Excerpt
Victoria Advocate
May 20, 1965
Thanks to Pecan Park Eagle contributor Darrell Pittman, here’s a timely piece from Bob Hulsey’s “1965 Day by Day” column @ http://astrosdaily.com/1965/1965.html#0521:
May 21:
San Francisco (18-16) at Houston (17-19)
The Astrodome
The John Kibler controversy reaches a new level when Bob Aspromonte is ejected after disputing a “safe” call by Kibler at third base in the sixth inning. Aspro thought he had the tag on Jim Davenport and exploded when Kibler ruled otherwise. With Luman Harris already suspended, it was up to other Astros to calm down their third-sacker. Bill Giles, the Astros’ publicity director and scoreboard operator, flashes “KIBLER DID IT AGAIN” on the big board as fans voice their displeasure.
The game itself wasn’t in doubt by this time. The Giants tee off on Don Nottebart and lead, 7-0, by the time of Aspromonte’s eruption on their way to an 8-1 decision. Willie McCovey leads the charge with three hits, including a homer and four RBIs. Davenport and Matty Alou also swat three hits apiece. Things are going so well for the Giants that pitcher Ron Herbel gets the first hit of his big league career, snapping an oh-for-55 streak, on a roller through a drawn-in infield. John Bateman‘s solo shot in the eighth is the only relief for the home crowd.
May 22:
San Francisco (19-16) at Houston (17-20)
The Astrodome
At last, America gets to watch a game inside the new Astrodome. ABC televises the day game of a day-night twinbill against the Giants with Chris Schenkel and Leo Durocher supplying the commentary. If they tuned in on time, they got to see Willie Mays smash a mammoth two-run homer in the first off Bob Bruce. Jesus Alou, Tom Haller and Hal Lanier smack four hits apiece in a 10-1 rout. Juan Marichal spins a complete-game six-hitter. Dating back to the previous September, San Francisco has won ten straight over Houston.
In the untelevised nightcap, the Astros squeak out a 3-2 victory. Mays spanks another two-run first-inning homer, his 17th long ball of the season. Houston responds with a run-scoring double by Walt Bond. Joe Gaines belts a home run, pinch-hitting for starter Turk Farrell in the seventh. Houston takes the lead in the eighth when Rusty Staub singles off Masanori Murakami, moves up on a walk to John Bateman and scores on a pinch-hit single by player-coach Nellie Fox. Hal Woodeshick holds on for his second win of the year. Almost 66,000 cross the turnstiles during the doubleheader.
May 23:
San Francisco (20-17) at Houston (18-21)
The Astrodome
Ken Johnson, the only person ever to pitch a complete no-hit major league game and lose that game, gets another bit of bad luck when Jim Ray Hart hits a fly ball to center with two on and two out in the first inning. Jim Wynn loses track of the ball amongst the roof panels and can’t locate it until it falls harmlessly behind him. By the time the ball is thrown back in, Hart has a three-run inside-the-park homer which he scores standing up. That’s the difference in a 5-2 Astro defeat with Houston’s only runs coming on an eighth-inning single by Walt Bond, plating Al Spangler and Joe Morgan.
Johnson is pulled in the fourth inning after allowing all five runs and informed he has been traded to the Braves for outfielder Lee Maye. The lefthanded-hitting Maye led the league in doubles the previous year with 44. For Johnson, it’s a new beginning after coming from the Reds in the 1961 expansion draft. In a separate deal, the Braves also acquired outfielder Jim Beauchamp for a player to be named later. Beauchamp had hit .189 in part-time duty and was in an oh-for-12 slump.
Wynn is asked to field flies after the game along with Rusty Staub and Nellie Fox. The decision is made to add a darker layer of paint to the roof panels around home plate.
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Thank you, Darrell Pittman, Bob Hulsey, and Astros Daily for being the best always active source on Houston Baseball History in the digital world. Here at The Pecan Park Eagle, we always are honored to share whatever you make further available to the fans through us. Keep up the good work. And we shall always try to do the same. – Regards, Bill McCurdy, The Pecan Park Eagle.
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Bill McCurdy
Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
The Pecan Park Eagle 
May 19, 2017 at 9:38 am |
Quite a few Hall of Famers involved in that weekend series. I’d be curios to know if that double header was one ticket for both games or pay for both games. Man those two for one are gone with the wind. Thanks for the step back in time.
May 20, 2017 at 2:08 pm |
Dave, this was intentionally a two-game event with two separate gates, much like the Yankees had with the Astros a week or so ago for Derek Jeter Night. So, I believe, with a few hours in between games, fans were shooed out of the stadium in between games and then had to come back with a night game ticket to watch the second game.