Maurice Morning Wills was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from 1959 to 1972, most prominently as an integral member of the Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won three World Series titles between 1959 and 1965. He also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Montreal Expos. Wills is credited with reviving the stolen base as part of baseball strategy.
Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez, nicknamed "the Dominican Dandy", is a Dominican former right-handed pitcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1960 to 1975, mostly with the San Francisco Giants. Known for his high leg kick, variety of pitches, arm angles and deliveries, pinpoint control, and durability, Marichal won 18 games to help the Giants reach the 1962 World Series, and went on to earn 191 victories in the 1960s, the most of any major league pitcher. He won over 20 games six times, on each occasion posting an earned run average (ERA) below 2.50 and striking out more than 200 batters, and became the first right-hander since Bob Feller to win 25 games three times; his 26 wins in 1968 remain a franchise record.
John Junior Roseboro was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1957 until 1970, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A four-time All-Star player, Roseboro is considered one of the best defensive catchers of the 1960s, winning two Gold Glove Awards. He was the Dodgers' starting catcher in four World Series with the Dodgers winning three of those.
The 1966 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1966 season. The 63rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles and National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles swept the series in four games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It was the last World Series played before MLB introduced the Commissioner's Trophy the following year. The Dodgers suffered record low scoring, accumulating just two runs over the course of the series, the lowest number of runs ever scored by any team in a World Series.
The 1965 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1965 season. The 62nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the American League champion Minnesota Twins. The Dodgers won in seven games. It is best remembered for the heroics of Sandy Koufax, who was named the World Series Most Valuable Player. Koufax did not pitch in Game 1, as it fell on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, but he pitched in Game 2 and then tossed shutouts in Games 5 and 7 to win the championship.
James William "Junior" Gilliam was an American second baseman, third baseman, and coach in Negro league and Major League Baseball who spent his entire major league career with the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers. He was named the 1953 National League Rookie of the Year, and was a key member of ten National League championship teams from 1953 to 1978. As the Dodgers' leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he scored over 100 runs in each of his first four seasons and led the National League in triples in 1953 and walks in 1959. Upon retirement, he became one of the first African-American coaches in the major leagues.
William Henry Davis was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league as a center fielder from 1960 through 1979, most prominently as an integral member of the Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won three National League pennants and two World Series titles between 1963 and 1966.
William Ellis Russell is an American former shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Russell played his entire 18-year, 2,181-game career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as the starting shortstop for four National League pennant winners and one World Series championship team. He also served as the team's manager from 1996 to 1998.
Robert Perry Lillis is an American former infielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lillis was an original member of the 1962 expansion Houston Colt .45s who remained with the club for more than two decades and later became its manager. He threw and batted right-handed and was listed as 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and 160 pounds (73 kg).
On September 9, 1965, Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a perfect game in the National League against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium.
Henry Charles "Shag" Crawford was an American professional umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1956 to 1975. During his twenty seasons in the National League, Crawford worked more than 3,100 games and as a home plate umpire was notable for getting in a low crouch and resting his hands on the back of the catcher in front of him. Crawford wore number 2 after the National League adopted numbers for its umpires, which was then transferred to his son Jerry Crawford, who wore it from 1976 until his 2010 retirement.
The 1962 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in third place in the National League standings, with a record of 98–64, 3+1⁄2 games behind the NL Champion San Francisco Giants. The Reds were managed by Fred Hutchinson, and played their home games at Crosley Field.
The 1972 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the season 85–70, good for a tie for second place with the Astros in the National League West. This was the first season where the players' last names appeared on the back of the uniforms.
The 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers finished in fourth place in the new National League West, eight games behind the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers' record for 1969 was 85–77, which was nine wins better than 1968.
The 1967 Los Angeles Dodgers season marked the end of one of the franchise's most successful eras. One season after losing the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, the Dodgers declined to a record of 73–89, and finished ahead of only the Houston Astros and the New York Mets in the National League race, 28+1⁄2 games behind the NL and World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals. It was the Dodgers' worst record since the war-affected 1944 season, and their worst peacetime record since 1937. The Dodgers would not return to the postseason until 1974.
The 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers finished the regular-season with a 97–65 record, which earned them the NL pennant by two games over their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series in seven games over the Minnesota Twins.
The 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the fifth for the team in Southern California, and the 73rd for the franchise in the National League. After spending the previous four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, they began the season by opening Dodger Stadium, the team's new ballpark. The stadium opened on April 10 with a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers proceeded to win a Los Angeles record 102 games and tied the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League. The Giants won the ensuing tie-breaker series two games to one.
The 1969 Pittsburgh Pirates season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Pirates finishing in third place in the newly established National League East, twelve games behind the eventual World Series champion New York Mets. The Pirates were managed by Larry Shepard, and played their home games at Forbes Field, which was in its final full season of operation, before moving into their new facility in the middle of the following season.
The 1962 National League tie-breaker series was a best-of-three playoff series that extended Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1962 regular season to determine the winner of the National League (NL) pennant. The games were played from October 1 to 3, 1962, between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. The Giants won the series, two games to one. The first game took place at Candlestick Park and the second and third were played at Dodger Stadium. The tie-breaker series was necessary after both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 101–61. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season, which gave them home field advantage. The series was broadcast nationally by NBC television, with Bob Wolff, George Kell, and Joe Garagiola announcing, and NBC Radio, with Al Helfer and George Kell announcing.
The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers is a book by author Michael Leahy, centered around the Los Angeles Dodgers teams of the 1960s. The book was the winner of the 2016 Casey Award as the best baseball book of the year.
