October 11, 1964 - World Series - Game 4: Boyer Slams Door on Yankees, 4-3

Sunday, October 11, 1964 - World Series - Game 4 - St Louis Cardinals vs New York Yankees - At Yankee Stadium - Ray Sadecki vs Al Downing - Attendance:  66,312

The Cardinals were in desperate need for a win today, after losing a 2-1 heart-breaker to the Yankees in Saturday's Game 3 - although fifty years later, that doesn't seem like such a bad way to lose - on a Mickey Mantle walk-off home run off a Barney Schultz knuckle ball.  It doesn't get much more iconic than that.

Iconic or not, the Bronx Bombers held a two games to one advantage over the upstart Cardinals in this best-of-seven Fall Classic, heading into Sunday's crucial Game 4.  It had been eighteen years since the Cardinals had won a World Series championship.  It had been eighteen years since they had even appeared in a World Series, for that matter.

The Yankees, on the other hand, had won ten world championships over that same time span.  That seemed like enough, although New York apparently had a different point of view, as this game began like a Twilight Zone episode for the beleaguered Redbirds.

Ray Sadecki, the winning pitcher in Game One, didn't fare so well this time around.  After the Cardinals went quietly in their first turn at bat against southpaw Al Downing, the Yankees began their half of the first with a bang.  Phil Linz opened with a double.  Then, with Bobby Richardson batting, Linz tried to steal third.  Catcher Tim McCarver's throw was in time to nail Linz, but the normally sure-handed Ken Boyer - a nine-time Gold Glove winner - simply dropped the ball.  With that, the floodgates opened.

Richardson followed with a double of his own - scoring Linz.  Roger Maris then lined a single to right - temporarily advancing Richardson to third - who then scored when Mickey Mantle lined another single to right field.  While Maris advanced to third on the hit, Mantle tried to stretch it into a double - unsuccessfully.  A strong throw from Mike Shannon to second baseman Dal Maxvill recorded the first out of the inning - but if the Cardinals hoped to get two more outs to end this mess, an immediate pitching change was in order.

Manager Johnny Keane summoned Roger Craig in from the bullpen to face Elston Howard, who promptly singled to center - scoring Maris with the third run of the inning.  Unbeknownst to anyone watching this game, that would prove to be the last run the Yankees would score in this one.

Craig then struck out Tom Tresh before retiring Joe Pepitone on a fly ball to right field, to finally end this madness.

In the meantime, the Cardinals could do nothing with Downing, who had blanked St Louis on just one hit through the first five innings.  That all changed in the sixth-inning, however.  Carl Warwick -  pinch hitting for Roger Craig - singled to left.  Curt Flood followed suit - putting runners on first and second for Lou Brock.  But Lou was an easy out, on a fly ball to Mantle in center field.  When Dick Groat hit a ground ball towards second baseman Bobby Richardson - a five-time Gold Glove winner -it seemed likely an inning-ending double play would ensue.

Instead, Richardson booted it.

With the bases now loaded, Ken Boyer - trying to atone for his error that facilitated a three-run first-inning rally for the Yankees - did some serious atoning with one swing of the bat.

Boyer's drive down the left field line refused to hook into foul territory - instead landing in the bleachers among the stunned partisan crowd, as a smiling Boyer circled the bases on what may have been the most significant postseason home run in St Louis Cardinals history.  Suddenly, the Cardinals had a 4-3 lead - a lead they would not relinquish.

Journeyman reliever Ron Taylor kept the Yankees in check over the final four innings - allowing only a two-out eighth-inning walk to Mickey Mantle.  There was no need for a setup guy to pitch the eighth-inning, because he was his own closer today - saving it for Roger Craig, who of course, saved the day for the Cardinals when they absolutely had to win this game.

The pitching lines tell the story:

                       IP    H    R    ER   BB   SO
Sadecki          0.1    4    3     2       0      0
Craig (1-0)     4.2    2    0     0       3      8
Taylor S (1)   4.0     0    0     0       1      2

Boyer's clutch grand salami - along with the nearly flawless relief work from two unflappable veterans - evened the World Series at two games apiece.  Otherwise, they would have been forced into an untenable three games to one deficit.

And that would have been no fun at all.

October 8, 1967 - World Series - Game 4: Gibson's 1st World Series Shutout

Sunday, October 8, 1967 - World Series - Game 4 - At Busch Stadium II (Bob Gibson - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent:  Boston Red Sox (Jose Santiago - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance:  54, 575

Bob Gibson - who allowed just one run in defeating the Red Sox at Fenway Park in Game One - trumped that effort in Game Four at Busch Stadium by blanking Boston, 6-0.  It was his first career World Series shutout, and it gave St Louis a commanding three games to one lead in the best-of-seven Fall Classic.

Gibson got all the runs he needed in the first-inning off Boston starter Jose Santiago.  After Lou Brock and Curt Flood both singled to start the frame, Roger Maris scored 'em both with a double to left field.

After advancing to third on Orlando Cepeda's fly ball deep to right field, Maris scored on Tim McCarver's single to right field - to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.  One out later, Julian Javier singled to left - bringing up the weak-hitting Dal Maxvill with runners on first and second.

After Maxvill's single to left field scored McCarver to make it a 4-0 lead - manager Dick Williams had seen enough - yanking his beleaguered starter after just two-thirds of an inning.  Gary Bell - one of Jim Bouton's buddies frequently mentioned in his controversial and entertaining memoir, Ball Four - restored order for the next 1.1 innings.

Bell's replacement - Jerry Stephenson - didn't fare so well.

In the third inning, Orlando Cepeda greeted Stephenson with  a lead-off double to left field.  With McCarver batting, Stephenson uncorked a wild pitch - moving Cepeda to third.  McCarver's sacrifice fly to center padded the lead to 5-0 - but the Cardinals weren't quite through.

Mike Shannon then coaxed a base on balls, then a red-hot Javier brought him in with a double to left field, scoring the sixth and final run of the game.

Stephenson regrouped to pitch a scoreless fourth-inning - then the next two Boston relievers - Dave Morehead and Ken Brett - pitched a combined four-inning no-hitter which nobody really noticed.

Bob Gibson was on center stage today - scattering five hits and one walk to keep the Red Sox from scoring all day long.  He struck out a relatively modest total of six batters - but Boston never threatened to score until their last turn at bat.

Carl Yastrzemski - the AL Triple Crown winner - stayed hot all throughout the World Series.  He led-off the ninth-inning with a double into the right-center field gap - becoming the first runner in scoring position Gibson had allowed in the entire game.  He got as far as third base but that's where he remained, as Gibson closed the door on the threat to preserve the shutout.

The Red Sox were down, but far from out.  They would go on to win the next two games to force a seventh and deciding game back home at Fenway Park.  When asked by a Boston beat writer what he expected for the classic Lonborg vs Gibson Game Seven duel, Dick Williams uttered the words which would become the rallying cry for the soon-to-be World Champion Cardinals:  "Lonborg and champagne."

Gibson of course, had other ideas.

September 8, 1998 - Where Were You When McGwire Hit Number 62?

Tuesday, September 8, 1998 - At Busch Stadium II (Kent Mercker - Starting Pitcher) - Opponent:  Chicago Cubs (Steve Trachsel - Starting Pitcher) - Attendance:  43,688

Mark McGwire became the first player in major league history to hit 62 home runs in a single season - and he did it tonight, in a nationally televised game between the Cards and Cubs.  Oh yeah - the Cardinals won the game by a score of 6-3, to improve to 71-73 on the season.  Not exactly in contention for postseason play - but the story of the year - especially for Cardinal Nation - was the quest for 62.

Not since 1961 - when both Maris and Mantle were in hot pursuit of Babe Ruth's 60 - had two players seriously challenged for the new and improved record - in the same season.  Of course, it just so happened that the other guy in hot pursuit of the record - Sammy Sosa - was stationed out in right field when McGwire's hot shot cleared the left field wall.  He even jogged in from his post to offer awkward hugs and forearm bashes to his friendly rival - as the nation collectively sighed.

So this was a big deal.  People who weren't really that interested in baseball found the pursuit of 62 home runs a fascinating subject.  The two rivals seemed to embrace the challenge of breaking the record - and the surviving Maris family members were gracious enough to be on hand for handshakes and hugs when Big Mac smacked Number 61 on Monday - and Number 62 tonight.  He would go on to hit an unfathomable total of 70 - a record certain to last - possibly forever - until it was broken in 2001, that is.

In the wake of the Steroids Scandal, along with the new Barry Bonds home run record of 73 - McGwire's accomplishment has diminished in the eyes of many of the fans and media that originally lauded him, along with Sosa - for "saving baseball".

Those who claim McGwire "cheated" by taking performance enhancing drugs seem to forget that the substance he used - referred to as "Andro" - was legal.  There's no telling how many major league players were using some form of PEDs at the time - but I'd venture to guess it was over half of them.

McGwire, Sosa and Bonds are being singled out because they were far more successful than the other guys.  They were also more entertaining - which is why this otherwise meaningless game was televised for the world to witness.  I know I saw it - and so did you.  What other games do you remember watching on television that year?  Aside from the game on Monday.

Meanwhile, after all the hoopla with the McGwire home run subsided, the Cardinals put together a five-run sixth-inning to take control of the game.  Back-to-back home runs by Ray Lankford - a three-run shot - and Ron Gant were also featured - but few remember.

Strangely enough, the Cardinals closed out the '98 season with a 12-6 record - so they actually had a respectable 83 win season.  In 2006, that would've won the NL Central!

May 2, 1967: Gibson Shuts Out Reds to End 4 Game Slide

May 2, 1967:  Bob Gibson hates losing.  In his previous start against Houston at the Astrodome, he was trying to protect a slim 2-0 seventh-inning lead.  After two hits and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out in that fateful inning, Gibson's night was over.  Unfortunately for Gibby and the Cardinals, the bullpen was unable to get out of this predicament, as the Redbirds went down to defeat.  As if that weren't bad enough, that was the start of a four-game losing streak which knocked St Louis (9-7) out of first place.   

The team that had taken over the top spot in the National League - the Cincinnati Reds (15-5) - just happened to be in town for a brief two-game series, with their ace, Jim Maloney matched-up against an extra-surly Bob Gibson.  The Reds never had a chance.

The only run Gibson would need all night came across in the bottom of the second-inning when Tim McCarver led-off with a single to right field, moved up to second base on a Mike Shannon ground-out, stole third, then came home on one of three wild pitches Maloney would deliver in his 5.2 innings of futile work.

In the meantime, Gibson was mowing down the Reds as if they were little leaguers - striking out six in a row at one point, and not yielding a hit until Vada Pinson led off the top of the fifth with a double down the right field line.  Pete Rose did his job by moving Pinson to third with a ground-out to second base.  With the tying run 90 feet away, Gibson struck out Tony Perez for the second straight time, then retired Deron Johnson on an easy infield pop-up to end the threat.

The Redbirds blew the game open with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, when Maloney couldn't find the strike zone.  Both Roger Maris and Orlando Cepeda walked.  Maloney then uncorked the second of three wild pitches, before walking McCarver to load the bases.  Mike Shannon then cleared them with a double down the left field line.  Just for good measure, the Cardinals tacked on another run the next inning, when Roger Maris singled in Bob Gibson, who had walked.

The top of the sixth-inning was uneventful, with one oddity worth noting:  Gordy Coleman pinch hit for Tony Perez - a future Hall of Famer who would be an RBI machine during the heyday of the Big Red Machine.  Gordy Coleman was at the tail end of a nice career but he only had eight plate appearances all year, with one base on balls and no hits to his credit.  Although he failed to get a hit off Gibson this night, at least he didn't strike out.  Perez later admitted that whenever he came up to bat against Gibby over the years, his wife would always make a trip to the ladies room; she simply couldn't bear to watch it.

On this early-May evening in St Louis, Perez had lots of company - the entire Reds lineup could only muster four base runners all night off Gibson - two hits and two walks - and no runs.  They struck out twelve times that night, while being shutout for the second time in the young season.  It was Gibson's most dominant performance all year, and it came at a time when the team needed it the most. 

The next evening, Cards pitcher Ray Washburn shut them out again, moving St Louis just two games behind Cincinnati - who were at least able to salvage three of the next five road games in Atlanta and New York, to limp home still hanging on to first place; at least for a while.