of the Milwaukee Braves. On May 30, he hit his first major league home run off the Cincinnati Reds' Jim Brosnan. For the month of June, he batted .292 to bring his average to .233. He was hampered, however, by poor fielding. Playing the Philadelphia Phillies on June 5, Hiller mishandled Harvey Kuenn's throw from third on what should have been a routine double play. The next batter, Pancho Herrera, followed with a lead-changing three-run home run. On June 11, his second inning error on a Smoky Burgess ground ball opened the door for the Pittsburgh Pirates to score four runs. It was his seventh error of the season, and played into the decision to demote Hiller to the triple A Tacoma Giants in early July. Hiller tore up the Pacific Coast League to the tune of a .324 batting average, five home runs and 32 RBIs to get a call back up to the majors in September. He went 3-for-5 with a run scored in his first game back in the majors, and batted .289 over the rest of the season. He also committed just one inconsequential error for a .980 fielding percentage. His rookie year, Hiller batted .238 with two home runs, twelve RBIs and 38 runs scored. He committed eight errors for a .973 fielding percentage. Starting second baseman Amalfitano's selection by the Houston Colt .45s in the 1962 Major League Baseball expansion draft led Giants brass to openly attempt to acquire a new second baseman before the season began. Unsuccessful, Hiller became the 1962 Giants' de facto full-time second baseman despite a poor Spring training. Usually batting second or lead off, Hiller understood his role. He had a career high 166 hits that led to a career high 94 runs scored in front of the power bats of Mays, McCovey, Felipe Alou and Orlando Cepeda. He would also set career highs in games played (161), doubles (22) and RBIs (48). On a negative note, he also paced major league second basemen with 29 errors. The Giants and Dodgers were embroiled in a season long battle for first place in the NL. The Dodgers were two games up on the Giants, and needed just one win when they went into St. Louis for a three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals to end the season. The Dodgers were swept, resulting in the teams ending their 162-game schedules