1960s Timeline

June 26, 1962 - Orlando Cepeda’s single to right in the tenth inning today sent Felipe Alou home from first and gave San Francisco a 6-5 victory over Cincinnati. The victory put the Giants back in first place as the Los Angeles Dodgers bowed to the Braves and fell a half-game behind. The safe call on Alou by the plate umpire, Ed Sudol, was greeted by a wild protest by the entire Reds team. Alou, running for Willie McCovey, who had singled, rounded third on Cepeda’s single at

June 23, 1962 - Tommy Davis, who leads the majors in runs batted in, drove in five more today with a triple and three singles as the league-leading Dodgers defeated the Reds, 14-3, before 47,159 fans in Los Angeles. Willie Davis had a double, three singles, and a walk in five trips and scored four times. Don Drysdale, a right-hander who hadn’t beaten the Reds since Aug. 26, 1960, was supported by 19 hits and gained his 12th victory in 16 decisions. Drysdale, who didn’t win hi

June 15, 1962 - The Philadelphia Phillies scored 10 runs in the third inning day for a 13-8 victory over the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. Roy Sievers (pictured) batted in five runs with the ninth grand slam of his career and a single. Jim Maloney and Johnny Klippstein were pounded during the highest-scoring inning in the National League this year, lasting 38 minutes. Art Mahaffey, who had lost three in a row to the Reds after beating them on opening day, gave fiv

June 12, 1962 - The San Francisco Giants snapped out of a 6-game losing streak tonight and swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 and 7-5. The victories, coupled with Milwaukee’s defeat of Los Angeles, lifted the Giants to within a game of first place in the National League. Juan Marichal (pictured right with Willie Mays) went all the way for the Giants in the opener and drove in the winning run. Mike McCormick had to have help from Stu Miller and Don Larsen to qu

Apr. 14, 1962 - The Cincinnati Reds fell apart today in a 13-6 loss to the San Francisco Giants. The Reds made six errors in the first three innings and threw in two balks as the league-leading Giants swept to their fifth triumph in five games. Cincinnati has lost five of six. Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou hit two homers each in the 13-hit San Francisco attack against the defending National League champions. The first three innings, in which the Giants scored 10 runs, took o

Apr. 11, 1962 - Sandy Koufax’s four-hit pitching performance, combined with timely Dodger extra-base hits, gave Los Angeles a 6-2 victory tonight over the Cincinnati Reds. Jim Gilliam, not noted as a power hitter, smashed a two-run homer in the third to start the Dodgers off on a four-run rally. This provided Koufax with a cushion that made his job all the easier. The Reds’ Eddie Kasko, who led off yesterday’s stadium opener with a double, repeated his performance in the firs

Apr. 9, 1962 - The Washington Senators, whose 61-101 record last season prompted the adoption of “a better view in ’62” as their slogan for the year, will find it hard to improve on the vantage point they earned today. Impressing 44,383 fans, including President Kennedy, the Senators opened the 1962 American League season with a 4-1 victory over the Tigers. Bennie Daniels, a sinkerball pitcher, gave only five hits in moving the Senators into first place in the league — a posi

Nov. 22, 1961 - Frank Robinson (pictured at his wedding last month), crack outfielder of the Cincinnati Reds, today was named the winner of the National League’s most valuable player award for 1961. Unlike the American League vote, which saw only 4 points separate Roger Maris, the winner, from Mickey Mantle, the runner-up, the Reds’ star, whose slashing bat played a major role in bringing the first pennant in 21 years to Cincinnati, scored an overwhelming victory. The committ

Oct. 25, 1961 - Joey Jay was named the National League pitcher of the year today by UPI’s board of baseball experts. The 26-year-old 21-game winner of the Reds beat Warren Spahn of the Braves, 19 votes to 16. Jay, a 6-foot-4-inch righty, helped pitch the Reds to their first pennant since 1940. He capped his fine campaign by scoring the Reds’ only victory over the New York Yankees in the World Series. #MLB #baseball #baseballcap #baseballlife #baseballislife #baseballplayer #b

Oct. 9, 1961 - Fred Hutchinson (pictured right with Ralph Houk), the manager of the routed Reds, said after today's game that the Yankees won the series two days ago, in the third game. Hutchinson said, in the silent Reds dressing room: "The turning point came in the ninth inning of Saturday's game. That homer by Roger Maris, the one that beat Bob Purkey, 3-2, was the key to the beginning of the end. We never were the same after that. We had no spark, got no lift, and went no

Sept. 26, 1961 - The Cincinnati Reds clinched the 1961 National League pennant today. It took them virtually all day to do it, but what's a day to a club that's been waiting 21 years for a league championship? First, the Reds beat the Cubs, 6-3, before 3,327 at Wrigley Field. That assured them of at least a tie for the pennant. Then Manager Fred Hutchinson and his athletes left by chartered plane for Cincinnati, needing only a Dodger defeat at the hands of the Pirates -- last

Sept. 22, 1961 - One Cincinnati baserunner reached third today as the Reds were blanked, 6-0, by Billy O'Dell of the Giants at Crosley Field. It was conduct unbecoming a team that hopes shortly to qualify as a world series opponent of Maris, Mantle & Co., sometimes referred to as the New York Yankees. The Reds' lead over the second-place Dodgers was cut to four games. Any combination of Cincinnati victories and Los Angeles defeats totaling four will give the Reds their first

Sept. 18, 1961 - Home runs by Ed Bouchee, Don Zimmer, and George Altman brought the Cubs a 5-3 victory over Los Angeles today and dropped the Dodgers 4 games behind the league-leading Reds in the National League. Don Cardwell (pictured), a lefty who had lost 6 straight decisions to the Dodgers, earned his 14th victory. The Dodgers, who had won four straight, have eleven games to play, two more than Cincinnati. Any combination of Cincinnati victories and L.A. losses totaling s

Sept. 4, 1961 - Don Drysdale pitched a two-hitter and scored his first success against San Francisco in a year today as the Dodgers defeated the Giants, 4-0, in Los Angeles. The Dodgers pulled to within two games of the league-leading Cincinnati Reds. Duke Snider drove in two of the runs with the 380th homer of his career. He moved into 10th place among the league's leaders in runs batted in with a career total of 1,224. Drysdale would have had a one-hitter if Felipe Alou had

Aug. 27, 1961 - The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers twice today, 6-5 and 8-3, removing temporarily (and possibly for good) much of the tension from the National League pennant race. The twin triumphs - one a suspenseful, come-from-behind victory, the other a freewheeling rollercoaster before 30,195 fans at Crosley Field - catapulted the Reds to a three-and-a-half game lead over the second-place Dodgers. Loyal Reds fans are shouting that there will be a world seri

Aug. 22, 1961 - The slogans, placards, and banners that are heard and seen throughout pennant-starved Cincinnati these days may help jam 29,383 frantic fans into Crosley Field, as they did today. However, as the league-leading Reds learned while dropping both ends of a doubleheader to the third-place Giants, 12-2 and 5-3, there never has been a slogan that fanned a batter, a placard that pivoted for a double play, or a banner that came up with a game-winning hit. "Rally 'roun

Aug. 17, 1961 - The Cincinnati Reds headed home today from Los Angeles with high hearts and a one-game lead in the National League. The Reds swept the three-game series by demolishing the Dodgers in a double-shutout contest, 6-0 and 8-0, last night. Gloom as thick as smog settled over the Coliseum where 71,140 - a National League night-game record - saw the games. The disdain in which the Reds held the Dodgers was best shown in last night's first game after an inside pitch by

July 30, 1961 - Don Drysdale, with help from Ron Perranoski in the ninth, pitched the Dodgers to a 7-3 victory over the Pirates today. The Reds, who split a doubleheader with the Cubs, now trail the Dodgers in the National League standings by half a game. Tommy Davis paced the Los Angeles attack, smashing his 15th home run and two singles. #MLB #baseball #sports #dodgers #laddogers #reds #pirates

July 29, 1961 - Home runs by Ernie Banks (pictured), Billy Williams and Ron Santo powered the Cubs to a 7-6 victory today that tumbled the Reds out of the National League lead. The loss, coupled with Los Angeles' 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh, dropped the Reds into second place. It marked the first time since June 16 that Cincinnati has not been in first place. #MLB #baseball #sports #cubs #reds #dodgers #ladodgers

July 26, 1961 - Gus Bell and Frank Robinson (pictured) slammed eighth-inning home runs as the Reds rallied and defeated the Braves, 3-2, today. Robinson is the National League's home run leader with 30 round-trippers. Both runs for the Braves were scored by Hank Aaron, who hit his 25th homer in the sixth. The victory enabled the Reds to hold their one-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League. #MLB #baseball #sports #reds #cincinnatireds #dodgers #braves