July 7, 1964 - Al Lopez, who considered Johnny Callison “a real nice kid” when Callison played briefly with his Chicago White Sox five years ago, stopped and wished the Philadelphia outfielder “good luck” just before today’s All-Star game.
Three hours later, he watched Callison’s good luck runneth over with a two-out home run in the ninth that defeated Lopez’s American League Stars, 7-4.
With one shot, the “real nice kid” from Glenside, Pa., tied the All-Star series at 17 games apiece and inflicted a tough defeat on the well-wishing Lopez.
He also touched off unrestrained celebrating in the National League clubhouse beneath Shea Stadium, from the moment Sandy Koufax swept through the door shouting, “Nice going, troops!”
While Callison and Willie Mays held court at opposite ends of the wall-to-wall carpeted room, cheers and toasts greeted the National Leaguers, from Gus Mauch, who had trained six American League All-Star teams before going to the Mets, to Warren Giles, the league president.
To Giles, it was “great to be even in this series.”
“There’s no substitute for victory,” he said above the clamor. “It was a long time coming — 31 years.”
To Mays, who walked in the ninth, stole second, and scored the tying run, the victory proved only one thing: “We’re even.”
To Callison, it means “it’s got be a Phillies year.”
The 25-year-old outfielder, whose dramatic hitting and fielding have helped keep the Phils at the top of the league, “just missed a homer” in the seventh when he faced Dick Radatz of Boston for the first time in his life.
He entered the game as a pinch-hitter for his teammate, Jim Bunning, in the fifth and was still batting in the ninth spot in the lineup when the “monster of Fenway Park” appeared in relief.
Had anybody told him about Radatz’s speed?
“No,” Callison said with a laugh. “It’s just as well. If they had, I might’ve been afraid of him.”
As for Radatz, the victim of the ninth-inning theatrics, Lopez, speaking as manager of the White Sox, said, “I’d like to have him.”
And as for Callison, whose good luck boomeranged on Lopez, the manager thought he was still a “real nice kid.” His mixed feelings, however, were shared by Callison’s manager-for-a-day, Walter Alston.
“Somebody asked me how the Phillies stay up there,” the Los Angeles Dodgers’ skipper said. “Well” — nodding toward the “real nice kid” who had just won the game — “that’s how.”
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