The St. Louis Cardinals project to have an Opening Day lineup full of players who will regularly get on base and it also features plenty of power to drive them in. The one thing the team will lack, however, is speed.

The Cardinals stole 91 bases in 2012, which tied them with the Texas Rangers for 24^th of 30 teams in Major League Baseball, but players who stole more than a quarter of the Cardinals bases last season are either hurt or no longer with the team.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal stole 12 bases last season but is out for the season with an elbow injury, and fellow shortstop Tyler Greene, who had nine stolen bases, is now with the Houston Astros.

That leaves the Cardinals with about four regular stolen base threats. Slow-footed but incredibly intelligent catcher Yadier Molina stole 12 bases last year and could very well steal another dozen or so this season. Rightfielder Carlos Beltran had 13 stolen bases last year, but he is 35 years old and has slowed down considerably in recent years after various knee injuries.

The other proven stolen-base threat from last year’s team is centerfielder Jon Jay, who had 19 last season. He will likely lead the team again this season unless outfield prospect Oscar Taveras makes the team, but even he hasn’t stolen more than 10 bases in a season during his four seasons in the minor leagues.

Shortstop Pete Kozma stole just two bases during his brief 26-game stint with the Cardinals at the end of 2012, but he once stole 24 bases in 2008 and had 13 in 2010, all in the minor leagues.

Other than those options, the Cardinals will likely enter the season with a pretty slow team, but that’s not necessarily a terrible fault.

The Cardinals won the World Series in 2011 after stealing just 57 bases, which ranked last in the National League, and only the Detroit Tigers had fewer steals with 49 that season. The Cardinals also made it to within one game of the World Series in 2012 while ranking 24^th.

And they aren’t the only team that has found it can win without stealing bases. In fact, just three teams that made the 2012 playoffs ranked in the top half of baseball in stolen bases. The Oakland A’s were ninth, the San Francisco Giants were 10^th and the Washington Nationals were 15^th.

Otherwise, all of the best teams didn’t steal many bases. The World Series-champion Detroit Tigers actually ranked dead last for the second year in a row, but they had great power and great pitching.

Those two factors are also why the Cardinals shouldn’t be too concerned about the number of bases they steal in 2013.

They have a lineup that should easily rank in the top 10 in all three of the Triple Crown categories, batting average, homeruns and runs batted in, and they have a pitching staff that should be more than solid if not for too many injuries.

Sure, Chris Carpenter is no longer an option at the top of the rotation, but the Cardinals have arguably the most young talent on their pitching staff since the days Tony La Russa decided to come to St. Louis because Matt Morris and Alan Benes were on their way to the big leagues.

The Whitey Herzog disciples will forever yearn for the days when Cardinals players of the 1980s slapped the ball into play and ran like the wind around the bases, but those days have long since passed. And they aren’t coming back anytime soon, at least not as long as the Cardinals furnish a lineup with five batters who can hit 20 or more homeruns.

So while the Cardinals style of play might not be terribly exciting on the basepaths, nearly every other aspect of their play is good enough that they will likely once again be playoff contenders come September.

After a rough start down in Houston the St. Louis Cardinals picked up right where they left off in April. With Tyler Greene leading the charge.

Second baseman Tyler Greene showed all those offensive skills Sunday that have labeled him still a prospect although he more often than not has been suspect at the big-league level.

Greene, mostly a reserve who was starting at second base against Houston LHP J.A. Happ, clubbed two homers and a double and drove in four runs as he bumped his average to .256. He stole one base and nearly had another and he also turned in a nifty double play in the field as the Cardinals captured the finale of a three-game series from the Astros, 8-1.

First baseman Allen Craig, knocked out for two months last May when he slid into a railing here and suffered a broken right kneecap, got his revenge on Minute Maid Park by homering and doubling and knocking in three runs.

As the Cardinals stopped their losing streak at three games and the Astros’ winning streak at five, RHP Adam Wainwright did what he always does against the Astros. Wainwright, winning his second straight, held the Astros to one run on seven singles in seven innings and struck out seven. It was Wainwright’s 10th win in 11 career decisions against the Astros and his earned-run average for that body of work is 1.54.

But what Greene did certainly was less expected than the feats of the other two. In fact, he did what no other Cardinals second baseman ever has done.

According to SABR research, Greene is the first Cardinals second baseman to have as many as four RBI, three hits and two homers and at least one stolen base in the same game.

“Hopefully, I was able to earn a couple of days out there (in Arizona),” said Greene. “Everybody wants to be out there every day. You just take whatever circumstance you’re given and do the best you can with it.”

A few notes

–1B Allen Craig is hitting .375 and slugging .750 after his first four games, including three doubles and a homer, after leaving the disabled list. “I can’t wait for the year I can see 500 to 600 at-bats from that guy,” said hitting coach Mark McGwire.

–RHP Adam Wainwright is getting closer to the form he displayed in 2009-10, when he won 39 games for the Cardinals before losing last season to an elbow operation. After pitching poorly in his first three starts this season, amassing an unsightly 9.88 ERA along with three losses, Wainwright is 2-0 and 2.70 since then, including a one-run, seven-hit allotment over seven innings on Sunday. “You could see he had a good feel for all his pitches. I don’t think (Wainwright) is very far away now,” manager Mike Matheny said.

–CF Jon Jay turned in his sixth spectacular play of the three-game series when he avoided LF Matt Holliday, who had pulled up, and made a sliding catch on Justin Maxwell‘s drive to left center in the fifth inning.

–Injured 1B Lance Berkman ran in the outfield for some 10 minutes before the game and said his strained left calf “felt a lot better than the other day. Marked improvement.”

–Matheny had pondered giving 34-year-old SS Rafael Furcal a day off Sunday. But too much was happening for Furcal and not enough was happening for the Cardinals.

–Furcal, matching Lou Brock in 1974, had led off six straight games with hits and he had scored in the first inning after five of them. Matheny said, “He was excited about getting in there and facing a lefty (J.A. Happ). And there’s no question that everybody’s pretty excited about winning a game here.” The Cardinals won but Furcal’s streak was snapped with a first-inning fly out.

–St. Louis has scored in the first inning for eight games in a row.

–The Cardinals’ five homers in Monday night’s game were their most since hitting six on July 5, 2007, against Pittsburgh.

–Beltran needs two stolen bases to become the eighth player in major-league history with at least 300 steals and 300 homers.

–Westbrook followed his most difficult outing of the season — a 6-3 home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates — with his most dominant. He has as many quality starts through this season’s six outings as he managed in the first 16 in 2011

For those of you who consider yourselves to be “big”Cardinals fans, I have a challenge for you: Name the Cardinals’ starting shortstops over the past 4 seasons. It doesn’t sound like a hard question, but I myself could not come up with all of them without doing a little research. It’s not a trick question, I’m not including any one-day minor league call-ups here, I’m simply asking for the names of the players who’ve been given a legitimate opportunity to claim the starting job as their own. I’ll give you a hint: since World Series MVP David Eckstein left town following the 2007 season, there’s been EIGHT of them…and that’s exactly what makes the question so hard to answer. Eight different starting shortstops over the past four seasons for a franchise that had only four different starters at that position over the previous 25 years: Ozzie Smith (’82-’96), Royce Clayton (’96-’98), Edgar Renteria (’99-’04), and David Eckstein (’05-’07). It’s hard to believe, really.

We’ll get to the answer of the question in a little bit, but first I want to look at a different question: “Who is going to be the Cardinals’ starting shortstop in 2012?” There are plenty of options, and some are better than others, but for a team needing some stability up the middle, it’ll be interesting to see who gets the job. Let’s take a closer look at some of the options.

Raefael Furcal
Rafael Furcal battled through injuries most of the season, but provided a big jolt to the Cardinals’ offense. He had a disappointing World Series at the plate, but had several key hits in the Cardinals’ frantic playoff run and in the NLDS and NLCS. Furcal just turned 34 years old, and has seen his stolen base total plummet over the past four seasons. Furcal is exceptional in the field defensively, and though his batting average was only .231 this year, he typically hits around .280 and draws a decent amount of walks. He also blended well with the other Cardinals’ players and helped the team to a World Series title. It remains unclear whether the Cardinals plan on keeping Furcal, who’s now a free agent.

Jimmy Rollins
Jimmy Rollins is the most interesting free agent shortstop on the market now that Jose Reyes has signed with the Miami Marlins. Defensively, Rollins is sound like Furcal, committing just 7 errors last season at short. Rollins is a year younger than Furcal, and also brings a little more power to the plate… but those numbers have faded a bit, and it’s important to keep in mind that Citizen’s Bank Park is one of the friendliest hitter’s parks in the league. Rollins carries a .268 career batting average, and has never hit .300+ for a season. The perception is that Rollins will be the most expensive shortstop on the market, so it’s unclear whether the Cardinals’ management team thinks he’d be worth significantly more money than Furcal

Ryan Theriot
Theriot is a decent hitter who brings a little power and didn’t strike out much last season, but his he has to hit better than .271 to make up for his deficiencies on defense. Theriot had 17 errors in just 91 games last season, and doesn’t have the range that Rollins and Furcal have. Theriot will be 32 years old heading into the 2012 season.

Tyler Greene
If Tyler Greene is the starting shortstop for St. Louis next season, I will be shocked. Is he an inexpensive stop-gap while the team looks for a long term solution at short…yes… but he has done nothing at the big league level to show he’s ready to take over the everyday starting job. Greene’s defense and offense have struggled, and at 28, he just may not be everyday big league material.

By all accounts, the Cardinals send one of these players out to play between second and third on Opening Day next season, but none of them appear to be long term solutions (though Rollins would likely sign for a few years). With that in mind, it’s time to go back to our original question: “Can you name all eight of the Cardinals’ starting shortstops over the past four seasons?” We’ve already named three of them in Furcal, Theriot, and Greene. We’re missing Brendan Ryan, Julio Lugo, Felipe Lopez, Cesar Izturis, and Khalil Greene. If you knew them all off the top of your head, I’m thoroughly impressed. Let’s just hope this question doesn’t become even harder in the years to come.

• I noticed early in the season that Alcides Escobar was on pace to set a new low in win probability added (WPA) for not just the Royals but all of baseball history since 1950 (as far back as WPA has been figured by Baseball Reference). He had a hot streak out of nowhere in June that saved him from that record. The hot streak also lead to a lot of talk about Escobar having figured things out at the plate, and that narrative seemed to carry through the rest of the season. But Escobar actually turned right back into a pumpkin after June. His -4.8 WPA is second worst in Royals history, and the fifth worst in the last 62 MLB seasons:

• The outfield trio of Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur was a major highlight through the year. This was only the third year in team history that the three most used outfielders achieved 2.0 rWAR or more. The combined rWAR of 11.8 is third best by a Royals OF trio, only behind 1999 and 2000:

2011 was just the fourth team with an above average OPS+ and subpar ERA+. It also happened in ’72, ’79 and ’90, and the 2011 squad had a higher OPS+ than any of those teams, making them something of an outlier:

As part of our inaugural edition of the I-70 Hall of Legends, today I-70 Baseball retires a uniform number that has come to represent greatness in both St. Louis and Kansas City – the No. 20, worn by the Cardinals’ Lou Brock and the Royals’ Frank White.

Lou Brock may be one of the most unforgettable players to ever wear the birds-on-the-bat, a catalyst at the top of the order who was recognized as one of the most prolific base stealers the game would ever see. While he was not the defensive presence of his uniform-number counterpart in Kansas City, Frank White, he was an offensive threat who went down in history as one of the game’s best left fielders and was enshrined in the Hall Of Fame.

Just as Lou Brock is an unforgettable part of St. Louis Cardinals history, Frank White is a legend in Kansas City. White is a member of the Royals Hall of Fame, and his No. 20 is one of only three numbers retired by the Royals (along with George Brett’s No. 5 and Dick Howser’s No. 10).

Unlike Brock, Frank White is not a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, although some, including writer Joe Posnanski, have argued that perhaps he should be.

While White built a resume that many argue should put him in the Hall Of Fame, Brock made sure there was no doubt. Brock joined baseball’s elite hitsmen, posting 3,023 hits in his career. He batted .293 over the course of his career and posted a .343 on-base percentage. It was his production in scoring runs and stealing bases that made Brock a legend, deserving of the honor we bestow upon him today. He scored 1,610 runs in his career while stealing 938 bases. His stolen base mark would remain the best in the history of the game until Rickey Henderson came along.

Lou’s glove never won him any awards, but the same cannot be said for the player who wore No. 20 for the Royals.

If there were a Defensive Hall of Fame, no doubt Frank White would be a first-ballot inductee. He was brilliant with the glove, patrolling second base at Kauffman Stadium for nearly two decades. During that stretch, he won eight Gold Gloves, including six in a row from 1977-1982. Only Roberto Alomar and Ryne Sandberg have won more Gold Gloves at second base, while Bill Mazeroski has also won eight.

While we’re on the subject of Mazeroski, let’s expand one of Joe Posnanski’s points: Mazeroski, a Hall of Famer, and Frank White had very similar careers. Both have eight Gold Gloves, of course, but check out these two sets of statistics:

AVG: .260

HR: 138

RBI: 853

*****

AVG: .255

HR: 160

RBI: 886

Which belongs to the Hall of Famer, and which belongs to Kansas City’s favorite all-time infielder?

The first set, with the higher batting average but lower power numbers, belongs to Mazeroski.

But the purpose of this article is not to espouse Frank White’s Hall of Fame credentials. It’s to discuss why his number has been retired in I-70 Baseball’s Hall of Legends.

That’s simple.

Frank White epitomizes what Kansas City Royals baseball is all about, perhaps better than anyone else. He was a product of the famed Royals Academy. He went to college in Kansas City. He took over second base from the beloved Cookie Rojas, and although he was despised for that at first, before long he became a fan favorite. He was a major part of those great Royals teams in the late 70s and early 80s. He was sitting right next to George Brett when Brett stormed the field during the Pine Tar Game. He helped lead the Royals to their only World Series title. He batted cleanup in the 1985 World Series. He won eight Gold Gloves. He retired from the game gracefully, unlike so many professional athletes. He stayed with the Royals even after retirement, serving as a coach, minor league manager, and now a broadcaster. (For more about the career of Frank White, read John Lofflin’s wonderful I-70 Baseball piece here.)

But here’s what really sets Frank White apart.

In 2005, while he was serving as a coach for the Royals, Manager Tony Pena quit after a disappointing start to the season. White was interested in the job, but the team decided to hire someone with managerial experience, and hired Buddy Bell (who, by ALL accounts, turned out to be a complete disaster).

Rumor has it, some sort of under-the-table deal was struck: once Bell’s tenure was over, White would be seriously considered for the position. To gain managerial experience, he stepped down from his Major League coaching position and took the job as skipper of the Wichita Wranglers, where he coached and mentored some of the current-day Royals stars, including Billy Butler and Zack Greinke.

When Bell quit at the end of 2007, White was the clear fan’s choice to be named skipper. But new general manager Dayton Moore hired Trey Hillman – who, like Frank White, had no big-league managerial experience.

Hillman, much like Bell before him, was a disaster.

But through all of that, Frank White never spoke an ill word about the organization that, you could argue, stabbed him in the back.

For that alone, Frank White is truly a legend.

Lou Brock continues to be an intimate part of the Cardinal family to this day. Serving as an assistant coach in Spring Training, making numerous public appearances on behalf of the team, and being openly involved in the yearly Opening Day ceremonies, the legendary player passes his knowledge of the game on to the next generation of players who wear Cardinals uniforms. Brock stays involved, stays in the public eye, and works with the organization on a regular basis.

Brock put a cap on his legendary career in 1979 and found himself enshrined in Cooperstown in 1985. His number was retired by the Cardinals and he is enshrined in the team’s hall of fame. Many websites, writers, and experts have firmly placed him as the team’s all-time greatest left fielder.

I-70 Baseball salutes two of the the greatest Royals and Cardinals players of all time by retiring No. 20.

Bill Ivie contributed to the Lou Brock portions of this report.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey14@yahoo.com.

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.