Aug. 29, 1963 - Sandy Koufax, given the most lavish support any Dodger pitcher has had in 45 games, pitched a 3-hitter tonight and became the season’s first 20-game winner as the first-place Dodgers flattened the second-place Giants, 11-1. That put the National League leaders 6½ games in front of the Giants and 7 in front of third-place St. Louis. The opener of the big four-game series drew a crowd of 54,978 to Dodger Stadium — the largest in the majors this season. Koufax struck out seven and walked one. Afterward, Koufax said: “It was a bigger thrill than pitching a no-hitter because it was so long in coming. On a no-hitter, you just go out to work a game, and all of a sudden it’s over, and you have done it. But it took me nine years to win 20 games in a season, so when it finally arrives it has to be the top thrill.” What is Sandy’s next goal? “To help the club win the pennant,” Koufax said with no hesitation, “and if we do that, to win a World Series game.” In the 1959 World Series against the White Sox, Koufax started the fifth game but was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh on the losing end of a 1-0 score. And that’s the way it ended, leaving the Dodger southpaw “stuck with the bill.” Managers Walter Alston of the Dodgers and Alvin Dark of the Giants disagreed radically on what impact today’s massacre would have on the remaining three contests between the two clubs. Alston’s viewpoint was: “This can’t help but do the whole club some good. I don’t know a better way for a team to get a lift.” The Dodgers, who have been crying for hits and runs, tied their season high in runs scored and lashed out 15 hits. “I knew one of these days we’d break loose,” Alston said. “We were overdue. It came all at once, and the beautiful part was the whole lineup participated.” Dark, however, wasn’t buying any of Alston’s philosophy. “This is not going to affect our club one iota,” Dark said. “We’ll be back tomorrow night. It’s just one game. We do not have the kind of club that gets down because of a setback, no matter what the score is. The Giants have been bouncing back for two years now, and we aren’t likely to roll over because of a slight jolt.” Dark had said earlier that he was shooting for five of seven remaining games witih the Dodgers. Had he revised his target? “Yes. Now it’s five out of six,” he snapped. San Francisco’s skipper classified Koufax’s pitching tonight as “typical” for Sandy.
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