60 YEARS AGO/53: THE GIANTS BLOW A GAME--THE DODGERS DON'T...

It was the eighteenth anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 1962, and the game between the Giants and Cubs at Wrigley Field that day proved that Al Dark was no Eisenhower. He and his hapless foot soldier, Jose Pagan, likely ran the Giants out of a ball game. 

Here comes the swoon!

In a tight contest between the Giants' Mike McCormick and the Cubs' Dick Ellsworth (who would lose 20 games this year but turn around and win 22 the next season), Pagan made three baserunning errors in the same game: he was caught attempting to steal second twice, and was doubled off second base when Cubs' left fielder Billy Williams made a lunging, shoestring catch of a sinking liner by Tom Haller.

Pagan mitigated his baserunning gaffes by collecting three hits and driving in a run in the top of the ninth to tie the game 3-3. But he ran on a 3-2 pitch delivered by Ellsworth to Haller, and catcher El Tappe (who, contrary to rumor, was not the inspiration for the character of "El Kabong" on the Quick Draw McGraw cartoon series...) threw him out--again. 

Ultimately, though, it was Dark (the ex-Marine) who brought the "kabong" down on the Giants this day, by sticking with reliever Don Larsen when he had reinforcements ready to replace him. Larsen had already pitched two innings when he stayed in the game for the bottom of the ninth; but he lost the bubble quickly, walking two batters and uncorking a wild pitch to put Lou Brock on third. Dark called for an intentional walk to former Giant André Rodgers, loading the bases. But Larsen then proceed to walk pinch-hitter Don Landrum on four pitches, forcing in the winning run. Final score: Cubs 4, Giants 3.

IN Pittsburgh, it was the battle of the two Joes: Pirates' lefty Joe Gibbon and the Dodgers' gangly teenage monster Joe Moeller. The tenacity of youth somehow managed to prevail in this game, as Moeller faced 39 batters (a lot even for a veteran, much less a 19-year-old), walked seven, and gave up eight hits, and on this evening seemed to thrive in escaping innings with men left on base. Ultimately the Pirates would strand 12 runners, breaking through only in the ninth inning after the Dodgers had built up a 5-1 lead, in part due to errors from the Bucs' fabled middle infield combo of Dick Groat and Bill Mazeroski (two damaging unearned runs). Ed Roebuck and Ron Perranoski were brought in to douse the Pirate rally, which had gone far enough to bring the potential winning run to the plate in the ovular shape of Smoky Burgess, hitting .364 at the time.

But Perranoski dispatched the pesky, corpulent Burgess on a grounder to third, and youth was served (in the form of a win for the teenage monster). Ka-bong! Final score: Dodgers 5, Pirates 3.

SEASON RECORDS: SFG 40-16, LAD 40-17