![]() Now, here’s a super outfielder, but he just couldn’t find the ball.” Yet, in his autobiography “Nobody’s Perfect,” McLain said, “Curt Flood simply blew it. In a tribute to Northrup after his passing, longtime Detroit sports columnist Jerry Green of reported Northrup had told him, “Flood never could have caught the ball.”ĭenny McLain, ace of the 1968 Tigers staff, said in a June 8, 2011, interview with Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, “I never once bought the argument that (Flood) misplayed the ball like everyone says. If I hadn’t slipped, I might have got it.”Ĭardinals manager Red Schoendienst told the Associated Press, “I’m sure he could have caught it if he hadn’t charged in on it.” A ball hit right at me gives me trouble in day games. ![]() The reason I started in, I just didn’t know where the ball was. In the Associated Press accounts of the game, Flood said, “I couldn’t see it against the shirts (in the crowd). “The guys on the bench all said he wouldn’t have caught it even if he hadn’t stumbled,” Northrup said in The Sporting News report. In the visiting team locker room, Northrup was asked whether Flood should have caught the ball. I should have made the play but I didn’t, and that’s all there is to it. 29, 1968, edition of The Sporting News, Dick Kaegel described this exchange between reporters and Flood, who sat on the edge of a table and sipped from a bottle of champagne that was intended for a Cardinals celebration:Ĭould you have caught the ball if you hadn’t slipped? Others, though, have said Northrup’s shot was so well-struck it would have eluded Flood regardless of his stumble.Ī film clip of the play on YouTube shows Northrup hit the ball hard, but it landed in a spot where a center fielder (especially one of Flood’s skill) likely would be able to race back and make a catch.īecause a strong case can be made for either side, the argument likely will endure for as long as baseball has fans. Boxscoreįlood, a seven-time Gold Glove Award winner, was labeled the goat because many thought he would have caught Northrup’s liner if not for the slip. Detroit went on to a 4-1 victory, winning its first World Series title in 23 years and stunning the defending champion Cardinals, who had taken a 3-games-to-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The next batter, Bill Freehan, drove in Northrup with a double, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead. ![]() Though he recovered quickly, it was too late to catch the ball, which fell behind him, several yards in front of the warning track.īoth runners scored and Northrup raced to third base. (Some say he slipped on a slick spot in the grass.) He briefly stumbled but didn’t fall. As he did, his spikes appeared to catch in the turf. Realizing his mistake, Flood tried to move back and to his right. Northrup lined Gibson’s first offering to center field.įlood initially broke in for the catch. 10, 1968, at Busch Stadium, Northrup, a left-handed batter, faced Bob Gibson with Norm Cash on second base, Willie Horton on first and two outs. In the top of the seventh inning of the scoreless Game 7 on Oct. The contentious question remains: Would Flood have caught the ball if he hadn’t stumbled? One of the most memorable and hotly debated plays in Cardinals history always will be the two-run triple by Detroit’s Jim Northrup on a drive that sailed over the head of center fielder Curt Flood in Game 7 of the 1968 World Series.
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