Now, the Cardinals return to Los Angeles as the 2012 season marks the 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium. The Cardinals and Dodgers play a three-game weekend series on the same dates, May 18-20, that they first played there in 1962.

Moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, the Dodgers played four years at the Coliseum while Dodger Stadium was being built. On April 10, 1962, in the first regular-season game at Dodger Stadium, the Reds defeated the Dodgers, 6-3. Boxscore

As the Cardinals-Dodgers series opened May 18, the Dodgers were in second place in the NL, three games behind the Giants, at 23-12. Los Angeles had won four in a row and eight of its last nine. The Cardinals were in third place, six behind the Giants, at 18-13. St. Louis had lost five of its last seven.

The opener matched Podres against Larry Jackson. In the first inning, third baseman Ken Boyer smashed a drive that struck Podres in the left forearm. Podres threw three pitches out of the strike zone to the next batter, catcher Gene Oliver, and walked off the field, unable to pitch as his left arm ached. (X-rays revealed a severe bruise, no fracture.)

First baseman Bill White drove in three runs, right fielder Charlie James scored three runs and knocked in two, and Jackson went the distance, walking none, as the Cardinals won, 8-3, before 38,951. Boxscore

The story the next night, May 19, normally would have been the pitching of Cardinals left-hander Ray Sadecki. The Dodgers had defeated six consecutive left-handers and Sadecki was 0-3 in his career against them. This time, though, Sadecki pitched his first complete game of the season and got the win in the Cardinals’ 8-1 triumph before 44,559. Boxscore

But the headlines went to Musial, the 41-year-old left fielder. His single to right field in the ninth inning off a curve from Ron Perranoski gave Musial his 3,431st hit and moved him ahead of Wagner for No. 1 on the NL career list, breaking a mark that had been held for 45 years. Dodgers first baseman Wally Moon, a former Cardinals teammate, fielded the throw from right fielder Frank Howard and handed the ball to Musial, who received a standing ovation.

“Stan hit a good curveball,” Perranoski told The Sporting News.

Said Musial: “I never worked so hard for two hits.”

(Musial had hit the record-tying single off Juan Marichal in San Francisco on May 16, ending a string of 15 hitless at-bats. He went hitless in nine more after that until he connected on the 0-and-1 pitch from Perranoski.)

“At least I got it in a beautiful new park and against the Dodgers, who have been good to me over the years,” Musial said.

Only Ty Cobb (4,191) and Tris Speaker (3,515) had more career hits than Musial at that time.

After the game, Musial and teammates Boyer and Red Schoendienst went to the Stadium Club at the ballpark. Musial enjoyed a steak sandwich and French fries. As Neal Russo reported in The Sporting News, few tables had a trio with more hits _ a total surpassing 7,000.

Exhausted by the strain to break the record, “I just about wilted when I got to first base with the record hit,” Musial said.

Musial sat out the series finale on Sunday afternoon, May 20. But Schoendienst, 39, started at second base for the fifth consecutive game. He was filling in for Julian Javier, who was sidelined because of a torn fingernail on his right index finger.

Curt Simmons yielded three runs, none earned, and got the complete-game win in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory before 38,474. Boxscore

The Cardinals had swept a series in Los Angeles for the first time since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. They moved into a second-place tie with the Dodgers and got within 4.5 games of the Giants.

Previously: How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

This year, Jeter, the Yankees’ shortstop, joined Musial as the oldest major-league players since 1900 to collect 50 hits through his first 30 games of a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. At age 37, Musial had 51 hits in his first 30 games for the 1958 Cardinals. Jeter, 37, had 50 hits in his first 30 games this season for the Yankees. (Jeter turns 38 on June 26).

As impressive as Jeter performed this year, Musial was better in 1958, producing more hits in fewer at-bats. Here is a comparison of what Musial and Jeter achieved through 30 games:

MUSIAL, 1958                                           JETER, 2012

At-Bats: 111                                                    At-Bats: 129

Hits: 51                                                            Hits: 50

Doubles: 12                                                   Doubles: 9

Home runs: 8                                              Home runs: 5

RBI: 24                                                           RBI: 15

Batting average: .459                              Batting average: .388

On-base percentage: .530                     On-base percentage: .429

Slugging percentage: .784                    Slugging percentage: .574

Musial hit safely in his first 17 games of 1958. He produced hits in 26 of the first 30 games he played.

After winning his seventh National League batting championship in 1957, Musial entered the ’58 season with confidence. At a Chamber of Commerce banquet in St. Louis on the eve of the season opener, Musial told the audience he believed in his ability “to keep on hitting,” The Sporting News reported.

A few days later, Musial told St. Louis writer Bob Broeg, “I feel great. You know, if I hadn’t missed that one season in service (1945) I might have been able to hang around long enough to have gone for 4,000 hits. In those days, I was good for 215 to 225 a season. Anyway, that’s how good I feel now.”

Here is a look at the top five performances by Musial in those 30 games.

_ April 17, 1958, Cubs 4, Cardinals 3, at St. Louis: After he had struck out looking against Chicago’s Jim Brosnan in his first two at-bats of the season and went 1-for-5 in the April 15 season opener, Musial came back in the next game with a 2-for-4 performance, including a home run against Cubs rookie Glen Hobbie. Musial broke Mel Ott’s National League record of 5,041 total bases, reaching 5,046 for his career in this game. Boxscore

_ April 20, 1958, Cardinals 9, Cubs 4, at Chicago: After losing their first four games, the Cardinals earned their first win behind a pair of two-run home runs by Musial. He launched one off Brosnan in the first inning and another off Taylor Phillips in the fifth. (A month later, the Cubs traded Brosnan to St. Louis.)

It was the 31st time Musial had hit two or more home runs in a game. At the time, only Ted Williams, with 33, had totaled more among active major leaguers. The home runs gave Musial a career total of 385, sixth on the all-time big-league list then. Boxscore

“I could have another five good years if I played in Chicago all the time,” Musial said to the Associated Press. “You play in the afternoon, go home to a good dinner and then relax. The next day you’re ready to tear the ball apart.”

_ April 22, 1958, Cardinals 7, Giants 5, at San Francisco: In the Cardinals’ first regular-season game played at San Francisco, Musial went 3-for-5 and scored twice before a near capacity crowd of 22,786 on a Tuesday night at Seals Stadium. Boxscore

Musial received a thunderous ovation his first time at-bat. Among those in attendance was Ty Cobb, the major-league career leader in hits. Musial and Cobb met in the dugout before the game. Cobb stayed to watch Musial play.

“He showed me that at 37 his legs are still good. And that’s the life of a ballplayer _ his legs,” Cobb said to The Sporting News. “I’ve always contended Joe DiMaggio could have lasted five years longer had he used his legs more in the winter.

“Musial’s speed impressed me. Too many long-ball hitters today think they’re paid only to hit homers. Musial always hits his share of them. But he also fields and runs the bases. Stan is of the stripe who played in my time. There are too few of them today.”

_ April 25, 1958, Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3, at Los Angeles: On a Friday, before a Coliseum crowd of 60,636, a National League record for a night game, Musial went 4-for-4 in the Cardinals’ first regular-season game at Los Angeles. Boxscore

Musial would finish with a .636 batting average (14-for-22) on the six-game road trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

“He was out there to live up to his reputation, to put on a show and he really did,” Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson said to The Sporting News. “He gave a tremendous display of determination and concentration.”

_ May 13, 1958, Cardinals 5, Cubs 3, at Chicago: Pinch-hitting for pitcher Sam Jones in the sixth inning, Musial delivered his 3,000th career hit, a RBI-double to left-center on a 2-and-2 curve by Moe Drabowsky. Boxscore

Musial became the eighth major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits, joining Cobb, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Paul Waner and Cap Anson.

“It isn’t every day a man gets his 3,000th hit,” the Associated Press reported Musial saying. ‘I knew it was in there and I’m sure glad it was a good, clean shot.”

Previously: Stan Musial still oldest to belt 3 home runs in a game

Confident and talented, Slaughter didn’t disappoint. He collected an extra-base hit in each of his first five regular-season games for the ’38 Cardinals. No other big-league player achieved that feat until this year.

Since 1900, Slaughter and Will Middlebrooks, a third baseman for the 2012 Red Sox, are the only players with extra-base hits in each of his first five major-league regular-season games.

Middlebrooks, 23, had an extra-base hit in each of five games against the Athletics, Orioles and Royals from May 2 through May 8. A 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-handed batter, Middlebrooks had four doubles and three home runs in that stretch, with a batting average of .409 and a slugging percentage of 1.000.

Slaughter, a 5-foot-9, 180-pound left-handed batter, had an extra-base hit in each of five games against the Pirates and Cubs from April 19 through April 23 in 1938. Slaughter, who would turn 22 on April 27, had three doubles, a triple and a home run in that stretch, with a batting average of .435 and a slugging percentage of .783.

In a report about Slaughter in The Sporting News in May 1938, under the headline, “Young Slaughter Gives New Killer Punch to Cardinals,” J. Roy Stockton wrote:

The farm system and the scouts can take pride in his development and point to him as a shining example of how rapidly a young man can advance in the club’s great organization if he has the stuff … His potential brilliance may well take some of the sting out of a season already marked by many disappointments for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Slaughter, a native of Roxboro, N.C., had been a standout high school player. He attended the Cardinals’ tryout camp as a second baseman. He had trouble fielding grounders consistently, but he displayed a strong arm, speed and hitting ability. So the Cardinals signed him and converted Slaughter into an outfielder.

In his first professional season, 1935 at Class D Martinsville (Va.), Slaughter had 25 doubles, 11 triples and 18 home runs in 109 games. He went to Class B Columbus (Ga.) in 1936. Playing for manager Eddie Dyer (who also would manage him in the Cardinals’ 1946 World Series championship season), Slaughter hit .325 with 31 doubles and 20 triples in 151 games.

At Class AA Columbus (Ohio) in 1937, Slaughter put together a season that earned him his chance at the major-league roster the following year. Slaughter hit .382 and compiled a .609 slugging percentage, with 245 hits, 42 doubles, 13 triples and 26 home runs in 154 games.

While at Columbus (Ohio), the team conducted a contest to have fans suggest a nickname for Slaughter. But Slaughter preferred the nickname given him by his Columbus manager, Burt Shotton. The name “Country” stuck with Slaughter the remainder of his career. Wrote The Sporting News:

Shotton had called Slaughter “Country” and it appealed to the youngster who loves the cows and chickens and the earth which his family has tilled through many generations.

At spring training in 1938, Frisch was seeking a right fielder to replace Don Padgett, who hit .314 but committed 11 errors in 1937, and join a star-studded outfield of Joe Medwick in left and Terry Moore in center. Slaughter was the immediate choice.

“Enos hits to all fields, has made a goodly share of extra-base blows and has shown as strong a punch against left-handers as against the supposedly easier right-handers,” The Sporting News reported.

On April 16, three days before the season opener, the Cardinals traded pitcher Dizzy Dean to the Cubs. As he was leaving the Cardinals’ clubhouse, Dean yelled out to Slaughter, “Good luck, Enos, hope you have a good year,” the Associated Press reported.

In his major-league debut, in the Cardinals’ 1938 opener at home against the Pirates on April 19, Slaughter, batting third, was 3-for-5 with a double, starting his extra-base streak. Boxscore

The next day, Slaughter hit his first big-league home run, a two-run shot in the ninth inning off Jim Tobin of the Pirates. Boxscore (Three years later, pitching for the Braves, Tobin gave up the first big-league hit to another Cardinals rookie, Stan Musial.)

The 1938 Cardinals lost their first three games and appeared headed to a fourth consecutive loss when they trailed the Cubs, 5-2, heading into the ninth inning at Chicago on April 22. But Slaughter rescued the Cardinals, hitting a bases-loaded triple and scoring the winning run on an error, giving St. Louis a 6-5 victory. Boxscore

Asked by The Sporting News to explain the difference between minor-league and big-league pitching, Slaughter replied, “It’s the better control that makes the pitchers harder to hit up here.”

Slaughter finished his rookie season with a .276 batting mark, .438 slugging percentage, 20 doubles, 10 triples and eight home runs.

He played 13 years for the Cardinals in a 19-season major-league career that earned him induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.

Previously: Hornsby, Musial, Slaughter, Brock all singled for hit No. 2,000

Arroyo, a rookie left-hander who barely made the 1955 Opening Day roster and nearly got knocked out in the first inning of his first start, posted a 6-0 record and 1.56 ERA through eight games (including two relief stints) and earned a spot on the National League all-star team.

This year, Lance Lynn became the fourth pitcher in Cardinals history to win each of his first six starts in a season. Joining Lynn are Arroyo (1955), Max Lanier (1946) and Bob Tewksbury (1994).

Arroyo, a stocky 5 feet 8 and 180 pounds, had signed a professional contract in 1948 out of his native Puerto Rico and joined the Cardinals’ organization in 1950. He hurt his left arm and sat out the 1952 and ’53 seasons. In 1954, he re-emerged as a prospect, posting an 8-6 record and 2.49 ERA for a Class A Columbus (Ga.) club managed by George Kissell and an 8-3 record and 2.35 ERA for a Class AA Houston team managed by Dixie Walker.

Arroyo, who credited Cardinals scout and retired catcher Gus Mancuso with teaching him an improved curve, pitched a no-hitter for Houston and had strikeout totals of 17 in one game and 15 in another. His combined record for Columbus and Houston in 1954 was 16-9 with a 2.42 ERA.

Invited to join the 1955 Cardinals in spring training, Arroyo pitched poorly, yielding 14 earned runs in 18 innings. But the Cardinals, managed by Eddie Stanky, were desperate for left-handed pitching and placed Arroyo, 28, on the season-opening roster.

His big-league debut occurred on April 20, 1955, with a start against the Reds at Cincinnati. It almost ended soon after it began.

In the Reds’ half of the first, second baseman Johnny Temple led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Right fielder Wally Post walked. When Arroyo ran the count to 3-and-0 against the next batter, center fielder Gus Bell, Stanky sent coach Dixie Walker to confer with his former minor-league ace.

Arroyo, reported The Sporting News, “came within one pitch of being yanked and sent to the minors.”

On the mound, Walker told Arroyo, “You’ve been pitching scared all spring. There’s no use being nervous out there. You either do or you don’t _ that’s all there is to it. Get the ball over and get ‘em out.”

Arroyo struck out Bell. On the third strike, Temple was thrown out attempting to steal third base. First baseman Ted Kluszewski grounded out to second, ending the inning.

In the third, Arroyo got another break. Temple was on second when Kluszewski singled, but Temple was thrown out trying to score.

Gaining confidence, Arroyo shut out the Reds for 7.2 innings before being relieved. He earned the win in the Cardinals’ 3-0 victory. Boxscore

Unimpressed, Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts told reporters he’d be surprised if Arroyo still was in the major leagues in July.

After two relief appearances, Arroyo returned to the rotation and won each of his next five starts. Two of those wins were against the Pirates, one came against the Phillies and two more were against the Reds.

After Arroyo beat Cincinnati for the third time, Tebbetts told The Sporting News, “He’s looking like one of the league’s better left-handers, who, I am sorry to say, will be around all year, at least.”

Arroyo’s six-game winning streak was snapped on June 6 at Brooklyn. Arroyo took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But right fielder Gil Hodges walked and second baseman Jackie Robinson followed with a home run for a 5-4 Dodgers victory. Boxscore

Arroyo accounted for eight of the Cardinals’ first 26 victories. After getting the win in the Cardinals’ 5-3 triumph over the Giants at St. Louis on June 25, Arroyo’s record was 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA.

In The Sporting News, Bob Broeg wrote of Arroyo:

What’s he got? What he doesn’t have, first, is an impressive physique, because he’s short and squatty and neither his style nor his stuff is picture-book. But he’s got a lively fastball, a pitch that moves away from right-handed hitters, causing them to pop up, and he’s got a good enough curve, change and control, too.

Selected to the all-star team, Arroyo was the only one of seven NL pitchers not used by manager Leo Durocher in a game Stan Musial decided with a 12th-inning home run off Boston’s Frank Sullivan.

Arroyo’s second half of the ’55 season wasn’t as successful as his first half. He lost his final four decisions, and five of the last six. He finished at 11-8 with a 4.19 ERA in 35 games (24 starts). Arroyo and Harvey Haddix were the Cardinals’ co-leaders in complete games (nine apiece) and only Haddix (12) had more wins for St. Louis.

In 1956, with Fred Hutchinson as manager, the Cardinals restructured their rotation. Arroyo was sent to Class AAA Omaha after spring training. He was 1-0 in five games for manager Johnny Keane’s Omaha team before the Cardinals traded him to the Pirates for pitcher Max Surkont.

Unable to repeat the success of his rookie season, Arroyo bounced from the Pirates to the Reds. He was in the Reds’ minor-league system when the Yankees purchased his contract in July 1960.

The move revived his career. Arroyo helped the ’60 Yankees win the American League pennant, posting a 5-1 record with seven saves and a 2.88 ERA in 29 games. A year later, Arroyo enjoyed his best big-league season. He was named AL Fireman of the Year by The Sporting News, with a 15-5 record, 29 saves and a 2.19 ERA in 65 games for the league-champion Yankees. Arroyo also was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1961 World Series against the Reds.

Arroyo had one other claim to fame. According to Baseball Digest, he became the first major-league reliever to ride to the mound from the bullpen on a motorized cart. The bullpen cart was introduced at a Yankees-Red Sox game shortly before the 1961 All-Star Game at Fenway Park.

Previously: Jaime Garcia: Cards’ top rookie left-hander since Harvey Haddix?

Thirty-eight years later, Rafael Furcal is the first Cardinal to achieve the same feat as Brock. Could it mean Furcal also is headed for a special season?

Brock, the Cardinals’ left fielder, opened the first inning with a hit in six consecutive games from April 30, 1974, through May 7, 1974. In those games, Brock hit .500 (12-for-24), with seven stolen bases and six runs scored. He would finish 1974 with 118 steals (shattering the single-season big-league record of 104 held by the Dodgers’ Maury Wills) and bat. 306 with 105 runs scored.

Furcal, the Cardinals’ shortstop, led off the first inning with a hit in six consecutive games from April 29, 2012, through May 5, 2012. In those games, Furcal hit .417 (10-for-24). with two stolen bases and seven runs scored.

Besides achieving the same feat on almost identical dates, Brock and Furcal share something else in common. Brock was a month shy of his 35th birthday when he accomplished his streak. Furcal turns 35 in October.

When Brock began the streak, he was hitting .286. When it ended, his batting average was .330.

Brock was consistently effective at igniting the Cardinals’ offense. In 1974, he hit .325 (136-for-419) with the bases empty.

Here is a look at the six consecutive games in which Brock led off the first with a hit:

_ April 30, 1974, Cardinals 7, Braves 2, at St. Louis: Brock led off the bottom of the first with a single to left against Ron Reed, stole second, was bunted to third by second baseman Ted Sizemore and scored on catcher Ted Simmons’ double. Boxscore

The game was notable for much more. Before the first pitch, Stan Musial presented Braves left fielder Hank Aaron with a plaque commemorating Aaron’s first big-league home run (against Cardinals starter Vic Raschi on April 23, 1954, at St. Louis.)

In the seventh inning, Aaron hit his 720th home run _ a solo shot against Cardinals starter Lynn McGlothen. It would be Aaron’s last career home run hit in St. Louis. Overall, Aaron hit 44 homers in St. Louis _ 29 at Busch Stadium I (formerly Sportsman’s Park) and 15 at Busch Stadium II (which opened in 1966).

An inning later, Brock upstaged Aaron with a 430-foot, two-run blast to right field off Buzz Capra. “It wasn’t even coming down when it landed,” Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said to the Associated Press. “Aaron hit the heck out of the ball, but Brock flattened it.”

_ May 1, 1974, Braves 6, Cardinals 5, at St. Louis: Facing Carl Morton, Brock opened the bottom of the first with a double to right, was bunted to third by Sizemore and scored on right fielder Reggie Smith’s groundout to shortstop. Boxscore

_ May 3, 1974, Astros 4, Cardinals 1, at Houston: Brock started the game with a single to left, stole second and scored on Sizemore’s single to right off Claude Osteen. Boxscore

_ May 4, 1974, Astros 3, Cardinals 2, at Houston: Brock opened with a single to right, stole second and scored on Smith’s two-run home run off Dave Roberts. Boxscore

_ May 5, 1974, Cardinals 3, Astros 1, at Houston: For the first time during the streak, Brock didn’t score in the opening inning. He led off the game with a single to center and stole second, but was stranded there. Larry Dierker retired Sizemore and Simmons on pop-ups to the catcher and struck out Smith. Boxscore

_ May 7, 1974, Cardinals 1, Reds 0, at Cincinnati: In the final game of the streak, Brock opened with a single off Fred Norman and swiped second. Second baseman Mike Tyson and Smith each struck out. Simmons singled to right, but Brock was tagged out at home plate by catcher Johnny Bench, who fielded the throw from right fielder Ken Griffey. Boxscore

The streak ended the next day, May 8, when Brock led off the game with a groundout to second off Don Gullett. Still, Brock had a double and a single and scored twice, helping St. Louis to a 2-0 victory over the Reds. Boxscore

Brock had been caught stealing by Pirates catcher Mike Ryan in the season opener, then was successful on 28 consecutive steal attempts before being caught by Phillies catcher Bob Boone.

Asked whether he could break Wills’ single-season mark, Brock downplayed his chances. “To reach 100, you have to steal third base 20 to 25 times,” Brock said to The Sporting News. “It’s not that important to steal third, usually. If you have pretty good hitters behind you and you get to second base, they usually can get you in.”

Brock stole third base only six times in 1974, but he swiped second 112 times.

Previously: Bill White: We thought Brock deal was nuts

Simmons achieved four hits in a game 19 times as a Cardinal. He was a catcher in 18 of those games and played left field and catcher in another.

When Yadier Molina had four hits against the Brewers on April 28 Boxscore, it marked the 10th time he had achieved the feat as a Cardinal. Molina was a catcher in nine of those games and played catcher and first base in another.

Since 1900, Simmons and Molina have the most four-hit games as catchers among Cardinals, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Simmons had more four-hit games (six) against the Cubs than any other opponent. (For his entire big-league career, Simmons hit .334, 230-for-688, against the Cubs.)

Here is a look at Simmons’ five most notable four-hit games as a Cardinal:

_ Cardinals 11, Pirates 0, Aug. 14, 1971, at Pittsburgh: In a previous blog item, I called this Simmons’ greatest game as a Cardinal. Simmons caught Bob Gibson’s only career no-hitter and went 4-for-6 with a RBI and two runs scored from the No. 5 spot in the batting order. It was Simmons’ first four-hit game in the big leagues.

Simmons is the only Cardinals catcher to achieve four hits in a game in which he caught a no-hitter.

Simmons’ four hits came against three pitchers: a RBI-single off Bob Johnson in the first, a fifth-inning double off Bob Moose, and singles in the sixth and eighth innings off Bob Veale. Boxscore

In the book “The Ted Simmons Story” (1977, Putnam), Simmons says of the no-hit game by Gibson, “I’d never seen anything like it. I guess it will always remain my biggest thrill in baseball.”

_ Cardinals 2, Cubs 1, Sept. 30, 1972, at Chicago: In an admirable display of durability and productivity, Simmons was 4-for-7, scored the winning run, caught all 16 innings, made 15 putouts and committed no errors in a game that took 4:49 to complete.

In the 16th, Simmons led off with a double against Tom Phoebus. With out one, second baseman Ted Sizemore drove in Simmons with a single to left, breaking the 1-1 tie. Boxscore

_ Cardinals 8, Reds 0, June 13, 1973, at Cincinnati: Simmons came stunningly close to catching another no-hitter while collecting four hits.

Rick Wise held the Reds hitless until second baseman Joe Morgan singled to center with one out in the ninth. Wise settled for a one-hitter and the win.

Morgan singled sharply on a 2-and-1 belt-high fastball. Simmons had called for a curve.

“You have to go with your pitcher _ he’s the man who’s going for the no-hitter,” Simmons said to The Sporting News. “He wanted to challenge them with his best pitch. I thought when Pete Rose (first batter in the ninth) flied out, the no-hitter was in the bag. Rick had pinpoint control. He was painting the outside corners on both right- and left-handed batters.”

Simmons was 4-for-5, including a two-run single off Jack Billingham in the Cardinals’ seven-run third inning. Boxscore

_ Cardinals 8, Braves 7, May 4, 1976, at Atlanta: Simmons was 4-for-5 with three RBI, including the game-winning hit.

With the score 7-7 in the 12th, Simmons hit a one-out double to the right-center field gap off Adrian Devine, scoring Bake McBride from first. Boxscore

It was Simmons’ second four-hit game in four days. As the starting left fielder, he had four hits on May 1 against the Dodgers.

_ Cardinals 8, Braves 5, June 9, 1980, at Atlanta: Simmons played an integral role in assuring Whitey Herzog’s first game as St. Louis manager was a success. Simmons was 4-for-4 and scored three runs.

In the 10th, with the score tied 5-5 and Larry Bradford pitching, first baseman Keith Hernandez walked and Simmons followed with a single to center. Bradford was replaced by Gene Garber, who yielded a three-run home run to the first batter he faced, outfielder George Hendrick. Boxscore

Previously: The story of how Ted Simmons became a Cardinal