60 YEARS AGO/36: IS IT THE ONLY DAY IN MAY WHERE BOTH THESE TEAMS LOSE?

Well, is it? The diagram at right tells you that Friday, May 18, 1962 is a day where the Giants and Dodgers both lose. It's the only day thus far in the month that they've done so (they did it three times in April, despite the fact that the Giants went 15-5 for the month). And you've already seen (in previous posts) that the Dodgers are going to get very hot for the rest of May--so are you willing to take a tumble on answering the question posed in our subject line?

Feel free to hedge you bets...

Willie McCovey figured in all of the Giants' scoring in their game against the Houston Colts at Candlestick Park--one where starting pitchers Ken Johnson (Colts) and Jack Sanford (Giants) each showed top-level hit prevention and both men pitched 10-inning complete games. McCovey, still the forgotten man on the Giants' roster, started this game in left field. He walked to lead off the second, and was promptly picked off first by Johnson--except that the throw was wild and kicked down the right field line, allowing Willie Mac to make it all the way to third. He then scored on a single by Jim Davenport. 

Then, with the Giants railing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, McCovey homered off Johnson (only the third hit he'd surrendered in the entire game) to tie the game. Johnson got his own revenge in the top of the tenth, however, driving in the go-ahead run with a single after Sanford had walked Joey Amalfitano in order to pitch to him. (The move made sense: Johnson was a lifetime .114 hitter, and had only four hits in 1962--but this was one of them.)

The Giants got the tying run into scoring position in the bottom of the tenth, but Johnson worked his way through it to earn his first win of the season. Final score: Colts 3, Giants 2 (10 innings).

At Dodger Stadium, Johnny Podres got hit with a batted ball in the first inning and had to leave the game--and Stan Williams allowed two bequeathed runners to score, followed by four more ragged innings (particularly the third, where four hits and three walks produced a four-run inning), giving the St. Louis Cardinals a 6-1 lead after three. 

Ron Fairly and Larry Burright (yes, we're still in the "Larry Burright era"...) each had three hits for the Dodgers, but the 1-4 hitters went 0-for-16 against Cards' starter Larry Jackson and they never got their offense untracked. RISP hitting was a big factor in this game: the Cards were 5-for-13 in such situations, while LA was only 1-for-9. Dodger pitchers walked seven in the game, while Jackson didn't allow a single base on balls and scattered eight hits in a complete game win. Thanks to Williams' feckless performance, Podres took the loss. Final score: Cardinals 8, Dodgers 3.

SEASON RECORDS: SFG 26-10, LAD 23-13.

NL RBI LEADERS: Cepeda, SFG 38; Pinson, CIN 36; T. Davis, LA 35.