1974 St. Louis Cardinals: A Pennant Race That Slipped Away
The St. Louis Cardinals were in a five-year stretch of mediocre baseball when the 1974 season began. Since their back-to-back National League pennants of 1967-68, including a World Series title, the Cards had posted just two winning seasons and finished .500 on the nose in 1973. With Major League Baseball having just introduced divisional alignments in 1969, the Cards had yet to win the NL East they inhabited until 1994. The 1974 campaign didn’t change that, but it saw a return to contention and a thrilling finish.
SPEED AND BALANCE
The great Lou Brock led the offense. Now 35-years-old, the future Hall of Fame leftfielder batted .306 and stole a league-leading 118 bases. Brock finished second in the NL MVP voting. On the other end of the career spectrum, Bake McBride roamed centerfield, hit .309 and won NL Rookie of the Year honors. Reggie Smith, an emerging star, was a terrific all-around player in rightfield. Smith also hit .309, to go with 23 homers and 100 RBIs.
Ted Simmons was a future Hall of Fame player himself, and the 24-year-old catcher hit 20 homers and drove in 103 runs. Joe Torre, better known to this generation as a Hall of Fame manager, was only three years removed from an MVP season. Torre was patient at the plate and posted a .371 on-base percentage from his first base spot.
Even with offensive holes at the other infield positions, this St. Louis offense ranked fourth in the National League for runs scored.
A REVAMPED STAFF
Pitching was the focal point of the most significant Cardinal trade in the offseason. A six-player deal with the Boston Red Sox saw St. Louis give up some decent arms in Reggie Cleveland and Diego Segui. But the return was more than worth it. John Curtis and Lynn McGlothen strengthened the rotation, and Mike Garman proved a valuable addition to the bullpen.
McGlothen’s 16 wins led the staff, and he finished with a 2.69 ERA. Curtis’ ERA was 2.78. The starting pitching also included the great Bob Gibson, now 38-years-old and no longer as feared as he’d once been—but Gibson still made 33 starts and posted a 3.53 ERA.
Depth came from Alan Foley, veteran Sonny Siebert, and young Bob Forsch, who combined to make 59 starts and had ERAs ranging from the high 2s to the high 3s. In relief, Garman worked 81 innings and delivered a 2.64 ERA. Al Hrabosky and Rich Folkers had similar workloads and ERAs at 3.00 or below.
It was enough pitching to be competitive, although the lack of a clear ace in an era with a lot of great pitching staffs still kept St. Louis at sixth in the 12-team National League for composite ERA.
A CROWDED NL EAST
The Pittsburgh Pirates were the perennial gold standard in the old NL East, a division that also included the Chicago Cubs. The New York Mets had managed to win the division a year earlier, in a wild season where almost everyone hovered around the .500 mark. The Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals) rounded out the East.
St. Louis made a fast statement, going 7-2 against the Pirates and Mets right out of the gate. Series losses to the Phillies and Expos slowed the momentum, something that set a pattern for the early part of the season. The Cardinals won four of five games against the potent Big Red Machine in Cincinnati. They lost five more to Montreal and Philadelphia.
By Memorial Day, St. Louis was 22-20, but only two games back, chasing the Expos and Phillies. The Mets and Pirates were slow to start, five back and nine back respectively. This was an era where only the first-place team qualified for the playoffs, going directly to the League Championship Series, so there was no margin for error.
The Cardinals continued to go up and down through the early part of summer. They went to Los Angeles and swept the Dodgers, a team that would ultimately reach the World Series. But that was part of a 10-10 overall stretch against the NL West. It was still hard to see what this St. Louis team was made of when they began a key stretch games against divisional rivals.
A STATEMENT STRETCH
Winning two of three at home over the Expos set the stage. That brought Pittsburgh to town, with the Pirates gradually starting to find their footing. A four-game series began with a Monday doubleheader. In the early evening opener, Forsch was staked to three quick runs, worked into the eighth inning, and won 3-1. After a 20-minute break, the teams came back for the second game. Gibson dealt a complete-game four-hitter, got support from a three-run blast by Simmons, and won 4-0.
The bats asserted themselves on Tuesday. Simmons homered again. Trailing 7-6 in the eighth inning, third baseman Ken Reitz singled, setting up a game-tying double by outfielder Mike Tyson. Brock knocked a base hit that produced an 8-7 win. Even though Siebert was knocked out early on Wednesday night and St. Louis dropped the finale, they had still struck a blow against a key rival.
A visit to Shea Stadium in New York for a four-game weekend series with the Mets was next. The Cardinals struck early in the Thursday night opener. Consecutive doubles by Smith, Simmons and Torre keyed a 6-0 lead by the second inning. McGlothen tossed a complete-game four-hitter to win 6-1. After rain delayed Friday’s game, Saturday went a little rougher. The Cards only mustered one hit in a 4-0 defeat.
That set up Sunday’s doubleheader, including the makeup game from Friday. Foster took the ball in the opener and worked seven strong innings. Reitz had three hits and homered. The Cards won 5-2 and assured themselves of at least a split. In the nightcap, Gibson worked into the eighth inning and held a 3-1 lead. The Mets rallied to tie it, but McBride answered in the 10th inning with a two-run blast and a 5-3 win.
Taking six of eight from the Pirates and Mets vaulted the Cardinals to the top of the NL East, and they held a 2 ½ game lead as June came to an end.
THE LATE SUMMER ROLLER COASTER
As quickly as St. Louis had risen, they came crashing back to earth. They lost 15 of their last 21 games going into the All-Star break. They were under .500 at 46-49—but in a division that no one had taken control of, everyone was within 3 ½ games.
The second half offered everyone a chance for a fresh start and St. Louis took advantage, going winning 13 of 18 against NL East foes and they briefly nudged back into the division lead. A stretch of .500 baseball against the NL West pulled them back.
By Labor Day, the veteran Pirates were asserting themselves and led the pack. But the Cardinals, at 69-65, were only a game and a half back. The Phillies were lingering at four off the pace. Everyone else had fallen by the wayside. The race was on.
MOMENTUM SWINGS
St. Louis took advantage of fading Montreal and New York and won five of six games to open September. But just how strong Pittsburgh was coming in was underscored by the fact the Cards lost a game in the standings and slipped 2 ½ back.
They answered by winning five of seven against Philadelphia and New York. The Phils were effectively gone. And Pittsburgh stumbled. With a 2 ½ weeks go to, St. Louis was now out front, ahead by a game and a half.
It set up a big road trip to the Steel City with 2 ½ weeks to go. But after winning a 13-inning opener, St. Louis dropped the next two. They were able to respond by coming home and getting two wins against the Cubs, sandwiched around an embarrassing a 19-4 defeat. The lead over the Pirates was still a game and a half.
A MISSED CHANCE AT HOME
Pittsburgh made the return trip to St. Louis. With an opportunity to put a chokehold on the division, the bats fell silent, scoring just one run combined in the first two games. In the finale, on the verge of being swept, the bats awoke with a vengeance. A wild game was tied 9-9 going into extra innings. The Pirates scored three in the top of the 11th. The Cardinals responded with four in the bottom half, won 13-12 and were back out front by a half-game.
There was one week to go, the weekend series upcoming and the regular season would conclude the following week. While St. Louis was idle, Pittsburgh won and made the race dead even, both teams at 83-73.
THE CRUEL ENDING
The Cardinals would be on the road and began in Wrigley Field. Gibson had a so-so pitching performance on Friday afternoon, but he made up for it with his bat, driving in four runs and winning 10-4. The Pirates held serve.
St. Louis lost on Saturday and slipped a game back. They won on Sunday and pulled back even. The season would end with the Cardinals in Montreal and the Pirates at home with the Cubs.
Forsch won 5-1 on Monday, aided by a three-run homer from Simmons. Pittsburgh edged Chicago 2-1.
Going into the eighth inning of Tuesday’s games, the fans in St. Louis could surely smell the postseason. The Cards had a 2-1 lead behind Gibson. The Pirates were trailing 5-4. Both games reversed. St. Louis coughed up the lead and lost. Pittsburgh rallied and won.
Rain came in Montreal on Wednesday, so all the Cardinals could do was wait. If the Pirates lost, there would be a makeup game on Thursday followed by a potential one-game tiebreaker playoff. If Pittsburgh won, it would be over.
If St. Louis fans needed any more reason to dislike Chicago, Wednesday provided it. The Cubs had a 4-2 lead in the ninth and actually got the third out on a strikeout—but it ended up a passed ball, keeping the inning alive. Pittsburgh tied the game and then won it in the 10th inning. The NL East was over.
SLIPPING BACKWARDS
It was a painful way to end a nice season of baseball. The Cardinals finished 86-75, fifth-best in the National League and ninth-best overall. Just as painful is that this season of contention proved to be a one-off. St. Louis receded back into the shadows for several years, until Whitey Herzog came to town in 1981.