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How Red Schoendienst survived Cards’ 5-20 start in 1973

Posted in Games, Managers on May 13, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Forty years ago, the Cardinals had such a dreadful start that general manager Bing Devine was being asked almost daily about whether he’d fire manager Red Schoendienst.

“I’m tired of hearing that question,” Devine said to The Sporting News. “I’ll be gone before Red.”

reggie_cleveland2The 1973 Cardinals lost their first five games and 12 of their first 13. Their 1-12 record ranked among the worst in big-league history, recalling the 0-13 start of the 1920 Tigers, the 1-12 record of the 1962 expansion Mets and the 1-15 mark of the 1969 Indians.

Nerves were raw; tension was high. After Cardinals starter Reggie Cleveland gave up a key two-run, two-out double to Bill Robinson in an April 22 loss to the Phillies, Schoendienst groused, “That’s why he’s a .500 pitcher.” Boxscore

The Cardinals’ skid extended into May. After the Giants beat the Cardinals, 9-7, on May 8 (Bob Gibson yielded four home runs, two to Bobby Bonds and one each to Willie McCovey and Dave Kingman), St. Louis had a 5-20 record, the worst in the major leagues, and was in last place in the National League East. Boxscore

The Cardinals were 1-7 in one-run decisions and 0-4 in extra-inning games.

After shoring up the bullpen by calling up left-handers Al Hrabosky and Rich Folkers from the minors and acquiring veteran junkball specialist Orlando Pena from the Orioles, as well as replacing Ray Busse at shortstop with Mike Tyson, the Cardinals began to stabilize, then thrive.

From the low point of the 5-20 record, the Cardinals won 56 of their next 81 games, boosting their record to 61-50 by Aug. 5 and securing first place in the division, five games ahead of the second-place Cubs.

From there, the streaky Cardinals reverted to their early-season form.

Gibson injured his knee running the bases against the Mets and was sidelined from Aug. 4 to Sept. 29. From Aug. 6 to Aug. 18, St. Louis lost eight in a row and 11 of 12, falling to 62-61.

Overall, the Cardinals lost 31 of their last 51 games and finished in second place, 1.5 games behind the Mets.

Previously: 2011 Red Sox can learn lessons from 1973 Cardinals

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Grady Hatton was part of Cardinals’ leadership club

Posted in Hitters, Managers on April 17, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

With a 76-78 record and fourth-place finish in the National League, the 1956 Cardinals lacked enough playing talent. What they offered instead was a high level of leadership skill.

grady_hattonNine players on the 1956 Cardinals would become major-league managers. The nine, in alphabetical order, are: Ken Boyer, Al Dark, Joe Frazier, Alex Grammas, Grady Hatton, Solly Hemus, Whitey Lockman, Red Schoendienst and Bill Virdon.

Hatton, 90, died April 11, 2013, in Warren, Texas.

An infielder, Hatton played 12 years (1946-56 and 1960) in the big leagues for the Reds, White Sox, Red Sox, Cardinals, Orioles and Cubs. He had 1,068 hits and a .254 batting average.

As manager of the Astros from 1966-68, Hatton helped develop emerging standouts such as second baseman Joe Morgan, outfielders Rusty Staub and Jimmy Wynn and pitchers Larry Dierker and Don Wilson.

Hatton’s stint with the Cardinals was brief. His contract was sold by the Red Sox to the Cardinals on May 11, 1956. Three months later, the Cardinals sent him to the Orioles in a waiver transaction.

A left-handed batter, Hatton appeared in 44 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter and second baseman, and hit .247 for the 1956 Cardinals.

Hatton was acquired by general manager Frank Lane as part of a roster overhaul. Within a one-week stretch in May 1956, Lane acquired Hatton and two other infielders _ Bobby Morgan from the Phillies and Chuck Harmon from the Reds _ to bolster the bench.

“You can see what I was trying to do,” Lane said to The Sporting News. “I wanted to give the Cardinals a tough core; men who’ve been around and who play anywhere, any thing. It wasn’t guesswork. It was me, the coaches and the manager (Fred Hutchinson) pooling ideas, hoping to come up with a club that can go all the way.”

The 1956 Cardinals had opened the season with a middle infield of Alex Grammas at shortstop and Red Schoendienst at second base. After three games, rookie Don Blasingame replaced Grammas.

Blasingame was better at second base than he was at shortstop. In June, Lane upset most Cardinals fans when he swapped Schoendienst to the Giants. Among the players acquired by the Cardinals in the deal was Dark, who became the shortstop, with Blasingame replacing Schoendienst at second.

Hatton was expected to back up Blasingame. But he batted .118 (4-for-34) with runners in scoring position and .214 (6-for-28) as a pinch-hitter.

On July 31, the Cardinals claimed Rocky Nelson, a left-handed batter, on waivers from the Dodgers. The next day, Hatton’s contract was sold to the Orioles. The Sporting News reported, “Hatton had not been delivering as the club’s left-handed batting specialist.”

Two years later, Hatton began his career as a manager, starting in the Orioles’ system. He moved to the Cubs’ organization, then the Astros’. In 1965, Hatton managed the Astros’ Class AAA Oklahoma City club to a 91-54 record, mentoring prospects such as catcher Jerry Grote, shortstop Sonny Jackson and future Cardinals pitchers Joe Hoerner, Chuck Taylor and Chris Zachary.

Hatton became manager of the Astros in 1966, replacing Lum Harris. Under Hatton, the Astros were 72-90 in 1966 and 69-93 in 1967. After winning five of their first six in 1968, the Astros faltered. From June 1 through June 17, they lost 14 of 16, including a four-game sweep by the Cardinals. Hatton was fired and replaced by Harry Walker, the former Cardinals player and manager.

“The problem is hitting,” Hatton said to The Sporting News. “We have not hit since the day we left spring training.”

Previously: 1956 Cardinals groomed nine managers

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Why the Cardinals chose Cairo, Ill., for spring training

Posted in Executives, Managers, tagged , on March 2, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Seventy years ago, the defending World Series champion Cardinals shifted their spring training site from Florida to Illinois. Compared with where other big-league clubs had to go, the Cardinals considered themselves fortunate.

billy_southworth2In 1943, with the United States pouring resources into its fight against Germany and Japan in World War II, big-league baseball offered to help conserve by placing travel restrictions on where clubs could train in the spring.

Clubs were ordered to choose sites north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers and east of the Mississippi River.

The Browns of the American League selected Cape Girardeau, Mo., located 135 miles south of St. Louis. (Because Cape Girardeau is on the west bank of the Mississippi, the Browns technically were in violation of the rules, but baseball officials allowed it.)

The Cardinals picked Cairo, Ill., the southernmost spring training site of all 16 major league clubs. Cairo, then a town of 14,000, is located where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi. It is 40 miles south of Cape Girardeau.

“We’re going farther south than any other big-league training outfit,” Cardinals owner Sam Breadon said to The Sporting News. “We’ll be only a short distance from Tennessee and the weather down there is always from 12 to 15 degrees warmer than it is in St. Louis.”

Here is where the big-league teams trained in 1943:

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CLUB……………1943 TRAINING SITE……………1942 TRAINING SITE

Braves…………..Wallingford, Conn……………………..Sanford, Fla.

Cardinals……….Cairo, Ill……………………………………St. Petersburg, Fla.

Cubs………………French Lick, Ind……………………….Catalina Island, Calif.

Dodgers…………Bear Mountain, N.Y…………………..Havana, Cuba

Giants……………Lakewood, N.J………………………….Miami, Fla.

Phillies…………..Swarthmore, Pa……………………….Miami Beach, Fla.

Pirates……………Muncie, Ind…………………………….San Bernardino, Calif.

Reds………………Bloomington, Ind…………………….Tampa, Fla.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

CLUB……………1943 TRAINING SITE……………1942 TRAINING SITE

Athletics…………Wilmington, Del………………………..Anaheim, Calif.

Browns…………..Cape Girardeau, Mo…………………..DeLand, Fla.

Indians…………..West Lafayette, Ind……………………Clearwater, Fla.

Red Sox………….Medford, Mass………………………….Sarasota, Fla.

Senators…………College Park, Md………………………Orlando, Fla.

Tigers……………..Evansville, Ind…………………………Lakeland, Fla.

White Sox………..French Lick, Ind………………………Pasadena, Calif.

Yankees……………Asbury Park, N.J…………………….St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Cardinals didn’t report to Cairo, Ill., until mid-March, at least two weeks later than they usually went to St. Petersburg. They trained outdoors on a large field and indoors in a high school gym.

According to The Sporting News, the field drained well, “usable the day after a heavy rainfall,” and the gym was like “a steam room” because the Cardinals kept the temperature above 80.

Cardinals manager Billy Southworth projected a positive attitude, telling The Sporting News after the first week of workouts: “Let us have three days outdoors out of every five and we’ll be in thoroughly satisfactory condition for the pennant race. And let us have warm weather through most of the last two weeks and we’ll be in as good condition as we could attain anywhere in the country.”

The Cardinals’ Cairo spring didn’t hurt. They repeated as National League champions in 1943. They trained again in Cairo in 1944 and 1945 (winning a World Series title in ’44) before returning to St. Petersburg in 1946.

Previously: How Mort Cooper pitched 2 straight 1-hitters for Cardinals

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Cardinals spring lineup had Stan Musial, Earl Weaver

Posted in Hitters, Managers, Prospects on January 30, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

Stan Musial and Earl Weaver played together as starters in Cardinals major-league spring training games.

In one of those games, against the Yankees, Weaver was among 10 players who would go on to become big-league managers.

earl_weaverMusial, 92, and Weaver, 82, died on the same day, Jan. 19, 2013.

Both were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame _ Musial for his accomplishments as the greatest Cardinals player and Weaver for his success as Orioles manager.

In March 1952, Musial, 31, was in his prime. He had led the National League in batting average (his fifth of seven titles), triples and runs scored in 1951.

Weaver, 21, was in the Cardinals’ major-league camp for the first and only time. The 5-foot-7 second baseman was the youngest and shortest member of the Cardinals’ 40-man roster in March 1952, The Sporting News reported.

A St. Louis native, Weaver had signed with the Cardinals at 17 in February 1948, a month after he was graduated from Beaumont High School. He had played both for the Woltman Jewelers team that won the St. Louis Intermediate Municipal League championship three times and also for the Fred W. Stockham American Legion team that won Missouri state titles in 1945 and 1947, The Sporting News reported.

In his first four seasons (1948-51) in the Cardinals’ farm system, Weaver played on four teams that won league championships: West Frankfort (Illinois State) in 1948, St. Joseph (Western Association) in 1949, Winston-Salem (Carolina) in 1950 and Omaha (Western League) in 1951. Weaver’s manager at Winston-Salem and at Omaha was the legendary instructor George Kissell.

When Winston-Salem clinched the 1950 Carolina League title with a 3-1 victory over Burlington in Game 5 of the best-of-seven series, pitcher Vinegar Bend Mizell hit a home run and Weaver drove in the deciding runs with a bases-loaded single in the sixth inning.

“Scouts of the parent St. Louis Cardinals describe Weaver as a Solly Hemus type,” The Sporting News declared, comparing Weaver with the Cardinals’ feisty shortstop.

After being named to the 1951 Western League all-star team (along with Omaha teammate Ken Boyer), Weaver entered 1952 determined to win a spot on the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster as a backup to second baseman Red Schoendienst and player-manager Eddie Stanky.

Bob Broeg, the veteran St. Louis sports journalist, wrote, “Youngest of the fledgling Redbirds by just one day is Earl Weaver, hometown second baseman, who will face the unpleasant prospect of competing at the keystone against master fielder Red Schoendienst and manager Stanky.”

The Sporting News, in its March 5, 1952, edition, reported: “In Earl Weaver, the smallest athlete in camp _ 5 feet 7 _ the Cardinals have a fine infield prospect, a smooth workman around second base and a fair hitter.”

When the Cardinals opened their 1952 spring training schedule on March 8 against the Yankees at St. Petersburg, Fla., the top three in their batting order were Weaver at second base, Hemus at shortstop and Musial in left field. Weaver had two hits and Musial one in the Yankees’ 11-5 victory over the Cardinals before 7,211.

The next day, March 9, Weaver again batted leadoff and started at second base and Musial was in left field, batting third. Weaver and Musial went hitless, but the Cardinals beat the Yankees, 3-1.

What made that game remarkable is that 10 of the players _ three Cardinals and seven Yankees _ who appeared became major-league managers. They were Weaver, Hemus and catcher Del Rice of the Cardinals; catchers Yogi Berra and Ralph Houk, shortstops Jerry Coleman and Gene Mauch, second baseman Billy Martin, pitcher Eddie Lopat and right fielder Hank Bauer of the Yankees.

(When manager Bauer was fired by the Orioles in July 1968, he was replaced by his first-base coach, Weaver.)

Weaver played and started in many spring training games for the 1952 Cardinals. Among his highlights:

_ On March 10, batting leadoff and playing second base, Weaver was 2-for-4 with two RBI in the Cardinals’ 8-5 victory over the Braves at Bradenton, Fla. Musial had a double in two at-bats.

_ On March 13, Weaver was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and Musial was 1-for-4 in the Reds’ 2-1 victory over the Cardinals at St. Petersburg.

_ On March 14, Weaver had two hits, including a home run off Bob Porterfield, when the Cardinals and Senators played to a 6-6 tie in a game called in the sixth inning because of rain at St. Petersburg.

_ On March 19, Weaver contributed a pinch-hit single for the Cardinals in a game won by the Red Sox, 3-2, at St. Petersburg. The starting left fielders were Musial and Ted Williams. Musial was 2-for-3; Williams, 0-for-3.

Though he impressed the Cardinals, Weaver couldn’t supplant Schoendienst and Stanky. On April 1, Weaver was returned to the minor leagues.

Weaver played two more seasons in the Cardinals’ system. In September 1953, his contract was purchased by Denver, then a minor-league affiliate of the Pirates.

Weaver would play for 14 seasons in the minor leagues without appearing in a major-league game.

After he became Orioles manager and earned Hall of Fame election by winning 1,480 regular-season games, six division titles, four American League pennants and a World Series championship in 17 years with Baltimore, Weaver had established himself as big-league caliber.

Few ever recalled, though, that his professional baseball career began as a Cardinals prospect who joined Stan Musial as a regular for one glorious month in spring training.

Previously: Tony La Russa: proud pupil of mentor Paul Richards

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Mike Matheny success rates as top 2012 Cardinals tale

Posted in Bloggers, Games, Hitters, Managers, Pitchers on December 28, 2012 | 1 Comment »

In participation with a year-end United Cardinal Bloggers project, here are RetroSimba’s choices for the top 5 Cardinals stories of 2012:

mike_matheny51. SUCCESSFUL DEBUT FOR MIKE MATHENY

At 88-74, the 2012 Cardinals had only the fifth-best record in the National League and reached the postseason because the format was changed to include a second wild-card entry.

Nevertheless, 2012 ranks as a success for first-year Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. Among the reasons:

_ Even though he had no experience managing a professional team and had the added burden of replacing Tony La Russa, the most successful manager in Cardinals history, Matheny kept the Cardinals in contention all season and displayed consistent leadership.

_ Matheny is the first rookie manager to lead the Cardinals to the postseason since Eddie Dyer did it 66 years ago.

_ Showing he can adjust and adapt to challenges, Matheny prevailed even though the Cardinals lost Albert Pujols to free agency and played most of the season without injured stalwarts Chris Carpenter and Lance Berkman.

_ Matheny led the Cardinals to the National League Championship Series and got them within a win of the World Series.

2. POSTSEASON MAGIC VS. BRAVES, NATIONALS

The Cardinals added to their rich postseason lore with a pair of gritty victories in do-or-die games on the road.

On Oct. 5, 2012, in the winner-take-all game between wild-card teams, the Cardinals fell behind 2-0 and rallied to beat the Braves, 6-3, before a raucous Atlanta crowd.

In the eighth, with St. Louis ahead by three, the Braves had two on and one out. When a pop-up by Andrelton Simmons fell between rookie shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday, it appeared the door was open for an Atlanta comeback. But umpire Sam Holbrook, citing the infield fly rule, called Simmons out. Spectators littered the field with debris and it seemed a forfeit might be declared.

Instead, the Cardinals remained poised and advanced to the National League Division Series against the Nationals. Boxscore

In the deciding fifth game at Washington on Oct. 12, 2012, the Nationals led 6-0 after three innings and 7-5 after eight, but St. Louis rallied to win, 9-7, scoring four times in the ninth with two out. Kozma snapped a 7-7 tie with a two-run single. Boxscore

3. LYNN, LOHSE LOOM LARGE

Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia, perhaps the pitchers rated the two best Cardinals starters entering spring training, combined for a 7-9 record in 2012. Lance Lynn and Kyle Lohse put together the performances that kept the Cardinals from folding.

Lynn, who primarily was a reliever in 2011, his rookie season, was 18-7 for the 2012 Cardinals. He made 29 starts in 35 appearances and struck out 180 in 176 innings.

Lohse, 16-3 in 33 starts, had the best year of his major-league career. His winning percentage of .842 led the National League and was the best ever recorded by a Cardinals pitcher who qualified to be among the leaders. He walked only 38 in 211 innings.

4. BELTRAN, MOLINA: PUERTO RICAN POWER

Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina, natives of Puerto Rico, added to that island’s proud baseball heritage by powering the 2012 Cardinals offense.

In his first Cardinals season, Beltran hit 32 home runs, the second-most by a switch-hitter in Cardinals history. Only Rip Collins, with 35 for the 1934 World Series championship team, had more.

Molina hammered a career-high 22 home runs, joining Ted Simmons as the only Cardinals catchers to achieve 20 or more in a season.

5. JON JAY EARNS PERFECTION

In an achievement that didn’t get as much widespread attention as it deserved, Jon Jay became the first Cardinals everyday center fielder in 46 years to have a flawless fielding season.

Jay committed no errors in 2012. He handled 292 chances over 993.1 innings in 116 games. The last regular center fielder to complete a season without an error for St. Louis was Curt Flood in 1966.

Previously: Mike Matheny, Eddie Dyer share rare rookie achievement

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Mike Matheny, Eddie Dyer share rare rookie achievement

Posted in Managers on October 23, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Mike Matheny and Eddie Dyer took radically different paths to achieve similar historic feats.

Matheny is the first rookie big-league manager to lead the Cardinals to the postseason since Dyer did it 66 years ago.

Matheny had no professional managing experience when he was selected to replace Tony La Russa, who retired after the 2011 season. Taking advantage of an expanded postseason format, Matheny led the 2012 Cardinals to the NL Championship Series before they were eliminated by the Giants.

Dyer had been a manager in the Cardinals’ farm system for 13 years (1928-36 and 1939-42) when he was chosen to replace Billy Southworth, who left St. Louis after the 1945 season to manage the Braves. Dyer led the 1946 Cardinals to the ninth NL pennant and sixth World Series title in franchise history.

Southworth was one of the most successful Cardinals managers. He led them to three NL pennants and two World Series championships. After the 1945 season, when the Cardinals placed second behind the Cubs, Southworth was approached by the Braves and offered a financial deal “that comes to a baseball manager only once in his career,” he told the United Press wire service.

Southworth, 52, was under contract to the Cardinals through the 1946 season. After hearing from the Braves, Southworth asked Cardinals owner Sam Breadon whether he would consider releasing him from the remaining year of his contract.

Breadon agreed, telling the Associated Press he “couldn’t stand in Southworth’s way.”

Southworth, who was earning $20,000 a year from the Cardinals according to multiple published reports, signed a three-year deal with the Braves. United Press reported the total value of the contract at $75,000 to $100,000. The Associated Press stated Southworth would earn $30,000 a year from the Braves. The Sporting News reported the contract was for $35,000 a year.

“The Braves offer was one which comes to a baseball man only once in a lifetime,” Southworth said to The Sporting News, “and I wish to state publicly how much I appreciate Mr. Breadon’s magnanimity in not putting any obstacle in my way to better myself. I have never had a harsh word with Mr. Breadon during all the years I worked for him in St. Louis.”

One reason Breadon was willing to allow Southworth to leave was he had Dyer available to replace him.

Dyer, 46, had entered the oil business in Houston in 1944 after working for the Cardinals for more than 20 years as a player, scout, manager and minor-league executive. He was pleased to be asked to return to baseball at the major-league level.

“It was a big surprise to me,” Dyer said to the Associated Press when asked his reaction about being selected to replace Southworth, “although I always wanted to manage a big-league club.

“Since Billy Southworth had a contract with another year to run, I was surprised at his leaving the Cardinals. I made certain he hadn’t taken the step because of any disagreement with the club before I accepted the managership. I wouldn’t have taken the job under such a circumstance.”

Wrote the United Press: Since his entry into the St. Louis organization in 1922, Dyer has been one of the chain’s hardest and most unpublicized workers. Last year (1944), when Eddie left the Cards to go into the oil business in Houston, an attempt was made to alter his decision. He was told that he was next in line for the managerial job. Thinking Billy Southworth was a fixture for as long as he chose, Dyer declined.

A graduate of Rice with a bachelor of arts degree, Dyer was signed to the Cardinals by Branch Rickey. A left-hander, Dyer pitched six seasons (1922-27) for the Cardinals, posting a 15-15 career record and 4.75 ERA before a sore arm ended his playing days.

Rickey hired him to be a scout. After a year of scouting, Dyer became a Cardinals minor-league manager in 1928. He stayed in that role through 1936, then spent two years as a Cardinals minor-league executive and returned to managing St. Louis minor-league teams from 1939-42.

Under Dyer, the Cardinals’ Class AA Houston club won Texas League championships in three consecutive seasons (1939-41).

Among the future Cardinals big-league standouts groomed by Dyer in the minor leagues were outfielders Joe Medwick and Enos Slaughter, first baseman Johnny Mize and pitchers Howie Pollet and Harry Brecheen.

In 1943, after Rickey had departed the Cardinals for the Dodgers, Dyer became director of most of the Cardinals’ minor-league system. He was in that role until July 1944, when he accepted an opportunity to join his brother in an oil business.

With an influx of players preparing to return to the 1946 Cardinals after military service during World War II, Breadon saw Dyer as the ideal talent evaluator to sort through the roster options.

“I consider him the best judge of young ballplayers in the country, which makes him priceless at a time like this” Breadon said of Dyer to The Sporting News.

Said Dyer: “All I ask of a ballplayer is that he stay in shape to play winning baseball. My theme song for years to my players has been, ‘Be mentally and physically fit to do your best and we won’t worry about the results.’ “

Dyer led the 1946 Cardinals to a 98-58 record and the franchise’s fourth NL pennant in five years. (The Cardinals and Dodgers ended the regular season tied for first. St. Louis then won a best-of-three playoff and advanced to the World Series, defeating the Red Sox in seven games.) Under Southworth, the 1946 Braves finished fourth at 81-71, their first winning season since 1938.

Dyer managed the Cardinals for five years and never had a losing season. In 1949, the Cardinals nearly won another pennant under Dyer but placed second, a game behind the Dodgers.

In 1948, his third season with the Braves, Southworth managed them to the NL pennant, their first since 1914.

Previously: Unlike Pujols, Stan Musial rejected chance to bolt Cardinals

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