The topic of today’s newsletter is the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967, where they ranked 40th in the Best 50, which is my list of the greatest baseball clubs in history. Ranking from my new book The best team in baseball.
Here is a quick boilerplate note attached to each story I have in this series:
I compiled the best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major league teams from 1903 to 2024. (The historical percentile for a given club is the percentage of its other 2,543 teams.)
Please refer to my book to explain my TS calculations. The book also offers a separate breakdown of the best and worst clubs every decade, along with a comprehensive overview of the best 50 (including a position-by-position lineup and more information than you will find in this newsletter), and a similar summary of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now enter today's profile.
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Team: 1967 St. Louis Cardinals
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Team Score: 85.667
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Ranking History: 40 of 2,544
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Historical percentile: 98.47%
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Seasonal record: 101-60 (.627)
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Season position: No. 1 in the National League
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Final identity: World Champion
The Cardinal uses Oriole’s success story as a template for his own championship story. Baltimore has won the famous slugger, Frank Robinsonat the end of 1965. Robinson won the Most Valuable Player Award for the Next Season, leading the Orioles to the World Championship. St. Louis waved himself in May 1966 for the trade for the famous power batsman. Orlando Cepeda He won the 1967 MVP trophy, prompting the Cardinal to take the championship.
These cards ranked seventh in the National League in 1965 and sixth in 1966. Roger Maris Inspired an upward interest. Maris is no longer a family-run threat – he only cleared the fences throughout the season, but he was obviously more enjoying than he enjoyed in 1967 in seven of his seven years in New York. “I almost forgot how fun it was to play in baseball,” he said.
Until June 7, St. Louis fell behind the league's lead in 4.5 games in 4.5 games. However, the Cardinal recorded 74-40 in the rest of the game, winning the championship with 10.5 games.
Get a complete low in 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
No one – literally no one – expect Boston to enter the World Series. this Sports News In the early 1967 season, 255 sports writers were investigated, and no one chose the Red Sox to be above the fourth place in the American League.
However, the Sox won their first Al Pennant in 21 years with a battle of four teams, a victory known as the “Impossible Dream.” It is widely believed that the Cardinals could easily conquer Boston’s upstarts, and St. Louis did win three of the first four games.
However, Sox's counterattack extended the World Series to its limit. Bob Gibson Three shots won the Cardinals' seventh game (and the championship). This is the third complete title in the Gibson series. He surrendered 3 times in 27 innings.
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Racial tensions stubbornly in 1967 Jackie Robinson Integrated major leagues. Several teams (especially the San Francisco Giants) were fractured into white, black and Hispanic groups. The Cardinal is a rare exception. Midfielder Curt Floodhimself black, said the club “has little racist poison, just as the 20th century Americans could be a bunch of racist poisons.”
First baseman Orlando Cepeda split the Giants into a trade with the Cardinals, and he played a role in developing a cohesive unit in St. Louis. Cepeda is nicknamed Cha cha because he exploded jazz and Latin music in the club after the game. Teammates enjoyed his lively and inclusive spirit. “We are El Birdos because Cha Cha named us, and that’s what we’re going to call,” said Roger Maris, a right fielder. The flood is called Cepeda “our cheerleaders, our glue.”
He is a dominant player certainly helps. Sepeda led the National League with 111 RBIs, and he ranked sixth in the batting average with 0.325. Flood is a Gold Glove Center fielder who leads the club with a .335 BA. Left fielder at the foot of the fleet Lou Brock 52 bases were stolen; no one else in the league stolen more than 29.
Bob Gibson is the brightest star on the St. Louis roster – even Cepeda. Fireball pitchers have won 60 games in the past three seasons, but Roberto Clemente In July 1967, the line driver had broken legs. Gibson is strong – catcher Tim McCarver He called him “a guy with Murish's competitive instinct” and he tried to keep pitching. He ended up missing two months, with a disappointing record of 13-7 (for him).
