Summer of '68

There is no question that 1968 was a momentous year in American history: the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Tim Wendel, in his book Summer of  '68, suggests that it was a pivotal year in baseball as well, as the subtitle is The Season that Changed Baseball and America Forever.

The latter argument isn't stated as clearly. Certainly there are milestones to the 1968 season. It was the "Year of the Pitcher"--Bob Gibson set a record with a 1.12 ERA, while Denny McLain was the first pitcher to win over 30 games in thirty years, and is the last pitcher to do so (it is unlikely, given the five-man rotations of today, that it will happen anytime soon). This was also the last year before the first expansion, and the breaking up of the leagues into divisions. Given that the Tigers and Cardinals, the pennant winners of '68, had comfortable leads and thus no pennant races, this might be seen as something a long time coming.

Wendel touches on the events of non-baseball America, such as King's assassination and Robert Kennedy's speech that night, and of the encroachment of football on baseball's reign as the most popular sport in America (we hear a lot about the Heidi game, which has been written about ad nauseum). These digressions are awkward and written mostly without transitions, like an old man telling a story who keeps losing his train of thought.

When the talk is about baseball the book is better, though Wendel assumes nothing, letting us know what RBI and ERA stands for. His prose is not sparkling and leans toward the pedestrian. He certainly conducted a lot of interviews, but the quotations (some of which are taken from the players' memoirs), are mostly routine and obvious.

But, as a Tiger fan, I reveled in this book. 1968 was a bit before my time--I remember my dad being in a lather during the series, and my sister was born just after it concluded, but all the players were still around when my Tiger fandom blossomed.

Wendel spends most of the book talking about the Tigers and Cards, with a few other players thrown, mainly Luis Tiant, who had a great season with the Indians. The dominant characters are Gibson, who was so no-nonsense that he came off as surly (he refuses a request from Tiger Willie Horton for an autograph during spring training). For the Tigers, the main character is McLain, who was something of a loudmouth and attention-seeker. He played the organ, and actually had a stint in Vegas after the season was over.

In contrast to McLain was Mickey Lolich, who spent part of the year in the bullpen but ended up the World Series hero, winning three complete games, including the clinching game seven. It was clear that the two Tiger hurlers didn't care for each other: "On paper, McLain and Lolich remain a baseball combination for the ages--an awesome one-two pitching punch. But off the field, in the Tigers' clubhouse, their relationship was based more on envy and competitive jealousy than friendship or team loyalty."

Wendel also cleverly foreshadows events. Detroit manager Mayo Smith, in order to get Al Kaline, who had been hurt much of the year, into the World Series line-up, moved centerfielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop, where he had played all of nine games. In late innings with a lead, he would move Stanley back into center, removing Horton from the game, because Horton supposedly had a weak arm. But Stanley and Horton talked strategy, mainly about Cardinal speedster Lou Brock. They noticed that if he was on second and scored on a single, he would slow down rounding third, and rarely slid into home.

This ended up being important information. The Cardinals took a 3-1 series lead. Gibson fanned a record 17 in game 1, and after Lolich won game 2, the Cards won games 3 and 4 easily. It's interesting to note that "The fourth game of the World Series, the one played in a downpour in Detroit, became the highest-rated sports event in television history at the time. The Nielsen Television Index indicated that more than 78.5 million people tuned in that afternoon. World Series games continued to outpace other sporting events, including Super Bowl II and the NFL championship, holding an overall seven-to-three edge in the TV's top ten."

Game five saw Detroit behind, their season slipping away. But they battled back, and a key play, perhaps the play of the entire series, had Brock trying to score on a single. Horton heaved a perfect toss to Bill Freehan at home, and Brock did not slide and was called out (the photo is on the cover of the book). The Tigers hung on to win, and then won game 6 in a laugher.

Game seven was Gibson vs. Lolich (the latter on two days rest), that went scoreless late. With two on, Jim Northrup lined the ball over Curt Flood's head. The usually adept centerfielder initially came in on the ball, and when heading back stumbled slightly, allowing Northrup to triple. The Tigers would win 4-1 and take the title.

Gibson would go on the have a Hall of Fame career, while McLain's career petered out after suspensions for associating with gamblers. He would later serve two stints in prison.

So I'm still not sure how this season changed baseball. I guess it did in that the pitching was so dominant that the mound was lowered, but I don't think the game was altered in any fundamental way. It was more the social conditions of the game that changed. In any event, though this book is wanting in many ways, it's a quick read and especially recommended for Tiger fans.