1960s Timeline

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Jul 8

Dodgers Regain First Place as Koufax Dominates

July 8, 1962 - Sandy Koufax today became the National League’s first left-hander to strike out 200 batters 2 seasons in a row, as the Los Angeles Dodgers moved back into first place with a 2-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Koufax, who fanned nine and gave three hits, received ninth-inning help from Don Drysdale after yielding a pinch-single to Bob Nieman and walking Jim Davenport. Koufax, his fastball zipping and his control near perfect until the ninth, retired the

Jul 8

Musial Going Strong at 41

July 8, 1962 - There is no doubt about it now, and it is a great pity: at the age of 41, Stan Musial is just about washed up. He struck out on a wild pitch in the eighth inning today. And this after he had looked so good hitting three home runs in a row against the Mets. “Yeah, I looked terrible on that one,” Musial said with a grin after St. Louis had routed the Mets, 15-1, with a furious display of power. “The only time I tried for a homer today was the time I looked bad!”

Jul 6

Giants Top Dodgers as Marichal Fans 13

July 6, 1962 - Right-hander Juan Marichal struck out 13 tonight as his San Francisco Giants unleashed an 11-hit attack to whip the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-3. The Giants climbed again to within half a game of the National League leaders. Marichal scored his 12th victory of the season as the Dodgers, errorless in their last 9 games, committed 5 errors tonight and saw their winning streak of 7 ended. Every Giant in the starting lineup collected at least one hit or run e

Jul 6

Yankees Top Twins as Maris and Mantle Blast Two Homers Apiece

July 6, 1962 - The Yankees’ murderous home-run duo of Maris and Mantle continued its fantastic pace today. With each blasting two home runs for the second time in the last four games, the Bombers brought down Minnesota’s spunky Twins, 7-5, in the opener of a 3-game series. The 4 homers, which brought Maris’s total to 21 and Mantle’s to 17, accounted for 6 of the Yankees’ 7 runs. The defeat reduced to silence a crowd of 40,944, the second largest in the two-year history of the

Jul 5

Dodgers Destroy Giants, 11-3

July 5, 1962 - A sad thing happened to the San Francisco Giants today on their way to the top of the National League. A bunch of thugs from Los Angeles pummeled and stole them blind. The hated Dodgers stretched their league lead to one-and-a-half games by rapping four homers and stealing four bases in humiliating their arch-rivals, 11-3. With such backing, Don Drysdale had no trouble breezing — and that’s the word in bayside Candlestick Park — to his 15th victory of the year.

Jul 5

Tribe Tops Tigers Despite 3 Home Runs by Colavito

July 5, 1962 - Don Dillard’s ninth-inning home run gave the Cleveland Indians a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers tonight despite three consecutive home runs by Rocky Colavito (pictured left with Al Kaline at Yankee Stadium). The victory moved the Indians into a first-place tie with the Los Angeles Angels in the American League, with the idle Yankees trailing by a half game. The Tigers, who trailed 6-1 at one stage, moved into a 6-6 tie on Colavito’s homers. He led off the

Jul 4

Giants Sweep Doubleheader from Mets

July 4, 1962 - The Giants bid a fond farewell to the Mets today, battering the New Yorkers in both games of a doubleheader, 11-4 and 10-3. A crowd of 33,253 at sunny, windy Candlestick Park saw Willie McCovey blast 2 home runs and drive in 7 runs to pace the Giants in the first game. Willie Mays led the second-game attack with five runs batted in on two homers. Both Giant starters completed their games. Bob Bolin gave seven hits in the opener. In the finale, Billy O’Dell scat

Jul 3

Yanks Top Athletics as Maris and Mantle Each Homer Twice

July 3, 1962 - The Yankees put on a pyrotechnic display at the Stadium today. Paced by their famed M-M duo, they thrilled a crowd of 13,378 by exploding 5 home runs. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris hit two apiece, and Bobby Richardson (left) hit the other. And yet, so tenaciously did Hank Bauer’s ninth-place Athletics fight back that the Bombers needed every last one of their homers before the 8-7 victory was theirs. As late as the eighth inning, the Yanks were trailing by thre

Jul 3

Musial Gets Nod Over Frank Robinson for National League All-Star Squad

July 3, 1962 - Manager Fred Hutchinson selected the National League all-star pitchers and reserves today, naming Stan Musial to the team for a record 19th time while passing over one of his own Cincinnati players, Frank Robinson. Robinson, the Reds’ right fielder, is pounding the ball at a .323 clip and actually is out-hitting Roberto Clemente of the Pirates, who was chosen as the National League’s starting right fielder for the all-star game at Washington, July 10. The other

Jul 2

Bombers Top Athletics as Stafford Shines

July 2, 1962 - The Yankees beat the Athletics, 8-4, today, but it wasn’t easy. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Hector Lopez hit homers at the Stadium and with Bill Stafford pitching beautifully for six innings, it looked for a while as if that would more than suffice to squelch Hank Bauer’s ninth-place Kansas City team. It took a lot more toil and sweat, however, before Ralph Houk’s Bombers finally put the Athletics down for keeps in the opener of a four-game series before 16

Jul 1

Dodgers Top Mets as Drysdale Fans 13

July 1, 1962 - Don Drysdale (left), the 6-foot-6-inch right-handed star of the Dodgers, struck out 13 Mets today en route to becoming baseball’s first 14-game winner this season. The score was 5-1. Drysdale gave five hits to the Mets, only five more than his left-handed teammate, Sandy Koufax, allowed the New Yorkers last night. Just three Mets got past first base — Sammy Taylor, who hit a homer and a double, and Cliff Cook, who also doubled. Drysdale’s overpowering performan

Jul 1

Sandy Koufax Reaches New Level of Excellence

July 1, 1962 - When the Dodgers signed Sandy Koufax eight years ago, they knew he had enormous potential. The trick was to harness it. It has taken Koufax more than seven seasons to reach the point where one National League manager last week described him as “probably the greatest pitcher in baseball today.” That is certainly what he looked like last night, when he pitched his first no-hitter and struck out 13 Mets. “The turning point,” said Koufax today, “was in spring train

Jul 1

Old-Timers Game Recreates 1942 World Series

July 1, 1962 - The 1942 St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, opponents in the world series that year, held an “old-timers” game before the start of the Cardinals-Pirates contest today, which the Pirates won, 7-2. The St. Louis Swifties, as the ’42 Cardinals were called, continued their mastery over the Yankees 20 years later by pounding out a 2-inning, 6-0 victory. Enos Slaughter’s two-run triple off the right-field wall was the longest drive. In the 1942 series, the Car

Jun 30

Koufax No-Hits the Mets

June 30, 1962 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a no-hitter tonight and struck out 13 batters in turning back the New York Mets, 5-0. The no-hitter was the first in the National League this season. It was the 39th time that Koufax, a left-hander, had struck out 10 or more batters in a game. Koufax walked five. The Dodgers, who had scored four times in the first inning, increased their lead in the seventh on a home run by Frank Howard. Koufax needed only nine p

Jun 29

Yanks Top Angels as Tommy Tresh Excels

June 29, 1962 - Four Angel errors and a complete-game, 4-hit pitching performance by Whitey Ford led to a 6-3 Yankee triumph today. The victory extended the Yanks’ winning streak to three games, and they also drew to within a half-game of the front-running Indians, who bowed to the White Sox. Manager Ralph Houk’s defending champions picked up the run that won the game at the expense of pitcher Jack Spring in the seventh inning. A lead-off single by Tom Tresh (pictured) , a wa

Jun 28

Dodgers Top Mets in 13 Innings, Willie Davis Fined for Throwing Bat

June 28, 1962 - Following the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over the Mets this evening in a 13-inning game at the Chavez Ravine Stadium in Los Angeles, Dodger center fielder Willie Davis (pictured) was fined $25 as a “reprimand for losing his temper.” Davis, angered at a third strike called against him in the sixth inning, hurled his bat at the Dodger dugout along the third-base line. The bat skipped over the top of the dugout, grazed a second-row patron in the left temple, and droppe

Jun 28

Mets Sign 17-year-old Ed Kranepool

June 28, 1962 - The New York Mets, who have no past and are dismally bogged down in the present, invested a substantial sum in the future today by signing Ed Kranepool (right), a 17-year-old first baseman from James Monroe High School in the Bronx. Kranepool received a bonus estimated to be $75,000. Kranepool, a 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pound left-hander, is expected to join the Mets in Los Angeles today to begin a cram course under the expert guidance of Gil Hodges, the Mets’ slic

Jun 28

Baseball Great Mickey Cochrane Dead at 59

June 28, 1962 - Mickey Cochrane, one of baseball’s great figures, died today in Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois. He was 59 years old. A spokesman at the hospital said death came after a long illness. Black Mike, a nickname given Cochrane because of his fiery, competitive nature, became linked with the phrase “greatest catcher in the game.” Thirteen seasons as a player with the Philadelphia Athletics and as player and manager of the Detroit Tigers bore out the phrase. Cochran

Jun 28

Movies: "That Touch of Mink"

June 28, 1962 - The management of the Radio City Music Hall announced that the two opening weeks of “That Touch of Mink,” ending on Wednesday night, drew $408,505, a record for that period of time in the 30-year history of the Music Hall. The film stars Cary Grant and Doris Day. Featured in the supporting cast are Gig Young and Audrey Meadows. New York Yankees players Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra, playing themselves, appear in one comical scene. #MLB #baseball #

Jun 27

Skinner's Single Wins It as Pirates Top Hapless Mets, 6-5

June 27, 1962 - A single over third base by Bob Skinner in the tenth inning gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 6-5 victory over the Mets today in a taut, 3-hour contest at Forbes Field. Eclipsed were fine Met performances: a strong effort by Roger Craig (right), the losing pitcher; Richie Ashburn’s 2,500th base hit; and Frank Thomas’s 14th home run. Ashburn became the 39th major leaguer to make 2,500 or more hits. He was on base with No. 2,501, a single (as was No. 2,500), when Th