A Favor for Casey

Back in the heat of summer, when the American League pennant race was still relatively cool, a grey-thatched seer named Casey Stengel squinted into the future. He saw his New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians scrambling through the stretch drive toward the flag. "That Cleveland," he said, with magnificent scorn for the team that last year had beaten him out of his sixth championship in a row. "I hope everybody beats them. Cleveland! All they got is Wynn and Score for pitchers. Detroit! They been a disappointment. But they'll be doing me a favor if they beat Cleveland."

Last week Fifth Place Detroit did Casey a three-fold favor: they swept a three-game series with the Indians and tumbled them from the lead. Suddenly, after almost two weeks of league-leading ball the Indians fell apart. Their crack pitchers started throwing games away. Lemon, alone, gave up eleven hits in eight innings. Third Baseman Al Rosen made a miserable batting slump worse by stranding five runners in a game that saw his teammates leave another ten men on base. Gratefully, the Yankees made their lead even larger by knocking over the dangerous Red Sox in three straight games at Yankee Stadium, their last home stand of the year.

That series was not without its losses: Slugger Moose Skowron broke his toe in batting practice and is out for several days; Center Fielder Mickey Mantle, fastest man on the team, pulled a leg muscle beating out a bunt, and is on the bench indefinitely; rejuvenated Shortstop Phil Rizzuto was beaned by a pitched ball and had to ride the bench while his teammates won the game already dedicated as Phil Rizzuto Day.

But the Yanks were riding high. Catcher Berra was connecting for homers again. In one game, he hit two--the second one in the last of the ninth--to beat Boston all by himself and put the Yankees back on top of the league. Pitchers Byrne, Grim and Ford were back in pennant-winning form. Heading out this week for the season's windup with the Senators and the Red Sox, the Yanks had a solid two-game edge.

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