60 YEARS AGO/45: TWO DOUBLEHEADERS--AND TWO BROOMS...

Well, we gave it all away in the last post when we zeroed in on the nightmarish stretch befalling the Phillies and Mets as they both took it on the chin during their west coast road trip. (THUD! was the headline in the New York Post; we're not sure what was printed in Philadelphia was actually printable.)

Sunday, May 27, 1962 brought both of these teams to their knees twice, as the Giants and Dodgers remained incredibly hot. The way things went down for each club was ominously similar--a first game where the score wasn't really close, and a one-run loss in the second game. 

THERE were a few fireworks in the first game at Candlestick, however--though they didn't arrive until the seventh inning. The Mets did take a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Richie Ashburn doubled home catcher Sammy Taylor, whose grounder to first had been hit too softly for the Giants to turn a double play. But the Giants got three in the bottom of the fourth as Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou all singled, and Mets shortstop Elio Chacon missed a relay throw from left field that struck second base and caromed into the outfield, allowing Cepeda to score. (Chacon seemed to be inordinately rattled on the play, and looked several times at the scoreboard when he was charged with an error on the play.)

In the bottom of the seventh, the game took a surreal turn when, with two outs and a man on third, Mets starter Roger Craig threw one high and tight to Willie Mays, causing him to jump out of the way. Mays slapped the next pitch for a single, making it 4-1. Craig then hit Cepeda with a pitch, and the craziness kicked in: as Mays moved toward second, Cepeda belatedly charged the mound, with Craig coming down to meet him. When Mays arrived at second, Chacon suddenly began slugging him, even as Craig and Cepeda squared off. 

Mays grabbed the wiry Chacon, lifted him off his feet, and slammed him to the ground, where he attempted to pin the flailing arms of the excitable Venezuelan. Meanwhile, Cepeda had socked Craig, as the benches emptied, while Casey Stengel stood at the top of the dugout steps in disbelief. 

When it was all sorted out, only Chacon was ejected from the game. But the wackiness was still intact: with Alou at the plate, Craig decided to pick off Cepeda. He succeeded, but he also picked off his first baseman: Ed Bouchee was playing off the bag, and he made a futile, belated lunge for the ball, which eluded him and squibbed the right field line. Mays and Cepeda each moved up a base before Felix Mantilla could retrieve the ball--and they both promptly scored on Alou's single, making it 6-1 Giants.

Tom Haller, getting more playing time behind the plate for the Giants, hit a homer to cap the scoring. Stu Miller earned his fifth save, picking up for Jack Sanford, who'd struck out nine and allowed just four hits in seven innings. Final score: Giants 7, Mets 1 (first game). 

In the second game, Chacon was back, and he'd even score a run in this game, along with catcher Harry Chiti (who would be "traded for himself" a few weeks later by the ever-innovative Mets management) courtesy of a homer by Jim Hickman. The Mets led the game 5-2 in the eighth, but starter Al Jackson surrendered a leadoff single to Harvey Kuenn. Stengel decided to take no chances, bringing in Craig Anderson--but the same trio who'd bedevilled Roger Craig late in the first game--Mays, Cepeda, and Alou--did it all over again, and before you knew it, the Giants were back on top. Stu Miller gave up a couple of hits in the ninth, but he held on to preserve the win and pick up his second save of the day. Final score: Giants 6, Mets 5 (second game)

DOWN at Dodger Stadium, Stan Williams was "on" in the first game, and he was backed by a 4-for-4, 3 RBI performance from gargantuan Frank Howard (6'7", 245 lbs.) who seemingly defied natural law by stroking a two-run triple in the fourth off Phils starter Paul Brown. (So, yes, we're exaggerating just a bit: Howard, later known as "Hondo," actually had 35 triples in his career--which, come to think of it, really is unbelievable.) Williams faltered a bit in the ninth, losing his shutout, and Ron Perranoski came in to get the last out. Final score: Dodgers 5, Phillies 2 (first game).

In Game Two, Ron Fairly--still hot, with his batting average now over .300--spelled Willie Davis in center and batted cleanup (collecting two more hits and an RBI). That one RBI was all Don Drysdale had to work with, however, and he surrendered the tying run in the top of the sixth (Wes Covington's single scoring Tony Gonzalez). 

But with Fairly in center, Tim Harkness got a rare start, and manager Walt Alston's hunch paid off for the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, the Dodgers loaded the bases, but Johnny Roseboro popped out to third. Harkness then came up, fell behind 0-2, took a ball, then just barely got a piece of Phillies' starter Art Mahaffey's slider. He then slapped the next pitch into right field for a game-winning, walk-off single, giving Drysdale his seventh win and upping the Dodgers' winning streak to eight. Final score: Dodgers 2, Phillies 1 (second game).

SEASONAL RECORDS: SFG 33-14, LAD 31-15