#136 World Series Game 5 - 10th Inning Triumph

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
April 3, 2021 from Roaring Spring, PA - Card #251
It's a strange time.  Spring has arrived, we finally attended a Phillies game in person and it seems as if with the arrival of the vaccine the pandemic could soon be behind us.  But I still find myself anxious, occasionally having trouble sleeping at night, and I know many of my friends and family feel the same way.  I went the entire month of March without adding to our 1965 Topps set, and as the month came to a close I decided to start off April with the purchase of a group of commons.  In search specifically for series two cards, I veered into the higher series when I found sellers on eBay auctioning off batches of cards from recent set breaks.  Over the course of a few days, I ended up winning 16 cards for $48 for an average of $3 per card.  

This World Series card came from eBay seller Mom and Pop Card Shop from Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania for a winning bid of $4.99.  With the weather getting warmer, having enjoyed a beer at a few Phillies games and 16 new cards in our collection, the month is starting off on the right foot.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Yankees Team Set

The series was tied at two wins a piece when the teams faced off for Game 5.  Starting pitchers Bob Gibson (#320) and Mel Stottlemyre (#550) were locked in a pitching duel until the top of the fifth inning when the Cardinals scored a pair of runs.  Gibson singled to center off Stottlemyre and then Curt Flood (#415)  reached on a costly error by Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson (#115).  Lou Brock (#540) singled home Gibson with Flood advancing to third.  Flood then scored when Bill White (#190) grounded out to second.

Both pitchers then cruised through eight innings with the Cardinals holding their 2-0 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth.  Mickey Mantle (#350) led off and reached when shortstop Dick Groat (#275) couldn't cleanly field his ground ball.  Gibson then retired Elston Howard (#450) and Joe Peptione (#245).  With two outs, Tom Tresh (#440) homered to deep center, dramatically tying the game.  Pedro Gonzalez (#97) popped out to end the inning, and the game went into extras.

With Pete Mikkelsen (#177) now on the mound for the Yankees, White walked to begin the 10th and advanced to second on a Ken Boyer (#100) bunt base hit.  White stole third and Boyer was forced at second on a fielder's choice ground out by Groat.  With runners on the corners, Tim McCarver (#294) launched a home run to right field over the head of Mantle, giving the Cardinals a 5-2 lead.  Gibson came out in the bottom of the inning and retired the Yankees to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead overall in the Series.  

In the video embedded below, you can see the exact moment the photo used for this card was taken at the 0:27 mark.  Colorizing the black and white photo, Topps got the Cardinals' helmet color right but they're actually wearing red sleeves and not blue.  That's Shannon, White, Groat and McCarver from left to right.

Sources:
Baseball Reference

Prior Card:  #135 World Series Game 4

Next Card:  #137 World Series Game 6

#43 Mike Shannon - St. Louis Cardinals

Thomas Michael Shannon
St. Louis Cardinals
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  195
Born:  July 15, 1939, St. Louis, MO
Signed:  Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent before 1958 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals 1962-1970

For over 60 years, Mike Shannon has been a part of the Cardinals organization, first as a player for his home-town team and later as a long-time broadcaster.  His biggest hit as a player came in Game 1 of the 1964 World Series (#132) when he hit a game-tying home run off the Yankees' Whitey Ford (#330).  The Cardinals would go on to win that game and the entire Series.  Shannon's best seasons came in the late 1960s.  He hit a career high 16 home runs in 1966 as the Cardinals' every day right fielder and then moved to third base where he had successive seasons with 77 and 79 RBIs in 1967 and 1968.  He won a second World Series ring with the Cardinals in 1967, but the team fell short against the Tigers in 1968.  Shannon played parts of nine seasons in the Majors before a kidney ailment cut his playing career short.

He joined the Cardinals' radio booth in 1972 where he was paired with Hall of Famer announcer Jack Buck until Buck's passing in 2002.  Shannon has continued to call Cardinals' home games up through the 2020 season.  He was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.

Building the Set
November 19, 2020 from Brunswick, OH - Card #176
I hit a lull with our 1965 Topps set additions in the September, October and November timeframe as the postseason ended and we faced another long winter without baseball.  This late fall/early winter would be different of course as we were still dealing with the pandemic and unable to gather inside without being safely masked up and without social distancing measures in place.  Our family continued to find happiness in small things, catching up on television shows together (The Mandalorian, Amazing Race), watching movies and planning for things we'd do in 2021 once things started to approach some sense of normalcy.  Like most of the country, we were glued to our TV in early November as the election results slowly arrived and like most of the country we celebrated the outcome with a sense of genuine relief and hope.  It felt good to be able to hope again.

In mid-November, straddled with a case of general ploppiness, my wife Jenna suggested I look for some new baseball cards to help raise my spirits.  I gladly obliged and decided to try to knock a few more cards off our first series checklist.  I had set a goal for myself to try to complete the first series by the end of 2020, and while I won't accomplish the goal I did come relatively close.  As of this writing, we need 22 of the 88 cards from the set's first series and I'd like to pick up the pace a little once the calendar turns to 2021.

This is one of five cards from the first series purchased from Robbies Cards via eBay and this was the least expensive of the bunch at $2.50.  Our remaining additions to the set for the year would arrive in the form of Christmas presents.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set
Is that an apartment building behind Shannon?  This is the first solo card for the popular outfielder, as he shared a Rookie Stars card with Harry Fanok in the 1964 Topps set.  On the back, Topps chooses to celebrate his league-leading 13 triples with the 1960 Memphis Chickasaws.

The lettering used for Shannon's name on the front of the card is in red, while the rest of the Cardinals cards in the set feature yellow lettering.

1965 Season
Shannon was rewarded for his postseason heroics by starting the season as the Cardinals' regular right fielder.  Unfortunately, he suffered a season-long slump, appearing in 124 games, batting .221 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs.  He biggest asset was his versatility and he filled in as an emergency catcher after injuries to both Tim McCarver (#294) and Bob Uecker (#519).  On September 25th, Shannon was Sandy Koufax's (#300) 350th strikeout victim allowing the future Hall of Famer to set a single-season record.

1964 Topps #262

1966 Topps #293

1967 Topps #605

1968 Topps #445

1971 Topps #735

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #262
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1964-1971
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2002 Topps Super Teams #76

41 - Shannon non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/23/20.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

Previous Card:  #42 Earl Wilson - Boston Red Sox

Next Card:  #44 Wade Blasingame - Milwaukee Braves

#132 World Series Game 1 - Cards Take Opener

The 1964 World Series opened in St. Louis on October 7th with the Yankees Whitey Ford (#330) facing off against the Cardinals Ray Sadecki (#230).

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.

Building the Set
December 26, 2019 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #35
My Mom did a little surrogate Christmas shopping for my Aunt Louise and Uncle Terry, both lifelong Yankees fans.  They were kind enough to give Doug four more cards for our set the day after Christmas - all related to the Yankees, and the first Yankees cards we've added.

Mom's baseball card dealer of choice is Dean's Cards, located in Cincinnati.  She came across Dean's through eBay purchases over the years.  Their website is easy to use and their sales people have always been helpful and friendly to her.  This card, along with the other five cards added on December 26th, were all purchased from Dean's Cards.

The Card / Cardinals Team Set / Yankees Team Set
With the Yankees holding a 4-2 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth, Ken Boyer (#100) reached on a single and Mike Shannon (#43) hit a game-tying two-run home run off Ford.  Catcher Elston Howard (#450), home plate umpire Frank Secory and second base umpire Ken Burkhart are shown watching the path of the ball as Ford walks off the mound dejected.  Those were Shannon's only two RBIs of the entire series and it was also Ford's final appearance in a World Series game.  Ford had appeared in 22 World Series games, compiling a record of 10-8 and throwing 33 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings across three different World Series in 1960, 1961 and 1962.

Tim McCarver (#294) doubled following Shannon's home run, and Al Downing (#598) came in to relieve Ford.  Downing gave up an RBI single to Carl Warwick (#357) followed by a triple to Curt Flood (#415) and the Cardinals had a 6-4 lead.  They'd go on to win by a score of 9-5.

The colorized photo shows the Cardinals with blue helmets, but they were actually wearing red helmets during this game.

Sources:
Baseball Reference

Prior Card:  #131 Johnny Keane MG - New York Yankees

Next Card:  #133 World Series Game 2