St. Louis, Oct. 7 – The change of scenery in the World Series did not bring a different result. The Detroit Tigers continued to hold the advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals with their third consecutive one-run victory in the 1967 World Series. The clubs committed five errors in the game, but the Tigers were the team capable of taking advantage of key opportunities. Detroit starter Mickey Lolich closed out the game to leave the Cardinals in desperate straits.
Lou Brock opened the Cardinal first with a jam shot back to Lolich. The portly southpaw dropped the ball, yet despite stopping and restarting, Brock still beat Lolich’s throw to first. Brock is one of the few Cardinals enjoying his time at the plate, but on the base paths has been a different story. Bill Freehan erased Lolich’s gaffe by throwing Brock out stealing for the third consecutive time in the series. The play was like rain on the Cardinals’ homecoming parade. Brock was getting on base this series, but his speed has been neutralized by Freehan. A rejuvenated Lolich struck out Curt Flood and Roger Maris to end the inning. The Tigers then pounced on the reeling Cardinals. Willie Horton opened the second with a blast over the left field wall. After Northrup popped out to short, series hero Norm Cash launched the ball over Flood’s head in center field. The ball bounced off the wall, and Cash chugged around to third base. The Cardinals brought the infield in as Freehan stepped in to bat. With a full count, Briles got the ground ball he needed. However, second baseman Julian Javier uncharacteristically let the ball go between his legs, and the Tigers had a quick two-run lead. Freehan was thrown out attempting to steal second base. Don Wert struck out to end the inning, but a sense of concern, perhaps dread, draped itself over Busch Stadium.
An inning later, the Cardinals responded. Dal Maxvill hit a blooper to shallow right field. Al Kaline rushed in, and Jerry Lumpe ran out with his back to the infield. Lumpe stretched, but the ball glanced off his mitt for a single. Briles sacrificed Maxvill to second, and Brock came through with a ground ball single past Dick McAuliffe at short. The Cardinals had cut the Tiger lead in half, but Lolich induced Flood to bounce into an inning-ending double play. It would be the final threat of the game for St. Louis. Lolich’s Tiger teammates backed him with two more double plays to nip minor Cardinal threats in the fourth and seventh innings.
Last season, the Dodgers overcame a two-game deficit to defeat the Baltimore Orioles for the world championship. The Cardinals have dug themselves a deeper hole. The atmosphere around St. Louis is grim as Bob Gibson may not be available to dig them out tomorrow. It is uncertain whether Gibson will be ready on short notice after his extra-inning performance in the opener. Cardinal manager Red Schoendienst has left-handed Steve Carlton available if Gibson is not ready. The confident Tigers will turn to twenty-game winner Earl Wilson to bring the title to Motown.
10/7/1967, DET67-STL67, Busch Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1967 Detroit 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 3 6 3
1967 St. Louis 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2 3 1
Detroit AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
McAuliffe ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .071 2 3 0 0
Lumpe 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 5 4 1 0
Stanley ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
Kaline rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .308 2 0 0 0
Horton lf 3 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .250 3 0 0 0
Oyler ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 1 0 0
Northrup cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 2 0 0 0
Cash 1b 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 7 0 0 0
Freehan c 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 4 1 0 0
Wert 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273 0 3 0 0
Lolich p 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 2 0
30 2 3 1 0 1 1 4 5 0 1 0 1 0 0 27 13 3 0
St. Louis AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Brock lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .467 1 0 0 0
Flood cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .308 2 0 0 0
Maris rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .077 3 0 0 0
Cepeda 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 8 1 1 0
McCarver c 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 5 1 0 0
Shannon 3b 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 1 1 0 0
Javier 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 4 3 1 0
Maxvill ss 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .273 2 5 0 0
Ricketts ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Bressoud ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Briles p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Lamabe p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Hoerner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
Spiezio ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Jaster p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
29 1 5 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 27 11 2 0
Detroit INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Lolich W 1-0 9.0 5 1 1 1 4 119 78 31 0 0 0 0 3 1.00
9.0 5 1 1 1 4 119 78 31 0 0 0 0 3
St. Louis INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Briles L 0-1 6.0 3 2 1 3 4 110 65 25 1 0 1 0 1 1.50
Lamabe 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Hoerner 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 18 11 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Jaster 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 21 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
9.0 3 2 1 4 5 154 89 35 1 0 1 0 1
DET: Stanley batted for Lumpe in the 8th
McAuliffe moved to 2b in the 8th
Stanley moved to cf in the 8th
Oyler inserted at ss in the 8th
Northrup moved to lf in the 8th
STL: Ricketts batted for Maxvill in the 8th
Spiezio batted for Hoerner in the 8th
Bressoud inserted at ss in the 9th
GWRBI: Horton
Temperature: 72, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 12 MPH.