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Cardinals Examine Yankee Stadium

Oct. 9, 1964 - Twenty-one St. Louis Cardinals who had never played Yankee Stadium (pictured) before — and four who had — worked out today in the home of the Yankees as the World Series scene shifted to New York.

For 90 minutes, the Redbirds bounced baseballs into the tricky left-field corner, took batting practice in the Stadium daylight, and tested the infield. They found the corner “tough to figure,” the batting background reasonable, and the infield softer than Busch Stadium, where the teams split the first two games.

Like the Yankees, the Cardinals found no great advantages to playing in the spacious Stadium.

“I can’t see any,” said St. Louis manager Johnny Keane as he watched Mike Cuellar and Howie Pellet pitch batting practice. “There certainly are not any disadvantages.”

The only four Cardinal players who had played at Yankee Stadium were Dick Groat and Bob Skinner (as members of the Pirates against the Yankees in the 1960 World Series), Ken Boyer (in an All-Star Game in 1960), and Roger Craig (for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1955 and 1956 Series).

Most of the Cards’ attention today was paid to the left-field corner, which angles out sharply from the foul lines toward the visitors’ bullpen. Red Schoendienst hit line drives into the corner for Lou Brock, the 25-year-old outfielder who will patrol left field against the Yanks.

Mike Shannon similarly tested the low cement wall shielding the lower grandstand and bleachers in right field.

“You know,” he said, “that’s a tough wall to figure. It has at least three angles and at least three ways the ball can bounce off it.”

The Cardinal hitters also tried the Stadium walls for size, starting at 1 o’clock, when the daylight and background were deemed to be typical of conditions during the Series games, which start at 1 o’clock.

With Howie Pollet pitching, Groat lined several shots into his favorite right-field “alley,” then pulled a high fly just into the lower left-field seats. Groat, who hit only one homer during the regular season, raised his bat in triumph and yelled, “Number two!”



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