Ralph Willard Terry was a professional baseball player and golfer from the United States.
From 1956 to 1967, he was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, most notably with the New York Yankees, where he led the American League with 23 victories in 1962 and was named the World Series MVP.
He is also remembered for allowing Bill Mazeroski to hit a game-winning walk-off home run in the 1960 World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Terry also played for the Kansas City Athletics, Cleveland Indians, and New York Mets, among other teams.
In 1953, Terry was a member of the Ban Johnson League’s Independence Indians. Shulthis Stadium in Independence, Kansas, served as the Independence Indians’ home field.
In 1949, Mickey Mantle debuted with the Independence Yankees at the same ballpark.
Terry started 257 games, finished 75 games, with 20 shutouts, 11 saves, and 446 base on balls in 1,849. Pitched one inning.
Terry went 2–3 with 31 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA in nine outings and 46 innings pitched in five World Series (1960–64).
Both victories came against the San Francisco Giants in the 1962 World Series, including a 1–0 shutout in Game 7 over Giant ace Jack Sanford.
Bobby Richardson, the Yankee second baseman, caught Willie McCovey’s line drive to end the game and thus the Series.
Terry went on to play professional golf after baseball. He won the Midwest PGA Championship in 1980, and he qualified for and competed in four PGA Tour events in 1981 and 1982 based on his position as a PGA of America sectional winner.
Is Ralph Terry in the Hall of Fame?
Ralph Terry has been inducted into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, among others.
Is Ralph Terry Dead or Alive?
Ralph Terry died in Larned, Kansas, on March 16, 2022, at the age of 86.
