"McCarver Pops Up" (in color)

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.

The 1975 NLCS (a brief celebration)

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. 

1970 WS: Kine vs Video

It is rare that we get to compare both videotape and kinescope but MLB.com afforded us that luxury recently with a montage videotaped clip from the 1970 World Series.

Well known as the 'Brooks Robinson Series', the video clip seen here offers a glimpse at what the 1970 World Series looked like in color on NBC.  The series, as it exists to collectors, is in the form of Games 1 thru 4 in black and white kinescope and Game 5 in color videotape.

After the jump, I'll show some side by side shots of the kine against the videotaped footage.

Pops "pops" #400

I know this one is outside the range I traditionally write about, but this clip involved both a historic milestone and the St. Louis Cardinals, so I couldn't pass it up.

Willie Stargell, it is said, had atleast 100 career homeruns suppressed by spending his early career in Forbes Field.  With a 20 foot high chainlink fence protecting RF and a 457 fence in left-centerfield, many believe that he would have at the very least reached the 500 Homerun plateau should he have played in a more neutral park.

Whether or not this is all true, Stargell was well regarded as one of the most prolific power hitters of the late 60's and entire 70's.

 On June 29, 1977, Stargell hit his 400th career homerun off of Eric Rasmussen of the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Bob Gibson in COLOR! (and Billy Williams Day)

A treasure trove of color broadcast clips come from what WGN has saved over the years.  What exactly they saved as far as just clips or full length games, no one really knows.  However, there have been a plethora of video clips in the trading community that people have seen so often, they just take for granted.  However, the other day a clip caught my eye that I had never seen before.

That man standing on the mound, in beautiful color video tape, is Bob Gibson.  He is standing in the middle of the field at Wrigley Field, pitching against the 1st place Chicago Cubs.  What game this is and what the rest of the footage shows, after the jump.

Four Hall Of Famers in the Lineup!

Or so says the label on the front of the upcoming MLB Productions release Essential Games of the Chicago Cubs .  The game referenced is the July 12, 1969 game between the Cubs and the Phillies at Wrigley Field.  This was a NBC Game of the Week with Gowdy doing the PBP.  While originally broadcast in color, the kinescope is black and white.  This game has been in the hobby for a considerable amount of time and in fact, was aired on MLB Network in 2009.  It also marks the oldest known complete NBC Game of the Week Broadcast.

image courtesy: amazon.com

Mr. Tiger and the Green Monster

When I first saw the title "Top 25 Team Killers All-Time" I DVR'd the program thinking that it'd be a show featuring Milton Bradley, Carlos Zambrano and Jeff Kent. Clearly, I was mistaken when on my screen I saw Stan Musial, Roy Oswalt and Albert Pujols.

Fast forwarding a bit, I stumbled upon some video taped footage. It was of a Tigers/Red Sox broadcast featuring Al Kaline doing what he did best: killing the Red Sox. The clip featured 'sound effects' which may or may not have been from the telecast, however it had a narrator speaking over the clip obscuring any play-by-play that might have existed in the clip.

NBC's Game of the Week - 1960

I think the most common question I find in this hobby is "What games are out there?". For the most part, we all know what games are available from other collector's, DVD sets, etc. This post isn't about that.

What we rarely know is what games were actually kinescoped. However, thanks to a fan of the blog and his keen eye, we might have an idea of a series of telecasts that were recorded and have yet to see the light of day.

Thanks to old copies of the Sporting News, a reader was able to come across this blurb in May 11, 1960 edition of the publication:

1968 All-Star Game

The 1968 All-Star Game was the first All-Star game to be played indoors. During a season in which pitching dominated baseball, the All-Star Game was no exception. Willie Mays would lead off the game with a single, promptly stole second and eventually come around to score. This would be the only offense of the game.

One He Got at Shea

If I told you to name the Top 3 triples hitters in Cardinals history, I'd imagine at least one of those 3 names would include Lou Brock. If it did, you'd be wrong. Lou actually was 4th All-Time on the Cardinals triple list and as another testiment to his greatness, Stan Musial tops the list with 36 more in his career.

But this post is only about one of Lou Brock's triples, one he hit into the spacious right centerfield gap at Shea Stadium.