Two photos of rivals and friends, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays.

But this photo shows Dodgers pitcher Johnny Padres throwing a “message pitch” to…excuse me, AT… Mays at Candlestick in 1962.

So that whole Dodgers-Giants thing is A Thing.

The two teams finished in a tie at the end of the 1962 season–101 wins, 61 losses–in the pre-division National League. I was ten years old and, other than Koufax and Drysdale, my ultimate hero was Dodger shortstop Maury Wills, who stole 104 bases, then a record, that year.

We were in my Dad’s 1961 Dodge Polara station wagon (that car was a beast) when Vin Scully announced the Giants’ 6-4 victory, ending a three-game playoff, on October 3, 1962.

The Giants played Game one of the World Series, against the Yankees, the NEXT DAY.

Johnny Podres had started the final playoff game for the Dodgers; Juan Marichal for the Giants, but the winning pitcher was Don Larsen, who, as a Yankee, threw the perfect game against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.

Darn you, Don Larsen.

Much groaning came from our car at the playoff game’s end. Then we went home to Huasna Road and sulked for a couple of days.

Much groaning came from our car at the playoff game’s end. Then we went home to Huasna Road and sulked for a couple of days.

And, as a Dodger fan, nothing was more terrifying to me than the #3 and cleanup spots in that lineup, with the right-handed Mays and the left-handed Willie McCovey. That started in 1961; McCovey was hurt in 1962 but those places in the lineup remained between 1963 and 1968 and came back once more in 1971.

Other great one-two punches came to mind: Ruth and Gehrig, Eddie Matthews and Hank Aaron (Braves), Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell (Pirates).

Statistically, Ruth and Gehrig were the most productive, but in my lifetime, watching West Coast games on both black-and-white and color television, nobody touched Mays and McCovey.

Sometimes, for cryin’ out loud, they’d move Mays into the leadoff spot and put Bobby Bonds in the #3 slot. (WOW!)

The other thing that’s A Thing is how exceptional those 1962 teams were. Lineups/stats attached.

The always-articulate sportscaster Bob Costas identified what made Willie Mays stand out among all of these players from 1962, and it was the sheer joy with which he played baseball. (Admitting my lifelong prejudice—I saw my first Dodgers game at the Coliseum, against Stan Musial’s Cardinals—I can see some of Willie Mays in a modern player—yes, a Dodger—Mookie Betts).

The sheer joy.

Godspeed, Willie Mays. Every one of us who loves baseball will always love you, too.