Down 2-0 and facing a sweep, the 1962 San Francisco Giants showed some life against the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers. Giants hitters had their way with starter Johnny Podres, and piled on more late. Meanwhile, Juan Marichal allowed just 3 hits, one of which was a Frank Howard 3-run home run, to keep the Dodgers from getting into the game. Tom Haller hit a 2-out 2-run single in the 2nd off Podres to put San Francisco up early. In the 3rd, Podres walked Chuck Hiller and Willie Mays to lead off the inning, and Ron Fairly misplayed a hot grounder to load the bases. Orlando Cepeda delivered, hitting a grand slam to give the Giants a 6-0 lead. After Howard’s homer cut the lead in half, Podres allowed back-to-back singles to end his day in the 5th. Both runners scored on another 2-out single to extend the lead to 8-3. Larry Sherry entered the 8th, but struggled. He bobbled an easy grounder by Haller before allowing 3 straight singles to José Pagán, Harvey Kuenn, and Hiller. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Mays drilled one deep for another grand slam. Mays has now hit 4 homers in the series. After the 13-2 win, San Francisco hopes to carry the momentum into Game 4. The Dodgers will be without Maury Wills for a few days after he left the game after a collision in the 2nd inning.

’62 Giants @ ’63 Dodgers – 9/11/25

Coming off a 5-hit shutout, Baltimore Orioles pitching continued its dominance of the 1968 Detroit Tigers. Jim Palmer held the Tigers to just 5 hits, taking a shutout of his own into the 9th, but some wildness nearly cost the 1969 Orioles the game. Mickey Lolich was also on his game. The Tiger starter allowed a solo home run to Frank Robinson in the 1st inning. A walk and a single put runners on the corners in the 7th, but reliever Pat Dobson held the Orioles to just one more run with two groundouts and a flyout. After Bill Freehan grounded out to lead off the 9th, Palmer walked pinch-hitters Gates Brown and Eddie Mathews. A wild pitch put both in scoring position, forcing Palmer’s exit. Eddie Watt came in and unleashed a wild pitch of his own to make it 2-1 and put the tying run at 3rd. Leadoff hitter Dick McAuliffe grounded out to 1st, but Mathews froze and didn’t break for home. Mickey Stanley followed with a grounder back to Watt to end the game. Baltimore now has a 2-1 series lead, with tomorrow’s game still in Detroit.

’69 Orioles @ ’68 Tigers – 9/11/25

Facing a sweep at the hands of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals showed up. Steve Carlton took a 6-hit shutout into the 9th, and Mike Shannon drove in 4 runs as the Cardinals won it 6-2. Shannon singled in Curt Flood in the 1st off Harvey Haddix. Shannon singled in two more runs in the 5th to give St. Louis a 4-0 lead. It was Shannon again who drove in another run in the 8th with a leadoff home run. Carlton had allowed just 6 hits and a walk heading into the 9th. Roberto Clemente tripled in between a couple of singles, finally scoring two runs off the Cardinals’ hurler, but Carlton struck out the next 3 hitters, all looking, to finish with 12 strikeouts on the game. The win gives St. Louis another chance tomorrow.

’68 Cardinals @ ’60 Pirates – 9/11/25

The 1961 New York Yankees offense rebounded after a shutout loss. With back-to-back two-out singles in the 2nd, New York took a 2-0 lead over the 1964 Chicago White Sox. Bob Cerv hit a solo home run in the 4th, and Elston Howard hit a 2-run homer in the 6th to put the Yankees up 5-0. Bill Skowron’s 2-run triple in the 8th finally ended Gary Peters’ night. Bill Stafford scattered 8 hits, allowing just one run in 8 innings while striking out 6. With the 8-1 win, the Yankees take a 2-1 series lead, with a chance to advance with a win at Comiskey tomorrow. Roger Maris went 0 for 4, and has just one hit in the series so far.

’61 Yankees @ ’64 White Sox – 9/11/25

After the 1961 New York Yankees flexed their offensive muscle in Game 1, the 1964 Chicago White Sox turned to Joe Horlen. Horlen delivered, shutting out the Yankees. The White Sox starter held New York to just 3 baserunners and struck out 4 in an amazing performance that tied the series up 1-1. Horlen retired the 1st ten New York hitters before Tony Kubek doubled in the 4th. After Bobby Richardson singled in the 6th, Horlen retired the last 11 batters. Pete Ward got the Chicago offense going, homering with one on and two outs off Ralph Terry in the 1st inning. Terry allowed just 4 hits into the 9th before walking two in a row to end his evening. Chicago took advantage of a Hal Reniff wild pitch to score again, winning the game 3-0. The White Sox hope to keep the momentum going as the series heads to Chicago.

’64 White Sox @ ’61 Yankees – 9/9/25

The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates continued to flex their offense, mashing 14 hits and holding on to beat the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals 6-5, taking a 2-0 series lead. The Pirates got to Nelson Briles early. Bill Mazeroski drove in Rocky Nelson with an RBI single in the 2nd. In the 4th, Don Hoak’s triple drove in two more runs, and he scored on a Bill Virdon sacrifice fly to give Pittsburgh a 4-0 lead. Vern Law retired the 1st ten hitters he faced before the Cardinals made their comeback push. Tim McCarver tripled and scored in the 5th, and Roger Maris and Orlando Cepeda added RBI hits in the 6th to close to within a run. Dick Stuart came up with two outs and one on in the 7th and drove a deep home run over the leftfield wall to give the Pirates a little more breathing room. But another sac fly in the 7th and a solo home run by Cepeda in the 8th closed the gap again to a run. Roy Face came in and shut the door with a 1-2-3 inning, putting the Cardinals on the brink of a sweep, with the series heading to Pittsburgh for Game 3.

’60 Pirates @ ’68 Cardinals – 9/9/25

The 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers put together two big innings against Jack Sanford and the 1962 San Francisco Giants, holding on to win 7-6 and take a 2-0 series lead. Willie Davis led off the 3rd with a walk before four straight base-hits gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. Willie Mays and Willie McCovey hit back-to-back solo home runs against Don Drysdale in the 4th to cut the lead in half. But in the 5th, Frank Howard came up with two men on and hit a massive 3-run homer to make it a 7-2 game. The Giants took advantage of a Maury Wills error in the bottom of the inning to get those 3 runs back. After Harvey Kuenn led off the 7th with his own solo shot, the LA lead was just a run. That was as close as they would get. San Francisco failed to get another runner into scoring position until the 9th. Ron Perranoski, on to close out the game, collected three outs on dribblers back to the mound to end the game. Kuenn finished 4 for 5 to lead the San Francisco offense. Mays’ solo home run was his 3rd of the series. Drysdale allowed 10 hits, but struck out 8 to pick up the win. Wills was caught stealing twice in the game. The series heads to Los Angeles, where the Dodgers hope to complete the sweep in front of their home crowd.

’63 Dodgers @ ’62 Giants – 9/9/25

The 1969 Baltimore Orioles rode a 1st inning 2-out rally and the arm of Mike Cuellar to a 5-0 win over the 1968 Detroit Tigers to even the series between the teams 1-1. Tigers starter Earl Wilson allowed a base-hit to Paul Blair, but got two quick outs in the 1st. That’s when Baltimore put on 5 straight baserunners. Wilson walked Ellie Hendricks with the bases loaded, and Dave May followed with a 2-run single to put the Orioles up 4-0 before the final out of the inning. Wilson settled down, but exited in the 4th with a sore triceps. In the 8th, Fred Lasher walked in another run, giving Baltimore a 5-0 lead. Cuellar was stellar. He allowed just 5 hits, shutting out Detroit, who only had two runners in scoring position the entire game. The teams now head to Detroit with the series all tied up.

’68 Tigers @ ’69 Orioles – 9/9/25

Willie Mays hit two home runs, but a costly error by Orlando Cepeda yielded a 6-3 loss for the 1962 San Francisco Giants against the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the series between the teams. Billy O’Dell allowed a pair of singles to lead off the 3rd inning before Willie Davis flew out and Maury Wills struck out. Jim Gilliam lined one sharply to Cepeda, who couldn’t hold onto it, loading the bases. Wally Moon followed with a bases-clearing double, and after two more base-hits, the Dodgers were out in front 5-0 with all 5 runs unearned. Sandy Koufax looked great in his debut, allowing just 5 hits in 8 innings while striking out 7. Two of those hits were solo homers by Mays. After Mays’ 2nd homer in the 9th, Ron Perranoski came in to close things out and pick up the save. The Dodgers only had one more hit after that 3rd inning. Things don’t get much easier for San Francisco, as they face Don Drysdale in Game 2.

’63 Dodgers @ ’62 Giants – 9/8/25

There wasn’t anything flashy about it, but in the end Denny McLain outlasted Dave McNally as the 1968 Detroit Tigers scored late to top the 1969 Baltimore Orioles 5-4 to take Game 1 of their best-of-five series. The teams traded runs early, but the Tigers carried a 3-2 lead into the 5th. That’s when Frank Robinson hit a 2-run home run to give Baltimore a 4-3 lead. That lead held until the 8th, when Willie Horton led off with a double, and Bill Freehan tied it with a single. The Tigers pulled ahead later in the inning when Freehan scored on a Don Wert sacrifice fly. McLain pitched three hitless innings to close things out for the win. Robinson finished 3 for 4 with the homer and 2 RBI. Five different Tigers had two hits. It was a great start to the Tournament for Detroit.

’68 Tigers @ ’69 Orioles – 9/8/25