July 24, 1964 - Players sat dejectedly staring into space. A few munched on sandwiches. But no one spoke.
This was the clubhouse of the St. Louis Cardinals, a team picked to contend for the pennant, but which hit near rock bottom yesterday.
The Pittsburgh Pirates had just hammered St. Louis pitching again for an 8-5 victory and a sweep of a three-game series. The defeat shoved the Cards into seventh place, nine games behind league-leading Philadelphia.
Only nine days ago, the Cardinals appeared to have regained the touch that powered them to second place last season. A week ago Tuesday, they scored four runs in the ninth to beat Los Angeles, 8-7, for a fifth straight victory.
Since then, the Cards have lost six of nine games. The reason? A total collapse of pitching.
St. Louis hurlers have given up 83 runs in the last 10 games, an average of more than eight a contest. Bob Gibson pitched the only complete game, a 7-6 victory over the Mets.
Gibson, tabbed as the ace of the staff before the season began, is only 8-7. Curt Simmons is 9-8, Ray Sadecki 10-8, Roger Craig 5-5. Ray Washburn, coming back after an injury last season, has failed to return to form and was placed on the disabled list yesterday.
Changes on the pitching staff have been numerous as manager Johnny Keane tries to find the right combination. Ernie Broglio, Lew Burdette, and Bobby Shantz have been traded. Glen Hobbie has been acquired. Mike Cuellar, Bob Humphreys, and Gordon Richardson have been brought up from the minors.
One of the biggest disappointments has been reliever Ron Taylor, a stopper last year. He has failed often this season.
“I’ve never seen so many pitchers go bad on one club at one time,” said Howard Pollet, pitching coach, after yesterday’s game. “I don’t know the explanation. They’re just tired.”
Keane, trying to find someone to stop the Pirates, used four pitchers in each game of the series. But the Pirates clubbed them for 46 hits and 29 runs.
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