On
April 15, 1968, just five days after meeting each other in St. Louis, Bob
Gibson and Pat Jarvis rematched in Atlanta. Gibson gave the Redbirds seven
innings in this contest, striking out five, walking three, and allowing a home
run along the way. When Gibson was lifted from the game for a pinch hitter in
the top of the eighth, the Braves had the upper hand: they led 3-1. However, by
the end of that inning the Cardinals had tied things up 3-3, and before it was
all said and done, the club that called St. Louis home would be celebrating a
ten-inning 4-3 victory after the backup catcher Johnny Edwards came up big.
The Cardinals got the scoring started in this one in the third after Julian Javier singled to open the inning, stole a base, then moved over to third before there was an out. Jarvis retired the next two men he faced and may have thought he was going to escape the inning without any damage done. However, he walked Lou Brock and surrendered a single to Curt Flood, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Gibson worked his way through the Braves lineup. The Atlanta club scattered a few hits against him and drew some walks, but they did not get to him until the fourth when Braves second baseman Felix Millan knocked in a run with a two-out single to tie up the game. Both pitchers seemed to have settled in after that until the big damage was done in the seventh. Gibby hit a batter, setting up Hank Aaron for a two-run home run, putting the Cardinals down 3-1.
Jarvis began the eighth in trouble by walking Dal Maxvill. The Atlanta pitcher then retired Bobby Tolan, who had pinch hit for Gibson, and he erased Maxvill from the basepaths when Lou Brock hit into a fielder’s choice. Jarvis may have thought he was going to get out of the inning, but Curt Flood and Roger Maris had other ideas. Flood doubled to left, moving Brock to third, and Maris followed with a double to center, scoring them both. Tied 3-3.
Despite his hard luck, Jarvis remained in the game. He retired Orlando Cepeda to get out of that eighth inning, then retired the side in order in the ninth. His day ended in the tenth after just one batter. That batter was Dal Maxvill who had become a thorn in the side of Jarvis and the Braves. Maxvill tripled, and Atlanta’s manager Lum Harris called in Cecil Upshaw to get out of the mess. It was not a mess he could clean up, though, as Red Schoendienst called on Dick Simpson to run for Maxvill, and for Johnny Edwards to pinch hit for reliever Joe Hoerner. Edwards got the job done with a single to left, putting the Cards up 4-3. That was all that was needed that which was all they would need on that Monday afternoon in April.
The bottom of the tenth still awaited the club before they claimed victory. Dick Hughes made short work of the Atlanta club with a 1-2-3 frame to cap off the game. The bullpen had been masterful. Hughes, along with Hoerner and Ron Willis, allowed just one hit between them late in that ballgame.
Once
again, Bob Gibson did not get a win added to the back of his baseball card.
However, he did give his team a chance to win, which was something Bob Gibson
would do every time he toed the rubber during the season that will never be
forgotten. I do not know it for fact, but I would bet that Bob Gibson’s number
one concern was not having the win added to his record, as much as the win
added for the team’s. I do not know this for fact, but I imagine Gibby as one
of the first people to shake the hand of Hughes once he had secured that
victory.
Edwards
stay in St. Louis was a short one. In fact, it was only that ’68 season. He was
acquired to backup Tim McCarver, and he did a decent job doing just that.
Edwards started 52 games that season, hitting .239 along the way. His shining
moment was not the game winning pinch hit on that April day… It was when he
caught Ray Washburn’s no-hitter in September of that pennant winning season.
However, he also shined behind the dish as a superior defensive catcher
who worked well with Gibson, catching 10 of Gibby’s starts in 1968, and in
those starts the legend of the mound posted an .089 ERA.
As we look
back at this pennant-winning team, I believe it is important to remember all
the players that contributed to the effort. Like Gibson, Edwards was a piece to
a pennant-winning ballclub, and we should always tip our caps to all the men
that contribute to those squads.
Check out the box score here: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL196804150.shtml
No comments:
Post a Comment