60 YEARS AGO/140: SEPTEMBER DRAMA HEATS UP ON THE ROAD

Potential disaster struck on 9/12/62 for the Giants, when Willie Mays fainted on the bench in Cincinnati and had to be removed from the game. Mays would miss the next three games, during which time the Giants would fall into an ill-timed swoon far more dangerous to their pennant chances than what they'd experienced back in June.

Matty Alou replaced Mays in the bottom of the first, but he could only watch as Frank Robinson hit a two-run homer far over his head in left-center to get the Reds off to a flying start. Wally Post followed with another homer off Billy Pierce, and that, essentially, was the ballgame. Joey Jay and Jim Maloney combined to strike out 12 Giants, and limit them to just four hits. The Giants were clearly distracted and distressed by what had occurred in their dugout that evening. Final score: Reds 4, Giants 1.

THE Dodgers had the weaker opponent (Houston Colts), but the cavernous makeshift park that was in use there had a strong tendency to keep games on the low-scoring side of things. The game was scoreless in the bottom of the fourth when Walt Alston took aggressive action after Pete Richert had given up two hits to start the inning: in came Ed Roebuck, who bobbed and weaved his way through the threat, coaxing a double play with the bases loaded to foil the Colts.

In the top of the fifth, Frank Howard hit a home run--and Roebuck followed with four more scoreless innings of relief, until he walked catcher Hal Smith with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Alston brought in Ron Perranoski, who retired Billy Goodman on a pop fly and struck out Bob Lillis looking to seal the deal on the most elemental game score of all. More "heroic" relief work from a Dodger bullpen that is unrecognizable to us today in terms of its usage. Final score: Dodgers 1, Colts 0.

SEASON RECORDS: LAD 96-51, SFG 94-52, CIN 91-57