Following defeat in the 2012 NLCS, Mike Matheny joined an elite group of Hall of Fame Cardinals mangers in one aspect. Up 3 games to 1 in a best-of-seven series, Tony LaRussa (1996), Whitey Herzog (1985) and Red Schoendist (1968) all ended up losing their series. It is the last of those we talk about today.
As I've made clear before on here, as a Cardinals fan 1968 is one of my greatest disappointments. Two of my favorite Cardinals teams throughout history were the 1985 and 1968 Cardinals and both eventually blew near certain World Series championships. More frustrating is that we have a full kinescoped set of the 1968 World Series, with pre and postgame footage and yet nothing for the 1967 series the Cardinals actually won.
Most all of you know, Gibson pitched on short rest in Game 7. In the 7th inning, Gibby got 2 quick outs before giving up 2 soft single. Curt Flood fell down on a hard hit liner to CF and Jim Northrup ended up with an RBI triple. Bill Freehan would double in Northrup to make it 3-0. In the 9th, the Tigers tacked on a 4th run and Shannon would homer in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs to get the score to 4-1. McCarver stood in as the potential last out and that is what we are going to talk about.
With the regular season coming to an end, we are beginning to get the 'list' programs by MLB Network. This is good for picking out bits and pieces of old broadcast footage that may not have been seen before or may be expanded on in their clip shows.
One such clip popped up during their broadcast of "The 40 Greatest Teams of All Time". Listed as the 2nd greatest team of all time, the Cincinnati Reds met up with the Boston Red Sox as what is widely regarded as the greatest World Series of All Time. However, before the Reds could head of to Beantown, they would have to dispatch of the other NL powerhouse of the 70's, the Pittsburgh Pirates.
