Sept. 6, 1963 - Jim Gilliam, the Dodgers’ old pro, hit a home run and scored four times tonight to present Sandy Koufax with his 22nd triumph as the Dodgers defeated the Giants in the tough, tense tussle, 5-2, to increase their lead over St. Louis to 5½ games. The Giants trail by 10½ lengths now and are ready to abdicate as the National League’s champions. A crowd of 28,161 showed up at Candlestick Park on a hot night to see their heroes all but buried mathematically. The Giants need a sweep tomorrow and Sunday to keep from vanishing without a trace. With the Cards splitting a pair with Pittsburgh, L.A.’s magic number dropped to 16, meaning that any combination of Dodger victories and Cardinal losses totaling 16 will bring Los Angeles the pennant. Frank Howard hammered his 25th home run, and a well-rested Willie Mays walloped a double and his 33rd homer for the losers. Koufax stiffened up in the late innings and was relieved by Ron Perranoski beginning the ninth inning. “I had lousy stuff,” said the superb southpaw who struck out eight but allowed nine of the Giants’ ten hits. Asked about Mays’ homer, the Dodger southpaw replied, “Mays guessed right, and he hit it good. It was a fastball inside. He didn’t leave any doubt where it was going.” Dodger skipper Walter Alston said afterward: “Considering the caliber of our opposition, we’ll be in good shape if we can win 7 of 13 games on this road trip. Ordinarily, you run into a lot of ‘loose’ clubs that are out of the running at the end of the season, and they can hurt you. But on this trip we’re playing three clubs — the Giants, the Phillies, and Cards — who are battling for World Series shares. The tension won’t help them any more than it’ll help us.” Dodger infielder Maury Wills played tonight as a late defensive replacement after missing five games while attending his convalescing wife in Spokane, Wa., where their sixth child was stillborn last Sunday. Private services were conducted this morning, and Maury caught a late-afternoon plane for San Francisco. Mrs. Wills is still hospitalized.
Comments