Willie McCovey had another monster day at the plate, but it wasn’t enough as the 1962 San Francisco Giants fell to the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. After Harvey Kuenn scored on a wild throw by Bill Virdon in the 1st, McCovey hit a solo home run to give the Giants a 2-0 lead against Vern Law. The Pirates came back in the 2nd inning against Billy O’Dell. After a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with 2 outs, Bill Mazeroski doubled into the gap, scoring two, but Don Hoak was thrown out at home to end the inning. McCovey came through again in the 7th with another solo shot to give San Francisco the lead. O’Dell allowed just 4 hits leading into the 8th, but couldn’t hold the lead. Dick Stuart’s 2-out double drove in Dick Groat to tie the game. Three straight singles off reliever Bobby Bolin led to a 2-run 9th for the Pirates. Roy Face closed things out for Pittsburgh to earn his 4th save of the Tournament. Law allowed 2 earned runs on 9 hits to improve to 3-1. McCovey finished 4 for 4 with a walk, 2 homers, and 2 RBI.

’60 Pirates @ ’62 Giants – 9/29/25

Yankees ace Whitey Ford shut out the 1964 Chicago White Sox, allowing just 6 hits and striking out 5 as the Yankees won it 5-0. With Mickey Mantle going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts, it was Elston Howard who stepped up in a big way. Howard singled and scored on a wild pitch in the 2nd inning for the 1st Yankees run. Howard hit a massive solo home run in the 4th inning to deep centerfield to give New York a 2-0 lead. Then, in the 8th, with two on and one out, Howard connected for another homer, a 3-run shot that put the Yankees up 5-0. Howard finished 4 for 4 with a double, two homers, and 4 RBI, all against Gary Peters. Peters managed to strike out 9, but fell to 2-2 in the Tournament. The Yankees made the most of their 7 hits to take the 1st game in the American League Championship Series.

’64 White Sox @ ’61 Yankees – 9/29/25

Chicago’s John Burzhardt made the most of his 1st start of the Tournament. The White Sox #4 starter came through, holding the 1969 Baltimore Orioles to 5 hits, and striking out 7, in a shutout. Dave McNally had a tough-luck loss. McNally held the White Sox to one run on 4 hits, but fell to 0-4 in the Tournament. The only Chicago run came on a 2-out single by Floyd Robinson in the 3rd inning. No player on either team made it past 1st base after that inning. Baltimore’s Paul Blair tripled off Burzhardt in the 1st inning with just one out, but Frank Robinson got caught looking at strike 3, and Boog Powell grounded out to end the inning. The White Sox will get a rematch against the 1961 New York Yankees, with the winner going to the Best of the 1960s World Series.

’69 Orioles @ ’64 White Sox – 9/26/25

In a must-win Game 5, the Los Angeles Dodgers turned to ace Sandy Koufax. Dick Stuart and the Pittsburgh Pirates had other plans. Koufax got two quick outs in the 1st before Bob Skinner singled. Then, Dick Stuart hit a 2-run home run that barely cleared the wall to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers responded with 3 hits in the bottom of the inning, with Tommy Davis hitting an RBI single. A throwing error by Johnny Roseboro on a steal attempt, and another bobble by Jim Gilliam led to two unearned Pirate runs in the 2nd. Just two innings later, the Pirates put any hopes of a Dodger comeback away. Pittsburgh led off with three straight singles to load the bases, but Koufax struck out Dick Groat, giving the Dodgers hope. Skinner followed with a 2-run single. That brought up Stuart again, and the slugger took the 1st pitch nearly 500 feet for a 3-run homer and a 9-1 lead. Tommy Davis and Hal Smith traded homers before Wally Moon hit a 2-run double in the 5th to cut the Pirate lead to 10-4. After an early exit for Koufax, Stuart came up again with one on and one out and crushed his 3rd homer of the game. He’d finish 3 for 5 with 3 homers and 7 RBI. Once again, the Dodger offense was spotty. Bob Friend held them to 4 runs on 7 hits in a complete game win. The Dodgers went down 1-2-3 in 6 of 9 innings. The sole bright spot for Dodgers pitching was the 15 combined strikeouts. Koufax allowed 8 runs on 12 hits in 5 innings, but struck out 9. Now the Pirates move on to face the 1962 San Francisco Giants, while the Dodgers wonder what-if?

’60 Pirates @ ’63 Dodgers – 9/28/25

For three innings, it looked like the Los Angeles Dodgers would go down quietly in their elimination game against the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. With one swing, Wally Moon gave them hope. LA starter Bob Miller allowed back-to-back singles in the 3rd inning to give the Pirates an early 1-0 lead. Meanwhile, Vinegar Bend Mizell retired the 1st nine batters he faced. Maury Wills led off the 4th with a triple. After Jim Gilliam walked, Moon took his shot, hitting a 3-run home run. It’s only the 5th home run the Dodgers have hit in the Tournament. Wills hit another triple in the 5th, driving in another run to give LA a 4-1 lead. An RBI double by Bill Mazeroski in the 7th cut the lead to 4-2, but LA got the run right back in the 8th when Moon doubled and scored on a base-hit by Tommy Davis. Dick Stuart made things interesting in the 8th when he hit a 2-run shot to make it a one-run game, but Ron Perranoski came in early and shut the door on any comeback hopes, picking up his 4th save. With the 5-4 win, the Dodgers have new life, and will have Sandy Koufax taking the mound in Game 5, with everything on the line.

’63 Dodgers @ ’60 Pirates – 9/26/25

The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates built an early lead and held off a late Dodgers comeback to top LA 5-3 and take a 2-1 series lead. Roberto Clemente stayed hot, hitting a solo home run in the 2nd off Johnny Podres to give Pittsburgh an early lead. Clemente drove in another run in the 5th with an RBI single. Two batters later, Don Hoak took Podres deep to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. The Dodgers’ offense finally woke up against Harvey Haddix in the 6th. Wally Moon and Tommy Davis hit back-to-back triples, and Frank Howard followed with a single to cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half. An RBI single by Maury Wills in the 7th made it a one-run game. Hal Smith hit a solo shot in the bottom of the inning to give the Pirates an insurance run. Clem Labine and Roy Face retired the final 6 LA batters to close the door on any comeback, putting LA one loss away from elimination. Hoak and Clemente both finished 2 for 3 with 2 RBI.

’63 Dodgers @ ’60 Pirates – 9/25/25

With elimination on the line, Baltimore skipped ace Dave McNally (0-3, 6.21 ERA) and turned to Jim Palmer. Palmer delivered, taking a one-hit shutout into the 9th. Chicago White Sox hurler Joe Horlen kept pace, keeping the Orioles scoreless into the 8th. That’s when Don Buford led off with a double, his 4th hit of the game. Paul Blair followed with another double to drive in the game’s 1st run. Frank Robinson came next with his Tournament-leading 7th homer to put Baltimore up 3-0. Palmer retired Tommy McCraw to lead off the 9th. Don Buford singled for Chicago’s 2nd hit of the game. Floyd Robinson popped out, but Pete Ward kept the game alive with a single. Then Palmer, visibly flustered, gave up a bases-clearing double to Moose Skowron, leading to his exit. Eddie Watt got Gene Stephens to ground out to end the game, giving Baltimore a 3-2 win. Palmer is now 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA. Baltimore will need to win the next two games to give him another chance to start.

’69 Orioles @ ’64 White Sox – 9/25/25

Frank Robinson gave the 1969 Baltimore Orioles early hope, but Gene Stephens powered the White Sox to a 6-3 win, putting the Orioles one game away from elimination in the Best of the 1960s Tournament. Don Buford led off with a double off Juan Pizarro in the 1st inning, and Robinson followed two batters later with a 2-run home run. In the 3rd inning, facing Tom Phoebus, Moose Skowron singled with 2 outs, and Stephens followed with a 3-run homer, his 1st of the Tournament. In the 7th, a Boog Powell error eventually led to two more runs for the Sox, capped by an RBI single by Stephens. After Paul Blair hit a solo shot in the bottom of the 8th, Stephens added a sacrifice fly in the top of the 9th to give Chicago a 6-3 lead. Hoyt Wilhelm picked up his 3rd save with a scoreless 9th. After dropping two home games in Baltimore, the Orioles have a rough road, needing to win 3 straight, including two in Chicago. Pizarro is now 3-1 with a 3.06 ERA in the Tournament. Stephens finished 2 for 4 with 5 RBI.

’64 White Sox @ ’69 Orioles – 9/23/25

Bob Friend overcame a rough start, and the Pirates came through against Los Angeles starter Don Drysdale, twice with two-out rallies, as Pittsburgh evened the series with a 4-2 win. Jim Gilliam and Wally Moon had back-to-back singles in the 1st, but Friend struck out Tommy Davis and Frank Howard to strand Gilliam on 3rd. Friend allowed four more hits over the next 3 innings, but LA couldn’t capitalize. Dick Stuart hit a solo home run off Drysdale to score 1st in the 4th inning. Bill Mazeroski and Bill Virdon singled with 2 outs in the 5th to plate another run. While Friend retired 15 straight to get to the 9th, Drysdale allowed 7 more hits over the next 3 innings as the Pirates, once again, had multiple hits with 2 outs, scoring another run in the 8th to make it 3-0. A sacrifice fly in the 9th off reliever Pete Richert gave Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead. An error by Don Hoak with one out and one on in the 9th nearly derailed things. Ken McMullen hit an RBI single to ruin the shutout, and Johnny Roseboro followed with a sac fly, but Willie Davis grounded out back to Friend to end the game. The series will now head to Pittsburgh. Friend improved to 3-2, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits and striking out 8.

’60 Pirates @ ’63 Dodgers – 9/23/25

Vern Law held the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers to just one hit through 7 innings, but it was in the 8th that LA bats did just enough to steal a 2-1 win in Game 1 of the Elimination Series with the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates had a hit in each of the 1st three innings against Sandy Koufax. In the 4th, Hal Smith took Koufax deep to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Wally Moon gave the Dodgers their 1st baserunner with a single in the bottom of the inning, but that was the only baserunner for LA until the 8th. Frank Howard and Ron Fairly had back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, but Law was able to get Ken McMillan to ground into a double-play. Johnny Roseboro came through with a big base-hit to tie the game. Willie Davis and Maury Wills followed with two more singles to give the Dodgers the lead. Koufax allowed two singles in the 9th, but got Roberto Clemente and Smith to pop out to end the game. Koufax improved to 3-1 in the Tournament, allowing a run on 7 hits and striking out 10.

’60 Pirates @ ’63 Dodgers – 9/22/25