1968 MLB Playoffs

The 1968 Major League Baseball Playoffs featured two teams that were the clear cut favorites over all of the other teams in the league. The Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals were dominant over their respective leagues and they were favored to go deep into the playoffs.

The St. Louis Cardinals were led by the stellar pitching of Bob Gibson, who set a MLB record with a 1.12 ERA on the season. The Detroit Tigers received a lot of help throughout the year from their ace, Denny McLain. McLain finished the season with 31 wins for the Tigers.

Both of these teams lived up to expectations by pushing through their opponents towards the World Series. The matchup between the Cardinals and Tigers was what everyone was hoping for at the end of the 1968 season.

The opening matchup between these teams featured their aces in what was expected to be a pitching duel. This entire season was labeled as “The Year of the Pitcher” and these pitchers may have been the two best pitchers in the league.

Bob Gibson put together a masterful performance in this once. McLain was able to match him for a few innings, but in the 4th the Cardinals managed to up 3 runs on the board. These runs would be all that the Cardinals would need with Gibson on the mound. Gibson pitched one of the best games in postseason history. He allowed just 5 hits in the shutout and struck out a World Series record 17 batters in the game. The Cardinals would start out up 1-0.

Game two would turn things around for the Tigers. After being shutout in the first game they managed to score runs early and often against the Cardinals. The first run was scored in the 2nd inning. The team managed to score runs in 4 more innings and put up a total of 8 runs on the board. The St. Louis Cardinals were not able to keep up. They managed just one run as Mickey Lolich pitched a great game. The series would be tied at 1-1 after game two.

Game three featured another fast start from the Tigers. The Tigers managed to start up 2-0 in the game with 2 runs in the 3rd inning. The Cardinals would bounce back in the 5th inning. The Cardinals put up 4 runs in the 5th inning and finished with a 7-3 victory. The Cardinals would go up 2-1 in the series with Gibson coming to the mound in game 4.

Game 4 featured another masterful performance from Gibson. He struck out 10 batters and made just one real mistake that game, giving up a solo homerun. The Cardinals were meanwhile able to get to McClain and scored 10 runs in the game. The Cardinals would go up 3-1 in the series.

Things looked bad for the Tigers, but they had what was necessary to turn things around. The Tigers relied on Mikey Lolich and Denny McClain to win the next three games and game down from 3-1 to win the World Series in impressive fashion. This went down as one of the greatest comebacks in Major League Baseball History.

About the Author

Owen Shaw writes reviews on various sporting events including the different sportsbook websites. In this piece of write up the author highlights on some of legends of MLB and MLB Betting odds.The author also takes the readers thought on how to bet on baseball.

Question about the early 70′s…?

Did they increase the number of starts per year for pitchers or something becasue I noticed that many players from that time pitched 300+ innings which is odd because that feat is usually rare and was common among work horses then. Steve Carlton, Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, Nolan Ryan, Mickey Lolich to name a little. And Lolich had 375 IP and 45 starts, how is this possible out of the deadball era?
No Daniel, I didn’t call it the deadball era, I was asking how 45 starts in a year was possible in a time OUT of the deadball era

It wasn’t until the 80′s when teams used 5 man starting rotations. Back in the 70′s teams were using 4 man rotations. If you divide 162 by 4 you get a little over 41 starts per starting pitcher provided they were healthy enough and good enough to pitch. Lolich either pitched a couple of games with two days rest or pitched after 2 games plus an off day which would still give him 3 days of rest after each start.