"All Al Downing needs now to be the club's big winner is to learn how to pace himself better. The trim lefty fires so hard, he wears down in the late innings, hangs one up too high and is soon out of there. But he has the most overpowering fastball on the Yankee staff, if not in the American League. Last year, only his second in the majors, he was the loop's strikeout king by fanning 217 batters in 244 innings. He also walked the most batters - 120. His record was 13-8, with an ERA of 3.47. Al had a fine rookie year, with a 13-5 mark and 117 strikeouts."
-Jack Zanger, Major League Baseball 1965
"Although he's already won 13 games in each of his two Yankee seasons, baseball experts predict that Al Downing's career is still ahead of him. The hard-throwing southpaw led the American League in strikeouts last season with 217. In his brief career, the Trenton lefty has recorded 410 strikeouts in just 430 innings, an 8.4 average per game.
Ten times in his exciting career, Al has fanned 10 or men in a game, with a career high of 14. In 1962 at Richmond, Al threw a 4-0 no-hitter. In 430 innings for the Yankees up to this year, Al has yielded only 322 hits for a per game average of only 6.7.
Although he had some control trouble in 1964, Downing early in his career developed an excellent changeup to go with his whistling fastball. Manager Johnny Keane and pitching coach Cot Deal worked with Al this spring to avoid some of last year's pitching pitfalls in the hope that he would take his place as one of the Yankees' great left-handers.
An off-season college student, Al Downing is a 23-year-old pitcher with a real future."
-The New York Yankees Official 1965 Yearbook
"Meet the new strikeout king of the American League, fastballing Alphonso Erwin Downing, Esq. The sturdy southpaw paced the junior loop in the whiff department in 1964 with 217, made in 244 innings. Downing thus became the first Yankee to lead the A.L. in strikeouts since Allie Reynolds accomplished the feat in 1952. In addition, Downing is the first Bomber hurler to have gone over the 200 mark in pacing the loop in whiffs.
There is no telling what heights Al is capable of reaching, for '64 was his first full season with the club. When he joined the Bomber organization on December 9, 1960, he was assigned to Binghamton, where in 1961 he proved to be a sensation, reeling off a 9-1 record, a 1.84 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 98 innings. He was called up to the Yankees in the latter part of the campaign, appearing in five contests with a 0-1 mark.
Downing spent the entire 1962 campaign at Richmond, except for lone appearance for exactly for exactly one frame for the Yankees. Al was 9-13 for the International loop club with a 4.10 ERA, but with an outstanding 180 strikeouts in 169 innings.
Then in 1963, after being 3-2 for Richmond, Al received his big chance and made the most of it. He was called up on June 6 to aid the Yankees mound staff, which is just what he did by winning 13 and losing only five with a 2.56 earned run mark. He fanned 10 or more enemy batters in a game on eight occasions, with his single-game high being 14.
During the '64 season when he paced the A.L. in whiffs, Downing was 13-8 with an earned average of 3.47. He was troubled a bit by wildness, and by the Cardinals in the World Series. But with more experience under his belt, he should go on to bigger and better things. Al is an exciting hurler to watch and will no doubt go on to put his name among the all-time great Bomber southpaws in the tradition of Herb Pennock, Lefty Gomez, Ed Lopat and Whitey Ford."
-Jay Publishing 1965 New York Yankees Yearbook
Signed by Yankee organization, December 9, 1960.
Pitched no-hit game for Richmond, May 12, 1962, beating Syracuse 4-0.
Recalled from Richmond, June 6, 1963.
Struck out a single-game high (14), July 6, 1963.
Led American League in strikeouts (217), 1964.
Has struck out 10 or more in one game 10 times.
-1965 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide
No comments:
Post a Comment