Mar. 6, 1964 - The San Francisco Giants open the 1964 Cactus League season at Tucson tomorrow, facing the Cleveland Indians in the spring’s first exhibition game.
Bob Shaw will start for San Francisco, with righthander Pedro Ramos taking the first turn for the Tribe.
The teams will move north Sunday and battle again in Phoenix, inaugurating brand new Papago Park.
Alvin Dark announced this lineup for tomorrow’s opener: Jesus Alou (pictured), rf, Jim Hart 3b, Willie Mays cf, Willie McCovey lf, Orlando Cepeda, 1b, Tom Haller c, Jim Davenport 2 b, José Pagan ss, Shaw p.
Dark and Indians’ manager Birdie Tebbetts planned to use three hurlers apiece in both games. Bob Bolin and Bob Garibaldi are slated to follow Shaw to the mount tomorrow at Tucson. Bob Hendley and Jim Duffalo are to succeed Sanford tomorrow.
The Giants’ exhibition record last spring was 10-17, the worst of any National League club and a solid last in the Cactus League.
“It might be even worse this spring,” Dark said today. “There’s a lot of things we have to find out, and learning now will be more important than winning down here if we want to be ready to win when the regular season begins. Once we get into the last two weeks of the spring, though, I’ll want for us to be winning.”
The subjects of his closest scrutiny will be the two young men at the top of tomorrow’s batting order, Jesus Alou and Jim Hart.
If Alou can prove he is capable of keeping the right field job and Hart comes through at third base, the Giants’ prospects will be excellent.
“Both are fine young ballplayers,” Dark says, “but they’ll have to prove they’re ready for major league competition.”
Davenport has been looking good at second base, but there have been few enemy baserunners trying to knock him on his ear. The pressure will pick up a bit starting tomorrow.
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