Do you know …
 

What World Championship Team Batted Less Than .200?

The 1962 World Series between the American League champion New York Yankees and the National League champion San Francisco Giants would turn out to be one of the most dramatic of all time.

But in terms of overall hitting, the Yankees’ bats went to sleep as the Giants’ deep and talented pitching staff dominated the Yankees’ hitter … just not quite enough.

During the regular season, the Yankees as a team hit a league-best .267 with 199 home runs (second to Detroit’s 209) and 817 runs scored (tops in the AL). Yankee center fielder Mickey Mantle won his third league MVP finishing second in batting average (.321) while leading the league in on-base percentage (.486), slugging average (.605) and bases on balls (122). Roger Maris followed back-to-back MVP seasons by leading the Yankees in home runs (33) and RBIs (100). Bobby Richardson had a career-high .302 batting average, while he, Maris, Mantle and Tom Tresh all scored more than 90 runs each.

That offense, plus the pitching of Ralph Terry (23-12) and Whitey Ford (17-8), brought the Yankees their third consecutive American League pennant. But that same offense seemingly disappeared in the Series against the Giants. New York scored only 20 runs in the 7-game series. Only 3 Yankees – Tresh (.321). Clete Boyer (.318), and Tony Kubek (.276) – hit higher than .250 for the Series. Mantle and Maris hit for a combined .146 and only a single RBI between them.

New York did it with pitching and defense, as typified by the 1-0 Game Seven won by Terry’s 4-hit pitching and Richardson’s last-out, Series-saving snare of a Willie McCovey line drive.