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As a Cardinals rookie who had been in the major leagues for less than a month, Bernard Gilkey prevented perfection by delivering a nearly flawless performance of his own against the Phillies.

On Sept. 25, 1990, at Philadelphia, Gilkey led the Cardinals to an unlikely 1-0 triumph.

Playing on the day after his 24th birthday, Gilkey tripled to lead off the first inning and doubled with two outs in the ninth. In between those two hits, Phillies starter Terry Mulholland retired 26 Cardinals in a row.

“That was as close to being perfect as anyone can be without being perfect,” Phillies manager Nick Leyva said to Calkins Newspapers.

Said Cardinals manager Joe Torre to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “You can’t pitch any better than that.”

Game of inches

Gilkey, a St. Louis native, had made his big-league debut with the Cardinals on Sept. 4, 1990, in his hometown against the Mets. With Class AAA Louisville in 1990, Gilkey had hit .295 with 147 hits in 132 games and 45 stolen bases.

He struggled early after his call-up to the Cardinals, hitting .212 entering the game against Mulholland and the Phillies.

Playing left field and batting in the leadoff spot, Gilkey opened the game by drilling a 2-and-2 pitch from Mulholland toward the right side of the second base bag. The second baseman, Randy Ready, dived to his right.

“The second baseman came within a whisker of catching the ball,” Torre told the Post-Dispatch.

The ball eluded Ready, skidding across the artificial turf and into the outfield. Center fielder Sil Campusano had shaded Gilkey to hit toward left field. The ball took a path into the gap between Campusano and right fielder Dale Murphy, rolling to the wall.

Gilkey raced to third with a triple.

“If (Gilkey) hits the ball two inches the other way, Randy Ready probably gets it,” Leyva said to the Philadelphia Daily News.

The next batter, Geronimo Pena, lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Gilkey.

Terrific throw

After stinging the Phillies with his speed and hitting, Gilkey hurt them with his throwing.

In the bottom half of the first, Campusano was on second base when Murphy hit a single to left field. Gilkey fielded the ball and fired a strike to catcher Ray Stephens, whose sweep tag nailed Campusano before he could reach home plate.

“I have a pretty good arm and I charge the ball well,” Gilkey said to the Associated Press. “I figured I had a shot at him.”

Special pitching

Relying on a mix of sliders, sinkers and fastballs, Mulholland retired the Cardinals in order until Gilkey hit a double to right-center with two outs in the ninth.

“We only hit two balls hard,” said Torre.

The Phillies, though, couldn’t produce a run off starter Joe Magrane and relievers Mike Perez and Ken Dayley.

Magrane scattered eight hits over seven innings before he tired.

“Mulholland was cruising along so easily I didn’t have a chance to even get a drink of water,” Magrane said to the Post-Dispatch.

Perez and Dayley each worked an inning and each yielded a hit.

The Phillies had 10 hits and two walks, but stranded 11 base runners.

Several Phillies said Mulholland pitched better that night against the Cardinals than he had a month earlier, on Aug. 15, 1990, when he had a no-hitter versus the Giants.

“I pitched well enough to lose,” Mulholland said. “Gilkey hit the ball where we didn’t have anybody.”

Said Gilkey: “Mulholland is a real good pitcher. He spots the ball well and is always around the plate. I know I have to be ready, so I’m up there to hack.” Boxscore

Previously: How Bernard Gilkey spoiled Frank Castillo’s big moment

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In a span of three days, Bob Gibson experienced the emotional swing of being honored for his Cardinals achievements before ending his career on a downturn.

The Cardinals designated Sept. 1, 1975, as Bob Gibson Day. Gibson, 39, was feted in an hour-long ceremony before the Cubs played the Cardinals in front of 48,435 spectators on a Labor Day afternoon at St. Louis.

Two days later, Sept. 3, Gibson yielded a grand slam and took the loss in his final Cardinals appearance.

Nervous ace

Before reporting to spring training, Gibson had said 1975 would be his last year as a player. He began the season in the starting rotation but was shifted to the bullpen during the summer.

The Gibson Day event was an opportunity to salute the Cardinals’ all-time best pitcher. Gibson was the ace on 1960s Cardinals clubs that won three National League pennants and two World Series titles. He is the franchise’s career leader in wins (251), shutouts (56), strikeouts (3,117), complete games (255), innings pitched (3,884.1) and games started (482).

In a ceremony at home plate, the Cardinals declared Gibson’s uniform No. 45 would join the No. 6 of Stan Musial and the No. 17 of Dizzy Dean as the only numbers retired by the franchise. Club owner Gussie Busch presented Gibson with a $32,250 luxury motor home.

Gibson told onlookers, including former teammates Musial and Bill White, “I’m more nervous than I was before a World Series game.”

Then it was Gibson’s turn to address the crowd.

In the book “Gibson’s Last Stand,” author Doug Feldmann wrote, “At first, Gibson was too moved to speak when he approached the microphone down on the field. Several times he stepped toward it again, but had to pause with every attempt, as each standing ovation was louder than the one a moment earlier.”

When he was ready, Gibson told the crowd, “One thing that I’ve always been proud of is the fact that I’ve never intentionally cheated anyone out of what they paid their money to come and see. Most of all, I’m proud of the fact that whatever I did, I did it my way.”

Reflecting on his future as a retired player, Gibson said, “It’s going to be a new life, a strange life for me. I just hope I can be half as successful as I have been in baseball.”

To cap the festivities, Busch got behind the wheel of the motor home and drove Gibson, his mother and his two daughters around the perimeter of the field as the stadium organist played “Auld Lang Syne.” Said Busch to Gibson: “I bet you never had a chauffeur like this before.”

Inspired, the Cardinals went out and beat the Cubs, 6-3, behind Lou Brock (three hits, three steals, two runs) and the pitching of Bob Forsch and Al Hrabosky. The victory moved the second-place Cardinals to within three games of the Pirates in the NL East Division. Boxscore

Tough to take

On Sept. 3, in the finale of the series, the Cubs led, 6-1, before the Cardinals rallied for five runs in the sixth, tying the score at 6-6.

Sensing an opportunity to give his fading star another shot at glory, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst called on Gibson to relieve starter Ron Reed and hold the Cubs in the seventh.

The move backfired.

The Cubs loaded the bases on a Champ Summers infield single and walks to Jose Cardenal and Andre Thornton. With two outs, Gibson uncorked a wild pitch and Gene Hiser, running for Summers, raced home from third, giving the Cubs a 7-6 lead. Gibson issued an intentional walk to Jerry Morales, reloading the bases.

Pete LaCock, a pinch-hitter, batted next. LaCock, who had lost the starting first base job to Thornton, was best-known as the son of game-show host Peter Marshall of “Hollywood Squares.”

With the count 3-and-2, LaCock stunned Gibson by drilling a fastball over the right-field wall for a home run _ the lone grand slam of his big-league career.

Dejected, Gibson retired the next batter, Don Kessinger, on a groundout and walked off the mound for the final time. Boxscore

“I had reached my absolute limit in humiliation,” Gibson said in his book “Stranger to the Game.” “I said to myself, ‘That’s it. I’m out of here.’ ”

Gibson remained idle while the Cardinals fell out of contention.

On Sept. 15, two weeks after his special day, Gibson said goodbye to his teammates and headed home with 10 games remaining in the season, knowing he’d never pitch again.

Previously: Bob Gibson and his final Opening Day with Cardinals

Previously: How Ron Reed replaced Bob Gibson in Cards rotation

Previously: How Bob Gibson achieved career win No. 250

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