Wednesday, September 17, 2014

World Series: Did You Know?

Lou Brock was not on the Cardinals when the 1964 season started.

St. Louis looked to have little hope of making it to the Fall Classic that year as they were on a five-game losing streak in early June. Something changed for the better on June 15th, the day they lost 9-3 to Houston (Houston Colts, btw!). They traded Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens and Bobby Shantz to Chicago for Lou Brock.

We have the advantage of hindsight in knowing this ended up being a steal for St. Louis. Brock stole many-a-base, right? But at the time Broglio had been pretty good. He won a league-leading 21 games for St. Louis in 1960 and posted an ERA of 2.74 ERA. After going just 9-12 the next season, Ernie turned it around. He was 12-9 in 19621, but his ERA was 3.00. The next year, he brought the ERA down under 3 at 2.99 and went 18-8.

So the guy is 21-9 for a W% of .700 and then three years later he's 18-8 for a .692 W%. Also, remember, in those years, Bob Gibson was sort of in Sandy Koufax's boat: he was getting there, but not quite there, yet!

Gibson went 3-5 as a rookie in 1959 and then was 3-6 in 1960. '61 saw the right-hander go 13-12 with an ERA of 3.24. The next year, Gibby was 15-13 with a 2.85 ERA. Finally, in 1963, he matched Broglio with 18 wins. His ERA was forty points higher, however. 3.39.

Broglio was struggling in 1964 for St. Louis, though. Despite a fine ERA at 3.50, his W-L record was just 3-5. So St. Louis decided to unload him for the speedster. He and Clemens (not Roger Clemens, remember) did little the rest of way in 1964. And then they both did even less the rest of their careers.

Shantz ended up joining the Phillies, who the Cardinals had to later catch to win the flag. All Bobby did was go 1-1 with Philly, post a 2.25 ERA in 14 games (32 IP), and end up winning his eighth straight gold glove award. He retired after 1964.

So Brock was out to make it a steal. Well, he ended up stealing 43 bases in 1964, which did not lead the league. But his 18 times caught stealing did lead the league.

So how did our boy do in the Fall Classic that year? He ended up hitting .300. But he did have some games where you didn't notice him.

However, in game one, New York sure took notice of the fleet-footed leftfielder. The Yankees watched helplessly as Brock scored the first run of the game, and later collected two RBIs to help power the Cardinals to a 9-5 win. But he also had to watch helplessly as Tom Tresh smacked a two-run home run over his head. That longball erased the 1-0 Cardinal lead Brock had provided by touching home in the bottom of the first.

Brock knocked in another run in game two, but it was too late. The Yankees had scored four times against the great Bob Gibson and by the time Brock did the trick, it was the eighth inning and Gibby had been removed for a pinch hitter. Brock's RBI made it a little closer, 4-2, New York. The top of the ninth saw Phil Linz blast a solo home run over Brock's head to restore the three-run bulge. The Bronx Bombers really went away after that and won, 8-3. It was on the Bronx for games three, four and five.

Brock did nothing in game three, and his 0-4 performance brought his batting average to .154. Worse, still, St. Louis lost the game 2-1, and also trailed 2-1 in the series.

Brock had another frustrating game in the fourth tilt. St. Louis had to rally from 3-0 down to win the game 4-3. But Brock went 0-4 and fanned against Ralph Terry in the top of the eighth. St. Louis had tied the Fall Classic, but they needed Lou to do the trick if they were going to pull this thing out!

In game five, Brock did deliver. His single in the top of the fifth scored Bob Gibson. Then, he singled in the top of the seventh. That's as far as he got, however. St. Louis needed ten innings to win this game, 5-2. It was back to Busch Stadium for game six.

There, Brock and his mates looked to settle this thing once and for all. But New York, which had given St. Louis all they could handle from the get-go of this series, erupted for another 8-3 win. Brock did go 3-4, raising his average up to .269. But, get this, none of his hits got him an RBI. And, he failed to touch home!

So in game seven, he smacked a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. St. Louis was up 6-0 by the end of that frame. Mickey Mantle's three-run home run in the top of the sixth soared over Brock's head in left, and cut the lead in half.

Ken Boyer went yard himself as St. Louis had some breathing room again in the bottom of the seventh, 7-3. St. Louis then got runners to second and third with only one in the next inning, as Bob Gibson held the fort. Any more offence did not seem necessary. A fielder's choice by Gibson and a lineout by Curt Flood meant that Brock did not get to bat that inning. Even so, it was 7-3 St. Louis still!

But Ken Boyer's younger brother Clete went yard over Brock's head in left in the ninth. The Yankees were back to within three runs, but down to their last two outs. When Gibson fanned pinch hitter Johnny Blanchard, the Cards seemed safe. But then Phil Linz hit a ball to left that Brock looked like he'd have a chance on. A leap at the last minute...and the ball went over his glove and into the stands. That home run made it a 7-5 game. Gibson retired Bobby Richardson to end that. It had been seven long, tough, games. But it was in the Cards for St. Louis to win.

Lou Brock had started the 1964 season on a team that had never won the World Series since 1908 (and still haven't). He ended up on the team that had won it more than any other National League team. And while this performance was not quite MVP worthy (Bob Gibson actually got it), St. Louis had look back to June 15th of that season, when they were 28-31. They made the trade for one of the greatest leadoff hitters ever. The deal was a risk, as both Broglio and Shantz had proven to be very good pitchers. But Brock was someone who could take over the game with the wheels (and occasional power). With speed returning to the game, his hitting and daring base running were in need by St. Louis many a time in the Fall Classic. And Brock would get better and better with his World Series performances. But that's for another blog!


References


Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Anderson, Dave. "The Phillies' Phlop." Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print, pp. 255-288.


Golenbock, Peter. "1964." Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000. Print, pp. 530-539.

Halberstam, David. October 1964. New York: Villard, 1994. Print.

Major League Baseball. World Series Of 1964. Major League Baseball Productions, 1964. DVD.


Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.


Seaver, Tom, and Martin Appel. Great Moments in Baseball. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1992. Print.

Retrosheet. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.  <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.

Youtube. Web. 17 Sept 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/>.

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