#135 World Series Game 4 - Boyer's Grand-Slam

The 1964 World Series opened in St. Louis on October 7th and it ended 8 days later back in St. Louis with the Cardinals winning the decisive Game 7.

It was the fifth time these two teams had faced each other in the World Series, with the Yankees winning in 1928 and 1943 and the Cardinals prevailing in 1926 and 1942.  This also marked the end of an era for the Yankees, as the club had appeared in 14 of 16 fall classics since 1949 and they wouldn't appear again until 1976.  Former Yankee catcher Yogi Berra (#470) was in his first year as the team's manager, and he'd be unceremoniously fired following the series loss and replaced with (ironically enough) the Cardinals' manager, Johnny Keane (#131).  Keane would only last with the Yankees until 20 games into the 1966 season.

World Series cards were a key subset in Topps offerings throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with a card highlighting each game along with a series capping "Celebration" card.

Building the Set
February 13, 2021 from Edmonds, WA - Card #223
Busy with my chosen profession, rarely leaving the house and anxiously awaiting the return of live baseball, I turned to eBay in early February for some cardboard therapy.  After another largely unsuccessful bidding exercise on a 1965 Topps set break hosted by Greg Morris Cards, I went the Buy It Now route with 10 cards from Mitchell's Cards located in Edmonds, Washington.  As we've been completely unable to find packs of 2021 Topps locally, the much-needed package of baseball cards was a welcome sight in our mailbox on February 13th.  I spent $34 on the 10 cards from Mitchell's, with this World Series card costing $8.50, tied with the Tom Tresh (#440) card for the most expensive in the lot.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Yankees Team Set

The Yankees were up 2-1 in the Series after splitting the first two games in St. Louis and winning the day before on Mickey Mantle's (#350) walk-off home in Game 3 off Cardinals' pitcher Barney Schultz (#28).  In this game, it was the Cardinals' turn to stun the Yankees.

Cardinals pitcher Ray Sadecki (#230) faced off against Yankees' starter Al Downing (#598), with both pitchers having appeared in Game 1.  Downing had relieved Whitey Ford (#330) in that game after Mike Shannon's (#43) two-run home run in the sixth and Sadecki was the starter for St. Louis, lasting six innings and giving up four runs.  Sadecki fared much worse in Game 4, lasting just five batters before manager Keane went to his bullpen and reliever Roger Craig (#411).  In quick succession in the bottom of the first, Phil Linz (#369) doubled, Bobby Richardson (#115) doubled him home, with Roger Maris (#155) and Mantle hitting back-to-back singles to chase Sadecki from the game.  Craig gave up one more single to Elston Howard (#450), and it was 3-0 Yankees.

Craig and Downing both settled in and the offense from both sides stayed relatively quiet until the top of the 6th.  Carl Warwick (#357) and Curt Flood (#415) both singled to open the inning and Dick Groat (#275) reached on an error by second baseman Richardson.  With the bases loaded, Ken Boyer (#100) hit a grand slam to deep left field and the Cardinals had a 4-3 lead.  Ron Taylor (#568) entered the game for the Cardinals in the bottom of the inning and threw four scoreless and hitless innings to lock down the win and earn the save.

Similar to the Game 1 card showing Shannon's home run off Ford, catcher Howard makes an unwanted cameo on this card as well.  That's umpire Hank Soar behind the plate watching the ball leave the ballpark.

Sources:
Baseball Reference

Prior Card:  #134 World Series Game 3

Next Card:  #136 World Series Game 5