(Updated April 7, 2016)
In 1963, Cardinals starting pitchers established a standard for excellence for beginning a season.
Cardinals starters opened the 1963 season by pitching shutouts in the team’s first three games.
The 1963 Cardinals and 2016 Dodgers are the only major-league teams to start a season with three consecutive shutouts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Cardinals opened with wins of 7-0 and 4-0 over the Mets and 7-0 against the Phillies. Surprisingly, Bob Gibson didn’t pitch any of those games.
The Cardinals’ consecutive trio of shutouts were pitched by Ernie Broglio, Ray Washburn and Curt Simmons. Gibson, the Cardinals’ ace, had fractured his ankle in September 1962 and was being given extra time by manager Johnny Keane before making his first 1963 start. (Gibson’s 1963 debut came in the Cardinals’ sixth game.)
In previewing the 1963 season, The Sporting News had predicted success for the Cardinals’ rotation:
Keane does seem to have a fine front line of pitchers. (Ernie) Broglio, Bob Gibson and Ray Washburn are good enough to be named now among the National League hurlers likely to win 20 games in 1963. All have pitched brilliantly in exhibition games. Broglio is throwing with the smoothness that marked his work in 1960 and Gibson has given no indication that the fractured ankle will bother him at all. Washburn profited greatly by his two months in the winter instructional league.
Here’s how the 1963 Cardinals opened their season:
_ Cardinals 7, Mets 0, April 9, 1963, at New York: Broglio limited the Mets to two hits, both by second baseman and leadoff batter Larry Burright. Broglio retired 20 in a row from the second inning to the ninth. He walked two and struck out eight.
Burright led off the first with a single and Broglio held the Mets hitless until Burright led off the ninth with a double.
Broglio preserved the shutout by striking out catcher Choo Choo Coleman and retiring outfielders Ed Kranepool and Duke Snider on groundouts after Burright’s double. Boxscore
“We had trouble hitting, which is going to be a big problem all year,” Mets manager Casey Stengel said to the Associated Press after the game.
_ Cardinals 4, Mets 0, April 10, 1963, at New York: Washburn held the Mets to four singles (two by Kranepool and one each by Coleman and first baseman Tim Harkness) and retired 17 in a row from the second inning to the eighth. He walked one and struck out five. Boxscore
Wrote The Sporting News: Washburn’s route-going performance was especially eye-popping because he went all the way in only two of his 25 starts in his rookie campaign a year ago.
“I had good stuff and kept it all the way,” Washburn said. “I made some real good pitches on (slugger) Frank Thomas. He used to bother me quite a bit.”
Cardinals catcher Gene Oliver said Washburn’s successful outing was “mostly a matter of confidence and experience, knowing that he can throw any kind of pitch in a given situation instead of coming in with a fastball or slider most of the time.”
_ Cardinals 7, Phillies 0, April 13, 1963, at St. Louis: After a two-day break, the Cardinals won their home debut. Simmons pitched a five-hitter, walked two and struck out four. No Phillies baserunner reached third base. Boxscore
It was Simmons’ 10th win in 11 decisions against the Phillies since he signed with the Cardinals after his release by Philadelphia in May 1960.
Simmons set the tone in the first inning when Don Hoak, the Phillies’ third baseman and No. 2 batter, dropped to the ground to avoid being struck by a high and tight pitch. Hoak subsequently struck out.
“He (Simmons) has been doing that to me for years and I’ve taken all I’m going to,” Hoak said to The Sporting News. “The next time, I’m going after him.”
Unfazed, Simmons responded, “He’s not a good enough hitter to bother throwing at.”
Previously: Kyle Lohse effort is similar to Ernie Broglio classic in 1963
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