All that began to change on June 19th, when Walt Alston installed him in right field and batted him cleanup against Cardinal lefty Curt Simmons. Frank hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Simmons; after the Cardinals tied the game at 2-2 on a sixth inning RBI single by Carl Sawatski, big Frank's double ignited the Dodgers' winning rally in the bottom of the seventh. Doug Camilli threw out one more of the four baserunners he caught attempting steal during 1962 (in this case, pinch-runner Bobby Gene Smith)--and it was a good thing, because Don Drysdale promptly allowed a double to Gene Oliver that probably would have scored the tying run. Big D (who was big, he was just small compared to Howard) then worked out of the inning to notch his eleventh win. Final score: Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2.
Big Frank would drive in 60 runs and hit .350 with 15 homers from June 19th through August 9th--a 47-game span where he played everyday. Buoyed by his big bat, the Dodgers would compile a 33-14 record during this time frame; Howard's OPS for during that span was 1.099. It was the first inkling of the type of hitter he'd become later in the decade for the Washington Senators.
IN San Francisco, Billy O'Dell had a rough outing against the Colts, and had to be bailed out in the third inning with the Giants already behind, 3-0. Willie Mays drove in three runs for SF, but they could never quite catch up, as relievers Don Larsen and Bobby Bolin were touched for runs in the sixth and seventh, keeping the game out of reach as they stranded 11 baserunners. Dick (Turk) Farrell, now in the Colts' starting rotation, rode in from the bullpen in the ninth to quash the Giants' last comeback attempt, striking out Felipe Alou and Jim Davenport to end the game. Final score: Colts 6, Giants 4.SEASON RECORDS: LAD 47-23, SFG 44-25
