#165 1968 World Series Game 4 - Brock's Lead-Off HR Starts Cards' Romp

The 1968 World series marked the last time two teams faced off in the Fall Classic without having to first advance via a playoff series.  With Major League Baseball expanding to 24 teams in 1969, the two leagues were split into four divisions and a League Championship Series would determine the World Series opponents between 1969 and 1993.

The Cardinals and Tigers were powerhouses in their respective leagues, easily advancing to the World Series.  This was a rematch of the 1934 World Series, when the Gashouse Gang of the Cardinals had bested the Tigers in seven games.  The Tigers would prevail this time, winning their first title since 1945, and their third World Series title overall as the Cardinals couldn't repeat after winning in 1967 against the Red Sox.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps flagship sets throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.  Topps designed its World Series cards in its 1969 set to have the appearance of the front page of a newspaper, with The Sporting News getting some free publicity as the paper's banner.

Building the Set / Card #278
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023.  We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend.  I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.

I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area.  Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale.  I picked four needed star cards first, and Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs.  I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale, including this World Series card.  Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Tigers Team Set  

The Cardinals seemingly figured out 31-game winner Denny McLain (#150), jumping on the eventual American League Cy Young Award winner for four runs in the first three innings of the game.  McLain's troubles were likely connected with a steady rain, which delayed the start of the game by 35 minutes.  As highlighted on this card, Lou Brock (#85) led off the game with a home run.  Roger Maris reached when McLain dropped a pop-up and would come around to score on a Mike Shannon (#110) RBI-single.  An RBI-triple from Tim McCarver (#475) followed by an RBI-double from Shannon in the third, combined with a 75-minute rain delay, would chase McLain from the game.  Cardinals' starting pitcher Bob Gibson (#200) helped his own cause with a home run off reliever off Joe Sparma (#488) to lead off the fourth.  Gibson would secure his second RBI of the game with a bases loaded walk in the eighth inning.

On the mound, Gibson pitched a complete game, winning his second game of the World Series.  He struck out 10 and allowed a fourth inning solo home to Tigers' center fielder Jim Northrup (#580).  The Cardinals had a commanding 3-1 lead in the World Series following this victory and they needed to win one of the next three games in order to secure back-to-back World Championships.

Eddie Mathews started at third base for the Tigers, batting seventh and going 1 for 2 with a walk in his final game as a player.

Sources:

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#164 1968 World Series Game 3 / #166 1968 World Series Game 5