[wireman]

In Game Four of the 1963 World Series, the Kansas City A’s had jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the second inning. The St. Louis Cardinals spent the rest of the game chasing them, but once the “A-Train” had pulled out of the station, the Cards just weren’t going to catch them.

If there was one thing the Cards knew in their hearts, it was that they couldn’t afford to play the Chasing Game again.

That’s why the first inning of Game Five was so devastating.

Chico Fernandez spanked a single to lead off Game Five against starter Hal Woodeshick; it was the third straight game that Fernandez had opened with a base hit.

Suddenly, Woodeshick had no more control than a nervous puppy: The veteran southpaw walked Ron Hunt and Jim Marshall. The Cardinals found themselves in the bases-loaded, no-out jam that had become so familiar to them.

Woodeshick righted himself somewhat. He got Tony Kubek to loft a fly ball to left-center that scored Fernandez, then induced Johnny Callison to fly out.

Two on, two outs: The Redbirds were down by a run but, if they could get one more out, they would live with that. Unfortunately, Kansas City’s Don Wert had another idea. He hammered a fly ball to deep left-center for a standup double that scored Hunt and Marshall.

Woodeshick conceded the open base to catcher Bob Oldis, then Carl Warwick drilled a single that brought in still another run, making it 4-0. Pitcher Joe Horlen struck out to end the inning.

The A’s had batted around and the Cardinals hadn’t even put a fingerprint on a bat.

Worse yet, 20-game-winner Horlen was warming up for the A’s, and everybody in Busch Stadium could tell his arm was a whip on this brisk fall evening. The Athletics were sitting on top of the baseball world.

Woodeshick and Horlen settled in for a pitchers’ duel, a development the A’s were perfectly happy with. No more runs tonight? No problem. Advantage, Kansas City.

The score was still 4-0 with two outs in the bottom of the 4th, when Cards’ first baseman Fred Whitfield lofted a fly ball down the right field line. Now, in the days when the Browns played in St. Louis and Busch Stadium was Sportsman’s Park, the fence down the line was 335 feet away; in those days, Whitfield’s fly would have found its way into a right fielder’s glove. But in this new, more enlightened age, fly balls like Whitfield’s are destined for glory. And so it was, as the ball sailed over the fence and took a seat in the fourth row.

For Horlen, it was a bad break; for the Cards, a foot in the door.

Meanwhile, Woodeshick was keeping the A’s at bay. Since their 1st-inning eruption, they had been firing blanks. And Woodeshick seemed to be settling into an unflappable rhythm. Now it was up to the Redbirds’ offense.

In the bottom of the 5th, after a Don Blasingame groundout, catcher Earl Battey walked and was sacrificed to second by Woodeshick. But “smallball” abruptly became academic when Willie Davis hammered a 400-foot homer to right-center. It was Horlen’s first big slip, and it sliced his lead to a single run.

After Kansas City’s second straight 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 6th, the nervous fidgeting in the A’s dugout eloquently bespoke the nervousness that was slowly creeping over the team. Woodeshick had robbed Kansas City’s batters of their confidence, and Horlen’s ability to hold the narrow lead seemed to be the team’s only hope.

It didn’t take long to resolve the issue: Tom Tresh led off the 6th with a single, and Bob Allison followed by crushing a colossal home run that shifted the advantage to St. Louis, 5-4. It was Allison’s third homer of an exceptional World Series.

Horlen finished out the inning uneventfully, but the damage was done.

Woodeshick continued to dazzle the A’s batters. Kansas City went down 1-2-3 in the 7th; in the 8th, Woodeshick retired the first two batters before Johnny Callison blooped a single to left-centerfield. When Davis bobbled the ball, a daring Callison steamed into second base.

Callison had hit Woodeshick’s 100th pitch and, since Callison was now perched dangerously in scoring position, Cardinals’ manager Johnny Keane decided to take no chances. Woodeshick retired for the evening, giving way to John Wyatt.

One base hit away from a new game, with Woodeshick out of the way, the A’s had reason to hope. All--Star first baseman Norm Cash headed out of the dugout to pinch hit for Wert. Much to the A’s chagrin, however, the big slugger, who hit 30 homers in the regular season, harmlessly bounced out.

Now the A’s would have to do it, if they did it at all, against ace Cardinals’ closer Ron Perranoski. It was a considerable chore, since Perranoski had not given up an earned run since August.

Bob Oldis and Carl Warwick were easy bounce-outs to lead off the A’s 9th inning. Charlie Lau, who could spank a base hit at 8 in the morning with one foot still in bed, pinch hit a single to right.

So the game returned to its starting point: Chico Fernandez. Fernandez gave the St. Louis fans a start with a long, opposite-field fly ball that looked like it might clear the fence in right. But it was a ride that ended with the baseball safely within the confines of Busch Stadium.

St. Louis’ surprising come-from-behind 5-4 victory put them one game from the world championship. The series returns to Kansas City tonight with the Cards needing only a split of two games to win it all.

Tony Kubek, who usually shares time in leftfield with the now-injured Chuck Essegian, thinks it shouldn’t have come to that.

“If Chuck were in the lineup, I don’t think Woody could have cruised through our lineup like that,” Kubek opined. “The R’s just aren’t getting BI’d.”

“I think we need another hero in a hurry.”

Tony?