September 25, 1974: Cardinals regain first place with wild 11-inning win over Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates ousted the St. Louis Cardinals from first place in the National League East Division with a week remaining in the 1974 season by winning the first two games of a three-game series at Busch Stadium. Aiming to sweep the series and expand their half-game lead on September 25, the Pirates jumped ahead with five first-inning runs. After both teams had erased sizable deficits to force extra innings, Pittsburgh built a three-run lead in the 11th. But the Cardinals had the last comeback, scoring four runs against a depleted Pirates bullpen to recapture first place with an improbable 13-12 win.

In search of their first postseason berth in six years,1 the Cardinals spent most of 1974 in or near the NL East lead.2 A 15-3 surge from July 20 through August 6 propelled them to the top spot for three weeks in August.3

Pittsburgh – winner of three consecutive division titles from 1970 through 1972 and World Series champion in 1971 – had struggled for a season and a half after star right fielder Roberto Clemente’s death in a plane accident on New Year’s Eve 1972. The 1973 Pirates had the franchise’s first losing record since 1968.4 In 1974 they were in fourth place, 12 games under .500, after dropping the opener of a July 14 doubleheader to the Cincinnati Reds.5

But Pittsburgh rallied up the standings, rebooted by a brawl in the doubleheader’s nightcap.6 Twenty-nine wins in 41 games rocketed the Pirates into first on August 25.7 By September 10, they had a 3½-game lead over the Cardinals.8

The race then flipped, following injuries to Pirates pitchers Dave Giusti and Dock Ellis.9 Pittsburgh lost six straight games while St. Louis won six in a row, including marathons of 25 innings against the New York Mets and 17 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies.10 The streaks converged in another long game, a 13-inning Cardinals win on September 17 in Pittsburgh that gave St. Louis a 2½-game edge.11

The Pirates, however, beat the Cardinals in the next two games.12 When the teams reconvened a week later, St. Louis’s lead was 1½ games.13

In the series opener, on September 23, Pittsburgh’s Jim Rooker pitched nine shutout innings and Richie Hebner drove in the game’s only run with a 10th-inning single.14 Seven Pirates runs in the sixth and seventh innings rendered the next night’s Bruce Kison–John Curtis duel a rout, landing Pittsburgh back in first.15 “We gotta win tomorrow,” St. Louis second baseman Ted Sizemore said.16

More than 41,000 fans came to Wednesday night’s series finale. Cardinals rookie Bob Forsch’s first pitch was delayed 10 minutes to accommodate late-arriving spectators.17 Promoted from Triple A in July,18 the 24-year-old right-hander had a 3-0 record and a 1.55 ERA in four September starts.19

Pittsburgh’s Rennie Stennett led off with a walk and took third on Hebner’s single. Al Oliver pushed center fielder Bake McBride to the wall with a sacrifice fly that scored Stennett; Hebner advanced to second.20

St. Louis intentionally walked Willie Stargell, who had hit a three-run home run a night earlier. The Pirates had turned intentional passes into runs twice in three games against the Cardinals,21 and they did it again off Forsch. Dave Parker’s bouncer past first baseman Joe Torre went for an RBI double. Manny Sanguillén drove a hanging curveball over the left-field fence for a three-run homer.22 Six batters in, Rich Folkers had replaced Forsch, and the Pirates led, 5-0.

Left-hander Ken Brett was Pittsburgh’s only 1974 All-Star before an elbow injury sidelined him for a month in August and September.23 He began the night with two scoreless innings, but Lou Brock led off the third with an infield single.24 Sizemore singled Brock to third, and a parade of RBI singles followed.

Reggie Smith picked up his 97th RBI of the season with a single up the middle; Brock scored his 103rd run. Ted Simmons’s apparent double-play grounder took an unexpected hop past third baseman Hebner, and Sizemore scored.25 Torre singled in Smith to shrink Pittsburgh’s lead to two runs.

Brett turned McBride’s grounder into a force at third, ending St. Louis’s singles streak at five. Still, pitching coach Don Osborn visited the mound. Brett argued openly with Osborn, but the 66-year-old coach waved in Larry Demery from the bullpen.26 Irate at the early hook, Brett flipped the ball to Demery and left the field, appearing to shout at manager Danny Murtaugh while passing through the dugout to the clubhouse.27

Ken Reitz grounded Demery’s first pitch inside third for a double.28 Torre and McBride scored to tie the game.

St. Louis manager Red Schoendienst sent up José Cruz to bat for light-hitting shortstop Mike Tyson.29 Cruz grounded toward Stennett at second, but first baseman Ed Kirkpatrick dived and deflected the ball into right for a single.30 Reitz scored, and the Cardinals had six runs and a 6-5 lead.

Eighteen-year veteran Claude Osteen pitched two scoreless innings for the Cardinals. Hebner, however, led off the Pittsburgh fifth with a single. Oliver doubled into the left-center gap, and Hebner slid home with the tying run.31

Schoendienst had pinch-hit for shortstop Tyson in the third inning, and now he broke the glass on his best reliever in the fifth. Cheers erupted as the “Mad Hungarian,” mustached fireman Al Hrabosky, removed his jacket and began warming up in the Cardinals’ bullpen.32 After Stargell was intentionally walked again, Parker fouled a pitch off his foot, and pitching coach Barney Schultz summoned Hrabosky, famed for his outstanding relief work and distinctive pre-pitch routine.33

It was Hrabosky’s 63rd appearance of 1974, and just the third time the Cardinals had deployed him before the sixth inning. The 25-year-old lefty had allowed just four earned runs in 29 games since July 14.34

His high-intensity rituals between pitches were drawing as much attention as his shutdown pitching. Before nearly every delivery, Hrabosky turned his back to the batter, bowed his head for a moment of focus, and slammed the ball into his glove before returning to the rubber.35 Hrabosky’s pre-pitch activities had recently drawn boos in Pittsburgh and ignited a bench-clearing brawl with the Chicago Cubs.36

The crowd thrilled to Hrabosky’s entrance.37 He retired the next three Pirates to preserve the tie.

Righty John Morlan had contributed a one-two-three fourth for Pittsburgh. In the fifth, he gave up a leadoff single to Simmons and hit Torre with a pitch. A curveball skipped past catcher Sanguillén for a wild pitch, allowing Simmons to score on McBride’s sacrifice fly. Reitz then drove Morlan’s hanging 1-and-2 curve over the left-field fence. His seventh homer of the season put the Cardinals on top, 9-6.38

The Pirates chipped away at Hrabosky’s cushion in the sixth. September call-up Ken Macha – a Pittsburgh-area native and Double-A MVP appearing in his fifth major-league game – pinch-hit for Morlan with one out and singled.39 Stennett’s double, bouncing over the fence in left-center, sent Macha to third.40 One out later, Oliver made it 9-8 by singling home Macha and Stennett.

Ramon Hernández’s two perfect innings and Giusti’s double-play-aided eighth kept the Pirates within striking distance. Stennett’s and Hebner’s two-out singles set up Oliver with runners at the corners in the eighth, but Hrabosky induced an inning-ending force.

Attempting to finish off the win in the ninth, Hrabosky struck out Stargell but hit Parker with a pitch. Sanguillén chopped a single up the middle, and Parker headed for third. McBride’s throw hit Parker and went past Reitz. It got away from Hrabosky, who was backing up the play, and Parker scored the tying run.41

Giusti worked around Smith’s leadoff single in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Hrabosky and Giusti traded one-two-three innings in the 10th.

Hrabosky had six innings of relief in the books when he returned for the top of the 11th, his right hand torn from repeatedly rubbing the ball between pitches.42 Art Howe – like Macha, a rookie hailing from near Pittsburgh – bunted toward third. His feet-first slide into first base beat Reitz’s throw for a single.43 Speedy September call-up Miguel Diloné ran for Howe,44 and Stargell’s bouncer into right sent him to third.

Parker struck out, but Sanguillén’s high chopper past the drawn-in Cardinals infield drove in Diloné with the tiebreaking run.45 On Hrabosky’s 99th pitch of the game,46 Kirkpatrick pulled a double into the gap in left, and Stargell and Sanguillén scored.47 Hrabosky’s ironman night – the longest outing of his 13-season career – was done: 6 1/3 innings, 10 hits, 9 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 6 runs, 5 earned.48 The Pirates took a 12-9 lead to the bottom of the 11th.

Murtaugh faced a decision. All that remained in the bullpen were call-ups Juan Jiménez and Jim Minshall and seldom-used veteran Daryl Patterson.49 Wanting to save his starters for the Pirates’ coming series with the Mets,50 Murtaugh brought in the 25-year-old Jiménez for his third big-league appearance.51

In the Cardinals’ dugout, Brock banged a bat on the steps. “We’re gonna get four [runs],” he yelled. “We’ve got nine runs, let’s get 13. Let’s not stop now.”52

Sizemore singled off Hebner’s glove, and Smith walked on four pitches. Simmons sent Jiménez’s next pitch into the gap in right-center, bringing home Sizemore and putting two runners in scoring position for Torre.53

Murtaugh turned to the 26-year-old Minshall for just the third time since his promotion.54 Torre grounded to second baseman Stennett, who earlier had made his first error in 59 games.55 Stennett bobbled the ball, then threw wildly past first. Smith and Simmons scored, Torre reached second, and it was a 12-12 tie.56

Larry Herndon ran for Torre.57 McBride’s attempted sacrifice went for a single, and the winning run was 90 feet away.58 Minshall struck out Reitz, and rookie Jim Dwyer pinch-hit for backup shortstop Jack Heidemann.

Dwyer hit a fly ball to right. Richie Zisk had no play on Herndon. The Cardinals had a 13-12 win – and a half-game lead in the division.

“That’s got to be the greatest game ever played,” Hrabosky said afterward.59

“That’s the best game I’ve ever seen and played in,” Pittsburgh’s Oliver acknowledged.60

“[T]his game could be the turning point of the season for both clubs,” observed the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.61

But the NL East had even more twists ahead. Effective starts by the pitchers Murtaugh declined to use in relief in St. Louis – Juan Pizarro, Jerry Reuss, and Rooker – netted three straight wins over the Mets and sole possession of first place.62 A Pittsburgh loss and a St. Louis win on September 29 knotted the standings,63 but the Pirates’ season-ending sweep of the Cubs,64 combined with the Cardinals’ October 1 loss to the Montreal Expos on Mike Jorgensen’s home run off Bob Gibson,65 gave Pittsburgh the division title.66

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Mike Huber and copy-edited by Len Levin. SABR members Gary Belleville and Kurt Blumenau provided insightful comments on an earlier version of this article.

Photo credit: Jim Dwyer, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play. He also reviewed game coverage in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Press, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspapers; and a recording of the KDKA-AM (Pittsburgh) radio broadcast, posted on YouTube by the Classic Baseball on the Radio account.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN197409250.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B09250SLN1974.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKBKKB1McEw

Notes

1 The Cardinals had won the NL pennant in 1968 but lost the World Series to the Detroit Tigers. They won World Series championships in 1964 and 1967.

2 The Cardinals spent 90 days in first place in 1974. The Philadelphia Phillies were in first place for 75 days, the Pirates 25 days, the Montreal Expos 19 days, the Chicago Cubs two days, and the New York Mets one day. St. Louis’s largest deficit in the division standings was 3½ games on September 10.

3 George E. Curry, “Cardinals’ Winning Ways a Hit with Downtown Business,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 4, 1974: 1A; Dick Kaegel, “Bullpen to Rescue Again as Birds Sweep,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 1974: 1E.

4 The 1973 Pirates were 80-82 and in third place, 2½ games behind the Mets. They were eliminated from the NL East race while playing a makeup game on the day after the regular season schedule ended.

5 Bob Smizik, “Here Are the Answers to All Those Pirate Questions,” Pittsburgh Press, June 30, 1974: D-4; Bob Smizik, “Pirates Grounded by Reds, 9-4: Umpires Plague Bucs Again in Fourth Straight Home Loss,” Pittsburgh Press, July 14, 1974: D-1.

6 “[The fight] relieved the guys’ frustration, helped to bury their anger and brought them closer together as a team,” Willie Stargell remembered in his 1984 autobiography. “From this point forward, we were pennant contenders.” Bob Smizik, “Bucs, Reds Fight to Split Decision: Pirates Fall, 3-2, Win in Brawl, 2-1,” Pittsburgh Press, July 15, 1974: 20; Jeff Samuels, “Pirates Sweep into First, 4-1, 10-2,” Pittsburgh Press, August 26, 1974: 24; Willie Stargell and Tom Bird, Willie Stargell: An Autobiography (New York: Harper & Row, 1984), 165.

7 Samuels, “Pirates Sweep into First, 4-1, 10-2.”

8 Bob Smizik, “Brett’s Elbow OK as Bucs Handle Cubs, 12-4,” Pittsburgh Press, September 11, 1974: 59.

9 Giusti, the Pirates’ fireman since 1970, injured his back in pregame practice on September 10 and did not pitch again until September 19. Rotation mainstay Ellis broke his hand when hit by a batted ball on September 11 and missed the rest of the season. Smizik, “Brett’s Elbow OK as Bucs Handle Cubs, 12-4”; Bob Smizik, “Bad Break for Pirates: Ellis’ Hand,” Pittsburgh Press, September 12, 1974: 32; Bob Smizik, “Plunge of ’74: Can the Pirates Climb Back?,” Pittsburgh Press, September 17, 1974: 27.

10 Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets in 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974: 1B; Neal Russo, “The Team with Something Extra Wins in 17th Inning,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 14, 1974: 5A; Neal Russo, “Forsch, Hrabosky, and Fun, Fun, Fun,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 16, 1974: 1B.

11 Jeff Samuels, “Extra-Inning 2-1 Loss Rough on Bucs: ‘Mad Hungarian’ Eases Pressure on Cards,” Pittsburgh Press, September 18, 1974: 60; Neal Russo, “Hrabosky Disposes of Hated Enemy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 18, 1974: 1C.

12 Bob Smizik, “Pirates Sing Different September Song, 4-1,” Pittsburgh Press, September 19, 1974: 36; Neal Russo, “Rooker Ruins Cards as Pirates Close Gap,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 19. 1974: 1B; Bob Smizik, “What a Relief! Giusti Returns in Style, 8-6,” Pittsburgh Press, September 20, 1974: 36; Neal Russo, “Cards Limp Home Half-Game Ahead: Hrabosky Jolted by Bucs,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 20, 1974: 1B.

13 Bob Smizik, “Pirates Forget Mets, Brace for St. Louis Showdown,” Pittsburgh Press, September 23, 1974: 22.

14 Bob Smizik, “Rooker Puts Bucs Back in Business: Hebner’s Single Buries Cards in 10th,1-0,” Pittsburgh Press, September 24, 1974: 34; Dick Kaegel, “Unlikely Hero Propels Pirates Past Cardinals,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 24, 1974: 1B.

15 Bob Smizik, “Up-And-Down Bucs Back in First,” Pittsburgh Press, September 25, 1974: 64.

16 Dick Kaegel, “Tomorrow Is Here: Cardinals ‘Gotta’ Win,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 25, 1974: 1E.

17 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio,” YouTube video (Classic Baseball on the Radio), 3:22:26, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKBKKB1McEw. Accessed October 2024.

18 Dick Kaegel, “Debut Gives Forsch Butterflies,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 7, 1974: 4B; Neal Russo, “Big Days Ahead for Cardinals’ Forsch, Gibson,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 13, 1974: 5A.

19 Neal Russo, “Forsch Is Defensive About His Pitching Jewel,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 7, 1974: 5A; Russo, “Forsch, Hrabosky, and Fun, Fun, Fun.”

20 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

21 On September 19 in Pittsburgh, the Cardinals intentionally walked Richie Zisk with a runner on second, one out, and a 5-4 deficit in the seventh inning. Al Hrabosky struck out Bob Robertson, but Hebner hit a three-run homer for an 8-4 Pittsburgh lead. Robertson was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out in the seventh and the Cardinals leading 1-0 on September 24. Hebner then drew a walk against Curtis to tie the game, and Dave Parker’s two-run pinch-hit single against reliever Mike Garman put the Pirates ahead, 3-1.

22 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

23 Smizik, “Brett’s Elbow OK as Bucs Handle Cubs, 12-4.”

24 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.” Earlier in the month, on September 10, the 35-year-old Brock stole his 105th base of the season, breaking the major-league record set by Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1962. He had one stolen base in each of the first two games of the Pittsburgh series to give him a total of 116, but he did not steal any bases in this game. Brock finished the season with 118 stolen bases, which remained the record until Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s stole 130 bases in 1982.

25 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

26 The 21-year-old Demery had made his major-league debut in June. He spent most of his time with the Pirates in the starting rotation but had been sent to the bullpen after two poor starts in early September. Samuels, “Extra-Inning 2-1 Loss Rough on Bucs.”

27 Bill Christine, “Game ‘Cracker’ Shakes up Brett,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 26, 1974: 14.

28 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

29 Tyson was batting .220 with a .541 OPS. Since September 10, Schoendienst had pinch-hit for him in the fifth inning of two games and the sixth inning of two other games.

30 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

31 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

32 Bill Conlin, “Cards Climb off the Deck Again,” Philadelphia Daily News, September 26, 1974: 56.

33 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio”; Bruce Keidan, “Hrabosky Puts Phils 6 Games Out,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 16, 1974: 1-C;

34 The Pirates had scored three of those runs on September 19, when Stargell’s two-run double and Hebner’s three-run homer overturned St. Louis’s eighth-inning lead.

35 Keidan, “Hrabosky Puts Phils 6 Games Out.”

36 Vince Leonard, “Hrabosky Sees Card Rainbow,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 18, 1974: 20; Dick Kaegel, “Blows by Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974: 1C.

37 Conlin, “Cards Climb off the Deck Again.”

38 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

39 Macha, whom the Pirates had selected from the University of Pittsburgh in the sixth round of the June 1972 amateur draft, was named MVP of the Eastern League in 1974 after batting .345 with 22 home runs and 100 RBIs for the Thetford Mines (Québec) Pirates. Charley Feeney, “Sweep of Montreal Pads Pirate Lead in East,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 9, 1974: 26.

40 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

41 Dick Kaegel, “Never-Say-Die Cards Climb Back on Top,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 26, 1974: 1B; “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

42 Conlin, “Cards Climb off the Deck Again.”

43 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.” The Pirates signed Howe as an undrafted free agent in 1970 at age 23; he was playing in a Pittsburgh-area semipro league. Howe reached the majors at age 27 in June 1974 and went on to appear in nearly 900 games in 11 seasons with the Pirates, Houston Astros, and Cardinals. He later managed the Astros, A’s, and Mets for a total of 14 seasons. Bob Smizik, “Art Howe: A Fed Leaguer’s Dream Comes True,” Pittsburgh Press, July 12, 1974: 22.

44 Diloné had stolen 85 bases for the Salem Pirates in the Class A Carolina League. He stole 267 bases in 800 major-league games over 12 seasons and 7 teams.

45 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

46 The author determined Hrabosky’s pitch count from reviewing a recording of the KDKA-AM (Pittsburgh) broadcast.

47 “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

48 Garman replaced Hrabosky and recorded the final two outs of the 11th. He was credited with the win when the Cardinals rallied in the bottom of the inning.

49 On the KDKA-AM radio broadcast in Pittsburgh, Bob Prince observed that Jiménez was warming up in the top of the 11th. Once the Cardinals began batting in their half of the 11th, Prince noted that Minshall and Patterson were throwing in the bullpen. Patterson, in his fifth major-league season, had been demoted to Triple A in August and had appeared in just one game since his September recall, pitching 2 2/3 innings of long relief and allowing eight runs, six earned, in a 17-2 loss to the Expos on September 14. “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio”; “Pizarro Returns,” Pittsburgh Press, August 20, 1974: 26; Bob Smizik, “Pirates Bruised by Expos, 17-2: Bucs in Second as Cards Win,” Pittsburgh Press, September 15, 1974: D-1; Bill Christine, “Wrong Place for Rookies,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 27, 1974: 13.

50 “‘We Still Can Do It’ –  Al Oliver,” Pittsburgh Press, September 26, 1974: 32.

51 Jiménez, who had spent the season with the Pirates’ Triple-A team in Charleston, West Virginia, had made his major-league debut in long relief in Pittsburgh’s 9-4 loss to the Cubs on September 9 and also pitched in the Pirates’ 17-2 loss to the Expos on September 14. This was his first appearance in 11 days.

52 Conlin, “Cards Climb off the Deck Again.”

53 Kaegel, “Never-Say-Die Cards Climb Back on Top”; “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio.”

54 Minshall had split the season between Pittsburgh’s Triple-A and Double-A affiliates. In his two big-league appearances, he had faced a total of five batters in the Pirates’ September 14 loss to the Expos and September 22 loss to the Mets.

55 Stennett had been charged with an error in the fifth inning when he collided with Parker on Hrabosky’s popup to right. “1974 09 25 Pirates at Cardinals – EPIC GAME – Vintage Baseball Radio”; Conlin, “Cards Climb off the Deck Again.”

56 Jeff Samuels, “Cards Fight off Death, Stagger Pirates, 13-12,” Pittsburgh Press, September 26, 1974: 32.

57 The 20-year-old Herndon had spent the 1974 season with the Cardinals’ Arkansas Double-A affiliate. He was appearing in his 12th major-league game. He went on to play in more than 1,500 major-league games in 14 seasons with the Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, and Detroit Tigers.

58 Samuels, “Cards Fight off Death, Stagger Pirates, 13-12.” McBride was named NL Rookie of the Year for 1974.

59 Kaegel, “Never-Say-Die Cards Climb Back on Top.”

60 Neal Russo, “It Was ‘Greatest Game,’ According to Oliver,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 26, 1974: 1B.

61 Charles Feeney, “Cards Beat Bucs, 13-12, in 11 Innings,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 26, 1974: 14.

62 Bob Smizik, “Revived Pirates Slam into First-Place Tie, 11-5,” Pittsburgh Press, September 27, 1974: 38; Bob Smizik, “Reuss Shuns Pressure, Guns Down Mets, 2-1,” Pittsburgh Press, September 28, 1974: 6; Augie Borgi, “Pirates HR Mets 7-3, Lead by 1 as Cubs Clip Cards,” New York Daily News, September 29, 1974: 121.

63 Bob Smizik, “Apodaca Tongue-Ties Pirates,” Pittsburgh Press, September 30, 1974: 24; Neal Russo, “Hot Race Boils Down to Three Games: Errors, Cruz’s Homer Put Cardinals in Tie,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 30, 1974: 1C.

64 Bob Smizik, “Pirates Blunder into Division Title,” Pittsburgh Press, October 3, 1974: 35.

65 Neal Russo, “Magic Number Turns to Tragic: Cardinals Lose on Expo Homer,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 2, 1974: 1E.

66 Pittsburgh won six of seven games after September 25; St. Louis won four of six and was rained out once. The Pirates lost the NL Championship Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, three games to one.