Article: Twins vs. Yankees (Part 2): How Killebrew Killed The Damn Yankees

[John Bonnes]

It isn’t often one can define, to the moment, the end of an era, but such was the end of the Yankees three decade long domination of the American League. The moment was on Sunday, July 11^th, 1965. And Twins slugger Harmon “Killer” Killebrew ended it on one symbolic swing.Killebrew was signed by the Washington Senators in 1954, a year before “Damn Yankees” musical opened on Broadway, but MLB contract rules delayed him from playing full time with the club until 1959. The 22-year-old made up for lost time, hitting a league-leading 42 home runs. After the Senators became the Twins in 1961, he led the league five more times before his career was over, and finished in the top five an astounding 12 times. He won the American League MVP in 1969 and received votes ten of the Twins first eleven years of existence. He retired with 573 home runs and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984.

 

But the first half dozen years of his career were in the shadow of a very long Yankees dynasty. From 1936 through 1964, the Yankees failed to win the American League pennant just seven times, meaning they were in the World Series twenty-two times. And they had won the AL nine of the last 10 years.

 

But there were indications that the end was near. Entering a series with the first place Twins immediately prior to the All-Star Game, the Yankees were in sixth place, 12.5 games back. And in front of packed stadiums, the Twins won the first two games. However, the Yankees won the third game, and the fourth game was a tight affair, tied 4-4 going into the ninth. That last inning, it turned out, had everything.

 

In the top of the frame, the Yankees had runners on first and third base with two outs but failed to score when their batter hit a soft ground ball up the first base line. The Twins pitcher wasn’t able to field it cleanly, but that was because the Yankees batter interfered with him while running to first base. So the batter was out, and the runner from third that had crossed home plate didn’t count.

 

Or did it? Yankees manager Johnny Keane came out and disputed the call, telling the umpire that he thought the Twins pitcher fielded the ball and tried to tag the Yankees batter, but then dropped it. If that’s the case, the runner would be safe and the run that crossed the plate on the play would count.

 

Any Yankee detractor can see how this is going to end: the umpires reversed the call. Twins manager Sam Mele charged out of the dugout, but his team was told to retake the field even as he told the umpires the rest of the game would be played under protest. The Twins got the last out, but the damage had been done and the extremely agitated crowd knew it. Didn’t the Yankees get breaks like this all the time? Like in the musical, it was not hard to picture the Devil on the Yankees side. Nor was it hard to picture the AL slipping away yet again.

 

But the ’65 Twins had proved their resiliency throughout the year. Rich Rollins coaxed a walk, but it was sandwiched between two outs. Still, that gave Killebrew a chance to bat. He worked a full count before Yankees reliever Pete Mikkelsen challenged him with a fastball.

 

In his book about the 1965 Twins, Cool Of The Evening, author Jim Thielman describes what happened next:

 

“The ball jetted towards the stands, almost as if Killebrew had lit a short fuse on a Fourth of July pop bottle rocket. It was not the typical “Killebrew Fly” that featured a majestic parabolic arch. The ball was still rising when it crashed into the left-field pavilion.

 

Silence.

 

Had this happened? Had Killbrew hit a two-out, two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch to beat the Yankees heading into the All-Star Break? Was this team going to the World Series? The crowd erupted, screaming, applauding and stamping its feet on the stands, as had become the custom when the Met Stadium regulars wanted to display their appreciation enthusiastically. The cantilevered triple deck behind home plate shook from the thunderous pounding.”

 

That home run was recognized as the biggest home run in Twins history until Kirby Puckett’s walkoff shot in 1991’s Game 6. The Twins did go on to the World Series that year, though they lost to the Dodgers and Sandy Koufax in seven games.

 

The Yankees not only did not with the pennant, but they finished with a losing record for the first time since 1925 – the same year the Washington Senators (the Twins predecessors) won their only World Series. And the Yankees would not make the playoffs again for the next eleven years. The Damn Yankees deal with the Devil was finally over.

 

Part 3: A Twin Becomes A Damn Yankee

 

 Previously: Twins vs Yankees (Part 1): The Rise Of The Damn Yankees

 

Click here to view the article

[JB_Iowa]

Thanks, John.  I'm really enjoying this series.

 

Ah, how we could use another "Killer type" now.

[Scott51104]

Hearing Ray Scott call that homerun after describing the Twins' year-long series of comeback wins was terrific.