Happy New Year and 1971 Cardinals

Happy New Year to all. This week, I'll be posting a few clips of 1971 St. Louis Cardinals broadcast footage. I will preface this as saying that MLB has already informed me that these come from highlight videos and that actual full game broadcasts do not exist. That's their official statement, take it for what it's worth.

First up, we have a clip of "Lefty" Steve Carlton at Wrigley Field. Before we get into other stuff, let's nail down a few parameters. First off, the two Cardinals in this clip are Joe Torre and Steve Carlton. Both were on the team together from 1969-1971. Furthemore, per uniwatch, the St. Louis Cardinals switched to the pullover tops that Torre and Carlton are both wearing for the first time in the 1971 season. So while Torre was with the Cardinals through the 1974 Season, Steve Carlton painfully was not.



With that in mind, let's get into the action.


Steve Carlton faced the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in 1971 on 3 occasions. Those games were April 7, June 17, and September 17 . Joe Torre played 3B in all of them.




The hitter for the Cubs, #18 is Glenn Beckert. Beckert did not play in the September game, leaving us with April 7 and June 17. As you can tell (if you see the video), the first base umpire signals that Beckert is safe on his bunt to 3B attempt. The only successful bunt Beckert had against Carlton to Torre that season at Wrigley Field happened in the 2nd inning of the June 17th game. Cardinals went on to lose that game in the 10th inning, 7-6.



Next time up, Joe Torre and the longball.