Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - A Classic Fall Classic: 1968

Episode Date: November 3, 2020

Today, D.C. looks back to the Fall Classic that ended the "Year of the Picture" -- 1968. Bob Gibson's Game One performance was one for the ages, which he nearly matched in Game Four. Mickey Lolich, however, also pitched extremely well. And while this Series took place in the Year of the Pitcher, there were a surprising number of blowout victories by both teams, in addition to the brilliant pitching performances noted above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey. This is our gross episode of Locked-on Mariner's, episode 144. Yes, thank you very much. Locked-on Mariner is part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally,

care to use. Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or any program here on the Locked-on podcast network or T-L-O-P-N-O-L-N-L-L-S-L-L-S-L-O-N-L-N-D-B-E-R-G if you're scoring at home. At the end of last week, we dipped into the hot stove a little bit and that caught you up on all the Mariners transactions. There are a few items to clean up, however, things. that I missed somehow, not missed, but just didn't report or whatever. And that is the five players who were outrighted to AAA Tacoma, Tyler Gilba was Klanbaugh's by the Diamondbacks. The other four, Nestor Cortez, Carl Edwards Jr., Matt McGill and Gerson-Bautista,

they're all minor league free agents, so they're no longer part of the organization, wanted to clean that up from the end of last week. Today we're going to get back to talking about classic world series of yesterday year. And today it's going to be 1968, which capped off the year of the pitcher. This one featured the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals, and it went the full seven games. This was also the final World Series, which was not preceded by League Championship Series, as divisional play didn't start until next year, 1969. The Detroit Tigers wound up with a record of 103 and 59,

tops in the AL, and the St. Louis Cardinals wound up at 97 and 65, tops in the National League, and these were the top two records in Major League Baseball. Both teams were pretty much powered by their pitching staff. The Tigers wound up with a 271 earned run average, third in the American League, and they gave up the fewest runs, 492 runs. Cardinals, on the other hand, wound up with the top ERA in the National League at 4-2.4-9, and they also gave up the fewest runs. 472, so they're pretty close in terms of runs given up. The Tigers also featured future Hall of Famer Al K-Line and pitcher Denny McLean, who was the last pitcher in Major League Baseball to win 30 or more games in a season, winning 31.

He went 31 and 6, ERA of 1.96 in 41 starts, 336 innings pitched, and a whip of 0.905. St. Louis, on the other hand, boasted Bob Gibson, Future Hall of Famer, who had a season for the ages. 22 and 9 was his record. 34 games, all of them starts. 1-1-2-E-R-A. That's insane. Whip of 0.853, and they also had a young Steve Carlton on their pitching staff. Offensively, they also had Future Hall of Famer Orlando Sepeda, Roger Maris, who hit 61 home runs in 1961.

and smooth field and Kurt Flood, who hit over 300. Very solid offensive team, though unspectacular. They had a team batting average of 249, which was fourth in the National League, on base of 298, which was fifth in the National League, slugging of 3,46, which was third in the National League. Remember, these offensive numbers across Major League Baseball are going to be a bit tempered this season because the pitching was just so good. Detroit, on the other hand, they have future Hall of Famer Al-K.

line. They've got borderline Hall of Famer Bill Freehan and solid veterans Willie Horton, Jim Northrop, and Norm Cash. Very, very good offense. Kind of similar to the Cardinals' offense. They had a batting average of 235, fourth in the American

League. Their 307 on base was second, and their 385 slugging was first. Seems unspectacular, but those were near the top of the league because the pitching was just out of this world in 1968. Game one of this 1968 World Series is the big one.

This is the one I'm probably going to spend the most time on, and it will probably take up the remainder of the first half of the show. This is the classic game in which Bob Gibson, well, I'll tell you the results a little bit. I think if you're a baseball fan and know your baseball history, I think you know what happened here. It was Bob Gibson against 31 game winner Denny McLean. Top of the first inning, Dick McAuliffe leads off for the Tigers,

and Bob Gibson strikes him out, which is a sign of things to come. Mickey Stanley singles and then is caught stealing for the second out of the inning. Al K-Line then strikes out to end the inning. So two of the first three outs are strikeouts. And if it wasn't for that caught stealing, you know, who knows? In any case, Danny McLean sets the Cardinals down, one, two, three in the bottom of the first inning. Lou Brock, Kurt Flood, and Roger Maris.

No picnic getting through those three. top of the second inning, Bob Gibson strikes out Norm Cash, Bob Gibson strikes out Willie Horton, and Bob Gibson strikes out Jim Northrop. Hmm, okay, another one, two, three inning. Danny McLean strikes out two hitters in the bottom of the second inning, and then Bob Gibson goes back to work in the third. Bill Freehand strikes out looking. Don Wart hits a single.

Danny McLean tries to sacrifice Wirt to second, but he strikes out on a foul bunt. Dick McCalliff then grounds. out. Third inning, Danny McLean does not allow the Cardinals to score, and Bob Gibson goes back to work in the fourth inning. Fly out to right field by Mickey Stanley, strikeout looking from K-line, and a flyout from Norm Cash. Cardinals finally score the bottom of the fourth inning. Leading off the inning, Roger Maras draws a walk. Orlando Sepeda then pops out to the first basement. Tim McArver then walks, so now you've got runners at first and second base with just one

man out. Mike Shannon, who has been broadcasting for the Cardinals forever, it seems, is the next batter up, and he singles to left field to score Roger Maris. McCarver advances to third base, and there's an error on the left fielder which allows Shannon to get to second base. That brings up Julian Javier, who singles to right field, scoring both McCarver and Shannon. Shannon's run is unearned. Javier steals second. Dowell Maxville then flies out to left field and then Bob Gibson strikes out, but the Cardinals get on the board three times in the bottom of the fourth inning, sending Bob Gibson back out to the mound to face Willie Horton, who pops out to second base. Jim Northrop lines one to shortstop for an out. Bill Freehand walks,

and then Donworth strikes out looking. McLean does not allow any Cardinals to score in the fifth inning, and leading off the sixth, Danny McLean is pinch-hit for by Tommy Matchick, and he grounds out to the first baseman. Dick McCalliff hits a single. Mickey Stanley strikes out. Al K-Line hits a double, sending McCalliff to third base, and then Norm Cash strikes out swinging to end the inning. Pat Dobson is on the mound, now replacing the pinch-hitting matchick,

and he induces a pop-out from Tim McCarver, a ground-out from Mike Shannon, and then walks Julian Javier. Javier is caught stealing to end the inning. Bob Gibson faces Willie Horton to lead off the seventh. He lines out to the shortstop and then gets Jim Northrop and Bill Freehand to Fan. Bottom of the seventh inning, the Cardinals put another run on the board. Dal Maxville leads off with a pop foul to the first baseman. Bob Gibson then pops out to the first baseman, and Hall of Famer Lou Brock hits a solo home run.

Kurt Flood then singles and steals second base, but Roger Maris pops out to the second baseman to end the inning, but the Cardinals have an insurance run. Eddie Matthews then pinch hits for Don Wirt, but he strikes out, so it doesn't do a whole lot of good. Gates Brown pitch hits for the pitcher Pat Dobson. He flies out to left field, as does Dick McColliffe. Bottom of the eighth inning, Don McMahon is now on the mound, and Dick Trezuski is now playing third base. Other than a Mike Shannon single, Cardinals don't do anything in the bottom of the eighth inning. So now they send Bob Gibson back out to the mound for the top of the ninth to try to break a World Series record. To this point, he has struck out

14 batters. Will he set the record? Short answer, yes. Mickey Stanley leads off with a single. Al K-Line strikes out swinging for strikeout number 15. Norm Cash strikes out swinging for strikeout number 16. And the final batter, Willie Horton, watches strike three go over the plate, giving Gibson the World Series record of 17 strikeouts in one game. Unbelievable.

He winds up going nine innings. He gives up five hits. He walks only one. 17 strikeouts. Danny McLean, five innings, three runs, two of them earned on three hits, three walks, three strikeouts. Pat Dobbs and two innings, two hits,

a run, it was earned, it was on a home run, that Lou Brock home run, and one walk. Don McMahon, one inning, one hit, and nothing else given up. Julian Javier, I mentioned that he played in this game. He is the father of former Mariners, Stan Javier, and Stan is named after a former teammate of Hulians none other than Cardinals Great

Stan the Man Musial. A little bonus trivia during game one of this 1968 World Series. Again, Bob Gibson absolutely dominant in this game like hardly any pitcher we've ever seen in World Series history. This was one of the greatest pitching performances in World Series history, ladies and gentlemen,

17 strikeouts in nine innings, scattering five hits, and only walking one. It does not get much better than that, ladies and gentlemen. His control was spot on, his slider was moving all over the place. What a way to cap off one of the greatest seasons ever had by a major league pitcher. We'll go through games 2 through 7 on the other side of this commercial break, which is going to be led off with a word from Bilt Bar. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Bilt Bar,

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send it to Locked-on Mariners at gmail.com and I will use it for an upcoming email episode. I will read it and reply to it on this very program. Questions or comments about anything? Ask me about the Mariners off-season moves. The off-season moves that other major league baseball teams are making? Asked me about the PBA playoffs, which did not go exactly how I thought they were going to you on Sunday. And this Sunday, ladies and gentlemen, are the final few rounds. The PBA playoff champion

is going to be decided this Sunday. And I'll be going to be plugging that on the show all week, probably. In any case, Lockton, Meriters, Gmail.com, questions and comments about any subject that your brainhead can think of. Just keep it clean. Remember, remember, keep saying this is a family show.

I'm not going to read dirty or smutty questions or inappropriate questions of any sort on this show. And we will continue on the other. side to this vital word of importance. Now back to Locked-on Mariners and your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you very much, Joey. Locked-on Mariners back with you. As I said,

the gross episode of Locked-on Mariners, episode 144. In reality, episode 144 of this program's second season, there were 34 shows done at the very end of the 2019 season, and then I took over in January. Episode 144 of my tenure here.

So I think it's episode 178 or something like that. Patton did 34 episodes last year. As I have mentioned, we're going to get back to talking about the 1968 World Series. We did game one in the first half of the show, and that took up the entire half, because that was one of the greatest pitching performances ever in baseball history by Bob Gibson. The rest of the series, for being the year of the pitcher, filled with blowouts, believe it or not. The next game, the Detroit Tigers tied up the series in a game of pace with an 8-to-1 victory, and they scored five of their runs before St. Louis got on the board.

Willie Horton began the scoring in the top of the second inning with a solo home run, and in the top of the third, Mickey Lollich hit a home run. Mickey Lollich is Detroit's starting pitcher this day. In the top of the sixth inning, Norm Cash would lead off with a solo home run, and Dick McAuliffe would score Willie Horton on an RBI single. Cardinals would have got on the board in the sixth inning with an RBI single from Orlando Sepeda, scoring Lou Brock. half inning, however, Jim Northrop would ground it into a double play on which Al Kline would

score so he doesn't get an RBI, but he gets the run right back that the Cardinals picked up in the sixth inning. Top of the ninth inning, Detroit would score two more. On two bases loaded walks, Don Wirt and Mickey Lollich would both walk, forcing in Al Kline and Norm Cash, respectively. Eight to one, the final in this one, Mickey Lollich, you know, despite this being a blowout, Mickey Lollich pitched very, very well. Complete game, nine innings, six hits, one run, it was earned, two walks, and nine strikeouts.

On the other side, Nelson Bryles did not do very well. Five innings, seven hits, four runs, all of them earned one walk, two strikeouts, three home runs given up. Series is tied at one game apiece at this point. St. Louis would pick up game three with a seven to three final. This one was a little closer than the other one. Detroit would wind up scoring first. In the third inning, Al K-Line would hit a two-year. run home run. The Cardinals would answer back in the fifth inning, and as a matter of fact,

they would go ahead. It was a Kurt Flood RBI double to score Lou Brock, and then a Tim McCarver three-run home run to score Flood and Roger Maris. Detroit would get one back in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Dick McAuliffe solo home run, and then Orlando Sepeda would hit a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to score again, Flood and Maris. That's the scoring for this game. Seven to three final. St. Louis wins it. Ray Washburn started for the Cardinals. He only goes five in a third. Three hits, three runs, all earned, four walks, two strikeouts, two home runs.

Earl Wilson started for Detroit, four and a third innings for him. These are pitching lines more akin to what we saw this postseason rather than in 1968. But four in a third innings, four hits, three runs, all earned six walks. That's terrible. And three strikeouts. Cardinals would take games four as well, and this was no contest. Ten to nothing the final here. St. Louis,

gets on the board in the top of the very first inning. As a matter of fact, the first batter of the game, Lou Brock, goes deep against Denny McLean. Later on in the inning, Mike Shannon would hit a ground ball to the shortstop, which is a single. Maris scores on the play to give the Cardinals a quick two-nothing lead. Cardinals would tack two more on in the third against Denny McLean, a Tim McArver RBI triple, and a Mike Shannon RBI double.

And they would tack two more on in the fourth inning. Get this. Bob Gibson would lead up. off with a home run. So in addition to his great pitching performance in game one, he hits a home run in game four to extend the Cardinals' lead. Later on in the inning, Roger Marys grounds out, but Lou Brock scores, so he does get an RBI out of it.

Tigers do score in the bottom of the fourth, the only run they would score all day, a Jim Northrop home run. In the eighth inning, Bob Gibson would walk with the bases loaded to score Mike Shannon, and then Lou Brock would clear the bases with a three-referral. run double to bring the score to that 10 to 1 final. Bob Gibson threw another complete game in this one, and it was almost just as good as game 1. Nine innings, five hits, one run, it was earned, it was a solo home run, and 10 strikeouts.

So in the two games, he's pitched in the World Series, 18 innings, 27 strikeouts. What can you say about it? It speaks for itself. You don't need to say anything about that, plus two RBIs, one of them on a solo home run. I don't know what else to say about it, so we'll move on to the next game, which is game five with the series tied at two games apiece. Detroit would wind up taking this game five to three in what was a pretty close ballgame. St. Louis would score all three of their runs in the top of the third inning, a Kurt Flood RBI single, and an Orlando Sepeda two-run home run.

That would be it for them that day. Tigers would get their scoring started in the bottom of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Norm Cash and an RBI single from Jim Northrop. So it's now a 3 to 2 score in the Cardinals' favorite this time. Detroit would go ahead in the seventh inning. Al Kalan would hit a two-run single, followed immediately by a Norm Cash RBI single, to bring the score to 5 to 3, which was the final score. Mickey Lollich threw another complete game in this one, nine innings, nine hits, three runs. They're all earned.

Only one walk, a home run. and eight strikeouts. Nelson Bryles, six in the third innings, six hits, three runs, three walks, five strikeouts. Better than his game two performance, still not terrific. Better than Joe Horner, though, who only faced four batters and did not retire a single one. He gave up three hits and a walk, and two of those later came around to score. Ron Willis pitched an inning and two-thirds. He wouldn't give up anything and he would strike out one. That brings us to game six, another blowout, but this one was won by the Detroit Tigers. Ray Washburn would start for the Cardinals, and he would not do very well.

Neither would most of the bullpen. Detroit gets the scoring underway in the top of the second inning. A Willie Horton RBI double and a Bill Freehand RBI single. They'd get busy in the third inning, scoring 10 runs. Dick McAuliffe leads off with a walk. Mickey Stanley then hits a single, sending McColliff to second. Keline drives in McCalliff with a single. Washburn's done, he is replaced by Larry Jaster.

Didn't do much good. Norm Cash would single and drive-in Stanley. Willie Horton would walk to load the bases, and then Jim Northrop would hit a grand slam, and the game was almost over at this point. Larry Jaster's done, and he's replaced by Ron Willis, who immediately walks Bill Frihan,

hits Don Wirt with the pitch, and then Denny McClain sacrifices them to third base and second base, respectively. Willis then intentionally walks Dick McAuliffe to load the bases. Mickey Stanley grounds out to the first baseman, but the first baseman threw home to force out Bill Freehand, and the bases are still loaded. That play was scored 3-2.

That brings up Al K-Line, who hits a single to left field, scoring both Warts and McColliffe. Willis is done, and Dick Hughes is in. If you're keeping track, this is the fourth pitcher of the inning. He immediately gives up an RBI single-to-exam. to Norm Cash. And then Willie Horton hits an RBI single.

And then finally, Jim Northrup, who had hit the Grand Slam earlier in the inning, flies out to end this inning. Holy Toledo. The Tigers sent 15 batters to the plate. And again, they score 10. And going into the bottom of the third, it's a 12-0 Tigers lead. They would pick up their 13th run in the top of the fifth, an Al K-line solo home run.

And the Cardinals would not score until the bottom of the ninth, an RBI single from Julian Javier for a 13 to one final. Again, this was one of those games that it was over very, very early on. Danny McLean finally had a good World Series pitching performance. Complete game, nine hits, one run, it was earned, and seven strikeouts. And as far as St. Louis pitchers go, there were a lot of them. None of them did particularly well, so I'm not even going to bother. But that does set up a decisive game 7 on October 10, 1968.

And this wound up being, ladies and gentlemen, a fairly close ballgame. Neither team would score until the seventh inning. And in that seventh inning, the Tigers would get on the board with a two-run triple from Jim Northrop and an RBI double from Bill Freehand to take a three-nothing lead. In the ninth, they would add an insurance run on a Donwirt RBI single, 4-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Kurt Flood leads off for the Cardinals, he lines out to the shortstop.

Baby Bull, Orlando Sepeda is next, but he fouls out to the catcher, pop fly. Mike Shannon is next, and he gets the Cardinals on the board with a solo home run, but it was too little too late. Next batter Tim McCarver also pops out to the catcher in foul territory, making the Detroit Tigers, the 1968 World Series champions. And while I do not want to take anything away from this Tigers victory, I have to admit that it's kind of a shame that Bob Gibson's historic performance did not come in a Cardinals World Series victory.

But you cannot take anything away from what Bob Gibson did in this series. And you can't take anything away from what Mickey Lollidge did in this series as well. he threw three complete games, won all of them, and he is, ladies and gentlemen, your 1968 World Series MVP. Fantastic pitching performances on both sides, even though there were some blowout games here. The teams that won generally threw complete games at the opposition. So it's odd to say that this was a well-pitched World Series

if the team won, then that team generally pitched well. But if the team lost, then generally they didn't. And again, it is very odd to see 8 to 1, 10 to 1, 13 to 1 in the year of the pitcher. But that's how this World Series wound up happening. It was a very interesting World Series and a historic one for Bob Gibson's performance in game 1. That's going to wrap up this look back in the 1968 World Series, ladies and gentlemen. Tomorrow I'm going to talk about another brilliantly pitched world series. We're going to go all the way back to 1905.

And here to help me go back to 1905 will be Jake Decker, Mortimer Mouse, and a Hammond C-3 organ. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to Lockdown Mariners on Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that might happen to spring into your brainhead.

Follow us on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. I hope you've been enjoying these. Backs at Classic World Series, as I have been enjoying talking about them. This historic stuff, I love this baseball history. I hope you do too. Remember, 1905 World Series tomorrow. Talk to you then.

This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network.