$Unique_ID{BAS00138} $Title{Postseason Play: World Series 1968} $Subtitle{} $Author{ Ivor-Campbell, Frederick} $Subject{World Series 1968 Detroit Tigers St Louis Cardinals} $Log{ Gibson, Bob (with audio: Gibson's 1968 World Series strike out record)*0023601.scf,44207027.aud} Total Baseball: The Highlights of the Game Postseason Play: World Series 1968 Frederick Ivor-Campbell Detroit Tigers (AL), 4; St. Louis Cardinals (NL) 3 GAME 1 AT STL OCT 2 ---------------------------------------- DET 000 000 000 0 5 3 STL 000 300 10X 4 6 0 Pitchers: McLAIN, Dobson (6), McMahon (8) vs GIBSON Home Runs: Brock-STL Attendance: 54,692 GAME 2 AT STL OCT 3 ---------------------------------------- DET 011 003 102 8 13 1 STL 000 001 000 1 6 1 Pitchers: LOLICH vs BRILES, Carlton (6), Willis (7), Hoerner (9) Home Runs: Horton-DET, Lolich-DET, Cash-DET Attendance: 54,692 GAME 3 AT DET OCT 5 ---------------------------------------- STL 000 040 300 7 13 0 DET 002 010 000 3 4 0 Pitchers: WASHBURN, Hoerner (6) vs WILSON, Dobson (5), McMahon (6), Patterson (7), Hiller (8) Home Runs: Kaline-DET, McCarver-STL, McAuliffe-DET, Cepeda-STL Attendance: 53,634 GAME 4 AT DET OCT 6 ---------------------------------------- STL 202 200 040 10 13 0 DET 000 100 000 1 5 4 Pitchers: GIBSON vs McLAIN, Sparma (3), Patterson (4), Lasher (6), Hiller (8), Dobson (8) Home Runs: Brock-STL, Gibson-STL, Northrup-DET Attendance: 53,634 GAME 5 AT DET OCT 7 ---------------------------------------- STL 300 000 000 3 9 0 DET 000 200 30X 5 9 1 Pitchers: Briles, HOERNER (7), Willis (7) vs LOLICH Home Runs: Cepeda-STL Attendance: 53,634 GAME 6 AT STL OCT 9 ---------------------------------------- DET 0210 010 000 13 12 1 STL 000 000 001 1 9 1 Pitchers: McLAIN vs WASHBURN, Jaster (3), Willis (3), Hughes (3), Carlton (4), Granger (7), Nelson (9) Home Runs: Northrup-DET, Kaline-DET Attendance: 54,692 GAME 7 AT STL OCT 10 ---------------------------------------- DET 000 000 301 4 8 1 STL 000 000 001 1 5 0 Pitchers: LOLICH vs GIBSON Home Runs: Shannon-STL Attendance: 54,692 In this "year of the pitcher," Tiger Denny McLain's 31 wins were the most for a major leaguer in thirty-seven years. Cardinal Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA was the majors' best since Dutch Leonard's 1.01 in 1914, and his 13 season shutouts tied for third best of all time. In the Series, though, it was Detroit's second-best pitcher--Mickey Lolich--who emerged as the hero. McLain came off second-best against Gibson in the opener. He yielded only three hits in his five innings, but two Cardinal singles in the fourth combined with a pair of walks and a Tiger error for three runs. Gibson, meanwhile, was in the process of striking out a Series-record 17 batters on the way to a five-hit shutout. But Lolich brought Detroit back in Game Two. He struck out nine, and his third-inning home run (the only one of his major league career) for the second Tiger run provided all the scoring needed for a Detroit victory, although the Tigers kept putting runs across for an eventual 8-1 win. Home runs accounted for most of the scoring in Game Three. Veteran Al Kaline's two-run shot in the third opened the scoring, but Cardinal Tim McCarver's three-run blast in the fifth put St. Louis ahead. Tiger Dick McAuliffe's solo shot later in the inning brought Detroit within one run of a tie, but the Cardinals put the game away on Orlando Cepeda's three-run homer in the seventh. McLain faced Gibson again in Game Four, and again came off second-best. Cardinal Lou Brock led off the game with a home run, and before the end of the third inning McLain was gone. Gibson gave up a solo homer to Tiger Jim Northrup in the fourth, but that was the only Detroit run he allowed. Gibson homered himself and struck out ten in an easy 10-1 win. Down three games to one, the Tigers were saved from elimination by Lolich's arm. Although three Cardinal hits in the top of the first (including Orlando Cepeda's second homer of the Series) gave St. Louis a quick three runs, Lolich held the Cards scoreless the rest of the game as his Tigers fought back with two runs in the fourth and three more in the seventh (with a rally started by Lolich's single). McLain finally came through in Game Six, evening the Series with an easy 13-1 victory, in which Jim Northrup's grand slam provided the big blow of a ten-run third inning. Lolich and Gibson--both 2-0 in the Series--faced off in the finale. Gibson broke his own World Series strikeout record in the third inning (finishing with 8 for the game and 35 for the Series), and both pitchers hurled shutout ball through six innings. But four two-out Tiger hits in the top of the seventh--including a misplayed fly ball in center field--put three runs on the board, and another run in the ninth made the score 4-0. In the last of the ninth, Mike Shannon's solo homer spoiled Lolich's shutout, but not his third Series win--or the Tigers' comeback world title. DET (A) ============================================================================== PLAYER/POS AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RB BB SO SB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gates Brown, ph .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Norm Cash, 1b .385 7 26 5 10 0 0 1 5 3 5 0 Wayne Comer, ph 1.000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Pat Dobson, p .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bill Freehan, c .083 7 24 0 2 1 0 0 2 4 8 0 John Hiller, p .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Willie Horton, of .304 7 23 6 7 1 1 1 3 5 6 0 Al Kaline, of .379 7 29 6 11 2 0 2 8 0 7 0 Fred Lasher, p .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mickey Lolich, p .250 3 12 2 3 0 0 1 2 1 5 0 Tom Matchick, ph .000 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Eddie Mathews, 3b-1 .333 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Dick Mc Auliffe, 2b .222 7 27 5 6 0 0 1 3 4 6 0 Denny Mc Lain, p .000 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Don Mc Mahon, p .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jim Northrup, of .250 7 28 4 7 0 1 2 8 1 5 0 Ray Oyler, ss .000 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Daryl Patterson, p .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jim Price, ph .000 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Joe Sparma, p .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mickey Stanley, ss-7,of-4 .214 7 28 4 6 0 1 0 0 2 4 0 Dick Tracewski, 3b-1 .000 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Don Wert, 3b .118 6 17 1 2 0 0 0 2 6 5 0 Earl Wilson, p .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 TOTAL .242 231 34 56 4 3 8 33 27 59 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PITCHER W L ERA G GS CG SV SHO IP H ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pat Dobson 0 0 3.86 3 0 0 0 0 4.2 5 2 1 0 John Hiller 0 0 13.50 2 0 0 0 0 2.0 6 3 3 1 Fred Lasher 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 1 Mickey Lolich 3 0 1.67 3 3 3 0 0 27.0 20 5 6 21 Denny Mc Lain 1 2 3.24 3 3 1 0 0 16.2 18 6 4 13 Don Mc Mahon 0 0 13.50 2 0 0 0 0 2.0 4 3 0 1 Daryl Patterson 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 0 0 3.0 1 0 1 0 Joe Sparma 0 0 54.00 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 2 2 0 0 Earl Wilson 0 1 6.23 1 1 0 0 0 4.1 4 3 6 3 TOTAL 4 3 3.48 18 7 4 0 0 62.0 61 24 21 40 STL (N) ============================================================================== PLAYER/POS AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RB BB SO SB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nelson Briles, p .000 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Lou Brock, of .464 7 28 6 13 3 1 2 5 3 4 7 Steve Carlton, p .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Orlando Cepeda, 1b .250 7 28 2 7 0 0 2 6 2 3 0 Ron Davis, of .000 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Johnny Edwards, ph .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Curt Flood, of .286 7 28 4 8 1 0 0 2 2 2 3 Phil Gagliano, ph .000 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bob Gibson, p .125 3 8 2 1 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 Wayne Granger, p .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Joe Hoerner, p .500 3 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Dick Hughes, p .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Larry Jaster, p .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Julian Javier, 2b .333 7 27 1 9 1 0 0 3 3 4 1 Roger Maris, of-5 .158 6 19 5 3 1 0 0 1 3 3 0 Dal Maxvill, ss .000 7 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 0 Tim Mc Carver, c .333 7 27 3 9 0 2 1 4 3 2 0 Mel Nelson, p .000 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dave Ricketts, ph 1.000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dick Schofield, ss-1 .000 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mike Shannon, 3b .276 7 29 3 8 1 0 1 4 1 5 0 Ed Spiezio, ph 1.000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bobby Tolan, ph .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Ray Washburn, p .000 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Ron Willis, p .000 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTAL .255 239 27 61 7 3 7 27 21 40 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PITCHER W L ERA G GS CG SV SHO IP H ER BB SO ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nelson Briles 0 1 5.56 2 2 0 0 0 11.1 13 7 4 7 Steve Carlton 0 0 6.75 2 0 0 0 0 4.0 7 3 1 3 Bob Gibson 2 1 1.67 3 3 3 0 1 27.0 18 5 4 35 Wayne Granger 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 1 1 Joe Hoerner 0 1 3.86 3 0 0 1 0 4.2 5 2 5 3 Dick Hughes 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 0.1 2 0 0 0 Larry Jaster 0 0 INF 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 2 3 1 0 Mel Nelson 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 1 Ray Washburn 1 1 9.82 2 2 0 0 0 7.1 7 8 7 6 Ron Willis 0 0 8.31 3 0 0 0 0 4.1 2 4 4 3 TOTAL 3 4 4.65 19 7 3 1 1 62.0 56 32 27 59 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------