The Yankees’ un-Berra-ble move
Exactly 51 weeks to the day after he is hired to manage the New York Yankees, franchise icon Yogi Berra is fired by the Yankees 60 years ago today.
Apparently, finishing 36 games over .500 at 99-63, and winning the American League pennant in 1964 are not good enough for the Yankees’ straight-laced front office.
The prim-and-proper Yankees brass reportedly is not pleased with Berra’s handling of some of his not-so-prim-and-proper players (namely his longtime teammates and noted party animals Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford).
Instead of receiving the two-year contract extension he wants for getting the Yankees to the World Series against St. Louis — and just two days after losing to the Cardinals in the seventh and deciding game of the Series — Berra is told that he is out as manager.
Maybe, upper management tells him, he could come back as a scout, but definitely not as the manager.
The same day Berra is fired, St. Louis manager Johnny Keane resigns from his job with the Cardinals.
Johnny Keane, left, and Yogi Berra after the 1964 World Series (Bettmann Archives photo)
Not exactly a shock there as the well-respected Keane feels immense pressure over the season’s final weeks to chase down the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.
Suddenly, in the waning days of the regular season, the Cardinals begin to play much better, the Phillies simply forget how to win and, just like that, Keane has St. Louis winning the National League pennant and then beating Berra’s Yankees in the World Series.
Keane, though, has been through enough with the Cardinals – especially after St. Louis owner Augie Busch reportedly begins courting Leo Durocher in August to become the Cardinals’ manager in 1965.
As it turns out, the Yankees also need a manager for 1965 after firing Berra and quickly hire Keane.
The Yankees, though, struggle with Keane in 1965, finishing at 77-85 and miss playing in the World Series for only the third time since 1948.
Keane lasts only 20 games into the 1966 season with the Yankees, losing 16 of those 20 games before general manager Ralph Houk – who fires Berra 60 years ago today – replaces Keane.
The Yankees do not return to the postseason for another 10 seasons.
As for Berra, he rebounds from his firing in 1964 to join the crosstown New York Mets as a player-coach in 1965 before becoming a longtime coach and manager with the Mets – helping them win the World Series in 1969 as a coach and then leading them back to the Series in 1973 as their manager.