Home, Sweet Home?

It was hate at first sight. There was something about the set of their shoulders, the angle of their noses and the color of their Southern California tans that positively graveled the folks in Bloomington, Minn. Not to mention their mouths.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the National League, had barely arrived in Bloomington when they started bragging about what they were going to do to the American League's Minnesota Twins in the World Series. "Three or four clubs in our league could have won the pennant over there," said Dodger General Manager Buzzie Bavasi. "I don't think the competition from the Twins will be any tougher than it was from the Yankees when we beat them four straight in 1963." Now that was too much--even for Minnesota's mildmannered manager, Sam Mele. "Cracks like that have a habit of coming back to haunt a guy," snarled Mele. "The Dodgers are in for a surprise."

What's to See? Several, as it turned out. If the Dodgers expected the Twins' pitchers to panic over their cap-gun offense, they learned otherwise when Jim ("Mudcat") Grant shrugged that he had not even bothered to look at scouting reports on the Los Angeles lineup. "Their leading hitter is batting about .288," explained Grant, "so there isn't much to look over, is there?"

If the Dodgers expected Twins' hitters to quake at the prospect of facing Don Drysdale (23-12) and Sandy Koufax (26-8), Manager Mele quickly set them straight. "We've got power," said Mele, "and we can run, too." Even the fact that Las Vegas odds makers picked the Dodgers as heavy favorites (at 2-3) to win the Series failed to rattle the Twins. Newsmen noticed three signs hanging in the passageway between the Minnesota clubhouse and the field.

THINK. HUSTLE. WIN. Special inspiration for the Series? "Hell, no," laughed Mele. "We put them up last season when we finished sixth."

Mele's only worry in the first game was that his players might get dizzy from all that running around. Don Drysdale, the Dodger starter, was out so fast that he could have watched himself on instant replay. Minnesota Second Baseman Frank Quilici opened the third inning with a double, then Drysdale fell down trying to field a bunt, and by the time the Twins got bored, eleven men had batted and six had scored--three of them on Zoilo Versalles' 400-ft. homer into the leftfield bleachers. "I had bad command," Drysdale said afterward. But so, for that matter, did the Twins' Mudcat Grant. Each team collected ten hits; the difference was that Los Angeles left nine men on the bases. Final score:

Minnesota 8, Los Angeles 2.

Up & Over. Next day it was Sandy Koufax's turn to pitch for the Dodgers, and there was nothing wrong with Sandy that a little defense couldn't have cured. For four innings, Koufax and Minnesota's 6-ft. 4-in. Jim Kaat matched pitch for pitch in a scoreless duel. Kaat got help from Leftfielder Bob Allison, who saved two runs with a diving, sliding catch in the fifth. Koufax struck out nine batters, but he got no help at all.

In the sixth inning, Dodger Third Baseman Jim Gilliam let a grounder by Zoilo Versalles run up his arm, over his shoulder, and halfway into leftfield for a two-base error. A sacrifice and two hits later, the Twins had a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers got back one in the seventh, and then, with the tying run on third, Manager Walt Alston made his move. He took Koufax out for a pinch hitter--Don Drysdale--who struck out on three pitches. After that the box score became a nightmare. The Twins won 5-1, with the aid of three Dodger errors (Alston's didn't count), a balk, and a wild pitch. Koufax tried to take the blame: "My curve was all over the place," he said. "I just couldn't make the pitches I wanted to." But the Twins knew better. "Just getting Sandy out of the game was a big boost to us," said Winning Pitcher Kaat.

Only four teams in history have won the series after being behind 2-0. But it never occurred to the Dodgers to worry. They were too busy being happy about going back to their own carefully tailored ballpark, with its concrete infield, bunt-favoring baselines and hard-to-reach fences. To celebrate that (and Owner Walter O'Malley's 62nd birthday), Pitcher Claude Osteen--an American League castoff whose lifetime record against Minnesota is 6-0--shut out the Twins on five hits. The Dodgers pounded a succession of Minnesota pitchers for ten--including five doubles. Los Angeles won 4-0. Back home-sweet home, back in the Series.

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