1962 Profile: Ralph Terry

1962 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

"The right-handed hurling ace in the 1961 pennant push was Ralph Terry. He won 16 and lost only three times, gaining the second-best percentage in baseball (Ford's .862 topping all others).

Terry started as a Yankee in 1956 but was dealt to the Athletics in '57; he returned to New York in '59 and has 48-49 lifetime totals. His fastball and curve are his main assets. He was born in Big Cabin, Oklahoma."

-Don Schiffer, The 1962 Major League Baseball Handbook

"Since 1954 the Yankees have been watching Ralph Terry develop, always believing that he would become an outstanding star. Eventually, he was traded to Kansas City, later re-acquired. Still, the promise was greater than the performance ... then came 1961! Ralph arrived! He posted a 16-3 record and a fine earned-run average of 3.16. Never in his major or minor career had Terry won as many as 16 nor posted an ERA as low as 3.16.

Now he has won his place as the ace right-hander of the Yankee squad, although that position could be challenged by Bill Stafford and others this season. But the Terry promise of 1954 has now been realized. At the age of 26, Ralph should have his 'big' years still ahead of him.

In the last two seasons, Terry has pitched the pennant-clinching game on the road and last August he produced a run of 25 consecutive scoreless innings. Injuries retarded him in the first half of last season, but he won 11 games in the last half when the chips were down.

He possesses a good variety of pitches and the knowledge of how to use them. And in 188 innings last season, Ralph walked only 42 men, or an average of only two a game. Though he enters this season with a lifetime mark under.500, Ralph hopes his 1962 performance will alter that and give him his first 20-victory campaign."

-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook

Won pennant-clinching game for Yankees at Boston, September 25, 1960.

Pitched 25 consecutive scoreless innings, August 11-29, 1961.

Won pennant-clinching game for Yankees at Baltimore, September 20, 1961.

-1962 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Ralph Terry's fifth full season in the American League was by far his best one. The 26-year-old right-hander compiled one of the best won and lost records in the Junior Circuit, 16-3, and had a splendid earned run average, 3.16.

The 6'3" native of Big Cabin, Oklahoma, had posted only 32 victories in his major league career prior to the 1961 campaign. His splendid work brought his lifetime mark up to 48-49.

New York and the St. Louis Cardinals had both signed Terry in 1954, but the commissioner ruled in favor of the Bombers. St. Louis' loss was New York's gain.

Ralph spent his first season in O.B. with the Yankees' Eastern League affiliate, Binghamton, and had an 11-9 record in Class A company. He divided the 1955 season between Denver of the American Association and Birmingham of the Southern loop.

In 1956, after setting the AA on fire with a 13-4 mark, he was promoted from Denver to the Yankees. His stay in the Bronx wasn't long-lived though.

The Bombers traded him to Kansas City in June of 1957, along with Billy Martin, for outfielder Harry "Suitcase" Simpson. Ralph was only 5-12 in '57 but had a 3.34 ERA. In 1958 his record at Kansas City was 11-13.

Then, in 1959, the New Yorkers reacquired the 192-pounder in a deal that also brought Hector Lopez to the club. The A's received pitchers Johnny Kucks and Tom Sturdivant and infielder Jerry Lumpe for the duo.

Ralph's '59 record was 5-11 and in 1960 was 10-8, but the Pirates bombed him for two losses in the '60 Series.

Terry was moved into the Yankees' regular starting rotation by manager Ralph Houk last summer and proceeded to post at least one victory over each of the other nine AL teams. His "cousins" were Cleveland (4-0) and Chicago (3-0). In 188 innings, the powerful righty was touched for only 66 runs.

Terry did okay as a batsman last season, getting 15 hits including a pair of doubles. Only Whitey Ford had more safeties among New York moundsmen.

Ralph's control has always been an asset as his strikeouts versus bases on balls indicates.

Cincinnati's lone victory in the World Series was against Terry, who now has a record of 0-3 in the Fall Classics.

Helping the Yankees win the championship is, of course, Ralph's No. 1 objective for 1962. But you can bet that his No. 2 aim is to post a victory against the National League in the '62 Series."

-The 1962 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook