Books and articles about Art Ditmar

After leading the AL with 22 losses with the 1956 A's, the rubber-armed Ditmar went to the Yankees in a nine-player deal. He won 28 games for the 1959-60 Yankees, then unexpectedly plummeted.

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Manager Casey Stengel's decision to start Ditmar over ace Whitey Ford in Game One of the 1960 World Series has been second-guessed by many, since Ditmar retired only one batter while giving up three runs in the Pirates' 6-4 win. Deprived of the chance to pitch three times, Ford threw shutouts in the third and sixth games, but Pittsburgh triumphed in seven. Ditmar was bombed again in Game Five. When a Budweiser TV commercial of the mid-1980s incorporated the original radio broadcast of Game Seven, with announcer Chuck Thompson erroneously naming Ditmar instead of Ralph Terry as the pitcher off whom Bill Mazeroski hit his famous home run, Ditmar sued Anheuser-Busch for $500,000, saying his reputation was tarnished. (RTM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » September 26, 1954: Art Ditmar of the Athletics defeats the Yanks 8-6 in the last game the franchise will play in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City. Yankee C Yogi Berra plays his only game at 3B in his career. Mickey Mantle plays SS again in Casey Stengel's "power line-up." » April 21, 1956: Art Ditmar of the Athletics limits the White Sox to 1 hit, winning 15-1. » February 19, 1957: The Kansas City Athletics ship pitchers Art Ditmar, Bobby Shantz, and Jack McMahan, and infielders Clete Boyer, Curt Roberts and Wayne Belardi to the Yankees. In return they receive pitchers Maury McDermott, Tom Morgan, Gary Coleman, and Jack Urban, OF Irv Noren, plus infielders Billy Hunter and Milt Graff. Roberts didn't go to NYC till May 4, while Boyer went a month later. Hunter and Urban don't switch until April 5. The veteran Shantz and Boyer will be valuable pickups for New York, with Shantz leading the American League in ERA this year, and Boyer a tough defensive 3B for eight years in pinstripes. The A's will eventually admit that when they signed Boyer for a $40,000 bonus in 1955, it was on behalf of the Yankees, with the understanding that they'd later ship him to NY. » June 5, 1960: The Yankees sweep two from the Red Sox, taking the opener on homers by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Roger's blow is a three run shot to give New York a 5–4 victory. Art Ditmar is the CG winner in the nitecap, winning 8–3. » August 15, 1960: Behind Art Ditmar's 5-hitter and Mickey Mantle's two home runs, off Jerry Walker and Hoyt Wilhelm, New York cops a 4–3 win and first place in the American League. The 2nd home run comes after C Clint Courtney drops a Mantle foul pop-up. Baltimore's loss is only its 2nd in the last 15 games. Baltimore and Chicago now trail by a half-game. » August 24, 1960: Despite Roy Sievers two homers and a double, the Yankees beat the White Sox, 3–2, dropping Chicago one 1/2 games off the pace and into a 2nd place tie with the Orioles. Art Ditmar is the winner over Herb Score. » June 14, 1961: Sound familiar? The KC A's ship P Bud Daley, their top winner the past two seasons, to the Yankees for P Art Ditmar and OF Deron Johnson. The Yanks then send P Danny McDevitt to the Twins for infielder Billy Gardner. » August 2, 1961: New York beats Kansas City 12–5 with Mickey Mantle walloping a first inning homer off Art Ditmar. Mantle and Roger Maris are both at 40 homers.