On August 9, 1961, Julian Javier celebrated his 28th birthday with an eighth inning grand slam that beat the Pirates 4-0 in front of more than 17,000 fans at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The slam was delivered to him by starter Joe Gibbon, who up to that point had been locked into a head-to-head duel with Curt Simmons. Simmons was lifted for a pinch hitter in the big inning after Curt Flood and catcher Jimmie Shaffer picked up back-to-back one out singles. Simmons' replacement Don Taussig drew a walk to load'em up, then came the birthday boy grand slamarooski. Ed Bauta took over pitching duties for the Redbirds and knocked out two scoreless innings to secure a save and a Cardinals winner. Javier was not a power hitter by no means. That was the second home run of the season for him, and it happened to be his last of that campaign as well. It was also the first grand slam of his career. He hit one more in the summer of '64, as he helped the club make a run that will never be forgotten. Much like that run, Javier will never be forgotten as well. Happy Birthday Julian, and thank you for the memories from all of Cardinal Nation.Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PIT/PIT196108090.shtml
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