July 31, 1963 - Tom Tresh’s ninth-inning home run with two out, nobody on, and the count 0-2 gave the New York Yankees a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Athletics at Yankee Stadium today. Tom’s shot landed in the upper deck in left, the first ball hit there this year. “I didn’t know where it went,” Tresh said afterward. “As soon as I saw it pass the foul pole fair, I just ran around the bases.” What excited the Yankees, however, was neither Tresh’s dramatic homer, the fact of the victory, nor the posting of Ralph Terry’s 12th triumph by means of a 5-hitter. What really stirred their interest was a statistic revealed after the game. Terry threw only 75 pitches. “Is that right?” said Del Webb, co-owner of the club, as he entered manager Ralph Houk’s office. “Only 75 pitches? I never heard of anything like that.” “It’s right, all right,” said Houk, puffing on his cigar. “I checked it. Added up every pitch on the chart Whitey [Ford] kept in the dugout.” “Any time you get under 100 pitches, it’s exceptional,” Houk remarked. “The other day, Al Downing made 168 in 8 innings. I was surprised myself today. But there it is.” Since it is impossible to pitch 9 innings with less than 27 deliveries, Terry threw only 48 times more than absolutely necessary. “I knew it was a low number,” said Terry, “but I was surprised when they told me it was that low.” Over the first 6 innings, Ralph scattered 3 singles and faced only 20 batters. Yankee first baseman Joe Pepitone wound up at Lenox Hill Hospital after being hit on the right arm by A’s southpaw Ted Bowsfield in the seventh. “It was right at my body, and I couldn’t get out of the way,” Joe explained. “If it had been high, I could’ve ducked.” X-rays proved negative. Dr. Sidney Gaynor, who advised Pepitone to put a wet dressing on the bruise, said: “It will probably be very stiff, and he won’t be able to play for a day or two.”
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