1968 World Series

The 1968 World Series featured the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Tigers winning in seven 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 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 Game 7, because regular-season 31-game winner Denny McLain was moved up to game 6—also on two days rest. 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 when Brock elected not to slide and went in standing up.

The narrow win for the Tigers was due, in small part, to a bold gamble by Manager Mayo Smith. The Tigers rotated four good hitting outfielders during the season (Willie Horton, Mickey Stanley, Al Kaline, and Jim Northrup); in an effort to get all four into the lineup in the World Series, Smith moved center fielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop (replacing Ray Oyler, who batted .135 during the season) even though he had never played there in his minor or major league career. The gamble paid off as Kaline batted .379 with two home runs and eight RBIs (including driving in the tying and go-ahead runs in a crucial Game 5), Northrup knocked in eight runs to go along with his two home runs, Horton hit .304 with a home run and six runs scored, and Stanley made only two insignificant errors.

The 1968 season was tagged "The Year of the Pitcher", and the Series featured dominant performances from Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson, MVP of the 1964 World Series and 1967 World Series. Gibson came into the Series with a stunning regular-season Earned Run Average of just 1.12, and he would pitch 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 seventeen batters, besting Sandy Koufax's 1963 record by two, and it still stands as the World Series record today. In Game 4, a solo home run by Jim Northrup was the only offense the Tigers were able to muster, as Gibson struck out ten batters. In Game 7, Gibson was defeated by series MVP Mickey Lolich, allowing three runs on four straight hits in the decisive seventh inning, although the key play was a Jim Northrup triple that was seemingly misplayed by center fielder Curt Flood and could have been the third out with no runs scoring.

The Series saw the Cardinals lose a Game 7 for the first time in their history. The Tigers were the third team to come back from a three games to one deficit to win a best-of-seven World Series, the first two being the 1925 Pirates and the 1958 Yankees. Later, the 1979 Pirates and 1985 Royals would accomplish this feat.

The two teams met again in the 2006 World Series. The Cardinals once again raced to a three games to one lead, but didn't relinquish it as they captured the championship in five games. That would give the Cardinals the "rubber match" of their other two encounters in 1934 and 1968.

This was the last World Series to be played before the introduction of divisional play in Major League Baseball, and subsequent expansion of the postseason to include the League Championship Series. In his book about the history of the World Series, historian Lee Allen made the point that it was the last "pure" World Series, in the sense that divisional play would raise the possibility that the team with the best record from one or both leagues might not get into the Series, which has proven to be an accurate prediction (both teams in 2006, for example).

Game 1
Wednesday, October 2, 1968 at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri

The Tigers roared into Game 1 by setting a team record with 103 victories on the season and were appearing in their first World Series in 23 years. The Tigers clubbed 185 home runs, but batted just .235 and stole only 26 bases on the year. The Cardinals could fly on the bases stealing 110 bases, leading the NL with 48 triples, had a better team average at .249, but hit only 73 home runs. Pitching was about even as both teams set their rotations for Game 1 with solid starters and adequate relievers.

Fans overflowed Busch Stadium for Game 1 to watch the highly anticipated matchup of the Major League's top two pitchers, the Cardinals' Bob Gibson (22–9, 1.12 ERA) and the Tigers' Denny McLain (31–6, 1.96 ERA). Gibson would be looking to become the first National League pitcher to win six World Series games while McLain would be pitching in his first World Series game. Indeed the Cardinals had far more World Series experience than the Tigers with most of the Cardinal lineup (including all nine Game 1 starters) having played in a prior World Series. Both pitchers were highly competitive, fast workers, sporting overpowering fastballs coupled with excellent control.

Gibson's performance in Game 1 was phenomenal; the menacing right-handed pitcher shut out the Tigers on just five hits, and he struck out a World Series-record 17 Detroit Tigers' batters.

The Cardinals broke through with three in the fourth off McLain. After McLain walked Roger Maris and Tim McCarver, Cardinals third baseman Mike Shannon singled in Maris and went to second base when Tiger center fielder Jim Northrup misplayed the ball. McCarver pulled in at third. Cardinals second baseman Julian Javier followed this by singling in both baserunners to make the score 3–0. Cardinals outfielder Lou Brock added a solo home run in the seventh inning to complete the scoring.

In the top of the first inning, the Tigers lack of team speed was evident as Mickey Stanley singled but was easily gunned down by Tim McCarver attempting to steal. Gibson struck out two in the first inning, and continued mowing down Tiger hitters including seven strikeouts in the first three innings. In the Cardinal second inning, Tim McCarver brought the crowd to their feet with a triple, but was left stranded by two McLain strikeouts. In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals received a bit of a scare when Brock turned his left ankle on a steal of second base. Brock would recover and go on to steal seven bases in the Series. After the Cardinals scored their runs in the fourth inning, the rest of the game was an exercise in Tiger hitting futility as the closest they came to scoring occurred in the sixth inning. Detroit’s Dick McAuliffe singled and Al Kaline followed with a double, but again lack of team speed left McAuliffe at third instead of attempting to score. Gibson struck out Norm Cash to end the threat. Gibson turned the Tigers into mere kittens with his sizzling fastball and darting slider, striking out the last three hitters to end the game.

Game 2
Thursday, October 3, 1968 at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri

The Tigers' starting pitcher Mickey Lolich wasn't as dominating as Bob Gibson had been in Game 1, striking out "only" nine batters, but the result was the same: Lolich earned a complete-game victory and the Tigers evened up the Series.

Tiger outfielder Willie Horton smacked a home run in the second inning, and Lolich also helped his own cause with a solo homer in the third inning off the Cardinals starter, Nelson Briles. This was the only home run that Lolich hit during his entire professional career. The Tigers broke the game open in the sixth inning when first baseman Norm Cash led off with another solo homer, and second baseman Dick McAuliffe later provided a two-run single.

Cardinals first baseman Orlando Cepeda gave St. Louis a run with an RBI single in the sixth, but that was all they scored. Al Kaline scored in the seventh inning when Jim Northrup hit into a double play, and the Tigers scored their final two runs with bases-loaded walks to Don Wert and Lolich.

Game 3
Saturday, October 5, 1968 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan

In the first of three games at Detroit's Tiger Stadium, Al Kaline started the scoring with a two-run homer in the third inning, but the Cardinals came back in the fifth inning on an RBI double by center fielder Curt Flood off starter Earl Wilson. After Wilson put another batter on base, catcher Tim McCarver launched a three-run home run off relief pitcher Pat Dobson. The Tigers cut the deficit to just one run on a solo home run by Dick McAuliffe. But Orlando Cepeda put the game out of reach in the seventh inning by smacking a three-run home run.

Game 4
Sunday, October 6, 1968 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan

Manager Mayo Smith, needing another left-handed bat in the lineup, made a major change by inserting veteran Eddie Mathews at third base. Mathews, recovering from a spinal operation that nearly ended his career, had one hit, but this would be the last game of his major league career. After a 35-minute rain delay, hard-hitting Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg threw out the first pitch.

McLain had trouble warming up amidst the rainfall, and was throwing with less velocity from the outset. A 31-game winner during the regular season, he struggled for the second time in this World Series, as this one-sided pitching matchup with Bob Gibson showed. Lou Brock led the game off with a home run, and Mike Shannon added an RBI single later in the first inning. Two more Cardinals runs were knocked in during the third inning on Tim McCarver's RBI triple and Mike Shannon's RBI double. McLain's troubles continued, and after a walk to Julian Javier, the umpires stopped the game due to rain with two out in the third inning. McLain did not return when play resumed after a one-hour and 15-minute rain delay. Bob Gibson did return after the delay, and helped his own cause by hitting a home run off Joe Sparma in the fourth inning. Next, Lou Brock knocked a triple and scored on a ground-out by Roger Maris.

The Cardinals final runs came in the eighth inning when Gibson walked with the bases loaded, forcing in one run, and then Lou Brock drove in three more runs with a double. Brock was just a single short of hitting for the cycle in this game.

The Tigers only run came in the fourth inning when Jim Northrup hit a home run off Gibson. Other than that, Gibson was a nearly perfect pitcher, tossing his second complete game in this World Series while striking out ten batters. The Cards now had a commanding three-games-to-one lead in this Series.

Game 5
Monday, October 7, 1968 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan

With the World Series on the line, the Tigers used their winner of Game 2, Mickey Lolich, as their starting pitcher. Lolich's first inning in this game was not too promising, as he allowed an RBI single by Curt Flood and a two-run home run to Orlando Cepeda. However, Lolich soon settled down, striking out eight Cardinals batters and allowing no more runs.

Tigers first baseman Norm Cash began their comeback with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, plating Mickey Stanley who had tripled. This was followed by a Willie Horton triple and Jim Northrup's RBI single. In the fifth inning, the Cardinals had a chance to go up by two runs after Lou Brock hit a one-out double. Cardinals second baseman Julian Javier followed with a base hit to left. Outfielder Willie Horton fielded the ball off the ground and then fired the ball towards home plate. Instead of sliding into home plate, Brock tried to bowl over Tiger catcher Bill Freehan. However, Freehan caught and held onto the ball while blocking the plate with his foot, and Brock was called out. This was the last time that the Cardinals threatened to score in the game.

Cardinals starting pitcher Nelson Briles was taken out of the game in the seventh inning with one runner on base, and was replaced by reliever Joe Hoerner. The Tigers began a game-winning rally off Hoerner, with Al Kaline hitting a two-run single to give the Tigers a 4–3 lead. Norm Cash then knocked in an insurance run with a single.

Jose Feliciano's unconventional pre-game singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" aroused considerable controversy, with the Tigers and NBC receiving thousands of angry letters and telephone calls about the performance. Lolich also blamed Feliciano's unusually long rendition for causing him to get cold after his warm-ups and thus give up three early runs.

Game 6
Wednesday, October 9, 1968 at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri

Now needing two wins in St. Louis to win the World Series, Tiger manager Mayo Smith chose Denny McLain again as his starting pitcher, even though he was on only two days' rest and had not been very successful in his two prior Series starts. Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst stayed with his normal three-starter rotation, selecting Ray Washburn who had won Game 3. The choice of McLain paid off for the Tigers, as he pitched a complete game in a 13–1 rout of the Cardinals.

The rout began innocently enough in the top of the second inning on RBI hits by Willie Horton and Bill Freehan. During the third inning, the floodgates opened up for the Tigers as they scored again and again off three Cardinal pitchers. The Tigers batted around and tallied ten runs in this inning, a record for a World Series game. Jim Northrup hit a grand slam home run and both Al Kaline and Norm Cash hit run-producing singles, with Kaline's knocking in two runs. Horton also hit another RBI single in this outburst of runs. Kaline added a solo home run in the fifth inning.

Game 7
Thursday, October 10, 1968 at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri

In a fitting end to this Series, the two teams' hottest pitchers, Mickey Lolich and Bob Gibson, squared off in what was almost a classic duel, until an infamous hit over the head of Curt Flood. Like McLain in Game 6, Lolich was starting on only two days' rest.

Lolich and Gibson matched zeros for six innings, but, in the top of the seventh, Gibson surrendered two-out hits to Norm Cash and Willie Horton. Jim Northrup then hit a hard smash to deep center; Curt Flood, who won numerous gold gloves in his career, misjudged it and briefly started in on the ball before turning around to go back. The ball one-hopped the warning track, two runs scored, Northrup wound up with a triple, and Lolich had all the runs he needed. Flood has been criticized by some who believe he would have caught the ball had his first step been back instead of in. Jim Northrup himself, however, said the hit was "40 feet over [Flood's] head. He never had a chance to catch it." TV and film footage appears to back up Northrup's claim; Flood was playing shallow, and the ball got to the warning track in a hurry. Even had he started back, it is questionable whether Flood would have caught the ball. Bill Freehan then doubled in Northrup, and in the top of the ninth, Don Wert would add an RBI single.

The Cardinals would get a run in the ninth on a Mike Shannon solo homer, but that was all as Lolich would pitch his third complete game. The final out of the series was recorded when Bill Freehan caught a pop foul off the bat of Tim McCarver. Gibson struck out eight in the losing cause, giving him a record 35 strikeouts by one pitcher in a World Series, but Lolich would be named World Series MVP.

Cardinals shortstop Dal Maxvill went hitless in 22 World Series at-bats, a record.

Composite box
1968 World Series (4–3): Detroit Tigers (A.L.) over St. Louis Cardinals (N.L.)