1964 Cardinals: A Team, a Season, and a Showdown for the Ages
The 1964 season of the St. Louis Cardinals, a pivotal year that not only saw the team break an 18-year championship drought but also witnessed a rollercoaster of emotions, from management turmoil to exhilarating victories. Bob Thieman shares personal anecdotes, such as the thrill of witnessing his first Stan Musial home run and the nostalgia of listening to games on a transistor radio. The episode reveals the rich tapestry of baseball history intertwined with the social changes happening during the 1960s, including the Cardinals' unique approach to integration and team dynamics. Thieman's insights offer a detailed portrait of how the Cardinals became a symbol of resilience and unity, setting the stage for their triumph in the World Series against the formidable New York Yankees.
In one of the most exciting seasons in baseball history, the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals surged in the final months to steal the pennant and top the mighty Yankees in seven games to capture the World Series. How did an unlikely assortment of people and events come together for such a monumental achievement?
Look no further than ’64 Cardinals, a photo-illustrated story of promise, turmoil, and triumph. Discover how the famous trade for Lou Brock provided a jolt that reversed a summer swoon. Witness superstar pitcher Bob Gibson ascend to dominance down the stretch and meet the other indispensables—Curt Flood, Dick Groat, Bill White, Julian Javier, Tim McCarver, Mike Shannon, Barney Schultz, team captain Kenny Boyer, and others—who helped power the team through the National League meat-grinder and the ultimate clash of historic heavyweights. High drama wasn’t limited to the field, thanks to a hard-driving owner, Gussie Busch, and his “special consultant,” Branch Rickey. Key facts, engaging anecdotes, and direct observations from players who lived the experience this rare volume will bring to life a truly thrilling season.
An exhilarating ride for any baseball fan, ’64 Cardinals also heralds the return of the writing team of baseball historian Robert L. Tiemann and broadcast journalist Ron Jacober, who co-authored the local bestseller Immortal Moments in Cardinals History. Whether you watched the 1964 Cardinals in person, or have just heard the stories passed down over the years, this book is the capstone on any baseball lover’s collection.
This is Season 5! For more episodes, go to stlintune.com
#stlcardinals #1964worldseries #nyyankees #bobgibson #loubrock
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00:00 - None
00:09 - Intro to St. Louis in Tune
00:31 - The Excitement of Opening Day
02:21 - Meet Bob Thieman, Baseball Historian
07:00 - The 1964 Cardinals Season Overview
23:23 - Key Players: Lou Brock and Dick Groat
42:15 - The Historic 1964 World Series
48:19 - Conclusion and Book Signing Information
Arnold Stricker
Greetings, listeners in listener land.
Arnold Stricker
Welcome to St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in tune with Arnold Stricker and Mark Langston, where we size up current and historic events involving people, places and things in areas such as the arts, crime, education, employment, faith, finance, food, health, history, housing, humor, justice and sports.
Arnold Stricker
We originate from and connect the gateway city to our country and international culture and lives.
Mark Langston
Hello, Arnold.
Arnold Stricker
What's happening?
Mark Langston
Mark, I know this.
Mark Langston
You know, we have a guest coming up who wrote a book, 64 Cardinals, 1960.
Mark Langston
And this is the reason I can't speak is because of the Cardinals.
Mark Langston
Okay.
Mark Langston
So I went to the opening day a week ago.
Mark Langston
It was cold, maybe even a little rainy.
Mark Langston
I don't know.
Bob Thieman
There was very, very little, but I went too.
Mark Langston
Did you.
Mark Langston
And I screamed quite a bit, but I said, you probably had one of those sweets or something.
Bob Thieman
No, but our seats are underneath.
Mark Langston
Okay, he's just making it worse.
Mark Langston
So I've kind of lost my voice.
Mark Langston
I've had my COVID test, I've had my bronchi.
Mark Langston
Whatever.
Mark Langston
I've had every test that you can imagine, even my IQ test, and they're all negative.
Mark Langston
So that's good news.
Mark Langston
But my voice is finally starting to come back.
Mark Langston
I won't be talking much today, but shame on the Cardinals for doing this to me.
Mark Langston
It's their fault.
Mark Langston
They should give me free tickets, I think, for the rest of the year, don't you?
Arnold Stricker
Especially it's opening day next year.
Mark Langston
Right.
Mark Langston
And you know, can I just.
Mark Langston
I know you have things to do, but I've never been to an opening day.
Mark Langston
And I'm in my 60s and my whole family's gone.
Mark Langston
My kids have gone.
Mark Langston
My one son works in the broadcast booth with the Cardinals with.
Mark Langston
Well did with Mike Shannon and with John Rooney and all of them.
Mark Langston
But they've all been.
Mark Langston
And I've never been, ever.
Mark Langston
They always left me home.
Mark Langston
So my youngest son got tickets and invited me.
Mark Langston
So I was really excited to go and got my chance to go my very first time.
Bob Thieman
So.
Arnold Stricker
And they won.
Arnold Stricker
And your voice.
Mark Langston
They did win.
Mark Langston
And my voice is gone.
Mark Langston
And I guess this is what I get.
Arnold Stricker
That's right.
Mark Langston
So I'm never going again.
Bob Thieman
You just have to make sure you go to games that they don't win.
Mark Langston
No.
Arnold Stricker
Go to games when it's warm.
Mark Langston
Okay.
Mark Langston
That's a good idea, too.
Arnold Stricker
Our guest is Bob Thieman.
Arnold Stricker
He saw his first Stan Musial home run in 1957.
Arnold Stricker
He's an award winning baseball historian.
Arnold Stricker
He's written several books, contributed to and edited many journals for the Society for American Baseball Research.
Arnold Stricker
And he is the co author of Ten Stories of the St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Cardinals World Championships.
Arnold Stricker
He's also the co author, with Ron Jacober, of a new book, 64 Cardinals, a Team, A Season and a Showdown for the Age is Bob.
Arnold Stricker
Welcome to St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in Tune.
Bob Thieman
Well, thanks for having me.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, I was really intrigued by this book when I first saw this because this is along with probably the 67 series and 68 series.
Arnold Stricker
That whole 60s Cardinals group really resonates with me.
Arnold Stricker
Especially there's a personal reason because I met first baseman Bill White and got assigned Cardinal baseball from him in 1965.
Arnold Stricker
So I also remember listening to these games on my transistor, my turquoise transistor radio with my Earp pieces underneath the sheets when my parents thought I was in bed.
Arnold Stricker
Listen to Harry Carey and Jack Buck.
Bob Thieman
Okay.
Bob Thieman
Well, a lot of people did.
Bob Thieman
I was not living in St.
Bob Thieman
Louis at the time, but I used to do a lot of that listening under the covers, too.
Arnold Stricker
Now, how'd you get to be a baseball historian?
Bob Thieman
Well, I studied history in college, but there was no.
Bob Thieman
You couldn't do baseball history back in those days as a serious academician.
Bob Thieman
But it sort of became an avocation and I got with the Sabre, the Society for American Baseball Research.
Bob Thieman
I got involved in 19th century research especially.
Bob Thieman
So I've got all the.
Bob Thieman
I've been working on the 1875 season a lot lately.
Bob Thieman
So.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Bob Thieman
Box scores for all the games we had to create statistics for the very first league.
Bob Thieman
And that was of my biggest projects for Sabre.
Bob Thieman
But then all major league history has just been my menu venue for years and years as an advocation.
Bob Thieman
But not.
Bob Thieman
It doesn't pay much, though, except in.
Arnold Stricker
A lot of enjoyment.
Bob Thieman
A lot of enjoyment.
Bob Thieman
That's right.
Arnold Stricker
What was the bug that got you going in this?
Arnold Stricker
Was it watching Musial hit that home run or.
Arnold Stricker
When did you first.
Bob Thieman
Well, yeah, that was 1957.
Bob Thieman
That's the first baseball I really remember.
Bob Thieman
And ever since, I've been following baseball avidly.
Arnold Stricker
Now you have these books that you've written and obviously you've been a Cardinals fan for a long time, but you weren't initially here in St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis.
Arnold Stricker
No.
Bob Thieman
Well, I was born in St.
Bob Thieman
Louis, but when I was one year old, Anheuser Busch opened their first branch brewery in Newark, New Jersey.
Bob Thieman
My dad was one of the cadre moved from St.
Bob Thieman
Louis out there.
Bob Thieman
So from age 1 to 15, I lived in New Jersey.
Arnold Stricker
So did you see Musial hit the home run out there at the Polo.
Bob Thieman
Grounds the last Cardinal Giants game at the Polo Grounds.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Mark Langston
Cut it out.
Mark Langston
Wonderful.
Bob Thieman
Back to back with Wally Moon.
Bob Thieman
I can still remember it.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Arnold Stricker
Now, let me ask you this before we kind of get into the book.
Arnold Stricker
As you look back on the history of the people that you've seen play on for the Cardinals, who would you.
Arnold Stricker
How would you rank players or who's a player that stands out to your players that stand out to you?
Bob Thieman
Well, you know, the 21 and 2 would be museum and Pujols, but I had my own favorites.
Bob Thieman
I mean, not necessarily the best players, but my favorites.
Bob Thieman
But I, I was big Mike Tyson fan.
Bob Thieman
Not, not the boxer, but the second base shortstop in the 70s.
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Arnold Stricker
What fascinated you about him?
Bob Thieman
Oh, the fact that he made a career out of not a great deal of talent and he was pretty scrappy, especially in those around those double plays.
Arnold Stricker
Right, right, right.
Bob Thieman
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
And there was another player you mentioned.
Bob Thieman
You thought, oh, well, John Tudor was just so fun to watch pitch when he, he could make.
Bob Thieman
Guys like I remember, especially Von Hayes, who played for the Phillies, had a big, wide open stance and Tudor could throw him slow, slower and slowest.
Bob Thieman
And Hayes, you can just see the smoke coming out of his ears when he's trying to hold that back.
Bob Thieman
So.
Bob Thieman
Yeah, all of them.
Bob Thieman
Really?
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, but that's cool.
Arnold Stricker
So this 64 cardinals book, why that year and why this book?
Bob Thieman
Well, in many ways, first of all, the Cardinals had gone 18 years without winning a pen and getting the World Series.
Bob Thieman
And there were no playoffs or anything, just the World Series.
Mark Langston
They're kind of on their way now to that.
Mark Langston
Yeah, never mind.
Mark Langston
Sorry.
Bob Thieman
But.
Bob Thieman
And it was just so.
Bob Thieman
It was a very unique season.
Bob Thieman
All the turmoil.
Bob Thieman
There was turmoil in the front office, turmoil in the clubhouse.
Bob Thieman
The team wasn't.
Bob Thieman
Looks like it wasn't going to go anywhere.
Bob Thieman
So Gussie Bush was at wit's end, what to do.
Bob Thieman
Fired the general manager in August, was going to fire the manager and bring in Leo deroser for the new manager.
Bob Thieman
But he said, well, we'll wait till after the end of the season for that.
Bob Thieman
Then they win the pennant.
Bob Thieman
Johnny Keane, the manager that won the pennant, had already decided he was going to quit.
Bob Thieman
So they have the day after the World Series, first of all, in New York, the Yankees fired Yogi Berra the day after the World Series, even though they'd won the pennant.
Bob Thieman
He'd won the pennant in his first year as a manager.
Bob Thieman
And then the Cardinals had a press conference at the brewery and we're going to announce a new contract for Johnny Keene.
Bob Thieman
Said Keen handed Gussie Bush his resignation letter, which had been dated two weeks before, saying, you know, I've had enough, no more.
Bob Thieman
And then five days after that, Johnny Keane signs to manage the Yankees.
Bob Thieman
So he kind of had this deal in his back pocket the whole time playing against, even playing against the Yankees in the World Series.
Bob Thieman
So it's just odd or unique circumstances all year long.
Arnold Stricker
It was very unusual.
Arnold Stricker
You lead up to that series with a variety of historical facts and kind of stats on the team and how the team was built.
Arnold Stricker
And would you go into that a little bit?
Bob Thieman
Well, Busch bought the team.
Bob Thieman
Anheuser Busch bought the team with Gussie Bush as the president of the club, as well as the president, of course, of the Brewery.
Bob Thieman
And he didn't know much about baseball.
Bob Thieman
So the first general manager that they had was a guy named Dick Meyer, who was a brewer.
Bob Thieman
He didn't have any baseball background.
Bob Thieman
So they eventually hired a guy named Frank Lane, who was a professional general manager.
Bob Thieman
Trader Frank.
Bob Thieman
He traded every.
Bob Thieman
He wanted to make trades, you know, every morning it seemed he traded Red Shane Deanston.
Bob Thieman
That was not very popular.
Bob Thieman
And he was about to trade.
Bob Thieman
He was working on a trade for Stan Musial.
Bob Thieman
And the Brewery said, no, you can't do that.
Bob Thieman
That'll ruin our fan base.
Bob Thieman
So Lane quit the team.
Bob Thieman
Then, you know, said, well, if I can't make the decisions, you know, I'm gone.
Bob Thieman
So Lane's assistant, Bing Devine, who was a St.
Bob Thieman
Louisian who'd started out with the team before World War II, 1939 as an office boy and worked his way up general managers through the minor leagues and had a long run in Rochester at their AAA club in Rochester, they made him the general manager and he.
Bob Thieman
Then there was a trade in the works for Ken Boyer, for Richie Ashburn to the Phillies.
Bob Thieman
Now Ashburn's a Hall of Fame center fielder, but a little older than Boyer.
Bob Thieman
And Devine decided he was going to build a team around Bowyer.
Bob Thieman
And so he, very methodically, 1958, he traded for Curt Flood, 1959 for Bill White, 1960 for Julian Javier, 1963.
Bob Thieman
Then they brought in Dick Grote.
Bob Thieman
And there was some guys coming up through the minor league system too.
Bob Thieman
Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson, most notably.
Bob Thieman
And it was SLOW Going until 63, they finally made a run at the pennant.
Bob Thieman
They, they got with a month to go, they were six, seven games out behind the Dodgers.
Bob Thieman
And then they won 19 games out of 20 over a 17 game day period.
Arnold Stricker
Wow.
Bob Thieman
And suddenly they were only a game behind.
Bob Thieman
And with two weeks to go and here we go.
Bob Thieman
Cardinals are going to win.
Bob Thieman
Then the Dodgers came to town, swept a three game series and Carl's Penner hopes for 63 were gone.
Bob Thieman
But they were in good shape for 64.
Bob Thieman
Everybody thought they'd be real contenders and of course they got off to a bad start.
Bob Thieman
And Divine made his last big trade then at the trading date to bring in a guy named Lou Brock.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, huge trade, a huge trade.
Bob Thieman
And initially when the trade was made for Brock, everybody said, well, we gave up our opening day starter, ERNIE BROGLIO.
Bob Thieman
Won 18 games the year before, won 20 previous years, and all we get is this guy Brock who can't seem to find his way with the Cubs.
Bob Thieman
The Cubs wanted Brock to be a power hitter and he did have some great power.
Bob Thieman
He hit the only home run ever into the center field bleachers at the polo or the right center field bleachers at the polo ground.
Bob Thieman
Pretty small window there to, to hit but 480 foot home run.
Bob Thieman
Wow.
Mark Langston
Wow.
Bob Thieman
So he could, you know, hit the ball far, but struck out a lot.
Bob Thieman
And the Cubs were not a running team at all.
Bob Thieman
Well, the Johnny Keane, the Cardinal manager, he got Brock specifically to add some speed to the offense, aggressiveness.
Bob Thieman
So Brock came to the team and immediately won the fans and the team, his teammates over the Cubs, they thought that, you know, he was a very quiet guy, very intense, but the Cubs thought, you know, that means he's indifferent.
Bob Thieman
But and the Cardinals though, they found out that he was just, you know, that's the way he was and he was really driven to be a great to greatness.
Bob Thieman
And when he got to what Keane said, you just go ahead and run, don't worry about hitting home runs, you know, steal bases, get on, you know, get your base hits.
Bob Thieman
And that really impressed.
Bob Thieman
The team was impressed pretty quickly and the city was agog.
Bob Thieman
It took him like 10 days to steal seven bases with the Cardinals to tie for the team lead at that point.
Arnold Stricker
You kind of mentioned in the book that he did not get a lot of direction in Chicago.
Arnold Stricker
He played baseball late I guess in high school and really didn't have a lot of focus from the managers back then.
Bob Thieman
No, no.
Bob Thieman
Well, the Cubs didn't even have a manager back then.
Bob Thieman
They had college of coaches, they called it, with one coach being designated as head coach.
Bob Thieman
They did it for four years.
Arnold Stricker
That explains things.
Mark Langston
Chicago and the Goat.
Mark Langston
Yeah, the whole thing, the whole thing.
Bob Thieman
But, but one.
Bob Thieman
But finally the last Cub head coach told Brock just before he got traded actually that, you know, you're thinking up there, you, you go up there to bat and you're thinking too much.
Bob Thieman
Just, just swing the bat.
Bob Thieman
And so then when he got to the Cardinals, he didn't have to think, you know, just get on, you know, I'm not, don't have to worry about the long ball.
Bob Thieman
This so he could play his game, which, know, his game was a Hall of Fame as Hall of Fame ball players.
Arnold Stricker
You know, you bring up a great point there that sometimes when I watch a game, whether it be baseball or football or basketball, and I'm thinking, sometimes guys overthink and then sometimes guys don't think at all.
Arnold Stricker
And in, in baseball, how much you know it, I don't want to say it's some guy's going to become a head case, but they can psych themselves out.
Arnold Stricker
Or does management put so many screws on people that they've got so much going on they just can't naturally go out and have fun and enjoy what they've done?
Bob Thieman
Well, that, you know, that's always a debate.
Bob Thieman
You know, the Cardinals, Johnny Keenan and Red Chain names, they were just let the players play, you know, develop their own talent.
Bob Thieman
Develop their talent, do what you can to help them, but then don't try to make them fit your mold.
Bob Thieman
Exactly.
Bob Thieman
Now, probably the greatest manager ever was John McGraw, 1910s, 1920s, and he controlled every aspect.
Bob Thieman
Won 10 pennants for the Giants and he controlled, he called all the pitches and players.
Bob Thieman
You know, the famous story that he sent guys, was sent up to bunt, he had a home run and McGraw fined him for not bunting.
Bob Thieman
So, so, so there's, you know, two different ways to look at it.
Arnold Stricker
Right, right.
Bob Thieman
I, you know, letting the guys play has worked pretty well for the Cardinals, so over many decades, though.
Arnold Stricker
So right now, Ernie Broglio, he did not actually turn out to be the pitcher that Chicago thought he was going to be.
Bob Thieman
No, he was, he was damaged goods, really.
Bob Thieman
He'd had a little bit of a problem, shoulder problem with the Cardinals and missed a couple starts in 64, but he never really overcame it.
Bob Thieman
So.
Bob Thieman
So he, you know, won like six set games after that as a Cub entirely.
Arnold Stricker
So you get into something that, and we might do this in the second half where this whole aspect you bring in history into this book, you talk about a little bit about Stam Musial being brought onto the presidential fitness program after his retirement.
Arnold Stricker
And I'm sure he was disappointed that they didn't win in 63 because he wasn't a part of the team after that.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Arnold Stricker
And then you also bring in about the voting rights or the Civil Rights act of 1964.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Bob Thieman
The first big Civil Rights act since really reconstruction.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Arnold Stricker
And when we come back after the break, we got several, several minutes yet.
Arnold Stricker
But in our, in our next segment, I want you to talk about how the Cardinals dealt with that because they dealt with that in a unique way.
Arnold Stricker
I'm kind of teasing the listeners right now to stay.
Arnold Stricker
To stay over because they dealt with it, you correct me if I'm wrong, more uniquely than any other team at the time.
Bob Thieman
That's a.
Bob Thieman
To the general consensus that when Marvin Miller, the player union head, came, he would visit each club and he remarked later that the Cardinals seemed to have the best harmony of any clubhouse, any team.
Bob Thieman
So.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
And that harmony extended in spring training.
Arnold Stricker
And we'll get into a couple stories about that.
Arnold Stricker
Now, you did this co.
Arnold Stricker
Did this book with Ron Jacober.
Arnold Stricker
How do you co.
Arnold Stricker
Write a book together?
Arnold Stricker
What's that?
Arnold Stricker
How do you do that?
Bob Thieman
Well, we, there's various ways, but I did most of the historic text and he interviewed the living players to get their specific memories.
Bob Thieman
And he, you know, added some of his insights too.
Arnold Stricker
But, and most people know Ron Jacober.
Arnold Stricker
And if you've been in St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis a while, you know, he was a news broadcaster, television and radio and a sports broadcast.
Mark Langston
He.
Mark Langston
Sports broadcaster announced the, he used to announce the games on what, I guess Channel 5 for a while.
Arnold Stricker
Right?
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Bob Thieman
Yep.
Mark Langston
And he, when they used to like share it with like five would do it this couple of these games and then somebody do.
Bob Thieman
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
He says that they had like 30 games a year was the most they ever did, but that was, you know, and that was all you got except for the Saturday game of the week.
Arnold Stricker
Well, and to give Ron his, his due here he's covered sports on radio and television for 47 years.
Mark Langston
Wow.
Arnold Stricker
Cardinal, baseball, blues hockey, college basketball on ESPN, college football, soccer games, hundreds of them.
Arnold Stricker
The Olympics for CBS Radio, a longtime sports director for KMOX Radio, he's a member of the St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Radio hall of Fame, St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Media hall of Fame, St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Sports hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports hall of Fame.
Mark Langston
Now I also remember Ron announcing the most boring sport ever.
Mark Langston
Golf.
Bob Thieman
Yeah, maybe he may have.
Mark Langston
I thought he did something he was.
Bob Thieman
With, he, he worked with at Channel 5, Jay Randolph.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
Jay Randolph was the golf guy.
Mark Langston
Okay.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Mark Langston
All right.
Mark Langston
All right.
Mark Langston
Well, that could be.
Mark Langston
All right.
Arnold Stricker
Jay Randolph, he broadcasts the most boring sport, golf.
Mark Langston
It's the worst.
Mark Langston
I mean, I like golf.
Mark Langston
Don't get wrong My family, my wife's side loves golf.
Mark Langston
But boy, to watch golf.
Mark Langston
I think watching paint dry is better.
Bob Thieman
Oh yeah.
Bob Thieman
You know, it's, it's so three dimensional.
Bob Thieman
And you watch on two dimensional screen.
Mark Langston
Okay.
Bob Thieman
And you see the ball, a blue dot in the black.
Mark Langston
I know.
Mark Langston
Where is it?
Mark Langston
How do they follow it with the camera?
Mark Langston
I'm like, okay, sorry, I didn't mean to take that.
Bob Thieman
But we digress.
Mark Langston
Right.
Arnold Stricker
So if we have time to get to answer this question, why is the game so slow Now I remember Bob Gibson pitching the game would be like an hour and 55 minutes.
Bob Thieman
They do take, well, the batters as much as the pitchers, you know.
Bob Thieman
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
Take it out.
Arnold Stricker
Taking off the gloves and.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Arnold Stricker
You know, knocking the shoes and.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Bob Thieman
Getting out, just stepping out and.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Mark Langston
In and out.
Bob Thieman
But the.
Bob Thieman
It's also another thing, maybe too thinking too much.
Bob Thieman
You know, we got to study those charts.
Bob Thieman
Now you don't see those same teams as much as you used to.
Bob Thieman
So oftentimes, you know, you're not nearly as familiar.
Bob Thieman
You know, Bob Gibson knew exactly what he was going to do with Henry or try to do with Henry Aaron every time.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Bob Thieman
So but you know, then you get a.
Bob Thieman
Tampa Bay comes in once every other year and you don't know any of those batters.
Bob Thieman
So yeah, you got to figure out, you know, study your card inside your hat.
Mark Langston
That's true.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
You got to do your homework ahead of time.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, just blow it by him.
Mark Langston
I love it.
Mark Langston
This is great.
Mark Langston
I'm enjoying this interview.
Arnold Stricker
This is.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
Well, we're going to get into some real fun stuff and about the stadiums also, man.
Arnold Stricker
Sportsman's Park.
Arnold Stricker
What a, what a real deal.
Arnold Stricker
That was.
Arnold Stricker
That was unbelievable.
Bob Thieman
It's just the first major league game played on that lot was in 1875.
Mark Langston
Wow.
Mark Langston
Holy smokes.
Mark Langston
Was that the Negro League then?
Bob Thieman
That was the original.
Bob Thieman
The first pro team, the St.
Bob Thieman
Louis Brown Stockings.
Mark Langston
Okay.
Bob Thieman
The next year the National League got founded and was a member of that league.
Mark Langston
Wow, this is wonderful.
Arnold Stricker
We're going to come back and talk to Bob Thieman some more.
Arnold Stricker
We're talking about his new book with ron Jacober, the 64 Cardinals, a team, A Season and a Showdown for the Ages.
Arnold Stricker
We'll be right back after our next segment.
Arnold Stricker
You're listening to St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in tune with Arnold Stricker and Mark Langston on the U.S.
Arnold Stricker
radio Network.
Arnold Stricker
Welcome back to St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in Tune.
Arnold Stricker
This is Arnold Stricker with Mark Langston.
Arnold Stricker
We're talking to Bob Thieman.
Arnold Stricker
He's award winning baseball historian and author.
Arnold Stricker
And he's an author with Ron Jacober of The new book 64 Cardinals A Team, A Season, A Showdown for the Ages.
Arnold Stricker
And that book, folks, is available from reedy Press in St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis here.
Arnold Stricker
It's a hardcover book, 11 by 11.
Arnold Stricker
It's just got great photos, wonderful, wonderful story in here.
Arnold Stricker
And there's going to be an upcoming book signing also at St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Public Library, the Schlafly branch on euclid.
Arnold Stricker
That's Tuesday, April 26th at 6pm there's an author presentation at the St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis City Library.
Arnold Stricker
That's Grants View.
Arnold Stricker
That's at 7pm on May 17th.
Arnold Stricker
And then at Barnes and Noble out at Mid Rivers Mall.
Arnold Stricker
There's another author signing June 4th from 11:00 to 12:00.
Arnold Stricker
So I'll repeat those at the end of this segment and you can get this book again from reedy press.
Arnold Stricker
That's reedypress.com so Bob, we were kind of talking off air about Dick Groat and he was the shortstop at the time.
Arnold Stricker
And in the book you mention he and Johnny Keane, they, they kind of clashed a little bit.
Arnold Stricker
And you were commenting about, well, Grote.
Bob Thieman
Was the league batting title and mvp, batting champion, MVP for the Pirates.
Bob Thieman
And he, you know, was the along with, well, he was the sort of senior member or with the most seniority in the league, at least not with the team.
Bob Thieman
So when the Cardinals got him in 63, he almost won the batting title again.
Bob Thieman
He's finished second in the league MVP voting, you know, and was sort of the star of the team.
Bob Thieman
And he was very good at hitting to the opposite field, the right hand hitter who could hit, hit and run behind the, the guys on base, Kurt Flood, for instance.
Bob Thieman
And that worked out very well.
Bob Thieman
But then at 64 and Grote would call it himself, he would say I'm going to hit and run.
Bob Thieman
He'd signal to the batter or the Baserunner.
Bob Thieman
And in 64 he kept doing that, but it wasn't working out as well.
Bob Thieman
And so Johnny Keane, the manager of the Cardinals said, said you can't call it on your own anymore.
Bob Thieman
I'm going to take away your privilege, hit and run privilege.
Bob Thieman
And that really riled Grote and Groat was, you know, kind of a, an agitator by nature.
Bob Thieman
You know, he would, he would get on the younger players if they made a mistake and you know, tell them in no uncertain terms, you know, what they should have done.
Bob Thieman
You know.
Bob Thieman
So although he did, he didn't really cause too much friction in the clubhouse But Keane thought his authority is being questioned.
Bob Thieman
So they had a kind of a clubhouse meeting right after the All Star break.
Bob Thieman
And Grote, or Keane called him out, laid down the law for Grote.
Bob Thieman
Grote apologized to the whole team and sort of cleared the air.
Bob Thieman
Now, this had some effects later in that Grote complained about losing his hit and run privilege to a number of people, including Eddie Matthews of the Braves.
Bob Thieman
Now, Eddie Matthews daughter was dating Gussie Bush's or Eddie Matthews was dating Gussie Bush's daughter.
Mark Langston
Oh, boy.
Bob Thieman
So Gussie heard about the friction between Kean and Groat through his daughter, through the Braves, and he thought he'd been left out of the loop.
Bob Thieman
And so that was one of the last straws that broke the back that, you know, Gus says, we're going to have to clean house.
Bob Thieman
And first he fired the general manager, Bing Devine, and then it was.
Bob Thieman
Everybody knew that Johnny Keane would go at the end of the year.
Arnold Stricker
But when did Grote leave the card?
Mark Langston
Never knew any of this.
Bob Thieman
He paid 66.
Bob Thieman
65 was his last year.
Bob Thieman
He was traded away.
Arnold Stricker
I'm surprised he didn't get traded right away.
Bob Thieman
Yeah, well, he was too good a player, really.
Bob Thieman
And also then for the second half, you know, the problem, you know, there was.
Bob Thieman
He wasn't a problem.
Bob Thieman
So, you know, the heart, you know, the harmony finally was restored.
Arnold Stricker
And you mean, you mean he didn't have to put it on Twitter or social media.
Arnold Stricker
You know, he just, he just told another famous player who has happened to be dating the owner's daughter.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, you know, yeah, well, I think.
Bob Thieman
You know, he probably killed a lot of other players, too.
Bob Thieman
So, you know, but Matthews and Groat were about the same age, you know, and so they'd been in the league together, playing his rivals for a long.
Arnold Stricker
Time, another wonderful player, Eddie Matthews.
Bob Thieman
Yes, There you go.
Arnold Stricker
Now, 64.
Arnold Stricker
We're talking about the 64 series here, but prior to that, with integration.
Arnold Stricker
And by the way, if you're listening, today, it's April 15th.
Arnold Stricker
If you're listening, and this is being played in July.
Arnold Stricker
Oh, well, it's April 15th when we're broadcasting this.
Arnold Stricker
This is the anniversary of Jackie Robinson coming into the league at the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Arnold Stricker
And there's a connection there with the person who brought him in and the person who used to actually work for the Cardinals.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Bob Thieman
The Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and their general manager, Branch Rickey.
Bob Thieman
Now, Rickey had been with the St.
Bob Thieman
Louis Cardinals from 1917 through 1942.
Bob Thieman
He had sort of invented this farm system turned The Cardinals from no, you know, perennial losers into, you know, the powerhouse of the National League.
Bob Thieman
And but then he, his general manager, he was the president of the team, was Sam Braden.
Bob Thieman
And so Braden would pick the manager and Rickey would build the team for the manager.
Bob Thieman
And also Ricky also had a deal where if he sold contracts for players and he signed lots of young players, lots of talent, and there was lots of players that he sold to other National League teams.
Bob Thieman
And so Ricky got a cut of all those sales or percentage.
Bob Thieman
So Ricky was doing pretty well for himself.
Bob Thieman
Now Braden was doing pretty well for himself too.
Bob Thieman
But at one point in 1939, Ricky hired a new manager, Ray Blades, one of Ricky's old farm guys, farm system.
Bob Thieman
And Braden a year later, fired Blades.
Bob Thieman
And so Ricky's, you know, the tension which has always been there between the two, that was finally it.
Bob Thieman
So when Rickey's contract ran out in 1942, he left the Cardinals and got immediately got hired by the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Bob Thieman
And Rickey had always been in the back of his mind that he's going to try to integrate the, you know, bring African Americans into the big leagues.
Bob Thieman
Now, St.
Bob Thieman
Louis was not the place to do that, right.
Bob Thieman
But Brooklyn was.
Bob Thieman
So he hired, had his scouts, scouted, Negro leagues, a lot of talent there.
Bob Thieman
But he focused on Jackie Robinson, who was college educated, been an officer in the army and, but was not known for his baseball skills.
Bob Thieman
He was a football star, track star at ucla, but hadn't played much.
Bob Thieman
He only played one year of professional Negro league baseball.
Bob Thieman
And when he was the guy that they signed, a lot of the Negro League players thought, well, we got a lot better than him.
Bob Thieman
Why they used to using him.
Bob Thieman
And a lot of the players like Bob Feller, who'd been a barnstorming, who barnstormed against Negro Leaguers for a long time, he said, oh, you know, he's not that good.
Bob Thieman
You know, we can tie him up with inside fastballs.
Bob Thieman
He won't make it in the big leagues, but actually turned out to be a star player and a great clutch hitter and outstanding feeler and a baserunner extraordinaire.
Bob Thieman
So he turned out to be more than anybody expected of him, except maybe Ricky and his scouts.
Arnold Stricker
And when you think about being the first player like that.
Arnold Stricker
I know I read an article recently that he also wasn't from the south, he was from the West Coast.
Arnold Stricker
And so he was not accustomed to how blacks were treated back then in the South.
Arnold Stricker
And you want to try to make things successful, not stumble.
Arnold Stricker
And I think Branch Rickey Thought that Jackie Robinson, you know, army officer, you know, UCLA graduate, you know, star, you know, and he wasn't from the south, that this was going to be.
Arnold Stricker
He was going to be more successful than somebody else who.
Bob Thieman
Oh yes, he, yes, definitely had the temperament and the dedication.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Bob Thieman
To be the self control.
Arnold Stricker
Endure.
Bob Thieman
To endure.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Arnold Stricker
What he did.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
Now if you, if you wouldn't mind, get into what, what the Cardinals did in the early 60s and it was really led by a couple of players, right.
Bob Thieman
The Cardinals and the Yankees both used to have their spring training in St.
Bob Thieman
Petersburg, Florida and for many years.
Bob Thieman
So from the end of World War II up through the mid-60s and, and every year the Florida, the St.
Bob Thieman
Petersburg Chamber of Commerce held a big luncheon to highlight We're a big baseball town.
Bob Thieman
And they'd invite all the white players, but none of the black or Latin players.
Bob Thieman
And this was 1961, it was Florida.
Bob Thieman
The, there was laws against certain, I guess there were mixing of races.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Bob Thieman
And Bill White, who was born and actually been born in Florida, but raised in Youngstown, Ohio.
Bob Thieman
He, he was not a rabble rouser by any means, but he told a New York sports writer that, you know, you know, he complained about that and said, you know, when are they going to treat us like humans?
Bob Thieman
And so this Art Rickman, the sports writer, published that in New York.
Bob Thieman
It got picked up here in St.
Bob Thieman
Louis and I think one of the newspapers, the Globe Democrat said, you know, let's boycott Budweiser, you know, because they're supporting racism.
Bob Thieman
Racism?
Bob Thieman
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
So Bush said, well, you know, that's not good for sales.
Bob Thieman
And Bush was not known, you know, for his.
Bob Thieman
Any racial prejudices in his workplace.
Bob Thieman
So he arranged to have some of his associates or friends of his, they bought two adjacent motels outside of St.
Bob Thieman
Pete down by the Skyway, if you know the area there.
Bob Thieman
And one for the.
Bob Thieman
We had the whole team during spring training stay at that one motel and all the players, both white and black, all their families, even Ken Boyer, Bill, Stan Musio, the big stars who, you know, been there many years and had private arrangements, you know, they'd rent a house or, or go stay with, you know, the same guys, same friends.
Bob Thieman
They all joined the team at the motel.
Bob Thieman
The wives got to get together, you know, barbecue out on the patio.
Bob Thieman
The kids, there was like 30 kids at one point, you know, during spring break saying here.
Bob Thieman
And the white and black kids swimming would swim in this.
Arnold Stricker
Now hang on folks.
Arnold Stricker
Say that again, Bob.
Arnold Stricker
Say that again.
Bob Thieman
White folks would swim in the same.
Bob Thieman
The swimming Pool together.
Arnold Stricker
And that was unusual.
Bob Thieman
That was illegal, actually, although nobody tried to enforce it, thank goodness.
Bob Thieman
But people would drive down the highway.
Arnold Stricker
And stop and sell tickets.
Bob Thieman
But it made for a very close team.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
Cohesive.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
Yes.
Bob Thieman
And it also, within the next couple years, all the teams had integrated their.
Arnold Stricker
Living facilities because at the time, if you were a black player, you had to go stay in the black section of town.
Bob Thieman
Yeah.
Mark Langston
Oh, yeah.
Bob Thieman
Bob Gibson talked about his first spring training.
Bob Thieman
You know, he flow flew in, gets a taxicab that goes to the hotel in downtown St.
Bob Thieman
Petersburg, says, I'm with the Cardinals.
Bob Thieman
You have room for me?
Bob Thieman
The desk clerk says, oh, here's the cab driver address to take him to a private home in the Negro section of St.
Bob Thieman
Pete.
Bob Thieman
And the next year then Gibson thought, well, you know, now I'd probably make the team.
Bob Thieman
So a lot of people would bring their families.
Bob Thieman
So he drove with his wife and kid down from Omaha, Nebraska, where he born and raised and said it was the worst trip ever because they could buy gas, but they couldn't use the restroom.
Bob Thieman
And the gas stations they had or, you know, only restaurants along the road.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
So.
Bob Thieman
And, you know, guys like white and Gibson and Kurt Flood, who's from California, you know, they.
Bob Thieman
They just couldn't stand, you know, the segregation.
Bob Thieman
And they, they were pretty outspoken about it.
Bob Thieman
Although, like, say they weren't, you know, militant, you.
Arnold Stricker
Right, right.
Bob Thieman
But.
Bob Thieman
And they, you know, they would make a point of inviting some of their white teammates to go out to dinner or whatever.
Bob Thieman
You know, just so you know, we're.
Bob Thieman
We're a team.
Arnold Stricker
Right, right.
Bob Thieman
And they really did become a team.
Bob Thieman
And guys like Tim McCarver, whose dad was a Memphis cop, who, you know, Memphis was not the most friendly, friendly to Negro citizens.
Arnold Stricker
And he's spoken about that and Gibson's spoken about their relationship and how Bob Gibson really kind of helped Tim McCarver understand, you know, things aren't that different, you know.
Bob Thieman
Right.
Bob Thieman
And there was, you know, sort of a quiet assistance.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Bob Thieman
That they do.
Bob Thieman
And then, of course, McCarver and Gibson were, you know, friends for life.
Arnold Stricker
Right.
Bob Thieman
You know, even in their 70s, they were touring the wine country of France together.
Mark Langston
Except for them.
Arnold Stricker
What's your favorite story of the 64 World Series or the 64 season?
Bob Thieman
Well, the 64 season.
Bob Thieman
The final week of the season.
Bob Thieman
The final two weeks of the season were unbelievable.
Bob Thieman
Really?
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
What happened to the Phillies?
Bob Thieman
The Phillies, well, six and a half game lead with 12 to play, and then they lost 10 in a row, including.
Bob Thieman
Including three to Cincinnati and three to St.
Bob Thieman
Louis second and third place and four to Milwaukee was fifth place.
Arnold Stricker
They were just sharing the brotherly love.
Bob Thieman
Yeah, yeah.
Bob Thieman
Well they, they lost their last seven home games that were booed out of the even though they've been in first place the whole year.
Bob Thieman
They were booed out of Philadelphia.
Arnold Stricker
Couldn't happen to a nicer team.
Bob Thieman
But the Cardinals then won eight in a row and the Reds had a nine game winning streak.
Bob Thieman
So they both passed the Phillies.
Bob Thieman
But then the Reds lost several games and the Cardinals got to the final series of the season three games to go against the Mets.
Bob Thieman
The Mets were terrible.
Bob Thieman
The their third straight hunter loss season and the Cardinals the Mets had an eight game winning streak.
Bob Thieman
The Cardinals had or Mets had an eighth game losing streak.
Bob Thieman
Cardinal just won eight in a row.
Bob Thieman
So all the Cardinals had to do is win all three to clinch the pennant.
Bob Thieman
Since nothing Cincinnati would have been able to do to catch him right.
Bob Thieman
Cincinnati had two games to play against the Phillies and the Cardinals lost on Friday to the Mets.
Bob Thieman
Bob Gibson got beat one nothing.
Bob Thieman
Cardinals had the base or a couple men on base and got what looked like a game tying base hit and the ball hit the umpire dead ball.
Bob Thieman
They had to send the runner back.
Bob Thieman
Guy never did score.
Bob Thieman
So the Cardinals complained that we lost because the Mets had an extra infielder.
Arnold Stricker
He was dressed in blue.
Bob Thieman
But luckily the Reds lost.
Bob Thieman
The Reds suddenly had some problems too.
Bob Thieman
And then on Friday, Saturday The Cardinals lost 15 to 5 to the lowly Mets made six errors then.
Bob Thieman
So it comes down to Sunday, the Cardinals are a game ahead of both the Phillies and they're tied with the Reds in a game ahead with the Phillies.
Bob Thieman
So it could have been a three way tie.
Bob Thieman
If the Phillies won and the Cardinals lost, the Reds would lose them to the Phillies.
Bob Thieman
So even though the last day it could have been a three way tie, the Phillies after having their 10 game losing streak snapped the game before they won easy 10 to nothing.
Bob Thieman
The Reds were just, they had internal problems and just didn't show up.
Bob Thieman
Basically the Cardinals finally were able to beat the Mets.
Bob Thieman
A slugfest.
Bob Thieman
Bob Gibson won one day's rest, came out, pitched four innings in relief, just ran out of gas.
Bob Thieman
In the ninth day they brought in Barney Schultz, their reliever who was a key to their pennant run.
Arnold Stricker
Knuckleballer.
Bob Thieman
The knuckleballer, yeah, he'd been a, it was his 21st professional season.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah he was, he was up there.
Bob Thieman
In age, he was but you know the knuckle ball he throw forever right as Johnny Keane Said, well, he can't pitch long, but he can pitch every day.
Bob Thieman
So.
Bob Thieman
And he pretty much did down the stretch.
Bob Thieman
So the Cardinals won the Penner on the final day of the season.
Bob Thieman
Harry Carey finished his broadcast from right behind the Cardinal dugout, sitting right next to Gussie Bush.
Bob Thieman
And so the last batter, you can hear Gussie Bush on the radio saying, come on, get him out, get him out.
Bob Thieman
And then they get him out.
Bob Thieman
Harry starts screaming, the Cardinals win the pennant.
Bob Thieman
The Cardinals win the pennant.
Arnold Stricker
I remember listening to that.
Bob Thieman
The Cardinals win the pennant.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, that was crazy.
Bob Thieman
It was crazy.
Bob Thieman
And so the miracle, it finally happened.
Bob Thieman
They actually won the pennant after nobody had given them a chance almost all year.
Bob Thieman
So.
Arnold Stricker
And then to come up against the Yankees, who had this dynasty, you know, you had Mantle, you had Maris, you had Yogi, and it just seemed like all these great pitchers, you know, it was Whitey Ford and Stalomayer.
Bob Thieman
Yeah, Stoudemire was a rookie, but Whitey Ford, Jim Bouton, yeah, he would beat the Cardinals twice that series.
Arnold Stricker
That was a challenge.
Bob Thieman
It was a challenge.
Bob Thieman
The Yankees had won.
Bob Thieman
This is the 14th pennant in 16 years for the Yankees.
Arnold Stricker
Oh, my gosh.
Bob Thieman
But.
Bob Thieman
And then they, you know, be another 12 years before they won another pennant, so.
Arnold Stricker
Reminds me of a team that beat the St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Rams at a time.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, I'm not even going to mention their name.
Arnold Stricker
So the final game, you know, we're tied three to three, three, three wins apiece.
Arnold Stricker
And the Cardinals come in and man, they're just.
Arnold Stricker
They just start to blow it open.
Bob Thieman
Well, they, yeah, they've got out to a three nothing lead.
Bob Thieman
The first run.
Bob Thieman
And the Yankees really played bad defense the whole series.
Bob Thieman
The first run, The Cardinals scored one.
Bob Thieman
The Yankees tried to turn a 3 to 6 to 1 double play with the pitcher covering, throw went behind and the man from second base wound up scoring.
Bob Thieman
Then they had a double steal.
Bob Thieman
Mike Shannon hadn't.
Bob Thieman
Well, it was supposed to be a hit and run, but Maxville swung and missed.
Bob Thieman
Dal Maxville, the substitute second baseman for the series.
Bob Thieman
The Elston Howard, Yankees catcher, another big star.
Arnold Stricker
Right, Right.
Bob Thieman
He threw down the second base.
Bob Thieman
Bobby Richardson, the second baseman, saw that Tim McCarver broke from third when Shannon went to steal second.
Bob Thieman
The double play, the regular double steal.
Bob Thieman
And so Richardson cuts in front, sort of ignoring Shannon.
Bob Thieman
Shannon tried to slide right into him, got a little piece of him.
Bob Thieman
The ball was in the dirt and McCarver stole home.
Bob Thieman
Then.
Mark Langston
Wow.
Bob Thieman
So they.
Bob Thieman
And then Lou Brock hit a home run.
Bob Thieman
Ken Boyer actually hit a home run that game Too.
Bob Thieman
The Cardinals had a six nothing lead until Mickey Mantle hit a three run homer in the seventh inning.
Bob Thieman
And oh, you know, so for six innings the Cardinal fans are going crazy.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
And now suddenly it's a little tense here.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
Well, Boyer hit a home run to make it 7 to 3.
Bob Thieman
And in the ninth inning, Gibson, who is running out of gas, he's pitching on two days rest after having pitched 10 inning complete game.
Mark Langston
Right.
Bob Thieman
A couple days before, he gave up two solo home runs.
Mark Langston
Oh my.
Bob Thieman
But Johnny Keane left him in and he finally got the last out, a pop up.
Bob Thieman
Al Maxville was under it.
Bob Thieman
Dick wrote yells over, don't let it hit you in the coconut, Maxie.
Bob Thieman
And so Maxville, oh, suddenly he got nervous, but he made the catch.
Mark Langston
I'd be very nervous.
Mark Langston
I would have been.
Bob Thieman
So the Cardinals win the game.
Bob Thieman
There's a great picture, famous picture of Dick Bob Gibson collapsing into the arms of Ken Boyer at the mound.
Mark Langston
Yeah, they're hugging.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
You know, you could see, you know, just given every ounce he had.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
And people asked Keane afterwards, well, why didn't you take him out?
Bob Thieman
You know, he's obviously losing.
Bob Thieman
And Keane's great quote was, oh, I had a commitment to his heart.
Arnold Stricker
Oh, that's absolutely, absolutely.
Bob Thieman
And then keen good for him in the locker room, then gave Gibson a big hug.
Bob Thieman
Keane had been the manager in Omaha when Gibson signed his first right.
Bob Thieman
Pro contract right at his home, played for his hometown Omaha Cardinals.
Arnold Stricker
So he knew him really well.
Bob Thieman
Very well.
Bob Thieman
Yes.
Bob Thieman
And when Gibson didn't really become a good pitcher until Keane took over as manager of the Cardinals in 1961.
Bob Thieman
But then in the locker room, he gave Gibson a big hug.
Bob Thieman
He sent that.
Bob Thieman
Way to go hoot.
Bob Thieman
Nothing can stop you now.
Bob Thieman
And Gibson, you know, was.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, the rest is history on that.
Bob Thieman
The rest is history, certainly.
Bob Thieman
But Gibson didn't realize that Keane was going to quit the next day.
Arnold Stricker
Right, right.
Bob Thieman
And he was saying good.
Bob Thieman
He was just saying goodbye was his way to say goodbye.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Arnold Stricker
We've been having a great conversation with Bob Thieman.
Arnold Stricker
He is an author with Ron Jacober of a new book, 64 Cardinals.
Arnold Stricker
It is available at Reedy Press.
Arnold Stricker
64 Cardinals, a team, a season and a showdown for the ages.
Arnold Stricker
And I want to remind folks, on April 26th at the St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Public Library Schlafly Branch that's on Euclid at 6pm there's going to be a book signing, also a book signing.
Arnold Stricker
June 4th at Mid Rivers Mall, Barnes and Noble, 11 to 12 o'clock.
Arnold Stricker
And on May 17th, an author presentation at the St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis City Library, Grants View.
Arnold Stricker
That's at 7:00pm Bob, this has been a great book.
Arnold Stricker
I really enjoy these kinds of things.
Arnold Stricker
And I think you and Ron did a great job of capturing the essence of where the team was and how they got there and then kind of framed it with some historical things.
Arnold Stricker
It's just marvelous book.
Arnold Stricker
Kudos to you.
Bob Thieman
Thank you.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Bob Thieman
That Grants View Library is county library.
Arnold Stricker
County library.
Arnold Stricker
Sorry about that.
Bob Thieman
Music Road and graboi.
Arnold Stricker
That's correct.
Arnold Stricker
St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis County.
Mark Langston
That's kind of a new one, I think.
Mark Langston
That's a new library library they put.
Arnold Stricker
Down here by Bayless.
Mark Langston
Yeah, yeah.
Mark Langston
By that new.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Mark Langston
Subdivision there and everything.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
So, April 26th, St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis Public Library, Schlafly Branch, 6:00pm, May 17th, St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis County Library, Grants View, 7:00pm Will they.
Mark Langston
Have the books for sale there?
Mark Langston
Will we be able to.
Bob Thieman
Yes.
Mark Langston
Okay, great.
Mark Langston
Because they're wonderful books.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
They're also.
Arnold Stricker
Also check your local bookstore.
Arnold Stricker
So, Bob, thanks for coming on St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in tomb.
Arnold Stricker
We greatly appreciate it.
Bob Thieman
Well, thank you.
Mark Langston
How much fun.
Mark Langston
Yeah, great fun.
Arnold Stricker
Great fun.
Mark Langston
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
I love these kinds of things because it takes me back to my childhood.
Mark Langston
You were a child once.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Mark Langston
Really?
Arnold Stricker
Okay.
Mark Langston
I didn't know that.
Arnold Stricker
And favorite times that I recall in my memory, you know, listening to Harry Carey and Jack Buck, you know, broadcast the game.
Arnold Stricker
Those kinds of really interesting memories.
Bob Thieman
I got to see the final game of the season against the Met because it was on TV in New York.
Bob Thieman
So, you know, a lot of.
Bob Thieman
I don't think here in St.
Bob Thieman
Louis.
Arnold Stricker
Yeah.
Arnold Stricker
Well, that's all for this hour.
Arnold Stricker
Thanks for listening.
Arnold Stricker
Don't forget, even when the Martians invade, there's only one race, the human race.
Arnold Stricker
And every one of us have different characteristics and is uniquely valuable.
Arnold Stricker
St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in tune is a production of Motif Media Group and the U.S.
Arnold Stricker
radio Network.
Arnold Stricker
For St.
Arnold Stricker
Louis in Tune, studio manager Derek Abbott, co host Mark Langston and Arnold Stricker, a member to walk.
Arnold Stricker
Work worthy and let your light shine.
Ron Jacober
Radio & Television Broadcaster / Sports Director / Author / Sports Hall of Fame Inductee
Ron Jacober has covered sports on radio and television for forty-seven years. Ron has broadcast Cardinals baseball, Blues hockey, college basketball on ESPN, college football, hundreds of soccer games, and covered the Olympics for CBS radio. A longtime sports director for KMOX radio, he is a member of the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame, the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Robert L Tiemann
Baseball Historian / Writer / Editor / Author
A lifelong Cardinals fan, Robert L. Tiemann saw his first Stan Musial home run in 1957. As an award-winning baseball historian, he has written several books and has contributed to and edited many journals for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He is also the author of 64 Cardinals and coauthor of Ten Rings: Stories of the St. Louis Cardinals World Championships.
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