topic of discussion around the baseball hot stove. He would be returning to the dugout in 1962 as manager of the expansion New York Mets. The city of Houston would also be joining the National League as the Colt 45’s. Because of this, the NL which had only played 154 games in 1961 would now join the AL in playing 162.
What about the youth of American baseball? Well, a young outfielder by the name of Carl Yastrzemski had just finished his first season with the Boston Red Sox and was being hailed as the heir apparent to Ted Williams. And the Chicago Cubs had called up a young outfielder by the name of Lou Brock.
But the hot name around the hot stove was of a young shortstop with the Yankees by the name of Tommy Tresh. He was New York’s latest phenom and would be replacing Tony Kubek who was called to military service.
It didn’t matter who played short as long as Whitey Ford was pitching for New York. ‘The Chairman of the Board’ was coming off of a season in which he led the AL in wins with 25. Ford was considered by many around the hot stove as baseball’s best pitcher.
In the NL 40 year old Milwaukee Braves left hander Warren Spahn won 21 and also led the league with a 3.02 earned run average. But it was another left-hander who people were starting to take notice of.
In Los Angeles, Sandy Koufax was coming off of his first winning season in seven years. Along the way he set an NL record with 269 strikeouts. A bonus signing in 1955, Koufax had yet to prove his worth until 1961. Now could he continue to do it?
As it had 50 and 25 years before, the conversation around the hot stove burned on.