60 YEARS AGO/91: THE RACE TIGHTENS AGAIN, AND...FOOTSTEPS FROM BEHIND...

After their roller-coaster come-from-behind and nearly-blown win the night before, the Dodgers managed to give one away on July 19, 1962. Two guys named Johnny--Podres for the Dodgers, Klippstein for the Reds--battled in a tight pitchers' duel.

Frank Howard's second-inning homer gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, which Podres held until the sixth, when Wally Post doubled in the tying run. LA went back in front in the top of the eighth on Podres' infield single (set up by a pinch hit from Duke Snider, a man conspicuous in his absence over the past couple of months). But an error by Ron Fairly allowed the Reds to score an unearned run in the bottom of the inning.

The Dodgers reclaimed the lead in the top of the ninth on Johnny Roseboro's single, and it looked as though veteran lefty reliever Bill Henry might have given the game away. Podres walked the first man he faced in the bottom of the ninth, however, and Walt Alston quickly brought in Ron Perranoski. After the play-for-a-tie play option (sacrifice bunt) was utilized by Fred Hutchinson, the Dodgers' ace lefty retired Joe Gaines for the second out of the inning. 

But ex-Dodger Don Zimmer, recently rescued from the Mets--after hitting 4-for-52 with them to start the '62 season--had come into the game an inning earlier as a defensive replacement. He slapped a single to left to tie the game. And Eddie Kasko hit a 1-0 pitch over the head of Frank Howard in right, which one-hopped the wall and stopped dead at the bottom of the fence. By the time Big Frank got to the ball, Zimmer was rounding third and he scored easily. Final score: Reds 4, Dodgers 3.

IN Milwaukee, the Giants rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knock Denny Lemaster out of the game and then proceeded to rough up Carl Willey as well. Bobby Bolin had a HLRA (you remember: "heroic lengthy relief appearance") for the Giants, tossing five scoreless innings in relief to improve his season record to 5-0. Jose Pagan had three RBI for SF as they moved to within one game of the Dodgers. Final score: Giants 7, Braves 3.

But there were other footsteps in the pennant race that day. The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the New York Mets by scores of 5-1 and 7-6 to move within 2 1/2 games of first place. Since June 10, the Bucs had gone 30-10 to gain 6 1/2 games in the standings. During that time frame, Roberto Clemente had hit .425 with 31 RBI; Bob Skinner, in the midst of his best-ever season for the Pirates, hit .372 during this stretch. The Pirates were beating up the lesser lights in the NL during this time frame, however--the Mets, the Colts, the Cubs, and the Phillies; they would start playing the Giants and Dodgers again over the next ten days...

SEASON RECORDS: LAD 63-34, SFG 62-35, PIT 59-35, STL 53-41, CIN 50-41, MIL 46-48, PHI 44-51, HOU 34-58, CHC 35-61, NYM 24-66