Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 63

pitcher Tom Morgan and, for a second straight year, young pitching phenom Whitey Ford. Until Mickey Mantle could fulfill the immense expectations branded upon him, the Yankees would have to do with a cast of good supporting players, but no stars.

And the Yankee season was slow to get on track. Despite the presence of an improved Mantle, the Yankees played mortally through the first two months of the 1952 season, struggling to stay above the .500 mark. But no other team in the highly competitive American League was dominating and the Yankees stayed within reach, allowing time for some of the newer

talent outside of Mantle to help gel the team back into winning shape, including the young, pugnacious Billy Martin replacing Coleman at second base, and veteran pitcher Johnny Sain filling the void for injured starter Ed Lopat.

The team had a record of 18–17 on May 30th, but they improved thereafter. Stengel prepared nearly 100 different lineup cards for the 1952 season. The race was still tight in early September, and on September 5th, Stengel lectured the team for excessive levity on the train after the Yankees lost two of three to Philadelphia. Embarrassed by the episode, which made its way into print, the Yankees responded to the call for a rebound,

and the Yankees claimed first place for much of the summer. But September held a major challenge. Up 3.5 games over the