“Tim’s on the table now with his three toes all blue” – Johnny Keane
June 11, 1964
St. Louis Cardinals (28-26)
at
Los Angeles Dodgers (25-28)
The game 55 lineup:
- Curt Flood CF
- Dick Groat SS
- Bill White 1B
- Ken Boyer 3B
- Charlie James LF
- Tim McCarver C
- Carl Warwick RF
- Julian Javier 2B
- Ray Washburn P
It’s funny watching a team of professionals all spiral together. I mean, we’re talking about 20-30 guys from players, to coaches, to management that all just lose it at once, all the frustrations just come shooting out at once, and an implosion happens.
And then ask what comes out of that implosion? The 2004 Cardinals were juggernauts that had a meltdown in game one of the World Series. The moment Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina watched a pop up fall between them, that series was over. They lost their heads. They did not recover.
Other times, it’s what sparks a team to go on a run? How many times this year did you read “Since Oli’s ejection the Cardinals record is…”
Well here, in Los Angeles, the offense absolutely hapless, the team sliding back in the standings, here lies the implosion.
Don’t kid yourself. This wasn’t the marking point where the season turns around. Today wasn’t the day the Cardinals started winning again and ended up shocking the baseball world. No, this game was the game it all could have been lost. This is the game, after a terrible June, that the team just fell apart. And it wouldn’t be given life again until Lou Brock showed up. That’s not when the team wend on it’s winning surge either – it’s just the moment that the bleeding stopped. The Cardinals had a lot of pain points ahead of them this season. It’s just ridiculous, and nearly impossible to believe that it all came together.
The Cardinals scoring 3 runs in 3 games against the Giants, now had to go into LA and face Don Drysdale followed by Sandy Koufax. The 27 Yankees were gonna struggle out there with those two. For the 64 Cardinals the task seemed impossible.
Indeed, through 3 innings the games was scoreless. The difference was that Ray Washburn was working out of trouble, and Don Drysdale was perfect.
In the 4th inning, the Cardinals finally had their chance to score. Dick Groat singled with one out. Bill White (Bill White was part of a trio ordered to take extra batting practice after this game, and in my opinion, this is when he started regaining his power) doubled to right. Ken Boyer, who was 0-California, was intentionally walked. Charlie James flew out to center for out number two. Apparently it was too shallow to tag.
This meant there were bases loaded and two outs for Tim McCarver. At some point, McCarver fouled a ball off of his right foot, he jumped up and did a “dance of pain” only to discover the umpire calling him out. The ball had rolled to the 1st baseman who stepped on the bag to end the inning.
Except that the ball hit him. It clearly hit him. Why would he be dancing in pain instead of running to 1st? The Cardinals dugout charged on the field to argue:
What resulted was an 11 minute argument and 2 Cardinal ejections.
“The ball he tipped hit him solid,” said Johnny Keane, “but the umpires said the ball didn’t hit him. There was no show polish on the ball because he hadn’t shined his shoes.”
Come on Tim McCarver! Shine those shoes, boy!
Tim did offer to the umpires to take off his shoe. They told him no. Tim went to the dugout and took it off, so that it could be iced down by the trainers. Of course, the umpires apparently thought this was all for show?
Carl Warwick was tossed from the game on the field, for remining umpire Bill Jackowski of a bad call he’d made the year before. Ernie Broglio was ejected from the bench for his own unwanted commentary.
(Pitcher Ray Washburn apparently did not get on Bill’s bad side, and that’s a good thing. Bill would be the home plate umpire for Ray’s no-hitter, 4 years later.)
The Cardinals hadn’t scored, their catcher was injured, and their bench a little lighter. T’was a fine inning indeed.
Doug Clemens came in to play right field for the ejected Carl Warwick, and managed to misplay a single the very next inning that led to the 1st Dodger’s run. 1-0 L.A.
While Clemens doubled to open the bottom of the 5th, Julian Javier struck out swinging. Apparently afterwards, he’d commented about one of the called strikes earlier in the at bat, and he became the 3rd Cardinal on the afternoon to get the old heave ho. The Cardinals would not score.
In the 7th inning the Dodgers scored another run on an RBI single by Maury Wills, who would later be thrown out trying to steal home:
And then the bottom of the 8th became a bumbling comedy of errors.
Willie Davis singled to center. Davis was a very fast runner and it was apparent a sacrifice was coming up. So much so, that new pitcher Roger Craig attempted 4 pickoff throws:
Those didn’t work, and Wally Moon did get the sac bunt down to move Davis to 2nd. Except that Davis rounded 2nd a little too far, and the Cardinals got him in a rundown. In the process, Dick Groat, running Davis back to 2nd, sort of forgot to throw the ball to Phil Gagliano? And then he remembered too late, and threw wild for the 2nd Cardinals error of the day. Gagliano went to chase him down, but Davis was just faster, and reached 3rd safely:
except maybe he was a little too fast? because Davis’s speed caused him to overrun 3rd, and now he was in a scramble between 3rd and home. Once again, running back to 3rd, Tim McCarver made a bad throw and hit Davis in the helmet, allowing him to return safely to the base.
The crowd let up a cheer, watching the Cardinals literally bumble their way in to letting a guy have 2 extra bases.
Tommy Davis then singled him home. And the Wes Parker singled. And then John Roseboro singled, and before the inning was over, the Dodgers had scored 3 runs to make it 5-0 on a 14 hit attack.
The Cardinals, who hadn’t had a baserunner since the Clemens double, had Dick Groat single to open the 9th. Almost insulting in a way. Now they get a hit. The next 3 batters all flew out to end the game.
Dodgers 5 runs: Cardinals 4 hits.
They’d now scored 3 runs in the last 4 games. They’d been shut out in 3 Washburn starts in a row.
The next game they’d face Sandy Koufax.
Things weren’t looking good.
