Bob Gibson's earned run average in game seven was 3.67. That doesn't mean he wasn't tough. The three times he pitched in that spot in a Fall Classic were 1964, 1967, and 1968 the opposition had plenty of lumber. It was the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers.
The Yankees were so strong, they beat Gibson in the second contest of the Fall Classic in '64, 8-3. However, Bob only allowed four of those runs in eight innings of work. In game five, Bob Gibson won it for the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2 over the New York Yankees. He allowed no earned runs in ten innings of work.
It seemed like game seven was in the bag. The Cardinals were up 6-0 at home after five innings. Gibson was pitching with only two days' rest. He started to falter. Bobby Richardson led off the top of the sixth by hitting a slow roller to Ken Boyer at third. Ken was not able to make a play on it. Roger Maris followed with a bouncing ball hit to right. This brought Mickey Mantle up to the plate. The Mick hit his 18th World Series home run, narrowing the gap to just 6-3.
Gibson seemed to settle down, and was working on a seven-hitter come the ninth. St. Louis had added a home run on third basemen Ken Boyer's solo home run off Steve Hamilton in the last of the seventh. 7-3 for the home team! St. Louis seemed prime to add an eighth or possible ninth run two innings later. They got runners to second and third with just one away. Gibby was up against Pete Mikkelsen, who'd taken over this mess from Steve Hamilton. Pete had a great sinkerball, just the pitch needed to get out any right-handed hitter. Given that Bob Gibson knew a thing or two with the bat, the St. Louis pitcher was no doubt thinking about some serious insurance. He needed just three more outs, why not make that a tad easier?
But all Bob could do was ground to the other Boyer, Clete. The Yankees' third basemen saw catcher Tim McCarver head towards his counterpart on New York, Elston Howard. Howard to the throw to home, and McCarver was caught in a run down for the second out. Curt Flood hit one of Mikkelsen's pitches. But just to the kid bro of Ken Boyer at third. Clete would be heard from soon thereafter, again.
Gibby gave himself a friendly reminder to keep on going. Keep on throwing!
So there was Ken Boyer's brother on the opposing Yankees to again do something bad to Bob with one away in the top of the ninth. Following a whiff of Tom Tresh, it was the younger Boyer who took Gibson out of the park in to make it 7-4. The game had now, a save situation, but Gibby was staying out there. Pinch hitter Johnny Blanchard fanned. Two away. But then Phil Linz (Who had two hits off Gibby in game seven) homered to make it just 7-5 for the home team. It was getting close. New York was also up to nine hits and five runs of a tired starter. Plus, Bobby Richardson was back up. Bobby had gotten two hits of his own that game and was 13-31 to this point in the series at the dish. Gibson dug deep and got him to pop out to second basemen Dal Maxvill to end the 1964 World Series.
It was a bit easier three years later. Gibby returned to the mound, having missed a good portion of the season with a broken foot (He took a liner from Roberto Clemente in the regular season). Come World Series time, he set the tone by beating Boston 2-1 in the opening act at Fenway Park. Then, in game four, he shutout the Red Sox 6-0. This put the St. Louis Cardinals up 3-1 in the 1967 Fall Classic.
Boston refused to go quietly. They won game five in St. Louis, 3-1, behind a splendid three-hitter by Jim Lonborg. Back at Boston for the sixth contest, the home team hammered St. Louis 8-4 at Fenway. So it was on to game seven. Bob Gibson was 2-0. Pitching for the Red Sox was Jim Lonborg, also 2-0.
After exchanging zeros for two innings, the visitors broke free on Lonnie in the top of the third by scoring twice despite there being two away. Lonborg had been a frustrating foe in the World Series for the Cardinals that year. He'd one-hit 'em, he'd three-hit 'em.
But after blanking St. Louis in the top of the fourth 1-2-3 (The Cards didn't get the ball out of the infield), Lonny ran into more trouble. It was our boy, Bob Gibson, that hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to make it 3-0 St. Louis.
Lou Brock then singled, and stole second. On ball four to Curt Flood, Brock swiped third. Roger Maris flied out, two away. But, Brock scored after Ken Harrelson caught Maris' fly. The visiting St. Louis Cardinals had a 4-0 lead, and Gibson on the hill.
Well, the Red Sox came back a bit. Gibson hadn't allowed as much as a hit after four innings. In fact, after walking the very first Boston batter, Joe Foy, Gibby had ketp the Red Sox off the bases. Down 4-0 here in the fifth, the Boston Red Sox needed some hits to get back into third game. It came soon enough.
George Scott crushed a Bob Gibson offering to lead off the last of the fifth for the home team. Okay, it stayed in the park. But Scott would score on the hit, which was a triple. Julian Javier, who'd taken the throw from Curt Flood in centre, tried to nail George at third. But the second basemen made a throwing error and Scott scored. 4-1.
Well, Javier might have felt bad about letting Boston back in it, but Gibson got the next three batters out. Could Julian redeem himself? You bet. Come the top of the sixth, the Cards were at it again. Tim McCarver doubled. Mike Shannon reached on an error by third basemen Joe Foy. Julian Javier came up, with a chance to get that four-run lead back. Javier did better. He took Lonborg outta Fenway. His home run over the Green Monster made it 7-1, St. Louis.|
So Gibby had the game in the bag. But how would he finish the contest. Just like last time, Bob had seven runs to work with.
Jose Tartabull batted for Lonborg in the bottom of the sixth. Gibby had clearly gotten the better of Lonnie. Tartabull fanned. Foy popped up to catcher Tim McCarver. Mike Andrews grounded out to shortstop Dal Maxvill.
In the bottom of the seventh, Gibson walked Carl Yastzremski. But Ken Harrelson forced Yaz at second. George Scott popped to McCarver. Reggie Smith popped to Javier, the man of the hour.
The last of the eight saw Gibby wilt a bit. Shortstop Rico Petrocelli doubled off the Green Monster in left. With catcher Elston Howard up, Gibby threw a wild pitch, and Petrocelli was now 90 feet away from the dish. And there were no outs.
The Red Sox, trailing the Cardinals 7-1 at this point, were desperate. They needed some offence. Howard had struggled at the dish, hitting just .111 in the 1967 World Series. So, Boston, trying to get a run or two here, sent up Dalton Jones to the dish. Jones batted from the left side of the plate, coaxed Bob Gibson's third (And last) walk of the afternoon.
So Boston had runners on the corners with no outs here in the last of the eight. Was Gibby tiring? He was pitching on just three days' rest. But three years ago, he'd gone all nine on just two days' rest. Norm Siebern batted for pitcher Jose Santiago. Santiago had come in for the battered Jim Lonborg. Jose faced six batters and got all six out.
Bob got Siebern, an ex - New York Yankee like Elston Howard, to force Dalton Jones at second. Petrocelli still scored, but now there was one out, and one on. And Gibby still had a comfortable lead of five runs.
Joe Foy forced Siebern at second, two away. Mike Andrews grounded right back to Bob Gibson, who threw to Orlando Cepeda at first to get the last out.
Bob Gibson then batted for himself to start the ninth. Knowing Gibby, I'll bet he was bound and determined to get that run back. Well, Dave Moorhead, the new Boston pitcher, fanned him. Brock walked and stole second. Turns out he didn't have to as Curt Flood drew Moorehead's second free pass. When Roger Maris, still another ex - Yankee, also walked, the Cardinals were back in business.
But with Dan Osinski now pitching for Boston, the St. Louis rally died. Osinski got Orlando Cepeda to pop to Rico Petrocelli at short. Still another pitcher, Ken Brett (George's older brother), then put the Cardinals' fire out for good as he got Tim McCarver to ground to first basemen George Scott. The Red Sox bullpen had done an admirable job: 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H!
But so had Gibson. Gibby was working on a two-hitter now through eight. Yaz led off the ninth and got hit number three for the Boston Red Sox. However, that was the last one for Boston. Ken Harrelson hit into a double play. Gibson then fanned Scott with an awesome slider.
It should be noted that the run Boston had scored in the last of the fifth was actually earned. The reason is, George Scott would have scored on Reggie Smith flyball in the scorer's judgement. That was okay. Gibson allowed just three runs all series long. So he allowed two earned runs in the seventh game? That's okay. It was an improvement from that stage of '64!
Gibson had dominated in the '67 series: Three starts, 27 innings, 3 earned runs and 14 hits allowed! And there was more dominating to come in '68. First, he went 22-9 in the regular season with an earned-run average of 1.12. You are not reading that incorrectly.
The poor Detroit Tigers would see how dominating the right-hander was. First, he fanned 17 Detroit batters in game one of the 1968 World Series. And got a shutout. Gibson allowed one run in game four, but went the distance in an easy 10-1 win over 31-game winner Denny McClain. Gibby hit his second World Series home run for good measure. Didn't I tell you Gibson could hit, too? McLain had taken a 4-0 loss to Gibson in the opening act despite allowing just two earned runs over five innings himself. You really had to be good to beat Bob Gibson in a World Series game. The fourth contest boasted Gibby's won - loss record in the Fall Classic to 7-1!
Up three games to one, it looked like St. Louis had their third world crown of the decade in their pocked. However, just like the previous year, the Cards dropped game five, 5-3. Mickey Lolich pitched up his second win of the 1968 World Series. Then Denny McLain redeemed himself and picked up his first Fall Classic in a 13-1 Detroit rout of St. Louis in game six. Gibby would be needed to seal the deal in game seven, again. Just like in 1964 and 1967.
Though Mickey Lolich was going for the Tigers at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals should have still been the favourite. With any luck, St. Louis could have beaten him in the fifth contest. They'd led it 3-0 at one point. The Detroit starting pitched was 17-9 with an earned run average of 3.19 in the 1968 regular season. But compare that to Bob Gibson's record!
Furthermore, Mickey would be going with just two days rest.
Gibby looked better. In the top of the first, Detroit was retired 1-2-3 with Willie Horton and Jim Northrup fanning. Bob Gibson then fanned two more batters, including Mickey Lolich in retiring the Tigers in order in the second. Right fielder Al Kaline became Gibby's five K of the afternoon in the top of the third.
But Mickey Lolich was hanging tough with Bob Gibson. In the bottom of the first, he'd gotten the first two St. Louis batters out, but then Curt Flood singled and stole second. The dangerous Orlando Cepeda was next up, and Lolich walked him. Mike Shannon flied out to Al Kaline in right.
From there, it appeared as though Lolich was a beast. The Cardinals went down 1-2-3 in the second. And third. And fourth. Tim McCarver got the Cards second hit off Mickey in the last of the fifth, only to watch at first as the next three St. Louis batters failed against the Detroit lefty.
Gibson allowed one hit through six innings. And Bob was up to six strikeouts. But the score was 0-0.
St. Louis seemed poised for a big inning in the bottom of the sixth. Lou Brock, the St. Louis speedster, led off with just the second Cardinals' hit off Mickey Lolich. But, Mickey picked Lou off first. Julian Javier lined out to shortstop Mickey Stanley. Curt Flood kept the inning alive with his second hit. And he was thinking about his second stolen base. But no, Lolich picked him off first, too!
The fateful seventh inning began with Detroit still trying to solve Bob Gibson. Well, Stanley had no such luck, as Gibby fanned him. Kaline grounded out to Mike Shannon at third. Gibson seemed safe. Alas, Norm Cash kept the inning going with a single. Willie Horton got his first hit of the game. Detroit was now up to a total of three hits. Jim Northrup hit a fly to centre. Curt Flood lost sight of it. The ball fell in for a triple. Cash and Horton had crossed the plate to make it 2-0 for the visitors.
When catcher Bill Freehan followed with a double, the Tigers were up three runs. Detroit was up to four hits in this inning by the time Gibson got out of it. Mike Shannon reached on an error in the bottom of the frame. Nothing came of it. Neither did anything come of Brock's two out walk in the last of the eighth. Gibby had a fine 1-2-3 top of the frame. But the score was Detroit, 3, St. Louis 0.
Bob returned to the hill in the top of the ninth. Gibby had gone the distance in games two and seven of the 1964 World Series, in all three of 'em in '67 and all of 'em in '68. So, though down 3-0, Gibson was gonna finish this.
But the Detroit Tigers were not done with the right-hander. Norm Cash flied out to right fielder Roger Maris, who was playing his last MLB game. But Willie Horton stroked his second hit of the game, another single, to left. Dick Tracewski came on to run for Horton, and it paid dividends for Detroit.
Jim Northrup followed with his second hit of the afternoon. Two on, one out. Tracewski was now on third base, 90 feet away from making it 4-0 for the Tigers. Bill Freehan popped to Orlando Cepeda at first. But them Don Wert singled to centre, and now the "4" went on the board. Mickey Lolich was the last batter in the top of the ninth and Gibson got him to pop out to Julian Javier at second.
Gibson had gone nine innings again. He'd given up four runs on eight hits. Apart from the seventh and ninth innings, Detroit had gotten just one hit off him. Putting aside the fourth, seventh and ninth frames, Gibson had retired all eighteen batters to face him.
Yet, his St. Louis Cardinals trailed 4-0 after 8 1/2.
Flood lined out to new shortstop Ray Oyler. Oyler had come on to play short as Mickey Stanley moved to centre and Northrup moved over to right. Orlando Cepeda popped out to catcher Don Wert. Mickey Stanley got the Cardinals' fifth hit off Mickey Lolich. That was a four-bagger. So it was 4-1. But when Tim McCarver popped out to Wert, the 1968 World Series was over.
Both Bob Gibson and Mickey Lolich ended the '68 Fall Classic with a 1.67 earned run average. It was Lolich that got the Most Valuable Player award. Gibson himself had picked up that hardware in 1964 and '67, and was no doubt the front-runner for it in 1968. Had St. Louis won the Fall Classic like they should have, think what that would have meant!
As it is, Gibby's 3.67 ERA in game seven's might not look that impressive. It's true St. Louis scored him seven runs in each of the first two deciding games. Gibby might have had it easy. But he hung in their in '64, much like he did in '68. The 1967 deciding game had Bob finishing off a very tough Boston team that had nothing to lose, as they were clearly the underdogs (And probably had no business being in the Fall Classic, but less a seventh game of one, in the first place). And had Flood not misjudged Northrup's fly, who knows what the outcome would have been? The loss in '68 was clearly not Gibby's fault. St. Louis had scored four runs in the first game of the World Series, seven in the third contest, and another ten in the fourth contest. But, in the four losses, the Cardinals scored just one, three, one and one run.
Likewise in '67, Gibby didn't always have runs to play with. Game one was a pitcher's duel which Gibby survived despite allowing a home run by opposing pitcher Jose Santiago. Bob had to make the two runs he got stand up. In all three seven games, St. Louis had a chance for more offence, but couldn't always get the job done, even with a "7" on the board.
References
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Dover Publications, 2010.
Halberstam, David. October 1964. Villard Books, 1999.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. 16 Feb. 2021.
YouTube, Google, www.youtube.com/. 16 Feb. 2021.
No comments:
Post a Comment