On September 18, 1968, Ray Washburn of the St. Louis Cardinals pitches a no-hit game against the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. Washburn wins a 2-0 decision, just one day after San Francisco’s Gaylord Perry hurled a no-hitter at Candlestick vs Bob Gibson. The performances by Washburn and Perry mark the first time that…
Detroit clinches the American League pennant with a 2 – 1 win over the Yankees. Detroit is ahead, 1 – 0, when Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey phones Tiger general manager Jim Campbell with the news that the Sox have beaten the Orioles, clinching the pennant for the Tigers. Campbell keeps the score off the radio and the scoreboard, fearing the news will send fans rampaging onto the field. Don Wert singles home the winner in the 9th and the fans tear down the left field screen.
On September 17, 1968, At Candlestick, Giants’ hurler Gaylord Perry (14-14) no-hits the Cardinals and Bob Gibson, 1-0, with the only run of the game being tallied on Ron Hunt’s first-inning home run. Tomorrow, Redbird hurler Ray Washburn will return the favor by no-hitting San Francisco, 2-0, marking the first time in major league history…
One day after seeing their team mathematically eliminated, Candlestick Park’s patrons show up in “record” numbers, the smallest crowd to see a game since the team moved to San Francisco in 1958. The story of today’s 8 – 4 Giants win over Cincinnati, the latest installment in the two teams’ ongoing battle for second-best, will itself be second best (at least as judged by tomorrow’s sports page editors) as compared to the following unfortunate incident. UPI reports: “A gathering of only 2,361, the smallest in San Francisco’s major league history, was on hand and witnessed the rare sight of Willie Mays engaged in a shouting match with two spectators. Mays, in fact, had to be restrained from charging into the stands to confront the two hecklers, both Air Force sergeants dressed in civilian clothes. ‘Nice catch, Willie,’ they jeered from the front row after Mays made a spectacular catch in the 4th. ‘For a $100,000 bum you’re finally earning your money'”. “Mays was approaching the dugout in the middle of the 4th when he went after the two men,” adds AP. “He was intercepted by Bobby Bonds and manager Herman Franks and the sergeants were ejected from the park.”
Umpires Al Salerno and Bill Valentine are fired by American League President Joe Cronin. The men in blue claim the dismissals are due to their efforts organizing a union.
The Cardinals clinch their twelfth National League pennant when the team beats Houston at the Astrodome, 7-4. The contest, which features Curt Flood collecting five hits, marks the final home run by Roger Maris, who will finish his 12-year major league career with 275 round-trippers.
1968 – The Cardinals clinch the National League pennant with a 7 – 4 win at Houston. Roger Maris hits his 275th, and last, regular-season home run, off Don Wilson in the 3rd, and Curt Flood racks up five hits.
On September 14, 1968, In a nationally televised game, Denny McLain becomes a thirty-game winner when the Tigers rally for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat Oakland 5-4. McLain becomes the first major leaguer to win 30 games in a season since Dizzy Dean in 1934 and will finish…
Veteran southpaw Bob Veale outduels Tom Seaver, as the Pirates trounce the Mets, 6 – 0, with half their runs supplied by Roberto Clemente. Clemente’s hits both of career home runs off Seaver today, in the fourth and sixth innings; the latter follows Matty Alou’s leadoff double and lands a good 40 to 50 feet beyond the 410-foot marker in dead center field.
Jerry Koosman ties the National League rookie record when he hurls his seventh shutout of the season, blanking Pittsburgh on just three singles. The left-hander’s 2-0 victory, the Mets’ 67th win of the season – a franchise high, equals the mark shared by Irving Young (Braves, 1905) and Grover Cleveland Alexander (Phillies, 1911).