The St. Louis Cardinals were coming home from a disappointing east coast road trip. They went 7-5 over the twelve games, but had dropped two of three in the final series to the first place Cincinnati Reds. It was more than losing two games to the Reds, it was how the last game ended that could have sent the team into a prolonged slump.

Rookie sensation, Dick Hughes, had taken a perfect game through a rain delay and into the eighth inning. A couple of bloop hits later, the Reds had a lead. The Cardinals didn’t give up and did mount a rally in the ninth inning, getting the tying run on third base with nobody out. Then came the play nobody expected – a game ending triple play. I can still hear Harry Caray grasping for words to describe what he had just witnessed.

This game on the following day was just what the Cardinals needed – one so strange that they could forget all about the base running blunder in Cincinnati.

Denny Lemaster

For this one game series against the Atlanta Braves, the visitors would go with one of their left handed veterans, Denny Lemaster. Lemaster was an innings eater, but was susceptible to the long ball and that kept him from stringing together a significant number of wins. He would generally keep his team in the game, but not dominate.

For the Cardinals, a home town favorite would be on the mound: Ray Washburn. For trivia buffs, it was Ray Washburn that threw out the first pitch in the new Busch Stadium a year earlier. Washburn was a tremendous talent, but a series of injuries had kept him from putting together that season we all knew he had in him. In just a few days, another freak injury will cost him a month on the disabled list, but he had a game to pitch tonight first.

Don’t Mess with Hank

The game started off like many others against the Braves in the 60s: two quick infield groundouts and then one mistake to Henry Aaron for very loud 1-0 Braves lead. That didn’t bother the Cardinals veteran starter. Washburn responds by striking out Mack Jones to end the inning.

Lemaster would also have a typical first inning with Julian Javier reaching base on an error by Clete Boyer and a walk to Orlando Cepeda, but the inconsistent Alex Johnson fails to extend the inning.

A case against the Designated Hitter

It looked as if Washburn would have a quick second inning, striking out Joe Torre strikeout and getting Felipe Alou to ground out. Clete Boyer would atone for his error in the first inning by pulling a double into left field. The Cardinals would play the odds by walking eighth place hitter Dennis Menke to get to the Braves pitcher. Denny Lemaster would only get 7 hits in 1967 and should have been over-matched by Washburn, but he would hit a bloop single to center, driving in Boyer for a 2-0 lead.

As he did in the first inning, Washburn would bear down after limit the damage to just the single run. Not just this inning, the next five. Once in a groove, Washburn was nearly unhittable. Ask the San Francisco Giants whom he would no-hit in 1968.

Lemaster would continue to struggle, retiring the Cardinals in order only once – the 7-9 hitters in the fourth. With all of these base runners, the Cardinals had to break through, eventually.

They did in the fifth inning. After two quick outs, a walk to Curt Flood would come back to haunt the Atlanta hurler. 1967′s NL MVP, Orlando Cepeda, would rip a double into the left field corner putting the tying runs in scoring position. The light hitting platoon outfielder Alex Johnson would get another chance, and this time he would deliver, lining a single to center scoring both Flood and Cepeda for a 2-2 tie.

Both pitchers would put up zeros in the sixth inning with the Cardinals pulling off a nifty double play started by Cepeda and a strong relay throw by Maxvill to Washburn covering first to complete the twin killing. The Cardinals infield defense was the best in baseball – Maxvill and Javier being one the best middle infield combinations in team history.

Late Inning Trouble

The Braves would regain the lead in the top of the seventh inning.

Against a tiring Ray Washburn, Felipe Alou would hit a one out double in the right field gap. Clete Boyer again would hurt the Cardinals with a single up the middle. Javier was able to get to the ball but unable to throw Boyer out. Alou held at third and things momentarily looked good for the Cardinals. Washburn had already induced three double plays and he would try for his fourth. And he almost did. Charlie Lau hit the ball slowly to Maxvill who made the force throw to Javier but Lau beat the play at first and Alou scored the go ahead run.

The Braves would extend their lead in the next inning. Woody Woodward would lead off with a single to left field. The Braves would play for the single run and sacrifice Woodward to second base. Up to the plate steps Henry Aaron, and not wanting to repeat the first inning, Aaron is intentionally walked to set up another double play chance.

Cardinals manager, Red Schoendienst, would play this conventionally going to his bullpen with the hard throwing young left-hander, Larry Jaster, to face the left handed hitting Mack Jones. The Braves would counter by pinch hitting with Rico Carty – one of the best pure hitters of the era. Carty would miss the entire 1968 season fighting tuberculosis and would put up huge numbers in 1969 and Pujols like in 1970. But this was 1967 and Larry Jaster would win this battle, for now. Carty hit the ball back to Jaster and the Cards would turn a nifty 1-6-3 double play – their fourth of the evening.

A Wild Wild Wild Ending

This brings us to the ninth inning, and not even Barnum and Bailey could dream about what happened next.

Larry Jaster was brilliant in the eighth but quite the opposite in the ninth. Joe Torre would lead off with an infield single. I’m not sure what was moving slower, the ball off the bat or the future Cardinal star running down the first base line, but when the dust cleared Torre was standing on first.

After an Alou fly out to Lou Brock in left field, Jaster would lose his control. He would walk Clete Boyer and Marty Martinez, loading the bases. Red would again go to his bullpen for his big right hander Ron Willis. Willis would get the Braves pitcher to pop out to second, but Woody Woodward would battle Willis eventually drawing a walk, giving the Braves a 4-2 lead. Frustrated and not wanting to see the heart of the Atlanta order, Schoendienst went back to the bullpen for his closer, Joe Hoerner. Hoerner would only face one batter as he struck out Gary Geiger to end the inning.

For most other teams, the game was essentially over. But these were the 1967 Go Go El Birdos and they weren’t going down without a fight. And some serious entertainment along the way.

Journeyman and backup catcher Johnny Romano would lead off the ninth inning by reaching base on Clete Boyer’s second error of the game. His wild throw allows Romano to advance to second base. Lemaster had gone about as far as he could and the Braves went to their bullpen.

You cannot believe what would happen over the next five minutes.

The first strange move goes to Red Schoendienst. He pinch runs for Johnny Romano with Dick Hughes. Yes, Dick Hughes, the pitcher. The pitcher who took the hard luck loss the day before. Hughes was one heck of an athlete, and could run as well as any of the hitters left on the bench, so why not ?

Phil Niekro

Strange move number two goes to the Braves for bringing in knuckleballer Phil Niekro to close out this game, or at least try. The Cardinals had great success with a knuckleball closer earlier in the decade, but this was an unusual move to say the least. There was one player on the field that hated the knucklball more than all of the Cardinals hitters – poor Joe Torre. He hated to catch a knuckleballer. And would hate it even more before this inning was over.

Niekro immediately threw a wild pitch allowing Dick Hughes to advance to third base. Lou Brock actually hit one of Niekro’s floaters, far enough out to center field to score Hughes and cut the Braves lead to 4-3.

Julian Javier just stood in the batters box while Niekro threw floater after floater. Javier knew he wasn’t going to hit Niekro’s knuckleball, so he took his chances that Niekro would walk him, and Javier won that battle.

This is when Cardinals radio announcer Harry Caray asked “He wouldn’t throw a wild pitch would he?” As if Niekro was listening to Harry, a pitch scooted past a frustrated Torre with Javier taking second base.

Again Caray asks, “He wouldn’t do it again, would he ?” And yes he would. Another floater that evades the glove of Joe Torre and the tying run in now standing on third.

The patient Curt Flood then delivers with a line drive single to left field and the game is now tied 4-4.

Beginning to worry about running out of players, Red Schoendient pulls another switch that not even Tony LaRussa would consider. He pinch runs for Curt Flood using Al Jackson, who had been warming up the Cardinals bullpen.

Future Cardinal pitcher Clay Carrol would strike out Orlando Cepeda and get pinch hitter Roger Maris to fly out to end the inning, but the never say die Cardinals had tied the game and into extra innings we would go. But not for long.

A Walkoff …… Triple ?

Al Jackson would take the mound and Roger Maris would go into right field. This is exactly the opposite of how you would do this. Jackson was a starter and Maris would be taken out of games late for defensive replacements. But this was the carnival of June 1, 1967 and the normal rules do not apply.

In the previous five seasons the little left hander would lose 20, 17, 16, 20 and 15 games. Not too many pitchers lose 20 games in a season, Jackson did it twice. On this evening, and for the duration of a single inning, Jackson pitched like Sandy Koufax making quick work of the heart of the Braves order with the ball never leaving the infield.

The bottom of the tenth inning would go even more quickly.

Bobby Tolan

After an infield ground out by Tim McCarver, the light hitting utility infielder Phil Gagliano would hit a weak grounder to third and beat the throw for an infield single. Gagliano barely hit his weight, but his hits always seemed to be in key situations.

After an infield pop out, Clay Carroll would face Bobby Tolan. And the game would come to an end. One of the most loved players of the era, and one that we let get away, Tolan splits the outfielders with a line drive that goes all the way to the center field wall, scoring the speedy Gagliano from first. Bobby Tolan ends the game with a walk off triple and the Cardinals would have the most improbable 5-4 win.

The Cardinals would sputter a bit over the next few days, but this win ignited a run to the pennant that would have them survive losing both Bob Gibson and Ray Washburn to broken bones. And another World Championship for the Gateway City. More important, the unusual ending of the game gave fans and sports writers something to talk about other than running into a triple play to lose a game.

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.

During the offseason we have been taking a look at the past, giving readers a timeline of St. Louis baseball throughout history. Last time we learned about “Cha-Cha” Cepeda and the El Birdos, Gibson’s incredible pitching which led to consecutive pennants in 1967 and 1968, before Gussie Busch demoralized the team in 1969 and caused them to stumble. Would their volatile owner hold them back?

Moral was low, emotions were high, and the Cardinals that were so good two years in a row had been cut down to fourth place in 1969. Red Schoendienst was trying to hold the team together, but then the team lost their voice. After twenty-four years in the Cardinals’ broadcast booth, Harry Caray was fired and bounced to the Oakland A’s, Chicago White Sox, and finally Chicago Cubs, where he stayed until his death in 1998. Fortunately for Cardinal fans, Jack Buck stepped in to become the voice of the franchise, and no one can argue that this was a poor choice in broadcasters!

1970 brought newcomer Dick Allen, who came as part of the infamous Curt Flood trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. Players shifted around the diamond to accommodate the slugging first baseman, with Joe Torre moving from first to catcher and replacing Tim McCarver, who had been sent to Philadelphia in the same trade. He and Torre were really the only players who could be considered sluggers on the team, as they hit 55 of the 113 team home runs on the year.

Thank goodness for Bob Gibson, as he was literally the only pitcher on the staff with a winning percentage over .500, checking in at .767 with a 23-7 record and 3.12 ERA. The team as a whole could not get it together, and sat twelve and a half games back on July 29. August, however, brought an inexplicable hot streak, as the team went 19-11 and suddenly sat just five and a half back on the morning of September 1! Stranger things had happened before…

…but not this time. Dick Allen tore a hamstring sliding into second base, and the slide extended to the team, as they finished September/October at 12-17, which left them 76-86, thirteen games back of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the NL East division crown.

Joe Torre

1971’s high points must include Joe Torre and Steve Carlton at the top of the list. Torre captured the MVP award, hitting a torrid .363/.421/.555 while making another jump in field positioning, this time to third base. Carlton showed another glimpse of what was to come, going 20-9 with a 3.56 ERA, all while picking up his third All-Star selection in his age 27 season.

The Cardinals as a whole were a contender, although the 90-72 record looks almost falsified on paper when looking at the numbers. There were no real sluggers on the team outside of Torre, who slammed 24. They were small ball players who slapped out singles and relied on stringing them together to get players home. Lou Brock swiped 64 bases, but the next highest total on the team was right fielder Jose Cardenal, who nabbed a mere 12. To be perfectly honest, this team does not look like one that should have finished second in the division, but stranger things have happened.

A fun tidbit? 1971 was the year that the team switched from button up uniforms to the t-shirt style tops that they would use until 1992.

Sparks flew in the offseason when contract negotiations with Steve Carlton became ugly. There was a $10,000 gap between Gussie Busch’s offer and Carlton’s demands, and Busch, citing a government-mandate that people try to cost-control wages, informed his star pitcher that he was being “unpatriotic.” Busch turned to general manager Bing Devine to trade Carlton away, and Devine, knowing it was trade the man or collect unemployment himself, sent Carlton to Philadelphia for fellow pitcher Rick Wise. A second casualty to the rotation came when Gussie Busch looked at big lefthander Jerry Reuss and demanded that he cut off his mustache. Reuss refused. See ya later. Reuss was sent off to Houston for pitcher Scipio Spinks. Spinks could have been something, but after hurting himself sliding across the plate his star faded quickly.

Because of that, the Cardinals took a rather large dip in 1972. While Bob Gibson would have perhaps his last great season (a 19-11 record with a 2.46 ERA), the pitcher brought in to replace Carlton – Wise – would go 16-16, and fellow youngster Reggie Cleveland went 14-15. Hard to replace a twenty game winner with guys floating around the .500 mark. But Busch was not about to let a young gun tell him what to do, so he let a Hall of Famer go over $10,000.

The lineup in 1972 was all or nothing. Half of the starting eight were hitting roughly .300 or better, and the other half were kind of floundering, with light hitting shortstop Dal Maxvill hitting an anemic .221/.299/.261. Want to know how to have a lower slugging percentage than on-base percentage? Ask Maxvill – he did it every single year of his fourteen year career. Singles please!

After perhaps overperforming in 1971, the team dipped back down to fourth in the NL East in 1972, rounding out with a 75-81 record.

1973 was a ridiculous roller coaster of a year for the team. After a beyond abysmal 3-15 record in April, the team found themselves already eleven and a half games back by May 15! They then turned on the jets, going 53-33 over the course of the next three months. By August 7, the Cardinals were 5 games up on the Amazin’ Mets. Of course, they then dropped eight straight games and tumbled down to second. The Mets were amazing for a reason. They hung around the .500 mark most of the year, then turned on the jets in the final month of the season, going 20-8 and taking the NL East crown by a mere one and a half games over the Cardinals.

What happened? The team’s pitching staff could go toe-to-toe with anyone in the league and come out victorious, but then their heart and soul – Bob Gibson – went down with torn cartilage in his knee, and the team folded, losing 29 of their last 47 games. An 81-81 record felt like a slap in the face to a team that had battled back from such a terrible start. They lost one run game after one run game, never having the hitter in place to knock in all the baserunners. It was frustrating to say the least.

1974 was a year for some of the younger players on the team to really get their feet wet. 24 year old pitchers Bob Forsch and Al Hrabosky were rising to the surface. Catcher Ted Simmons was only 24, but he was already going into his seventh season (fifth full season) by this time, and had already established himself as perennial .300 hitter with a decent arm behind the plate. Two more players – Bake McBride and Reggie Smith – joined the team to add both pop in the lineup and speed on the bases.

Lou Brock

Speed was one thing this team had plenty of. Lou Brock, at age 35, went absolutely crazy on the basepaths, burning up the bases like they were going to evaporate. His 118 stolen bases stood as a record until 1982, when Rickey Henderson surpassed him. McBride had 30 thefts of his own, but the team finally had a little bit of power too. Smith and Simmons both turned in 20+ home run seasons, and RBI totals were climbing out of the 50’s into a more reasonable range. The pitchers finally felt like they could give up more than one or two runs and still have a chance to win.

The team battled back and forth with the Pittsburgh Pirates all season long for the division crown. Willie Stargell led a team that could beat you eight different ways, and found ways to win late in the game constantly. It went down to the final series of the season, with the Cardinals up in Montreal facing the Expos. A freak pop-up that no one called cost the team a game. Pittsburgh lost their last game of the season, and if the Cardinals won, it would push them into a tie, and send them to Pittsburgh for a one game playoff. Unfortunately, the team was playing in 36 degree weather with sleet coming down. Gibson tried to grit out a win, but an eighth inning pitch to Expo Mike Jorgensen found the bleachers, and the Cardinals in turn found their couches to watch the playoffs on TV.

Mediocrity is maddening, but losing on the last day of the season is a wound that does not heal overnight.

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

Every time I remember hearing Harry Caray say “Al Jackson”, it was preceded by “Little”. I don’t know that anybody asked Jackson if he liked the nickname, but it was always said with respect and admiration, so I hope Mr. Jackson doesn’t mind if I call him that a few more times.

But “Little” did describe what Jackson looked like on the mound. The record books say that the left-handed pitcher stood 5′ 10″ and weighed in at 160 pounds, but when he pitched for the Cardinals it looked like a good breeze might blow him off the mound. It never happened, and at that point in his career, the only ones who were likely to be blown away were the opposing batters. In particular, the left handed batters. We often hear about current players that demonstrate a bit of old school attitude and we remark that they could have played back in the day. Jackson was the opposite, a player who was a couple of decades ahead of his time. If he were playing today, he would be a left handed relief specialist and would have a long and prosperous career. Arthur Rhodes, anybody ?

A Humble Beginning

Al Jackson was signed out of high school by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1955 and immediately put to work as a starter in their minor league system. After a bit of a slow start, he became a head turner with the Lincoln Chiefs (A) of the Western League. An 18-9 record with a microscopic ERA of 2.07 would earn him a couple of looks with the big club in 1959.

Jackson made his major league debut on May 3, 1959 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Even this early in the season, Solly Hemus’s Cardinals were in free fall and still a few players and managerial change away from becoming a contender in the National League. The Pirates were about to make history behind a couple of youngsters named Bill Mazeroski and Roberto Clemente, but in 1959 they would finish the season with a bit better than a .500 record. It was clear that the rebuilding was well under way. A nasty early season double header gave Jackson a chance to show what he could do.

The little left-hander was greeted rather rudely by the Cardinals when he took over for starter Bennie Daniels, who had been lifted for a pinch hitter the previous inning. With the Cardinals leading 2-1 at that point, a pair of Smith’s would beat up on young Jackson. Not Lonnie and Ozzie, in 1959 it was Bobby and Hal. Bobby led off the inning with a double, and would be advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Don Blasingame. Hal Smith would single home Bobby with the third Cardinals run. Even the Solly Hemus Cardinals ran as Hal, who was a catcher, would be caught stealing for for the second out of the inning. Cardinals legend Joe Cunningham would become Jackson’s first major league strikeout victim, ending the inning.

Jackson’s next inning was almost a repeat of his first. Lee Tate would lead off by striking out. Bill White would single, and advance to second base when the Pirates failed to make a play on Lindy McDaniel’s sacrifice bunt – both runners were safe. Unfortunately, the Cardinals didn’t have another Smith they could call on, so Ken Boyer and Gene Green would both make an out to squelch a second rally.

The young lefty would get another chance at the end of the month, this time as a starter. It would not go much better, so he found himself back in the bullpen. He did get another start at the end of June, also against the Cardinals. This time he was staked to a huge lead as Ernie Broglio failed to make it out of the first inning, giving up 5 runs in just 2/3 of an inning. Jackson actually did worse as he only survived 1/3 of an inning, giving up 4 runs of his own. Both of the men that relieved Jackson and Broglio got lit up as well, and the game got out of hand quickly. The Pirates would end up winning this wild one 10-8, but after it was over, Jackson would be heading back to Columbus, where he would just dominate the International League.

Jackson would spend all of 1960 at Columbus and miss out on the Pirates surprising World Series Championship. After a solid, but still learning year in 1960, Jackson turned in another brilliant year with Columbus in 1961, compiling a 12-7 record with a sparkling ERA of 2.89. That would earn the little lefty another chance in the big leagues when the rosters expanded in September. He would get two starts, going 9 innings in each. He would get a no-decision in his first one, but earn his first career win against the Cincinnati Reds with a complete game at the end of the season. It’s the game in between that turned heads as he would pitch 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in a loss – this would be typical of the way he would be used later in his career.

Expansion and an Opportunity

Jackson had played for some very good Columbus Jets teams in the minor leagues, and was part of a good organization in Pittsburgh. That didn’t prepare him for what would come next, the expansion New York Mets. Jackson would be drafted by the new club and was immediately thrown into the rotation with a bunch of young players and a handful of veterans that were in the declining years of their careers. Jackson would lose 20 games in that inaugural season, but that didn’t even lead the staff. Future Cardinal Roger Craig had that distinction with 24 losses. It’s not that Jackson pitched poorly, or Craig for that matter, the Mets were just that bad. They would lose 120 games in 1962, and wouldn’t lose less than 100 games until 1966. Tough luck losses were going to mount quickly, and Jackson had to learn to deal with that.

Along the way, there were a number of high points.

Jackson would pitch the first shutout for the Mets organization on April 29, 1960 as he defeated the Philadelphia Phillies. But that was nothing like what would happen later in the summer.

On June 22, Jackson would face Turk Farrell and the other expansion franchise, the Houston Colt 45′s. The Colts were not doing as poorly as the Mets and should have won this game easily. Nobody at the Polo Grounds thought much as this game got under way. With one out in the first inning, Joe Amalfitano would single sharply to left, a clean hit. This would become important in just a few moments. Roman Mejias would strike out and then Norm Larker would walk. Again, nobody thought much at this point in the game. Then Jackson would retire the next 22 batters in a row. Hardly anything was leaving the infield – Jackson was on cruise control. The Colts would only get one more base runner in the game, a lead-off walk by Pidge Browne in the top of the ninth inning. If this game had been played in the reverse order, the Polo Grounds crowd would have been going insane. Jackson would finish the game allowing just the one single.

The most insane thing that happened to Jackson, and any pitcher in my lifetime, occurred on August 14. The Mets were an embarrassing 47 1/2 games behind the Giants and Dodgers who were battling it out for the NL Pennant. On this afternoon game against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, Casey Stengel would earn the Dusty Baker Award for abusing his pitching staff as he would let Al Jackson pitch for 4 hours and 35 minutes and a total of 15 innings. Through 14 innings, Jackson had only given up 1 run and 4 hits. The game unraveled quickly in the 15th inning as Tony Gonzalez leads off with a pop-up on the infield that first baseman Marv Throneberry boots all the way to third base. Two singles and an intentional walk would be the difference as Jackson lost the game, 3-1. While there are no accurate pitch counts for this game, it is estimated that Jackson threw over 200 pitches. If there was an encyclopedia entry for “heartbreaking loss”, it would have the box score for this game and Al Jackson’s photo.

Al Jackson’s name will go in the record books two more times while pitching for the Mets. Jackson would record the last win in the Polo Grounds, on September 11, 1963, with a nifty complete game against the San Francisco Giants. He would also get the first win in Shea Stadium, the Mets new home in 1964. A huge crowd on Sunday, April 19, saw Jackson dominate his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates as he tosses a complete game shutout.

Nearly a Knockout

On October 2, 1964, Al Jackson nearly did what the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees all failed to do – keep the Cardinals from winning the World Series. When the Mets came to St. Louis to close out the regular season, the Cardinals were in a virtual tie with the Phillies and Reds with just 3 games to play. The Cardinals were on fire and had just won their last 8, a 5 game sweep in Pittsburgh, and a back-breaking 3 game sweep of the Phillies. All that stood between them and the World Series was a 51-108 Mets team and a little left-hander with a 10-15 record. To make this game all the more poignant, on the mound for the Cardinals was an 18-11 hard throwing right-hander named Bob Gibson. Game over, raise the NL Pennant, right ? Not so fast.

Oh, Gibson was brilliant, as he had been since catching fire back on August 6. In 8 innings of work, he would allow a lone run in the third inning on a single and stolen base by former Cardinal George Altman and an RBI single by Ed Kranepool. Along the way, Gibson would strike out 7 while walking none. This had been typical of Gibson lately, and we would enjoy a lot more of this over the next decade.

But, and there’s always a but, Al Jackson matched Gibson pitch for pitch. Not only that, he did a little better. The Cardinals got nothing on the little left-hander, and he would win the game 1-0, derailing the Cardinals pennant run for a day. When Ray Sadecki got bombed the next day, it seemed like dream of a Cardinals/Yankees World Series was just that, a dream. It took a miraculous pitching effort on the last day of the regular season by Curt Simmons and Bob Gibson and some timely hitting by Bill White, Ken Boyer, Dick Groat and Dal Maxvill – yes, that’s right – Dal Maxvill, and a home run by Curt Flood to propel the Cardinals into post-season. But the sting of that 1-0 defeat at the hands of Al Jackson would continue to haunt the Cardinals.

Free Al Jackson

Jackson would continue to pitch well for the Mets, but would lose 20 games for the second time in his career in 1965. As before, another hurler would lose even more, time it was Jack Fisher with a mind-boggling 24 losses to lead the staff. Fortunately for Jackson, his career was about to take off, but not with the Mets.

Immediately following the 1965 season, the Cardinals traded future Hall of Famer, Ken Boyer, to the Mets for third baseman, Charley Smith and left-handed starter Al Jackson. General Manager Bob Howsam was following Branch Rickey’s rule:

Always trade a player one year too early rather one year too late

It was hoped that Smith would be able to take over for Boyer at third base, but it was Jackson that the Cardinals wanted in the deal. Smith would have a disappointing season in 1966, but would be part of one of the most famous trades in Cardinals history when he was sent to the New York Yankees for Roger Maris in one of Bob Howsam’s last deals before leaving the club prior to the start of the 1967 season.

Unlike Smith, Jackson did not disappoint. He would start the ’66 season in the bullpen and would only allow a single run in April. Jackson would earn his first victory as a Cardinal in early May, in a nice piece of long relief against his former club, the New York Mets. Oh, there is much more irony left in the Al Jackson story.

That performance would earn him a start on May 13 and he would go the distance in an 8-0 shutout against the Atlanta Braves. Four more quality starts before Jackson’s first rough outing included some dominating wins against Cincinnati and Philadelphia plus a couple of hard luck losses. Even this early in the season, the improved defense behind Jackson in St. Louis was making a huge difference. By the end of July, Jackson had run his record to 11-8 including two huge wins against the defending World Series Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers. His ERA was also two runs lower than it had ever been in New York.

The season wouldn’t end well for Jackson in the win-loss record, but his pitching had been exceptional. He would finish with an 13-15 record, but it’s the ERA of 2.51 that shows how well he pitched. Of the starters, only Bob Gibson had a better ERA, and just barely at 2.44.

Déjà vu all over again

The Cardinals would start the 1967 with an amazingly strong rotation of Bob Gibson, Ray Washburn, rookie Steve Carlton, the 1966 rookie phenomenon Larry Jaster and Al Jackson. Jackson’s first two starts of the season were somewhat of a tale of two cities with the first being a nice win against the Dodgers, but he got shelled in the second start. That brings us to the early season surprise of 1967, when Al Jackson faced the Houston Astros on April 25. Yes, this is the same Houston team that he nearly no-hit back in 1962. And he nearly did it again, but this time he kept 10,000 Houston fans in total suspense for nearly two hours as he retired one batter after another. Until Bob Aspromonte led off the home half of the eighth inning with a no-doubter single to left field. Little Al Jackson toughened and retired the next six batters, for his second career 1 hitter.

In an interesting turn of events, a rough month of May might have been the best thing for Jackson and the Cardinals. With the lefty failing to get deep into his starts, Red Schoendienst decides to move Jackson to the bullpen to make room for a suddenly dominating Dick Hughes, who nearly threw a perfect game of his own on May 30 in Cincinnati. The move to the bullpen was working out quite well for Jackson and the Cardinals. In shorter relief appearances, opposing teams just were not able to score runs against the little left hander. He got better as the season went on, being particular effective in the final push for the NL Pennant, posting a 2.15 ERA over August and September. The wins started coming in bunches too, and Jackson would finish the season with a 9-4 record, the only winning season in his career. The only time that Jackson struggled was in his spot starts, which became a bit more frequent after losing Ray Washburn and Bob Gibson to injuries. Red Schoendienst had learned in 1967 what would become a common approach today – a hard throwing lefty with a good curve can cause a lot of trouble to the opposing teams late in the game, especially against left handed batters. Al Jackson had just become one of the Cardinals first LOOGYs.

1967 was another first for Al Jackson – the first time he was on a World Championship team – but he would not see any action in the Fall Classic. With a starting rotation of Bob Gibson, Dick Hughes, Nelson Briles and Steve Carlton and a pair of strong lefties in the bullpen (Joe Hoerner and Hal Woodeshick), there just wasn’t any room for Jackson.

A Bad Break

1967 would be the final year for Al Jackson as a Cardinal. When Bob Gibson suffered a broken leg against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 15, perhaps it was on omen when Al Jackson took over when Gibson was unable to continue in the game. The New York Mets came into town the next day and just before the teams arrived at the stadium, a deal was made sending the Mets pitcher Jack Lamabe to the Cardinals for a player to be named later. Lamabe walked from the visiting locker room over to the home team’s facilities and introduced himself. His first outing was a little rough, but he became a huge part of a strong bullpen that kept the Cardinals in games while Gibson healed. There would be a huge price to pay though, and after the end of the 1967 season, the Mets took back Al Jackson.

Even though he was used sparingly in 1968, he pitched well for the Mets. His 3-7 record was more of a reflection of the Mets throwing Jackson back into the rotation instead of letting him thrive in the bullpen. Like with the Cardinals the previous season, in short and medium relief, Jackson was superb. Even with the huge number of starts, his ERA of 3.69 was very respectable, but would have been a run or more lower if he’d worked out of the pen exclusively.

Jackson would start the 1969 season with the Mets in the bullpen, but would struggle. He would also miss out on the excitement of the Mets amazing World Series Championship when he was sent to Cincinnati in June for cash. He would finish out his career with the Reds, appearing in 33 games that summer, all in relief. One final piece of irony in the story of Little Al Jackson. He would earn a win in his last major league appearance, in long relief against the Houston Astros. In 3 2/3 innings, he would allow just a single hit.

The Story Continues

Even though Jackson’s playing days were over, his baseball career would continue. Not only had Jackson pitched with some of the best in the game (Gibson, Seaver), he was a heck of a pitcher himself, so it was no surprise when he turned up next as the Boston Red Sox pitching coach, a job he would hold from 1977 to 1979. A decade later he would re-appear with the Baltimore Orioles in 1989, serving until 1991. And as if scripted by Abner Doubleday, Jackson’s last coaching job would be with the New York Mets, in 1999 and 2000. He has recently been a special assistant for the Mets and remains active in events such as fantasy baseball camps. He was also present at the Amazing Mets 40th anniversary as well as the closing ceremonies for Shea Stadium.

Mets fans remember Jackson fondly as the ace of a very poor team, that professionally took the baseball every four days and gave it his best. They look past his win-loss record and remember him for the quality pitcher that he was. Even though he was in St. Louis for such a brief time, the Little man from Waco, Texas sure left a huge impression. I hope that if Jackson ever appears at a Cardinals event, he will be remembered just as fondly.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at Throatwarbler’s Blog. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.