1960s Timeline

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Jan 22

Giants’ Felipe Alou Still Unsigned

Jan. 22, 1963 - Outfielder Felipe Alou (pictured right with brother Matty) today announced in Santo Domingo that he had returned his 1963 contract to the San Francisco Giants without his signature. “I had a good season in 1962,” said Alou, “and I think I deserve more than they offered.” Alou, who batted .316 last year, hit 25 homers, and drove in 98 runs, admitted that the Giants’ offer included a sizable raise over his $18,000 contract in 1962. It is believed Alou is asking

Jan 15

Giants’ Pennant Surge Voted Sports Upset of 1962

Jan. 15, 1963 - The surge of the San Francisco Giants, who were given up for dead in the National League race only to battle back and defeat the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers for the flag, was voted the sports upset of the year in 1962. The twin feat of the Giants — to get into a playoff against the Dodgers when all appeared lost and then to win the playoff in the last inning of the third game — was named the greatest upset by the sportswriters and broadcasters who part

Dec 19, 2022

Gil Hodges: Dodgers “Should Have Been Shot” for Blowing Pennant to Giants

Dec. 19, 1962 - Gil Hodges (pictured) joked today that his old Los Angeles Dodger teammates “should have been shot” for losing the National League pennant to the San Francisco Giants this October. The 38-year-old first baseman, who underwent a successful knee operation at the conclusion of the 1962 season, discussed his old club at a New York Mets’ press conference. “I thought the Dodgers were going to win,” Hodges said. “They should have been shot with that shotgun they gave

Oct 31, 2022

Dodgers’ Willie Davis is Baseball’s Sophomore of the Year

Oct. 31, 1962 - Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers, voted the National League’s sophomore of the year, said today the so-called second-year jinx in big-league baseball had not bothered him. “I didn’t even think about it,” said the 22-year-old outfielder, who was delighted with the outcome of the annual poll. Davis collected 32 of the 107 votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association. Billy Williams of the Chicago Cubs, the 1961 rookie of the year, was next wi

Oct 30, 2022

Angels’ Bill Rigney is A.L. Manager of the Year

Oct. 30, 1962 - Bill Rigney, who helped raise the Los Angeles Angels from infancy to a pennant contender in two years, was named the American League manager of the year today by UPI. The 41-year-old former Giant infielder and manager was credited with a major role in one of the most remarkable construction jobs in baseball history — the job of building the Angels from scratch into a pennant threat. Rigney took over as manager of a club that did not even have any players on De

Oct 24, 2022

Yankees Earn Nearly $10,000 Apiece for World Series Win

Oct. 24, 1962 - Victory in the World Series was worth $9,883 each to New York Yankees Manager Ralph Houk (left with Alvin Dark) and the 33 players, coaches, and trainers who were voted a full share, it was disclosed today by Charles Segar, secretary-treasurer of baseball. The 29 San Francisco Giants who are to receive a full share will be paid $7,291 each, the largest cut ever earned by members of a losing team. The Yankees’ split was the third highest in history for a winnin

Oct 22, 2022

Phillies’ Gene Mauch is National League Manager of the Year

Oct. 22, 1962 - Gene Mauch, whose seventh-place Philadelphia Phillies were the hottest team in baseball in the last two months of the season, was named National League manager of the year today in polls of baseball writers conducted by the AP and UPI. Manager Alvin Dark of the Giants finished second in the voting, and the Dodgers’ Walter Alston was third. Mauch’s team won 30 of its last 44 games and finished with a record of 81-80, an improvement of 30-and-a-half games over i

Oct 17, 2022

Dodgers Rehire Alston as Manager

Oct. 17, 1962 - The Los Angeles Dodgers rehired Manager Walter Alston (pictured left with Sandy Koufax and Johnny Podres) today. And Alston, refusing to believe reports that he had been undermined by Leo Durocher, said he would like to retain the colorful coach. Alston, the dean of National League managers, will be returning for his 10th season as the Dodger field leader. Alston was manager the only two years the Dodgers ever won the world championship — in 1955 at Brooklyn a

Oct 17, 2022

Final Two Outs of the 1962 World Series (George Kell Radio Call)

Oct. 16, 1962 - Ralph Houk’s Bombers, behind the 4-hit pitching of their ace right-hander, Ralph Terry, turned back the Giants, 1-0, in the seventh game of the 1962 World Series. It is the Yankees’ 20th world championship. #yankees #sfgiants #worldseries #mlb #mlbpostseason #mlbplayoffs

Oct 16, 2022

Giants’ McCovey: “I Would Have Been a Hero”

Oct. 16, 1962 - “One foot higher, and I guess I would have been a hero,” said the San Francisco Giants’ Willie McCovey (right) in the dressing room after today’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees. McCovey’s ninth-inning line drive with two men on base was snared by Bobby Richardson for the final out of the World Series. “I thought I had a hit,” said McCovey. “I knew I hit it good.” Earlier, McCovey had poled the game’s longest shot, a 410-foot triple to center field in the seventh inni

Oct 16, 2022

Yankee Ralph Terry: “I Am a Very Lucky Fellow”

Oct. 16, 1962 - “I am a very lucky fellow, and I certainly thank God for a second opportunity,” said Ralph Terry today after he had pitched the Yankees to a 1-0 victory over the Giants in the deciding game of the World Series. “You don’t often get another chance to prove yourself, in baseball or in life,” added the 26-year-old part-time pitcher and full-time philosopher. Two years ago, after the seventh game of another World Series, Terry was a shattered man. Bill Mazeroski h

Oct 16, 2022

🚨Yankees Take Tension-Filled Seventh Game, 1-0, Win World Series in San Francisco

Oct. 16, 1962 - Baseball’s longest season ended today with the New York Yankees still the world champions. Ralph Houk’s Bombers, behind the 4-hit pitching of their ace right-hander, Ralph Terry, turned back the Giants, 1-0, in the seventh game of the 1962 World Series. It is the Yankees’ 20th world championship. Only 7 times since 1921 have the Yanks been defeated in a World Series. But they came mighty close to losing an eighth time today. For in the last of the ninth, as a

Oct 15, 2022

Southpaw Billy Pierce Excels as Giants Even Series with Yankees, 3-3

Oct. 15, 1962 - The World Series got rolling again today, and it rolled right over the Yankees. The San Francisco Giants, behind the brilliant three-hit pitching of their ace left-hander, Billy Pierce, beat Ralph Houk’s Bombers, 5-2, in the long-delayed sixth game. With this triumph, achieved before a crowd of 43,948, Al Dark’s San Franciscans, given up for dead countless times this season, are very much alive. The series is deadlocked at three victories apiece. The seventh a

Oct 13, 2022

Yankees and Giants Waiting Out the Rain

Oct. 13, 1962 - Time hung heavily on the hands of the Yankees today as they waited impatiently for the weather to permit resumption of their interrupted World Series with the Giants. Lashing rain kept the Bombers hotel-bound for the second straight day and, as several of them put it, “We’re going stir crazy. We might just as well be on Alcatraz.” Mickey Mantle (pictured before Game 2 with Willie Mays) was asked whether he thought the long layoff would dull his batting eye. “T

Oct 12, 2022

Dodger General Manager Excoriates Durocher for Disloyalty

Oct. 12, 1962 - Emil “Buzzie” Bavasi, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, today charged Coach Leo Durocher (right) with being disloyal to Manager Walter Alston (left). He said there was no longer room for both men on the same club. Bavasi based his claim on a statement attributed to Durocher at a Dodger party in which Leo allegedly said: “We would have won the pennant if I had been managing.” Neither Bavasi nor Walter O’Malley, owner of the Dodgers, was present at the

Oct 10, 2022

Tom Tresh Having Remarkable Rookie Year

Oct. 10, 1962 - When Tom Tresh struck the blow that beat the Giants today, he did it as a left-handed swinger against the right-handed Jack Sanford. This is pointed out for the benefit of those not aware of the numerous Tresh talents, one of which is that he is a switch-hitter. The 24-year-old athlete is as much at home batting from either side of the plate as he is playing the infield or the outfield. His switch-hitting ability was one of the reasons for the estimated bonus

Oct 10, 2022

Tresh’s Homer Lifts Yanks to Game Five win and 3-2 Series Lead

Oct. 10, 1962 - Tom Tresh, the Yankees’ rookie of the year throughout the pennant campaign, became their man of the hour today. With one swing of his bat, he enabled the Bombers to down the San Francisco Giants, 5-3, in the pivotal fifth game of the World Series before 63,165 at Yankee Stadium. With Ralph Terry and Jack Sanford, the pitching rivals in the second game, locked in a 2-2 tie, the 24-year-old Tresh belted one of Sanford’s pitches in the eighth inning for a 3-run h

Oct 8, 2022

Ford Bombed as Giants Tie World Series at 2-2

Oct. 8, 1962 - The home run, long the hallmark of the New York Yankees’ success, was turned on the Bombers today with stunning effect. The San Francisco Giants exploded 2 to tie the 1962 World Series at 2 games apiece. The first, a two-run shot off Whitey Ford by Tom Haller, a burly young catcher, came in the second inning. The second was an electrifying grand-slam off Marshall Bridges by a hitherto light-hitting second baseman, Chuck Hiller. This one came in the seventh with

Oct 7, 2022

World Series: Yankees Take Game 3 on Stafford’s Fine Pitching

Oct. 7, 1962 - Shrugging off the effects of a line drive that left him limping on a badly bruised leg, Bill Stafford (left) today hurled the New York Yankees to a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the third game of the 1962 World Series. The victory before a crowd of 71,434 at Yankee Stadium gave Ralph Houk’s Bombers a 2-1 lead in the Series. The fourth game will start at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Stafford, the Yanks’ crack young right-hander, and Billy Pierce, the 35-year-

Oct 5, 2022

Sanford: “Best Game I Ever Pitched”

Oct. 5, 1962 - “That was the best game I ever pitched,” Jack Sanford (right with Willie McCovey), the San Francisco Giants’ ace right-hander, said today after shutting out the Yankees on three hits. “Everything seemed to be working — fastballs, sliders, curves.” The Yankees were accommodating, he pointed out. “They swung at a lot of bad curveballs,” he said. He included Mickey Mantle. Mantle, however, clouted an inside fastball for a double off the right-field fence in the ni