"Around the Yankees, they will tell you that Al Downing can fall asleep quicker than anybody else. He will suddenly slip off while watching his favorite television show. But there's nothing somnolent about him on the mound. Al's a quick worker who can hardly wait to get the ball back from the catcher.
Last season he regained some of the early momentum he showed during his first couple of years with the Yankees; he posted a 14-10 record with an ERA of 2.63. It was Al's first winning campaign - and probably his best - since 1964, when he was 13-8 and led the league in strikeouts with 217.
The 27-year-old southpaw still has his strikeout pitch - a crackling fastball - though he fanned a relatively modest 171 hitters last year. But his control was a lot sharper than it's ever been before, as he walked only 61 batters in 202 innings."
-Jack Zanger, Major League Baseball 1968
"When lefty Al Downing is 'right,' he's unbeatable.
Al had the best year of his career in 1967 with a personal high of 14 wins and an ERA of 2.63. From the time he joined the Yankees in '63, and went on to win 13 games, he has been watched as a future star. Despite a league-leading strikeout record of 217 in his second full season as a Yankee, Al didn't make it as a big winner. After flawless pitching, a walk or a home run would wreck his game in a late inning.
But last year Al matured, his fastball had the old zip, and he was in complete command. He was able to come up with that something extra needed when the big crunch is on - which is the real mark of a great pitcher. He allowed the least number of walks in his career - 61 - an average of only 2.7 walks per game, and had 171 strikeouts in 202 innings. He allowed only three homers during the first half of the season; tied with Stottlemyre for the club lead in complete games (10) and shutouts (4), and hurled a 2-hitter, two 4-hitters and two 5-hitters. Four times Al struck out 10 or more batters in one game; this brings his career total of such games to 16. His single-game high is 14 strikeouts in '63.
With a mid-season record of 9-5 and an ERA of 2.66, Al made the All-Star team last year. In a critical part of the game, he hurled two scoreless innings and struck out two.
Ralph Houk, who has always been one of Downing's strongest boosters, says: 'Look how long it took Sandy Koufax to find himself. One of these Al days will put everything together.'
At the same age, 26, Koufax's record didn't approach Al's. Not every pitcher can be a Koufax, but Al has a chance to be.
Al attended Rider College and probably leads the club in such off-the-field activities as goodwill appearances and after-dinner speeches. He spent a lot of time during the winter talking baseball with youngsters and urging them to stay in school and 'go the distance.'"
-The New York Yankees Official 1968 Yearbook
"Al had the best year of his career in 1967. He seemed to mature as he repeatedly was able to get the big out.
He set a personal high in wins with 14 and averaged just 2.7 walks per game, lowest of his career. He also allowed only 13 homers, just three during the first half of the season. Al tied for the club lead in complete games (10) and shutouts (4) with Mel Stottlemyre. He hurled a 2-hitter, two 4-hitters and two 5-hitters, and four times struck out 10 or more in one game, which brings his career total in this category to 16.
Al had a rough 1967 spring training and opened the season working from the bullpen. He was the winning pitcher in his first two relief appearances and returned to the regular starting rotation. He was selected to the All-Star team for the first time in his career and fared well in the mid-season classic as he hurled two scoreless innings and struck out two.
Although a veteran of five years in the major leagues, Al is still only 26 years old. In his first season, at Binghamton in 1961, he jumped off to a 9-1 mark and was brought up to the Yankees in June when their pitching staff faltered. When in 1963 the Yankee staff again needed him, Al again got the call, and this time he remained. He posted a 13-5 won-lost record and had an ERA of 2.56 in 176 innings. In 1964, he led the American League in strikeouts with 217. This figure is the second highest by a Yankee in one season- Jack Chesbro had 240 in 1904.
Al attended Rider College. Always relaxed, he leads the club in goodwill appearances and after dinner speeches."
-1968 New York Yankees Press-Radio-TV Guide
"The No. 2 short-reliever on the 1968 American League All-Star squad is Al Downing, the New York Yankees compact left-hander who is basically a starting pitcher, but who showed in 1967 that he could work effectively coming out of the bullpen.
That came as somewhat of a surprise to manager Ralph Houk- if only because Downing's troubles over the years have stemmed from the fact that he lost his stuff suddenly. So suddenly, at times, that the skipper didn't have a chance to warm up a reliever before the opposition scored a couple of runs and put the game out of reach.
'I don't believe I ever trained correctly before the spring of last season,' comments Al, who was born in Trenton, New Jersey on June 28, 1941 and has compiled a 62-48 record in the last five seasons with the club. 'I decided to build up my arm slowly. In past springs, I started to throw hard right from the start. I thought I was building up my arm, but apparently I wasn't. That would seem to account for the sudden weakenings in late innings.'
A 5-11, 180-pounder, Downing pitched his way in and out of the New York bullpen last year, to finish with a 14-10 won-and-lost record, a 2.63 earned run average, four shutouts and 171 strikeouts in 202 innings.
Control is a crucial factor in the success of any short-reliever, called into the game in time of crisis, and that's a skill which Downing has developed impressively in the last two seasons. Prior to 1966 he was pretty wild, but he had a 152-79 ratio of strikeouts to walks that year and posted a sparkling 171-61 ratio in 1967."
-Fred Down, Sports All-Stars 1968 Baseball
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