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Vince Jankoski returns today with an interesting essay about an outstanding relief pitcher, Luis Arroyo, who had a remarkable year in 1961 with the World Series champion Yankees. Overshadowed by the Maris-Mantle homerun race, his accomplishments that year have been largely overlooked. We see Arroyo in the featured photo with his Yankee teammate, Whitey Ford. -GL
Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars:
Luis Arroyo
On September 9, 1961, the New York Yankees celebrated Whitey Ford Day at Yankee Stadium. Ford was in the midst of his greatest season, the only season in which he would win a Cy Young Award. Ford was in the process of being showered with gifts when a car drove up with a giant Life Saver candy package in the rear seat. As the car came to a halt, the lid on the Life Saver popped open and relief pitcher Luis Arroyo emerged.
The joke was not lost. Arroyo was also in the middle of his greatest season, too. He garnered 29 saves to go along with a 15-5 record and 2.19 ERA in 65 appearances, all in relief. He was sixth in the MVP voting. Apropos to the moment, of Ford’s 25 wins that year more than half (13) were saved by Arroyo.
The 1961 season was full of excitement. The American League had expanded to ten teams. The Yankees and the Tigers both won over 100 games. Excitement was especially in the air in New York where Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris threatened Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record, and Commissioner Ford Frick ruled that in order to break the record the 61st homer must come within the traditional 154-game schedule. For a while, it looked as though Ford would be the first Major Leaguer to win 30 games since Dizzy Dean. With all that going on, Arroyo’s great season has been overlooked.
Luis, who at 5’8” and 178 pounds, was described as “fat” or “stocky” depending on who was doing the describing, had a wicked screwball. He was the first Puerto Rican to suit up for the Yankees. He honed his skills in winter ball in the Caribbean.
Arroyo’s workload was odd by today’s standards, but routine for his time. Relievers, even closers, were expected to go multiple innings if necessary. In 1961, Arroyo threw 119 innings in his 65 relief appearances, an average of nearly two frames per outing, a tremendous workload for today’s relievers and an attestation that, back in the day, southpaw hurlers were not only used against left-handed batters. Unlike today’s closers, he was not only reserved for save situations. Only 40 times did he enter a game in a save situation. Of those, he blew ten saves, occasionally coming back to secure the win. It was a great season by any measure, notwithstanding the blown saves.
He continued to excel in the post-season. He pitched in two games, and four innings, in the World Series that year. He was the winning pitcher in Game Three, going two scoreless innings as the Yankees rallied to win in the ninth on a Roger Maris home run.
Little Luis came up with the Cardinals in 1955 as a starting pitcher. He had a respectable year, going 11-8 with a 4.19 ERA, and he actually made the All-Star team. He was shipped to the Pirates for Max Surkont the following season. After going 6-14 in two seasons in Pittsburgh, he was out of major league baseball for the 1958 season before resurfacing in Cincinnati in 1959 where in 13 2/3 innings he won his only decision.
Casey Stengel brought him to the Yankees the following year. He had a solid season, 5-1 with seven saves and an ERA of 2.88 in 40 2/3 innings. Then came the breakout season of 1961 by which time the screwballer was 34 years old.
Like teammate John Blanchard, Luis’ career tanked after 1961. He went 1-3 with only 7 saves and an ERA of 4.81 in 1962. His place as ace of the bullpen staff was taken by Marshall Bridges. He pitched only six innings the following year after which he was out of major league baseball. He died in his native Puerto Rico in 2016 at age 88.
Vince Jankoski
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