One of the Cardinals’ best single-game postseason relief efforts was performed by Roger Craig and Ron Taylor in the crucial Game 4 of the 1964 World Series at Yankee Stadium.
Craig and Taylor pitched 8.2 innings of scoreless relief, limiting the Yankees to two hits, in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory on Oct. 11, 1964. Boxscore The win evened the series at 2-2 and repositioned the Cardinals to clinch the championship in seven games.
Few could have predicted Craig and Taylor would shut down the Yankees. Though the Cardinals sizzled in September to overtake the Phillies and win the pennant on the final day of the regular season, Craig and Taylor stumbled to the finish.
Craig started in eight of his last nine regular-season appearances and was 1-4 in his last six starts. Taylor surrendered eight runs over 7.1 innings in his last five regular-season relief appearances.
Until Game 4, Craig and Taylor made their marks in the World Series off the field.
Before Game 2 at St. Louis, Craig and his road roommate, catcher Bob Uecker, walked out to left field, where a band was entertaining the crowd. “Uecker borrowed a tuba and blew vigorously without too much success as Craig popped baseballs into the tuba Uecker was blowing,” The Sporting News reported.
Meanwhile, Taylor was collaborating with journalist Neil MacCarl on World Series articles for his hometown Toronto Star.
Ray Sadecki, a 20-game winner in 1964, started Game 4 for St. Louis but was ineffective. The Yankees scored twice against the left-hander in the first inning and had Roger Maris at third base with one out when Cardinals manager Johnny Keane lifted Sadecki for Craig.
The first batter Craig faced was Elston Howard. The catcher singled, scoring Maris from third and giving New York a 3-0 lead. Craig then struck out Tom Tresh and retired Joe Pepitone on a flyout to right.
From then on, Craig was in control. He struck out the side in the second and in the fourth. He picked off Mickey Mantle at second base. In 4.2 innings, Craig struck out eight and yielded two hits.
“I was throwing mostly breaking stuff, ” Craig said. “My curve was breaking so big it had the batters ducking away.”
When Craig was lifted after the fifth inning, the Yankees maintained their 3-0 lead, but in the sixth Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer hit one of the biggest home runs in franchise history _ a grand slam against Al Downing. Video
Taylor entered to pitch the bottom of the sixth with a 4-3 lead.
“After I got that homer off a high changeup, I told Taylor to keep ’em fast and low. He did,” Boyer told the Associated Press.
Relying mostly on fastballs, Taylor pitched four scoreless, hitless innings to earn the save for Craig.
Said Taylor: “Kenny told me as I came out that I ought to keep the ball low and fast. I did, and I threw a few curves and sliders. But I kept it low and no changeups. It was the biggest thrill of my life to help win the game.”
Only one batter, Johnny Blanchard, who flew out to center, hit a ball out of the infield against Taylor. Eight of the 12 outs he recorded were groundouts, including all three in the ninth inning.
“We didn’t do much toward the end of the season,” Craig said, referring to he and Taylor. “We wondered if we’d get a chance in the Series. Our pride was hurt. And we talked about it in the bullpen.”
Said Keane: “I’ve never seen them better. They were absolutely great.”
RetroSimba 
I was thinking about this exact game when Tony La Russa started making all the quick calls to the bullpen. Thanks for bringing attention back to this game. Taylor and Craig saved the World Series. Boyer’s grand slam would have been just an interesting footnote if they hadn’t kept the score right where it was.
Great article.
Thanks, Bob. That 1964 World Series helped me get hooked on becoming a Cardinals fan for life.
Those were some great examples of clutch relief pitching. We also had the legendary 1926 appearance by the great Grover Cleveland Alexander, which of course is cemented in baseball lore. I was 11 years old and watched game 4 of the ’64 Series on TV with my dad when Boyer hit that homer. But it was crucial for Craig and Taylor to keep the Yankees off the board as the Cardinals never added to the lead.
One thing I liked about baseball in those days, was how managers would pitch relievers more than one inning. It seems like there is almost a rule against it today, as you rarely see a long relief appearance other than in a blowout. There are often times today where it would seem a manager should stay with a guy for more than one inning, like when they blow away the opponent on say 10 pitches in their inning, but they just do not play it that way anymore. Today the bullpen guys have roles, and managers use more of a push-button approach. Although the post season does have examples of changing the “rules”, like what Terry Francona did last year with Andrew Miller.
Thanks for the thoughtful insights.