#166 1968 World Series Game 5 - Kaline's Key Hit Sparks Tiger Rally

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 #635

September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Richie's Sports Cards)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  After about 90 minutes of walking and buying, while running low on funds, and even lower on stamina, I found a nice display of vintage Topps star cards at Richie's Sports Cards, from Manalpan, New Jersey.  I quickly and easily picked up six more star cards needed for our set from Richie's my fourth stop of the show.  This is the first of those six cards, and it cost less than $6 after a discount.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Tigers Team Set  

With the Cardinals leading the series three games to one, it was do or die time for the Tigers.  Mickey Lolich (#270), the Tigers' Game 2 winner, again took the mound and pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out eight.  All three runs allowed by Lolich came in the first inning, and he settled down after that.  The Tigers chipped away against Cardinals' starter Nelson Briles (#60) with a pair of runs in the fourth inning on RBIs from Norm Cash (#80) and Jim Northrup (#580).  Trailing 3-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh, Briles allowed Lolich to reach with a single, chasing him from the game to be relieved by Joe Hoerner (#522).

Needing seven outs to secure the World Series title, Hoerner allowed four straight baserunners, coughing up the lead and giving the Tigers the momentum shift they needed.  Dick McAuliffe (#305) singled and Mickey Stanley (#13) walked to load the bases.  Al Kaline (#410) brought two runs home with a single to center, giving the Tigers the lead.  Cash added another RBI single and the inning would end with the Tigers now ahead, 5-3.

I was able to find the image Topps used for the card fairly quickly from the Getty Images website, and the photo actually depicts Kaline hitting his Game 3 home run off the Cardinals' Ray Washburn (#415) in a losing effort.  Tim McCarver (#475) was behind the plate for the Cardinals throughout the series, but that's home plate umpire Stan Landes shown here, while Doug Harvey was actually behind the plate for Game 5.

Sources:

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#165 1968 World Series Game 4 / #167 1968 World Series Game 6

#163 1968 World Series Game 2 - Tiger Homers Deck the Cards

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 #601
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (Vintage Sports)

On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show.  The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year.  I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova.  I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.

I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set.  My second stop was the aptly named Vintage Sports table.  I always appreciate a dealer with clear signage explaining their pricing method, and Vintage Sports had a marker in their selection of 1969 Topps cards laying out that cards without a sleeve were $1 and cards with a sleeve were $2.  I had one "high number" in a sleeve, and that was a whopping $4. 

I found 28 commons needed before moving on to my third stop.  This was the 6th of 28 total cards bought from Vintage Sports, and the 42nd of 91 cards for the set added overall on the day.  Sleeved, this card cost less than $2 after a dealer discount.

The Card / Tigers Team Set / Cardinals Team Set

After getting shutout by Bob Gibson in Game 1, the Tigers' bats awakened against Cardinals' starting pitcher Nelson Briles in Game 2, played on October 3, 1968.  Briles worked a 1-2-3 inning in the first with Willie Horton connecting for a home run with one out in the top of the second.  Briles' counterpart, Mickey Lolich, hit a solo home run in the third, and Norm Cash homered to lead off the sixth, chasing Briles from the game.  Steve Carlton entered in relief and would allow a two-run single to Dick McAuliffe to give the Tigers a commanding 5-0 lead.

The Cardinals scored their lone run in the bottom of the sixth, when Orlando Cepeda singled home Lou Brock.  With the score 6-1 heading to the ninth, Cardinals' reliever Joe Hoerner gave up two final runs on bases loaded walks to Don Wert and Lolich.

The card shows Horton hitting his home run with Tim McCarver behind the plate for the Cardinals, and home plate umpire Jim Honochick looking on.  Lolich would never hit a regular season home run, and was a lifetime .110 batter with five doubles and a pair of triples.  The home run and then later a bases loaded walk, makes this easily his top offensive game in his 13-year big league career.

Sources:

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#162 1968 World Series Game 1 / #164 1968 World Series Game 3

#167 1968 World Series Game 6 - Tiger 10-Run Inning Ties Mark

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 #189
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the 112th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing a little over $3.

The Card / Tigers Team Set / Cardinals Team Set  

The Cardinals returned home to Busch Stadium for Game 6, on Wednesday, October 9th, needing one more win to repeat as World Series Champions.  Denny McLain (#150) was starting for the Tigers, facing off against Ray Washburn (#415) for the Cardinals.  Washburn had been the Game 3 winner for the Cardinals, but he had endured a shaky outing on the way to a 7-3 win.  McLain had already lost two World Series games, Game 1 and Game 4, and was back on short rest to try to keep the Tigers' season alive.  The 31-game winner and the eventual Cy Young and MVP winner for 1968 would pitch a complete game for the Tigers, allowing a run while striking out seven.

Washburn did not fare nearly as well, getting knocked out in the third inning with his team already trailing and the bases loaded.  Al Kaline's (#410) single chased Washburn and gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.  Larry Jaster (#496) replaced Washburn and threw fuel onto the fire.  Norm Cash (#80) singled home Mickey Stanley (#13), putting runners at the corners and giving the Tigers a 4-0 lead.  Jaster walked Willie Horton (#180) to load the bases, and Jim Northrup (#580), who had already hit four regular season grand slams, launched a home run to deep right field, giving the Tigers a 8-0 advantage.  Three more runs would score and the game went to the bottom of the the third with the Tigers holding a commanding 12-0 lead.

The Tigers would eventually win the game, 13-1, forcing a Game 7.

Sources:

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#166 1968 World Series Game 5 / #168 1968 World Series Game 7

#164 1968 World Series Game 3 - McCarver's Homer Puts St. Louis Ahead

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 #76
February 23, 2023 from Glen Morgan, WV
A few nights after I learned of Tim McCarver's passing, I found his two cards from the 1969 Topps set from eBay seller nflmlb with reasonable Buy It Now prices.  The two cards were a combined $11 and arrived a day or two later from Morgan, West Virginia.

My earliest memories of McCarver are as a Phillies broadcaster in the early 1980s, and I met him in the Phillies' broadcast booth the same night I played catch on the Veterans Stadium outfield turf with Bob Dernier.  (I need to memorialize that full story at some point, likely over at The Phillies Room.)  My strongest memories of McCarver involve by maternal grandfather, my Pop-Pop, tuning in to watch Mets games, just so he could root against the hated Mets and criticize McCarver for his broadcasting style.  My Pop-Pop loved the Phillies, never missing a televised game, and he'd sometimes spend an evening flipping channels from the Phillies (Channel 17, then 29), to the Yankees (Channel 11), to the Mets (Channel 9) depending on which game was the most interesting that night.  He's the one who first clued me in to the life hack of having the Phillies game on the radio and turning down the volume of the TV set so that he could follow Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn when they moved over to radio for a few innings.  I did that throughout the Phillies' entire 2022 playoff and World Series run, never hearing a word of any of the national broadcasters and preferring to listen to Scott Franzke tell me what was going on.  In any event, I can't remember any specific reason why my Pop-Pop held McCarver in such low regard, and maybe he's giving McCarver an earful now in that great ballpark in the sky.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Tigers Team Set

With the series tied at 1-1, the two teams faced off on October 5th at Tiger Stadium.  Ray Washburn (#415) was on the mound for the Cardinals, facing off against the Tigers' Earl Wilson (#525).  Al Kaline (#410) hit a two-run home run in the third to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead, but the Cardinals would take the lead for good in the fifth.  With Wilson starting the inning, Lou Brock (#85) singled to center, stole second and came home on a double to left by Curt Flood (#540).  Roger Maris walked next, ending Wilson's day and bringing reliever Pat Dobson (#231) into the game.  McCarver launched a three-run home run to deep center field, scoring Flood and Maris and giving the Cardinals a 4-2 lead.  Orlando Cepeda (#385) would put the game out of reach in the seventh with his own three-run home run, again scoring Flood and Maris.

Topps uses a photo of McCarver crossing the plate on the front of the card, and goes with a weird, hybrid box score on the back, showing hitting and fielding summaries along with a line score.  Mike Shannon (#110), the on-deck batter, has his head cut off by Topps, so I'm not going to tag him as actually appearing on this card.  This Maris cameo marks his only appearance in the 1969 Topps set, as the slugger retired following the 1968 World Series.  Tommy Matchick (#344), Wayne Comer (#346) and Jim Price (#472) are all shown without positions for the Tigers in the box score, and each of them pinch-hit at some point during the game.

Sources:

Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#163 1968 World Series Game 2 / #165 1968 World Series Game 4

#475 Tim McCarver - St. Louis Cardinals

James Timothy McCarver
St. Louis Cardinals
Catcher

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  183
Born:  October 16, 1941, Memphis, TN
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent, June 8, 1959
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1959-1961, 1963-1969; Philadelphia Phillies 1970-1972; Montreal Expos 1972; St. Louis Cardinals 1973-1974; Boston Red Sox 1974-1975; Philadelphia Phillies 1975-1980

World Series Appearances:  St. Louis Cardinals 1964, 1967-1968
Died:  February 16, 2023, Memphis, TN (age 81)

Tim McCarver enjoyed a 21-year major league career as a catcher, most notably with the Cardinals and Phillies, before embarking on a Hall of Fame career as a broadcaster.  McCarver was an All-Star in 1966 and 1967 and the starting catcher for the World Champion Cardinals in 1964 and 1968.  He achieved his career-best triple crown in 1967, with a .295 average to go along with 14 home runs and 69 RBIs.  McCarver twice led the league in fielding percentage for a catcher (1965 and 1967) and he also led the league with 13 triples in 1966.  The long-time personal catcher for Steve Carlton (#477), McCarver later served as Bob Boone's back-up during the Phillies mini-dynasty between 1976 and 1978.

After retiring as a player, McCarver began his broadcast career with the Phillies, paired with Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn in 1980.  On a local level, he'd work with the Phillies (1980-1982), Mets (1983-1998), Yankees (1999-2001) and Giants (2002).  On a national level, McCarver called 23 different World Series and 20 All-Star Games, most frequently for Fox Sports.  A broadcaster for over 35 years, McCarver was the recipient of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award in 2012 for broadcasting excellence.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #76
February 23, 2023 from Glen Morgan, WV
A few nights after I learned of McCarver's passing, I found his two cards from the 1969 Topps set from eBay seller nflmlb with reasonable Buy It Now prices.  The two cards were a combined $11 and arrived a day or two later from Morgan, West Virginia.

My earliest memories of McCarver are as a Phillies broadcaster in the early 1980s, and I met him in the Phillies' broadcast booth the same night I played catch on the Veterans Stadium outfield turf with Bob Dernier.  (I need to memorialize that full story at some point, likely over at The Phillies Room.)  My strongest memories of McCarver involve by maternal grandfather, my Pop-Pop, tuning in to watch Mets games, just so he could root against the hated Mets and criticize McCarver for his broadcasting style.  My Pop-Pop loved the Phillies, never missing a televised game, and he'd sometimes spend an evening flipping channels from the Phillies (Channel 17, then 29), to the Yankees (Channel 11), to the Mets (Channel 9) depending on which game was the most interesting that night.  He's the one who first clued me in to the life hack of having the Phillies game on the radio and turning down the volume of the TV set so that he could follow Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn when they moved over to radio for a few innings.  I did that throughout the Phillies' entire 2022 playoff and World Series run, never hearing a word of any of the national broadcasters and preferring to listen to Scott Franzke tell me what was going on.  In any event, I can't remember any specific reason why my Pop-Pop held McCarver in such low regard, and maybe he's giving McCarver an earful now in that great ballpark in the sky.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Accuracy Index +5

#15 is the uniform number McCarver wore the longest with the Cardinals, and his Baseball Reference page shows he wore #51, #9 and #20 with the team early in his career.  The back of the card highlights his .478 average in the 1964 World Series and his league-leading 13 triples from 1966.

Accuracy Index:  McCarver's card scores a five for showing him in a Cardinals uniform on a photo Topps hadn't used before.

Inserts:  McCarver is included as one of the 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set.

1969 Season
In the final season of his first stint with the Cardinals, McCarver appeared in 138 games, batting .260 with seven home runs and 51 RBIs.  He made 136 starts behind the plate, with Joe Torre (#460) moving over from first base to replace McCarver for 16 starts.  Dave Ricketts (#232) made seven starts and a young Ted Simmons made three starts after earning a September call-up.  With Simmons waiting in the wings and Torre available to take over catching duties, McCarver was swapped to the Phillies as part of a major eight-player trade discussed below.

Phillies Career
McCarver first came to the Phillies in an historic trade that ultimately led to the advent of free agency, due to Curt Flood (#540) refusing to report to Philadelphia.  On October 7, 1969, the Cardinals traded McCarver, Flood, Byron Browne and Joe Hoerner (#522) to the Phillies for Dick Allen (#350), Jerry Johnson (#253) and Cookie Rojas (#507).  Both McCarver and back-up catcher Mike Ryan (#28) were injured in the same game in early May 1970, leading to a season-long catching crisis in Philadelphia.  During his first stint with the club, McCarver appeared in 223 games, batting .272.  The team dealt him to the Expos on June 14, 1972 for fellow catcher John Bateman (#138).

McCarver returned to the Phillies, this time as a veteran back-up, signing with the club as a free agent on July 1, 1975, a week after being released by the Red Sox.  Between 1975 and 1980, he appeared in 405 games, batting .271.  In total, during his nine seasons in Philadelphia, McCarver played in 628 games, including a brief return in September 1980 after spending most of that season in the team's broadcast booth.  As mentioned above, McCarver would broadcast Phillies games in 1981 and 1982 before departing for his next announcing gig with the Mets.

1962 Topps #167

1968 Topps #275

1971 Topps #465

1977 Topps #357

1980 Topps #178

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #167
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (19):  1962-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs #ROA-TMC
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  179 in the Beckett online database as of 2/26/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

National Baseball Hall of Fame
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#474 Tom Murphy - California Angels / #476 Red Sox Rookie Stars