‘63 Redbirds outlast ‘67 Tigers in 5

Game 1 at Sportsmans Park III in St Louis.  Starting pitchers were Denny McLain for the 67 Tigers and Curt Simmons for the 63 Redbirds. It looked like Simmons might be dominant when he struckout the first two Tigers but then he WALKED Al Kaline for the beginning of his struggles.  When Willie Horton's groundball was muffed by SS Dick Groat, Simmons lost it!  He WALKED the next two batters giving up the first run of the inning, then gave up consecutive SINGLES to SS Dick Tracewski and 3B Don Wert before getting McLain to ground out.  Simmons did gather himself and gave up only those 4 Earned Runs in his 4 1/3 innings.  The Cardinals tried to comeback but never quite could overcome the early lead by the Tigers.  McLain only went 4 innings and RP Dave Wickersham was awarded the WIN and Hank Aguirre got the SAVE.  Willie Horton's solo shot in the 7th along with sterling bullpen work sealed the WIN.   Detroit 5  St Louis 3

Game 2 at Sportsmans Park III.  Starting pitchers were Mickey Lolich for the 67 Tigers and Bob Gibson for the 63 Cardinals.  It looked like it might be more of the same in game 2 as the Tigers scored early on a SINGLE by Norm Cash followed by a HBP of Willie Horton (who had to leave the game) and then a run scoring SINGLE by Bill Freehan.  The Cardinals took the lead in the 3rd when Dick Groat singled and Bill White lifted one over the centerfield fence.  After 3, Detroit 1- St Louis 2. Lolich pitched very well and went 7 innings for the Tigers and left as the potential loser though he only gave up the 2 run shot by White.   The Tigers tied it in the top of the 8th when CF Jim Northrup took a Gibson fastball long.  Gibson pitched 8 complete innings but left with no decision.  At the end of 8 we were tied 2-2.  Bobby Shantz relieved Gibson in the top of the 9th and gave up a SINGLE to PH Tracewski and a HOMERUN to Norm Cash.  Tigers 4-2 with the Cardinals coming to bat.  The Tigers sent lefty John Hiller to the mound to close the game.  Cardinal LF Charlie James led off with a DOUBLE, Carl Sawatski struck out, Julian Javier SINGLED, RF George Altman SINGLED driving in James, Pinch Hitter Tim McCarver SINGLED driving in Javier to tie the game on a close play at the plate with Altman and McCarver advancing the 2nd and 3rd on the throw, and Curt Flood's 1-out groundball was booted by SS Ray Oyler to end the game as Altman trotted home.   Detroit 4  St Louis 5

Game 3 at Briggs / Tiger Stadium in Detroit.  Starting pitchers were Ernie Broglio for the 63 Cardinals and Earl Wilson for the 67 Tigers.  The Tigers scored first in the 2nd inning when Willie Horton drew a WALK and advance to 2nd on a groundball by Bill Freehan, then went to 3rd on a SINGLE by Jim Northrup, and scored Don Wert's SAC FLY.  The Cardinals tied the game in the 4th when Tim McCarver TRIPLED and scored on a groundball by Julian Javier.  After 4 it was 1-1.  In 5th inning, Broglio helped his cause with a SINGLE, Curt Flood grounded into a Fielder's Choice, Dick Groat SINGLED, Bill White SINGLED with Flood scoring and Groat and White advancing on the play at the plate, LF Stan "the Man" Musial grounded out scoring Groat.  At the end of 5 it was 3-1 Redbirds.  In the 7th White DOUBLED and Ken Boyer drove him in with a SINGLE, Cardinals 4-1.  In the 8th Julian Javier bunted for a SINGLE, STOLE 2B, and scored on a SINGLE by George Altman.  Altman was sacrifice over to 2B by RP Ray Washburn and driven home on a SINGLE by Curt Flood.  After 8, Cardinals 6-1.  In the top of the 9th Bill White hit a solo HOMERUN to make it 7-1.  The Tigers didn't lie down at that point, PH Price SINGLED but was double up on Northrup's groundball to Javier.  Down to their last out, Don Wert SINGLED, Dick Tracewski SINGLED, PH Eddie Matthews DOUBLED in Wert, Dick McAuliffe DOUBLED in 2 and the Cardinals had to get Washburn out of the game.  Bobby Shantz came to the mound and struck out Norm Cash to end it.   St Louis 7  Detroit 4

Willie Horton Remembers Video

Game 4 at Briggs / Tiger Stadium.  Starting pitchers were Ray Sadecki for the 63 Cardinals and Joe Sparma for the 67 Tigers.  As was becoming the norm, the Tigers jumped out to the early lead. Dick McAuliffe reached base on a Sadecki error, Jim Northrup WALKED, then Al Kaline SINGLED the bases loaded with no outs.   Tim McCarver gave up a PASSED BALL to allow the first run, and Bill Freehan got a bases loaded WALK to score the second run.  Tigers 2-0.  In the top of the 5th McCarver DOUBLED and scored on George Altman''s SINGLE.  Tigers 2-1.  In the top of the 7th Stan Musial DOUBLED and scored on a SINGLE by Javier.  Tied 2-2 and it stayed that way until the bottom of the 11th when Willie Horton delivered a walk-off HOMERUN.   The winning pitcher  - Denny McLain.     St Louis 2  Detroit 3

Game 5 at Sportsmans Park III in St Louis.  Starting pitchers were Mickey Lolich for the 67 Tigers and Curt Simmons for the 63 Cardinals.  After the drama of game 4 in Detroit, this one was anticlimactic.  The Cardinals scored 2 in the first inning off SINGLES by Flood, Groat, and McCarver. The Tigers tied the game at 2 in the top of the 3rd off Lolich's SINGLE followed by McAuliffe's TRIPLE and a groundout by Northrup.  But, then things got ugly as the Cardinals scored 4 in the bottom of the 3rd, 2 in the 4th, 1 in the 5th, 2 in the 7th, and 1 in the 8th.  The Cardinals scored 12 runs in the game off 19 hits while Simmons was dominant giving up just 2 runs off 6 hits, NO WALKS and 8 Strike outs his complete game.    Detroit 2  St Louis 12

63 St Louis moves on to the round of 8.

--submitted by Jim Williams--