Major League Baseball Season Recap 1962

World Series – New York Yankees AL over San Franciso Giants NL 4 games to 3

World Series MVP – Ralph Terry
Babe Ruth Award – Ralph Terry

Awards –
Major League Cy Young Award Don Drysdale Cy Young Award National League Cy Young Award American League
MVP Awards – NL Maury Wills AL Mickey Mantle
Major League Rookie of The Year –
NL Rookie of The Year – Tom Tresh AL Rookie of The Year – Ken Hubbs

All-Star Game – July 10th – N.L. 3 over A.L. 1, played at D.C. Stadium (AL)
AL Starter J. Bunning+ NL Starter D. Drysdale+ MVP Maury Wills, Leon Wagner

All Star Game 2 July 30th A.L. 9 over N.L. 4 played at Wrigley Field (NL)
AL Starter D. Stenhouse NL Starter J. Podres

Sort bySearch Days, Events, Players Title (A - Z)Date (Newest)

January 3, 1962

Ground is broken for the Astrodome. The ceremony includes the firing of pistols into the ground by team, city and county officials. 

January 7, 1962

1962 – The 61-year-old Three-I League is disbanded by the six remaining clubs.

January 8, 1962

Commissioner Ford Frick denies charges that Carl Furillo has been blacklisted by Major League Baseball because of a 1959 salary dispute with the Dodgers.

January 17, 1962

Warren Spahn, the highest-paid pitcher in baseball, met briefly at County Stadium with general manager John McHale before signing his 1962 contract. Terms of the contract were not released, but reportedly Spahn was in the $65,000 range.

January 22, 1962

Boston Red Sox outfielder Jackie Jensen announces his retirement

January 23, 1962

Lawyer Melvin Belli wins a breach-of-warranty suit against the San Francisco Giants on the grounds that his box seat at Candlestick Park is too cold. Belli’s suit contends that the seat he bought in 1960, at the cost of $1,597, was supposed to have radiant heating.

January 23, 1962

Pitcher Bob Feller and infielder Jackie Robinson are elected to the Hall of Fame 

January 24, 1962

Southern Association announces that it is suspending operations

January 26, 1962

New York Yankee stars Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle sign contracts to appear in the movie Safe at Home

January 28, 1962

Edd Roush and Bill McKechnie are added to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.

January 29, 1962

1962 – Manager Harry Craft and General Manager Paul Richards begin the first winter publicity caravan in team history, starting in Victoria. The team has had one every year since then, touring cities throughout Texas and Louisiana. Among the other travelers are infielders Norm Larker, Bob Aspromonte, Don Buddin and Joey Amalfitano and broadcaster Gene Elston. This year’s tour also makes a stop in Monterrey, Mexico.

January 30, 1962

1962 – The New York Mets sign Gil Hodges for $33,000. The veteran first baseman had been languishing on the Dodgers’ bench for the past two seasons.

January 31, 1962

The Mets sign former slugger Ralph Kiner, who joins Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy in the announcing booth.

January 31, 1962

Willie Mays signs the largest contract in baseball reportedly $90,000 for the upcoming season

February 1, 1962

February 1 1962 The National League releases its first 162-game schedule

February 4, 1962

Roberto Clemente accepts Pittsburgh’s annual “Dapper Dan Award”

February 7, 1962

The Boston Red Sox hire former Indianapolis Clowns scout Ed Scott as their first full-time black scout.

February 7, 1962

Lawyer Melvin Belli obtains a writ laying claim to Willie Mays

February 8, 1962

Federal Trade Commission accuses Topps Chewing Gum of illegally monopolizing the baseball card industry

February 9, 1962

Mayor let’s Eddie Mathews off for speeding

February 11, 1962

Don Zimmer and right-hander Bob Miller become the first players to don a Mets jersey

February 16, 1962

The first Houston training camp begins in Apache Junction, AZ. The fledgling Colt .45s would finish with a 14-7 spring record, best in the majors – a testament to what 40 guys can accomplish when none of them are assured of employment.

February 17, 1962

New York Mets Debut Spring Training 1962

February 20, 1962

Casey Stengel announces 65-year old Rogers Hornsby will be the New York Meta hitting instructor

February 27, 1962

1962 – An architect offers a proposal to encase Candlestick Park in a plastic screen “saran cloth” to shield it from the wind.

February 27, 1962

Catcher John Bateman is inked to a free agent contract

March 5, 1962

Gene Freese suffers a severely fractured ankle in the team’s first intrasquad game, keeping the Reds’ third baseman out of action until mid-August. The 28 year-old infielder, who played an important role in Cincinnati’s National League championship last season, will never regain the form he displayed during the pennant drive.

March 6, 1962

1962 – St. Louis voters approve a bond issue that will fund the improvements necessary to build a new downtown stadium for the Cardinals.

March 7, 1962

Gene Elston & Al Helfer are the Colts’ first radio broadcasters

March 10, 1962

Houston Colt .45s lose the first exhibition game in their history

March 13, 1962

1962 – Colt .45s get their first-ever win in a 2-1 exhibition victory over the Cleveland Indians. Jack Waters singles home Jim Pendleton with the winning run. Jim Umbricht is the winning pitcher.

March 18, 1962

Construction begins on the Astrodome

March 19, 1962

1962 – Mickey Herskowitz of the Houston Post has his first column published as a mythical Houston pitcher named “Lefty” who tells about life with the Colt .45s. He continues the columns for five years and they sell as a book entitled “Letters From Lefty”. A few more letters show up through 1971. They remain some of the best stories about the early years of the franchise.

March 22, 1962

A former member of the New York Giants requesting anonymity reveals that Bobby Thomson’s home run in the 1951 playoffs against the Brooklyn Dodgers was helped by a sign-stealing

March 22, 1962

At spring training, Yankees slugger Roger Maris declines to pose with Mets coach Rogers Hornsby because the Hall of Famer criticized him in his book My Wars with Baseball.

March 23, 1962

William DeWitt buys the Cincinnati Reds from the Crosley Foundation for $4.625 million.

March 24, 1962

1962 – Third baseman Andy Carey, who was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Philadelphia Phillies on December 15th, refuses to report to his new team and is sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers.

March 24, 1962

Radio Broadcast – Exhibition Game New York Mets vs Kansas City A’s 1962

March 25, 1962

Elvin Tappe is named as the Cubs’ first head coach of the season in the team’s college of coaches plan. Chicago hasn’t had a manager since 1960.

March 31, 1962

The Milwaukee Braves send infielders Andre Rodgers and Daryl Robertson to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for pitchers Moe Drabowsky and Seth Morehead.

March 31, 1962

The Pacific Coast League proposal to use a designated hitter is voted down 8-1 by the Professional Baseball Rules Committee. Prompted by the Cubs’ college of coaches, the committee also rules each team must name a manager 30 minutes prior to the game. The DH will not come into major league use until 1973, when it is adopted by the American League.

April 1, 1962

Dave DeBusschere Signs With Tigers

April 2, 1962

Twins add Vic Power in Multi Player Deal

April 6, 1962

On the heel of his career season in 1961, Roberto Clemente closes out spring training with a flourish. Clemente, last year’s National League batting champion, leads all Pirates in the spring with 6 home runs, 15 RBI and a .343 average. Saving his best for last, he belts two homers into Frank D. Lawrence Stadium’s distant centerfield bleachers in the final spring scrimmage.

April 9, 1962

John F. Kennedy throws out the first ball to open the baseball season at new $23-million District of Columbia Stadium

April 10, 1962

On the heels of his career year in 1961, Roberto Clemente hits a game-winning grand slam on opening day for the Pirates. He lofts one of losing pitcher Jim Owens’ deliveries over the left-centerfield wall at a spot 406 feet from home plate. It will be the only Pirates Opening Day grand slam until Neil Walker hits one in 2011.

April 10, 1962

Dodger Stadium debuts with a 6-3 lose to the Reds

April 10, 1962

Houston Colt .45s make their debut with an 11-2 win over the Chicago Cubs

April 11, 1962

Don Leppert, who went deep on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues playing for Pittsburgh, hits three homers in the Senators’ 8-0 victory over Boston at D.C. Stadium. The catcher’s solo shot in the fourth inning, three-run blast two frames later, and bases-empty blast in the eighth will account for twenty percent of his four-year career total of 15 round-trippers.

April 11, 1962

Hal Woodeshick and Dick Farrell combine for Houston’s first shutout, 2-0 over the Cubs

April 11, 1962

New York Mets play their first game-an 11-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals

April 12, 1962

Pete Richert makes his major league debut and strikes out the first six batters he faces

April 12, 1962

Dean Stone tosses the first complete-game shutout in Houston Astro history, blanking the Cubs, 3-0

April 13, 1962

new york mets first home game

April 13, 1962

At Wrigley Field, Stan Musial scores his 1,869th run to set a new National League record as the Cardinals beat the Cubs, 8 – 5, in 15 innings.

April 13, 1962

On Opening Day, Detroit’s starting pitcher Frank Lary pulls a muscle legging out a seventh-inning triple in the team’s 5-3 victory over New York at Tiger Stadium. ‘The Yankee Killer’s’ career will be shortened when the righty suffers subsequent arm problems as a result of compensating for the injury.

April 16, 1962

Roberto Clemente’s 5th-inning, three-run blast out of Wrigley Field makes everyone forget his 1st-inning error, putting Pittsburgh up by one, en route to a 6 – 5 win over Chicago.

April 16, 1962

Philadelphia’s Cal McLish and Bob Gibson of the Cardinals both fail to finish an inning when each starter allows six runs to score in the first frame. Ernie Broglio gets the win, tossing 8.1 innings of shutout ball in the Redbirds’ 12-6 victory over the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium.

April 16, 1962

1962 – Don Buddin’s three-run blast in the 11th inning gives Houston their first road win in franchise history, a 5-2 victory over the Mets at the Polo Grounds. Norm Larker hit a two-run shot to account for the earlier runs.

April 23, 1962

New York Mets win their first game-after nine consecutive losses

April 24, 1962

Sandy Koufax strikeouts 18 Cubs

April 24, 1962

The first game in franchise history against the visiting Cardinals features many familiar faces on the opposing team when the Colt .45’s beat the Redbirds, 4-3. Houston had been the farm club for St. Louis, and many of their players had come through Texas on their way to the big leagues.

April 24, 1962

Commissioner Ford Frick fines Casey Stengel $500 for appearing in uniform for a beer advertisement

April 24, 1962

Colt .45s host St. Louis for the first time and defeat them, 4-3

April 25, 1962

Harry Chiti is traded for himself

April 25, 1962

New York Mets at Cincinnati Reds Radio Broadcast Baseball 4.25.1962

April 28, 1962

1962 – Frank Thomas, Charlie Neal and Gil Hodges hit consecutive home runs in the 6th inning to lead the expansion New York Mets to an 8 – 6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The victory is a rare occurrence for the Mets – one of only 40 during their inaugural season.

April 29, 1962

Frank Thomas of the New York Mets ties a major league mark by being hit by pitch twice in one inning. Art Mahaffey and Frank Sullivan plunk Thomas in the seven-run 4th inning at the Polo Grounds in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 8 – 0 defeat.

April 29, 1962

Granted, Roberto Clemente and Howie Goss — the latter, a career minor leaguer cum Pirate reserve outfielder — are not likely to be linked terribly often in the years, decades and centuries to come. On this day, however, it is the benching of the former — having arrived late for today’s twin bill vs. Los Angeles — by an irate Danny Murtaugh (the first major flareup in what will remain a largely unreported but nearly decade-long rift between the two) that affords the latter, in his 10th year of professional baseball, his first big league start. Making the most of his “15 minutes”, Goss goes 3 for 5, his 7th-inning, two-run homer erasing a one-run deficit and sparking Pittsburgh’s 6 – 1 win. In the nightcap, Dick Stuart’s 400-foot solo blast provides all the support needed by rookie Al McBean, who notches his first career complete game and shutout, completing the sweep and propelling Pittsburgh past the first-place Cardinals.

April 29, 1962

Russ Snyder accomplishes the rare feat of getting two hits in one inning as a pinch hitter in the Orioles’ 8-3 victory at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. Leading off the top of the seventh, the Oriole outfielder, batting for Wes Stock, ties the score at 3-3 with a solo home run, and he will add a two-out RBI single before the frame is finished.

April 29, 1962

Roman Mejias belts a walkoff homer off Don McMahon to beat Milwaukee, 3-2

May 5, 1962

Bo” Belinsky of the Los Angeles Angels fires a no-hitter

May 6, 1962

Jim Bouton fires shutout in just his second apparence in MLB

May 9, 1962

The Orioles ship Marvelous Marv Throneberry to the Mets for C Hobie Landrith and cash.

May 9, 1962

Brooks Robinson becomes one of five players to hit grandslams in consecutive games

May 10, 1962

Minnesota’s Lenny Green and Vic Power hit back-to-back home runs off Cleveland’s Jim Perry to start the game, tying a major league record. Cleveland comes back to win, 9 – 4. It will be another nine years before two leadoff batters in the American League belt homers, and it will be Perry teeing up those as well.

May 11, 1962

Minnie Minoso suffers a fractured skull and breaks his wrist when he runs into the left field wall chasing Duke Snider’s triple in the Cardinals’ 8-5 loss to L.A

May 12, 1962

New York Mets reliever Craig Anderson wins both ends of a doubleheader on walk off’s- then loses 16 straight

May 15, 1962

Cubs P Barney Schultz ties Roy Face’s major-league record by relieving in his 9th consecutive game for Chicago. Today’s effort doesn’t help as the Cubs lose, 6 – 5 in 13 innings against the Mets. Roger Craig, en route to a 10-24 year, is the winner, while Tony Balsamo loses to notch his only career decision.

May 18, 1962

Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew hit grand slams in the 1st inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 14 – 3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

May 18, 1962

1962 – Ken Johnson gives up a game-tying homer to Willie McCovey in the bottom of the ninth but singles home Carl Warwick in the tenth for a 3-2 victory. Norm Larker also homers for Houston.

May 18, 1962

Warren Spahn tops the Mets 5-2 on 3 hitter Hank Aaron and Gil Hodges homer

May 18, 1962

Mickey Mantle tears muscle in 4-3 loss

May 19, 1962

Stan Musial breaks Honus Wagner’s record for most hits in National League history

May 20, 1962

Ken Hubbs strokes eight singles in eight trips to the plate at Connie Mack Stadium

May 21, 1962

The Orioles sign veteran Robin Roberts, released by the Yankees on April 30th. Roberts will win 42 games for Baltimore before going to Houston.

May 21, 1962

The Tribe keeps up a fine offensive run but loses, 10 – 7, to Baltimore. Three more Cleveland home runs set a since-topped American League record for most home runs (26) over eight straight games. They also go in the record books with nine straight games with two or more homers.

May 22, 1962

Roger Maris, who went all of 1961 without receiving an intentional walk, gets four in a 12-inning, 2 – 1 win against the Angels to set an American League record. Maris receives five walks in all. Four Yankee pitchers (Whitey Ford, Jim Coates, Bud Daley and Bob Turley) combine to give up just one hit in 12 innings. Ford leaves after seven innings because of back spasms, and Coates gives up the lone hit, a one-out 9th-inning single to Buck Rodgers.

May 22, 1962

Roger Maris is intentionally walked four times to establish a major league record. The quartet of free passes is issued by four different Halo hurlers in New York’s’ 2-1 victory over the Angels in 12 innings at Yankee Stadium.

May 22, 1962

Roger Maris receives four intentional walks

May 23, 1962

Joe Pepitone of the New York Yankees hits two home runs in the nine-run 8th-inning of the Yankees’ 13 – 7 triumph over the Kansas City Athletics.

May 24, 1962

The Tigers score their first 4 runs on homers‚ then score the winner on a passed ball in the 11th to beat the Orioles‚ 5 – 4. Charlie Lau misses a Hoyt Wilhelm knuckler to allow Dick McAuliffe to score. Jim Bunning pitches the first 9 innings for Detroit and is accused by O’s manager Billy Hitchcock of notching the ball with his belt buckle.

May 26, 1962

Al Kaline fractures his collarbone

May 26, 1962

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax strikes out 16 Philadelphia Phillies to lead his team to a 6 – 3 victory.

May 27, 1962

Musial leads Cardinals

May 28, 1962

Former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe signs with the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League, becoming one of the first and most prominent Americans with Major League Baseball experience to play in Japan. Numerous Americans have participated in Japanese baseball in the prior three decades, including several star players of the 1950s.

May 28, 1962

5/28/1962: Bobby Del Greco homered off Yankee Bud Daley in Kansas City but lost it to rain. The drive came in the first inning with one out and no one on base.

May 29, 1962

Ernie Banks makes a spectacular return from his May 25th beaning with 3 homers and a double against the Braves at Wrigley Field. Three teammates hit home runs‚ but the Cubs lose to the Braves‚ 11 – 9. Amado Samuelhits his first major league homer and Joe Torre and Joe Adcock also connect. The Cubs outhit the Braves‚ 15 – 8‚ but an Andre Rodgers error in the 3rd opens the way for 6 unearned runs.

May 29, 1962

The Angels get P Don Lee from the Twins for Jim Donohue. Lee‚ 3-3 with the Twins‚ will go 8-8 with Los Angeles.

May 29, 1962

Buck O’Neil became the first African American to become a coach in the Major Leagues

May 30, 1962

Pedro Ramos of the Cleveland Indians pitches a three-hitter and hits two home runs, including a grand slam, for a 7 – 0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader at Memorial Park. Cleveland will win the second game by the identical score.

May 30, 1962

Maury Wills homers from both sides of the plate

May 31, 1962

1962 – Weldon Appelt proposes to Harris County Commissioners a stadium plan using arches that he says could be built faster and cheaper than the proposed domed stadium. Elsewhere, the Colts stun the Cubs with five runs in the ninth for a 10-6 shocker. Carl Warwick’s two-run single precedes a three-run shot from Jim Pendleton in the uprising.

June 1, 1962

Don Drysdale beats the Phillies for the 13th consecutive time, continuing a streak which started in 1958

June 1, 1962

Marilyn at a benefit at Dodger’s Stadium

June 2, 1962

1962 – Roberto Clemente’s home run almost reaches Forbes Field’s right-field roof, providing Pittsburgh with an early 3-run lead over Houston which starter Vern Law will not relinquish. As Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press recounts: “Roberto Clemente almost made history Saturday, missing by a foot or so of being the first right-handed batter to hit a ball to the right field roof. Clemente’s homer in the first inning landed against the facing of the right field roof, a tremendous blast as it was.” Bobby Bragan, formerly Pittsburgh’s manager but now working for Houston, provides his own account: “The ball was within a foot or so of landing on top of the roof and perhaps two or three feet in fair territory. It probably was the longest ball ever hit to that field by a right-handed batter.”

June 2, 1962

Mays in action June 2 1962

June 3, 1962

1962 – Houston gets their first doubleheader sweep when they bounce the Pirates, 10-6 and 10-3, at Forbes Field. Tied at six in the opener, catcher Hal Smith uses pitcher Bobby Tiefenauer’s glove to tag out Roberto Clemente at the plate. Smith then singles to start a four-run rally that puts the game away. The Colts tally seven runs in the first inning of the nightcap to complete the sweep.

June 8, 1962

Bob Gibson faces Juan Maricahl June 8 1962 SF Giants vs St Louis Cardinals

June 9, 1962

1962 – The Colts bomb the Dodgers, 13-1, using three homers and three triples. Carl Warwick, Roman Mejias and Bob Aspromonte go deep . Backup catcher Merritt Ranew belts a two-run triple as part of the eight-run fifth inning, his seventh three-bagger of the season to lead the National League.

June 9, 1962

Frank Robinson steals home

June 10, 1962

1962 – 78 fans, as well as umpire Jocko Conlan, are treated for heat stroke during an afternoon doubleheader at Colt Stadium. The Dodgers sweep the twinbill, 9-3 and 9-7, but complain about Houston’s stiffling heat afterwards. Don Buddin, a shortstop with a .160 average, belts the first grand slam in franchise history 

June 11, 1962

1962 – With the bases loaded in the 3rd against the Indians‚ Boston pitcher Earl Wilson is about throw when Tito Francona‚ the runner on first base‚ yells‚ “hold it‚ Earl.” Wilson holds the ball‚ then stumbles off the mound‚ balking home the game’s first run. The Indians plate 9 more in the game to win‚ 10 – 0‚ behind Jim Perry. Willie Kirkland drives in 5 runs with a homer and double.

June 15, 1962

Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente trade grand slams in a wild battle between the Braves and Pirates

June 16, 1962

Mantle comes back from injury with pinch hit 3 run homerun

June 17, 1962

Lou Brock hits one of longest homeruns in Polo Grounds history

June 18, 1962

Hank Aaron hits only the 3rd homersun into centerfield bleachers at the polo grounds

June 19, 1962

1962 – Bob Aspromonte celebrates his 24th birthday with two hits and two runs scored as the Colts subdue the Giants, 6-4. Hal Smith homers. Dick Farrell escapes a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to save it for Dave Giusti.

June 22, 1962

Playing four hours and two minutes, the Braves outscore the Giants, 11 – 9, in the National League’s longest 9-inning night game.

June 22, 1962

BAltimore Orioles’ first baseman Boog Powell becomes the first Oriole player to homer over the center field hedge at Memorial Stadium as he goes deep off the Red Sox’s Don Schwall, who gives up the 469-foot shot. In 1957, Yankee superstar Mickey Mantle became the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat.

June 22, 1962

Al Jackson throws the first one-hitter in franchise history when the Mets beat the Colt .45’s, the National League’s other expansion team, at the Polo Grounds, 2-0. The lone hit given up by the southpaw is Joey Amalfitano’s line drive single to left field in the first inning.

June 22, 1962

1962 – Dick Farrell ponders life’s unfairness. He is the losing pitcher while New York’s Al Jackson tosses a 2-0 one-hitter in the opener of a twinbill at the Polo Grounds. In the nightcap, the Colts explode for a 16-3 triumph. Winning pitcher Jim Golden gets support from four Houston homers and six Met errors, including three by first baseman “Marvelous” Marv Throneberry. Golden helps himself with three hits, including two triples.

June 22, 1962

Stan Musial becomes the all time leader in total bases

June 23, 1962

Larry Doby, retired from the Cleveland Indians, signs on with the Chunichi Dragons. His season batting average will be a mediocre .225.

June 23, 1962

Mickey Mantle returns to the Yankee lineup and homers against Paul Foytack. But it is not enough as Detroit wins, 5 – 4.

June 24, 1962

Led by a grand slam from Hank Foiles and four RBIs on two home runs from Frank Robinson, the Reds outslug the Dodgers, 12 – 10, at Dodger Stadium.

June 24, 1962

A marathon between the Tigers and Yankees concludes in the 22nd inning when Jack Reed’s home run – his only one in the big leagues – gives New York and Jim Bouton a 9 – 7 victory. Reed replaced Joe Pepitone in the 13th. For the Tigers, Phil Regan takes the loss and Rocky Colavito has seven hits. Bobby Richardson ties a mark by going to the plate 11 times. At an even seven hours, the game is the slowest extra-inning contest in league history and it is the longest game in innings in Yankee history.

June 24, 1962

6/24/1962: In the third inning of a game at New York, Houston’s Norm Larker hit a home run with 2 men on and 2 out off the Mets’ Roger Craig. This game was rained out.

June 25, 1962

The Tigers trade Charlie Maxwell to the White Sox for OF Bob Farley.

June 26, 1962

Earl Wilson of the Boston Red Sox becomes the first black pitcher in American League history to hurl a no-hitter

June 27, 1962

The Cards receive a pair of shutouts from Larry Jackson and Ray Sadecki to sweep the Cubs, 4 – 0 and 8 – 0. Jackson yields four hits in the first game and Sadecki allows five hits in the nitecap. Sadecki hits a 9th-inning home run and Julian Javier and Curt Flood hit back-to-back homers off Bob Anderson.

June 27, 1962

Monroe High School standout Ed Kranepool, who was an Opening Day guest seated in the owners’ box with Mrs. Payson and Don Grant, signs a contract that includes a $85,000 bonus, as an amateur free agent with the New York Mets. The 17 year-old Bronx teenager will spend his entire 18-year career with the Mets team, establishing franchise records for hits, plate appearances, and games play.

June 27, 1962

For the first time in his career Don Drysdale is hit by a pitch

June 28, 1962

At Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles brings reliever Larry Sherry in to pitch in the 8th inning with brother Norm Sherry behind the plate. Larry goes two-thirds of an inning and is lifted, and the Dodgers top the Mets, 5 – 4, in 13 innings. The Sherrys are the first brother battery since the Baileys started for the Redlegs in 1959.

June 28, 1962

Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle break a scoreless tie in the 4th with back-to-back home runs to lead the Yanks to a 4 – 2 win over the Twins.

June 30, 1962

Sandy Koufax no hits the Mets 5-0

June 30, 1962

Houston has no monopoly on problematic weather, it would seem; in St. Louis, a messy, muddy game features 36 hits, 22 of them collected by the visiting Pirates, en route to a 17 – 7 rout of the host Cardinals. Chief offenders among the ungracious guests are Smoky Burgess and Roberto Clemente with 3 home runs, 2 doubles and 12 RBI between them. Burgess pushes home 7 with his 3 extra-base blows while Clemente, for the second consecutive season, reaches the right field pavilion roof at Busch Stadium. “The Pirates, better than the Birds as mudders, added some power to the plodding in the 2nd inning and scored five times,” writes Ed Wilks in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Bob Skinner’s skimmer went through Julian Javier, but was ruled a hit, giving Julie the benefit of the doubt in the mud. Clemente gave the Cards no such benefit when he followed with a three-run drive to the pavilion roof. It was his seventh homer of the season and brought Bobby Shantz in from the bullpen. Clemente and Pittsburgh continued their streaks in the 4th. The Pirates scored for the fourth straight inning when Skinner walked, Dick Stuart grounded out and Clemente followed with a run-scoring single, his third consecutive hit.”

June 30, 1962

The Colt .45s win when game is cut short due to fog

July 1, 1962

Albie Pearson becomes the first player to go hitless in 11 at bats in a doubleheader (both 9-inning games). Los Angeles splits with the Yankees, losing 6 – 3 before winning 12 – 5. Reliever Art Fowler helps himself to a win in the nitecap by driving in four runs on a pair of singles. The Yanks take over 1st place.

July 1, 1962

The White Sox drop Cleveland to 3rd place while winning a pair, 5 – 4 and 7 – 6. In the second game, they also set a major-league record with three run-scoring sacrifice flies (by Juan Pizarro, Nellie Fox and Al Smith) in the 5th inning when they score six runs. Indian RF Gene Green makes the first putout of the 6th inning, but then muffs two other fly balls, both of which are credited as sacrifice flies, the scorer assuming the runners on 3rd could have scored anyway.

July 1, 1962

Albie Pearson of the Los Angeles Angels sets a major league record by going hitless in 11 at-bats during a doubleheader

July 2, 1962

At Cincinnati, Reds 1B Gordy Coleman hits a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Cubs, 4 – 3.

July 2, 1962

Johnny Podres ties a major league mark record, striking out eight consecutive batters in LA’s 5-1 victory over Philadelphia. The 29 year-old southpaw’s streak begins with the third out in the top of the fourth frame and ends after the first out in the seventh inning of the Dodger Stadium contest.

July 3, 1962

The Yankees need all five home runs – 2 each by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, plus one by Bobby Richardson – to edge the A’s, 8 – 7. Mantle’s second homer, in the 8th, is the tie breaker.

July 4, 1962

The San Francisco Giants sign Santa Clara College P Bob Garibaldi for a $150,000 bonus.

July 4, 1962

The Angels win for the 14th time in 20 games and move into first place by sweeping Washington, 4 – 2 and 4 – 1 in D.C.

July 6, 1962

The Indians regain first place from the Angels, as Ruben Gomez beats Early Wynn and the White Sox, 5 – 3.

July 6, 1962

The Yankees edge the Twins, 7 – 5 in Bloomington, as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris each hit a pair of home runs. The M&M boys hit back-to-back homers in the 1st inning, off Camilo Pascual (12-4), the third time in four games they’ve hit back-to-back shots. New York is a half-game in back of Cleveland.

July 6, 1962

7/6/1962 – In the top of the second inning with two outs, seventh-place hitter Mack Jones was the scheduled batter for the Braves. However, Del Crandall, eighth on the lineup sheet, strode to the plate and walked. Pitcher Bob Hendley should be the next batter but now Jones came to the plate. After Jones singled, the Cubs protested the order of the batters. The umpires ruled Hendley out and disallowed Jones’ single. The Braves went on to win the contest, 5-3, on Eddie Mathews’ 2-run homer in the tenth inning.

July 6, 1962

Rod Kanehl, appearing as a pinch-hitter, hits the first grand slam in Mets history, going deep off Bobby Shantz in the eighth inning of the team’s 10-3 victory over the Cardinals at the Polo Grounds. The bases loaded round-tripper comes in the 79th game of the franchise’s existence.

July 6, 1962

Houston topples the Reds and Jay for the first time in 4 tries

July 8, 1962

The Yankees complete a three-game sweep in Minnesota, winning 9 – 8 to regain first place. They will remain there the rest of the way.

July 8, 1962

The Dodgers take first place as Don Drysdale saves Sandy Koufax’s 13th win, 2 – 0, against San Francisco. Los Angeles will remain in first until the final day of the season, but will lose a three-game playoff to the Giants.

July 8, 1962

Cincinnati uses nine pitchers to win the 13-inning second game against the Houston Colt .45’s, 12 – 11. This sets a National League record and ties the major league mark. Houston scores once in the 13th and Cincy scores twice to win. The Reds also win the first game, 12 – 8, battling back from an 8 – 3 deficit.

July 8, 1962

Stan Musial becomes the oldest man to hit three home runs in a game

July 9, 1962

At a meeting held in conjunction with the first All-Star Game, the major league players request a reduced schedule for the 1963 season. They also vote unanimously to continue playing two All-Star Games each year.

July 10, 1962

Maury WIlls wins the MVP of 1962 All Star Game

July 11, 1962

For the first time since 1938, when the Waner brothers pulled the trick, brothers Hank Aaron and Tommie Aaron homer in the same inning. Both homers are hit in the last of the 9th, and Hank’s grand slam provides the winning margin in an 8 – 6 Braves win over the Cards.

July 11, 1962

The Senators send 1B Dale Long to the Yankees for OF Don Lock. Long will hit .298 in pinstripes this year.

July 12, 1962

Hank Aaron and Tommie Aaron homer in 9th to give Braves walkoff victory

July 13, 1962

In Kansas City, the Red Sox outlast the A’s, 11 – 10, in 15 innings. Boston collects 21 hits to Kansas City’s 20. Lou Clinton wins the marathon with an RBI single and adds the cycle as he goes 5 for 7. Dick Radatz is the winner over Ed Rakow. K.C. catcher Haywood Sullivan is 4 for 4 before leaving for a pinch runner in the 10th.

July 13, 1962

Cubs rookie Cal Koonce (8-2) stops the Reds on one hit, a single by Don Blasingame, to win, 1 – 0. It is the first of four times that the Dixie Blazer will collect the only hit in a game. The Cubs’ only run is unearned off Bob Purkey (14-3).

July 13, 1962

Orioles C Charlie Lau hits four doubles in a 10 – 3 victory over Cleveland to tie a major league record. Charlie’s average jumps to .294.

July 13, 1962

Tying a major league mark, Orioles catcher Charlie Lau hits four doubles in Baltimore’s 10-3 victory over the Indians at Memorial Stadium. The future hitting guru’s quartet of two-baggers also establishes a new team record.

July 13, 1962

Rookie right-hander Cal Koonce one-hits the Reds, yielding only a fourth-inning single to Don Blasingame in the Cubs’ 1-0 victory at Wrigley Field. The hit by the Cincinnati second baseman marks the first of four times, one shy of the major league record shared by Cesar Tovar and Eddie Milner, that he will collect his team’s only hit in a game.

July 13, 1962

1962 – Colt .45s ground into five double plays, still a franchise record, during a 4-0 meltdown in Pittsburgh. Shortstop Dick Groat starts three of them. Bob Friend defeats hard-luck Dick Farrell, who is wearing number “13” on Friday the 13th. It’s the 16th loss in the past 18 games for the sinking Colts.

July 15, 1962

7/15/1962 (Game 2): Frank Bolling of the Braves lost an apparent homer in the sixth inning of a game at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. After Wally Post failed to catch the fly at the wall, fan interference was ruled and Bolling declared out on the play. The Braves lost to Cincinnati, 3-2.

July 15, 1962

In the seventh inning of the nightcap of a twin bill split with the Pirates at Forbes Field, Cardinal left fielder Stan Musial establishes a new National League record with his 10,428th time at bat. ‘Stan the Man’ who will finish his 22-year career with 10,972 plate appearances, surpasses Honus Wagner’s mark set in 1917. ( Upon further research, the Flying Dutchman gains two additional at-bats.)

July 18, 1962

The Twins are first American League Team to hit two grand slams in one inning

July 19, 1962

John W. Cox, owner of Yankee Stadium, donates the facility to Rice University.

July 20, 1962

1962 – Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Co. overpower Roberto Clemente’s Pirates with a devastating aerial assault and an assist from the Pirates’ very own fifth column, “Dr. Strangeglove”, Dick Stuart. “Vern Law was not around long,” writes Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Chuck Hiller led off with a single and Jim Davenport forced him. Mays then hit a line drive, 420-foot home run for 2 – 0. With two down in the 3rd, McCovey belted a memorable shot over the left-field scoreboard. It was one of the few ever ripped into that area by a lefthander in the more than half a century existence of ivy-cloaked Forbes Field. The McCovey smash stood up for the victory, as Jack Lamabe, Tom Sturdivant and Earl Francis shut out the Giants on four hits until Stuart goofed in the 8th. The Bucs started to move in the 4th, when Bill Mazeroski singled home Clemente, who also contributed a dazzling throw from right field to cut down the sliding McCovey at the plate in the 6th.”

July 20, 1962

1962 – Roman Mejias singles home the winning run in the ninth as Houston nips the Cardinals, 4-3, on “Stan Musial Day” in Houston . Dick Farrell admits the next day during a radio interview that he threw an illegal spitball at Musial, but the St. Louis legend drilled it for an RBI single. Farrell is fined and touches off a debate that mars his 12-strikeout performance.

July 21, 1962

Houston P Dick Farrell admits to having thrown a spitball to Stan Musial in the previous day’s game against the Cardinals.

July 21, 1962

The Reds purchase pitcher Joe Nuxhall from San Diego of the Pacific Coast League. For Nuxhall, it is his third tour of duty with the Reds.

July 21, 1962

Craig Anderson throws a seven-hit, complete-game against Cincinnati, but New York cannot overcome Marv Throneberry’s error which would have ended the fifth inning, giving Vada Pinson the opportunity to hit a two-out, two-run homer. The eventual 5-3 defeat at Crosley Field makes the right-hander the third consecutive Mets’ starter, following losing efforts by Jay Hook and Roger Craig, to pitch a complete game and not get a victory.

July 22, 1962

1962 – Floyd Robinson of the White Sox goes 6 for 6, all singles, as Chicago defeats Boston, 7 – 3, at Fenway Park. Robinson raises his average 12 points, to .319 and ties for first in the American League in RBIs with 71.

July 22, 1962

During a twin bill with the Reds at Crosley Field, the Mets manage to have four runners thrown out trying to score at home plate. The new National League expansion team from New York loses both games, 11-4 and 4-3, en route to a record-setting 120 defeats this season.

July 23, 1962

Jackie Robinson, Bob Feller, Bill McKechnie, and Edd Roush are inducted into the Hall of Fame.

July 23, 1962

At Cincinnati, Reds pitcher Jim O’Toole loses his no-hit bid when Bob Skinner doubles in the 8th inning. O’Toole finishes with a 3 – 0 one-hitter against the Pirates.

July 23, 1962

The first telecast of a major league via satellite includes a portion of the Cubs 4-3 victory over Phillies from Wrigley Field. Chicago broadcaster Jack Brockhouse provides the play-by-play of the Telstar Communications transmission.

July 23, 1962

Podres beats Cards 9-2

July 24, 1962

With the score tied 4-4, Cookie Lavagetto, filling in for manager Casey Stengel, who is attending his brother’s funeral, brings in Bob G. Miller, not to be confused with Bob L. Miller, also on the team, to face Braves backstop Del Crandall to start the bottom of the 12th inning. The first and only ball the 27 year-old southpaw reliever, convinced by the struggling team to come out of retirement because he needed only 18 more days of major league service to qualify for the players’ pension plan, throws is hit over the left-field wall at County Stadium, resulting in one pitch, one hit, one run, and one loss.

July 25, 1962

The Reds pound out 21 hits in defeating the Pirates, 13 – 6.

July 25, 1962

At Sportsman’s Park, Stan Musial surpasses Giants’ legend Mel Ott as the National League’s all-time RBI leader

July 26, 1962

Braves hurler Warren Spahn, en route to a complete-game victory, homers off Mets right-hander Craig Anderson to set the National League record for round-trippers hit by a pitcher. The southpaw’s 31st career home run helps Milwaukee to extend New York’s losing streak to 11 with a 6-1 victory at County Stadium.

July 26, 1962

Pumpsie Green and Gene Conley Go on a Walkabout

July 27, 1962

Game 2 of Twin Bill Cards strike for 3 in 8th to top Mets

July 28, 1962

On Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium, White Sox knuckleballer Eddie Fisher loses a 3 – 0 shutout when he surrenders 7th-inning homers to Mickey Mantle and Johnny Blanchard and loses, 4 – 3.

July 28, 1962

After mysteriously disappearing to use the restroom with Gene Conley when the Red Sox bus got stuck in New York traffic two days ago, infielder Pumpsie Green shows up in the team’s hotel in Washington D.C., having missed a doubleheader loss to the Senators. The prodigal infielder is fined $500 for his disappearance, while his teammate, who will return on June 30, still remains AWOL.

July 28, 1962

The Phillies Special

July 28, 1962

Dizzy Dean (L) points out to Earl Averill, toe that liner off the bat of Averill broke during 1937 All-Star game

July 29, 1962

Gene Conley contacts manager Pinky Higgins by telegram, stating that he is “mostly tired,” and has “other plans.” He will return the next day to the Red Sox and will be fined $2,000.

July 29, 1962

Don Drysdale pushes his record to 19-4 as he completes a three-game Dodger sweep over the Giants, winning, 11 – 1. Frank Howard has a home run and three singles to drive home five runs. Willie Mays accounts for the only Giants run with a home run. Los Angeles now leads the Giants by four games.

July 30, 1962

Homers by Leon Wagner, Pete Runnels and Rocky Colavito power the American League past the National League, 9 – 4, in the second All-Star Game of 1962.

July 30, 1962

After mysteriously disappearing off the team bus to use the rest room three days ago and trying to fly to Israel, pitcher Gene Conley returns to the Red Sox and is fined $2,000. Yesterday, he sent a telegram to manager Mike Higgins explaining he was tired and had other plans.

July 31, 1962

At D.C. Stadium, Mickey Mantle is on the bench with a wrenched knee, but Bill Skowron supplies the power with a grand slam. New York wins, 9 – 5.

July 31, 1962

The National League rejects Commissioner Ford Frick’s proposal for interleague play in 1963.

August 1, 1962

Drawing a combined 32 bases on balls in a doubleheader, the Tigers (20) and A’s (12) tie an American League record. The Tigers sweep, winning the opener, 6 – 5, with three runs in the 9th, then taking the nightcap, 9 – 1, behind Howie Koplitz’s (1-0) complete game effort.

August 1, 1962

Bill Monbouquette becomes the second Red Sox hurler this season to throw a no-hitter

August 1, 1962

Al Spangler tosses 18 bats onto the field in a tirade

August 2, 1962

Phils P Art Mahaffey gives up two home runs to Frank Thomas and two more to Marv Throneberry, but negates those with a grand slam of his own in the 3rd inning. Mahaffey tops the Mets, 9 – 4 at New York.

August 3, 1962

At Los Angeles, the Dodgers top the Cubs, 8 – 3, behind Don Drysdale. Cal Koonce takes the loss. Maury Wills helps with a 4th inning triple and then steals home.

August 3, 1962

Frank Thomas ties a National League with his 6th homerun in 3 games

August 3, 1962

1962 – Carl Warwick ‘s four hits pace the Colts past St. Louis, 8-3. He cracks a two-run double off Bob Gibson in the first then adds a two-run bomb in the third. Ken Johnson earns the victory, supported by 15 Houston hits.

August 4, 1962

After a doubleheader loss to the Mets, 9 – 1 and 3 – 2 in 13 innings at the Polo Grounds, Reds manager Fred Hutchinson stays in the dugout instead of joining his players in the clubhouse. He then calls the clubhouse and tells the players to be out of there in 15 minutes. They do. Hutch has tickets for Zero Mostel’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, but doesn’t use them.

August 4, 1962

At Visalia (California League) Visalia’s William Dawson sets a league record, striking out 21 Reno batters. Visalia wins, 7 – 4.

August 6, 1962

For the fifth time, a team record, Willie Mays collects five hits in a game. In the 9-2 Giants victory over Philadelphia at Candlestick Park, the ‘Say Hey Kid’ hits two two-run homers in the first and second innings, and follows up with singles in the fourth, fifth, and eighth.

August 6, 1962

At Houston, reliever Johnny Klippstein belts a home run in the 13th inning to give the Reds a 1 – 0 win over the Colts. Klippstein relieved starter Bob Purkey in the 11th.

August 6, 1962

1962 Reds Don Zimmer gets caught in a rundown, and is tagged out by Cubs SS Andre Rodgers as he dives back to second.

August 7, 1962

 Yankees SS Tony Kubek, in his first at-bat after returning from military service, homers in a 14 – 1 Yankee win over the Twins.

August 7, 1962

The 29-81 Mets are mathematically eliminated from finishing in first place with their 7-5 loss to Los Angeles in Chavez Ravine. After the game, New York manager Casey Stengel calls a meeting and jokes with his players that they can loosen up and relax now that they are out of the pennant race, which they promptly do, winning just eleven more games during the last two months of the season.

August 10, 1962

At Buffalo, NY, Columbus (International League) beats Buffalo, 6 – 5, in 12 innings. Bob Veale of Columbus strikes out 22 Bison batters in nine innings.

August 10, 1962

In the first of three games with the Dodgers at Candlestick Park, Billy O’Dell coasts to an 11 – 2 win over Johnny Podres. The loss cuts the Dodger lead to four games.

August 11, 1962

The Dodgers protest the wetting down of the field at Candlestick Park‚ a tactic they claim is to stop Maury Wills. Billy Pierce then hands 21-game winner Don Drysdale his 5th loss‚ and the first after 11 straight wins‚ as the Giants win, 5 – 4, to take the second game in their series. Willie McCovey’s pinch-homer with two on is the big blow off Drysdale. The watering ploy earns Giants manager Alvin Dark the sobriquet “The Swamp Fox.”

August 11, 1962

At Fenway Park‚ the Red Sox sweep a day-night pair from Baltimore‚ winning, 3 – 0 and 7 – 3. Ike Delock shuts out the Orioles‚ giving the Red Sox their third shutout in a row. Gene Conley and Bill Monbouquette had previously whitewashed the Indians. Whitey Herzog’s home run in the 6th inning of game 2 ends the Sox string of 32 2/3 scoreless innings.

August 11, 1962

The White Sox score 7 in the 4th and beat Kansas City‚ 11 – 2. Joe Cunningham and Jim Landis each collect a single‚ double and triple‚ with Cunningham’s extra-base hits coming in the 4th.

August 12, 1962

1962 – Juan Marichal completes a 3-game Giant sweep of the Dodgers by beating Stan Williams, 5 – 1.

August 13, 1962

Bert Campaneris pitches both lefthanded and righthanded during a relief appearance

August 14, 1962

The Aaron brothers homer for 3rd time this season in same game

August 14, 1962

Al Jackson goes the distance in the Mets’ 15-inning loss to Philadelphia. The hard-luck lefty, who throws an astounding 215 pitches during the contest, gives up only six hits, but third baseman Mel Roach, who entered the game in the 11th inning as a pinch-hitter, strokes a two-run single in the fifteenth frame that proves be the difference in his 3-1 defeat at the Polo Grounds.

August 15, 1962

Pinch-hit home runs by the Mets’ Choo Choo Coleman  and Jim Hickman tie the major-league record for pinch home runs by one club in one game

August 15, 1962

In the first game of a Polo Grounds doubleheader, Don Demeter hits home runs off two different pitchers named Bob Miller. The outfielder’s third inning round-tripper off Mets’ right-handed starter Robert Lane Miller, and his homer in the ninth off southpaw Robert Gerald Miller both contribute to the Phillies’ 9-3 victory over the Amazin’s.

August 16, 1962

1962 – For the second night in a row, Frank Robinson clouts two homers to power the Reds to a 7 – 1 win over the Braves. Robby now has nine homers in eight games, and 11 in the last 12. Lee Maye’s home run off Jim Maloney is the only Braves score.

August 18, 1962

1962 – Kansas City tops the Yanks for the second day in a row, 5 – 4. Again, Mickey Mantle homers in the losing cause.

August 18, 1962

The game against Baltimore is delayed twice when Indians’ starting pitcher Pedro Ramos is asked to change his uniform, with the right-hander complying to the request by first changing his shirt, then returning to the Memorial Stadium locker room for a different jersey and hat. The umpires suspect the Cleveland right-hander is doctoring the baseball.

August 19, 1962

Gino Cimoli, Wayne Causey, and Billy Bryan of the Athletics hit consecutive home runs in the 7th inning, but Elston Howard has two home runs and eight RBIs; Bill Skowron, a home run and four RBIs; Mickey Mantle, a grand slam and seven RBIs, and Skowron four RBIs as the Yankees rout the A’s, 21 – 7. Mantle adds two stolen bases before Jack Reed takes over in CF and has two at bats.

August 19, 1962

Cleveland Indians President Mike Wilson dies at age 74.

August 20, 1962

The Tigers remain three games behind New York by sweeping a pair from the visiting Red Sox, 6 – 1 and 7 – 6.

August 20, 1962

At Crosley Field, Frank Robinson connects for a grand slam in the 10th inning as the Reds defeat the Dodgers, 7 – 3.

August 22, 1962

1962 – At Wrigley Field, the Reds trail the Cubs, 5 – 1, after six innings, but score four in the 7th to tie. They win it in the 10th, 9 – 5, when Eddie Kasko hits a grand slam.

August 23, 1962

The Reds rack up 21 hits in routing the Cubs, 14 – 3.

August 23, 1962

Steve Boros matches the American League record for most errors in an inning by a 3B with 4, but Detroit beats Cleveland, 8 – 5, as Al Kaline hits two home runs.

August 24, 1962

Dodger coach Leo Durocher suffers a near-fatal allergic reaction to a penicillin injection while in the clubhouse at the Polo Grounds before a game. An emergency intravenous injection of adrenaline saves his life.

August 24, 1962

The Reds’ Bob Purkey wins his 20th game, defeating Houston, 4 – 2.

August 25, 1962

Pirates players call off a threatened strike. They had objected to a rained-out game being rescheduled as a night game the day before a doubleheader.

August 25, 1962

Winning for the 18th time in 21 games – over Houston, 7 – 6 – the Reds move within three games of first place. Joey Jay wins his 20th game.

August 26, 1962

At Chicago, Dick Ellsworth stops the Braves, 4 – 1, and stops Hank Aaron’s hitting streak of 25 games. The Cubs tie a major-league record with three straight sacrifice bunts in the 6th inning following a bunt single by Ellsworth.

August 26, 1962

After the Indians beat the Red Sox, 10 – 5, in game 1, Cleveland’s Dick Donovan holds the Red Sox homerless in the nitecap to win, 4 – 0. It is Donovan’s 100th major league win. The Sox had hit homers in 13 straight games.

August 26, 1962

The Orioles complete a five-game sweep of the Yankees when right-hander Robin Roberts beats Whitey Ford at Memorial Stadium, 2-1

August 26, 1962

At Metropolitan Stadium, Twins’ left-hander Jack Kralick throws the team’s first no-hitter since the franchise moved to Minnesota last season, and the fifth no-no hurled this season in the major leagues. The slight southpaw retires the first 25 A’s batters he faces before a walk to George Alusik ends his bid for a perfect game, but he retires the next two hitters to no-hit Kansas City, 1-0.

August 26, 1962

1962 – Snapping a nine-game losing skid, the Colts sweep a twinbill from the Reds, 2-1 and 6-4. Lefty George Brunet scatters five hits in the opener, outdueling Jim Maloney. In the nightcap, Johnny Temple, a former All-Star in Cincy, singles home the winning runs in the ninth inning before Jim Umbricht strikes out the side to finish the sweep. Jim Campbell adds a two-run homer for Houston.

August 27, 1962

1962 – The 36th and last Negro Leagues East-West Game is played in Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. The moribund Negro American League will disband within two months.

August 28, 1962

Angels thumpers Lee Thomas, Leon Wagner, and Buck Rodgers hit consecutive home runs in the 4th inning of a 10 – 5 trouncing of Kansas City.

August 28, 1962

At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle connects for a 2-run shot in the 4th off Mudcat Grant to give the Yanks a 2 – 1 win over the Indians.

August 28, 1962

Al Jackson limits the opposing batters to three hits, going the distance in the Mets’ 2-0 victory over the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium. The 26 year-old left-hander’s effort marks the fourth time he has blanked the opponents, accounting for all of the expansion team’s shutouts the entire season.

August 30, 1962

1962 – San Francisco’s 3 – 2 win over the Braves ties a major league record, as all five runs score on home runs.

September 1, 1962

Paul Richards (38-57) resigns as manager of the Orioles to become general manager of the new Houston National League club. Coach Lum Harris takes over.

September 1, 1962

Cubs 30-year old rookie Cuno Barragan‚ sidelined since spring training when he broke his ankle‚ finally gets his first at bat and hits his only major league home run. His clout comes off Giants P Dick LeMay‚ but the Cubs lose, 4 – 3, in 14 innings.

September 1, 1962

The Reds’ Vada Pinson has 4 singles and a double in a 10 – 5 win at San Francisco.

September 2, 1962

Stan Musial, with a ninth-inning pinch-hit single in the Cardinals’ 4-3 loss to New York at Busch Stadium, moves past Tris Speaker on the all-time hits list into second place with his 3,516th hit. ‘Stan the Man’, who will finish his career with a total of 3630, will remain far behind Ty Cobb’s total of 4191 and will be eventually surpassed by Pete Rose (4256) and Hank Aaron (3771).

September 3, 1962

1962 – At Los Angeles, Jack Sanford of the Giants wins his 20th game and 14th straight, 7 – 3.

September 3, 1962

The expansion Mets are blanked for the 30th time this year, bowing to the Bucs at Forbes Field, 2-0. The Amazins’ tie the 1906 Senators for the second-most times a team has been held scoreless, but the 1908 Cardinals’ mark of being whitewashed in 33 contests during the season will remain as the major league mark.

September 3, 1962

1962 – Houston loses a twinbill with Philadelphia, 3-2 and 5-3, even though it is “Break The Jinx Night” with fans admitted at half-price for bringing their good luck charms. Bob Bruce is the hero the next day in a 4-1 triumph or the Colts would have become the first big league team ever to be swept in a season series.

September 4, 1962

1962 – Houston finally defeats Philadelphia, 4 – 1, in their final meeting of the season. The Phillies had won all 17 previous contests.

September 5, 1962

Ken Hubbs of the Cubs sets major league records at 2B for consecutive games without an error (78) and consecutive chances accepted (418) without an error. His streak ends with a 4th-inning throwing error as Cincinnatibeats Chicago, 4 – 1.

September 5, 1962

Washington’s John Kennedy pinch hits against the Twins and becomes the 9th American League player to debut with a home run in his first at bat. His blow breaks up a no-hit bid by Dick Stigman, and the Nats rally to tie the game at 7 – 7 in the 9th. The Twins win, 9 – 7 in 11 frames, then drop the nitecap, 3 – 0, as Claude Osteen fires a three-hitter. The split leaves the Twins 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

September 5, 1962

1962 – Jim Umbricht gets his first major league hit and his first win as a Colt .45. His RBI single scores Johnny Temple to cap a 5-3 victory over Pittsburgh. Jim Pendleton drives home the winning run with a hit off 43-year-old rookie Diomedes Olivo.

September 6, 1962

Commissioner Ford Frick announces that any transfer of Bo Belinsky to the Athletics as part of the Dan Osinski deal will be voided due to a technicality in the rules.

September 6, 1962

The Giants score 4 in the 9th to beat the Dodgers, 9 – 6, and put San Francisco just 1 1/2 games out of first.

September 7, 1962

Four steals bring Maury Wills’ season total to 82, one better than Bob Bescher’s 1911 mark and a modern National League record. But Pittsburgh beats Los Angeles, 10 – 1, cutting the Dodger lead to half a game. In a streak of six games, from September 6th to the 11th, Maury will swipe 13 bases.

September 7, 1962

With a three-game lead, the Yankees purchase some insurance in the form of righty Hal Brown, acquired from the Orioles.

September 8, 1962

1962 – At Milwaukee, pitcher Chris Short, a career .126 hitter, has four hits against Warren Spahn as the Phillies top the ace lefthander, 4 – 2.

September 8, 1962

Colt’s walk off in 10 innings on Craig Wild Pitch Radio Broadcast

September 9, 1962

1962 – Boston’s Lou Clinton makes four stellar grabs in the outfield and adds a homer, triple and single as the Red Sox trip the Yankees, 9 – 3, in 16 innings at Yankee Stadium. Dick Radatz takes over for Hal Kolstad and pitches nine innings of relief before leaving in the 16th for a pinch hitter.

September 10, 1962

Against Hank Aguirre, Mickey Mantle clouts a 4th-inning home run, the 400th of his career, to tie the game, 1 – 1. The Yanks score two in the 9th off Aguirre to beat Detroit, 3 – 1. The victory, combined with a Minnesota loss, gives the Yanks a 3 1/2 game lead over the Twins. The surprising Angels are in 3rd place, four games back.

September 10, 1962

The Angels’ Dean Chance loses his no-hit bid when Zoilo Versalles singles in the 8th inning for the only Twins hit. Chance wins, 5 – 0.

September 12, 1962

Tom Cheney strikeouts 21 in extra innings

September 12, 1962

In Cleveland, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle lead the way to a Yankee win, 5 – 2. Mantle hits a 3-run homer in the 5th off Pedro Ramos, his 2nd favorite all-time cousin (12 homers allowed).

September 12, 1962

One game behind the front running Dodgers, the Giants lose Willie Mays, their All-Star center fielder, when he is hospitalized for nervous exhaustion. The ‘City by the Bay’ will drop six games in a row, but will recover along with ‘Say Hey Kid’ in time to beat Los Angeles in a playoff to win the National league pennant.

September 13, 1962

In Kansas City’s 5 – 4 win over the Angels, 17-year-old Ed Kirkpatrick pinch hits in the 9th for Los Angeles. He is the youngest player in the American League since Jim Derrington, in 1956, and no one younger will debut this century in the AL.

September 13, 1962

Washington OF Jim Piersall is arrested for going into the stands after a heckling fan prior to a game against Baltimore

September 14, 1962

Jim Piersall is knocked unconscious by a revolving door in his hotel in Baltimore, shortly after the hearing on his arrest.

September 14, 1962

The Phillies top St. Louis 2 – 1 on Johnny Callison’s 9th-inning home run. Callison also hit a game-winning home run in last night’s 2 – 1 win over Milwaukee.

September 15, 1962

The Pirates beat Jack Sanford 5 – 1, the first loss by the Giant hurler after 16 straight wins.

September 15, 1962

At Cleveland, 22-year-old Sudden Sam McDowell pitches six scoreless innings, striking out 7. He leaves after one out in the 7th after his hard throwing causes him to breaks two ribs. With two outs in the 9th, the Twins score three to win, 3 – 2. Lee Stange, in relief, gains his first ML win. McDowell, just recalled from Portland (Pacific Coast League), where he compiled an 8-0 record, including a one-hitter and no-hitter in consecutive starts, will go 11-4 this year.

September 16, 1962

1962 – Willie Mays celebrates his return to the lineup by cracking a three-run home run in the 8th inning, his 44th of the year, to tie the Pirates, 4 – 4. Pittsburgh tops the Giants in the 10th inning when Smoky Burgess hits a two-run home run.

September 17, 1962

Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves becomes the winningest left-handed pitcher in major league history

September 18, 1962

At Los Angeles, the Aaron brothers lead the Braves to a 10 – 5 pounding of the Dodgers, and cutt the Dodgers’ lead over the idle Giants to 3 1/2 games. Hank Aaron hits his 40th homer and Tommie Aaron accounts for three RBIs with three hits.

September 18, 1962

At Washington’s new ball park, D.C. Stadium, Mickey Mantle clouts the first home run there, and adds another, both off Washington starter Tom Cheney, to pace New York to a 7 – 1 win. Mick has five RBIs. Ralph Terry picks up his 22nd win, the most by a Yankee right-hander since 1928. The Yankee win, combined with a Twins loss, leaves New York (90-63) in 1st place by four games.

September 18, 1962

Charlie Finley is denied permission to move the Athletics to Dallas-Ft. Worth.

September 18, 1962

The Mets drop a pair to the visiting Colts .45s, 6 – 2 and 8 – 6, and also break the major-league record for homers allowed. 

September 19, 1962

Dick Donovan becomes the Indians’ first 20-game winner since Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, and Herb Score each hit the total in 1956. The contest will be best remembered for the pair of back-to-back home runs hit in the first and seventh innings hit by Tribe teammates Walter Bond and Johnny Romano, who also both had doubles, in the team’s 10-9 victory at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium.

September 19, 1962

1962 – Walt Bond and John Romano twice hit back-to-back home runs for the Indians to help beat the Athletics, 10 – 9. They both hit doubles as well – a major league first when added to the back-to-backs – as Bond collects six RBIs and Romano 4. Dick Donovan gains his 20th win, though he is chased in the 6th.

September 22, 1962

Al Jackson suffers his 20th loss of the season when Chicago beats the Mets at the Polo Grounds, 8-2. The New York southpaw joins Roger Craig in reaching the dubious number of defeats, making the pair the first teammates since Bucky Walters and Joe Bowman of the 1936 Phillies to become 20-game losers on the same National League team.

September 23, 1962

Maury Wills breaks Ty Cobb record for steals in a season

September 23, 1962

17 year-old first baseman Ed Kranepool gets his first hit, he will be the franchise leader in eight offensive categories when he retires 18 years later

September 23, 1962

At Houston, Billy O’Dell beats the Colts, 10 – 3, to move the Giants three games behind the front-running Dodgers.

September 25, 1962

The Dodgers, hosting 8th-place Houston, lose in 10 innings, 3 – 2. Dick Farrell hands 10-game winner Ed Roebuck his first loss of the year. The Dodgers now lead by just two games.

September 25, 1962

The Giants keep pace as Billy Pierce beats St. Louis, 6 – 3. Pierce runs his record at Candlestick Park to 11-0.

September 25, 1962

Whitey Ford beats Washington, 8 – 3, as the Yankees clinch the American League pennant. Ralph Houk becomes the 5th manager to capture pennants in each of his first two seasons.

September 25, 1962

After appearing in 60 games over a two-year span, Dodger reliever Ed Roebuck suffers his first loss. The LA right-hander gives up a 10th inning home run to Houston’s Al Spangler, breaking the 2-2 deadlock at Chavez Ravine.

September 26, 1962

Pittsburgh’s Earl Francis (9-8) gives up two hits in 10 innings in beating the Reds, 1 – 0. Jim Maloney matches him for nine innings. Bob Friend pitches the 11th to earn his first save of the year after Bill Mazeroski and Willie Stargell double home the winning run. Bucs vet Bill Virdon steals his 5th base to go along with his 13 caught stealings, tying him for National League high with Maury Wills.

September 26, 1962

The Cubs lose their 101st, but the good news is that only 903 fans are on hand to see it. The Phils win, 5 – 3, their 18th win in 23 games. The Phils will win tomorrow, 8 – 0, behind Dennis Bennett, and only 607 fans will see that one.

September 26, 1962

The Orioles’ Dave McNally makes his first major league start and shuts out the A’s, 3 – 0.

September 26, 1962

Hank Aaron leads Braves past Mets who lose there 118th game – Full Radio Broadcast

September 27, 1962

The Cardinals sidetrack the Giants, 7 – 4, as Gene Oliver contributes a 3-run home run and Stan Musial goes 5 for 5.

September 27, 1962

The Dodgers’ hopes for clinching a tie for the pennant are dashed when Sandy Koufax, making his second start since returning to action, lasts just five innings against Houston. Reliever Ron Perranoski is the loser, 8 – 6.

September 28, 1962

In front of only 595 fans at Wrigley Field, the Cubs (58-101) beat the Mets (39-118) in the first meeting in major league history between two 100-loss teams before the series begins. The New York expansion team will split the remaining two games in Chicago to finish the season 40-120, establishing the record for the most losses in baseball’s modern-era.

September 29, 1962

Branch Rickey, returning to the Cardinals for the second time in his long career, is given the title of senior consultant for player development. In this role, the ‘Mahatma’ will have the power to make deals, but is asked by team owner Gussie Busch to confer with general manager Bing Devine on a regular basis.

September 30, 1962

On the last day of the season, Gene Oliver’s eighth-inning homer off Johnny Podres proves to be the difference in St. Louis’ 1-0 victory over the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The loss to the Cardinals forces Los Angeles into a best-of-three-game playoff with the Giants for the National League pennant, a series the team will lose to San Francisco.

September 30, 1962

The Mets finish their inaugural season with 120 losses, a 20th-century record, when the team drops a 5-1 decision to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In his last career at-bat, New York catcher Joe Pignatano hits into an eighth-inning triple play with Richie Ashburn and Sammy Drake on base, both who are also appearing in their last major league game.

September 30, 1962

At Yankee Stadium, Mickey Mantle blasts his 30th home run of the season, a fourth inning solo shot off White Sox’s 20-game winner Ray Herbert, to extend his streak of having 30 or more round-trippers to eight seasons. The ‘Mick’, who missed a month of the campaign because of a leg injury, batted leadoff in the final series of the year to collect more at-bats.

September 30, 1962

Camilo Pascual draws a tough assignment in rookie John Miller, but beats the Orioles, 1 – 0, on three hits to earn his 20th win. Miller allows two hits to the Twins.

September 30, 1962

In the second of two games, Red Sox 1B Don Gile, hitting 1 for 40 on the year (his one hit came in game 1) breaks a 1 – 1 tie with a two-run homer in the bottom of the 9th off Washington’s Jack Jenkins. The homer comes in his last ML at bat and gives Bill Monbouquette the win, 3 – 1. The Yawkeymen lose the opener by the same score as Don Lock drives in all three runs.

September 30, 1962

P Bill Fischer of the Athletics concludes a major-league record string of 84 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a base on balls, a record that tops Christy Mathewson’s mark. Fischer walks Bubba Morton on four straight pitches and loses a 6 – 1 decision to Detroit.

September 30, 1962

Willie Mays’ 47th home run, an 8th-inning blast off Dick Farrell (10-20), leads the Giants to a critical 2 – 1 win. They then stay in the clubhouse to hear results of the Dodger game.

September 30, 1962

With manager Mel McGaha fired for next season, Indians pitching coach Mel Harder guides the Tribe to a sweep of a twinbill of the Angels, winning 4 – 3 and 6 – 1. Harder, 1-0 last year, completes his managerial career at 3-0. McGaha, a guard with the 1948-49 NY Knickerbockers of the BAA, did not play major league baseball, but will come back to manage the A’s in 1964 and 1965.

October 2, 1962

Dodgers walkoff with a game 2 Playoff Game win over Giants

October 3, 1962

The Giants beat Los Angeles, 6-4, to take the rubber game of the best-of-three National League playoffs

October 4, 1962

Willie Mays ends Whitey Ford’s record world series scoreless inning streak ends at 33 2/3

October 5, 1962

Willie McCovey smashed a tremendous home run to back Jack Sanford in Game 2 1962 World Series Full Radio Broadcast

October 8, 1962

Chuck Hiller’s seventh-inning grand slam off Marshall Bridges proves to be the difference in the Giants’ 7-3 victory at Yankee Stadium

October 10, 1962

Tom Tresh belts an eighth-inning homer off Jack Sanford to give the Bronx Bombers a 5-3 comeback win over the Giants at Yankee Stadium

October 16, 1962

Bobby Richardson snags McCoveys line drive to seal series

October 16, 1962

Billy Pierce outduels Whitey Ford – Giants tie the series at 3 games each

October 23, 1962

Satchel Paige And Goose Tatum, Harlem Stars, 1962.

October 27, 1962

The Tigers begin an eighteen-game tour of Japan. Detroit and will compile a 12-4-2 record against their opponents from the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. During the trip, the two countries work out terms of player exchanges between the two nations, giving the commissioner of the respective league final approval of any transaction.

November 1, 1962

Houston Colt .45s sign 19-year-old infielder Joe Morgan as a free agent

November 6, 1962

1962 – Answering rumors that senior consultant Branch Rickey wants Stan Musial to retire, St. Louis Cardinals owner August Busch says Musial will play until it is time to become a club vice president. Further, Bing Devine is still running the club.

November 11, 1962

His major league peers select Ken Hubbs as the recipient of the Gold Glove for his performance at second base. The 21 year-old Cubs infielder is the first rookie to be honored with the prestigious fielding award.

November 15, 1962

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale wins the 1962 Cy Young Award

November 15, 1962

The White Sox release 299-game winner Early Wynn

November 16, 1962

Lou Perini sells the Braves to the Chicago-based Lasalle Corporation, led by 34-year-old insurance broker William Bartholomay for $6.2 million. Team president John McHale, one of the primary stockholders in the purchase, will take the brunt of the wrath of the fanbase when the new ownership makes clear their intent to move the team out of Milwaukee.

November 19, 1962

The Cardinals trade for shortstop Dick Groat the new infielder will become a central cog in the team’s World championship in 1964

November 20, 1962

Sale of the Cleveland Indians is completed as Bill Daley and Gabe Paul take control.

November 20, 1962

Mickey Mantle collects his third AL MVP Award

November 21, 1962

1962 – The Pittsburgh Pirates trade 1B Dick Stuart and P Jack Lamabe to the Boston Red Sox for P Don Schwall and C Jim Pagliaroni.

November 23, 1962

Maury Wills win the 1962 National League MVP

November 26, 1962

Houston Colt .45s acquire American League batting champion Pete Runnels from the Boston Red Sox

November 26, 1962

The Dodgers trade pitcher Stan Williams for Yankee first baseman Bill Skowron

November 26, 1962

1962 – Colt .45s draft infielder Jim Wynn from Cincinnati. The 20-year-old is disappointed to be leaving his hometown’s farm system but gains a fast track to the majors, appearing in Houston the next season as an outfielder. 

November 27, 1962

The Milwaukee Braves trade slugger Joe Adcock and pitcher Jack Curtis to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Frank Funk and outfielders Don Dillard and Ty Cline. With the addition of Adcock, first base prospect Walt Bond will spend another year in the minors. Bond hit .380 with six home runs in 50 at-bats for Cleveland in September.

November 29, 1962

After 61 years, the American Association (AAA) folds

November 29, 1962

Major league officials and player representatives agree to return to a single All-Star Game in 1963. The players’ pension fund will receive 95 percent of the one game’s proceeds (rather than 60 percent of two games).

November 30, 1962

Righthander Don Nottebart is purchased from the Milwaukee Braves

December 1, 1962

1962 – A complete overhaul of the classifications in the minor leagues is made. The Eastern and South Atlantic leagues are promoted from Class-A to Class-AA. Meanwhile, classes B, C and D are abolished with those leagues being promoted to Class-A. The Class-B leagues were the Carolina and Northwest leagues; the Class-C leagues were the California, Mexican Center, Northern and Pioneer leagues. The Class-D leagues were the Florida State, Georgia-Florida, Midwest, New York-Pennsylvania and Western Carolinas leagues. The Appalachian League moves from Class-D to Rookie classification.

December 3, 1962

Former players Frank Crosetti and Johnny Schulte file a suit to halt any increased Major League Baseball pension benefits that fail to include old-time players.

December 7, 1962

Tom Tresh, the Yankees shortstop and left fielder, is selected as the American League’s Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA

December 7, 1962

J.G. Taylor Spink, the publisher of The Sporting News, dies at the age of 74

December 8, 1962

1962 – Former major leaguers Frank Crosetti and Johnny Schulte bring suit to prevent any increase in pension benefits which fails to include players from different eras.

December 11, 1962

1962 – The Red Sox send P Tracy Stallard and infielders Pumpsie Green and Al Moran to the Mets for infielder Felix Mantilla.

December 12, 1962

1962 – The Red Sox ship Carroll Hardy to Houston for Dick Williams.

December 15, 1962

1962 – The San Francisco Giants trade pitchers Stu Miller and Mike McCormick, along with C Johnny Orsino, to Baltimore for pitchers Jack Fisher and Billy Hoeft, and C Jim Coker.

December 22, 1962

Voters in Harris County (TX) approve a bond issue to complete the financing of the world’s first domed sports stadium

December 31, 1962

The state of Ohio withdraws a suit against the Cincinnati Reds against team owner Bill DeWitt