Bob Gibson

Bing Devine

Lou Brock

Denny McLain

McLain the Organist

Willie Horton

Jim Northrup



Mickey Stanley

1968 will be forever remembered as the Year of the Pitcher, so much so that baseball lowered the mound and tightened the strike zone before the following season.

• Thirteen pitching staffs compiled ERAs under 3.00.
• For the only time in baseball history, every team threw at least 10 shutouts.
• Batting averages plummeted. Carl Yastrzemski won the AL batting championship with an average just one point over .300.

• 1.12 ERA, the third lowest in the 20th century.
• In a span of 95 innings in the middle of the season, he allowed only two earned runs, one of which scored on a wild pitch, for an microscopic ERA of 0.19 - "the most amazing eight weeks of my life," Gibson has said.
• 13 shutouts, most since 1916 (Grover Cleveland Alexander, 16).
• The stat Gibby was most proud of: 28 complete games in 34 starts.
  Gibson: My final won-loss record was 22-9, and I still can't believe I lost nine games that year. Some stat guy calculated that if we had scored four runs every time I started, I would have been 31-2, and if we had just scored three every time, I would have finished 27-5.

The reason Gibson lost nine games? His Cardinals, despite winning their second straight pennant, found scoring runs difficult like all the other clubs. Here's the comparison of 1967 and 1968 when St. Louis had essentially the same team.

• Showing no letdown from '67 and with Bing Devine back in the saddle as GM after being fired in the middle of the '64 pennant race, the Redbirds started strong and never looked back.
• After dropping three games behind near the end of May, they regained the top spot June 2 and never relinquished it, leading by as many as 15 games before coasting to a nine-game edge over the Giants.
• In a season in which teams struggled to manufacture runs, leadoff man Lou Brock proved even more valuable. He led the NL in doubles (46), triples (14), and stolen bases (62). His 92 runs ranked fourth.
• The pitching staff led the Senior Circuit in ERA (2.49) and runs allowed (472).

The American League also had a hurler who enjoyed a banner season.

• Denny McLain put together the first 30-win season since Dizzy Dean in 1934. He finished 31-6 and actually left his last start with a 1-0 lead after 7 only to have the bullpen blow his 32nd victory.
• McLain led the league in starts, complete games, and innings, all of which took a toll on him.
  McLain: My arm was awful by the end of the year. I'd had put so much strain on it by starting 41 games and completing 28. I threw 336 innings, struck out 280 batters, and pitched on two days' rest three times.
  In stark contrast to Gibson, who was all business on and off the field, McLain led a flashy life that included playing the organ in a rock band and, with permission of his manager, flying his own plane to road cities. Denny cultivated the press while Gibson tolerated them.
  Needless to say, McLain's season overshadowed Bob's in the national news.

The Tigers romped to the pennant in a totally different manner from the Cardinals.

• They led the AL in homers with 185, two and a half times as many as the Redbirds.
• On the other end of the spectrum, they were dead last in SBs with a paltry 26, less than half what Brock alone registered. The Detroit total still stands as the fewest by a pennant winner in baseball history.
• The Tigers led their league in runs, their 671 exceeding second place Boston's total by 57.
• LF Willie Horton topped the team with 36 HRs while RF Jim Northrup led in RBI with 90.
• The Motor City hurlers did their part, ranking third in the league with a 2.71 ERA. Portly lefthander Mickey Lolich, totally overshadowed by McLain, contributed 17 victories.

Despite their overall hitting prowess, Detroit didn't get much production from the left side of the infield, which led Manager Mayo Smith to make a crucial decision for the Series.

• 3B Don Wert hit just .200. The three SS that Smith employed contributed even less: Ray Oyler (.135), Tommy Matchick (.203), and Dick Tracewski (.156).
• With Detroit winning its first pennant since 1945, Smith wanted to give playing time to fan favorite Al Kaline, on the downslope of his career that began at age 19 in 1954.
• So Mayo moved CF Mickey Stanley, the best athlete on the team, to SS and Northrup to CF to make room for Kaline in RF.

The Cardinals were heavily favored, which didn't sit well with some of the Tigers.

• Enjoying the limelight, McLain couldn't resist expressing his feelings to the press. I'm sick of hearing what a great team the Cardinals are. I don't want to just beat them. I want to demolish them. He also told a reporter he was more fired up about the opening of his band's show in Las Vegas at the end of the month than he was about pitching in his first World Series.
  McLain admitted in his autobiography, What an idiot I was to say dumb things like that.
• The Cardinals took note of what Denny said but decided to reply on the field.
• Before the Series, Roger Maris, who had played in the AL until 1967, told his teammates that Lolich, not McLain, was not the pitcher the Cards had to worry about.
  Gibson: Lefthanders in general gave us trouble, and Lolich had been hot late in the season with a good slider that seemed to get better the more he pitched.

Denny McLain Quartet on "The Ed Sullivan Show" with guest guitarist
Watch and listen ...

1. Wednesday, October 2 @ St. Louis: Cardinals 4 Tigers 0
   WP: Bob Gibson; LP: Denny McLain
2. Thursday, October 3 @ St. Louis: Tigers 8 Cardinals 1
   WP: Mickey Lolich; LP: Nelson Briles
   
3. Saturday, October 5 @ Detroit: Cardinals 7 Tigers 3
   WP: Ray Washburn; LP: Earl Wilson
4. Sunday, October 6 @ Detroit: Cardinals 10 Tigers 1
   WP: Gibson; LP: McLain
5. Monday, October 7 @ Detroit: Tigers 5 Cardinals 3
   WP: Lolich; LP: Joe Hoerner
6. Wednesday, October 9 @ St. Louis: Tigers 13 Cardinals 1
   WP: McLain; LP: Washburn

• Bob pitched arguably the greatest game in World Series history - even greater than Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956 - when he struck out 17 Tigers in Game One - a record that still stands. He had another dominant outing in Game 4, limiting the Tigers to a HR by Northrup. It was Gibson's seventh straight complete game Series triumph.
• Lou led all hitters with a .464 batting average, six runs scored, three doubles, two HRs (tie), and seven stolen bases.

After the Redbirds took a 3-1 lead in games, the Tigers fought back.

• When the rampaging Birds jumped out 3-0 in the first inning of Game 5, Detroit's chances looked bleak. But Lolich settled down and threw a shutout the rest of the way, giving his mates an opportunity to rally for five runs to send the Series back to St. Louis.
• After two bad outings, McLain, fortified by cortisone injections in his shoulder and a few "greenies" for energy, finally lived up to his billing.

Everyone knew Red Schoendienst would go with Gibson in the finale.

Gibson: I don't plan on making any changes. Why should I? I'll try to keep the ball down around the plate and throw it as hard as I can. I'm not worried about what they do. I have pitched to teams right at their strength and beaten them.

Gibson in his autobiography: It was down to me and Lolich in game seven. I thrived on this sort of situation - to me, it was the whole reason for being an athlete - and there was no sense of panic on the club even after the disasters of games five and six.

Mayo Smith had a decision to make.

• Earl Wilson, loser in Game Three, was rested and ready.
• But there was only one pitcher Mayo trusted with the championship on the line - Mickey Lolich, who had defeated the Cardinals in Games 2 and 5.
  Lolich had pitched Game Two despite taking medication for a groin infection. I was a little groggy and was afraid I would lose energy late in the game. The condition didn't prevent him from smacking the first HR of his major league career in the 8-1 victory.
• Lolich, who would be working with only two days rest: I had a real feeling we would make it to this point. But, to be honest, I really didn't think I would be able to contribute so much to it. I'll try to just keep throwing strikes. The Cardinals have said that's what I do best, and I'm glad the weather is going to be cool. I do better then.
• Privately, Smith asked Mickey to give him five good innings.
• The Tigers complained about the condition of the playing field. While not in good shape after the St. Louis summer, it was even worse after the football Cardinals played on it over the weekend. 2B Dick McAuliffe appeared to have easy plays on two grounders in Game Six only to have them bounce over his head at the last minute. It's a bad infield, he said. The ball takes all kinds of bad hops.

Dick McAuliffe bats in Game 7.

Al Kaline

Mickey Lolich pitches.

Julian Javier

Curt Flood

Orlando Cepeda

Mike Shannon

Norm Cash

Tim McCarver

Roger Maris


Don Wert

Kaline bats against Gibson.

Lolich and Freehan exult.

Tigers mob Lolich.

1st inning

• McAuliffe, with an odd stance in which he held the bat high and faced the pitcher, popped to 1B Orlando Cepeda, who leaned into the seats.
  Mickey Stanley lined to the mound.
  Al Kaline took a called third strike.
• With Lolich doing his best to keep him off base, Brock grounded out 4-3.
  Julian Javier flied to CF.
  Curt Flood punched a single to RCF, then stole 2nd.
  Orlando Cepeda walked.
  Witha chance to give the Cardinals an early lead, Mike Shannon flied to Kaline in RCF.
  Tim McCarver later described Lolich like this: He was really impressive. Against a lefty batter, he ran the ball in on you and ran the breaking ball away, and anybody who could do that consistently, could work both sides of the plate, can be a very effective pitcher, and that's what Mickey did.

• Norm Cash flied to RF.
  Willie Horton was called out on strikes.
  That brought up CF Jim Northrup. After poling four grand slams during the regular season, he hit another one in the Game Six rout. But that didn't impress Gibson, who fanned him.
• McCarver walked on a full count.
  Roger Maris rapped a grounder to SS Stanley, who stepped on 2nd and threw to Cash to complete the DP.
  Maxvill grounded to Don Wert at 3rd. It was Dal's 21st AB in the Series without a hit, tying the record held by four players, the last being Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952.
  

3rd inning

• Bill Freehan, who ended an 0-for-18 slump with a single in Game Six, lined to Flood in CF.
  When Wert struck out, Gibson tied his own record of 31 strikeouts in a Series set in 1964 against the Yankees.
  Bob immediately set a new mark by getting Lolich looking.
• Mickey retired the side on three ground balls.
  Wert threw out Gibson.
  Brock again bounced to McAuliffe.
  Javier went out 5-3.
  Lolich after the game: I threw mostly fast balls and they were sinking. I felt really good warming up and was loose. I took a half hour diathermy treatment last night and felt like a million dollars this morning. It was the first time I ever had that treatment. ... I was weak from the third inning on, but not really tired. It was the first time this year I pitched with two days rest and I expected to get tired about the sixth inning. But it never happened. In the first couple of innings, I was trying to put the ball in certain spots and was struggling. Then I said, "The hell with it. I'll just put it in there and see what happens."
  It was obvious that Gibson didn't have his best stuff. He certainly wasn't throwing with the velocity and movement he had in his record-setting Game One. On the other side, Lolich had the Cardinals hitting pitches harmlessly into the direct. On short rest, his sinker had even more late sink.

• McAuliffe hit a towering fly to Maris.
  Stanley beat out a roller to deep SS for the Tigers' first hit.
  But Kaline again looked at strike three.
  Shannon went to his left for Cash's bouncer and threw him out.
• Stanley took Flood's smash on a short hop, bobbled the ball momentarily, then threw out the fleet CF.
  Cepeda also hit the ball hard, but Wert knocked down the grounder and made the play to 1st.
  Shannon whiffed.
  Gibson in his autobiography: Through the early innings of the seventh game, Lolich eluded trouble with smarts and guts. He was not a fine tuned athlete (the fact that he now runs a doughnut shop is not inappropriate) and I had no doubt that he was dog-tired after pitching nine innings three days earlier. I firmly believed that if I could hold the Tigers in check for a while, we would get to Lolich by the sixth or seventh.

5th inning

• Horton popped to Javier.
  Northrup hit a foul popup down the LF line. Shannon made a fine running catch.
  Freehan got hold of one, but Brock took it in deep in LF.
  
• Lolich continued to match Gibson goose egg for goose egg.
  McCarver grounded a single past Stanley into LF.
  But Maris, up for the second time with a man on 1st and no one out, struck out.
  When Maxvill fouled out, he set a record for Series futility - 0-for-22.
  Gibson popped to McAuliffe.
  Lolich having given him the five innings he requested, Smith asked his southpaw when he came to the dugout, Can you give me another? Lolich nodded. The same exchange happened after each subsequent inning.

6th inning

• Which pitcher would blink first?
  Wert skied to CF.
  Javier threw out Lolich.
  McAuliffe flied to Flood.
• Mickey also held serve as he continued to keep the Cards off stride.
  Brock grounded a single into LF for his 13th hit in the Series. That tied the record set by Bobby Richardson of the Yankees in 1960. Intent on getting a record-setting eighth steal and spark a rally, Lou took a big lead but was picked off. Cash threw to Stanley for the putout at 2nd.
  It was the second time Brock had been picked off by the Tigers. Lou said he wasn't surprised by Lolich's move. He didn't do anything different. I just got thrown out.
  Cash couldn't believe the size of Brock's lead. I yelled for the ball.
  Lolich: All of a sudden, I heard Cash yell something. So I looked up and Brock was way off. I said to myself, "I'm going to throw the ball to Norm and let him make the mistake." (Mickey was referring to the fact that he had picked off Brock in an earlier game, but Lou beat the throw to 2nd.)
  Javier lined to Stanley, who made a one-handed catch.
  Flood beat out a bouncer to deep short. But he too was picked off 1st and retired, 3-6-4-6.
  Cash on the second pickoff of the inning: Mickey just guessed right on that one.
  The Cardinals would immediately regret squandering a chance to take the lead because of careless base-running.
  

• The inning started innocently enough with Stanley taking a called third strike - Gibson's 7th K of the day.
  Kaline bounced to Shannon. At this point, Gibson had retired 20 of the 21 batters he had faced, the only exception being Stanley's infield hit in the 4th.
  Cash worked the count full, then singled to RF.
  Horton bounced a single into LF, the runner stopping at 2nd.
  Northrup stepped in for one of the most famous ABs in World Series history. He had homered off Gibby in Game 4 for the only run the Tigers had scored against the Cardinals ace so far in the Series.
  
  Gibson: There was still no score in the top of the seventh. I had to navigate one more time through the fat part of Detroit's lineup and with two outs in the seventh was very careful not to give Norm Cash a pitch he could pull out of the park. Instead, he singled to right. Horton was another power hitter whom I wanted to keep in the stadium, and he bounced a single to left. That meant I had to retire Northrup, who had given me more trouble than any other Tiger. Knowing that the first pitch would be a strike, he went after it ...
  Jim smashed a fastball on a line to CF. Flood first took a step in. Then, as he turned to race for the ball, he slipped on a muddy spot. The horseside sailed over his head to the wall for a triple, scoring Cash and Horton. The Tigers had just scored twice as many runs as they had tallied against Gibson in his first 24 innings of the Series.
  
  Northrup smashes triple.
  Gibson: I wasn't worried about the ball when he hit it.
  Flood: I couldn't see it against the shirts. The reason I started in was I just didn't know where the ball was. A ball hit right at me gives me trouble in day games. If I hadn't slipped, I might have got it.
  Horton: I knew when he slipped that he'd never catch the ball. I said to myself, "Run, run, run," and I was going so hard I almost missed the turn at third base.
  Northrup sympathized with his fellow CF. It was slippery out there from the rain the day before. I knew I hit the ball well and that it had a chance to go for extra bases. When I wound up on third base and looked up at the scoreboard and saw those two runs up there, I knew we couldn't lose.
  Freehan lined a double to LCF, scoring Northrup.
  The Cardinals walked Wert intentionally to get to Lolich.
  Smith never gave a second thought to pinch-hitting. Mickey was called out on strikes.
  Tigers 3 Cardinals 0
  Mayo sent McLain to the bullpen in case he needed him for a few hitters.
• Armed with the lead for the first time, Lolich struck out Cepeda.
  Shannon hit a high fly to LCF that should have been an easy out. But Northrup and Horton got their signals crossed and collided, Jim dropping the ball for a two-base error.
  But the Redbirds could not take advantage of the break to cut into the lead.
  McCarver flied to Kaline, Shannon holding at 2nd.
  Maris again failed with a man on base, popping to SS. Since Roger had already announced his retirement at the end of the season, this was the last AB of his career.
  Schoendienst was criticized for playing Maris in Game Seven. Larry Claflin wrote in the Boston Record American the next day: In the seventh game Red went with Roger Maris in right field, despite the presence of Lolich on the mound and Maris killed two potential St. Louis rallies. Even Maris admitted he never could hit Lolich. But Schoendienst might have played him out of sentiment because it was Roger's last day in baseball.

8th inning

• Gibson made quick work of the top of the order.
  McAuliffe grounded to 2nd.
  Stanley did the same to Maxvill.
  Kaline lined to Javier.
  
• Phil Gagliano pinch-hit for the inept Maxvill but did no better, going out Wert-to-Cash.
  Schoendienst let Gibson bat for himself. Bob, who had hit a homer in Game 4, struck out.
  Gibson: I remain grateful to Schoendienst for sticking with me. The obvious thing would have been to pinch-hit for me in the eighth inning, and Red's decision to leave me in the game had more to do with consideration than strategy, which is a rare thing in baseball.
  Brock walked on four pitches. Facing a three-run deficit, he took no chances off 1st this time.
  Javier tried to bunt his way on but was thrown out by Wert.
  

• Dick Schofield took over at SS.
  Gibson got Cash to fly to RF.
  Horton singled to LF and was replaced by Dick Tracewski on the base paths.
  Northrup got his second straight hit, a single to CF that moved the pinch runner to 3rd.
  When Freehan fouled out to Cepeda, Gibson had a chance to get out of the jam with no further damage.
  But Wert, who had only a lone single in the entire Series, singled to CF, scoring Tracewski and sending Northrup to 2nd.
  Receiving a hand from the Cardinal fans, Lolich popped to Javier.
  Tigers 4 Cardinals 0
  
  Gibson pitches to Cash in the 9th.
• Smith put his best defensive lineup on the field. Northrup moved to LF and Stanley to CF, with good-field-no-hit Ray Oyler taking over at SS.
  Flood lined to the new SS.
  Cepeda popped to Freehan in foul territory.
  Orlando was now 0-for-11 in Game Seven ABs for the Giants and Cardinals.
  Shannon avoided the shutout with a line drive HR into the lower deck in LF.
  Unphased, Lolich got McCarver to foul to Freehan.
  FINAL: TIGERS 4 CARDINALS 1

Freehan catches the final out.