1968 World Series
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The 1968 World Series featured the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning in 7 games for their first championship since 1945, and the third in their history. The Tigers came back from a 3-1 deficit to win three in a row, largely on the arm of MVP Mickey Lolich, who amazingly won three complete games in a single World Series, a feat that has not been duplicated since. In his third appearance in the series Lolich had to pitch after only two days' rest in the deciding seventh game because 31-game winner Denny McLain had proven simply ineffective in the postseason. In Game 5, the Tigers' hopes for the title would have been very much in jeopardy had Bill Freehan not tagged out Lou Brock in a home plate collision.
The narrow win for the Tigers was due, in small part, to a bold gamble by Manager Mayo Smith. Smith benched no-hit defensive whiz shortstop Ray Oyler in favor of converted center fielder Mickey Stanley. As the Tigers took the lead, Oyler was returned to the lineup as a defensive replacement, Stanley moved back into the outfield and good-hitting (but poor-fielding) outfielder Willie Horton went to the bench. Oyler finished each of the four games won by the Tigers, three of them with Lolich on the pitcher's mound.
The Series also featured dominant performances from Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson, MVP of the 1964 World Series and 1967 World Series. Gibson pitched complete games in Games 1, 4, and 7. He was the winning pitcher in Games 1 and 4. In Game 1, he threw a shutout, striking out 17 batters. In Game 4, a solo home run by Jim Northrup was the only offense the Tigers were able to muster, as Gibson struck out 10 batters. In Game 7, Gibson was defeated by series MVP Mickey Lolich, allowing three runs on four straight hits in the decisive 7th inning.
Records: Detroit Tigers (W: 103, L: 59, Pct: .636, GA: 12) - St Louis Cardinals (W: 97, L: 65, Pct: .599, GA: 9)
Managers: Mayo Smith (Detroit), Red Schoendienst (St. Louis)
Umpires: Tom Gorman (NL), Jim Honochick (AL), Stan Landes (NL), Bill Kinnamon (AL), Doug Harvey (NL), Bill Haller (AL)
MVP: Mickey Lolich (Detroit)
Television: NBC (Curt Gowdy, George Kell and Harry Caray announcing)
Contents |
[edit] Summary
AL Detroit Tigers (4) vs. NL St Louis Cardinals (3)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigers – 0, Cardinals – 4 | October 2 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:29 |
| 2 | Cardinals – 1, Tigers – 8 | October 3 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:41 |
| 3 | Tigers – 3, Cardinals – 7 | October 5 | Tiger Stadium | 53,634 | 3:17 |
| 4 | Tigers – 1, Cardinals – 10 | October 6 | Tiger Stadium | 53,634 | 2:34 |
| 5 | Tigers – 5, Cardinals – 3 | October 7 | Tiger Stadium | 53,634 | 2:43 |
| 6 | Cardinals – 1, Tigers – 13 | October 9 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:26 |
| 7 | Cardinals – 1, Tigers – 4 | October 10 | Busch Memorial Stadium | 54,692 | 2:07 |
[edit] Matchups
[edit] Game 1
October 2, 1968 at Busch Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | |||
| St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | |||
| W: Bob Gibson (1-0) L: Denny McLain (0-1) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Lou Brock (1) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Game 2
October 3, 1968 at Busch Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 1 | |||
| St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |||
| W: Mickey Lolich (1-0) L: Nelson Briles (0-1) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: DET – Willie Horton (1), Mickey Lolich (1), Norm Cash (1) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Game 3
October 5, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | |||
| W: Ray Washburn (1-0) L: Earl Wilson (0-1) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Tim McCarver (1), Orlando Cepeda (1) DET – Al Kaline (1), Dick McAuliffe (1) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Game 4
October 6, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | |||
| W: Bob Gibson (2-0) L: Denny McLain (0-2) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Lou Brock (2), Bob Gibson (1) DET – Jim Northrup (1) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Game 5
October 7, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 0 | |||
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 | |||
| W: Mickey Lolich (2-0) L: Joe Hoerner (0-1) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Orlando Cepeda (2) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Game 6
October 9, 1968 at Busch Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 12 | 1 | |||
| St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | |||
| W: Denny McLain (1-2) L: Ray Washburn (1-1) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: DET – Jim Northrup (2), Al Kaline (2) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Game 7
October 10, 1968 at Busch Memorial Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 1 | |||
| St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||
| W: Mickey Lolich (3-0) L: Bob Gibson (2-1) | |||||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Mike Shannon (1) | |||||||||||||||
[edit] Quote of the series
*"Its a happy bunch of Tigers!"-Curt Gowdy describing the scene among the Tigers.
*"If Flood hadn't slipped and fallen on that triple by Northrop they might still be playing."-Ernie Harwell describing the key mistake in Game 7
[edit] Trivia
- Detroit's Mickey Lolich became the last pitcher to win three complete games in one World Series.
- Bob Gibson's 17 strikeouts in Game 1 are the all-time record for a World Series game.
- The 1968 Tigers were the fourth of six teams to come back from a 3 games to 1 deficit in a World Series, the others being the 1903 Red Sox, 1925 Pirates, 1958 Yankees, 1979 Pirates, and 1985 Royals.
- The two teams met again in the 2006 World Series. The Cardinals once again raced to a 3 games to 1 lead, but didn't relinquish it as they captured the championship in five games.
- This was the last World Series before Divisional Play.
[edit] Composite Box
1968 World Series (4-3): Detroit Tigers (A.L.) over St Louis Cardinals (N.L.)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Tigers | 0 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 56 | 11 | |
| St Louis Cardinals | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 61 | 2 | |
| Total Attendance: 379,670 Average Attendance: 54,239 | |||||||||||||
| Winning Player’s Share: – $10,937 Losing Player’s Share – $7,079 | |||||||||||||
[edit] Reference(s)
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 321-325)
[edit] External Links
- 1968 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
- 1968 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
- 1968 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
- 1968 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org
- Detroit Tigers History
[edit] MLB World Series
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