In a by-gone era, there was a bit of a perception from the outside looking in that the Kansas City Royals were a franchise opposed to minorities.

Black pitchers were essentially unheard of in Kansas City. But John Mayberry, Hal McRae, Frank White and Amos Otis, prominent black position players in the 1970s, more than made up for it.

Hispanics, on the other hand, played almost no role with the Royals for decades. Tracing the history of Mexican-born and Latin-born Royals makes for a short story.

So to make a Royals All-Star team of Hispanic players is difficult. But in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, it’s worth a try.

The first problem was what to do with new members of the team Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar. Perez is already the greatest Hispanic catcher in team history. He has virtually no competition. But he’s not even played a full season in KC.

So for the sake of the exercise, the team will exclude current players who haven’t played at least two seasons for the Royals. And to keep it simple, the team will only include players born outside of the U.S.

Catcher: Perez will own this spot in no time. But the Royals first All Star was Puerto Rican Ellie Rodriguez. Someone had to make the All-Star Team in 1969. Why not a guy who hit just .236 with 2 homers in that inaugural season?

He gets the sentimental nod over Dominican Miguel Olivo, who hit 35 homers and had 106 RBIs while sharing the catching duties for two seasons. Olivo was probably a lot better than Rodriguez, but he never could unseat John Buck, which tells you something.

1B: Wow. Almost no options here at all. Tempting as it is to go with Orlando Cepeda based on his Cooperstown credentials, the truth is the Puerto Rican slugger did nothing in 33 games in KC, and played strictly DH.

The nod goes to… Mendy Lopez. The Dominican played a handful of games at firstbase in 2003, when he hit .277 with 3 homers.

2B: Lots of choices here, including some decent contributors like Jose Lind, Jose Offerman and Carlos Febles. But one of the most beloved Royals ever was Cuban Cookie Rojas. The diminutive, bespectacled Rojas made four trips to the All-Star Game for KC.

SS: The one position where the Royals have employed tons of Hispanics is shortstop. Alcides Escobar will claim this honor after this season. But before that there was a host of nightmarish options to choose from: Yuniesky Betancourt? Neifi Perez? Angel Berroa? Angel Salazar? Onix Concepcion?

I’ll go with Puerto Rican Rey Sanchez because he hit .294, .273, and .303 in his three seasons in KC.

3B: Two options here, which seem basically interchangeable. I’ll go with a tie: Dominican Wilson Betemit and Venezuelan Alberto Callaspo, who both hit reasonably while in KC.

Outfield: Not a lot of options here, surprisingly, so the choices are obvious. Puerto Rican Carlos Beltran is arguably the second greatest Royal in history, and has a chance to go into Cooperstown wearing a Royals cap.

Mexican Jorge Orta played four solid seasons and was a key contributor on the 1985 World Series champs. In that series, he reached first base safely (wink) on the most important play in team history.

And the third outfielder is Melky Cabrera, who rejuvenated his career in 2011. The Dominican hit .305, socked 18 homers, collected 201 hits and played solid defense in his one year in KC. Busted for PEDs in 2012, we may never know how legit those stats were, but it was a darn good season.

DH: Like it or not, Dominican Jose Guillen claims this spot. He belted 45 homers as one of the only power sources in the KC lineup from 2008 to 2010.

Starting Pitchers:

1), Hipolito Pichardo, Dominican Republic: 42-39, 4.48 ERA, 67 starts. Not many pitchers have a plus .500 win percentage recently. Pichardo has more wins than Luke Hochevar in half as many starts.

2) Bruce Chen, Panama: 35-32, 4.59 ERA. One rotten season (1-6, 5.78 ERA in 2009) sullies his otherwise solid numbers.

3) Luis Aquino, Puerto Rico: The first Hispanic pitcher to play a significant role, from 1988-92, Aquino made 55 starts over five seasons. His career mark is 22-19. He pitched in 114 games in KC.

4) Runelvys Hernandez, Dominican Republic: Hernandez was given every opportunity to succeed. But on some teams that had almost no other option, he still wore out his welcome. Hernandez posted a 25-33 mark in 78 starts before eating his way into early retirement.

5) The options are so bleak, Hernandez makes the rotation, but no one else is worthy of consideration. (Jose Rosado and D.J. Carasco are ineligible because they were born in the U.S.)

Relief Pitchers:

1) Joakim Soria, Mexico: Without a doubt the greatest Hispanic pitcher in Royals history. Soria’s160 career saves rank third in team history, and only arm injuries keep him from being one of the best relievers of his era.

2) Roberto Hernandez, Puerto Rico: The first Hispanic closer in team history. Hernandez notched 54 saves in two seasons, but was never really welcome in KC.

If minorities were discriminated against in some form or fashion in KC, hopefully that day has passed. Salvador Perez, and Alcides Escobar are getting every opportunity today, as Joakim Soria was before he was knocked out by an arm injury. The Royals have made more effort to sign Latin talent in the past few years, so hopefully more Hispanic players will bolster the current youth movement.

But as can be seen by this “All-Star Team,” the number of Hispanic stars in KC’s history is shockingly small. Not much history to celebrate in National Hispanic Heritage Month.

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.

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.

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.

To read part 1 of this series, about Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, click here.

To read Part 2 of this series, about Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, click here.

You can sponsor a page about your favorite player at the encyclopedic Baseball Reference Web site. Olando Cepeda’s page is sponsored by the children of Rosalind Skoff. Their inscription reads:

“In memory of my mom, Rosalind Skoff, who spent the summer of ’67 yelling at the radio, “C’mon, CEPEDA!” and then he would get the winning hit each time. Of course, she would be in the next room, too nervous to listen. A great memory. A great season.”

If only the summer of 1967 in St. Louis, Mo., were all you had to say about the life and times of Orlando Cepeda.

In 1967, he drove in the most runs of any player in the National League, 111, so it may well have seemed he always came through for Mrs. Skoff. He hit 25 home runs; 37 doubles; and contributed 183 hits in 563 at-bats, a .325 batting average, a .399 on-base percentage — third in the league — and a hefty .525 slugging percentage — fifth in the league. He was selected the Most Valuable Player in the National League and the Cardinals, for whom he toiled, won the World Series.

If only 1967 was the whole story.

But, of course, it isn’t. And, though it’s often ignored, the Kansas City Royals play a role in the less heroic but terribly human side of the tragic drama that was the Baby Bull’s career and his life after baseball.

Here are some of the facts of his Hall of Fame career. This is a paragraph from a United Press International story about him in the Lodi California New-Sentinel on Dec. 12, 1974. You can find some incarnation of this paragraph – or this paragraph itself – in a dozen stories, sweet and sour, about the Puerto Rican star who pounded out a hit in nearly one-third of his big league at-bats.

“Cepeda, a power-hitting first baseman, was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 1958 and the league’s Most Valuable Player in 1967. He had a career batting average of .297, with 379 home runs and 1,365 RBI during 18 seasons with the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals.”

‘CARAMBA! Aparicio, Cepeda Cut by Bosox’: headline, Pittsburg Post-Gazette March 27, 1973

Orlando Cepeda’s appearance in Royal blue was brief. He was signed on Aug. 6, 1974, from Yucatan in the Mexican League. He was released Sept. 19, 1974. He was a shot in the dark at a desperate pennant chase, a designated hitter experiment in a time when sportswriters still placed “designated hitter” inside quote marks or explained DH inside parenthesis.

It’s hard, at this distance, to tell exactly why a career .297 hitter was knocking in runs in the Mexican League, where, by the way, he had four dingers and 16 RBI in just 70 at-bats. Cepeda’s troubles began in spring training in Winter Haven, Fla., with the Boston Red Sox.

1973 had been a wonderful year for the right handed power hitter. The Red Sox rode the Baby Bull to a second place finish in the American League East that year when he hit .289 on 159 hits and provided 20 homeruns to the potent Boston attack. He went into spring training the following year confident he had found a home in the designated hitter league, assured – he said – by new manager Darrell Johnson, of his position in the lineup.

But Johnson used him sparingly in the early going of the spring exhibition season and despite good numbers, his day in the manager’s office arrived unwelcome on March 26. Along with aging shortstop Luis Aparicio, he was given his outright release. UPI said, simply, Manager Johnson, “elected to go with younger players.”

“New Red Sox manager Darrell Johnson,” the UPI reported, “called in both veteran stars after an exhibition game to give them the bad news that could mean the end of the baseball trail for each.” Aparicio was to be replaced by Rick Burleson and Johnson planned to give Cecil Cooper a look at designated hitter. “Sore-legged Cepeda” was on the market.

And, apparently, forgotten.

Cepeda later said he was not only surprised to be released, but surprised not to latch on somewhere else. “I was surprised that nobody else wanted me,” he told the AP. “I talked to the New York Yankees, Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox but I guess they thought I was making too much money.”

It’s just a guess, but the reason no one picked him up may have been his impolitic reaction to being released. While Aparicio was safely sanguine – “I’m not mad at anybody. Things like this have to come sooner or later,” – Cepeda was outraged.

“I’m really shocked and disappointed,” he told reporters at the time. “I really didn’t expect it because only a couple of weeks ago Johnson told me I was going to be his designated hitter. Somebody told me not to trust Johnson because he was two faced. I told him he didn’t want me right along, but he kept saying that was wrong. He didn’t play me too much down here because he didn’t want me to look too good.”

It’s true Johnson only used Cepeda in four games, and it’s true he had a home run, 5 RBI and hit .313 in those four games. It’s also true Cecil Cooper was hitting .400 when Cepeda was released. Johnson may also been thinking about the 24 times Cepeda grounded into doubleplays in 1973, leading the league in that rally-killing category. Cepeda saw it another way.

“It’s very difficult for me to figure out why he did what he did,” Cepeda told the Associated Press. “The only thing I can think of is he didn’t like me personally…. When he gave me the word, I told him I knew it was coming. I can’t explain it, but I just had a feeling.”

Ironically, Johnson gave Cepeda the word on a day in Winter Haven, Fla., when the Royals were in town, losing to the Red Sox 8-7 with Marty Pattin, Al Fitzmorris and Steve Mingori on the mound against the great El Tiante.

‘You could send him to the moon and he’d hit a line drive back down here …’ Amos Otis

When the future Hall of Famer arrived in Kansas City four months later optimism was everywhere. The Royals were in second place in the West, eight games behind Oakland and poised for a run. No one was more optimistic than Cepeda.

“With the Royals, I’ll just try to be myself and do what I’m capable of doing,” he told reporters. “This ball club can have a good winning streak. It can gain momentum. Eight games isn’t so far behind Oakland. I was with the Giants once they came from behind. It’s not impossible.”

In 1999, Orlando Cepeda (left) was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Royals legend George Brett (right).

Amos Otis, in the midst of a career year, rhapsodized starward. “I know he can hit… he’s like Rico Carty,” the Royals centerfielder told the AP. “You could send him to the moon, and he’d hit a line drive back down here.”

Eight games is a lot to be behind Reggie Jackson and Vida Blue but when you want to see the silver lining, you see the silver lining, even on a rainy Tuesday night on the prairie. “The old pro, whose major league career appeared over until Kansas City rescued him from the Mexican League over the weekend, made his debut with the Royals Tuesday night and hit two singles and drove in two runs in a 17-3 breeze past the Minnesota Twins,” an AP reporter declaimed.

“I realized tonight this is the only place to be… in the big leagues,” he said. “When you’ve been in the Mexican League, you know that’s true.”

Cepeda wasn’t the only one seeing the ball well in Kansas City that Tuesday night. The Royals racked up 20 hits and five walks, Cookie Rojas was 3 for 4, Frank White 1 for 2, Otis 2 for 4 with a home run, George Brett – hitting eighth – was 3 for 5 and catcher Fran Healy was 3 for 5.

Jack McKeon, his new manager, thought Aug. 6 “a great debut” and hoped his club could get a psychological lift from Cepeda. Get four or five games under his belt and see what he does, McKeon said. After beating up on the twins McKeon could see nothing but silver in the night sky. “The race in the AL West?” he asked. “We’re seven games behind Oakland, five in the loss column.” Apparently, he meant this to be positive.

Well, the next five games did give the Royals reason to hope. Between August 6 and August 14, McKeon’s club won eight and lost only two. On the night they trounced Minnesota, the Texas Rangers’ Ferguson Jenkins shut out Oakland on two hits for his 15^th win. Blue Moon Odom gave up only one run, but lost. Worse, Oakland left Vida Blue in Minneapolis, hospitalized with chest pains. And, on the Royal’s side, Hal McRae was batting .306, seventh in the league; Otis was second in the league in triples and sixth in doubles; John Mayberry was fourth in the league in homeruns with 19; Fred Patek was fifth in stolen bases with 25; and Steve Busby was fourth in pitching at 16-9.

Across his first five games with the Royals, Cepeda had seven hits in 23 trips to the plate and drove in 10 runs.

With the streak was in full bloom, McKeon was overjoyed about the club’s Mexican League signing.

“I’d like to go back to May in the season – with Cepeda,” he told the AP, adding with Cepeda in the lineup across the first four months, Oakland would be chasing Kansas City. “We started this hitting spree the day Cepeda got here… I think getting Cepeda was a psychological lift. We weren’t getting the key hits, and this guy comes along and shows us how.”

McKeon’s club won both ends of a doubleheader against the Angels the Sunday before Cepeda’s debut with an off-day Monday. They beat the Twins again Wednesday but lost Thursday. Milwaukee came to town and they took three in a row, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They lost in Detroit Monday but won the next two behind Fitzmorris and Busby. They lost Friday in Baltimore, won Saturday and lost Sunday… and the streak, and the season, was over.

The Royals closed the season with just 14 wins against 31 loses, including an 8-game losing streak, followed by a win, and a 7-game losing streak. When the fog cleared only the Angels had a worse record in the American League West. The optimism of being “just” seven games back of Oakland was buried 13 games out of first behind a 77 win – 85 loss season. With Orlando Cepeda in the lineup, the Royals plummeted from second place to fifth place.

And Cepeda plummeted with them. He had just 16 more hits in the remaining 28 games and he drove in only eight more runs. He ended the 1974 season batting just .215, 82 points below his career average.

‘…all my plans went down the drain…’

As bad as the last month of the 1974 baseball season was for the Kansas City Royals, the next three years of Orlando Cepeda’s life were exponentially worse. When he left baseball, he was, apparently, broke. And, naturally, he was in tax trouble. It’s a good guess, given what transpired, he had a drug problem.

Because, 15 months after he retired from the Royals, drugs did become a major problem for Mr. Cepeda.

On Dec. 12, 1975, at about 10 a.m., Cepeda and a long-time friend, Herminio Cortes, parked Cepeda’s Mercedes and Cortes’ Chevy at the San Juan International Airport freight terminal. They went inside and picked up two cartons and two suitcases bound from Colombia packed with 165 pounds of marijuana and loaded them in their trunks. Right behind them were three customs agents.

The morning ended with Cepeda and Cortes, who played in the Puerto Rican League, led away in handcuffs to the federal court building. Cepeda was later placed under house arrest, given the weekend to raise $5,000 — 10 percent of his $50,000 bond –, $2,000 more than the value placed on the marijuana the two men were charged with importing for sale. Wire reports described Cepeda as appearing “extremely nervous” when he walked into the courthouse. The Associated Press reported a friend of Cepeda and a former major league ballplayer, who asked not to be identified, agreed to raise the bail.

“I am not a rich man so I cannot be out of that amount of money for too long,” he told the AP, “but I am willing to lend it for a few days.”

A year later, Dec. 3, 1976, a jury deliberated seven hours before returning a guilty verdict against Cepeda. On Dec. 16, he was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $10,000.

During the four-day trial, Cepeda maintained his innocence, even taking the witness stand to answer questions. He argued he had been tricked into taking possession of the boxes. He thought they had baseball equipment in them, he said. He did not need money, he said. However, a treasury department employee testified Cepeda had not paid state taxes for three years.

“What really hurts me is that this was in my own island,” he told the AP after the trial.

By June 29, 1980, he was a free man and back in baseball, having spent 10 months in a minimum security jail on the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. When he emerged from prison, he was a little more careful with the press than he had been seven years earlier when the Boston Red Sox sent him packing. But only slightly. “I had a lot of friends before I went to prison,” he told the AP. “But now I don’t have so many friends.”

Then he went for the upbeat. “The ones I have… they are what America’s all about… America showed me a lot; it’s a lot like me, actually. I’m sympathetic to the underdog, the guy who’s down. He’s the man who can really sue help… It wouldn’t do any good to talk bad about Puerto Rico. It’s over with. I love my country and I always will.”

From there, Cepeda set about resurrecting his baseball resume. He became a hitting instructor for the Phillies then the White Sox. “I never thought I’d be back in baseball,” he said in the AP article. “When I retired I wanted to set up a health spa in Puerto Rico. But all my plans went down the drain.

“This is my life. This is where I feel free and relaxed. This is where I want to be forever. When I die, I hope I’m on a baseball field.”

One of the unique features of the MLB All-Star Game is that at least one player is selected to represent each team in the league, no matter how undeserving that player might be to be considered a “star.”

Last week I wrote an article about how little consideration Royals players have received by the voters for the Baseball Hall of Fame. While four players who have worn Royals uniforms are actually in the Hall – Harmon Killebrew (1984), Gaylord Perry (1991), George Brett and Orlando Cepeda (1999) – no other Royal has even received a significant enough number of votes to be considered a potential inductee.

I wonder if, similar to the All-Star Game, the Royals were given the chance to name their next most deserving candidate for enshrinement, who would that person be?

We all know Buck O’Neil should be in the Hall of Fame. It’s a shame he’s not, and there are probably other KC Monarchs who deserve the honor as well. But that has been hashed and rehashed in other venues. I will try to stick with the current Royals franchise for the sake of this argument.

As I stated last week, Vada Pinson actually recorded the most votes of any former Royal not in the Hall. In his final two seasons, Pinson played well enough for the Royals in 1974, but struggled before hanging it up in 1975. His best seasons were in a Cincinnati Reds uniform, so he does not gain consideration here.

Vida Blue and Juan Gonzalez also recorded enough votes to remain on the ballot past their first year of eligibility, but they get disregarded for the same reason as Pinson. Blue is regarded fondly for his value to the Royals pitching in the early 1980s, but Gonzales won no support for the dismal 33 games he played in KC, which cost the team $4 million.

No, it must be someone who actually is remembered as a Royal, first and foremost. If the team were to choose their own representative to the Hall, he must be one of them. John Mayberry, Lou Piniella and David Cone need not apply. Things to consider are not only a player’s statistics, but how they performed on the big stage and what they mean to the Royals franchise.

None of the players considered in this article actually garnered any support from the Hall of Fame voters. Disregard vote totals and just ponder what each man did as a Royal, counting on an All-Star Game-like ticket to admission. There are plenty to choose from, but for the sake of time and space, I will narrow the candidates to just 7, listed here in alphabetical order:

Hal McRae – One could argue that since he always played second fiddle to the only true Royal in the Hall of Fame, George Brett, then he should stand second in line. Starting in 1974, McRae had 13 really good seasons, primarily as a DH. He finished with a .300 average in six of those seasons, with a low mark of .272. He nearly won a batting title in 1976, and finished his career with more than 2000 hits and 1000 RBI.

McRae gets a boost in support for serving as the Royals manager from 1991 to 1994 when the team was still attempting to field competitive teams. He loses credit, however, for not playing in the field and for only driving in 100 runs once, which is strange considering he was hitting behind Willie Wilson and George Brett for many of those seasons.

Amos Otis – AO probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his 14 excellent seasons in KC. Otis was a great fielder (two Gold Gloves) and base-stealing threat (five seasons with more than 30 steals). He hit leadoff for many of the great Royals teams and had solid average and on-base percentage. He also provided some power, hitting 193 homers. He actually finished 3^rd in the MVP voting of 1973, when he led the young Royals with a .300 average and 26 homers. Otis finished with nearly 2000 hits in KC, and played in the third most games in team history.

Dan Quisenberry – This one is intriguing. Bruce Sutter, who is actually IN the Hall of Fame dominated the National League at generally the same time period Quisenberry was mastering the American League. Over his best six-year span, from 1979-1984, Sutter saved 192, led the league in saves five times and played in one World Series. From 1980 to 1985, Quisenberry notched the same 192 saves, leading his own league five times, played in two World Series, and in most of those comparable seasons had a lower ERA than Sutter. Quisenberry’s career was a bit shorter than Sutter’s, and he ranks just 31^st on the all-time saves list. Quisenberry’s numbers over that period compare quite favorably to those of Rollie Fingers and comparably to those of Goose Gossage, both Hall of Famers from the same era.

“The Quiz” was a true ambassador for the team, and his untimely death makes him a sentimental favorite with Royals fans. He finished in the top five in Cy Young voting five times during that six year stretch, and finished 3^rd in MVP voting in 1984. In the 1985 World Series he pitched in four games, won one, and allowed only one run. Quisenberry did not reach the big leagues until he was 26, and by 33 he was beginning to lose his golden touch, thus accounting for his lesser career totals.

Bret Saberhagen – Two Cy Young Awards and a 2-0 record in a World Series earn you a spot on this list, regardless what the rest of your career was like. When he won the Cy Young and Series MVP at just 21, he stood on top the baseball world. At 25 he had already recorded 92 wins and was on his way to being not just the greatest Royals pitcher of all time, but a true Hall of Famer. Injuries reduced his effectiveness, however, and he spent as many seasons playing outside of KC as in it.

Mike Sweeney – Similar to Quisenberry and Saberhagen, if you take a small segment of Sweeney’s career, he compares favorably with the best sluggers of his era. From 1999 to 2005, he hit for average and power, drove in a remarkable 144 runs in 2000, and would have had notched even better numbers had he not been plagued by injuries. Full seasons would have probably netted 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs in 2002-2006. Even so, Sweeney ranks 2^nd all time in homers by a Royal and 2^nd highest in batting average in team history. Injuries proved his undoing.

Most important of all, Sweeney doggedly stuck by the Royals during the 2000s when seemingly every other good player fled for greener pastures. He was a “captain” in every sense of the word and deserves the respect of KC fans for his loyalty.

Frank White – Probably the second “face of the franchise” behind Brett, White is a true Royal, having been signed in the summer of the team’s second season, a product of the Royals Baseball Academy, and a survivor of the team’s peaks and valleys. He deserves high marks for standing by the franchise through its doldrums, managing minor leaguers, working in the front office and on TV broadcasts. He probably deserved a shot at managing the big-league club.

White’s greatest on-field accomplishment was his eight Gold Gloves, earned as one of the greatest defenders in history at second base. He developed into a good, but not great hitter. White was named MVP of the 1980 ALCS and batted cleanup in the 1985 World Series. He ranks second on the team in all-time hits and games played.

Willie Wilson – Wilson was a demon on the base paths, leading the league in triples 5 times and keeping company with Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines in stolen bases in the early 1980s when baseball ran wild. Wilson still ranks 12^th all-time in steals with 668

Wilson won a batting title in 1982 and hit over .300 five times in a six-year stretch. He also won two Gold Gloves and a stolen base title.

Wilson will lose credit due to a drug scandal that tarnished the Royals golden era. He also struck out too much and walked to infrequently for a leadoff hitter.

Tough choice. Each player has a special place in Royals lore, and each has some knock against him. Injuries hurt the case for several of them. White was a pretty one-dimensional player, as was McRae. Intangibles and off-field service to the franchise affect the choice as well.

But with all things considered, I surprise even myself with my selection. Part of what should be considered for the Hall of Fame, beyond sheer numbers, is how the player stacks up against great players of the same era. As I noted before, Quisenberry compares very favorably to three players who are currently in the Hall who played his same position at the same time. Sutter, Fingers and Gossage, all in Cooperstown, saved generally the same number of games (if not fewer). The Baseball Page .com places The Quiz behind only five Hall of Famers and Mariano Rivera on its ranking of all-time relievers.

Quisenberry got shockingly little love from Hall of Fame voters – just 3.8% in his only year on the ballot. There seems to be a process by which many players wait their turn, paying their dues before finally garnering the requisite 75% for admission. Because he didn’t get the minimum 5% in his first year to stay on the ballot, Quisenberry didn’t have time to build support.

Sutter started on the ballot in 1994 at just 23.9%. In 1996, Quiz’s one time on the ballot, Sutter got just 29.1%. His percentages stayed in the 20s and 30s for several years.

Gossage got 33.3% in 2000, his first time eligible. Then in 2001 both relievers started getting more support. Their numbers slowly edged upwards of 50% until finally in 2006 Sutter got in. Gossage was close behind, entering the Hall in 2008.

Compared to the slow climb of Sutter and Gossage, one has to wonder how high Quisenberry’s could have risen had his name been on the ballot over the same length of time.

White, Wilson, Otis and McRae made tremendous contributions to the great Royals teams of the 1970s and 1980s, Saberhagen and Sweeney were among the best in the game for a short spell. But Quisenberry actually stacks up well in comparison to actual Hall of Famers. He will not ever be voted into the Hall, but if we could get an All-Star Game-type representative in Cooperstown, I recommend it be the Quiz.

Over the last two weeks, the writers at I-70 Baseball have shared their perspectives on the 1985 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. It was an amazing time for both organizations, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the I-70 Baseball series, especially from the perspective of the Kansas City writers and those too young to have experienced it firsthand. No coverage of that great Series would be complete with a discussion of Don Denkinger’s call in Game Six. If you have not already done so, please read Aaron Stilley’s outstanding article, 22%: Quantifying the Denkinger Call. Whether or not you can put the call behind you, as Bill Ivie suggests, one area where we can all find agreement is that there have been other controversial calls in baseball’s history. What you may not know is that one such call by a future Hall of Fame umpire had a similar impact on the outcome of the 1968 World Series. Here is story of October 7, 1968.

Game One

For fans of pitching, Game One of the 1968 World Series was one of the best in the history of the game. It featured two of the most dominating pitchers of their era, Bob Gibson and his 1.12 ERA versus the 31 game winner in Denny McLain. The two did not disappoint. Gibson pitched one of the best games in his career, striking out a record 17 batters on the day, including seven Tigers the first time through the order. Gibson had all of his pitches working – fastball, slider, change-up (yes, a wicked change-up) and a completely devastating curveball that Gibson won’t even acknowledge to this day. While Gibson breezed through the Tigers batting order, McLain struggled early. He fought Tom Gorman, the home plate umpire from the National League, all afternoon. Gorman refused to give McLain the high strike he had been getting in the regular season, and the big right hander was slow to adapt to the smaller strike zone. The Cardinals started exploiting McLain’s troubles in the third inning, finally breaking through in the fourth with three runs on a pair of walks and two RBI singles. McLain would exit the game early, turning the ball over to Pat Dobson and Don McMahon, who both pitched well. The only blemish was a solo home run to Lou Brock off Dobson. The Cardinals would win the game 4-0 behind the record setting performance of Bob Gibson. What the box scores don’t tell you is that even though McLain struggled, he nearly matched Gibson for the first half of the game.

Games Two, Three and Four

After a brilliant pitching duel in Game One, the respective offenses were on display for Games Two, Three and Four – or perhaps it was the vulnerabilities of the two bullpens. Because of Nelson Briles inability to keep the ball in the park, the Tigers were able to get into the Cardinals bullpen in Game Two, and bad things happened rather quickly. After surrendering his third home run of the game, all solo shots, an infield single by Willie Horton ended the day for the young right hander. Manager Red Schoendienst would go to his bullpen for the big left hander, Steve Carlton. Lefty would get hammered, giving up two more runs to the bottom of the Tigers batting order. Side armer Ron Willis was not any more effective the next inning and the Tigers had opened a huge lead. It is all Mickey Lolich would need as he shut the door on the Cardinals with a nifty complete game.

Fortunes would change for the Cardinals as the series moved to Detroit. Veterans Ray Washburn and Earl Wilson would do battle in Game Three. The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Al Kaline took Washburn deep in the third inning. There is no shame in giving up a long ball to the Detroit slugger, and Washburn limited the damage to just two runs. The Cardinals would get to Wilson and reliever Pat Dobson, taking a 4-2 lead in the fifth. Washburn would give one of those runs back when Dick McAuliffe hit a solo homer. Schoendienst would again go to his bullpen, calling on Joe Hoerner who had been victimized badly late in the previous game. This time, Hoerner was solid as a rock, earning a save in 3 2/3 innings of nearly perfect relief. Meanwhile the Cardinals would again get to the Tigers bullpen on their way to a 7-3 victory.

The Tigers bullpen would again be torched in Game Four. While Bob Gibson was cruising to another dominating victory, the Cardinals bats lit up starter Denny McLain and relievers Joe Sparma and John Hiller. When the dust, or maybe more accurately, the mud settled, the Cardinals won in a 10-1 laugher. More importantly, they had taken a 3 games to 1 lead in the World Series while making the Tigers bullpen throw a lot of innings.

This brings us to Game Five, the pivotal game of the 1968 World Series.

Game Five

This last game in Detroit featured the starters from Game Two, Mickey Lolich for the Tigers and Nelson Briles for the Cardinals. This time it was Lolich that had trouble with the long ball, and early. The Cardinals would jump out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning on a lead-off double by Lou Brock, a single and stolen base from Curt Flood and a two run homer off the bat of Orlando Cepeda – a bat that had been far too quiet for most of the 1968 season. Lolich would bear down and limit the damage, pitching effectively against the bottom of the Cardinals batting order.

On the other side of the diamond, Briles was cruising along, as he had done throughout most of the 1968 season. A couple of hard hit balls in the home half of the fourth inning caused a bit of trouble for Briles as Mickey Stanley and Willie Horton both tripled and scored in the inning. At least the ball was staying the field of play this time around. Like Lolich in the first, Briles settled down and limited the damage by retiring Bill Freehan to end the inning.

With the Cardinals holding on to a slim 3-2 lead and just 15 outs from their second consecutive World Series Title, we now proceed to the fifth inning, and the “other” blown call of the World Series.

The play

After Nelson Briles leads off the inning by striking out, Lou Brock nearly hits the ball out to left field. A great play by Willie Horton holds Brock to just a double. This defensive gem would become significant when Julian Javier singles to left field on the next play. Willie Horton comes up firing and throws a strike to Bill Freehan, who was blocking the plate. Brock actually beats the the throw to the plate, and unbelievably, Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey calls Brock out. A huge argument breaks out, involving the on deck batter, Curt Flood, Lou Brock, coach Joe Schultz and manager Schoendienst. Through all of this, Harvey remained resolute on his call, and the inning would eventually come to an end with Cardinals still nursing a slim one run lead.

After the game, Brock would defend his decision not to slide into home plate, as everybody expected. With Freehan blocking the plate, the only way for Brock to score would be to run through the Tigers catcher, which he did. What Harvey missed was Brock’s foot clearly on home plate before Freehan was able to turn and tag the speedy Brock. In his post game interview, Harvey even admitted to turning his attention away from the tag, calling it inevitable.

The best comment came from Bill Freehan, prior to Game Six in St. Louis. The Tigers catcher said, “After the game the other day, the writers came up to me and everybody wanted to know if Lou Brock had touched the plate or not. I told them I had to be the worst person in America to know because I was trying to catch the ball and couldn’t see a thing.” The grin on his face suggested otherwise.

The Implication

Had Harvey called Brock safe, the Cardinals would have had a two run lead at 4-2, instead of 3-2. They would also have had a speedy runner at second in Julian Javier. With only one out and the heart of the order coming up, the fifth inning in Game Five might have been a huge inning for the Cardinals. St. Louis had trouble with Lolich in Game Two, but he had not been particularly sharp thus far in Game Five. The momentum shift of a Brock run might have been all it took to rattle the Tigers lefty. The actual call had the opposite effect – Lolich toughened and the Cardinals would never really challenge him again.

The second domino to topple would happen in the bottom of the fifth inning. Trailing by two runs, with Briles crusing, Tigers manager Mayo Smith might have lifted Lolich for a pinch hitter. That would have put the game back in the hands of the Tigers bullpen, who had just been torched in the last two games. Down only a single run, Smith gambled, leaving Lolich in the game and that turned out to be the right decision as Lolich would be the one who cruised to the complete game victory, not Briles.

And we’re not done with the implications quite yet. With a two run lead, Red Schoendienst might have stayed with young Briles a bit longer when he got into trouble again in the bottom of the seventh inning. Down to just 8 outs for another championship, Schoendienst went to his bullpen, again calling on lefty Joe Hoerner. The Tigers ripped Hoerner just as they had at the end of Game Two, taking a 5-3 lead before the Cardinals reliever could record a single out. Ron Willis would finish the game, but the Tigers would go on to win this pivotal game.

The Outcome

The record books tell us how this story would end. In Game Six, the World Series would return to a soggy St. Louis. Denny McLain would shake off his early World Series troubles and pitch a dominating complete game. Cardinals starter Ray Washburn would not be so lucky, giving up five runs before leaving without getting a single out in the third inning. Larry Jaster, Ron Willis and Dick Hughes would follow Washburn in the third inning, and would also be hit hard. The game was not even an hour old and the Tigers had an insurmountable 12-0 lead. They would go on to win Game Six in a laugher, setting up a decisive Game Seven.

Not even Bob Gibson could salvage this series. He pitched well, but a late defensive miscue by the always dependable Curt Flood led to three tigers runs in the top of the seventh inning. That proved to be the difference in the game, and ultimately the series as Lolich continued his domination of Cardinals hitters, winning his third game and earning the 1968 World Series MVP award.

When looking back at the 1968 World Series, many historians will point at the Jim Northrup fly ball that Curt Flood played into a triple in Game Seven as the turning point. If you are willing to take a closer look, the controversial call by Doug Harvey in Game Five was just as devastating as Don Denkinger’s now infamous call in Game Six of the 1985 World Series. The difference is that Harvey’s call happened in the middle of the game, in the middle of the series.

Celebration

Two days prior to this midweek series in San Francisco, the Cardinals had clinched the National League pennant with a 7-4 thumping of the ninth place Houston Astros. The Cardinals jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning on a single and stolen base by Lou Brock, followed by an RBI single from Curt Flood. Cardinals fans had been enjoying this productive twosome at the top of the order since Brock came over to the Cardinals in a mid-season trade with the Cubs in 1964. This would come to an end following the 1969 season, but the tandem of Brock and Flood were a big reason the Cardinals were making their third World Series appearance in the last five years.

The 1-0 lead would be short lived as Jimmy Wynn would put Houston ahead with a 2 run homer in the bottom of the first inning. The Toy Canon was one of the biggest little men in baseball history. Only 5ft 9in, Wynn had an amazingly quick swing and could hit the ball as far as anybody in his era. The only player I’ve seen hit the ball as hard and as far as Wynn is future Cardinal, Richie Allen.

The Cardinals would take the lead for good two innings later as Roger Maris belted a two run homer after a Curt Flood single. We didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the last regular season home run hit by Maris. The Cardinals would tack on two more runs in the fifth on another pair of singles from Brock and Flood. After a walk to Roger Maris, Orlando Cepeda would haunt his old team with a single to left, scoring both Brock and Flood. Maris and Flood would do more damage in the next inning, extending the Cardinals lead to 7-2. At this point, Steve Carlton would switch into “let’s get this game over and take the pennant home” mode. The Astros would score two meaningless runs, but would never get back in this game as the Cardinals. The 1968 National League Championship Pennant would return to St. Louis.

After the game, the celebration began. And continued, and continued. Even through the west coast travel day on the 16th. And apparently into the next game.

Gaylord Gets Even

A very happy, somewhat ragged Cardinals team took the field against Gaylord Perry and the second place Giants. The Giants may have just been eliminated, but they weren’t giving up, even if they were facing the game’s best pitcher in Bob Gibson (21-7). Even though Gibson was allowing a mere run per game, many young fans ask how he could have lost 9 games in 1968. This is how.

The Cardinals would go quickly in the first inning with the ball never leaving the infield. Perry had been known to doctor the baseball a bit, and when he did, there would be a large number of weak ground balls to the infield. We will never know if he was throwing questionable junk on this day, but he would pitch the game of his career.

In the Giants half of the first, future Cardinal outfielder Bobby Bonds would lead off with a fly out to Roger Maris. Next up was St. Louis native and future Cardinal Ron Hunt. Hunt would take Gibson deep for an early 1-0 lead. Ty Cline would single off a frustrated Gibson but was eliminated on a nifty 1-6-3 double play when Gibson bore down on slugger Willie McCovey.

In the second inning, Mike Shannon would draw a 2 out walk. Little did we know at the time how important that would be. The only other Cardinal base runner in this game would be little Phil Gagliano, with another 2 out walk in the eighth. Gibson would be nearly as tough as Perry though, only allowing four hits and two walks while striking out 10 – typical of his 1968 starts. Perry would be the hero of the day, recording a no hitter against the National League champs. He was simply mesmerizing, keeping the ball down and making the Cardinals hitters ground out weakly to the infield. Only two balls would leave the Giants infield: fly outs to center field off the bats of Tim McCarver and Bob Gibson.

Ray’s Turn

Ray Washburn would take the mound on Wednesday and he would face the Giants big right hander, Bobby Bolin. In many respects, Washburn was the 60′s equivalent of Adam Wainwright. He was a tall right hander, although not the towering stature of Wainwright. Like Wainwright, he had smooth delivery without a long stride, releasing the ball with an overhand motion with his trunk parallel to the ground. Also like Wainwright, he possessed a knee buckling curve ball and would use it to great effect for the next nine innings. This is where the differences end as Washburn had been plagued with injuries throughout his career. Not typical wear and tear, but freakish accidents like a broken hand when trying to field a ball hit back up the middle. They really took their toll and limited what looked like a very promising career. None of that mattered because Washburn was about to do something that not even even Bob Gibson had been able to do. Yet.

In the first inning, it was apparent that this was going to be a different Cardinals team facing the Giants. After a Lou Brock strikeout, Curt Flood would single. Unfortunately he would be erased in a strikeout throw out double play to end the inning. Giants fans took note that the aggressive playing style of the Cardinals had finally made it to the west coast.

The Cardinals would be aggressive again in the second. After a walk, Orlando Cepeda would attempt to steal second base. He would be the second victim of Giants catcher, Dick Dietz. It was just a matter of time before the Cardinals would break through.

Meanwhile, Washburn was cutting through the Giants order like a hot knife through butter. The only base runners so far were walks to Willie Mays in the first and a walk to Dick Dietz in the second.

Things would progress very swiftly until the bottom of the sixth inning when Hal Lanier would lead off the Giant’s half of the inning with a fly ball to Lou Brock in left field. Like Perry’s no hitter the day before, nothing had gone past the Cardinals infield until now. They had yet to have a hit, and it was starting to look like they might end the game still looking for their first one. To say that Washburn was in a groove was a gross understatement. This is the pitcher that we all knew Ray could be. Fans that had suffered through all of Washburn’s injuries were now savoring every pitch.

The Cardinals would finally break through in the seventh inning. After a Bobby Tolan foul out, Orlando Cepeda would single. Johnny Edwards, giving regular catcher Tim McCarver the night off, would hit a tailor made double play ball to short, but Cepeda was running hard and Hal Lanier chose instead to take the safe out at first. Mike Shannon would make Lanier pay for not turning the double play with a double to the opposite field, scoring Cepeda easily from second.

With a 1-0 lead, Washburn would face the heart of the Giants order, and that was a formidable task. Ron Hunt would lead off with a walk. Washburn would strike out Willie Mays. Wille McCovey would follow that with another walk. Jim Ray Hart would ground out to second with Javier making the sure play to first. Ron Hunt would advance to third – the only Giant to do so against Washburn. A quick strikeout of Dick Dietz would end the inning with the no hitter still in tact.

The Cardinals would get another run in the eighth inning. Dick Schofield would lead off with a double. Ray Washburn would lay down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving Schofield to third. Lou Brock failed to drive him in with a ground out to third, but Curt Flood would come through with a single deep in the hole in short, beating the throw and then advancing to second base when the hurried throw goes wild.

The Giants would go quietly in the bottom of the eighth. Ty Cline would ground out to Cepeda unassisted. Pinch hitter Bob Schroder would ground out to first with Washburn covering on the play. Not only was Washburn throwing a no hitter, he was also fielding his position and helping his team at the plate. Dave Marshall would walk, Washburn’s fifth and the Giants’ last base runner. It was still a 2-0 game and Washburn was pitching carefully – this was a dangerous Giants team. Bobby Bonds would pop out to Cepeda, ending the inning.

The Cardinals would go quietly in the ninth. Equally as quiet was the bench around the Cardinals hurler. He didn’t need anybody to tell him that he was three outs away from immortality. More sobering, nobody had to remind Washburn that he still had to face two Future Hall of Famer’s who could tie this game if he wasn’t careful.

But Washburn was careful – very careful. His big overhand curveball had been getting infield outs all night, and so too would it help him in this last inning. Ron Hunt, who was responsible for the only run the night before, led off the inning with a ground out to second baseman, Julian Javier. Willie Mays would ground out to Shannon for the second out. Finally, big Willie McCovey would end the game with a harmless fly ball to Curt Flood in center field – only the second ball to get into the outfield.

Ray Washburn had done it – thrown a no hitter. It was the fourth no-hitter in Cardinals history, the first since Lon Warneke in 1941. It was also the first time no hitters have been thrown on successive games. This feat would happen again in 1969 with Jim Maloney of Cincinnati and Don Wilson from Houston. It has not happened since.

What an amazing two games. The Cardinals would lose the final game of the series, but that didn’t matter. After being no hit, the Cardinals rebounded and Ray Washburn delivered the game of his career – one we always knew he had in him.

The Rest of the Story

This was not the first time that Washburn had flirted with a no-hitter. In his second full season with the Cardinals, Washburn would start off with an impressive 3-0 record. On April 27, 1963, he would come very close to perfection, retiring the first 20 batters he faced. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning. A walk to Ron Fairly ended the perfect game, but the no hitter was still intact. That would end with one out in the eighth inning when Bill Skowron would hit a liner to right that nobody would be able to catch. Right fielder George Altman would hold Skowon to a single, but the no hitter was gone. Washburn would give up one more hit in the inning and then a double to Maury Wills in the ninth for a complete game 3 hit shutout. It was the best pitching performance of his young career.

Unfortunately, Washburn had lost more than a no hitter when he injured his shoulder throwing a few too many fastballs on that chilly April night in Los Angeles.

Playing through a sore shoulder, he would win his next start against the Cubs. It was another amazing performance, taking a no hitter into the seventh inning where it would be broken up by a lead off single from future Cardinal, Lou Brock. Washburn would also give up another single in the eighth inning. Working with a 4-0 lead, big Ray would get within one out of a complete game shutout. With two outs in the ninth, a tiring Washburn would give up a single, a double and then a 3 run home run to Ron Santo. Ed Bauta would finish the game, preserving the victory for Washburn, taking his record to 5-0.

As his arm troubles worsened, he would lose his next three starts. He would spend the rest of the 1963 season on the disabled list after being shut down in May. This injury would affect Washburn over the next two years.

With a little bit more digging, we find out that in 1959, Washburn had thrown a no-hitter while playing Canadian semi-pro baseball with the Lethbridge White Sox.

Bob Gibson’s amazing 1968 season overshadowed an impressive performance from Ray Washburn. Finally healthy for a full season, Washburn threw an incredible 215 1/3 innings, finishing with a 14-8 record and a 2.26 ERA. All were career highs for the big right hander. To put that ERA in perspective, only four previous Cy Young award winners had posted a lower ERA than Washburn’s: Dean Chance in 1964 and Sandy Koufax in 1963 and again in 1965-1966. If not for Gibson’s mind numbing 1.12 ERA, Washburn would have gotten more attention for the Cy Young award in 1968.

When you watched Ray Washburn pitch in the 60′s, you knew that he had no-hitter stuff. Early in his career, he could overmatch any batter with a devastating fastball. When injuries took that away from he, he developed one of the better curveballs in the game, and batters again had a hard time making solid contact on a Washburn pitch. With Washburn, it was not if, but when. And the when was September 18, 1968.