Aug. 26, 1964 - Charles O. Finley, owner of the Kansas City Athletics, is paying $150,000 for the four Beatles, but he got a fifth one free today as the Angels were beating the A’s, 5-2.
Jim Piersall, the Angels’ renowned cut-up, gave the fans and a Los Angeles television audience a preview of the Sept. 17 show the English mop-haired quartet will put on at Municipal Stadium when he came to bat in the seventh inning wearing a Beatle wig.
As the slim crowd roared, Piersall doffed his cap and displayed the bushy mop. He then launched into a hip-swinging imitation of a rock ’n’ roll singer, using his bat as a guitar.
Plate umpire Frank Umont seemed to be enjoying the performance, but he finally decided enough was enough and made Piersall discard the hairpiece. A’s pitcher Moe Drabowsky, not in harmony with the musical interlude, then proceeded to strike out Piersall.
As for the game, the Angels sewed that up with a three-run outburst in the fourth inning. Four singles and a sacrifice fly produced the tallies against John O’Donoghue, a rookie southpaw who had beaten Los Angeles three previous times this year.
Barry Latman, who worked 4⅔ innings in relief of starter Aubrey Gatewood, was the winner. Latman gave way to Bob Duliba in the ninth after allowing homers by Dick Green and Rocky Colavito in the seventh and eighth. Colavito’s homer was his 31st of the year and 399th career smash, tying him with Joe Adcock for 23rd place on the all-time list.
Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s
Comments