Add new comment

Sorry to keep bringing them up - BUT, they ARE the model for this many young players on a winning team. Mays was the only long-term veteran. Kuenn was signed, much like Ibanez, for veteran leadership (in those days, black men like Mays were not yet considered as leaders - especially for a guy like Alvin Dark, who had to learn to like Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, Alou, etc. - to his credit, he did). Davenport-3B, Haller-C, Cepeda-OF, McCovey-1B, Marichal-P, Pagan-SS, Mota-OF, the Alous-OF, Hiller-2B, were all 1-4 year guys. The veteran on the pitching staff was Mike McCormack, who had come up under the old "bonus baby" rules at 17 and was still only 23.
The Ms are VERY comparable to the 1960-61 Giants, except they aren't bravely signing Puerto Ricans and Dominicans when other teams were still signing their first American black players (yes, you, Red Sox). That was the Giants "secret" weapon. With Clemente on the Pirates, Aparicio on the White Sox, and the Giant's plethora, black and Latin players were that day's "undervalued asset" a la "Moneyball". That was the fall of the Yankees, and the rise to dominance of the NL for the 60s.
If you want a good read, try any of David Halberstam's books, but especially "October '64", which covers this transition using the Yankees and Cardinals as the exemplars.