Normalized Cards for the American League Champion Red Sox and World Champion St. Louis Cardinals for Statis-Pro Baseball, done (as all of the other teams have been done) in the original c. 1987 format, i.e personalized clutch hitting and 1-4 clutch fielding. (Note that both Leagues are coming; this is a teaser for what is going to be two excellent sets).
Dropbox zip file with Team PDFs
Other Links to Statis-Pro Baseball Content:
In researching this set, I found out something I wasn't aware of - these two teams really did not like each other, before the Series, and especially after it was over. (One Boston paper wrote after the Series, "The Red Sox looked better in defeat than the Cardinals did in victory...take Gibson out of the lineup and you have a loser.") I thought the general headhunting was just normal Sixties shenanigans, but the Red Sox did a lot of talking even before the Series began. They seemed to hold the proud Cardinals in disdain. The end of the regular season was not kind to the St. Louis, with MVP first baseman Orlando Cepeda slumping from a .349 high in late August; catcher Tim McCarver batting only .222 in the last three weeks, and right fielder Roger Maris batting only .229 in the last week after leading the team with 18 game winning RBI. What was not widely reported was left fielder and lead-off man Lou Brock managed to get hot, hitting .370 in his final 23 games, with 20 runs scored and 15 batted in. This was always an ominous omen for Cardinal opponents in the post season, as he swung the Series over to St. Louis, beating out a bunt, getting base hits to all fields, two doubles, a triple and huge home run. Brock was on first base ten times, stole seven bases and came around to score on six of these occasions. Bob Gibson gets deserved acclaim for three complete game wins, but he was matched by this period of productivity from the era's toughest World Series table-setter. For his part, Maris hit .385 in the Series.
The Sox had been led by two very talented ball players, American League MVP and Triple Crown Winner Carl Yastrzemski and Cy Young Award winner Jim Lonborg, who led the American League in wins, strikeouts, and hit batsmen, the latter of which had been given much credit for his development into a staff ace. Yaz hit .400 with three homeruns in the Series, and it did not take long for St. Louis to try to shake him up, with both teams getting a warning after Nelson Briles threw successfully at his legs in Game 3. Lonborg won Games 2 and 5 before facing Gibson in Game 7. Characteristically, when asked what his Game 7 lineup would be Boston skipper Dick Williams replied, "Lonborg and Champagne," while first baseman George Scott had claimed that Bob Gibson would not last 5 innings. This did not have the desired effect; Dal Maxvill, the normally pleasant St. Louis shortstop, indicated "...We never wanted to beat anybody all year as much as we wanted to beat them in the seventh game."
From a carding perspective, both teams benefit from the low run era in normalization, with the Red Sox in particular fielding a strong starting seven (other than the catcher). Had they been able to play injured right fielder Tony Conigliaro they would have had a very strong edge in power in the outfield. But the Cardinals were able to win 101 games with 2/3ds of a season of Bob Gibson precisely because they had strengths in all areas- a deep and talented batting lineup, both speed and power, and sneaky good pitching coming from Dick Hughes and Nelson Briles. Starting Lonborg three times gives the Sox a chance, and I would expect this Series to be eminently replayable.
A sampling of Boston hitters (Click and they should expand):
And a sampling of Red Sox pitchers:
Enjoy the Series!
Fred Bobberts, Chandler, AZ
Date of Initial Publication: 6-19-2022
