1971 Profile: Jack Aker

"The other half of the best right-handed bullpen in baseball, Jack throws a sidearm sinker that's poison to right-handed hitters.
He's the sloppiest tobacco chewer on a team of avid tobacco chewers. He leaves brown puddles on the floor of the dugout, the dirt of the bullpen and the pinstripes of his uniform.
'I can chew it,' he says, 'but I can't spit a lick.'
Of Indian descent, Jack was the best relief pitcher in baseball with the Kansas City A's in 1966. As player representative, he took the brunt of the blows in the feud between Charles Finley and his players which eventually cost Alvin Dark his job as manager and Hawk Harrelson his position as star. His pitching suffered and it wasn't until he reached the Yankees, via Seattle, the touch came back.
Born July 13, 1940 in Tulare, California, he's nicknamed Chief. Jack is married, with five children."

-Joe Gergen, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1971 Edition

"When the Yankees acquired him two years ago, Aker had suffered through a couple of bad seasons. Earlier, the big right-handed relief hurler had been A.L. Fireman of the Year in 1966 when he had 26 saves. When he joined New York he was 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA. But Ralph Houk and the Yankees changed that. In 1969 Aker saved 11 games to lead the bullpen, even though he hadn't been with the team the entire season.
In 1970 Jack was having a tremendous season until he was slowed up by back trouble. But toward the end of the season he was able to pitch regularly and effectively. He was 4-2 in 70 innings pitched, with a wonderful 2.06 ERA and 16 saves.
Jack is of American Indian ancestry and the father of five children. He succeeded Steve Hamilton as Yankee player representative and American League representative on the player pension committee. The man chosen for this job is highly regarded by his teammates."

-The New York Yankees Official 1971 Yearbook

"Only a recurring back injury prevented Aker from having perhaps the finest season of his career. Despite this handicap, he was the Yankees' second top relief ace, right behind Lindy McDaniel, as he had 16 saves, second to Lindy's 29, a 2.06 ERA (only Lindy's 2.01 mark was lower), and won four games while losing two.
He had as many as ten saves through June 3, the Yanks' 52nd game of the year, with a 1.87 ERA. Shortly thereafter he suffered a pulled muscle in his back and appeared in only one game for the rest of the month. Jack reached his peak again on July 7; from that point until the end of the season he allowed a run in just three of his last 19 appearances, and then only one at a time. As a matter of fact, he allowed an earned run in just nine of his 41 total appearances.
The Yanks have now received two straight productive years from this hard-throwing sidearmer, as in 1969 he led the club in saves (11) and had the lowest ERA (2.06) while compiling a won-loss mark of 8-4. All this is not strange to Jack, however, as he was named the American League's Fireman of the Year in 1966 while he was with the Kansas City Athletics.
Popular among his teammates, Aker is the Yankees' new player representative. Of Indian extraction, his mother being of the Pottawotimic tribe, his nickname is 'Chief.'"

-1971 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide