To recruit the catching prospect, the Yankees called upon no less an authority than Bill Dickey, the Hall of Fame catcher who won 11 World Series titles over a 17-year career. Dickey gave McCarver a brand-new mitt and offered to take him on a fishing trip to discuss the finer points of the position,[1] but the Yankees’ $60,000 bid ultimately fell short of the Cardinals’ $75,000 offer.[2]

Five years later, McCarver had the Yankees wishing they bid just a bit more, especially after his three-run, 10^th-inning homer put the Cardinals just one win away from the 1964 World Series title.

“That home run did much more than win a game for us,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said after the game. “It did a lot for the boy’s career. He’s only 23. That home run will bring his career ahead a couple of years. You could see that when he came into the dugout.”[3]

Led by third baseman Ken Boyer, pitching ace Bob Gibson, and the midseason acquisition of outfielder Lou Brock, the 1964 Cardinals surged late in the season to beat the Cincinnati Reds by a single game for the National League pennant. In the American League, the Yankees went 22-6 in September to surge from third place and win the pennant by a game over the White Sox.

Following two tight races for the American and National League pennants, it was fitting that the Cardinals and Yankees were deadlocked at two games apiece after Ken Boyer’s grand slam lifted the Redbirds to a 4-3 win in Game 4.

Game 5 matched Gibson against 22-year-old rookie Mel Stottlemyre. Gibson had battled flu symptoms and a sore throat for three days, and the night before, he hadn’t been able to sleep. He called trainer Bob Bauman to give him a sleeping pill at 2 a.m., but it didn’t “go too well,” and he wasn’t sure he had his good stuff.[4]

His pitches may have been better than he thought, however. Gibson and Stottlemyre maintained a scoreless tie until the Cardinals pushed two runs across in the fifth. Gibson started the rally himself with a single to left field before Curt Flood reached on an error by Bobby Richardson, the Yankees’ normally sure-handed second baseman. Brock singled to right field to score Gibson, and Flood made it 2-0 when Bill White grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Gibson, meanwhile, cruised through the Yankees’ lineup. His greatest danger had come in the second inning, when he issued a leadoff walk to Mickey Mantle and then hit Elston Howard with a pitch. Joe Pepitone hit a bouncer back to Gibson for the first out of the inning, and after he intentionally walked Tom Tresh, Gibson struck out Clete Boyer and Mel Stottlemyre to end the threat.

Seven innings later, however, Gibson couldn’t work around a misplayed ground ball that allowed Mantle to reach first with nobody out. Gibson struck out Howard, then Pepitone lined a pitch off Gibson’s hip. Gibson reacted quickly, pouncing on the ball near the third-base line and firing a strike to White to catch the fleet-footed Pepitone at first base.

“Gibson is the only pitcher I know who can make that play,” Keane said.

For his part, Pepitone wasn’t convinced.

“I want to see those pictures,” he said. “My foot hit the base, and then I heard the ball hit White’s glove. I couldn’t believe it when the umpire called me out.”[5]

With the Yankees down to their final out, Gibson’s athletic play seemed to have all but clinched the game, but Tresh homered to right field to tie the score.

“Sometimes a situation arises, after a controversial play or something like what happened to Gibson, that breaks a pitcher’s concentration,” Tresh said. “Then I look for a chance to swing at the next pitch. I figure three swings are better than two. It was a real good fastball and I was lucky to be swinging in the same zone.”[6]

If Gibson hadn’t been able to throw out Pepitone one batter earlier, the game would be over, and the Yankees would be one win away from winning the series. Instead, the two teams went to extra innings.

“Don’t worry,” Gibson told his teammates when he returned to the dugout. “We’ve been a scrapping team all year, and we can scrap back again.”[7]

Yankees reliever Pete Mikkelsen walked White to start the 10^th. Boyer, who had won the game one day earlier with a grand slam, reached on a bunt single.

“I can’t remember going through with a bunt since 1961,” he said.[8]

“I decided on the Boyer bunt at the last moment,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said. “After all, Ken hasn’t practiced it much. If he didn’t bunt on the first chance, we were switching to the hit sign.”

Keeping up the pressure, Cardinals shortstop Dick Groat attempted a bunt of his own, but he had to pull the bat back on a pitch outside the strike zone. That left White ranging off the base, but as Howard attempted to pick him off at second, White advanced to third.

After Groat hit into a fielder’s choice, Keane considered calling for yet another bunt – this time from McCarver.

“I considered a squeeze for Tim, but I was afraid of a pitchout,” he said. “Howard kept looking at me all day.”[9]

After McCarver worked the count full, Mikkelsen threw a fastball over the heart of the plate. The lefty swinger, who only hit nine homers during the regular season, pulled it over the right-field wall.

“I should have been extra careful,” Mikkelsen said. “If I walk him, it loads the bases, but no one scores. I’m a sinkerball pitcher, and that one was up too high, but you’ve got to give that guy credit.”[10]

“I was just trying to meet the ball, to get the guy in from third base,” McCarver said. “I didn’t think the ball would carry to the bullpen in right field. I was happy when I got to first base because I knew the run was in, but I was dazed when I saw the ball go out. By the time I got to third, I was laughing out loud. I’m always laughing, you know, even when I’m sad. The way I feel now, I’ll never be sad again.”[11]

Of course, before McCarver could celebrate, Gibson and the Cardinals had to hold off the Yankees. Gibson struck out pinch-hitter Mike Hegan, then got Phil Linze to fly out. Richardson kept the Yankees’ hopes alive with a single to center that brought slugger Roger Maris to the plate, but Gibson got him to pop the ball up, and Boyer reached into the grandstand to make the catch for the final out.

Gibson finished the game with 13 strikeouts, the third-highest total in World Series history. His 12 strikeouts through nine innings matched Mort Cooper’s Cardinals World Series mark set when he fanned 12 Browns in 1944. Both of the Yankees’ runs against Gibson were unearned.

“They were swinging at a lot of high pitches, Elston Howard twice,” Gibson said. “The Yankees don’t normally swing at those.”

When the Cardinals returned to St. Louis that evening with a 3-2 lead in the series, they were greeted by a crowd of 10,000 Cardinals fans who chanted, “Timmy, Timmy, Timmy.”[12]

The Yankees evened the series two days later with an 8-3 win, but with Gibson and Stottlemyre squaring off once more, the Cardinals won Game 7 for the seventh World Series championship in franchise history.

McCarver finished the series with a team-leading 11 hits in 23 at-bats for a .478 average and a .552 on-base percentage. His 21-year career included 12 seasons with the Cardinals and nine with the Phillies. In addition to the 1964 championship, McCarver played for the Cardinals’ 1967 championship team and the 1968 National League pennant winners.  

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[1] Neal Russo, “Tim, Who Got Away, Puts Yanks On Hook,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[2] Tim McCarver with Ray Robinson (1987), Oh, Baby, I Love It! Baseball Summers, Hot Pennant Races, Grand Salamis, Jellylegs, El Swervos, Dingers and Dunkers, Etc., Etc., Etc., Villard Books, New York, Page 11.

[3] Jim McCulley, “Big Hit in 10^th Put McCarver On the BB Map,” New York Daily News, October 13, 1964.

[4] Ed Wilks, “Gibson Took Pill, Threw Aspirins,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[5] Ed Wilks, “Berra Is Still Chasing Birds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[6] Ed Wilks, “Berra Is Still Chasing Birds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[7] Neal Russo, “Tim, Who Got Away, Puts Yanks On Hook,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[8] Neal Russo, “Tim, Who Got Away, Puts Yanks On Hook,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[9] Neal Russo, “Tim, Who Got Away, Puts Yanks On Hook,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[10] Ed Wilks, “Berra Is Still Chasing Birds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[11] Neal Russo, “Tim, Who Got Away, Puts Yanks On Hook,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

[12] “Cards Tell Crowd They’ll Win Series,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1964.

The post How Tim McCarver won Game 5 of the 1964 World Series first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Knowing that Game 7 would match Cardinals ace Bob Gibson against Red Sox ace Jim Lonborg, Boston first baseman George Scott predicted that Gibson wouldn’t “survive five” innings.[1] Earlier in the series, the Red Sox had offered the Boston press other indications that they didn’t think much of their National League foes.

“What did they say?” Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver asked. “Well, (Boston manager Dick Williams) said Bob Gibson was the only pitcher on our club. And over his column yesterday, the paper had the headline: ‘Lonborg and Champagne.’ That was supposed to be Williams’ pitching ‘rotation.’ And (Carl Yastrzemski) was saying, ‘We’ll win it in six,’ and ‘I’ll hit the fence.’”[2]

Heading into Game 7, Boston’s hospitality industry seemed to annoy Gibson more than the Red Sox did. It didn’t help that the team hotel’s air conditioning hadn’t been turned on during the Cardinals’ stay.[3] When Gibson, McCarver, Dal Maxvill, and their wives went downstairs for breakfast, everyone received their food except for Gibson. After 45 minutes and several complaints, Gibson finally received a piece of burnt toast. When Gibson asked the waitress to take it away, she replied, “We’ll take you away.”[4]

With no breakfast coming, Gibson was forced to get on the team bus with an empty stomach. When St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg learned of Gibson’s situation, he hopped off the bus at a red light and caught a cab to a local diner, where he purchased two ham-and-cheese sandwiches. He then brought them to the clubhouse, where Gibson ate one and saved the other for later.[5]

Gibson had been dominant through his first two appearances in the series, striking out 10 batters while allowing just one run in a 2-1 victory in Game 1. In Game 4, Gibson threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just five Boston hits while striking out six.

The Red Sox, however, won the fifth game 3-1, then returned home to Fenway Park to pick up an 8-4 win in Game 6. That forced the decisive seventh game and the match-up between Lonborg, who had won Games 2 and 5, against Gibson.

The Cardinals struck first in the top of the third when Maxvill led off with a triple to center field.

“I was just hoping it was going to go over (Red Sox center fielder Reggie Smith’s) head,” Maxvill said. “When I saw it hit the wall, I was on my way to second base and I told myself, ‘We better get to running.’”[6]

Lonborg appeared primed to escape the jam unscathed when he got Gibson to line out to third base and Lou Brock flied out to shortstop. With two outs, however, Curt Flood singled up the middle to score Maxvill. Roger Maris’s second single of the game advanced Flood to third base, and when Lonborg threw a wild pitch that got past catcher Elston Howard, Flood scampered home to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals used a mix of power and speed to add two more runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Gibson helped his own cause when he homered for his first hit of the series. Lou Brock followed with a single to left field, then stole second and third before Maris lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 4-0.

Brock’s two stolen bases gave him six for the World Series. When he added another in the ninth, it broke the old record set 58 years earlier. His eight runs scored in the series tied the record held by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.[7]

“The only thing he might go back to Boston for is some of those wonderful lobsters,” Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said. “He’s stolen everything else in Boston.”[8]

The Red Sox got on the scoreboard in their next at-bat when Scott led off with a triple and scored on a throwing error by Julian Javier, who attempted to catch Scott at third base.

“Scott hit a pretty good pitch, I thought,” Gibson said. “It was down and away. When he hit it, though, I thought it was gone.”[9]

The Cardinals answered with three runs in the top of the sixth. McCarver led off the inning with a double to right field before Mike Shannon smashed a hard-hit ground ball that glanced off Red Sox third baseman Joe Foy. With runners on first and second, Javier broke the game open with a three-run homer over the left-field wall.

With a 7-1 lead, the rest of the game belonged to Gibson. He worked around a leadoff walk to Yastrzemski in the seventh before the Red Sox scored their second run of the game on a ground ball in the eighth.

Yastrzemski led off the ninth inning with a single to right field, but he was erased from the base paths when Ken Harrelson hit into a 6-4-3 double play. When Scott, who had predicted that Gibson wouldn’t last five innings, struck out to end the game, the Cardinals were World Series champions for the eighth time in franchise history.

The top three hitters in the Cardinals’ lineup each reached base three times, as Brock singled, doubled, and walked; Flood singled and walked twice; and Maris singled twice and walked. Javier’s three-run home run was one of two hits for the second baseman on the day.

Maris’s seven RBIs for the series set a new record for the Cardinals, topping the previous franchise high of six that had been set by Les Bell in 1926, Jack Rothrock in 1934, Harry Walker in 1946, and Ken Boyer in 1964.[10] As his teammates doused one another in champagne after the win, Maris sipped from a can of beer and watched the others celebrate.

“I’m not a champagne guy,” he explained. “Sure, I’m happy, but my thrill is just watching these other guys be happy. That’s my thrill. I’m all tied up inside, but I don’t show emotion. I’ve always been that way.”[11]

Gibson’s win was his third of the series, making him just the seventh pitcher in major-league history to go 3-0 in a World Series.[12] Pitching on three days’ rest, he held the Red Sox to just three hits and three walks while striking out 10.

For the series, he allowed just three earned runs over 27 innings for a 1.00 ERA while striking out 26. With just 14 hits allowed over that span, he tied Christy Mathewson for the lowest hit total in three successive World Series games, matching a mark that was set 62 years earlier in 1905.[13]

“Too much Gibson and Brock,” Williams said to explain Boston’s defeat.[14]

Incredibly, less than three months earlier, Gibson’s leg had been broken by a line drive off the bat of Roberto Clemente.

“That’s really something, winning three World Series games with a broken leg,” Flood said. “Don’t let anyone kid you. The leg is still bothering Gibby. He had to take some medicine several times each game to kill the pain. It’s some kind of big-league aspirin.”[15]

After the game, the first reporter in the clubhouse asked Gibson how his arm felt.

“I wish I could take it off and hang it up somewhere,” Gibson replied.[16]

“Listen, Gibson’s got some kind of vicious desire, hasn’t he?” McCarver said. “Tenacious. That’s what he is. Tenacious. He pitches on guts. You can see it. He challenges anybody. Hell, he’d challenge Michael the Archangel if he had to.”[17]

Pitching on two days’ rest, Lonborg took the loss after allowing six earned runs on 10 hits and a walk. He lasted six innings before four Red Sox relievers combined to throw the final three innings.

“Lonborg is eating ice cream now,” Brock said. “The only way Lonborg gets champagne is to order it himself.”[18]

“The Red Sox spent half their time popping off,” Flood said. “They would have spent that time better by taking extra batting practice. Now it’s our turn to pop off.”[19]

Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player.

[1] Ed Wilks, “Red Sox Columnists ‘Woke Up’ Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[2] Ed Wilks, “Red Sox Columnists ‘Woke Up’ Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[3] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), “Stranger to the Game,” New York; Penguin Books USA, 146.

[4] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), “Stranger to the Game,” New York; Penguin Books USA, 146.

[5] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), “Stranger to the Game,” New York; Penguin Books USA, 146.

[6] Ed Wilks, “Red Sox Columnists ‘Woke Up’ Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[7] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[8] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[9] Ed Wilks, “Tim Hails ‘Vicious Desire’ by Hoot,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[10] Neal Russo, “7^th Theft Puts Lou in Book,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[11] Neal Russo, “7^th Theft Puts Lou in Book,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[12] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[13] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[14] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[15] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[16] Ed Wilks, “Tim Hails ‘Vicious Desire’ by Hoot,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[17] Ed Wilks, “Tim Hails ‘Vicious Desire’ by Hoot,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[18] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

[19] Neal Russo, “Gibson and Brock: 2 for the Whole Show,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967.

The post Bob Gibson pitches St. Louis past Boston in Game 7 of the 1967 World Series first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The Cardinals entered their July 15 game against the Pirates with a 51-33 record and a four-game lead over the second-place Cubs. Earlier that month, Gibson had earned his 10^th win of the season, and he entered the contest with a 3.54 ERA. In his previous start, he had thrown 9 2/3 innings against the Phillies, striking out eight in a no-decision.

Despite Roberto Clemente’s powerful presence in the middle of their lineup, the Pirates were just 41-40, 8 ½ games behind the Cardinals for sixth place. Manager Harry Walker, a former Cardinals star, held a 45-minute meeting at the Pirates’ team hotel before the game to discuss misplays on the field and missed curfews off it.[1] Despite his efforts to rally the troops, the Pirates’ 6-4 win over the Cardinals was the last of Walker’s tenure in Pittsburgh, and he was replaced by Danny Murtaugh just a few days later.

The game opened well enough for Gibson as he retired the first six batters he faced. Roger Maris hit an RBI triple in the first inning that scored Lou Brock for the game’s first run. In the third, Gibson walked the first two batters he faced before escaping the jam with a ground ball and two consecutive pop flies.

The fourth inning, however, proved to be his final inning for almost eight weeks.

Though Gibson and Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver usually were on the same page, on this occasion they differed in how to attack Clemente to lead off the fourth. McCarver first called for a fastball, then a curve, but Gibson shook him off each time.[2]

Instead, Gibson wanted to throw his best pitch, his slider. The idea was for the pitch to start out over the middle of the plate and then dart outside, but on this occasion Gibson’s slider hung out over the middle of the plate. Clemente smacked the ball back up the middle and struck Gibson’s right shin. The Cardinals’ ace fell to the ground as the ball rolled to Eddie Bressoud at shortstop and Clemente arrived safely at first base.

“I’m fine,” Gibson told Cardinals trainer Bob Bauman when he came out to check on him.[3]

Nonetheless, Bauman could see a dent in Gibson’s leg shaped suspiciously like a baseball. Dutifully, Bauman sprayed Gibson’s leg with ethyl chloride, a cooling substance used for the temporary relief of minor injuries.

“I hate to tell you, Doc, but you’re spraying in the wrong place,” Gibson said.[4]

That was when Bauman showed him the dent in his leg.

“It was odd that I couldn’t feel where I had been struck, but since I couldn’t feel it, I wasn’t particularly worried,” Gibson wrote in his autobiography, Stranger to the Game. “I told Doc to put a little tape on it and let me get back to work.”[5]

Gibson walked the next batter, Willie Stargell, before getting Bill Mazeroski to fly out to Curt Flood in center field. Gibson had a full count on Donn Clendenon when he attempted to put a little extra effort into the pitch.

For the second time that inning, he collapsed. This time, his fibula had snapped completely, 3 ½ inches above his right ankle.[6]

As Gibson explained decades later: “Initially, the bone had been fractured but not separated. It was only when I came down on it so hard – my motion concentrated a lot of weight and spinning momentum on my right leg – that it broke cleanly in two. If that hadn’t happened, I might have continued the season uninterrupted.”[7]

Unfortunately, the Cardinals were forced to continue without him. Manager Red Schoendienst called upon Al Jackson, a 31-year-old lefthander from Waco, Texas, to pitch the next 3 1/3 innings. Gene Alley greeted Jackson with a sacrifice fly that scored Clemente, and Clendenon added an RBI single two innings later.

In the bottom of the sixth, Orlando Cepeda hit a two-run shot off Dennis Ribant to give the Cardinals a brief 3-2 lead, but Clemente and Stargell answered with RBI singles in the seventh.

Cardinals pinch-hitter Alex Johnson hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to tie the score, but the Pirates continued to chip away at the Cardinals’ bullpen. Pittsburgh’s Jose Pagan pushed the go-ahead run across in the eighth, and Mazeroski added an RBI single in the top of the ninth to give the Pirates a 6-4 win.

With three hits on the day, Clemente upped his average to .353, pulling even closer to Cepeda, whose .355 clip led the league.

Juan Pizarro earned the win for the Pirates in 2/3 of an inning of relief, while Nelson Briles took the loss for the Cardinals.

Everyone’s attention, however, was focused on how Gibson’s absence would impact the Redbirds’ championship hopes. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that “the Cardinals’ run at the head of the National League pennant race was dealt possibly a crippling blow,” and described a postgame scene in which, “Mike Shannon, slouched in a chair, looked forlornly at the figure who sat in front of a locker on pitchers’ row. Tim McCarver, drawing on a T-shirt, gave a long glance in that direction too.”[8]

“What’s it mean?” Shannon asked in response to a reporter’s question. “It means the monkey’s on somebody’s back now. Somebody has to pick us up. We’ve lost him for six weeks. What’s that – eight or 10 starts? You know he wins six of those starts. Even if he’s going bad, he wins five of them.”[9]

Gibson ended up missing almost eight weeks due to the injury. After the loss to the Pirates dropped them to 51-34, the Cardinals went 36-19 in Gibson’s absence. St. Louis won 11 of 12 games from July 25 through August 6, then reeled off eight consecutive wins from August 11 through August 19. Incredibly, the Cardinals actually extended their National League lead from four games to 11 ½.

Gibson’s return only helped the cause. In his first game back, he allowed two runs over five innings, earning the win in a 9-2 decision against the Mets.

“I was feeling my way at first, but then I said, ‘To heck with it,’ and cut loose,” Gibson said.[10]

He won his next two starts as well, improving to 13-6 on the season before taking a tough-luck loss against the Braves (he allowed one earned run over eight innings). In his regular-season finale, he pitched nine innings without allowing an earned run.

“I was never surprised at anything Bob did, but coming back from a broken leg in the way that he did and the time that he did it, I don’t think that will ever happen again,” McCarver said.[11]

The Cardinals finished the regular season 10 ½ games ahead of the Giants and 14 games ahead of the Cubs for the National League pennant.

Gibson earned World Series MVP honors in the Fall Classic, going 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 27 innings. After going the distance to win Games 1 and 4, Gibson pitched all nine innings in the decisive seventh game, striking out 10 Red Sox in a 7-2 Cardinals win.

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

[1] Lester J. Biederman, “Walker, Bucs Hold Another Meeting,” Pittsburgh Press, July 16, 1967.

[2] Sridhar Pappu (2017), The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age, New York: First Mariner Books, Page 93.

[3] Sridhar Pappu (2017), The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age, New York: First Mariner Books, Page 93.

[4] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), Stranger to the Game, New York: Penguin Books USA, 135.

[5] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), Stranger to the Game, New York: Penguin Books USA, 135.

[6] Ed Wilks, “Gibson Suffers Broken Leg as Cards Lose,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 1967.

[7] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), Stranger to the Game, New York: Penguin Books USA, Page 136.

[8] Ed Wilks, “Gibson Suffers Broken Leg as Cards Lose,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 1967.

[9] Ed Wilks, “Gibson Suffers Broken Leg as Cards Lose,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 16, 1967.

[10] Neal Russo, “Gibby Makes Winning Return,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 8, 1967.

[11] Sridhar Pappu (2017), The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age, New York: First Mariner Books, Page 96.

The post Bob Gibson pitches with a broken leg: July 15, 1967 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Bill White hit three home runs and a double and Bob Gibson threw a complete-game four-hitter to lead the Cardinals to the win. The following day, the Cardinals called an 11 a.m. press conference to announce that they were replacing Hemus with Johnny Keane.

The Cardinals entered the game with losses in three of their previous four games. At 32-41, they were in sixth place in the National League, 14 ½ games behind the first-place Reds.

Gibson, the Cardinals’ starter, had not yet made a name for himself as a big-league pitcher. He entered the game with a 5-5 record and 3.34 ERA and was coming off a disappointing loss to the Braves in which he allowed seven runs – four earned – in 4 1/3 innings. His career mark was just 11-16.

Nonetheless, the former Harlem Globetrotter had shown flashes of his superior athleticism and competitive fire. In the second inning, he demonstrated both qualities with a two-run home run off Dodgers starter Johnny Podres. It was the first of 24 home runs Gibson hit over the course of his career.

White, who would hit 202 homers over the course of his 13-year major-league career, launched his first shot of the game to lead off the third inning. The Dodgers scored their lone run in the bottom half of the inning when Maury Wills and Ron Fairly each singled and Willie Davis grounded out to score Mills.

In the fourth, White extended the Cardinals’ lead to 5-1 when he hit a two-run homer off Dodgers reliever Roger Craig. St. Louis maintained its four-run lead until the seventh, when Ken Boyer scored on a ground ball off the bat of Jimmie Schaffer and Carl Warwick added a two-run single that made the score 8-1.

In the eighth, White faced his third pitcher of the day in reliever Jim Golden. It didn’t make a difference. For the third time that day, White homered to right field to make the final score 9-1. In the ninth, White added a double for his fourth extra-base hit of the day.

“I wasn’t thinking so much about (another home run) as the fact that the first pitch might come pretty close to me,” White said. “Then, when I did hit the ball, it looked for a second or two like it might hook in there for another homer.”[1]

Gibson retired the final 10 batters he faced in a complete-game effort. He held the Dodgers to just four hits as he walked three and struck out five.

Hemus gets fired

Despite the lopsided win, Hemus’s fate already had been determined. Owner August A. Busch Jr. had made the call, and general manager Bing Devine had arrived in Los Angeles that day to make the announcement at 11 a.m. the following day.[2] In three seasons as the Cardinals’ manager, Hemus had compiled a 190-192 record.

Johnny Keane, whose coaching career began in the Cardinals’ organization in 1938, was named the team’s new manager. Keane had spent a decade as the manager of the Cardinals’ Triple-A club before he was promoted to the majors as the Cardinals’ third-base coach in 1959.

Hemus and Keane were both at the press conference announcing the managerial change, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg noted the coolness between the two men. After initially refusing to discuss his relationship with Keane, Hemus said he had no comment when he was asked directly whether Keane may have undermined him.[3]

For his part, Keane said he had been frustrated by Hemus’s reluctance to utilize his baseball knowledge.

“I did the only thing I could do then – my job and no more,” Keane said.[4]

Cardinals thrive with Hemus gone

Many of the Cardinals who would play a key role in the team’s 1960s championships – including White, Gibson, and Curt Flood – were ready for the change. In 1959, Hemus famously lost the team after an incident in which Pittsburgh pitcher Bennie Daniels hit him with a pitch and Hemus allegedly called Daniels a “black son of a bitch”[5] or a “black bastard.”[6] Hemus also created friction when he began to limit Stan Musial’s playing time, believing that Musial’s days as an effective big leaguer were done.[7] Musial went on to bat .330 and place 10^th in the NL MVP voting in 1962.

Gibson thrived once Hemus was replaced by Keane. As he recalled in Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game: “I’d been unpolished when I arrived in St. Louis in 1959, and that might be an understatement – I led the league in walks in ’61, my first year in the rotation – but my pitching skills weren’t as hopeless as Hemus would have had me think. He held them in such contempt that, when he went over an opposing team’s scouting report with the pitching staff, he’d pause and tell me not to worry about all that stuff, just try to throw some strikes. Maybe that’s why I felt as I did about scouting reports. And Solly Hemus.”[8]

Catcher Tim McCarver was witness to the interactions between Hemus and Gibson.

“He said Gibby’d never make it as a big-league pitcher,” McCarver said. “‘Hell,’ he’d mumble, ‘the guy throws everything the same speed.’ Maybe he did, but that speed was about a thousand miles an hour and it nearly tore up my hand every time I caught him.”[9]

Hemus had similar doubts regarding Flood’s abilities.

“Hemus did not share the rather widely held belief that I played center field approximately as well as Willie Mays,” Flood said. “He sat me on the bench, preferring to use men such as Gino Cimoli, Don Taussig, Don Landrum, and even poor Bill White, who unquestionably was the best first baseman in the league but was its most miscast outfielder. Hemus acted as if I smelled bad. He avoided my presence, and when he could not do that, he avoided my eyes.”[10]

Though White had proven himself to be an above-average first baseman, Hemus used him in the outfield in 92 games in 1959, instead opting to use Musial at first base. In 1960, White won the first of seven consecutive Gold Glove awards at first base.

Keane managed the 1961 Cardinals to a 47-33 record the rest of the season to finish fifth in the National League, all the while building up the confidence of future franchise cornerstones such as Gibson and Flood. After leading the Cardinals to 84 wins in 1962 and 93 wins in 1963, Keane reached the pinnacle, guiding St. Louis all the way to the 1964 World Series championship. The feat would not have been possible without Gibson’s 19 regular-season wins, White’s 21 homers and 102 RBIs, and Flood’s .311 batting average and 97 runs scored.

After the season, knowing that Busch had interviewed Leo Durocher for his job prior to the Cardinals’ late-season surge, Keane surprised everyone by announcing at a press conference that he would not be returning to St. Louis for the 1965 season. A few days later, the Yankees announced that they had hired him to replace Yogi Berra.

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[1] Al Wolf, “‘Roomies’ Team Up to Wreck Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1961.

[2] Bob Broeg, “Cards Fire Hemus; St. Louisan Keane New Manager,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 6, 1961.

[3] Bob Broeg, “Cards Fire Hemus; St. Louisan Keane New Manager,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 6, 1961.

[4] Bob Broeg, “Cards Fire Hemus; St. Louisan Keane New Manager,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 6, 1961.

[5] Sridhar Pappu (2018), “Year of the Pitcher,” New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Page 44.

[6] Bill White (2011), “Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play,” New York: Grand Central Publishing, Page 65.

[7] Paul Golenbock (2000), “The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns,” New York: Harper Collins eBooks, Page 433.

[8] Bob Gibson with Lonnie Wheeler (2015), “Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game,” New York: Flatiron Books, Page 9.

[9] Paul Golenbock (2000), “The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns,” New York: Harper Collins eBooks, Page 433.

[10] Paul Golenbock (2000), “The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns,” New York: Harper Collins eBooks, Page 433.

The post Why Solly Hemus was fired as Cardinals manager first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I hadn’t worn it at all on this trip, so I figured I might break our bad luck if I put it on,” he said on the team’s bus ride to Colt Stadium. “(Cardinals publicity director) Jim Toomey said he was going to have the coat sewed on me if we won.”[1]

Boyer, who was hitless in his last eight games, had run into a string of mild health issues, including a cold suffered earlier on the Cardinals’ road trip and a back strain caused when he swung at a Juan Marichal pitch in San Francisco.^[2]

Whether it was the addition of Brock to the starting lineup or Boyer’s lucky jacket, the Cardinals turned their fortunes and made a little history. During their 7-1 win, Boyer hit for the natural cycle and Brock reached base four times in his first game in the St. Louis starting lineup.

The Cardinals entered their contest with the Astros on a five-game losing streak and were just 3-11 in the month of June. For the season, they held a 28-31 record, good for eighth place in the 10-team National League. The Astros sat just half a game behind the Redbirds at 28-32, ahead of only the 19-40 Mets.

Curt Simmons took the mound for the Cardinals after missing his last start due to “sacroiliac problems.”[3] In opposition, the Astros started Bob Bruce, a right-hander from New York who was destined to enjoy the best season of his career with 15 wins in 1964. On this day, however, he faced a Cardinals offense that was finally waking from its early-season slumber.

Brock drew a first-inning walk but was doubled up on a line drive off the bat of Bill White. An inning later, Boyer began his pursuit of the cycle with an infield single.

In the third, the Cardinals broke the scoreless tie as White hit an RBI single and Boyer added an RBI double.

In the fifth inning, the Cardinals broke the game open. Brock singled and scored on a triple by Boyer. Houston replaced Bruce with Don Larsen, who allowed Boyer to score on an error and gave up an RBI single to Tim McCarver to make the score 5-0.

Already having singled, doubled, and tripled, Boyer stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh needing a home run to complete the cycle. He met the challenge, homering over the left-field wall to make the score 6-0.

Rusty Staub homered in the Houston half of the seventh to get the Colt .45s on the scoreboard, but that would prove to be all the offense they would manage against Simmons. In a complete-game effort, the Cardinals starter allowed one run on just four hits and a walk, striking out four. With his first win in a month, Simmons improved to 7-5 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.04.

The 35-year-old Simmons finished the season with 18 wins. He also pitched in two games against the Yankees in the World Series. He allowed four earned runs in 14 1/3 innings, the only postseason games of his career.

The Cardinals added an insurance run in the eighth after Javier led off with a single. With Simmons at the plate, Javier stole second, then stole third and scored on a throwing error.

Boyer finished the day with three RBIs to go with his cycle. Javier added three hits, and Brock went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.

“There was a lot of traffic out there,” third base coach Vern Benson said. “When was the last time one of our outfielders other than Flood got on base four times?”[4]

Benson also noted that Brock stumbled around second base, but still arrived at third base in plenty of time on his sixth-inning triple to left field. Coach Joe Schultz said that “Brock outran the ball.”[5]

“You’ll see Brock run better in St. Louis, where the ground is harder,” Schultz said. “I had the clock on him in the last two series with the Cubs when he was with them. He consistently ran to first base in 3.8 seconds, once in 3.75. That’s extremely fast. Javier makes it in close to 4 seconds.”[6]

Pitcher Glen Hobbie noted that the addition of Brock changed the Cardinals’ lineup, with Flood and Brock setting the stage for the team’s RBI men, White and Boyer.

“Pitchers have to work on Flood and Brock all the harder because they don’t want either of them on base with White and Boyer coming up,” he said. “Brock has a lot of power, too.”[7]

The victory kicked off a four-game win streak for the Cardinals, who slowly but surely climbed the National League ranks. In seventh place at the end of June, they climbed to fourth by the end of August and moved into a tie for first on Sept. 29. They wound up edging the Cincinnati Reds by a single game with a 93-69 record.

The Cardinals and Yankees then embarked on a legendary seven-game series in which Bob Gibson won games 5 and 7 to earn World Series MVP honors and capture the Cardinals’ seventh world championship.

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

[1] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

[2] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

[3] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

[4] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

[5] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

[6] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

[7] Neal Russo, “Birds and B’s Brake Skid,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 17, 1964.

The post Ken Boyer hits for the cycle, Lou Brock makes first Cardinals start: 6/16/1964 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.