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The 1963 Dodgers stayed in the race in the National League by winning four of six games during this week 60 years ago. They swept the contending Reds in Cincinnati, before dropping two of three at home against Milwaukee.
Friday featured a classic duel at Dodger Stadium, with reigning Cy Young Award winner Don Drysdale against 1957 Cy Young Award winner and 42-year-old legend Warren Spahn.
Spahn got the best of the Dodgers, retiring his first 19 batters faced in pitching his 58th career shutout. Jim Gilliam singled with one out in the seventh to break up the perfect game. The Dodgers got three hits off Spahn but none of them scored. Drysdale allowed only one run, in the first inning.
Spahn through this game won 338 games in his illustrious career, including 20 times against the Dodgers. But this was his first win over the Dodgers on the road since August 22, 1948. In the nearly 15 years in between wins, Spahn was 0-14 with a 6.14 when pitching in Dodgers ballparks.
Batter of the week
Jim Gilliam continued to be captain clutch for the Dodgers, driving in the go-ahead run in three of their four wins. He had eighth-inning doubles in Cincinnati on both Tuesday and Wednesday to beat the Reds. On Saturday at home against Milwaukee, with Dick Tracewski at third base and two outs in the 11th inning, Gilliam beat out a drag bunt to second base for the walk-off winner, completing a four-run Dodgers comeback.
That was Gilliam’s third hit of the game, and the second baseman ended the week on an 11-game hit streak, hitting .405 (17-for-42) with four doubles, two home runs, and nine RBI during the streak.
Pitcher of the week
It was a high-leverage week for Ron Perranoski, who performed acrobatics to finish off three wins. He entered a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the eighth inning Monday in Cincinnati, up four runs. He got a double play but also allowed two singles, scoring all three inherited runners, but still closed out the game. He got eight outs to earn the win on Wednesday in Cincinnati, then pitched two scoreless innings as the Dodgers finished their comeback to beat Milwaukee.
Week 12 results
4-2 record
20 runs scored (3.33 per game)
20 runs allowed (3.33 per game)
.500 pythagorean win percentage
Year to date
43-32-1 record
294 runs scored (3.87 per game)
271 runs allowed (3.57 per game)
.537 pythagorean win percentage (40-35)
Miscellany
Hey now, you’re an All-Star: After four years of multiple All-Star Games, we are back to just one midsummer classic in 1963, to be played on July 9 in Cleveland. Players voted for the starting lineups — fan voting was taken away from 1958-69 after stuffing the ballot led to seven Reds position players voted to start in 1957 — and National League batting average leader Tommy Davis (.326 through Sunday) was elected to start for the NL in left field, getting 141 votes compared to 82 votes for second-place Frank Robinson of Cincinnati. This is the second straight year starting the All-Star Game for Davis, who started both games in 1962.
Maury Wills, who started both All-Star Games in 1961, was a distant second at shortstop with 25 votes, behind the Pirates’ Dick Groat and his 238 votes. “It’s the end of the season that counts,” Wills told the Long Beach Independent. “That’s when I want to be on top.”
Farewell, old friend: Don Zimmer’s second go-around with the Dodgers lasted a little less than three months, as he was sold to the Washington Senators. Acquired from the Reds for minor league pitcher Scott Breeden in January, Zimmer had five hits in 23 at-bats with the Dodgers, hitting .217/.308/.391 with a home run, a double, and three walks. Zimmer, 32, played in only 22 of the Dodgers’ 70 games for which he was active, including only three starts, all at third base.
Welcome back: With Zimmer jettisoned, Ken McMullen returned after spending nearly two months at Triple-A Spokane. He paid dividends immediately, starting at third base on Saturday against Milwaukee, collecting three hits with a run scored. The first two of those hits came against Braves left-hander Denny Lemaster, McMullen’s former teammate at Oxnard High School.
In a pinch: The Dodgers trailed the Braves 5-1 on Saturday after Milwaukee knocked out Sandy Koufax in the fifth inning, but rallied to win in 11 innings. The rally started in the seventh, when Bill Skowron’s two-run pinch-hit home run scored McMullen. It was the Dodgers’ third pinch-hit homer of the season. For Skowron, it was his first home run of any kind since April 28, hitting just .207 (17-for-82) in between.
Game results
- Monday, June 24: Dodgers 5, Reds 4
- Tuesday, June 25: Dodgers 4, Reds 1
- Wednesday, June 26: Dodgers 5, Reds 2
- Friday, June 28: Braves 1, Dodgers 0
- Saturday, June 29: Dodgers 6, Braves 5 (11 innings)
- Wednesday, June 30: Braves 7, Dodgers 0
1963 Week 12 batting
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Gilliam | 22 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 26 | 0.455 | 0.538 | 0.727 | 1.266 |
| Fairly | 18 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 0.278 | 0.316 | 0.500 | 0.816 |
| T.Davis | 22 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 0.364 | 0.391 | 0.364 | 0.755 |
| W.Davis | 24 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 0.167 | 0.167 | 0.333 | 0.500 |
| Camilli | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0.190 | 0.227 | 0.190 | 0.418 |
| Howard | 14 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 0.143 | 0.200 | 0.214 | 0.414 |
| Wills | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 0.143 | 0.250 | 0.143 | 0.393 |
| Tracewski | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0.067 | 0.067 | 0.067 | 0.133 |
| Starters | 157 | 15 | 37 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 10 | 169 | 0.236 | 0.286 | 0.331 | 0.617 |
| McMullen | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.429 | 0.429 | 0.429 | 0.857 |
| Skowron | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.143 | 0.143 | 0.571 | 0.714 |
| Moon | 12 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 0.167 | 0.231 | 0.167 | 0.397 |
| Roseboro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Walls | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bench | 28 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 0.214 | 0.241 | 0.321 | 0.563 |
| Pitchers | 15 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 0.067 | 0.125 | 0.133 | 0.258 |
| Offense | 200 | 20 | 44 | 7 | 4 | 20 | 3 | 12 | 216 | 0.220 | 0.268 | 0.315 | 0.583 |
1963 Week 12 pitching
| Pitcher | G | Record | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | G | Record | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA | WHIP | FIP |
| Drysdale | 2 | 1-1 | 16.0 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 2.81 | 0.875 | 1.63 |
| Koufax | 2 | 1-0 | 13.7 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 3.95 | 1.317 | 1.97 |
| Willhite | 2 | 0-1 | 10.7 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4.22 | 1.688 | 4.51 |
| Starters | 6 | 2-2 | 40.3 | 40 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 37 | 3.57 | 1.240 | 2.51 |
| Perranoski | 3 | 2-0 | 6.7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 1.200 | 2.33 |
| Roebuck | 2 | 0-0 | 2.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 0.000 | 0.06 |
| Sherry | 1 | 0-0 | 2.3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.857 | 0.92 |
| Miller | 2 | 0-0 | 4.3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4.15 | 1.385 | 2.63 |
| Bullpen | 8 | 2-0 | 15.7 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 1.15 | 1.021 | 1.86 |
| Totals | 14 | 4 | 56.0 | 54 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 46 | 2.89 | 1.179 | 2.33 |
Previous 1963 reviews: Snider to Mets | Nate Oliver | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11
The week ahead
The homestand continues with the Allyn Stout gauntlet, finishing the wraparound series against Milwaukee before welcoming the Cardinals and Reds to Los Angeles.
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