1962 San Francisco Giants season

MLB yearly infobox-pre1969 alt
name = San Francisco Giants
season = 1962
misc = National League Champions

current league = National League
y1 = 1883
Uniform
ballpark = Candlestick Park
y4 = 1960
city = San Francisco, California
y5 = 1958
owners = Horace Stoneham
general manager =Chub Feeney
managers = Alvin Dark
television = KTVU
(Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons)
radio = KSFO
(Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons)|

Offseason

* November 30, 1961: Don Larsen was traded by the Chicago White Sox with Billy Pierce to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later, Eddie Fisher, Dom Zanni, and Bob Farley. The San Francisco Giants sent Verle Tiefenthaler (August 17, 1962) to the Chicago White Sox to complete the trade.

Regular season

Opening Day Starters

* Felipe Alou
* Ed Bailey
* Orlando Cepeda
* Jim Davenport
* Chuck Hiller
* Harvey Kuenn
* Juan Marichal
* Willie Mays
* Jose Pagan

eason standings

Roster

[cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/1962.shtml |title=1962 San Francisco Giants Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com |publisher=Baseball-reference.com |date= |accessdate=2008-09-05]

Other batters

Relief pitchers

With the Giants protecting a 1-0 lead in the 7th inning, Willie McCovey smashed a tremendous home run over the right field fence to boost 24-game winner Jack Sanford to 2-0 shutout of the Yankees, who managed only 3 hits.

Game 3

October 7, 1962 at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York

Hot hitting Jose Pagan drove in two runs with a single in the third and a home run in the 5th, but with the score tied 2-2 in the 8th, Tom Tresh walloped what proved to be the winning homer, a three-run shot that scored Bobby Richardson and Tony Kubek in front of him. With the series returning to San Francisco the Yankees had the edge, 3 games to 2, only to have the sixth game delayed four days by rain.

Game 6

October 15, 1962 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

In a battle of left-handed starting pitchers, Pierce out-dueled Ford and tossed a brilliant complete-game 3-hitter as the Giants evened the series at three wins apiece with a 5-2 victory. The Yankees' only runs came on a Maris solo home run in the 5th inning and an RBI single by Tony Kubek in the 8th inning.

Game 7

October 16, 1962 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

The only run of this classic game occurred in the 5th inning when Tony Kubek grounded into a double play, with Bill Skowron scoring from third. Ralph Terry, pitching the seventh game instead of Jim Bouton because of the rain delays, had given up Bill Mazeroski's Series-winning walk-off home run two years earlier in Pittsburgh but in his third start completely stifled the Giants' power hitters. In the bottom of the 9th, pinch-hitter Matty Alou, batting for relief pitcher Billy O'Dell, led off the inning with a bunt base hit after first having a foul ball dropped, but Terry struck out the next two batters, Felipe Alou and Hiller. Mays hit a double into the right field corner, but Maris brilliantly played the carom, then hit cut-off man Richardson with a throw that was relayed perfectly to home. Alou, already aware of Maris' great arm, stopped at third. Facing Willie McCovey with two outs, Terry elected to pitch to him rather than walk the bases loaded and bring up Orlando Cepeda. Terry's inside fastball on the second pitch completely handcuffed McCovey, who nonetheless adjusted his bat in mid-swing to extend his arms and hit what he later claimed was the hardest ball he had ever struck. The line drive appeared at first to be going over the head of a perfectly-positioned Richardson, but was in fact sinking from topspin and Richardson made the catch without leaping to end the game. The Yankees won their 20th World Championship; they would not win another World Championship until 1977.

Award Winners

1962 All-Star Game
* Felipe Alou
* Orlando Cepeda (Starting 1B)
* Jim Davenport
* Juan Marichal
* Willie Mays (Starting CF)

Team Leaders

* Home Runs - Willie Mays (49)
* RBI - Willie Mays (141)
* Batting Average - Felipe Alou (.316)
* Hits - Orlando Cepeda (191)
* Stolen Bases - Willie Mays (18)
* Walks - Willie Mays (78)
* Wins - Jack Sanford (24)
* ERA - Juan Marichal (3.36)
* Strikeouts - Billy O'Dell (195)

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/1962.shtml 1962 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1962&t=SFN 1962 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac]