Play in Game 1: '66-SF eliminates '49-STL

Manager "Bike" Mike Roberts and his 1949 Redbirds flew cross country to play a winner take all game against the '66 Giants. Manager Roberts tapped Max Lanier, the crafty lefty, to toe the hub against the disappointing "Dandy" Juan Marichal.

The Redbirds opened the scoring in the first as Stan "the man" Musial singled home Marty Marion (who doubled) to break the ice. With the bases jammed and 1 out and Ron Northey at the plate St. Louis had a chance to bust the game open early. Instead Marichal dug deep down inside and summoned his greatness to coax a 6-4-3 DP to end the inning and minimize the damage. As so often is the case missed opportunities in big games come back to haunt a team. The Cards had the Dominican Dandy on the ropes and they let him off the hook. You have to get to the great one's early before they find their rhythm and St. Louis missed a golden opportunity.

The Giants found a way to nibble away at Lanier and score 1 run in each inning from the second to the 6th. They never truly delivered a knock out blow, but they kept tacking runs on inning by inning.

Marichal not only helped his cause by tossing a complete game, he also swung a lethal stick that accounted for 2 hits and 2 RBI's. Bike Mike observed, "Marichal is really helping his own cause! Marichal did prove to be dandy, and was too much for the Cards". Willie Mays' dead bat (.243 avg) came to life as he hit a solo shot. Tito Fuentes also took Lanier deep.

In a twilight zone move Max Lanier left the game and his son, Hal, came in the following inning as a defensive replacement for the Giants. Some very strange things happen in KOD.

Musial lead off the 9th with a solo shot, which boosted his KOD4 average to .274. Unfortunately it was only his 3rd homer in a season where he just couldn't find his power stroke.

With Frank Linzy up in the pen Marichal took the bull by the horns and set down the next three hitters for the complete game win and a crack at San Fran's arch rival the LA Dodgers.