"this Series barely gets mentioned in Ken Burns' video, 'Baseball,' except to point out that Gibson struck out 17 in the first game." That's because the Red Sox weren't playing.

I’m a lifelong Yankees fan, but I was glued to the set during this Series. Historically, any number of guys had grabbed 3 wins by starting games 1, 4 and 7, but Lolich’s feat was amazing at the time, and still is!

The Tigers have always gotten the short end of the stick

Ken Burns’ dad lost the family fortune in Denny McLain’s scheme to turn worn-out baseballs into car upholstery. And Ken Burns has never forgiven the Tigers.

Maybe because it was the greatest collapse by one of the best pitchers of all time.

Man, isn’t that the truth. We will never see the like of it again.

Your wonderful memory is a disaster for me. ;-)

Norm Cash was a money player too.

Me too I was 9.. And from Detroit I remember they played the World Series in school, I actually remember that like it was yesterday

It was great to have a sports fan teaching afternoon classes. My geometry teacher got the AV squad to roll in a TV on a stand for this series, and we were in the Yankees market. Awesome.

They let us watch the 72' game 5 vs the A's in 3rd grade class room.

I watched at McKinstry elementary with classmates it was fun 🤩

Same here! That was so cool.

@@jerardnorgren3411 teacher took my radio in the 73 playoffs. I had it in my desk and had earplugs running up my sleeve, but I started yelling, and that gave it away 😂. Third grade, Jefferson Elementary, Royal Oak, Mich.

I was 8 also. Born 3-10-60. I was in catholic school- St Roberts in Flushing Michigan. We were allowed to listen to the game on the radio.

Always liked Northrup

The Silver Fox or the Grandslam Kid, my fav Tiger as a kid. Two grandslams in one game.

@@TheTussman Wasn't that something?......😊

@@TheTussman I think Frank Robinson did that once too, hit two slams in one game for the Orioles. I do miss Curt Gowdy calling Saturday afternoon baseball games.

He had the perfect swing for Tiger Stadium-He was lethal there.

I've always felt for Ray Oyler, having a great defensive year at short stop, only to be set down in the World Series to have the center fielder on the club move to short stop. It worked. Micky Stanley made two errors but they never resulted in RBIs.

@@cdjhyoung IIRC, Mayo Smith was the Tigers' manager that year and he felt that Stanley's bat would make up for his defensive liability. This was a great Series, great memories.

@@Diogenes-ty9yy I didn't realize it until I did a little research is that Stanley started the 69 season as the Tiger's short stop and played 58 game there. Ray Oyler was left unprotected in the expansion draft and landed in Seattle where he had the best statistical batting season of his career.

I recall sitting in my little basement bedroom with a bunch of buddies watching the Tigers with our little Sylvaina 12" black and white that my brother and I worked so hard to get via neighborhood odd jobs and delivering newspapers. Fun days!!

He was very streaky throughout his career but was capable of carrying a team for a week or two when he got rolling.

Northrup often said he knew he had to ready on Gibson's s first pitch and he was.

He was part of really good outfield, including Wilie Horton, Mickey Stanley, who filled in at short quite often that year, and HOFer AL Kaline. RiP.

I remember checking the League Leaders in the paper everyday and marveling at how many grand slams Northrup hit. Great World Series. Two terrific teams.

@@jameskolan9195 your comment prompted me to check him out…one of only 13 players to hit 2 grand slams in a game. Very interesting!

I was happy for him , as well...and to think some players, like Mick, played in about 12 world series, on great teams

I recall that in his last year with the Tigers, Al Kaline asked for an increase in pay to $100,000 but the Tigers refused him.

Nice to see Kaline’s right field counterpart Roger Maris at 0:51 fielding Cash’s single.

I was 11 too,and the first series I recall. The outfield didn't help Gibby much there.

Was it 10 or 11? You don't know how old you were in October of 1968?

Lolich won three of those games. McClain won 31 games that year. It was a great year. I have been a tiger fan ever since.

no batting helmet for Norm Cash, he probably had an inside liner.

You got that right 100% Just a bunch of baseball players Not the millionaire money driven industry we have today

illinoizrichy1 Sorry but 1968 was a horrible year for baseball. Pitchers dominated way too much. Every game was 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, etc. Attendance was way down. Hell, the AL batting champion was Yastremski, w/a .301 BA. Lack of offense was why MLB lowered the mound the next year. Time magazine ran an article that year, entitled "Baseball is dead". People, especially sports fans think everything was better 40-50 years ago, but that's not always the case.

Not a single advertisement visible on any camera angle.

illinoizrichy1 Plus, charismatic players like Bob Gibson. 😆

Do you feel better, champ??

Hey - thank you for your service to your country.

That's not why they "switched". They didn't want to rely on Earl Wilson, who hadn't had a particularly good year, or Joe Sparma. So, both McLain and Lolich pitched on 2 days rest . That put each of them a day ahead in the rotation.

Marc...I listened to the game in a foxhole in Vietnam at something like 3am on Armed Forces radio with an earphone in one ear. Being a Tiger fan, it was amazing.

My first MLB game was September 15, 1968 at Tiger Stadium.

I was in school at the time. To allow the kids to watch the game at home Detroit Schools switched a teacher's conference up a day so we got out early to be able to watch the whole game. Pretty nice.

Producers hate dead air.

You're right. And they're wrong to. Visuals and nat sound go a long way.

- Is it Freddie?? Did you watch any of the Red Sox-Yankees last night? Did you see any of the 9th inning? I'm TIRED of people whining about how baseball today is "unwatchable". Newsflash: baseball 50 years ago ISN'T applicable to today's society. Baseball has to adjust to the times like everything else. Unless you wanted everything from 50 years ago to stay EXACTLY the same and not have even one thing change at all.

I believe that is a young Harry Caray calling the game. He spent 25 yrs with the Cardinals

@@dunemetal67 Yes, back in his lucid days.

kyokogodai ....A decent and humble man...may God bless his soul. He used to always give a shout-out to Gates Brown in local interviews with, "..Say hello to the Gator for me.." He and Gates Brown were tight..

That was a month ago junior

@@danfrick220 - He wrote that message a month ago son. Pay attention!

@@JustWinBabee Drink another

I was in the 5th grade (Holy Redeemer, SW Detroit) They wheeled the TV into class so us kids could watch it! Great memories!

The same thing for me---I was a 7th grader at Holy Trinity Catholic School (Alpine Township/GR). The nun who taught my class would wheel the TV into the classroom each and every day of the 1968 Series. And when the dismissal bell rang, I would peddle that mile home in record time so I could watch the remainder of those games.

@@robertflowers6621 My dad was also in grade school when this game was played. Their teacher, Sister Mary Catherine, secured one of the AV departments TVs and brought it into the classroom. Same story 4 years later when the Tigers were in the ALCS against Oakland. If there's more hardcore baseball fans than Catholic Nuns, I haven't met them.

Roberto Clemente had more hits than any other batter in the decade of the 1960s.

@K Maxx hey bro...I was born in 1966...In fact I dont remember him playing....but I've seen plenty of videos! Baseball was better than ever!!!! Hater! Go do your HOMEWORK....

Thanks for letting us know what you *don’t* like, geezer. That was interesting. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Gibby was one of the fastest working pitchers that you'll ever see. As soon as the catcher threw the ball back to him, Gibson was ready to start his windup.

He was fast, but then, all pitchers got right back to the rubber and hitters stayed in the box. Today, hitters go for a stroll after every pitch, take 3 slow motion swings, adjust their gloves 3 times, and dig in. If the pitcher takes too long, they go out for a latte and biscotti ...

I look at this and say…this is the pace baseball should demand today. No stepping out all time fooling what batting gloves. Pitchers should be pitching with a clock on them.

Yes! I noticed that, too. 💯

Finally the 2023 season will rectify a lot of this stalling BS. MLB is rolling out a pitch clock. IIRC, it’s 15 seconds with the bases empty, and 20 with base runners.

I listened to that game on WJR. If I recall correctly, he hit three that week.

I listened to that game as a kid on the radio.

I believe he had a chance at a third GS in that game late and struck out on three pitches.

I was at that game & saw he hit both of those. I’m now 69 years old but I vividly remember this game.

Couldn't be game 5. The Tigers won. Had they lost game 5, they'd have been eliminated, being down 3-1 and all.

Scott Trevathan Tigers won game 5, and 6, and 7.

HO HO Scott!!!! Caught lying on KZfaq!! How embarrassing!!

Go Broncos !

Maybe you are thinking of game 4?

Yep, can't forget Kaline arm in left field.

@@eldorado1830 Al Kaline was a right fielder. Only played left and/or center on occasion.

Best .267 hitter in my lifetime!!

@@sludge8506 Mine too!! Very underrated player on both sides of the ball.

@@felixmadison5736 Absolutely correct!! And AK was a great one!! Now, did Eldo just make a typo, or is his mind melted.

In the Detroit free press the next day a sports columnist wrote Floods slip is showing.

@@kened1954Slip or not, it looked like he was fooled, and committed to the wrong line to catch the ball.

@@DiogenesLantern he had zero chance to make that catch. It was a line drive that landed about 400 feet from the plate.

1968 was last season before divisional play. By all star break it was clear that Cardinals and Tigers were going to World Series, barring a historic collapse.

@@scottodonnell7121 Flood was a victim of his own excellence. Few or no other outfielders could have caught that ball. Northrup completely deserved being credited with a triple. A year later someone told me the Cardinals owner traded Flood to Philadelphia because of that play. I don't know if that was the reason, but I wouldn't put it past a vindictive owner to do something like that. That trade was what lead Flood to challenge the reserve clause.

those were the days, when players stayed with their team their entire career, unless traded. Tigers were very good from early 60s through early 70s, though this was their only title until 84.

@@loyaldude10 It was before free agency

@@scottodonnell7121 Freehan's back up at catcher was Jim Price. On any other team he would have been the starting catcher, but being trapped behind Bill, he was lucky to see 15-20 starts a season at catcher. He may have actually logged more playing time at First Base.

I remember Norm Cash started out with the White Sox. IIRC, they traded him to Detroit for a pair of old sweat socks or something similar. SMH...

@@Diogenes-ty9yy You're correct that Cash started out wiht the White Sox. They traded him to the Cleveland Indians one year later. It was a multi-player trade, but the most significant player obtained by the WSox was Minnie Minoso. Minoso actually led the league in hits in his first year with the WSox. And Cash never played for the Indians, who immediately traded him to the Tigers for Steve Demeter. That was not one of Cleveland's better trades. Demeter played a total of 4 games for Cleveland, was sent to the minors, and never returned to the majors. (He did have a great career in the minors for what that's worth, hitting 272 minor league HR's.)

Why do we have to be ghetto-ass Michigan?

I live in SW Lower Michigan, and it’s more Cubs/Chisox country than Tigers. While I’m 10 Toes Down for the Tigers, I loved listening to Harry Carey and Jimmy Piersall broadcasting the Chisox in the late 70’s! I grew up on Harwell and Paul Carey, and I think that they are the GOAT as radio broadcasters...but Harry and Jimmy were good AND fun!

Had to walk home from school with radio in hand, but got home in time to see the win. Same small radio in shirt pocket in history class. Earphone in, Tigers score, let out a whoop! Teacher asks, “What’s the score,”

Same here - no bus - just ran home - I was 11

I as well was 10. This was the first world series I ever followed but I ran home to see and root for the tigers. Remember that all world series games were played in the afternoon back then.

9 years of age for me. I still love this!

Flood makes that catch like he should have tigers score 0 completely different game Cards defending champs were the better team done in by few bad plays were up 3-1 in that series they blew it.

@@eugeneelar2231 The beauty of baseball is that Flood didn't make that catch, and the defending Champs aren't guaranteed a repeat. The Tigers were the better overall team and proved it when it mattered.

@@richardgriffith1241 many times in sports the better team doesn't win.Some players don't play well unlucky breaks like flood tripping.There were 2outs he makes the catch tigers lose,all their runs came from that inning right?Shannon's hr in ninth wins it.

@@eugeneelar2231 Wrong. The Tigers scored another run, final was 4-1. Had the Tigers been up only 1-0 in the ninth, no way Shannon hits that meaningless two-out homer.

@@eugeneelar2231 Tigers we’re the better team. Denny had a bad arm. He took a cortisone shot before game 6 and St. Louis could not touch him.

Willie Horton's other nickname was "The Bull."

And Don Wert

@@frankcooper5629 - yes Don was a good dependable 3rd baseman for sure!

I was 11 years old and still recall being disappointed the Cardinals did not win but the Tigers had a great team..... ah, who cares about the Tigers, I wanted the Cardinals to win - lol.

@@michaelinhouston9086 Gibson, Brock, Flood, McCarver, Carlton, Maxvill, Shannon, Cepeda, Maris. Seemed like a monster team of legends when I was a kid. I lived in Chicago but at night could catch the Cardinal games on KMOX when the wind was blowing right. It was the Card's Last Hurrah. In 69, the miracle Mets would emerge and then Cincinatti's Big Red Machine took over. But in the mid 60s the Card ruled the roost. And we did have 2006 when the Cards got revenge over the Tigers. Retaliate for '68!!

THERE'S MORE SOBERING THINGS TO LAMENT; LIKE LOSING ONE'S SOUL AFTER GAINING THE WHOLE WORLD. TRUST JESUS BASEBALL FANS.

@@markdebenedetti5953 sorry but the Cards losing the 68 World Series is as sad and bad as it gets for me. As painful as it gets in life.

The Cardinals lost 3 home games in the series. They had their chances.

Mickey Stanley played most innings of all 7 games at SS. Made 2 errors. I dont recall that costing them any games?

Gibson went on 3days and lolich on 2days.

Gibson only allowed an infield hit until Cash's single, and didn't walk anyone. 7 Ks. Guess he just tired, but until then he was unhittable.

The Tigers crushed Carlton as well. It was his first year as an all star. The Cardinals should have brought in somebody else after the first couple of hits in the 7th. Detroit won the last three games, man!

When the Yankees traded Maris to St Louis I went with him ! Those Cards would have won 2 straight WS! Great team ! Give the tigers credit they came back!

I got to see Denny McLain speak at a local theater a couple of years ago. Still funny AF. We were in the second row. At one point, he couldn’t remember the name of the first Black umpire. I softly said, “Emmett Ashford”? He looked at me, amazed, and said “How the hell do you know THAT?” My long suffering wife just shook her head and said, “This is what I live with”. He laughed.

And I too loved Stormin’ Norman. A sad ending for a great guy. The story of him bringing a table leg up to bat against Nolan Ryan as he was throwing a no-no is one of my all time favorite stories.

Cash was great, saw him clear the right field rooftop with a blast at Old Tiger Stadium. Went to our church at St. James Methodist off of Southfield freeway in Detroit!

Oh brother! You have that right. Just like in 1984! and I don't want to tell you how it felt after the Stanley Cup was returned to Detroit in 1997!

That’s one thing I appreciate about modern technology. You don’t really get a feel for how exciting this must have been for local fans. But man, baseball has always been the best.

Me too Kim ,Don Wert single walk off I heard Ernies call.I remember manager Smith going to outfielder Mickey Stanley to play Short Stop for the weak hitting Ray Oiler.

He played football at Michigan. I understand he was a skilled punter.

Great catcher and tough. Very underrated.

He finished 2nd to McLain in MVP voting in 68

Heard he has dementia really bad and needs round the clock care. Sad.

@Harry Browneigh he should be in the hall, has the same stats that Carter has, one world title for both. But freehan did something no other player did and that was he played all 15 innings of a All-Star game 1967. you can look it up.

He didn't get the nickname Stormin Normin signing autographs. :)

Keep in mind, this is the guy who came to the plate with a table leg against Nolan Ryan and told the ump it didn't matter what he went up there with because no one was going to get a hit off Ryan that night anyway. One of the true characters of the game. Dad used to get company box seats in the upper deck, front row right over Cash playing down at first. RIP Norm, we still remember.

@@itinerantpatriot1196 The first game I ever got to see at Tiger Stadium was pretty much in that very same area watching my favorite player Norm Cash and his counterpart Joe Pepitone of the Yankees in 1964. And at 12 years old I was pretty much in awe of both teams and the place as well. My only regret was that Yogi Berra wasn't playing anymore... he was managing. The Tigers eeked out a really close 14 to 2 loss to a very good Yankee team that went on to lose the World Series to the Cardinals.

Cash was a Great one. This was before the Unions got into the umpires attitudes. Now this Umps are Jackasses

@@stever1791 uh huh. And it’s all because of unions.

It's unrealistic though. I could see having a day game or two on a weekend but wouldn't it have been better if you were already out of school when the game started so you could watch the whole game? If they had a 7 o clock start time back then I'm sure it would be over before 9:30 and kids would be able to stay up. Plus you'd have all day wondering, anticipating if your team can win, that nervous tension building. Also, I've always believed that turning on the bright lights for a night game is the perfect playoff atmosphere. I've probably been conditioned by baseball movies though where the climactic game at the end is always played at night.

Also the day games on weekends in the WS or CS’s afford the avoidance of October evening chills in some of the northern cities, altho even with that now climate change is causing more mild nights sometimes. But late October especially, some of those night games can be bleak.

the also played in early october in them days

Probably the greatest clutch pitching Series from a "second tier" pitcher ever. To outshine Gibson--1.12 ERA--and McClain--31-6--was something else.

Of course. They didn't have 5 minute commercial breaks between innings.

@@JohnSmith-kz8yo -yeah and no fucking shifts or bringing in endless relief pitchers.

@@JohnSmith-kz8yo Those commercial breaks are definitely annoying, but doesn't even begin to explain the huge difference of time the game is played. It used to be 2 1/2 hours instead of the eternity it takes for today's game.

Games today are slower because the strike zone is much smaller then back in the 60s if you threw 100 pitches back then you would be in the ninth inning. if you throw 100 pitches today you're probably in the sixth or seventh inning. so it's not fair to say that nobody comes close to Gibson because guys like Ryan, Clemens, Johnson are pitching to a smaller strike zone.

@@michaelguadiana4756 We had a lot more complete games for the starting pitchers, none of this pitch count and seven innings for the starter and one pitcher for the 8th and another for the 9th. Some starters less than that. We had relief pitchers that could pitch more than one inning. The manager and catcher could tell when the pitcher was losing his stuff. I remember when the umpires decided on their own to narrow the strike zone by not calling pitches above the belt a strike even if it was a strike by the rules. That was miserable as hell, but the owners finally convinced the umpires to go back to calling the letter high strike. It's still the same strike zone. They just work slower and even slower than that if the team scores a couple of runs. Baseball has changed so radically that I can't stand to watch it. Wild cards and multiple divisions have really ruined it for me. It used to be if you finished 2nd, you wait till next year. Then there are those boring 3 1/2 hour games and I have seen some go past 4 hours. It was my favorite sport growing up. Now I can't stand it. It's for the sports junkies who are addicted to it and a lot of other sports going on at the same time.

And no stinking DH

Most of the players were using batting helmets. Not wearing one is just stupid.

Many players in those days wore what is known as a cap "liner", worn inside the cap when batting. It provided some protection, but certainly not as much as an actual helmet.

So, old man, you don’t approve of helmets, gloves, pads, and guards. Ah, an ancient armchair warrior! You must be a pleasure to be around. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦‍♂️

The safety concerns in baseball then were secondary to tradition and we really don’t know how much players of those eras of baseball paid the price. But… I’m sure they did.

I remember our teacher being cool, allowing us to sneak a radio into the classroom.

Those were the days! Now you can't stay awake through a World Series game.

@@stephenkammerling9479You are correct about falling asleep during the World Series. Most games end after midnight on the East Coast.

@@frederickrapp5396 But I did stay awake for 2016 World Series when the Cubs won! It ended between 1130 and 1200 in Chicago, an hour later in Cleveland and the East. The game went 10 innings and had a short rain delay at end of 9th.

Of course that game, obviously game 7, likely would have been over much earlier, and before the delay, if Joe Maddon, Cubs manager, hadn't over managed the game in regard to his pitching.

I am there with you - CASH - NORTHRUP- HORTON - LOLICH - McCLAIN - FREEHAN - a tremendous all around team

You had a sad life

cyberpimp29 what’s sad is that you get off on insulting strangers anonymously online

@@brianfergus839 lol - but you take the high road, huh Bri?

cyberpimp29 no, it must be clear from my response that I enjoy insulting people I’ve never met from the anonymity of the internet. I’m weak

Yep, back then they knew it was just a blip and that he would come out of it, of course they would have preferred to never have the blip in the first place but, there it was, and, it happened. Today they go running around like chickens with their heads cut off when a starter gives up a couple runs. One other point tho, the center field hit could have been ruled as an error and thus counted as an unearned run.

He also batted for himself later in the game.

I was downtown on Grand River when they won. It was pandemonium!!! I never kissed, and was kissed, by so many unknown women and handed a brown bag with hooch in it from people in cars driving by! I think I got home about 4 or 5 in the morning. Fabulous!

The 1968 Detroit Tigers were a much better hitting team than the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals were. They were only underdogs in your mind. Look at both teams hitting statistics in 1968.

@@mjbachman3027 the baseball experts made them underdogs as cardinals won it all in 67 and with largely same team in 64. Not many people were surprised that cards were up 3-1 the way gibson had pitched all year. Axiom was that good pitching could stop good hitting. Compare 65 dodgers hitting with Twins lineup but look who won series

That was Gibby, as fierce a competitor between the lines as there ever was. But Lolich was just a little better in '68.

maybe just in game 7. Gibson's performance in game 1 was jaw dropping--record 17 Ks

in his book, Stranger to the Game, he admitted that Lolich outpitched him in game 7. Unfortunately I think he was out of gas, as he only allowed 1 hit until Cash's single in 7th

It was a great series for Lolich, Gibson, and to a lesser extent, McClain. McClains' third game was his only outstanding start. As I recall, his shoulder was ailing him during his first two starts (after 336 innings pitched, and 28 complete games, I'll give him a pass on that), and got a cortisone shot before his third start which enabled him to pitch more like the McClain we'd seen all season. I can remember McClain not being very effective during the close of that regular season, dropping 2 of his last 3 decisions. An additional note on that game six; Cardinal starter Ray Washburn was chased after only two innings, and a young pitcher by the name of Steve Carlton would come in later in the game and pitched 3 solid innings in relief. The only run he gave up was on a HR by Al Kaline, one of my baseball heroes as a kid.

I’ve hated bob since 67, got sweet revenge against the birds in 2004,2013

If the Cardinals won the series you would have been a cardinal fan.

@@rascal211 The Tigers games were shown on TV where I lived when I was a kid and the Cardinals games weren't. I was a big Al Kaline fan so there was no way I was changing.

I could have written this exact same thing except to change the grade to 5th and the city to Chicago. Plus I had to hide my radio in a Catholic school under 1968 rules.Talk about daring!

I lived in Indianapolis at the time. It might be recalled the slogan of Esso for their gas was "Put A Tiger In Your Tank". After the series, the Indianapolis News did a cartoon of a tiger in a baseball cap with a couple of feathers hanging out of his mouth captioned "A Cardinal In His Tank".

+William Stenberg Believe it or not, our 7th grade English teacher was a big sports fan and actually turned on the TV and allowed us to watch the game!

I feigned illness so I could stay home and watch this game.

Very Cool Teacher

Actually, free agency came about for all MLB players in the 1975 Andy Messersmith arbitration decision. Catfish Hunter won free agency a year earlier under unique circumstances that did not apply to other players. Hunter's contract with Charlie Finley of the A's required Finley to make contributions to a life insurance fund. When the IRS informed Finley that these contributions were not deductible for federal tax purposes, Finley refused to make the contributions required under the contract. The arbiter Peter Seitz then gave him free agency.

@loyaldude10 and @Thomas Wolf - both of you are extremely accurate on the history of free agency. Certainly it was Curt Flood who had the guts to complain and sue the owners’ grip on its employees (the players themselves).

@@thomaswolf723 The free agency opened the door for Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally.

My dad had just gotten home from Vietnam when they won.

Used to love to watch "Motorcycle Mick" Lolich against my Orioles back in the day. The Tigers had lots of memorable players back then, many of whom were around for years.

and Gibson almost shut them out in gm 4. Northrop hit a HR late, and Gibson was pissed.

Not just Gibson working efficiently. That was how the game was played then. We need to get back to rules outlawing stepping out of the box every pitch & adjusting helmet, glove & crotch. Play ball!