Rummaging thru an old baseball box in my basement, an old scorecard dated April 14, 1968 captured my attention. As a young teenager then, my father took me to Wrigley Field on Chicago's north-side. The Cubs were hosting the St. Louis Cardinals, the 1967 World Champions.

My old scorecard lists admission to the grandstands, where we sat - $1.50 each.

With the aid of my old scorecard, I can recall as if it was yesterday the game that I inked onto the scorecard. Five, future members of the "Hall of Fame" battled in the chilly, windy April of '68.

Anyway, here's the recap of a "Game to Remember"

Starting Pitchers - Dick Hughes, Cards, Joe Niekro, Cubs

As a young Cub fan I watched as the first two Cardinal batters, Lou Brook and Curt Flood both singled to centerfield. And was totally stunned when their number 3 hitter Roger Maris pulled a home run off Joe Niekro into the right-field bleachers giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Zow-Wee! My Cubs are losing by 3-runs and haven't even batted yet. The next batter first baseman Orlando Cepeda was hit by a pitch from Niekro. Three straight flyouts ended the inning.

However - To open the bottom of the first - SS Don Kessinger flied out to Brock in leftfield, 2B Glenn Beckert walked, RF Billy Williams stroked a sweet double scoring Beckert. 3B Ron Santo walked and the "legendary Cub" Mr. Ernie Banks blasted a long three-run homer, putting the Cubs up 4-3. - "That's my guy" - "What a first inning!"

The Cubs scored two more in the 2nd, and were leading 6-3 going into the 4th. Catcher Tim McCarver opened the inning with a single to center and 3B Mike Shannon followed with a homer to left, cutting the Cubs lead to 6-5.

Glenn Beckert and Billy Williams singled to leadoff the last off the fourth. Ron Santo walked, loading the bases. A passed ball scored Berkert. Cubs 7-5 after 4-innings.

Time for hot dogs... here's some '68 prices as listed in my old scorecard-program:

Hot Dogs 30c ... Popcorn 15c ... Peanuts 25c ... Lemonade 25c ... Coca Cola or Fresca 15c & 25c ... Budweiser Beer or Heileman's Old Style Beer 45c ... Borden's Milk 20c ... Cubs T-shirts $1.50 ... Wrigley's Chewing Gum 5c ... Scorecard-Program 15c ... Pencil 10c ... Borden's Frosty Malt 25c ... Hamburger 45c and Taffy Apple 20c

Eight Inning - Roger Maris led off and belted his second homer of the game, into the right-fielder bleaches, this time off reliever Bobby Tiefenauer.

The Cubs held on to beat the Cardinals 7-6 - In the "greatest game ever played" - or something like that.

----------------------------------------------- The Lineups - Cardinals' Manager Red Schoendienst

Cardinals - Brock LF 1-for-4 ... Curt Flood CF 1-5 ... Maris RF 2-4, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs ... Cepeda 1B 1-3 ... McCarver C 1-3 ... Shannon 3B 2-4, 2 RBIs ... J. Javier 2B 0-4 ... D. Maxvill SS 0-4 ... Pitchers Hughes (loser) L. Jaster, Gilson, Torrez ... Ricketts C 0-1. ------------------- Cubs' Manager Leo Durocher

Cubs - Kessinger SS 1-for-4 ... Beckert 2B 3-4, 1 RBI ... Billy Williams RF 3-5, 2 RBIs ... Ron Santo 0-1, 3 Walks ... Ernie Banks 1B 1-4, 3 RBIs ... Randy Hundley C 1-4 ... A. Spangler LF 1-4 ... Adolpho Phillips CF 1-3 ... Pitchers Joe Niekro (winner) Tiefenauer (save) Baseballhistorian.com - Archives - Scorecard 4/14/1968 (Rotating Green Boxes) 1968 Chicago Cubs 1968 St Louis Cardinals