RetroSimba

(Updated Sept. 23, 2022)

During a night when Steve Carlton pitched great, he wasn’t good enough to win.

On Sept. 15, 1969, Carlton became the first pitcher in the majors to strike out 19 batters in nine innings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Amazin’ Mets.

Ron Swoboda hit a pair of two-run home runs against Carlton, giving the Mets a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

In addition to striking out 19 times, the Mets committed four errors, but they were a charmed club destined to become 1969 World Series champions.

In his game story for the New York Daily News, Dick Young wrote, “The Mets were absolutely no match” for Carlton, but their win “goes to prove how utterly amazin’ they really are.”

Said Mets manager Gil Hodges: “It’s great to win when you play badly.”

Getting better

Carlton, 24, wasn’t feeling well before the Monday night game with the Mets and wasn’t sure he could pitch.

“I had a fever all day and I felt so bad that I slept an extra hour and didn’t get to the ballpark until 7 o’clock, an hour before the game was to start,” Carlton told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

He said he took aspirins and got a rubdown from the team trainer.

The start of the game was delayed 26 minutes by rain and there was a 54-minute rain delay in the first inning.

Despite his aches and the damp conditions, Carlton struck out the sides in the first and second innings.

“I had a great fastball that kept rising and my curve was falling right off the table,” Carlton said to the Post-Dispatch.

Making mistakes

With the Cardinals ahead, 1-0, Donn Clendenon drew a walk, leading off the fourth for the Mets, and Swoboda batted next.

Carlton got ahead in the count 0-and-2 and “tried to burn another over without a waste pitch,” the New York Daily News reported.

The fastball was “right in his wheelhouse,” Carlton said, and Swoboda hit it deep into the left-field seats for a home run and a 2-1 Mets lead.

Carlton struck out the side in the fourth and the Cardinals scored twice in the fifth against Mets starter Gary Gentry, regaining the lead at 3-2.

In the middle innings, Carlton told the Post-Dispatch, “I became dizzy, tired and nauseated,” but he recovered and remained in the game.

In the eighth, Tommie Agee led off for the Mets with a single, Clendenon struck out and Swoboda came to the plate.

With the count 2-and-2, Carlton hung a slider _ “I didn’t get it inside enough,” he said _ and Swoboda lined it over the wall for a home run and a 4-3 Mets lead.

(In a January 2015 charity fundraising appearance in St. Louis, Carlton drew a laugh from the crowd when he jokingly blamed catcher Tim McCarver for the Swoboda home runs. “Tim put down the wrong fingers,” Carlton said.)

In the book “After the Miracle,” Swoboda told teammate Art Shamsky he got a batting tip before the game from Hall of Famer and Mets broadcaster Ralph Kiner.

“I went to Ralph and said, ‘I’m struggling a little. I’ve never done much against Carlton. Is there anything you might suggest?,’ ” Swoboda recalled. “So Kiner takes me down to a batting cage they had behind the left field fence. He fed me a bunch of balls off an old pitching machine and said, ‘Get your hands higher.’ I started hitting some balls real good. I went into that game with Carlton, who had extra-great stuff that night, and got some good swings off him.”

The two home runs gave Swoboda nine for the season. For his career, Swoboda batted .130 (6-for-46) versus Carlton with the two home runs.

“He’s primarily an inside fastball hitter,” Carlton said. “He has a tendency to swing through outside pitches and sometimes doesn’t reach them. If you go inside with him, you have to go way inside.”

Magic number

Carlton went into the ninth inning with 16 strikeouts and said he made up his mind to go for the record. Three pitchers had struck out 18 batters in nine innings. They were the Indians’ Bob Feller, the Dodgers Sandy Koufax (twice) and the Astros’ Don Wilson.

Carlton struck out Tug McGraw for No. 17 and Bud Harrelson for No. 18, tying the major-league mark. The 18 strikeouts also established a Cardinals club record, topping the 17 by Dizzy Dean versus the Cubs in a 1933 regular-season game and by Bob Gibson versus the Tigers in a 1968 World Series game.

The next Mets batter, rookie Amos Otis, already had struck out three times in the game.

“I was tense,” Carlton said, “but I knew Otis was tense, too, because nobody likes to go into the record book that way, as the No. 19 strikeout.”

For Otis to avoid becoming the 19th strikeout victim, Carlton said, “I thought he might bunt.”

When asked whether he considered bunting, Otis said, “If I’m going in the books, I’m going in right. I wasn’t doing any bunting.”

With the count 2-and-2, Otis swung and missed at a slider in the dirt. The ball eluded catcher Tim McCarver, who retrieved it and threw to first base in time to complete strikeout No. 19 for Carlton.

“I’m very elated to have done something no other pitcher had ever done,” Carlton said. Boxscore

Big numbers

According to the Post-Dispatch, Carlton threw 152 pitches, including 106 for strikes. He got 12 strikeouts on fastballs, five on sliders and two on curves.

Since then, four pitchers have struck out 20 batters in nine innings. They are Roger Clemens of the Red Sox (twice), the Cubs’ Kerry Wood, the Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer.

Carlton is one of four pitchers who have topped 4,000 career strikeouts. The four are Nolan Ryan (5,714), Randy Johnson (4,875), Clemens (4,672) and Carlton (4,136).

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After losing 10 of 11 decisions against the Dodgers, Al Jackson persevered and outdueled Sandy Koufax.

A left-handed pitcher who relied on a sinker for groundball outs, Jackson made his major-league debut in 1959 with the Pirates, spent most of his career with the Mets and had two strong seasons with the Cardinals.

During his first stint with the Mets from 1962-65, Jackson was 1-9 versus the Dodgers. He lost eight consecutive decisions against them before spinning a three-hitter and outdueling Claude Osteen in a 1-0 Mets victory on June 21, 1965, at Dodger Stadium. Boxscore

Two months later, on Aug. 10, 1965, Koufax got his 20th win of the season, striking out 14 Mets and beating Jackson in a 4-3 Dodgers victory at Los Angeles. Boxscore

The Mets traded Jackson and third baseman Charlie Smith to the Cardinals for third baseman Ken Boyer after the 1965 season.

Tough luck

After opening the 1966 season as a reliever, Jackson was moved into the Cardinals’ starting rotation in May, replacing Ray Sadecki, who got traded to the Giants.

The first time Jackson faced the Dodgers as a Cardinal was June 1, 1966, at St. Louis. Although he pitched well, he again took the loss. Jackson held the Dodgers to three hits in seven innings, but Koufax pitched a shutout in a 1-0 Dodgers victory.

Jackson “deserved a better fate, but he was pitted against a master,” the Los Angeles Times observed.

The Dodgers scored an unearned run in the seventh. With one out and none on, Jackson “got a slider too high and too close” to Willie Davis, who hit the pitch into the right-field corner for a triple, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. When right fielder Bobby Tolan’s throw eluded relay man Julian Javier, Davis raced to the plate on the error.

“I’m sure Jackson would like to have that pitch back,” Davis said. Boxscore

The loss dropped Jackson’s career record versus the Dodgers to 1-10.

Beating the best

One month later, on July 1, 1966, at Dodger Stadium, Jackson and Koufax again were matched against one another.

Koufax had a five-game winning streak versus the Cardinals. His season record was 14-2. Jackson had been given an extra day of rest since making his last start five days earlier against the Astros.

The two left-handers held their opponents scoreless through the first six innings. With one out in the seventh, Orlando Cepeda singled and Mike Shannon slugged a home run, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

Jackson did the rest, pitching a six-hit shutout. Only one Dodgers baserunner, Wes Parker in the first inning, reached second base. Jackson got the Dodgers to ground into three double plays and walked none.

“When I have a good day, I work my infielders pretty hard,” Jackson said.

The game was completed in 1 hour, 53 minutes.

Jackson said “my breaking ball wasn’t working so good” and his fastball initially was “too straight.” A word of advice from pitching coach Joe Becker helped.

Becker “told me to become a pitcher again, instead of a thrower, and I started keeping the ball down,” Jackson said.

In the ultimate compliment, Koufax said, “I had the best stuff I’ve had all year, but Al just pitched better.” Boxscore

Action Jackson

Jackson’s gem changed his luck against the Dodgers. Six of his last eight career decisions versus the Dodgers were wins. Jackson was 2-2 with an 0.92 ERA versus the Dodgers for the 1966 Cardinals and 3-0 against them for the 1967 Cardinals.

Jackson, who was traded back to the Mets after the Cardinals won the 1967 World Series title, finished with a career mark of 7-12 and a 3.41 ERA versus the Dodgers. He was 5-2 against them as a Cardinal; 2-10 as a Met.

Here is the breakdown of Jackson’s Dodgers decisions: 3-0 vs. Don Sutton, 1-0 vs. Claude Osteen, 1-0 vs. Jim Brewer, 1-2 vs. Don Drysdale, 1-5 vs. Koufax, 0-2 vs. Joe Moeller, 0-2 vs. Pete Richert and 0-1 vs. Bill Singer.

Jackson had an overall major-league record of 67-99 with a 3.98 ERA. In two seasons with St. Louis, he was 22-19 with a 2.97 ERA.

In 1966, when he was 13-15 with a 2.51 ERA, Jackson was second on the Cardinals in wins, games started (30), complete games (11) and innings pitched (232.2). He was 12-14 with a 2.61 ERA as a starter; 1-1 with an 0.73 ERA in six relief appearances.

Jackson was 9-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 39 appearances for the 1967 Cardinals. He was 5-3 with a 4.88 ERA in 11 starts; 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA as a reliever.

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Before Ernie Broglio became a principal figure in the Lou Brock trade, he had much success, including his greatest game, against the Cubs.

Broglio was a premium starting pitcher when the Cubs acquired him, reliever Bobby Shantz and outfielder Doug Clemens from the Cardinals for Brock and pitchers Jack Spring and Paul Toth on June 15, 1964.

Based on his results for the Cardinals, the Cubs thought Broglio would be a consistent winner.

Broglio earned 21 wins for the Cardinals in 1960 and 18 in 1963.

The right-hander was 11-4, with four shutouts, as a Cardinal against the Cubs.

The best of those performances came on July 15, 1960, when Broglio pitched a one-hitter and struck out 14 in a 6-0 Cardinals victory over the Cubs at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Right stuff

Broglio entered the Friday night game with a 9-4 record and a streak of four consecutive wins.

With one out in the second inning, the Cubs’ Ed Bouchee, a left-handed batter, lined a single against the screen in right field. Broglio retired the next 13 batters in a row before Richie Ashburn drew a walk with two outs in the sixth.

In the seventh, Ernie Banks walked with one out before Broglio retired the last eight batters in a row.

Every Cubs starter except Bouchee struck out. None of the three Cubs baserunners advanced to second. Boxscore

“This is the best I’ve ever seen Broglio pitch,” Cardinals manager Solly Hemus said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Broglio “kept the Cubs off balance with changing speeds and breaking stuff,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Asked by the Post-Dispatch which pitch worked best, Broglio said, “My curve. It was breaking off fine.”

Cardinals catcher Carl Sawatski told the Associated Press, “His curveball was working almost perfectly and his fastball was as good as ever.”

Broglio credited Sawatski with perfect pitch selection. “I didn’t shake him off once,” Broglio said.

Sawatski also contributed a solo home run onto the right-field pavilion roof against starter Don Cardwell, who pitched a no-hitter for the Cubs against the Cardinals two months earlier on May 15, 1960.

Big deal

Two months after his gem against the Cubs, Broglio shut them out again, pitching a three-hitter in a 4-0 Cardinals triumph on Sept. 3, 1960, at St. Louis. He struck out seven and walked two. Boxscore

Broglio was 3-0 with a 1.15 ERA versus the Cubs in 1960.

When the Cubs acquired him from the Cardinals, Broglio, 28, was regarded a more prominent player than Brock. In six seasons (1959-64) with the Cardinals, Broglio was 70-55, including 18 shutouts. Brock hit .257 in four seasons (1961-64) with the Cubs.

In a 2014 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Broglio recalled, “I was a little bit upset because I wanted to finish my career with the Cardinals.”

Asked to recall his reaction to the trade, Bill White, the first baseman for the 1964 Cardinals, told me in a 2011 interview, “We all thought it was nuts. Lou was a raw talent. At that point, he didn’t really understand baseball. He might try to steal while 10 runs up or 10 runs down.”

According to the Tribune, Brock “had fallen into some disfavor” with Cubs manager Bob Kennedy, “a stickler for sound application of baseball’s fundamentals.”

“Kennedy was irritated at times by Brock’s erratic outfield play and occasionally by his unsound baserunning,” the Tribune reported.

Kennedy said the acquisition of Broglio “gives us as good a pitching staff as there is in the league.” Cubs third baseman Ron Santo added, “With our pitching staff now, we can win the pennant.”

Broglio, who had a damaged right elbow, was 4-7 with a 4.04 ERA for the 1964 Cubs, who finished eighth at 76-86. In a 2016 interview with his hometown San Jose Mercury News, Broglio said, “They (Cardinals) got rid of used merchandise. The Cubs didn’t know. Nowadays, that trade never would have happened.”

Brock hit .348 with 33 stolen bases and 81 runs scored, sparking the 1964 Cardinals to the National League pennant and a World Series championship.

Broglio told the Mercury News the Cardinals players went to Stan Musial’s restaurant in St. Louis after clinching the World Series title and called him at his home in San Jose to thank him for his contributions and to have him feel a part of the celebration.

Broglio was 7-19 with a 5.40 ERA in three seasons (1964-66) with the Cubs. Brock went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals.

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