The 1967 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox, with the Cardinals winning in seven games for their second championship in four years and their eighth overall. The Series was played from October 4 to October 12 in Fenway Park and Busch Stadium
Records: St Louis Cardinals (W: 101, L: 60, Pct: .627, GA: 10.5) - Boston Red Sox (W: 92, L: 70, Pct: .568, GA: 1)
Managers: Red Schoendienst (St. Louis), Dick Williams (Boston)
Umpires: Johnny Stevens (AL), Al Barlick (NL), Ed Runge (AL), Augie Donatelli (NL), Frank Umont (AL), Paul Pryor (NL)
Series MVP: Bob Gibson (St. Louis)
Television: NBC (Curt Gowdy, Ken Coleman and Harry Caray announcing)
Background
Red Sox
The "Impossible Dream" Red Sox were led by triple crown winner and future Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, who won the Most Valuable Player award for his 1967 performance. Their pitching staff was anchored by Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg. The Red Sox reached the World Series by emerging victorious from a dramatic four-team pennant race that revitalized interest in the Red Sox after eight straight losing seasons.
Cardinals
The Cardinals won 101 games en route to the National League pennant, with a team featuring All-Stars Orlando Cepeda, Lou Brock, Tim McCarver, and 1964 World Series MVP Bob Gibson, as well as Roger Maris and Curt Flood. 22 year-old Steve Carlton won 14 games in his first full major league season, beginning what was to be a lengthy career. In time, he would join Cepeda, Gibson, and Brock in baseball's Hall of Fame.
Summary
NL St Louis Cardinals (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3)
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardinals – 2, Red Sox – 1 | October 4 | Fenway Park | 34,796 |
| 2 | Cardinals – 0, Red Sox – 5 | October 5 | Fenway Park | 35,188 |
| 3 | Red Sox – 2, Cardinals – 5 | October 7 | Busch Stadium | 54,575 |
| 4 | Red Sox – 0, Cardinals – 6 | October 8 | Busch Stadium | 54,575 |
| 5 | Red Sox – 3, Cardinals – 1 | October 9 | Busch Stadium | 54,575 |
| 6 | Cardinals – 4, Red Sox – 8 | October 11 | Fenway Park | 35,188 |
| 7 | Cardinals – 7, Red Sox – 2 | October 12 | Fenway Park | 35,188 |
Matchups
Game 1, October 4
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis (N) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Boston (A) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Bob Gibson (1-0) L: Jose Santiago (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BOS – Jose Santiago (1) | ||||||||||||
Ace Bob Gibson (13-7, 2.98), who sat out July and August with a broken leg, started game one for the Cardinals while twenty-one-year-old Jose Santiago (12-4, 3.59) suited up for the Red Sox. Jose, starting because Sox ace Jim Lonborg had pitched the final day of the regular season, won seven straight second-half games helping Boston stave off the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins by one game in a tightly fought pennant race.
Pitching was prime as Gibson and Santiago seemed to have their best stuff for this afternoon game at Fenway Park. The Cards got on the board in the top of the 3rd on a lead-off single to center by Lou Brock, a double by Curt Flood, and a Roger Maris ground-out to first scoring Brock from third. The Sox came right back to tie the score in the bottom of the same inning. After Gibson (Bob) struck out Gibson (catcher, Russ), Santiago helped his own cause by homering to left-center field.
But Bob Gibson was masterful the rest of the way finishing with ten strikeouts allowing just six hits with one walk. Jose Santiago matched Gibson until the top of the 7th when Brock again led off with a single to right (his fourth hit), promptly stole second-base, and evenually scored on back-to-back groundouts by Flood and Maris. That run would hold up for the a 2-1 Cardinal win but the Red Sox ace, Jim Lonborg was waiting in the wings to start game two.
Game 2, October 5
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Boston (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | x | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Jim Lonborg (1-0) L: Dick Hughes (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BOS – Carl Yastrzemski (1, 2) | ||||||||||||
Jim Lonborg enjoyed his best season as a professional in 1967 capturing the Cy Young Award with an A.L. best 22 wins (against 7 losses), also led with 246 strikeouts, and had an impressive earned run average of 3.16. Lonborg continued his superb pitching starting game two for the Red Sox and for seven and two-thirds inning, the Cardinals could only manage one baserunner, a 7th inning walk by Curt Flood. After Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon led off the 8th, Julian Javier turned a Lonborg fastball around, lining a double into the left-field corner breaking up Lonborg's no-hitter. Bobby Tolan, pinch-hitting for weak-hitting Dal Maxvill, ended the inning by grounding out to second-base. Lonborg retired the side in order in the 9th ending the game as close to perfect giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out four.
Meanwhile, future hall-of-famer Carl Yastrzemski provided more than enough offense by solo-homering in the 4th and adding a 3-run shot in the 7th (scoring Jose Tartabull and Dalton Jones. The other Red Sox run came in the 6th inning on walks to George Scott and Reggie Smith and a run-scoring sacrifice-fly by shortstop Rico Petrocelli.
Game 3, October 7
Busch Stadium II, St Louis, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| St Louis (N) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | x | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Nelson Briles (1-0) L: Gary Bell (1-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: BOS – Reggie Smith (1) STL – Mike Shannon (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4, October 8
Busch Stadium II, St Louis, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| St Louis (N) | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Bob Gibson (2-0) L: Jose Santiago (1-1) | ||||||||||||
Game 5, October 9
Busch Stadium II, St Louis, Missouri
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston (A) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| St Louis (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| W: Jim Lonborg (2-0) L: Steve Carlton (0-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Roger Maris (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 6, October 11
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis (N) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Boston (A) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | x | 8 | 12 | 1 |
| W: John Wyatt (1-0) L: Jack Lamabe (0-1) S: Gary Bell (1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Lou Brock (1) BOS – Rico Petrocelli (1, 2), Carl Yastrzemski (3), Reggie Smith (2) | ||||||||||||
Game 7, October 12
Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis (N) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| Boston (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| W: Bob Gibson (3-0) L: Jim Lonborg (2-1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: STL – Bob Gibson (1), Stan Javier (1) | ||||||||||||
The Series
Pitching dominated this World Series, with Bob Gibson leading the Cardinals. Lonborg pitched the decisive final game of the regular season, so he was unable to start Game 1. Gibson cemented his reputation as an unhittable postseason pitcher in this series, allowing only three total runs over three complete games. His efforts allowed the Cardinals to triumph despite the batting of Yastrzemski (.500 OBP, .840 SLG), and pitching of Lonborg, who allowed only one run in each of his complete-game wins in Games 2 and 5.
The decisive Game 7 featured Gibson and Lonborg facing each other for the first time in the series, but Lonborg was starting on only two days' rest, and was unable to compete with Gibson, who only allowed three hits over the course of a complete game. The final score was 7-2, in favor of the Cardinals.
Composite Box
1967 World Series (4-3): St Louis Cardinals over Boston Red Sox
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Cardinals (N.L.) | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 51 | 4 | |
| Boston Red Sox (A.L.) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 48 | 4 | |
| Total Attendance: 304,085 Average Attendance: 43,441 | |||||||||||||
| Winning Player’s Share: – $8,315 Losing Player’s Share – $5,115 | |||||||||||||
External Links
Reference(s)
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990.
MLB World Series
 | This baseball-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |