FanPost

Denny Lemaster versus Sandy Koufax 1966


It was the first season for the Braves in Atlanta, and Billy Hitchcock had just replaced Bobby Bragan as Manager, and fans were excited to start over after Bragan had badly screwed up in the first regular season game by pitching Tony Cloninger for 13 innings against the Pirates and ruining a wonderful pitcher in his prime in a 3-2 loss. A hot summer night with thunderstorms but the new Atlanta- Fulton County Stadium was packed at full capacity with the Dodgers in town and pitching the incredible Sandy Koufax, while the Braves countered with their best left-hander, the smooth throwing Denny Lemaster. Tied 1-1 into the late innings, the game was halted by a long thunderstorm, but the starting pitchers still returned (or at least that is what my aging memory remembers), and in the 11th inning the great Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews hit a home run to left field to win the game 2-1. For me a fitting end to the game especially considering I had seen him hit his famous home run over the magnolia tree in old Ponce de Leon Park as an Atlanta Cracker when I was a very small child. I saw 35 games in that first Atlanta season, many on the first row of dead center field, where the cost of a ticket was one dollar, and you had a fabulous view of the entire field and could razz the opposing outfielders while cheering for Braves' greats Henry Aaron and Felipe Alou.

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