Though it's not cited in any history book, I'm convinced the culture-bending 1960s began on June 23, 1963.
That Sunday afternoon in New York's Polo Grounds, at the dawn of America's last innocent summer, a Mets outfielder took one giant leap for nonconformity.
After smacking his 100th career home run off Dallas Green in the opener of a Phillies-Mets doubleheader, Jimmy Piersall backpedaled around the bases.
Though fueled by his mental problems and not LSD, Piersall's trip was at the time as mind-blowing as any on acid.
No sport – no institution – better-represented and reflected 1962's buttoned-down status quo than baseball.