The St. Louis Cardinals’ Hall Of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson was born in 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska.  He spent his youth there, eventually graduating from Omaha Tech high school, where he was named to the All State Basketball team.  He later attended Creighton University and eventually started his professional baseball career with the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate in 1957, which was then located in Omaha.

An early representation of the statue courtesy of the Sarpy County Sports Commission

In April, the Sarpy County Sports Commission will honor Gibson in his hometown with a statue in front of Werner Park.

The overall goal of The Heritage Project is to honor various Omaha natives that are enshrined in baseball’s Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  The statue of Gibson will be the centerpiece of the display, standing over eight feet tall and cast in bronze.  The Walk Of Fame will be located southwest of the entrance to Werner Park, home of the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Littleton Alston, an artist-in-residence at Gibson’s alma mater Creighton University, is the mind behind the work in bronze, which depicts Gibson having just released a pitch.  Alston, who has been sculpting for over 30 years, has completed bronze statues of Dr. Marin Luther King, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and George Washington Carver.  His statue of Dr. King stands in Omaha, between the City-County Building and the Douglas County Courthouse.

The statue will be unveiled on April 11 with a banquet to honor Gibson being held the night before at LaVista Embassy Suites.  Former teammates of Gibson including Tim McCarver, Bill White and Joe Torre have been confirmed to be in attendance to honor the pitcher.

Tickets to the banquet are $100 each or $1000 for a table of 10. VIP tickets, which include a private social hour before the banquet are $250 each or $2500 for a table. Reservations may be made online at www.bobgibsonproject.org. Tickets may be ordered by mail through the following address:

Sarpy County Sports Commission
501 Olson Drive
Suite 210
Papillion, NE 68046

The Sports Commission was tasked with raising nearly $250,000 to complete the project.  Funds were raised through various avenues including public donations, private funding projects, and corporate sponsorship.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

Secaucus, NJ, January 23, 2013 – MLB Network will air a special MLB Network Remembers: Stan Musial show tomorrow, January 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Hosted by MLB Network’s Bob Costas and Tom Verducci, the one-hour special will look back at the life and professional career of the great Musial, who passed away this past weekend at age 92. The special will feature new interviews with Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Bob Gibson, plus an in-studio interview with MLB Network analyst and three-time All-Star pitcher Jim Kaat. Game footage and interviews from Musial’s playing career will be featured throughout the show. The special will re-air on Friday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m. ET and again on Saturday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

This week, the St. Louis Cardinals began to show what they are capable of again, at least from a pitching standpoint. But they are still a long way from right.

The rotation of Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, Lance Lynn, Jake Westbrook, and Joe Kelly collectively had an ERA just a shade over 2.00 this week, allowing nine earned runs over 40 innings. Lynn had the best start of his young career against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday, allowing no runs while striking out 12. But the rest of the starters looked good, too. Even Jake Westbrook—who has struggled mightily over the past four to six weeks—turned in a six-inning outing Thursday night where he allowed three runs and five hits and kept the Cardinals in the game before they pulled out the win. It may not be a Bob Gibson line, but it is pretty good for Westbrook considering what he has given the Cards recently.

The bullpen flashed a few bright spots this week as well. Jason Motte was three for three in save opportunities; he had a few earned runs tacked to his total but the saves are important there. Victor Marte, Sam Freeman, Fernado Salas and Eduardo Sanchez threw a total of 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run and only two batters managed to even get a hit off the quartet.

Now, of course, the trick is sustaining it and adding some consistency to the mix.

On the other side of the ball, the Cards’ offense continues to sputter. Since hanging 14 runs on the Houston Astros June 7, the Cardinals have managed to score more than two runs in a game only once: Thursday’s 5-3 win over the White Sox. That is abysmal output. And yes, guys are missing and the guys that are in the dugout are hurting too. But that excuse only carries so far. Everyone is hurting right now; every team is dealing with some injury or another.

And speaking of injuries, some of the forgotten brethren on the disabled list appear ready to re-join the big club soon. Matt Carpenter and Skip Schumaker are already on rehab assignments, and Chris Carpenter threw a couple of pitches off a mound. That’s huge news for the Cards, especially Schumaker’s and Carpenter’s.

The Cincinnati Reds have a four game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cardinals as of Saturday morning. So nothing is out of reach for the Cards. The competition in the NL Central does figure to remain stiff for the remainder of the season, but at this point all the Cards really need is a healthy team and a shot at the postseason. And they will most definitely need the former to achieve the latter.

At this point, it does look like the Cardinals will end up getting some of their key guys back in the not-too-distant future. If the rest of the team has put themselves in a position to win more often than not, the return of the walking wounded is just that much sweeter. So it is big to see the rotation settling in and the bullpen settling down. Now if the lineup could only start scoring runs again…

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter at @birdbrained.

This past weekend I watched my first spring training games, courtesy of the MLB Network. Naturally the first game I saw included the St Louis Cardinals – they played their complex-mates, the Miami Marlins, on Saturday.  Kyle Lohse started, there was a rain delay, and the Cardinals eventually lost 3-1.

After Lohse worked his innings Lance Lynn came on to throw.  Lynn has changed his number from 62 last season, now 31. Normally that fact would just be trivia,  but the number 31 struck a chord this time.  It once belonged to Bob Forsch.  Now, it is not the first time someone has worn #31 since Forsch was traded to Houston.  Six other men (5 pitchers and Bo Hart) have worn the number.  But Bob Forsch died last fall, six days after throwing out the first pitch of Game 7, so this time it was different.

Cardinal teams after 1974 and before Whitey Herzog took over in 1980 generally were not very good.  From the start of 1975 through the end of the 1980 season the club was 40 games under .500 (466-506).  They had a few interesting pieces – a sublime catcher, a ‘mad’ relief pitcher, a future MVP – but the starting staff had a lot of turnover and not much lasting talent.  Except for Forsch.

Did you know Forsch was the winningest pitcher at Busch Memorial Stadium (1966-2006)?  He won 93 games there (Bob Gibson is second, with 72).  Forsch also appeared in the most games as a pitcher (231), threw the most innings (1395), had the most losses (59), and struck out 576 hitters, second only to Gibson’s 933, at Busch.  You definitely know he is the only Cardinal pitcher to throw more than one no-hitter, that he won 20 games in 1977, and famously hit Jeffrey Leonard ten years later to, perhaps, change the psychological nature of that rather contentious NLCS.  Cardinals went to the World Series.

Near as I can tell, there is no plan in the works to honor Forsch, and there should be.  He will never make it into the Hall of Fame; his only year on the ballot (1995) he received 2 votes.  He likely will not have his number retired by the Cardinals, either.  But he deserves to be remembered, and not just with Bob Forsch Day.  Sewing a 31 patch on everyone’s uniform would be a little awkward, seeing as Lynn currently wears the number.  RHF on a sleeve, or even an old-school black armband, would not be too out of place or ostentatious.

Honor the third winningest pitcher in St Louis Cardinal history.  Honor the man who pitched in 3 World Series.  Honor Bob Forsch.

Mike Metzger is a freelance writer who also blogs about the Padres.  Follow him on Twitter.

Friday night I was sitting in the bleachers at Busch Stadium watching the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Texas Rangers in Game 7 of the 2011 World Series for their 11th championship in franchise history.

File that one under “Sentences I never thought I’d write in a million years.”

Going to a St. Louis Cardinals game is a special thing whether it’s Opening Day, some mid-July Sunday afternoon roaster, or a postseason game for the ages. The reason? All you have to do is look around, whether inside or outside Busch, and it becomes clear: A Tradition of Greatness. Outside you’re greeted by statues immortalizing the franchise’s—and some of Major League Baseball’s—all-time best. Stan Musial, Jack Buck, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, and others…they define professional baseball because of their accomplishments, and it all happened representing the St. Louis Cardinals. Even while cruising past the upper levels of Busch on Interstate 64/US 40, the biggest numbers visible from the road aren’t the ones on the speed limit sign or some billboard; they’re the World and League Championship years plastered on the side of the stadium. Inside, it’s more of the same: retired numbers and/or championship pennants catch every sight line.

All this entered my mind as I strolled through the gates in left center field before Game 7—and not just because it was what I saw. It was more like something I anticipated, or sensed almost in a gut feeling kind of way: another chapter in the extraordinary history of the St. Louis Cardinals was about to be written right before our eyes.

It isn’t unusual to run into random friends at a ballgame, but Game 7 isn’t just “a ballgame”–it’s the ballgame. Whether it’s a season ticket holder you see at almost every game or someone you knew from high school, the exchange is just a little more meaningful. The hugs were a little tighter; the handshakes were a little warmer. And the first thing said was usually something like “Can you believe we’re here?” with a smile that rivaled that of a kid on Christmas morning.

The game itself was somewhat pedestrian relative to everything that led up to it. The Rangers tacked on two runs in the first inning, and probably should have scored more. The Rangers fans that dotted the crowd were whipped into an early frenzy, and with good reason: the potential historical significance was not lost on them. Their team has never won a World Series, and they already had their initial taste of it in 2010. Chris Carpenter looked shaky, and Tony La Russa’s decision to start him on short rest was beginning to look even more questionable. If they could get some good pitching of their own and keep hammering away at an obviously off Carpenter, the pendulum could irreversibly swing their way for good. Maybe it was finally time for the Rangers to get a championship banner of their own after all these years, and beating the great St. Louis Cardinals would make it that much sweeter.

But the Cards responded in their half of the first when—who else—David Freese drove in two with yet another extra base hit. The crowd
went bonkers, of course, and in between shouts of joy and hops of excitement could be heard things like “I don’t believe this!” and “You’ve got to be kidding!” Even as it unfolded before our eyes, it still didn’t seem possible that the Cardinals were just this close to another World Championship. Really, how was it possible?

The Rangers pitched in on the answer to that question by not scoring another run in the game. To make matters worse, in the fifth inning they gave the Cardinals freebies by walking Yadier Molina with the bases loaded and then hitting Rafael Furcal with the sacks still jammed. It was quickly becoming a night where nothing went right for Texas and everything was going the Cardinals’ way. Carpenter finally found the right gear and was able to hold the Rangers scoreless for five more innings after the rough first. Allen Craig continued to make a statement by hitting a homer in the third and taking one away by catching a long fly at the top of the wall in the sixth.

After that remarkable play, countdowns started. Nine more outs to get. And every time the Rangers came up empty in their half of an inning, the fingers at the end of extended hands started folding. Eight outs to go…seven…six…it was like an extended version of waiting for the big ball to drop over Times Square on New Year’s Eve. The comparisons to holidays are extremely accurate, because this was a holiday. This was the greatest St. Louis holiday, and the crowd finally started to feel like it was an approaching freight train that couldn’t be stopped.

Before I knew it, the beats of “Lose Yourself” by Eminem were pulsating through the stadium. Jason Motte was coming in to close out Game 7 of the 2011 World Series. At that moment, it became real. We were three outs from fireworks and confetti and bedlam. The legend, that magic many of us had only seen on TV or in replays or imagined in our dreams, was finally set to go down right before our eyes.

Everything that the Cardinals accomplished in 2011 came from a place of adversity. Their ace, Adam Wainwright, was ripped from their roster before they could barely get settled in their Spring Training routines. Their closer, Ryan Franklin, imploded on Opening Day and never fully recovered, finally being released because he couldn’t live up to the value of his spot on the team. Injuries piled up. Intrigue around the contract status of Carpenter and La Russa and, most glaringly, Albert Pujols simply would not go away. The Cards managed to play well enough to lead the NL Central for a good portion of the year, but everything seemed to catch up to them at once and they found themselves out of the race. And then something happened in late August that sent this club on an irreversible trend upward. No matter how many times the bad rared up, the good beat it back. This final night of the season would be no different.

The final outs of Game 7 would not be cakewalks: ALCS hero Nelson Cruz and World Series hero Mike Napoli were due up for the
Rangers, representing two of their team’s last chances in the final frame. But they were dispatched in short order by the Cardinal defense. There was one final out separating the Cards from victory. And for one last time, in the ninth inning of Game 7 of the World Series, the Cardinals and their fans had to hold their breath as the bad—a pretty well-struck David Murphy fly ball toward the left field corner—was once again beat back by the good in the form of Craig hauling it in to conclude what was a series and a season for the ages. And, true to the cliché, the crowd went wild.

History tells us the St. Louis Cardinals are likely to win another World Series in seven games at home. On the surface, this 2011 championship wasn’t unique to the franchise because they aren’t strangers to World Series that go the distance and end in St. Louis. But none of the previous 10 championships were won with such incredible odds staring the team down for so long. It felt like they were on the brink of elimination every day of the last nine weeks or so. That’s a lot of drama, a lot of emotion, and a lot of exhilaration. Because this St. Louis Cardinals team made plenty of mistakes along the way, but in the end they they simply would not die. They fought until the bitter end, and when the smoke cleared they found themselves on top of the baseball world once again.

It’s hard to put into words what attending Game 7 of the World Series as a fan really means. Terms like “great” and “amazing” and “unbelievable” don’t really seem to do the night justice. The event really was better than the game itself. But when a World Series championship is at stake, that’s almost a given. Regardless, it truly was the greatest night of baseball I’ve ever witnessed. And it is something I will never forget.

Chris Reed also writes for InsideSTL Mondays and Bird Brained whenever he feels like it. Follow him on Twitter at @birdbrained.

I-70 Baseball received a press release from the club today with notes about all the upcoming games in St. Louis as well as some notes on the franchise history in the fall classic.

Some highlights from the release:

• First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will be in attendance for Game One as a part of MLB’s participation in the Welcome Back Veterans and Joining Forces
• A Pre-Game Rally will be held in Ballpark Village from 3:00 – 5:45 p.m before each game
• Gates will open at 4:00 p.m. for Game One only and open at 5:00 p.m. for all other games
• Cardinal pitchers who were on the mound for the final out of the last four World Championships will throw out the first pitch before game one (Bob Gibson – 1964 and 1967, Bruce Sutter – 1982, Adam Wainwright – 2006)
• The Roberto Clemente Award,recognizing a Major League Baseball player who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions, including sportsmanship and community involvement, on and off the field; will be presented before the start of Game Two.
• American Idol Scotty McCreery and country music star Trace Adkins will perform the National Anthem before games one and two, respectively
• Should games six or seven be needed, Mike Matheny and Jack Clark will be posing with the World Championship trophies from 1982 and 2006 and taking pictures with fans
• The team store will be expanding the hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the post-season and is will offer exclusive Rally Squirrel merchandise as well as National League Champion merchandise.
• The Cardinals are playing in their 18th World Series
• Surprisingly, the Cardinals have a losing record (52-53) in World Series games including a 27-25 record at home

To read the entire release, including Busch Stadium Policies, Franchise Facts, and much more, download the official PDF by clicking here.

As we prepare for the finale of this exciting series, and its marquee Game 5 matchup of two former Cy Young Award winners, let us take a walk down memory lane, and look at the Cardinal history in Game 7s (and Game 5 for the NLDS).

St Louis is the preeminent franchise in the National League, second only to the Yankees in terms of World Series wins. All that success means the team has had multiple occasions to play a one game, winner-take-all contest. For example, the Cardinals played seven consecutive World Series Game 7s from 1946 to 1987. How did they fare in those opportunities?

The Early Years (1926-1967)

Their first World Series appearance went seven games. The Cardinals won that game, which ended with my personal favorite game-ending play for any World Series, namely Babe Ruth getting thrown out trying to steal second. Can you imagine the amount of ink, hot air, and bandwidth that would be consumed dissecting that decision if it happened in 2006 instead of 1926?

Having started well, the Cardinals kept rolling. They defeated the Philadelphia A’s to win the Fall Classic in 1931, and took out Detroit in Tiger Stadium to win the Series three years later. Enos Slaughter’s mad dash home secured the 1946 title in front of the home town fans, and Bob Gibson wrestled those mighty Yankees into submission 18 years later in front of those same fans. The Boston Globe learned the price of publishing a great headline prematurely (‘Lonborg and Champagne’), as Gibson extended Cardinal dominance and Boston angst with a 1967 Game 7 win at Fenway.

So six Game 7s had come and gone, and the Cardinals had won all six. They were invincible when all the chips were down. No one wanted to play them in those situations, no matter where the game was to be contested.

The Desert of Futility (1968-2001)

Was it Curt Flood’s slip? Was it Lou Brock getting thrown out at the plate two games earlier? Was it the law of averages finally catching up to them? Probably some combination of the three. The Detroit Tigers, led by Denny McLain, beat St Louis at home in that 1968 Game 7. After that, Cardinal dominance in Game 7s ceased. They continued to win the Game 7s played at home, clinching the World Series against Milwaukee, defeating both Los Angeles and San Francisco in the LCS.

But on the road they were hapless. The Cardinals blew a 3-1 series lead in 1985, dropping Game 7 in Kansas City. They blew a 3-2 lead two years later, losing to the Twins in the Homer Dome. Then, when they returned to the post-season 10 years later, even their home mojo disappeared. They blew another 3-1 lead, getting embarrassed by the Atlanta Braves and losing the NLCS for the first time. Finally, to conclude their first best-of-five playoff series that went the distance, they lost a heartbreaker in the Arizona desert.

Return to Normalcy (2002-present)

They needed a great play or seminal moment to change their luck. They got one, and it occurred in a Game 7. The Cardinals played their next winner-take-all game to close out the 2004 NLCS against Houston. The Astros looked poised to take complete control of the game when with two on and one out, Brad Ausmus hit a fliner into the left-center field gap. Jim Edmonds ran it down, making a spectacular diving catch to keep the runners at their respective bases. St Louis went on to win the game and the National League.

They played another Game 7 two years later, and thanks to a Yadier Molina HR in the top of the ninth, St Louis beat the Mets 3-1 at Shea. It marked the first time since the 1967 World Series the Cardinals had won a Game 7 on the road.

Summation

Over 85 years of playoff baseball, the Cardinals have played 15 Game 7s and 1 Game 5. They are 7-1 as a franchise at home in those games, and 4-4 on the road. In comparison, the Philadelphia Phillies have never played a Game 7. They have played 2 Game 5s, winning the first, beating the Astros in extra innings to win the NL in 1980. But, they lost the second, to the Dodgers a year later* in the same situation.

What does it all mean? No Phillie on the current roster has ever played in a Game 5/7 for that franchise. The Cardinals have 4 men left from the 2006 playoff run: Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, and … Chris Carpenter, tonight’s starter. Additionally, tradition here has to favor St Louis. Plus, the veterans who played in those games of yore – men like Lou Brock, Gibson, Red Schoendienst, Willie McGee, even Stan Musial – keep that tradition alive by being a part of the locker room during spring training, and passing that tradition on to the current generation.

Everyone looks for even the slightest edge in games like this. Only in games like this can intangibles play a role. Experience and tradition favor the Cardinals. That has to count for something. It might be the last straw they need to break the Phillies back.

* Editor’s Note: It should be noted that this game five in Phillies history in 1981 was the first ever division series. This series was mandated by the players strike that year.

The only thing hotter than the temperature in St. Louis was the battle for the 1967 National League pennant. It had suddenly become a three team race, two of which were the St. Louis Cardinals and the visiting Cincinnati Reds. The Reds had led the league for most of the season, but the Cardinals kept pace, never falling more than 4 1/2 games behind. It had been a two team race until the Cubs went on a tear, winning 16 of their last 19 games, including a recent 3 game sweep of the Reds. That knocked the Reds out of first place and put the Cubs into contention for the first time in several years.

At the start of this series, the Cardinals and Cubs were tied for first place and Cincinnati was starting to fade, now 5 games behind. The Cubs would give back nearly all of the ground they gained over the next two weeks, but it was this Independence Day series between the Cardinals and Reds that would set the tone for the remainder of the 1967 season.

The Cardinals seemed to be in good shape entering the series. Orlando Cepeda (.348) and Tim McCarver (.346) were chasing Roberto Clemente for the batting title, and were second and third in the league, respectively. Curt Flood was also in the mix, batting .306 at the time. Lou Brock, Roger Maris and and Julian Javier were also flirting with .300.

Milt Pappas

If that wasn’t enough for the Reds to deal with, the Cardinals starter on the night was Bob Gibson (9-6). But it wasn’t just any Bob Gibson. This was Gibson at his absolute meanest, and that meant trouble for the Reds. Gibson was coming off the worst outing of his career, giving up 9 runs in just 2/3 of an inning against the San Francisco Giants. When he took the mound, it looked like he had something to prove – we just didn’t quite know what it was.

Facing the Cardinals was veteran right hander, Milt Pappas. Pappas had recently come over to the National League after an impressive stint with the Baltimore Orioles. This was his 9th consecutive season with more wins than losses, and 10th if you are willing to include his rookie season where he went 10-10 as a 19 year old. In spite of all of his success, he always seemed to have trouble with the Cardinals.

A quick start

Gibson made quick work out of the Reds in the top of the first, as he would do for most of the game. A strikeout, an infield ground out and another strikeout and it was the Cardinals turn to hit.

And did they hit. And hit. And hit.

Lou Brock would lead off with a double, followed by singles by Curt Flood, Roger Maris and Orlando Cepeda. Before Pappas could even work up a sweat, the Cardinals had a 2-0 lead and were threating for more. Tim McCarver would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Maris for the 3rd Cardinals run. Infield singles by Mike Shannon and Julian Javier would load the bases and end the day for the Reds starter. Don Nottebart, a former starter turned long reliever, would take over and he would be greeted rudely by light hitting Dal Maxvill who would clear the bases with a loud double in the right field gap. An errant throw allows Maxvill to score and the Cardinals now had a commanding 7-0 lead, with still only one out. Bob Gibson would extend the inning with a single.

What happens next united a team that was lacking a bit of identity, and they would need that over the coming months as they faced enough adversity to demolish a lesser team.

Thrown out

Lou Brock

Lou Brock would make the second out of the first inning with a fielders choice, forcing Gibson at second base. There was no chance of doubling up the speedy Brock. With a 7 run lead, Brock attempts to steal second base and is thrown out, ending the inning. He also angered the Reds in the process. Apparently the Reds did not appreciate Brock running in that situation, and would soon retaliate. Not once, but twice – and that was just one too many.

Gibson would shut down the Reds quickly in the second and third innings, striking out seven of the first nine batters he faced. The Cardinals would go quietly in the second, but started another rally against Nottebart in the third.

Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon would start the inning with singles, putting runners at the corner. Deciding this was the time to make a statement, Nottebart brushes back Julian Javier, inviting the ire of Cardinals fans that remember Javier paying a similar price in 1965. Javier would ground into a fielders choice with McCarver being thrown out at home. The inning would end without a further incident, but tempers were clearly heating up.

In the fourth inning, Gibson would strike out two more Reds, bringing his total to 9. He was also throwing a perfect game, retiring the first 12 Reds rather quietly.

Once too often

Nottebart would again voice his displeasure of Brock’s running in the first inning by hitting the Cardinals left fielder to start the home half of the 4th inning. If he had not dusted Javier in the previous inning, that might have passed without a response. One was fine, but two batters could not be tolerated. Somehow, the Reds forgot who was on the mound for the Cardinals.

A return message was clearly delivered in the top of the fifth inning. Bob Gibson would throw one of his best fastballs behind the head of Tony Perez, one of the leaders of the young Reds team. Just because he didn’t hit Perez didn’t mean he wasn’t sending a loud and unambiguous message: this ends here and now. But it didn’t. Far from it.

Tony Perez would fly out, but while heading back to the dugout he yelled something at Gibson.

There are two things you can’t do to Bob Gibson: cheat on the inside of the plate and bark at him. Tony Perez must not have gotten that memo.

Tony Perez

Perez and Gibson would share several verbal exchanges, both men getting more animated as they went on. The situation escalates when Orlando Cepeda comes over from first base to try to intervene, according to Cepeda’s version of the story. This move is misinterpreted by the Reds reliever, Bob Lee who comes running in from the Cincinnati bullpen.

Lee is a mountain of a man, listed at 6ft 3in and 225 pounds, but he looked much bigger at that particular moment.

Both teams ran out on the field and punches were thrown, hard and repeatedly. The scrum moved quickly into the Reds dugout and players started jumping in just as quickly as others were being thrown back onto the field of play. Even some fans got in on the conflict, helping out the home team. St. Louis police officers were soon dispatched to break up the fight, and they were eventually able to restore order, but not before several players were hurt, as was one of the officers.

The Reds manager had to be treated for lacerations from being spiked. The Reds reliever, Don Nottebart, received several facial cuts, but would stay in the game and pitch the bottom of the inning. Bob Gibson would jam the thumb on his pitching hand and it would bother him later in the game, prompting a call to the bullpen in the 8th inning. The most humorous of the injuries was to Tommy Helms, who broke a tooth – presumably the result of a Gibson punch. Helms would end the night 0-4 causing a sports writer to note that Gibson got more hits on Helms than Helms did on Gibby.

When play resumed, only one player was ejected: Bob Lee. While his actions had led to the escalation, the reason for his ejection was that he had entered the field of play illegally.

Back to the game

Orlando Cepeda

The game would continue, but it was clear that the fight had taken a toll on both teams. The Reds went quietly until the top of the 8th. Gibson was starting to struggle with his control, and the Reds started hitting him hard. After giving up 3 runs, manager Red Schoendeinst would go to his bullpen and Nelson Briles would quickly shut things down. Perhaps this was an omen as Briles would be called on to fill the spot in the rotation when Gibson lost two months to a broken leg.

The Cardinals would end up splitting the 4 game series, winning the first and last games while dropping the middle two. More important than this series, something had awakened in the Cardinals clubhouse. In a few weeks, Orlando Cepeda would stand up on a trunk and proclaim “Viva el Birdos”, and the Cardinals would go on to win the pennant and defeat the Red Sox in the fall classic. Looking back at the season, that bird might have taken flight in the 5th inning of this game. July 3, 1967.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

The San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates were supposed to battle for the National League Pennant in 1967. At least that was the plan before the season began.

The Cincinnati Reds had a lot to say about that early in the season. They got off to a quick start, leading by as many as 4 1/2 in early June. Eventually their pitching depth would come into play and they would fade during the dog days of summer. The Reds would end up winning 87 games, but would finish 19 behind the Cardinals when all was said and done.

The first meeting between the Reds and Cardinals would be a short two game series in early May. The Reds would come into St. Louis, hoping to make a statement, as well as increasing their lead in the National League standings. The scheduling would be fortunate for the Reds as manager, Dave Bristol, would be able to use his two best pitchers: Jim Maloney (1-0) and Milt Pappas (2-1). Red Schoendienst and the Cardinals would counter with their top two starters: Bob Gibson (3-1) and Ray Washburn (0-2). You could always count on Bob Gibson to give you a good game, but it was a healthy Ray Washburn that gave Cardinals fans the most to cheer about in the early part of 1967.

May 2 – St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 0

In the first game, Bob Gibson was exceptional. The big right hander was never in trouble. Gibson would only give up two hits in this game: a leadoff double to future Cardinal Vada Pinson in the fourth and a single to Leo Cardinas in the fifth. While dismantling the Reds lineup, Gibson would fan 12 and walk 2. From the very first pitch of the game, Gibson overmatched the first place Reds, making a statement of his own.

Jim Maloney

On the other side of the diamond, the Cardinals would put pressure on Jim Maloney all night long. A single by Tim McCarver in the second inning, advancing on a ground out by Mike Shannon would set up the first Cardinal run. McCarver would steal third base and later score on a Jim Maloney wild pitch.

The Cardinals would add three more runs in the fifth inning when Mike Shannon would hit a bases loaded double, scoring all three baserunners. Roger Maris would single in Bob Gibson for the final Cardinals run in the sixth, giving the home team a 5-0 lead.

All in all, a nifty 2 hit complete game shutout for Gibson’s fourth win of the season.

But that’s not the story. That would come 22 hours later.

May 3 – St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 0

When the Cardinals took the field the next night, we expected a rejuvenated Reds lineup to try to earn a split in the short series. What we got was one of the best pitched games of the year by Ray Washburn. Finally healthy after dealing with arm troubles, the newly retooled Washburn kept the Reds off balance all night long. Where Gibson was striking out Reds hitters, Washburn was getting weak ground balls to the infield. When your infield consists of Mike Shannon, Dal Maxvill, Julian Javier and Orlando Cepeda, that is a recipe for success. Like Gibson in the previous game, Washburn would surrender only two hits: a two out single by Pete Rose in the fourth and a two out single by Chico Ruiz in the fifth.

Milt Pappas

Other than a shaky first inning, Milt Pappas was nearly as good as Washburn. The top of the Cards order would manage a small rally in the fourth inning. Just as he had done in the previous game, Mike Shannon would deliver the big blow, a bases loaded single to drive in two runs – the only runs that would be scored in the game.

As the game wore on, Washburn seemed to get stronger and stronger. Forget any hits; in the the last three innings, the Reds would get only a single base runner (on a walk). When they did hit the ball, only two made it out of the infield, both harmless fly outs to Curt Flood. It was also one of the quickest games I’ve ever heard, lasting only an hour and forty minutes.

More important, this game was something Cardinals fans had been waiting to see since 1962, a healthy and dominating Ray Washburn. We would see a lot of this over the next two seasons.

Message delivered

The high flying Reds game into Busch Stadium, hoping to extend their lead. Over two games and just under four hours of baseball, all they managed were four hits. They left St. Louis with their tails tucked between their legs, as they would several more times that unforgettable summer.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

A game that started off so well ended up being painful to watch.

Let us start with the shocking: Albert Pujols grounded into three double plays yesterday. Three. First time in his career he’s ever done that. According to various reports, the Cardinal record for hitting into double plays in on game is 4, held by Joe Torre. Joe Torre did indeed ground into 4 DP’s in one game, but as a New York Met (21 July 1975). Reported on twitter by me, but I’m willing to bet Derrick Goold beat me to it. No doubt someone will have figured that out by now. Four is the Major League record.

The Cardinal record is indeed 3, which Pujols tied today. It’s been done twice before, by Scott Rolen, and Orlando Cepeda. Interestingly St Louis won the game that day in 1966 when Cepeda did it, but that may be because Bob Gibson was on the mound.

The other aspect of Pujols’ day that will have folks concerned is his oh for 2 with RISP. He also came up with a total of 5 guys on and didn’t drive any of them in. Good thing Matt Holliday had a big day, or this game might not have gotten to extra innings. It is only one game, but one wonders if all the contract talk weighs on him a little bit.

Despite the errors and lack of hitting – they ended with 12 hits but only 3 runs – this was a game they should have won. They did enough. We can blame Ryan Franklin for surrendering the bomb to Cameron Maybin in the ninth that tied it, and Ryan Theriot for taking his eye off Jon Jay’s throw in the eleventh that allowed Padre catcher Nick Hundley to scamper home with the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run, but that is not really fair. This game was lost when the Cardinals left 8 men on in the first 9 innings, when they had Tim Stauffer on the ropes while putting the first three men on the fourth, and the first two in the sixth, yet only scored one run total in those two innings.

Chris Carpenter looked good, and was efficient. Seven innings, 98 pitches, two earned runs (although by rights it should have been only one; how Skip Schumaker does not get charged with an error in the fifth when he didn’t hold the ball while tagging Ryan Ludwick out stealing is beyond me). Miguel Batista was Miguel Batista. Both Trever Miller and Brian Tallet pitched well. Augenstein struggled but that’s somewhat understandable for his first game back in the majors in over a year (and his defense betrayed him too).

We ought to tip our cap to the Padre defense. Rightfielder Will Venable made several outstanding plays in the field. The new Padre keystone combo looked mighty good turning 4 double plays, and they individually made several solid plays. This game is put away early on without the stellar glove work by San Diego.

The Cardinals get an off-day tomorrow, then return to action Saturday, when Jake Westbrook squares off against Clayton Richard.