The 1961 New York Yankees got their championship defense started with a victory. Also on season 5’s opening day, the 1967 Boston Red Sox put up one of the best offensive performances of any season, and the 1962 San Francisco Giants and 1969 Minnesota Twins also picked up victories.
Roger Maris and Rico Petrocelli both had two home runs on the day. Both of Petrocelli’s came in Boston’s rout of the 1961 Detroit Tigers. Maris hit one for the 1961 Yankees and one for the 1967 St. Louis Cardinals.
New York Yankees 5, New York Mets 2
The Yankees got their championship defense off to a great start. With two outs, two walks and a single loaded the bases, and Bill Skowron smacked a grand slam to make it 4-0. The Mets cut the deficit in half in the fifth on an RBI single from Bud Harrelson and a sacrifice fly by Tommie Agee. The Yankees’ Roger Maris got one back with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. Tom Seaver was otherwise good, giving up only three hits and striking out 10 in the loss. Ford got out of several jams for the win.
1969 NY METS AB R H BI 1961 NY YANKEES AB R H BI
Tommie Agee 3 0 0 1 Bobby Richardson 4 0 0 0
Al Weis 4 0 1 0 Tony Kubek 4 0 0 0
Cleon Jones 4 0 2 0 Roger Maris 2 2 1 1
Donn Clendenon 4 0 1 0 Mickey Mantle 4 1 1 0
Ron Swoboda 3 1 0 0 Yogi Berra 1 1 0 0
Wayne Garrett 2 0 0 0 Bill Skowron 3 1 1 4
Jerry Grote 4 1 1 0 Elston Howard 3 0 0 0
Bud Harrelson 3 0 1 1 Clete Boyer 3 0 0 0
Tom Seaver X 1 0 0 0 Whitey Ford X 3 0 0 0
Bobby Pfeil 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 29 2 6 2 TOTALS 27 5 3 5
1969 NY METS 000 020 000 -- 2
1961 NY YANKEES 400 010 00x -- 5
LOB--1969 NY METS 7, 1961 NY YANKEES 2. ERR--Whitey Ford X.
2B--Cleon Jones. HR--Roger Maris, Bill Skowron. SACF--Tommie
Agee. SACB--Tom Seaver X.
1969 NY METS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Tom Seaver X [L] 8.00 3 5 5 4 10 2
1961 NY YANKEES
Whitey Ford X [W] 8.00 6 2 1 4 4 0
Luis Arroyo X [S] 1.00 0 0 0 1 1 0
Minnesota 7, Los Angeles 2
The Twins scored in four of the first five innings, highlighted by an RBI triple from Tony Oliva in the third, a two-run double from Ted Uhlaender in the fourth and a two-run homer by Harmon Killebrew in the fifth. Johnny Roseboro added an RBI single in the seventh that made it 7-1. The Dodgers scored on their second batter of the game (an RBI double in the first from Jim Gilliam) and their next-to-last batter of the game (a pinch-hit solo homer by Duke Snider). Jim Kaat got the win, giving up one run in seven innings.
1969 MINNESOTA TWINS AB R H BI 1962 LOS ANGELES DOD AB R H BI
Ted Uhlaender 5 1 2 2 Maury Wills 5 1 2 0
Rod Carew 2 1 0 0 Jim Gilliam 4 0 2 1
Tony Oliva 4 1 2 1 Willie Davis 4 0 1 0
Harmon Killebrew 5 1 1 2 Tommy Davis 4 0 0 0
Rich Reese 5 1 2 0 Ron Fairly 4 0 0 0
Leo Cardenas 4 1 0 0 Frank Howard 4 0 1 0
Cesar Tovar 4 1 3 0 Johnny Roseboro 4 0 1 0
Johnny Roseboro 5 0 3 1 Daryl Spencer 4 0 0 0
Jim Kaat YZ 3 0 1 0 Stan Williams W 1 0 0 0
Wally Moon 1 0 0 0
Duke Snider 1 1 1 1
TOTALS 37 7 14 6 TOTALS 36 2 8 2
1969 MINNESOTA TWINS 101 220 100 -- 7
1962 LOS ANGELES DODGERS 100 000 001 -- 2
LOB--1969 MINNESOTA TWINS 10, 1962 LOS ANGELES DODGERS 8.
ERR--Jim Kaat YZ. 2B--Ted Uhlaender, Jim Gilliam. 3B--Tony
Oliva, Willie Davis. HR--Harmon Killebrew, Duke Snider.
SACB--Jim Kaat YZ. SB--Jim Gilliam.
1969 MINNESOTA TWINS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Jim Kaat YZ [W] 7.00 7 1 1 1 4 0
Dean Chance Y 2.00 1 1 1 0 2 1
1962 LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Stan Williams W [L] 5.00 11 6 6 4 2 1
Pete Richert XW 2.00 3 1 1 1 2 0
Ed Roebuck Y 2.00 0 0 0 1 2 0
Boston 14, Detroit 3
Rico Petrocelli hit two home runs with five RBI and Tony Conigliaro had four hits and four RBI to lead Boston in the rout. The Red Sox scored five times in the first inning, including a three-run shot by Petrocelli. Conigliaro had a solo homer in the fourth and RBI singles in the first, fourth and seventh. Petrocelli also had a two-run homer in the seventh inning. The Tigers got a solo homer from pinch-hitter Vic Wertz in the fifth and a two-run single by Dick Brown in the eighth. Boston’s Gary Bell gave up one run in seven innings for the win.
1967 BOSTON RED SOX AB R H BI 1961 DETROIT TIGERS AB R H BI
Mike Andrews 4 3 1 0 Jake Wood 5 0 2 0
Joe Foy 6 3 4 1 Bill Bruton 5 0 0 0
Carl Yastrzemski 6 2 2 1 Al Kaline 3 0 0 0
George Scott 4 0 2 3 Rocky Colavito 5 1 2 0
Tony Conigliaro 5 2 4 4 Norm Cash 4 1 2 0
Reggie Smith 5 1 1 0 Steve Boros 3 0 1 0
Rico Petrocelli 4 2 3 5 Dick Brown 4 0 1 2
Mike Ryan 4 1 0 0 Chico Fernandez 4 0 0 0
Gary Bell Y 4 0 0 0 Paul Foytack Y 1 0 1 0
Jerry Adair 1 0 0 0 Vic Wertz 1 1 1 1
Dick McAuliffe 1 0 0 0
Charlie Maxwell 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 43 14 17 14 TOTALS 36 3 10 3
1967 BOSTON RED SOX 501 201 500 -- 14
1961 DETROIT TIGERS 000 010 020 -- 3
LOB--1967 BOSTON RED SOX 7, 1961 DETROIT TIGERS 11.
ERR--Steve Boros, Al Kaline. 2B--Carl Yastrzemski, Joe Foy,
Reggie Smith, Norm Cash. HR--Tony Conigliaro, Rico
Petrocelli (2), Vic Wertz. SACF--George Scott. SB--Joe Foy.
1967 BOSTON RED SOX IP H R ER BB SO HR
Gary Bell Y [W] 7.00 7 1 1 3 3 1
Jose Santiago Y 2.00 3 2 2 2 3 0
1961 DETROIT TIGERS
Paul Foytack Y [L] 5.00 10 8 4 2 6 2
Ron Kline Y 2.00 7 6 6 2 2 1
Gerry Staley Z 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
Phil Regan 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
San Francisco 6, St. Louis 4
The Cardinals’ Roger Maris homered in the first inning to get the scoring started. Jim Davenport had a two-run double and Jose Pagan had an RBI single as the Giants took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second. St. Louis made it 3-2 in the bottom of the second, and it stayed that way until the seventh. San Francisco extended its lead with three runs, including a two-run homer from Willie Mays. The Cardinals made it a two-run game at 6-4 in the bottom of the eighth on Curt Flood’s two-out, two-RBI double, but the Giants were able to close it out from there.
1962 SAN FRANCISCO G AB R H BI 1967 ST. LOUIS CARDI AB R H BI
Harvey Kuenn 5 1 2 0 Lou Brock 4 0 0 0
Chuck Hiller 5 0 1 1 Curt Flood 4 0 1 2
Willie Mays 4 1 2 2 Roger Maris 4 1 2 1
Orlando Cepeda 4 1 2 0 Orlando Cepeda 3 0 0 0
Felipe Alou 4 1 1 0 Tim McCarver 4 0 0 0
Jim Davenport 4 1 1 2 Mike Shannon 4 1 1 0
Tom Haller 4 0 0 0 Julian Javier 4 0 0 0
Jose Pagan 4 0 1 1 Dal Maxvill 2 1 0 0
Billy Pierce Z 3 1 1 0 Dick Hughes XZ 2 0 0 0
Willie McCovey 1 0 0 0 Alex Johnson 1 1 1 0
TOTALS 38 6 11 6 TOTALS 32 4 5 3
1962 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 030 000 300 -- 6
1967 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 110 000 020 -- 4
LOB--1962 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 5, 1967 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
3. ERR--Harvey Kuenn, Jose Pagan, Dick Hughes XZ, Orlando
Cepeda. 2B--Jim Davenport, Mike Shannon, Curt Flood.
HR--Willie Mays, Roger Maris.
1962 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Billy Pierce Z [W] 7.67 4 4 3 1 5 1
Stu Miller Y 0.33 1 0 0 0 0 0
Bobby Bolin XZ [S] 1.00 0 0 0 1 0 0
1967 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Dick Hughes XZ [L] 7.00 11 6 5 0 6 1
Larry Jaster 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nelson Briles YZ 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 