Apr. 21, 1963 - While taking both ends of today’s doubleheader from Houston, the Dodgers ran the gamut. They won the opener, 11-3, to enjoy their first “laugher” of the season, but it took a bases-loaded single by Ron Fairly (pictured) with 2 out in the last of the ninth to nip the Colts in the nightcap, 6-5, before 33,196 Dodger Stadium fans. This was one of Fairly’s finest hours as a Dodger as his slugging helped hoist Los Angeles into a fourth-place tie with Milwaukee, only a game and a half behind pace-setting San Francisco. In the opener, Fairly drove in three runs with a double and a single, and after recess his first homer of the year and his clutch single knocked in three more big, fat runs. For the day, Ron had five hits in nine trips as he came close to resigning from the Dodger .200 club. It was a thrilling climax to a day of sport that began at 1:01 p.m. and ended at 7:29. Prior to today’s opening game, Dodger manager Walter Alston revealed that “head coach” Bob Kennedy of the Cubs had apologized to him over the phone today. In a post-game interview Friday night at Candlestick Park, Kennedy was quoted to the effect that if the Dodgers lost to Houston Saturday, it would mean Leo Durocher would replace Alston as the boss Sunday. “Kennedy called me about the story this morning,” Alston said, “and assured me that what he had said didn’t come out correctly in the papers. Frankly, I don’t know what he said, nor do I care. Anyway, he apologized. Bob and I have been friends for a long time, and I have to accept his word. It’s a closed incident as far as I’m concerned.” Alston also said that, despite reports to the contrary, he could detect no signs of unrest in the clubhouse. “The only tension we’ve got on this club is that our slumping hitters are so damned eager to get a hit when they go to the plate that they’re all swinging too hard.” But the Dodger skipper said this before today’s tension-relieving doubleheader sweep.
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