Try as we may and regardless of how much Prevagen, Neuronol, or other memory supplements we take, memory is a fleeting thing, and it indeed slips with age. Fortunately, there are Twitter accounts (and associated websites) that assist us in this regard; not necessarily to restore our declining memories, but to remind us – through photographs – of moments in time that were – and remain – near and dear to us.

One such Twitter account that is an absolute must for every baseball fan to follow is @baseballinpix, which is associated with the Baseballesque.com sports photography website.

The beauty of @baseballinpix is that it is not Dodgers specific. Instead, they share timeless baseball photographs from every Major League team, including those no longer in existence and teams that have since relocated … say, like the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On Monday morning, @baseballinpix shared several photographs from the 1963 World Series between the then relatively new Los Dodgers and the New York Yankees; an epic World Series which the Dodgers swept the favored Yankees in four games – the first two at (old) Yankee Stadium and the final two at then one-year-old (new) Dodger Stadium. Among the photographs was this photo of my all-time favorite Dodger Don Drysdale:

As you all know, we purposely attempt to stay away from I/Me-type articles here at ThinkBlueLA.com, but in this case it was absolutely impossible. You see, although only nine years old at the time, I was at Game-3 of that historic Fall Classic, along with my father and two brothers, and it is indeed a memory – and story – which I will never forget. Here goes:

Although I was not what you would call a diehard Dodgers fan at the time, as a Little Leaguer, I most certainly knew who they were. I mean, how could I not, with guys named Sandy Koufax, Frank Howard, and Don Drysdale, on this team that had already been in – and won – a World Series in only their second season in Los Angeles – albeit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – right?

After winning a best-of-three tie-breaker series over the (then) Milwaukee Braves, the Dodgers would represent the National League in the 1963 World Series; a series that my father (a diehard Chicago Cubs and Bears fan, having been born and raised there), wasn’t about to miss. As such, and against the wishes of my mother, my dad kept my brother Tom and I out of school to stand in line at the ticket booths on Stadium Way (with a wad of cash in our pockets) to purchase tickets for one of the two upcoming World Series games at Dodger Stadium. My dad had made it clear that he would prefer tickets for Game-4 (for obvious reasons) but instructed us to get four tickets to Game-3 if Game-4 was already sold out.

Game-4 was already sold out when we finally made it to the ticket window, having spent the entire day standing in line – not an easy task for a 10 and nine-year-old, respectively … but we got tickets!

Hall of Famer Don Drysdale was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers on that glorious October 5, 1963 afternoon, opposite Yankees right-hander Jim Bouton, who had won 21 games for the pinstripers during the regular season (Drysdale had won 19).

Drysdale pitched a nine-inning, three-hit, complete game shutout in the eventual 1-0 Dodgers win, with the Dodgers lone run coming on a RBI single by Dodgers left fielder Tommy Davis to drive in Dodgers third baseman Jim Gilliam, who had walked with one out in the bottom of the first inning and promptly stole second base. That was the sum and total of the game’s offense, although the Yankees gave this nine-year-old a scare when first baseman Joe Pepitone flied out to Dodgers right fielder Ron Fairly in front of the Yankees bullpen gate for the final out of the game.

A couple years ago, while a credentialed member of the media, I was blessed to have a conversation with beloved Dodgers great Don Newcombe before a game in 2018. During that conversation, the subject of Game-3 of the 1963 World Series came up. Newcombe, who passed on February 19, 2019, said to me:

“Ron, that was the single greatest World Series game ever pitched.”

You can bet that I will never forget that one.

…or Don Newcombe

Play Ball!

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