The 1962 Dodgers

Walter O’Malley’s dream ballpark, beautiful Dodger Stadium, was ready for play to launch the 1962 season. The Dodgers did not win on Opening Day, April 10, as the Cincinnati Reds behind Wally Post’s three-run home run in the seventh spoiled the party, 6-3, in front of 52,564 excited fans. The First Lady of the Dodgers, Kay O’Malley, threw the ceremonial first pitch from the seats near the Dodger dugout to catcher John Roseboro. Latina diva Alma Pedroza sang the national anthem. Johnny Podres threw the first pitch in Dodger Stadium to Eddie Kasko of the Reds. Kasko doubled to lead off the game for Dodger Stadium’s first hit. Duke Snider got the first hit for the Dodgers, a single to start the second inning. But, the next day, the Dodgers and Sandy Koufax celebrated their first win (6-2) at Dodger Stadium. Jim Gilliam belted the first Dodger home run on April 11 in the third inning off Moe Drabowsky. The third game at Dodger Stadium was historic for a different reason. Rookie Pete Richert tied a major league record by striking out the first six batters he faced in the big leagues and got the 11-7 win in relief on April 12. The L.A. Angels also began playing at Dodger Stadium beginning in 1962. Baseball expanded in 1962 as the National League added the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s. Through the expansion draft, the Dodgers lost Gil Hodges, Charlie Neal and Roger Craig to the Mets and Norm Larker, Dick Farrell and Bob Aspromonte to Houston. Maury Wills was the toast of the town as he ran absolutely wild on the basepaths, thrilling fans who chanted “Go, Go, Go” to the speedster as soon as he reached first base. Wills, who reintroduced the element of speed and revolutionized the game in the early 1960s, entered the major league record books in 1962 with 104 stolen bases and won the N.L. MVP Award. Other notable highlights of the season were Koufax’s first no-hitter on June 30 against the New York Mets (5-0 with 13 strikeouts); Tommy Davis’ N.L. batting championship at .346 with a team-record 153 RBI; and Podres’ eight consecutive strikeouts to set a team record on July 2 against Philadelphia. Former Dodger Jackie Robinson was the first Black player inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Big Frank Howard set a Dodger team record for most RBI in a month with 41 in August. Koufax sat out for two months of the season due to a rare circulation problem with his left index finger. He returned to pitch in mid-September, but struggled to find his touch despite his league-leading 2.54 ERA.

The Dodgers were going the wrong direction, losing 10 of their final 13 games, as Don Drysdale, who had a fine Cy Young Award-winning season with 25 wins (25-9), was running on empty in the last two weeks. “Big D” topped the majors with 314 innings pitched and 232 strikeouts. The Dodgers had a four-game lead with 13 to play. As Podres lost 1-0 on the last day of the season to Curt Simmons and St. Louis, the Giants, who had won seven of the final 13 games played, beat Houston, 2-1. Thus, the Dodgers and Giants ended in a flat-footed tie for first place. It was the fourth playoff in National League history to determine the pennant winner and the Dodgers had been involved in all them. It was the second time that Alston had managed a playoff series. For the second time in a little over a decade, the Dodgers were stung by the Giants in a N.L. Playoff Series. The Dodgers dropped the opener on Oct. 1 in San Francisco, 8-0, as Willie Mays slugged two home runs and Koufax couldn’t find his normal rhythm. Billy Pierce had a three-hitter for the Giants. In the second game in Los Angeles, the Dodgers rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the last of the sixth inning to score seven runs. After the Giants knotted the score 7-7 in the eighth, the Dodgers pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on Ron Fairly’s sacrifice fly to make a winner of the Dodgers’ fifth pitcher of the day, Stan Williams. But, in the final contest of the year at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers ran out of miracles, losing 6-4 after leading 4-2 in the ninth inning with a tired Ed Roebuck on the mound. The Giants got the go-ahead run when Jim Davenport walked with the bases loaded off Williams, before another run scored on second baseman Larry Burright’s error. At the time, the four hour and 18 minute game was the longest in major league history for a nine-inning affair. It was a devasting loss for the Dodgers, who did not even want to talk to reporters after the heartbreaking defeat. For most teams, 102 wins in a season would have been more than enough. But, not this year as the Giants nipped them at the end again. It was the first time since the Dodgers won the N.L. Pennant in 1947 that they had gone three seasons without landing a pennant. O’Malley, who wanted to set the tone for the next season immediately, took his front office executives and their spouses to San Francisco for one game of the World Series.