RetroSimba

Ernie Broglio was in midseason form on Opening Day for the 1963 Cardinals.

Broglio pitched a two-hit shutout in the Cardinals’ season-opening 7-0 victory over the Mets at the Polo Grounds on April 9, 1963. The right-hander retired 20 consecutive batters between the second and ninth innings.

“Harsh reality, wearing the uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals, smothered the New York Mets like a huge wet blanket,” Leonard Koppett wrote in the New York Times.

Second baseman Larry Burright, batting leadoff, got both Mets hits. Burright led off the first with a single to center and started the ninth with a double to left.

“Unless Ernie gets hurt, he should win 20,” Mets center fielder Duke Snider said to The Sporting News. “He has so many good pitches and can get them over the plate, so a batter can’t wait for a certain pitch.”

Broglio’s gem was one of several notable performances by the Cardinals:

_ First baseman Bill White and third baseman Ken Boyer each drove in two runs.

_ Left fielder Stan Musial, making the final Opening Day appearance of his Hall of Fame career, went 1-for-3 with a walk and a RBI.

_ Shortstop Dick Groat, making his regular-season Cardinals debut after being acquired from the Pirates, had three hits, scored twice and fielded flawlessly.

“It will be a sad day for me when they tear down the Polo Grounds,” Groat said to the Associated Press. “This park is just too much. Everything good has happened to me here. I played my first professional game here back in 1952. I got my first big-league hit and my first home run here. I also played in the last game here before the Giants moved to San Francisco.

“Most important, I met my wife right in this park (in May 1955). I was immediately attracted to Barbara (after being introduced by her father), but for the life of me I couldn’t remember her name. I remembered, though, where they were sitting, and I got Bob Prince, who broadcasts the Pirates’ games, to go to their box and get their telephone number.”

Said Cardinals manager Johnny Keane: “Groat is more valuable to us than any statistics can ever show. He helped us even before we played our first game. He’s taken Julian Javier in hand and made a better second baseman out of him. The Cardinals haven’t had a good double-play combination in years. Now we’ve got just about the best in the league.”

As good as the Cardinals looked in the opener, the Mets looked just the opposite.

“When the game got under way, Curt Flood, the first batter, chopped a little squibbler down the third-base line on the second pitch,” the Associated Press reported. “Charlie Neal charged it and threw it about 10 yards wide of first base. Flood wound up on second, eventually scored and the Cards led 2-0 before the Mets could swing a bat.”

Mets pitchers were called for three balks and their fielders made two errors. They probably committed more miscues than that. On one such play, “A hard smash bounced off the shins of new first baseman Tim Harkness into the hands of new second baseman Larry Burright, who threw the ball over old pitcher Roger Craig’s head. It was scored a hit,” the Associated Press reported.

“Now you may not believe this,” said Mets manager Casey Stengel, “but my club is better than it looked today. It’s tremendously improved over the shellshocked bunch I had last year, when I couldn’t give ’em away. Now, we can sell at least six of them right now.”

The Mets who drew praise from Stengel were Ed Kranepool, the 18-year-old right fielder, and Snider, the 36-year-old center fielder. “The only two who did well was an old man and a young feller,” Stengel said. “And, would you believe it, they were the only two I was worried about.” Boxscore

Previously: Ernie Broglio built great home record the hard way