July 27, 1963 - On a sizzling day in Boston, the Los Angeles Angels survived 102-degree heat and humidity to overtake the Red Sox and win, 5-2. Clutch hitting, for a change, enabled Bill Rigney’s team to even the series as young Jim Fregosi, who once drew his paycheck from Tom Yawkey, led Los Angeles’s 10-hit attack with a double, 2 singles, and an RBI. It was Fregosi who scored the first Angel run in the sixth and broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh with his first single. Another Jim, Mr. Piersall, suiting up less than an hour before game time, made his Angel debut a highly successful one by singling sharply in both the seventh and eighth innings to keep alive two rallies which clinched the game. Piersall was released by the New York Mets earlier this week and signed by the Angels at noon today. “This is the best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time,” said Piersall before the game. “I’ve wanted to play for ‘Rig’ and the Angels ever since the club was founded. I’ll give them best I’ve got, and I hope it helps.” Today, it did. “I’ve always thought Jim was one of the best defensive players in baseball,” said Rigney after the game. “We wouldn’t have picked him up if we didn’t expect him to help us. Albie [Pearson] has played nearly every game and needs a rest. We need right-handed hitting. We have a 15-game homestand starting next week, and Piersall’s speed and experience make him valuable in Chavez Ravine.”
