Elston Howard

[GeoPoto]

Ralph Houk, the former second-string catcher pushed back to the minors by Elston’s emergence, became the manager in 1961. Preferring a more stable lineup than Stengel had, Houk plugged Howard in as his catcher 111 times, playing Berra more in left field. New hitting coach Wally Moses encouraged Howard to bat with his feet closer together, allowing him to spray the ball to all fields. Howard responded with a career year, hitting .348 with 21 home runs in 129 games. He again made the All-Star team and would have battled Norm Cash of Detroit for the batting title if he’d had the plate appearances (Cash won it, hitting .361). Between the revitalized Howard, an historic home run race between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, and terrific pitching (Ford won 25 games), the Yankees won 109 and took only five games to beat Cincinnati in the World Series. Howard caught all five games and was honored in the off-season as St. Louis’ Man of the Year by the city.