Apr. 26, 1964 - Johnny Podres and Tommy Davis joined Sandy Koufax on the casualty list yesterday, and the luckless, 9th-place Dodgers nearly lost Ron Perranoski too as Milwaukee made it four in a row over the reeling champions by a 5-1 score.
Scoring the first victory of the season and the 351st of his career, 43-year-old Warren Spahn (pictured) was the “villain” of the piece as the ranks of the Dodgers’ army of walking wounded continued to grow.
Spahn hit Podres with a pitch on his tender left elbow in the third inning, and Davis jammed his right shoulder lunging back into first base on Spahn’s pick-off attempt in the sixth.
Davis barely could lob the ball thereafter as the Braves took advantage of his disability, and he was taken to Milwaukee Hospital after the game for X-rays.
Podres was also X-rayed, and while the pictures were negative, there’s no telling when he or the Dodgers’ two-time batting champion will return to action.
Should Tommy miss today’s game, rookie Wes Parker probably would play left field.
Spahn said an errant fastball struck Podres. “I had a 1-and-2 count on Johnny,” he said. “I released the fastball too soon, and he couldn’t get out of the way.”
Perranoski pulled a muscle in his left thigh while covering first base on Hank Aaron’s roller in the eighth. Limping noticeably, Ron insisted on carrying on, but three more hits in a row finished him as the Braves broke the game wide open.
If things get any worse, it seems like general manager Buzzie Bavasi either will have to hire Dr. Kildare to run the ballclub or send manager Walter Alston to medical school for a crash course.
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