Pitcher's Day

With four games of the 1968 World Series out of the way, the Las Vegas bookmakers were beginning to count their winnings. They had been quoting 17-to-10 odds on the St. Louis Cardinals, and the world champions were winning in a walk. They had Detroit's Tigers down, three games to one, and St. Louis' peerless pitcher Bob Gibson had humiliated Detroit's 31-game winner, Denny McLain, not once, but twice. Relaxed and confident, Gibson was ready to pitch again, if necessary, in the best-of-seven Series.

Die-hard Detroit fans took small comfort in a significant statistic: in 40 of Detroit's 103 regular-season victories, the Tigers were either tied or behind as the seventh inning began, then clawed ahead on a fortuitous clutch hit or an opponent's ill-timed error. There was still a long chance that they could turn the same sort of trick.

Winner Take All. But by the middle of the fifth game, the Tigers looked like sure losers. Portly Mickey Lolich, their only Series winner, was laboring on the short end of a 3-2 score; he seemed ready to take the long walk to the showers when he got an unexpected reprieve from the Cards' Lou Brock, justly famed as the National League's most expert baserunner. Heading for home with a sure run, Brock unaccountably failed to slide under the high, late throw. He came in standing up, crashed into Catcher Bill Freehan and was tagged easily. The rally that might have ended the Series was snuffed out. Two innings later, Detroit scored three runs, and Lolich, growing stronger with each pitch, blanked the Cards the rest of the way for a 5-3 Detroit victory.

Back to St. Louis went the Series. And McLain wasted little time vindicating himself; he held the Cards to nine hits and one run while the fired-up Tigers pummeled seven St. Louis pitchers for 13 runs. Suddenly, it was game No. 7--Gibson v. Lolich, winner take all.

Lost in the Crowd. Once more Mickey was good, but Gibson was great. He struck out seven of the first 23 men he faced, allowed only three hits and no runs. Then Mickey was given another unexpected gift, this time by St. Louis' Curt Flood, generally accepted as one of the game's best outfielders. In the top of the seventh inning, with two Tigers on base, Detroit's Jim Northrup hit a deep but routine line drive to centerfield. Flood momentarily lost the ball against the white-shirted crowd, found it, then stumbled and watched it sail over his head for a triple. Two runs scored, and the Tigers went on to win 4-1, as Lolich, in workmanlike fashion, served the Cardinals nothing but junk for the last three innings.

In the Year of the Pitcher, the award for the Series' most valuable player went, appropriately enough, to Lolich. No one approved more heartily than Mickey himself: "Everybody mentions heroes on the team, and Lolich has always been second or third best. Well, today was my day, and I'm glad it came."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.