A different kind of Moon shot

During the 1964 season, San Francisco Giants manager Alvin Dark reportedly is so unimpressed with the hitting abilities of pitcher Gaylord Perry that he – so goes the story – tells sports writer Harry Jupiter that, “Mark my words. A man will land on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run.”

Turns out that five seasons later – in fact, 54 years ago today – the two momentous feats do indeed occur on the same day as Perry homers off Los Angeles’ Claude Osteen a few hours before Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon.

Perry’s homer to center field in the bottom of the third inning accounts for the Giants’ first run in a 7-3 victory over the Dodgers at Candlestick Park.

Clearly inspired by the feat – his, not Armstrong’s – the normally light-hitting Perry homers for the Giants in each of the next three seasons and six times altogether in his 22-year Hall of Fame career.

As for Armstrong, well, he goes to the moon only once, but that is more than enough for history.