Apr. 9, 1963 - Harsh reality, wearing the uniform of the St. Louis Cardinals, smothered the New York Mets like a massive wet blanket today. With the sun shining, bands playing, 25,849 fans gathered in the brightly painted Polo Grounds, and a new season beginning, hopes were high as the afternoon began — not foolish hopes for major triumphs but hopes for an entertaining, exciting, improved Met team capable of giving the more established clubs a battle. Three hours later, there was a chill in the air and in such hopes. The Cardinals had won, 7-0. They had scored two runs before the Mets went to bat, helped along by two Met errors in the first inning. In the third inning, they had tallied two more runs on a homer, two singles, and two balks, and the Mets could not produce a hint of a threat after that. Ernie Broglio, the Cardinal right-hander, was the chief spoilsport. He retired 20 batters in a row from the second through the eighth, and finished his 2-hitter with 8 strikeouts and only 2 walks. Roger Craig was the loser. Regarding Broglio, Duke Snider had this to say after the game: “He should win 20 if he doesn’t get hurt. We won’t face many tougher than him.” Someone tried to ease the pain of the loss by saying to Duke: “Great catch you made,” referring to his sprint into left-center to backhand a long fly ball. “Yeah,” said Duke dourly, who had gone 0-for-4 at the plate. “Good catch, lousy hitting.”
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