60 YEARS AGO/95: ACTION IN THE CENTRAL TIME ZONE

We will add some coverage of the Pirates to our ongoing tale, at least for a bit, so that we can trace the tracks of their tears as they fade from the pennant race. As Pittsburgh hit the skids, the Cincinnati Reds re-emerge over the second half to move within striking distance of the Dodgers and Giants--and a pivotal part of that process can be found in the four-game Pirates-Reds series from 7/23-7/26 (which Cincy swept). As we'll see, the Reds wound up dominating that particular season series...we display them below in the three home-and-home segments that occurred in 1962, with the win-loss summaries shown from the Pirates' perspective:

5/11-5/12-5/13 PIT@CIN: 0-3; 5/18-5/20 CIN@PIT 1-1

6/18(2)-6/19-6/20 CIN@PIT 1-3; 7/23-7/24-7/25-7/26 PIT@CIN 0-4

9/18-9/19-9/20 CIN@PIT 2-1; 9/25-9/26 PIT@CIN 1-1

When you add up the figures in bold, you'll see that the Pirates had a 5-13 record against the Reds in '62, the worst performance versus any opponent for that year. (They were 7-11 against the Giants, and 8-10 against the Dodgers.) That eight-game swing within this season series captures most of the difference in the two teams' final season records (Reds 98-64; Pirates 93-68).

On this day (July 23, 1962--a Monday), the Reds' Jim O'Toole, in the beginning stages of a second-half resurgence (8-4, 2.98 ERA) simply shuts down the Pirates, tossing a one-hit shutout. (He has a no-hitter into the eighth inning, until Bob Skinner reaches him for a one-out double.) Final score: Reds 3, Pirates 0. 

DOWN in Houston, Bobby Bolin is not quite so dominant as O'Toole, but he still tosses a strong game at the reeling Houston Colts (this is the month where the first-year expansion team goes 5-24). Bolin improves his season record to 6-0, allowing only an unearned run when Willie Mays uncharacteristically makes an errant throw attempting to throw out Joey Amalfitano at third base on the Colt second baseman's extra-base knock. The ball skips away from all of the nearby Giants, allowing Amalfitano to score. (It was only the third error committed by Mays during the '62 season.)

The Giants were leading 4-0 at the time, and Mays would get that run back in the seventh, hitting his 29th homer. Final score: Giants 5, Colts 1.

IN St. Louis, the Dodgers scored three in the second (two on another homer from Frank Howard, still red hot) and five more in the fourth (three on a homer by Maury Wills, who later said it was easily the longest ball he'd ever hit) en route to a laugher against the Cardinals. Johnny Podres scattered nine hits and walked no one, going the distance to improve his season record to 6-7. Final score: Dodgers 9, Cardinals 2.

SEASON RECORDS: LAD 67-34, SFG 65-36, PIT 60-38, CIN 55-41