When Keane and the Cardinals surprised everyone by surging to their first World Series championship in 18 years, Busch decided to keep his manager on for another year. However, Keane shocked everyone once again when he announced his resignation at a press conference that was originally intended to celebrate his new contract.

Keane’s 35-year career with the Cardinals included time as a minor league infielder, player-manager, and coach before he joined the big-league coaching staff under manager Solly Hemus. When Hemus was fired in 1961, Keane was named manager. A baseball lifer who studied for the priesthood before joining the Cardinals, Keane was beloved by his players.

“Johnny Keane spent 21 years managing in the minor leagues, which suggests, quite accurately, that he was a patient man,” Bob Gibson wrote in his autobiography. “He was, in fact, the closest thing to a saint that I came across in baseball.”[1]

“Johnny Keane was one of the nicest persons ever in sports,” added Jack Buck in his own autobiography.[2]

Keane led the Cardinals to a 47-33 record after taking over for Hemus in 1961, then followed that performance with an 84-win season in 1962. In 1963, the Cardinals won 93 games and placed second in the National League, giving the club high hopes for the 1964 campaign.

The Cardinals got off to a slow start, however, and on June 17, with a 30-31 record, they sat in eighth place in the 10-team National League. Busch responded by firing Devine; however, he was more than willing to fire the manager Keane as well.

As the Cardinals staggered out of the gate, former Gashouse Gang shortstop Leo Durocher, who had won National League pennants with both the Dodgers and Giants, made a bid for Keane’s job. Now a coach for the Dodgers, Durocher was in St. Louis with the Dodgers in mid-August when Cardinals broadcaster Harry Caray invited him to the broadcast booth for an interview on the pregame show.[3]

When the conversation turned to Durocher’s future as a manager, he told Caray, “If somebody came to me and asked me to manage a team with some talent on it—a team like the Cardinals here—well, I’d jump at it in a minute. Because a club like the Cardinals should be winning.”[4]

That day’s audience happened to include Busch, and the owner instructed Caray to bring Durocher to the beer mogul’s estate the following morning.[5] Durocher described the scene in his book, Nice Guys Finish Last:

When we arrived at Mr. Busch’s estate at Grant’s Farm, Harry said that he’d wait in the car. A servant opened the door and took me the distance of a couple of city blocks to the living room. Then we went through a couple of more rooms and out to a screened-in porch where Gussie was having his breakfast.

It was a very hot Sunday morning, and his kids were riding back and forth outside on their ponies. I had a cup of coffee and a sweet roll with him. The small talk was kept to a minimum.

Gussie wanted to know whether I would be interested in managing his ball club next year if the job should become available. The job, as everybody knew, was going to become available. Busch had fired his general manager, Bing Devine, a couple of weeks earlier and it was common talk that Johnny Keane had been kept on only because it hadn’t been considered good policy to let both the manager and general manager go in the middle of the season.[6]

When Busch finished his breakfast, he and Durocher retired to the beer baron’s office, where Busch announced that the job would be his. First, however, Busch wanted to clear it with Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley. Unfortunately, O’Malley was on safari in Africa and was unavailable.[7] Durocher claims that he warned Busch things could change while he waited for O’Malley’s response.

“The last thing I said before getting up was that it was going to be very hard to keep our agreement out of the newspapers,” Durocher recalled. “‘How do you think Johnny Keane is going to feel when he hears about this? Because you’re not out of it yet, Gus. You’re only seven and a half games out, you could win this thing yet. Anything can happen in this game.’”[8]

Indeed it could.

As rumors swirled about his future with the club, Keane and the Cardinals pulled themselves back into the pennant race. By September 22, the Cardinals were in third place and had trimmed Philadelphia’s lead to five games.

At the same time, rumors regarding Busch’s meeting with Durocher began to swirl. United Press International (UPI) reported that Keane would be replaced within two weeks. In response, Busch denied that the meeting with Durocher had taken place and told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I have great admiration for Durocher and I heard that recent radio interview in which he made a pitch for a managerial job, but I don’t know whether we’ll make a change or not. It was hard enough to let Bing go – I consider Bing one of the finest fellows I’ve ever met – and it was a tough move to make. It would be another tough move to decide to let Keane go.”[9]

When asked whether he thought Keane had done a good job to that point in the season, Busch was noncommittal, saying, “Frankly, I have no comment on that.”[10]

After learning of the meeting between Busch and Durocher, Keane called his friend Bill Bergesch, who had been the general manager at Omaha when Keane was the manager. Bergesch was now the assistant general manager with the Yankees.[11] According to Peter Golenbock, author of The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, Keane signed a contract for the 1965 season with the Yankees on September 28.[12]

That same day, Keane wrote a letter of resignation that he planned to give Busch whenever the Cardinals’ season ended. Only he and his wife knew that he planned to quit.

“I didn’t want to upset the players,” Keane said.[13]

Ironically, after Keane made the decision to leave the only MLB team he had ever worked for, Busch changed his mind about his 52-year-old manager. On October 2, five days after Keane penned his resignation letter, Busch visited him in the clubhouse and offered him a new contract. Keane demurred, saying that he preferred to wait to discuss his contract until after the season.[14]

With an 11-5 win over the Mets on the final day of the regular season, the Cardinals clinched the pennant, finishing one game ahead of the Reds and Phillies. Their late-season surge meant they would meet another team that came on strong: the Yankees, who had been in third place as late as September 16 before an 11-game win streak pushed them into first place.

In a classic World Series, the Cardinals captured the title in seven games. After taking the loss in Game 2, Gibson won Game 5, then struck out nine Yankees in a complete-game effort in Game 7.

With the championship in hand, Busch called a press conference for the following morning at which he planned to announce a new contract for Keane. Instead, Busch was in for a surprise. When Keane arrived 15 minutes after the press conference was scheduled to begin, he entered Busch’s office and handed him the letter of resignation he had written weeks earlier.

In part, the letter read: “This is to submit my resignation as field manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, effective at the end of the last championship National League game, whether it be at the end of the regular season or at the completion of the World Series. I want you to know that I have enjoyed working for you since you have owned the Cardinals, as well as the many years I spent with the organization prior to that time. I resign my position with the friendliest feelings and wish nothing but success to you and your fine Cardinal team.”[15]

Unaware of the letter’s contents, Busch shoved the letter into his pocket and encouraged Keane to hurry toward waiting press.

“I think you’d better read that before we go in there,” Keane said.

When Busch said he would read it after the press conference, Keane insisted. That was when executive vice president Dick Meyer asked to see the letter. After reading its contents, Meyer stopped Busch.

“We can’t go in there,” he said.

“Why not?” Busch asked.

“He’s not going to manage,” Meyer answered. “He’s resigning.”

Busch was shocked. “I’m sorry, Mr. Busch,” Keane said. “I’ve made other plans.”[16]

When Busch and Keane finally spoke to the press, they announced Keane’s resignation. It marked just the third time in history a manager had not returned after winning the World Series and the first time since Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby was traded to the Giants after the 1926 season.

“It’s hard to leave the players,” Keane said. “During the last 30 days, during the stretch run, we have become a closely knit unit. I have become closer to the players than with any other ball club I’ve been with before. I’ve been one of the boys and liked it.”[17]

When asked by reporters why he quit, Keane said it “was an accumulation of a lot of little things,” including Devine’s firing earlier that season.[18]

“Keane was understood to have resented the interference of Branch Rickey, senior consultant, and the mid-August dismissal of general manager Bing Devine,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Neal Russo wrote. “Keane also was believed to have been upset during the period that the Cardinals reportedly were thinking of Leo Durocher as his successor.”[19]

For his part, Busch admitted his was astonished by Keane’s announcement. “I tried to find the main reason why John is resigning,” he said. “I don’t know what caused him to make this decision. This came as a complete bombshell this morning.”[20]

Keane was asked whether he might go to the Mets, where he could serve as a manager-in-waiting under 74-year-old Casey Stengel and be reunited with Devine, who had joined the Mets’ front office.

“It’s not true that I am going with the Mets,” he said. “That job would be a year from now or more, and I want a job now. I don’t want a coaching job. I want to manage.”[21]

Later that day, Keane’s plans became clearer as the Yankees announced that Yogi Berra would fulfill a different role in the organization and would not be the manager in 1965. Yankees general manager Ralph Houk said Keane was among four finalists for the position.[22] A few days later, the Yankees announced that Keane would manage the club the following season.

Keane’s tenure in New York didn’t last long. Saddled with an aging roster that was on the decline, Keane guided the team to just 77 wins in 1965. After the Yankees won just four of their first 20 games in 1966, he was fired. In January 1967, he was in his Houston home when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Following the public perception that he and Durocher had chased the World Series-winning Keane from St. Louis, Busch decided not to name Durocher the Cardinals’ next manager. Instead, he sought recommendations from a committee that included the recently retired legend, Stan Musial. Musial campaigned for his longtime friend and teammate Red Schoendienst.

“With Musial leading my support, it came down to as much a public relations decision as a baseball one, I think, and that’s where I had the advantage,” Schoendienst wrote in his autobiography. “There was a lot of negative reaction to Johnny leaving, and the possible hiring of Durocher had stirred up a lot of people. The prevailing thought was the new manager needed to be someone who was a favorite of the fans, and luckily that turned out to be me.”[23]

Schoendienst went on to manage the Cardinals for 12 years, guiding the club to the World Series title in 1967 and another National League pennant in 1968.

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[1] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), Stranger to the Game, Penguin Books USA, Page 43.

[2] Jack Buck (2014), Jack Buck: That’s a Winner! Kindle Android version, Location 2066.

[3] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 460.

[4] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 460.

[5] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 460.

[6] Leo Durocher with Ed Linn (1975), Nice Guys Finish Last, University of Chicago Press, Page 344.

[7] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 461.

[8] Leo Durocher with Ed Linn (1975), Nice Guys Finish Last, University of Chicago Press, Page 345.

[9] Ed Wilks, “Busch Unsure on Keane,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 22, 1964.

[10] Ed Wilks, “Busch Unsure on Keane,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 22, 1964.

[11] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 461.

[12] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 468.

[13] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[14] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[15] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[16] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 468.

[17] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[18] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[19] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[20] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[21] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[22] Neal Russo, “Keane Quits As Manager Of Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 16, 1964.

[23] Red Schoendienst with Rob Rains (1998), Red: A Baseball Life, Sports Publishing, Champaign, Ill., Page 134.

The post Why Cardinals manager Johnny Keane quit one day after winning the World Series first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The previous winter, Devine inquired with Cubs general manager John Holland about Brock’s availability but was rebuffed. However, with the June 15 trading deadline looming, Devine called again, this time from Dodger Stadium, where the slumping Cardinals were suffering a three-game sweep. This time, Holland was amenable.

“When I called John Holland this time, he said, ‘If you’re still interested, we might have to move Brock,’” Devine recalled in 2012. “I said, ‘For what?’ He said, ‘We need a pitcher. You gave me a list of players when we talked before, and we’ll take a pitcher off that list. We’ll take Broglio.’”[1]

A 28-year-old right-hander, Broglio was in the sixth season of a productive major league career. In 1961, he led the National League with 21 wins, posting a 2.74 ERA to place third in the Cy Young Award voting. Just one year earlier, he won 18 games with a 2.99 ERA while pitching 250 innings.

So far in 1964, he was 3-5 with a 3.50 ERA in 11 starts. After the trade was made, the Chicago Tribune reported that Broglio had been unhappy in St. Louis.[2]

Meanwhile, Brock was in his third full season in the majors, and while his speed and power at the plate hinted at untapped potential, he had yet to develop the consistency the Cubs were looking for. He hit .263 with nine homers, 35 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases during his rookie year and followed that with a .258 average, nine homers, 37 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases in 1963.

At the time of the trade, he was hitting .251 with two homers, 14 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases.

On the team flight to Houston, Devine discussed the trade with manager Johnny Keane. Later, he would say that Keane’s support for Brock was the primary reason he made the trade.[3]

“He said, ‘What are we waiting for?’” Devine said. “Remember, there were no cell phones then. I told him, ‘I’ll call as soon as we land and I can get to a pay phone.’”[4]

Red Schoendienst remembered the discussion continuing in Houston. Devine and Keane called him into an office and asked for his opinion on Brock.

“I said, ‘I really haven’t seen him that much. He’s strong, the way he looks. I’ve watched him in batting practice, and he hits the ball hard. He’s got a good arm, but I don’t know how accurate it is, and you know he can run,’” Schoendienst later wrote.[5]

The conversation continued to Brock’s defense, which, to that point in his career, had been a question mark.

“I said, ‘Listen, he’s playing in Chicago,’” Schoendienst recalled. “‘When I broke in in the ’40s, Bill Nicholson was supposed to be a real good outfielder, and he had trouble at Wrigley. Right field is so hard to play there with that sun and that wind.’”[6]

At midday on June 15, the Cardinals and Cubs announced the six-player trade.

“We need outfield help and some hitting,” Keane said. “Brock adds youth, great running speed, and is an improving ballplayer.”[7]

Devine, who had often told the media that a team could never have too much pitching, admitted that trading Broglio was a risk.

“Fortunately, in the past, whenever we’ve given up a starting pitcher, we’ve come up with someone who helped us,” he said.[8]

In Chicago, Cubs manager Bob Kennedy was delighted by the trade.

“This gives us as good a pitching staff as there is in the league,” he said.[9]

The acquisition of Shantz also gave the Cubs a left-hander in the bullpen.

“We hate to lose Brock, and we think they’re getting a mighty good ballplayer, but when you get a chance to fortify yourself in two places, you’ve got to go for it,” Kennedy said. “Brock was the man they wanted, and we felt we ought to go with pitching. We think that’s about 90% of the game, so it’s a little bit of a gamble for both of us.”[10]

Brock had fallen out of favor with Kennedy for miscues in the field and on the basepaths, and for his struggles against left-handed pitching, the Chicago Tribune reported.[11]

The early reviews were heavily in favor of the Cubs.

“Thank you, thank you, oh, you lovely St. Louis Cardinals,” Bob Smith infamously wrote in the June 16 edition of the Chicago Daily News. “Nice doing business with you. Please call again anytime.”[12]

In St. Louis, Post-Dispatch sportswriter Neal Russo wrote, “The first question raised by many is: Why didn’t the Cardinals get more than Brock, a flashy outfielder who could become a star, for Broglio, an 18-game winner last season and still regarded as a top pitcher?”[13]

Bob Gibson, who later said that he believed Brock deserved the 1967 World Series MVP Award instead of him,[14] wasn’t initially sold on the trade.

“I frankly didn’t care for it,” he wrote in 2015. “In Brock’s few years with the Cubs, I hadn’t found it difficult to get him out, even though he was a left-handed hitter. He seemed tentative, and looked the same in the outfield.”[15]

It didn’t take long for Brock to change minds in St. Louis and elsewhere. Through the remainder of the regular season, he hit .348 with 12 homers, 44 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases. With Brock providing a spark at the top of the lineup, St. Louis went 65-39 the remainder of the season to win the National League pennant by one game over the Reds and Phillies. In the World Series, Brock hit .300 with a home run and five RBIs to help the Cardinals defeat the Yankees in seven games.

In the 1967 World Series against Boston, he hit .414 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, and seven stolen bases. He was somehow even better in the 1968 World Series, batting .464 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, five RBIs and seven stolen bases.

For his career, Brock hit .391 in the postseason with 14 stolen bases and a 1.079 OPS.

Eight times, Brock led the league in stolen bases, including 118 thefts in 1974. In August 1977, he broke Ty Cobb’s stolen base record, which was believed to be 892 at the time and was later changed to 897. Two years later, on August 13, 1979, Brock recorded his 3,000^th career hit. Following the season, he retired with a .293 career batting average, 3,023 hits, and 938 stolen bases. In 1985, he was a first-ballot Baseball Hall of Fame selection.

Spring pitched three innings for the Cardinals in 1964 and pitched for the Indians in 1965, his last year in the majors. Toth was immediately sent to the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville and was purchased by the Yankees the following January. He continued to pitch in the minor leagues through the 1967 season before retiring.

Broglio never regained his form as one of the league’s top pitchers. Battling arm troubles, he went 7-19 with a 5.40 ERA in 59 games for the Cubs, including 33 starts.

“When I was traded, my right arm was not in fine tune,” he said. “My elbow was really bothering me, and pitching in so many day games was not my piece of cake. In my opinion, the hitters see pitches better than they do at night.”[16]

Clemens played two seasons in Chicago, batting .238 with six homers and 38 RBIs before playing the final three seasons of his career with the Phillies. The 38-year-old Shantz allowed seven earned runs in 11 1/3 innings for the Cubs before he was sold to the Phillies in August. He pitched 32 innings for Philadelphia that season to close his 16-year major league career.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Bing Devine (2012), The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Kindle Android version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 88.

[2] Richard Dozer, “Cubs Trade Brock for Broglio,” Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1964.

[3] Bing Devine (2012), The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Kindle Android version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 124.

[4] Bing Devine (2012), The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Kindle Android version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 95.

[5] Bing Devine (2012), The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Kindle Android version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 1712.

[6] Bing Devine (2012), The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Kindle Android version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Location 1712.

[7] Neal Russo, “Cards Get Brock, Send Broglio to Cubs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1964.

[8] Neal Russo, “Cards Get Brock, Send Broglio to Cubs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1964.

[9] Richard Dozer, “Cubs Trade Brock for Broglio,” Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1964.

[10] Neal Russo, “Cards Get Brock, Send Broglio to Cubs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 15, 1964.

[11] Richard Dozer, “Cubs Trade Brock for Broglio,” Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1964.

[12] Alex Coffey, “Lou Brock Traded To Cardinals,” Baseball Hall of Fame, https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/inside-pitch/lou-brock-traded-to-cards, Accessed May 29, 2021.

[13] Neal Russo, “Brock Will Bat Second for Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 16, 1964.

[14] Bob Gibson (2015), Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game, Kindle Android Version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Page 30.

[15] Bob Gibson (2015), Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game, Kindle Android Version, Retrieved from Amazon.com, Page 30.

[16] Russell Lake, “Ernie Broglio,” Society for American Baseball Research Bio Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ernie-broglio/, Accessed May 29, 2021.

The post Cardinals trade Brock for Broglio: June 15, 1964 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I threw well in spring training, but my shoulder has been stiff since then,” Gibson said. “I had to warm up for 20 minutes to get loose one night, so I thought I’d try polishing the car.”[1]

Had the Cubs known what was coming, they may have paid someone to polish Gibson’s car for him.

Gibson, who had won 13, 15, and 18 games, respectively, in the preceding three seasons, started 1964 with a pair of complete-game victories, beating the Dodgers 6-2 and the Houston Astros 6-1. On May 9, he picked up his third win of the season, scattering eight hits and two walks in a 5-1 complete-game victory, but stumbled in his next outing, lasting just three innings as the Braves scored four runs on eight hits and three walks. Though the Cardinals went on to win 10-6, Gibson was determined to return to form.

With his shoulder suitably loosened, Gibson opened the game by striking out Cubs second baseman Jimmy Stewart. Right fielder Lou Brock, who would be traded to the Cardinals less than a month later, also went down on strikes. Billy Williams and Ron Santo each singled before Gibson ended the threat by striking out Ernie Banks.

In the second, Gibson struck out Andre Rodgers, Billy Cowan, and Dick Bertell to give him six strikeouts in just two innings.

“Hoot, you ought to advertise on poles the way Satchel Paige used to,” fellow Cardinals pitcher Lew Burdette told Gibson. “Paige used to advertise that he’d guarantee to strike out the first nine batters.”[2]

Gibson retired all three Cub hitters in the third inning on ground balls before Chicago threatened again in the fourth. After Gibson retired Williams on a fly ball, Santo singled up the middle and Banks reached on an infield single. Once again, Gibson escaped damage, striking out Rodgers looking and getting Cowan to line out to Ken Boyer at third base.

Gibson wouldn’t allow another runner to reach base the remainder of the game, as he retired the final 17 batters he faced. Holding a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning, he got Brock to ground out to first base and struck out Williams and Santo.

“I never saw anyone throw a breaking pitch that exploded like that one,” said Santo, who had two of the Cubs’ four hits against Gibson but also struck out twice.[3]

Santo was asked how Gibson’s fastball measured up against that of Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds.

“Maloney’s ball rises,” Santo replied. “Gibson’s ball goes this way, that way, up and down. Gibson is more deceptive and throws more easily than Maloney.”

Santo was then asked if Gibson’s fastball measured up to that of the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax.

“Yes, for certain periods, but Gibson throws his breaking stuff as hard as he does his fastball,” Santo said.

Gibson finished the game with 12 strikeouts. He allowed just four hits and lowered his ERA on the season to 2.17.

“Bob had great control, and he challenged the hitters all night,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said. “In the ninth, he went after Billy Williams and Santo as if he were saying, ‘Hurry up, I want to get this over and go home.’”

Cardinals shortstop Dick Groat said he could recall just one game in which Gibson threw as hard as he did against the Cubs that night, and it dated back to 1962, when Groat was on the Pirates. Gibson held him and his teammates to just three hits.

“We got two hits on sliders, one on a curve, none on his fastball,” Groat said. “I felt that for one given night, Gibson was the fastest pitcher I ever faced.”[4]

Chicago’s Larry Jackson, who pitched eight seasons and appeared in three All-Star Games for the Cardinals before being dealt to the Cubs after the 1962 season, kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard for seven innings. He pitched his 2,000^th major league inning in the sixth before finally allowing a run in the bottom of the eighth.

As Richard Dozer wrote in the Chicago Tribune, “The Cubs simply were up against another of the superior men of the major league pitching profession, and Jackson was a luckless but brilliant loser.”[5]

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Neal Russo, “Gibson Polishes Car, Then Cubs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 21, 1964.

[2] “Redbird Notes: Hoot Fans 6 in First 2 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 21, 1964.

[3] Russo.

[4] Russo.

[5] Richard Dozer, “Gibson Sets Down Cubs On 4 Hits, 1-0,” Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1964.

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