THE TRAVAIL OF McCAIN ' S CAMPAIGN

( 1 2 July 2 0 0 7 , Thursday )



While reading some of the news items I regard as ' preliminary ' - -

they that appear on America Online - - I just had to give special attention

to THIS one . . . .

http://news.aol.com/elections-blog/2007/07/12/now-mccain-has-ethics-problems .

FULL DISCLOSURE : This typist greatly dislikes Senator JOHN

McCAIN ( R . - Arizona ) , and I vowed months ago that should Senator

McCain and Senator HILLARY CLINTON ( D . - New York ) receive

their respective party nominations for the Presidency , I will flat

decline to vote for either .



Senator McCain ' s Presidential gambit has been floundering , much to

my pleasure ; fundraising has been disasterously low , expenses ( known

in contemporary political slang as " burn rate " ) have been ruinous , and

the purported Republican front - runner is no better than third now

behind RUDOLPH GIULIANI and the yet - to - announce - his candidacy

' stalking horse ' , FRED THOMPSON .



I can ' t speak for other prospective Republican voters .



I do hope their take on Senator McCain jibes with my own .



I will make bold to say for myself : Senator McCain lost my support and

my respect with his sponsorship of the BIPARTISAN CAMPAIGN

REFORM ACT , known to most of us as ' McCain - Feingold ' .

McCain , once heard to tell an interviewer that he preferred a

government sans corruption to a society without restrictions on

FREEDOM OF SPEECH , needs at the least an undergraduate

course on Constitutional Law with particular emphasis on the

FIRST AMENDMENT .



The preceding Link connects to JOHN MULLANEY ' s blog , as he

reports on McCain ' s misfortunes , including a possible censure for

campaign fundraising violations . My own commentary , thus far the

only respose , is included .



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CONNER , STARS & STRIPES ' 8 7 , WIN AMERICA ' S CUP BACK

This was the date , twenty years ago , of the decisive AMERICA ' S CUP

Race , concluding the 1 9 8 6 - - 8 7 Regatta . For the first time since

1 8 5 1 , American yachts and their syndicates were challengers ;

the competition was held south of the Equator , also a first .

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No American defender had ever lost an America ' s Cup until

2 6 September of 1 9 8 3 ( a Monday ) , when LIBERTY was

bested in the seventh race by the Australian boat AUSTRALIA I I .

The memory is poignant for this typist : I was in NEWPORT ,

RHODE ISLAND the afternoon of the rubber match .



As a teen , I had hoped to be present for a successful

America ' s Cup defense . To the considerable credit of the

LIBERTY crew and their skipper , DENNIS CONNER , they

very nearly defeated Australia I I in the final race , holding

the lead until the fifth leg .



AUSTRALIA I I , financed by ALAN BOND and skippered by

JOHN BERTRAND , assumed the lead on the fifth leg and

weathered LIBERTY ' s desperate series of sixth - leg tacks

to achieve the unprecedented : a challenger ' s victory

over an American defender in the America ' s Cup .

Prior to 1 9 8 3 , no foreign boat had ever taken more than

two races from an American defender .



The Australian yacht was admittedly faster and more

manuverable , helped by the unusual design of ' winged keel '

created by Australia I I ' s nautical architect , the late

BEN LEXCEN . Only the expertise of Liberty ' s crew prevented

a decisive Aussie win ; the Americans managed to win three of

the first four races before losing the latter three .

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Liberty ' s defeat meant the NEW YORK YACHT CLUB , whose

boat AMERICA won the original " Hundred Guineas ' Cup "

race around Britain ' s ISLE OF WIGHT back in 1 8 5 1 , would

have to relinquish the Cup after one - hundred - thirty - two

years of ownership . Members of the N . Y . Y . C . had long

claimed the losing American skipper would replace the

America ' s Cup with his own head ( ! )



The Cup had been bolted inside a display case at the New York

Yacht Club ' s headquarters , at 3 7 West 4 4 t h Street in Manhattan .

On my lone visit to the lobby of the Club , on 2 4 October of 1 9 8 6

( a Friday ) , I saw the case minus its prized silver chalice .

I rather wished the N . Y . Y . C . could retrieve the Cup from

its new owner , the ROYAL PERTH YACHT SQUADRON , butt

sensed it was unlikely as the Club and Dennis Conner had

parted ways . ( Conner , a member of the SAN DIEGO YACHT

CLUB , formed a new syndicate with his home club . )



Conner and crew prepared for the 1 9 8 6 - - 8 7 Regatta in

Hawaii , where they were spied upon by the former Australia I I

skipper , John Bertrand himself . Conner later said the Stars &

Stripes syndicate was aware of Bertrand ' s presence , and that

Bertrand had duly reported to Royal Perth and Alan Bond

that the boats favored by Conner were massive and slow .



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All part of the plan , said Conner after the fact . Well aware that

the new America ' s Cup course , in the INDIAN OCEAN off of

Australia ' s West Coast , would have far gustier winds than did

Newport , the Stars & Stripes syndicate built yachts that would

be fastest in a strong breeze . Aussies have a fond slang term for

the Westerley winds that buffett the Coast , " The Doctor " .



The toughest competition for Stars & Stripes ' 8 7 actually

involved the other challengers , particularly U . S . A . ( the

representative of the ST . FRANCIS YACHT CLUB of San

Francisco , skippered by one of Dennis Conner ' s most

detested rivals , the late TOM BLACKALLER ) and the

boat alternately known as " KIWI MAGIC " , " PLASTIQUE

FANTASTIC " or simply NEW ZEALAND . Conner and crew

dispatched U . S . A . in the quarterfinal round , four races

to none , and eliminated New Zealand in five races .



ALAN BOND ' s defender AUSTRALIA I V did not reach the

championship round , defeated by KOOKABURRA I I I .

Tha latter was soundly beaten by STARS & STRIPES ' 8 7

in the final , four races to none .



I was at work very early on the morning of 4 February 1 9 8 7

( a Wednesday ) , obligated as I was to start most shifts at

4 : 0 0 A . M . , E . S . T . On the opposite side of the International

date Line - - in Western Australia , at least - - it was still

nominally the Fourth of February , and interested listeners

could ascertain the outcome of the race via the radio .

Long an admirer of Dennis Conner - - I was amongst the people

who applauded him and his Wife as they walked along THAMES

STREET in Newport following the final race of the fateful

1 9 8 3 Regatta - - I ' d hoped he and his crew would return

the Cup to America , and savored the win .



ADDENDA : The America ' s Cup was relinquished by the

San Diego Yacht Club to a New Zealand challenge in 1 9 9 5 .

A Swiss challenger - - Switzerland ? A country sans seacoast ? ! - -

took the Cup four years ago , and will host a Mediterranean

competition in 2 0 0 7 , the first European venue since 1 8 5 1 .



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The Super Bowl And The Presidential Inauguration , 1 9 8 5

TWENTY - TWO YEARS AGO , on 2 0 January of 1 9 8 5 ,

President RONALD WILSON REAGAN took the Inaugural Oath

for the second time . The second Reagan Inauguration occured , as

is the custom established with the passage of CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT X X , on the Twentieth day of January at High Noon .

It was one - of - a - kind in that the SUPER BOWL was played

on the same day .



Fittingly , a team from Reagan ' s adopted home State , the

SAN FRANCISCO FORTY - NINERS , reached Super Bowl

X I X ( Nineteen ) - - and all butt hosted the game . That is to

say : the 4 9 e r s did not actually have their home field ,

CANDLESTICK PARK in San Francisco , as the venue ;

they did , however , play the MIAMI DOLPHINS at

STANFORD STADIUM , some thirty miles to the South .

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This Miami Dolphins team was the last of head coach DON SHULA ' s

ballclubs to reach the Super Bowl . Shula , winningest coach in

National Football League history ( 3 4 7 victories in thirty - three

seasons ) , coached six Super Bowl teams butt only won it twice .



The 1 9 8 4 Dolphins had a record of 1 4 wins , 2 losses , butt this

is deceptive ; I myself believe theirs was the least impressive 1 4 and 2

team I ' ve ever seen , a consequence of their unproductive running

game and their abysmal defense . Although the late PETE AXTHELM ,

writing for NEWSWEEK , predicted a Dolphins win over

San Francisco , I knew that was unlikely .



Indeed - - the Dolphins only scored 1 6 points against San Francisco ' s

defense , none in the second half . Miami ' s usually impeccable pass

blocking actually yielded four sacks . Miami led briefly in the first

half , 1 0 to 7 , butt yielded over five - hundred yards in total

offense and lost , 3 8 to 1 6 .



The record shows that DAN MARINO , now in the Hall Of Fame ,

made it to the Super Bowl in just his second season ( Marino was

drafted by the Dolphins out of the University of Pittsburgh in 1 9 8 3 )

and never made it back . Still , no mention of the 1 9 8 4 season

( and post - season ) can be considered complete without an

acknowledgement of Marino ' s stellar sophomore season :

his forty - eight toouchdown passes bested Y . A . TITTLE ' s

previous single - season mark by a third . ( Tittle , playing in

all butt one of the NEW YORK GIANTS ' 1 9 6 3 contests ,

had thirty - six touchdown passes . )



San Francisco ' s head coach , BILL WALSH , likely had his

finest team in 1 9 8 4 - - even without JERRY RICE , who wouldn ' t

be drafted by the team for three more months . Walsh was a head coach

in the N . F . L . for just ten years ( 1 9 7 9 through 1 9 8 8 , all with

San Francisco ) yet he did reach the Super Bowl three times .

All three - - 1 9 8 1 , 1 9 8 4 , 1 9 8 8 - - prevailed in their

respective Super Bowls , with the CINCINNATI BENGALS

victimized twice , albeit by a total of just nine points .



( At The PONTIAC SILVERDOME , Pontiac , Michigan , 2 4 January 1 9 8 2 )

SAN FRANCISCO FORTY - NINERS 2 6

CINCINNATI BENGALS 2 1

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER - - JOE MONTANA , San Francisco



( At PRO PLAYER STADIUM , Miami , Florida , 2 2 January 1 9 8 9 )

CINCINNATI BENGALS 1 6

SAN FRANCISCO FORTY - NINERS 2 0

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER - - JERRY RICE , San Francisco

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In the lineup for the 4 9 e r s when they defeated Miami on 2 0 January 1 9 8 5

was MICHAEL CARTER , defensive lineman , who competed in the 1 9 8 4

LOS ANGELES SUMMER OLYMPIAD . Carter took the Silver Medal

in the shot put .



Lest it seem that I ' m depicting the 1 9 8 4 San Francisco team as a

superior entity , let me point out that the 1 9 8 5 squad , with essentially

the same roster and coach , could do no better than 1 0 wins , six losses ,

which in turn placed the 4 9 e r s one game back of the LOS ANGELES

RAMS in the standings . San Francisco did make the playoffs that year ,

BARELY ( they had to beat the DALLAS COWBOYS in the season ' s

final game ) only to be drubbed in the first round of the playoffs , 1 7 - 3 ,

by their two - time ( 1 9 8 1 , 1 9 8 4 ) victim , the NEW YORK GIANTS .



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Twenty - Sixth Anniversary , Reagan Defeats Carter

( 4 November 2 0 0 6 , Saturday - -

This Is The 3 0 8 t h Day Of The Calendar Year ; Fifty - Seven days Remain )



INCUMBENT PRESIDENTS almost never lose .



Since the founding of the REPUBLICAN PARTY in 1 8 5 4 , only five ( 5 )

Republican Presidents have lost a re - election campaign .



BENJAMIN HARRISON was defeated by GROVER CLEVELAND in 1 8 9 2 ,

four years after himself usurping Cleveland ;




WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT , obliged to defend his Presidency against TWO

imposing candidates in THEODORE ROOSEVELT and THOMAS WOODROW

WILSON , lost badly in the election of 1 9 1 2 ;



HERBERT CLARK HOOVER , saddled with the disasterous STOCK MARKET

CRASH , the SMOOT - HAWLEY TARIFF ( which Hoover unwisely signed into

law ) , and the " Bonus Expeditionary Army " Incident ( wherein Army Chief Of

Staff DOUGLAS MacARTHUR had U . S . Army soldiers forcibly disperse

destitute World War One veterans from the site of a protest ) , was trounced

by FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT in the Election of 1 9 3 2 ;



GERALD RUDOLPH FORD JR . , successor to RICHARD NIXON when the

latter resigned on 9 August of 1 9 7 4 , lost a very close election to Governor

JAMES EARL " JIMMY " CARTER JR . of Georgia on 2 November 1 9 7 6 ;



GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH , like JOHN ADAMS before him both

the President AND the Father of a President , lost to WILLIAM JEFFERSON

CLINTON on 3 November 1 9 9 2 .

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During the same historical passage - - from 1 8 5 4 to the present , with Democratic

and Republican parties competing - - only TWO ( 2 ) Democrats have failed to win

a second Presidential term , have lost a re - election campaign . STEPHEN

GROVER CLEVELAND we ' ve already noted - - Cleveland , first elected in

1 8 8 4 over JAMES G . BLAINE , took the Popular Vote four years later butt

was nevertheless beaten by BENJAMIN HARRISON of Indiana in the

Electoral College tally . Cleveland , from Buffalo , New York and previously

the Governor of the Empire State , actually lost his home state to Harrison ,

who in turn was the GrandSon of the shortest - tenured President ,

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON ( elected 1 8 4 0 / died 1 8 4 1 . )



JAMES EARL CARTER JR . , mentioned heretofore as the candidate who

ousted GERALD FORD in 1 9 7 6 , can plausibly be described as the

Democratic Party ' s version of Herbert Hoover . President Carter was

beaten by RONALD WILSON REAGAN on 4 November 1 9 8 0 ,

twenty - six years ago . A numerical comparison is apt :



1 9 3 2 - - - - HERBERT HOOVER , 1 5 , 7 6 1 , 8 4 1 votes / 5 9 Electoral Votes

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT , 2 2 , 8 2 1 , 8 5 7 votes / 4 7 2 Electoral Votes



1 9 8 0 - - - - JIMMY CARTER , 3 5 , 4 8 1 , 4 3 5 votes / 4 9 Electoral Votes

RONALD REAGAN , 4 3 , 8 9 9 , 2 4 8 votes / 4 8 9 Electoral Votes



Among the ironies of President Carter ' s defeat : the AMERICAN EMBASSY in

TEHERAN was forcibly occupied on 4 November 1 9 7 9 , exactly one year prior

to the 1 9 8 0 Election .

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At the time of the 1 9 8 0 Election , I was a Senior at the UNIVERSITY OF

VERMONT . Among my Fall Semester classes was INTERNATIONAL

RELATIONS , P S C I - 5 1 in the U V M course catalog . Professor

M . M . A . ( initials rather than his actual name , to protect his privacy )

was taken aback by the outcome of the Presidential Election , and

dispensed with his planned lecture in favor of some improvised talk .



Prof . M . M . A . told his class that President Carter met with

pollster PAT CADDELL on Sunday evening , 2 November 1 9 8 0 .

Caddell informed the President of a significant shift amongst

American voters during the final week of the campaign , and that

Mr . Carter was very likely to lose .



I myself , it pains me to admit , had not the slightest impact on the

voting . I foolishly declined to get myself an Absentee Ballot ,

did instead trust one of my underclassman Pals to give me a ride

to the polling place in BENNINGTON , Vermont . Actually ,

my Friend did drive me to Bennington - - only I got to the

polls some three - quarters - of - an - hour late .



I did meet up with an old Friend from Bennington , " The

Shiek " , who watched election coverage at the bar formerly

known as the FOUR SQUIRES . The Shiek , a loyal Democrat ,

was as morose as I ' ve ever seen him .



My Friend ' s partisan distress was appropriate . Not Only did

RONALD REAGAN win handily , so too did Republican

candidates wrest the UNITED STATES SENATE from

Democratic control , arguably just as dramatic an historical

occurance . Democrats had been the Majority Party in the

Senate since 3 January of 1 9 5 5 , some twenty - six years !



Republican victory in Presidential Elections held on the Fourth

of November was consistent during the Twentieth Century .

There were three such convergences of The Event with The Date :

JOHN CALVIN COOLIDGE of Plymouth Center , Vermont

defeated JOHN DAVIS of West Virginia on 4 November 1 9 2 4 ;

DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER , at the time a resident of

Morningside Heights in New York City , whipped ADLAI

EWING STEVENSON , former Governor of Illinois , on

4 November of 1 9 5 2 . Indeed , both Eisenhower and

Reagan were elected on the Fourth of November and

re - elected on November the Sixth .

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An item in to - day ' s paper alerted me to the Fifteenth Anniversary of the

RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY ' s grand opening .

Little did I realize - - the Reagan Library offocially opened on 4 November

of 1 9 9 1 , the eleventh anniversary of Reagan ' s first Presidential Election

victory . You may read about the Reagan Library at . . . .



http://www.reagan.utexas.edu



Allow me to be even - handed and provide the Link to the JIMMY CARTER

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY as well . . . .



http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org



As a catch - all reference , see the National Archives Presidential Library

Web Site , at http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries .



None of the twenty - nine men who preceded Herbert Hoover as

President have Presidential Libraries , alas . The States that house

Presidential Libraries are ARKANSAS ( Bill Clinton ) ,

CALIFORNIA ( Richard Nixon , Ronald Reagan ) ,

GEORGIA ( Jimmy Carter ) , IOWA ( Herbert Hoover ) ,

KANSAS ( Dwight Eisenhower ) , MASSACHUSETTS

( John Fitzgerald Kennedy ) , MICHIGAN ( Gerald Rudolph

Ford JR . ) , MISSOURI ( Harry S Truman ) , NEW YORK

( Franklin Roosevelt ) , and TEXAS ( Lyndon Baines Johnson ,

George H . W . Bush . ) It is likely that Texas may yet have

a third Presidential Library , possibly in the town of

MIDLAND , perhaps CRAWFORD , maybe even ARLINGTON .



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Two Cheers For The Absentee Ballot ( Part One )

( The Date Is 2 3 OCTOBER 2 0 0 6 , Monday - -

The 2 9 6 t h Day Of The Calendar Year )



Fifteen days prior to Election Day 2 0 0 6 , it is timely and

fitting to type a bit about things political . . . .

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I vote via ABSENTEE BALLOT . I never miss the opportunity to vote ,

as I don ' t wait until Election Day and I never miss a deadline .



The absentee ballot is a boon for me - - and , evidently , for hordes of

other voters . Some thirty per cent of us here in California vote absentee .



I ' ve been taken to task , GENTLY , by one of my friends for using the

absentee ballot when I presumably don ' t have to . Actually , he dismissed

the absentee ballot as a " gimmick " and proposed to abolish it .



Now , if it is his point , his belief , that able - bodied folk oughtn ' t to USE

the absentee ballot , I ' ll dispute his contention without a great deal of

indignation , as it really is not a big issue for me . It is important to

give the absentee ballot its due , however , as it is INDISPENSABLE

for they that can not travel to the polls on the day of the election .

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I am particularly concerned with active duty personnel of the

United States Army , Navy , Air Force , Marine Corps , the

diplomats of the Department of State , et . al . - - Americans who

simply can not venture to their local polling places because duty

requires they be overseas . This I consider essential , in light of

FLORIDA ' s notorious vote - tally in the 2 0 0 0 General Election .

Quite aside from the matter of the official margin - of victory ,

a mere 5 3 7 votes , it concerns me that certain absentee ballots

were never counted , were rejected by certain of Florida ' s

County Clerks - - all because thay hadn ' t POST - MARKS .



THIS is shamefully unfair . Overseas voters have done their part

once they ' ve filled out the ballot , sealed it , provided a return

address and applied the requisite postage . What becomes of their

ballots after that is the responsibility of the Postal Service .



I DO RECOMMEND to any Americans overseas : take Your sealed

ballot and present same to a Postal Clerk . Insist on a " P . V . I . "

( the acronym stands for " Postage Validation Imprint " ) . As a

further precaution , ask to have the ballot shipped via REGISTERED

MAIL or , better still , EXPRESS MAIL ( the latter is costlier ) .

As time is of the essence , Americans voting from abroad should prepare

and send their ballots as soon as they are able .



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The matter of absentee voting was an opportune prelude to type about voting in

general ; ditto elections . The rate of participation tends to decline during

MID - TERM ELECTIONS , as compared with PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS .

Dismissing one as less important than the other is a mistake .



No fewer than THIRTY - SIX Governorships are at stake during Mid - Term ,

including the ' Behemoth ' States of CALIFORNIA , TEXASS , NEW YORK ,

FLORIDA , ILLINOIS , PENNSYLVANIA , OHIO , and MICHIGAN . All

4 3 5 Congressional seats are contested at the Mid - Term , along with one - third

of the United States Senate .



In the Twenty - First Century , information about candidates abounds : aside from

one ' s own local paper , one can access newspapers and magazines galore on - line .



Allow this typist to try to provide thee a sampling :



http://www.nytimes.com - - The N . Y . TIMES , especially JOHN TIERNEY

http://www.latimes.com - - The L . A . TIMES , particularly MAX BOOT & JONAH GOLDBERG

http://www.chicagotribune.com

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/home.htm - - U . S . NEWS AND WORLD REPORT , notably MICHAEL BARONE

http://www.tnr.com - - THE NEW REPUBLIC

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish - - ANDREW SULLIVAN

http://www.hitchensweb.com - - CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

http://www.townhall.com - - TOWNHALL

http://www.jonathanrauch.com/jrauch_articles - - JONATHAN RAUCH

http://realclearpolitics.com

http://www.nationalreview.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/columns/willgeorge - - GEORGE F . WILL

http://www.thenation.com

http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/navarrette/archive - - RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR .

http://www.csmonitor.com - - THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

http://jillstewart.net/php/index.php - - JILL STEWART

http://www.victorhanson.com - - VICTOR DAVIS HANSON

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.opinionjournal.com - - THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Editorial Page

http://www.americanheritage.com/blog/JohnSteeleGordon.shtml - - JOHN STEELE GORDON



Twenty Web Sites , Magazines , Newspapers , Archives , Blogs - - all in all , not a

bad start . Note the HUFFINGTON POST has abundant links . Although this typist

is of a Conservative bent , I thought it only ' fair and balanced ' to offer

THE NATION , THE HUFFINGTON POST , THE NEW YORK TIMES

and THE NEW REPUBLIC . I would have liked to include THOMAS FRIEDMAN ,

butt unfortunately much of his commentary is available only through a

NEW YORK TIMES subscription .



I should like to include one more , the venerable NAT HENTOFF :

http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/hentoff1.asp



I would happily include THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY had they more content

available on - line at no cost . Fortunately , JONATHAN RAUCH has his own

blog , the Link of which is listed above .



TO BE CONTINUED . . . .



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The 1 0 2 n d WORLD SERIES ( Part One )

( The Date is SATURDAY , 2 1 OCTOBER 2 0 0 6 ,

the 2 9 4 t h Day of the calendar year )



For the third time , the ST . LOUIS CARDINALS and the

DETROIT TIGERS will meet in the WORLD SERIES .

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The Cardinals , nine times the World Series Champions ( 1 9 2 6 ,

1 9 3 1 , 1 9 3 4 , 1 9 4 2 , 1 9 4 4 , 1 9 4 6 , 1 9 6 4 , 1 9 6 7 , 1 9 8 2 )

defeated the Tigers in the 1 9 3 4 Series , four games to three . The

two teams played again thirty - four years later ( 1 9 6 8 ) at which

time the Cardinals , having staked themselves to an advantage of

three - games - to - one , dropped games five , six and seven despite

having the latter two games at home AND despite the ultimate

trump ' card ' ( if You will ) , BOB GIBSON , pitching in the finale .



The 1 9 6 8 Series was meaningful for this typist in that I finally

took an interest in sports at the age of twelve . As a long - time

observer of baseball , I regard 1 9 6 8 as a significant year in

Major League history in that pitching so ruthlessly dominated

batting , and the imbalance was near to disasterous .



Consider : American League batting champion CARL

YAZSTRZEMSKI of the BOSTON RED SOX could do no

better than a . 3 0 1 average , the only A . L . batter to manage

that threshold . Four A . L . starting pitchers - - LUIS TIANT

( 1 . 6 0 ) , SAM McDOWELL ( 1 . 7 3 ) , DAVE McNALLY

( 1 . 9 5 ) and DENNIS McLAIN ( 1 . 9 6 ) - - had earned - run

averages below 2 . 0 0 . ROGER ANGELL , a sportswriter I

don ' t ordinarily extol , nevertheless got it right when he said

of Baseball that it was dying , owing to lack of interest .



The game , simply said , had become too one - sided in favor of

the pitcher , had a frightful dearth of runs .



A wise , if controversial , remedy was implemented in 1 9 6 9 :

the pitcher ' s mound was diminished from fifteen inches to ten .

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TIM McCARVER , now a talking head on Major League broadcasts ,

was the Cardinals ' catcher in ' 6 8 . Currently , McCarver is heard to

say the imbalance greatly favors batters vis - a - vis pitchers , and thus

he favors the enlargement of the mound .



I trust McCarver is aware the ten - inch mound has been the standard

since ' 6 9 , meaning we ' ve thirty - eight seasons of experience with it .



The ten - inch mound hasn ' t prevented select pitchers from having

dominant seasons ; just to cite one , RON GUIDRY had an E . R . A .

of 1 . 7 4 , some 3 0 1 stikeouts , and a 2 4 and 3 record with the

NEW YORK YANKEES in 1 9 7 8 . ( Guidry is now the Yankees '

pitching coach . Guidry ' s career statistics are remarkably similar

to those of SANFORD KOUFAX , butt Guidry , alas , is not a

Hall Of Fame inductee , one of many injustices perpetrated by the

schmucks in the Baseball Writers Association Of America . )



Aforementioned Sanford Koufax formerly held the single - season

record for strikeouts , 3 8 2 . It is fair to point out that Koufax

established the record whilst pitching from the fifteen - inch

mound , AND with other teams ' pitchers to victimize every

ninth - at - bat . ( NOLAN RYAN , who bested the old strikeout

mark by one unit in 1 9 7 3 , pitched from the ten - inch

platform and was obligated to face designated hitters . )



NOTE : This is not to demean Sanford Koufax , butt merely

to advance the very real possibility that certain pitchers of more

contemporary times - - after Koufax retired in 1 9 6 6 - - are his

equal or even nominally better . For sure , admirers of Koufax

can not base the Hall Of Fame case for their guy on longevity ,

as Koufax only played tweleve seasons ( 1 9 5 5 through 1 9 6 6 )

and had a mere 1 6 8 career wins , quite modest for a starting

pitcher . Compare that with lefthanded starters WARREN SPAHN

( 3 6 3 ) and STEVE CARLTON ( 3 2 9 ) to cite just two .

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Sanford Koufax did establish the World Series record for strikeouts in

one start , fifteen , against the NEW YORK YANKEES in the 1 9 6 3

World Series , as the Dodgers swept the Yanks . The record lasted

just five years , as aforementioned BOB GIBSON struck out seventeen

Detroit batters in the first game of the ' 6 8 Series .



Gibson ' s overall performance in 1 9 6 8 is astounding : Thirty - four

starts ; twenty - eight complete games ; twenty - two wins , nine losses ;

a minuscule E . R . A . of 1 . 1 2 ; thirteen shutouts ; 2 6 8 strikeouts .

Despite a well - earned reputation as a ' head - hunter ' , Gibson only

hit seven batters with pitches in ' 6 8 . Incidentally , the E . R . A .

works out to be just thirty - eight earned runs allowed in 3 0 4

innings pitched . ( Gibson only yielded forty - nine runs total . )



Gibson , like Koufax before him , was blessed in having a ' pitcher ' s

park ' for his home starts , the ' old ' BUSCH STADIUM ( home field

for the Cards from 1 9 6 6 through 2 0 0 5 ) . The defense was exceptional ,

with a lineup that included Tim McCarver , DAL MAXVILL , JULIAN

JAVIER and the late CURT FLOOD ' up - the - middle ' ( catcher ,

shortstop , second base and centerfield , respectively . )



Hall Of Fame inductee ORLANDO CEPEDA , the National League ' s

Most Valuable Player the previous year , played his second ( and last )

season with the Cards in 1 9 6 8 ; Cepeda would be traded to the

ATLANTA BRAVES for eventual Hall - Of - Famer JOE TORRE .

ROGER MARIS , still the single - season home run record - holder

at the time , finished his Major League career playing right field for

the Cards in 1 9 6 7 and ' 6 8 . LOU BROCK , also a Hall - Of - Fame

inductee , played left field and batted leadoff ; his 9 3 8 career stolen

bases were the most of any Major League player until RICKEY

HENDERSON surpassed it . MIKE SHANNON was at third base ;

RED SCHOENDINST was the manager .



STEVE CARLTON , just four years away from a breakthrough season

with the PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ( more about that in a moment )

was with the cardinals in 1 9 6 8 butt did not start in the World Series ;

rather , the Cardinals ' rotation had Gibson pitching games one ,

four , and seven ; NELSON BRILES started games two and five ;

RAY WASHBURN pitched the third game , and the sixth .



( As promised : Steve Carlton , pitching for the worst team in

baseball , won 2 7 games and lost just ten times in 1 9 7 2 .

The Phillies had an abysmal 5 9 and 9 7 record in ' 7 2 - -

hence Carlton alone accounted for forty - five per cent of

Philadelphia ' s wins that year . )

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The DETROIT TIGERS had the best record in baseball ,

1 0 3 wins and 5 9 losses , in 1 9 6 8 . DENNIS McLAIN ,

traded by the CHICAGO WHITE SOX to the Tigers for

eventual NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

power forward DAVE DeBUSSCHERE ( ! ) , became the

first Major League pitcher to win thirty ( 3 0 ! ) games in

one season since DIZZY DEAN of the Cardinals did so

in 1 9 3 4 . ( McLain finished 3 1 and 6 in 1 9 6 8 . )



Anxious to maximize their offense , Tigers manager

MAYO SMITH benched shortstop RAY OYLER and moved

centerfielder MICKEY STANLEY to the infield . JIM NORTHRUP ,

who hit two grand slams in a 1 9 6 8 regular season game and would

hit another in Game Six of the ' 6 8 Series , moved to centerfield .

Hall - Of - Fame inductee AL KALINE played right field ; WILLIE

HORTON was in left field ; DICK McAULIFFE was the second -

baseman and the leadoff batter ; BILL FREEHAN was the catcher ;

NORM CASH , 1 9 6 1 ' s American League batting champion , was

at first base , while DON WERT and the aging ED MATHEWS ,

the latter also in the Hall Of Fame , alternated at third base .



The shuffling of the lineup did not help the Tigers at all against

Bob Gibson , as Detroit scored only one run in eighteen innings

in Games One and Four . Ray Washburn was the winning pitcher

against EARL WILSON , and Tim McCarver hit a home run as the

Cards defeated the Tigers , 7 to 3 , in the third game , the first of

three at Detroit ' s TIGER STADIUM .



Detroit did win handily in the second game , 8 to 1 , as MICKEY

LOLICH , Tigers ' left - handed starter , pitched the first of three

World Series wins en route to winning the Series M . V . P . award .

( Gibson , winner of three games in the 1 9 6 7 Series against Boston ,

and Lolich were the last pitchers to attain the trifecta before

RANDY JOHNSON achieved three wins in the 2 0 0 1 Series . )



The clutch pitching of Mickey Lolich was critical in the fifth game ,

as Detroit avoided elimination with a 5 to 3 win . McLain , hurting ,

received painkilling injections before Game Six and pitched the

Tigers to a 1 3 to 1 win at Busch Stadium . Lolich returned to the

mound in Game Seven with just two days of rest ( Gibson had three

days off between starts ) and the two starting pitchers hurled six

scoreless innings apiece in the decisive game .

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The baserunning of the Cardinals , ordinarily a strength ,

betrayed them in Game Seven as both Lou Brock and

Curt Flood were picked off first base by Mickey Lolich .

Still , the likelihood was that St . Louis would win this

game , with the Cards playing at home and with Gibson

pitching . Going into the top of the seventh inning ,

Gibson had hurled twenty - four innings against the

Tigers ' formidable power - hitting lineup , and had

permitted only one run .



Yet the Tigers came through with three runs in the seventh

inning , as Jim Northrup delivered a triple over the head of

Curt Flood to break the scoreless tie . Essentially the

Series was decided on Northrup ' s at - bat - - only Mike

Shannon ' s home run in the ninth inning off Mickey

Lolich prevented a shutout .



Lolich deservedly took the Series M . V . P . , just as

Gibson had done the previous year AND in 1 9 6 4 .

Despite allowing four runs in his final World Series

start , Gibson ' s E . R . A . in the ' 6 8 Series was a more

than respectable 1 . 6 7 . More impressive yet was his

run of seven consecutive wins in three World Series

playoffs - - two in 1 9 6 4 , three in 1 9 6 7 , two in 1 9 6 8 .



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