May 27, 1962 - Casey Stengel’s Mets lost both ends of a doubleheader to the Giants today in San Francisco. In the opener, marked by a seventh-inning brawl, the Mets bowed to the team they have replaced in New York, 7-1. Then, just as it looked as though the Mets would gain some revenge in the second engagement, Stengel’s cast collapsed under a four-run eighth that gave the Giants the game, 6-5. As for the brawl, the principal characters were Mets Roger Craig and Elio Chacon and Giants Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda. Tempers flared when Craig hit Cepeda with a stray pitch. Seconds later, Mays, sliding back to second on a pick-off attempt by Craig, nicked the Met shortstop with his spikes. Chacon punched Willie who, usually a man of peace, proceeded to pick up Elio bodily (pictured) and throw him to the ground as if he were a sack of flour. In the same instant, Cepeda renewed his feud with Craig as he tore for the mound and began raining punches on the pitcher. Suddenly, the air was filled with fists, caps, and helmets as milling players, umpires, coaches, and San Francisco manager Alvin Dark, a one-time Louisiana State football star, strove to pull the combatants apart. When order finally was restored, the umpires decided that only Chacon was at fault and banished him from the game. Stengel, behaving in a manner befitting a man of 71, remained calmly out of the fracas until the heavy firing had ceased.
