A Photo of Cardinals
No, this is not a photo of members of the College of Cardinals, the electors of the next Catholic Pope.
I don’t know when I first saw this photo of the key players and manager of the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, nor for what particular reason it made an impression on me.
As a ten-year old boy these Cardinals were the chief rival of my hometown Chicago Cubs (The Madeleine for a Chicagoan – LRC Blog). They were rivals due to the proximity of Chicago and St. Louis and because the Cardinals were the team to beat that always got the better of the Cubs. In 1967 they won the World Series against the Boston Red Sox in seven games and in 1968 they lost the series in seven games to the Detroit Tigers. The nine players represent the starting lineup and the superstar starting pitcher (Bob Gibson, 3rd from the left). Four are members of the baseball hall of fame (Gibson, Brock; Cepeda, and Schoendienst). Three are St. Louis area natives who spent almost their whole careers (as players and afterwards) with the team (Shannon, Maxvill, and Schoendienst).
Visually, it seems even more than contrived, more like photo shopped. If it first appeared today I would have thought it was generated by AI. The hats and uniforms stand out as colorized, almost suspended in air. I love the colors of the shirts and sweaters. Was the photo of manager Schoendienst added to the photo of the players? But now what is most striking to me is the appearance of the players as members of a team. There is a team look. Individuality is limited. Soon afterward this radically changed in sports and in American life in general. Look at the images below of the Cardinals of the early 70s. Long sideburns, facial hair and long hair quickly became the norm. Individuality took over, but they still looked alike!
Short summaries of the life and career of each player (from left to right) and their manager follow below.
Roger Eugene Maris (born Maras; September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 home runs in 1961.
Maris played in the minor leagues from 1953 to 1956, and made his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians in 1957. He was traded to the Kansas City Athletics during the 1958 season, and to the New York Yankees after the 1959 season. Maris finished his playing career as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967 and 1968. Maris was an AL All-Star from 1959 through 1962,[a] the AL Most Valuable Player in 1960 and 1961, and an AL Gold Glove Award winner in 1960. Maris appeared in seven World Series; he played for Yankees teams that won the World Series in 1961 and 1962 and for a Cardinals team that won the World Series in 1967.
Maris’s home run record was controversial, as the previous single-season home run record (60, set by Babe Ruth in 1927) was set during a period when MLB teams played 154 games per season. Maris broke Ruth’s record in the year the AL baseball season was extended to 162 games, hitting his 61st home run in the last game of the season, which led to questions about the legitimacy of his record.[2] Maris’ major league record remained unbroken until Mark McGwire surpassed it in 1998; his AL record stood until 2022, when Aaron Judge hit 62 home runs for the New York Yankees.
James Timothy McCarver (October 16, 1941 – February 16, 2023) was an American professional baseball catcher, television sports commentator, and singer.[1][2] He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1959 to 1980 for four teams, spending almost all of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. A two-time All-Star, he helped the Cardinals to the 1964 World Series title, batting .478 in the Series, including a three-run home run in the tenth inning to win Game 5. In 1966, he became the first catcher since the 19th century to lead the National League (NL) in triples with 13. McCarver was runner-up for the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player Award, behind teammate Orlando Cepeda, after batting .295 and leading NL catchers in assists and fielding percentage.
Traded to the Phillies after the 1969 season, he was later re-joined by pitcher and St. Louis teammate Steve Carlton, becoming his regular catcher as the team won three division titles from 1976 to 1978. After increased use as a pinch hitter in his last
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
