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How Dizzy Dean did his David Freese impersonation

May 4, 2012 by retrosimba

When a player hits a home run to end a game, as Cardinals third baseman David Freese did in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, it’s special. When a pitcher hits one, it’s especially unusual.

In the spring 2012 edition of The Baseball Research Journal, produced by the Society for American Baseball Research, the cover story by David Vincent lists several home run-hitting feats by big-league pitchers.

Among the most intriguing lists compiled by Vincent is one showing major-league pitchers who ended games with home runs. According to Vincent, it has happened only 33 times.

The last time it occurred was April 25, 1986, when Padres reliever Craig Lefferts hit a solo home run off Greg Minton of the Giants in the 12th inning, lifting San Diego to a 9-8 victory at home. Boxscore

Since 1900, only two Cardinals pitchers have hit walkoff home runs. It last happened 77 years ago when Dizzy Dean accomplished the feat. Before that, Ferdie Schupp did it in the rarest of ways _ an inside-the-park home run _ in 1919.

In 1935, Dean, pitching for the defending World Series champions, was an ironman, pitching 325.1 innings in 50 games (36 starts) and winning 28.

On Aug. 6, two days after he started and pitched five innings against the Pirates, Dean entered in relief in the seventh inning against the Reds at St. Louis with the score tied 3-3.

Dean, 25, held the Reds hitless for four innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Cardinals catcher Bill DeLancey led off with a fly to right field. Ival Goodman, stationed in right, failed to see the ball. Second baseman Alex Kampouris made a long run but couldn’t get to it. The ball dropped safely and DeLancey was at second with a double.

Emmett Nelson, a rookie reliever, issued an intentional walk to third baseman Charlie Gelbert, and shortstop Leo Durocher sacrificed, moving the runners to second and third.

Dean stepped to the plate and launched a home run to left, giving the Cardinals a 6-3 victory. Boxscore Dean would finish the 1935 season with a .234 batting average (30-for-128) and 21 RBI. That remains the single-season RBI record for a Cardinals pitcher.

Like Dean, who earned two wins for the Cardinals in the 1934 World Series, Ferdinand Maurice (Ferdie) Schupp was a World Series standout _ but for the Giants, not St. Louis.

In 1917, Schupp, a 5-foot-10, 150-pound left-hander, used a mix of fastballs, curves, forkballs and change-ups to post a 21-7 record and 1.95 ERA for the National League-champion Giants. On July 7, Schupp struck out 12 Cardinals in a game. He pitched a shutout in Game 4 of the 1917 World Series, a 5-0 victory for the Giants over the White Sox. Boxscore

Soon after, Schupp entered the military. When he returned to the Giants in June 1918, he wasn’t the same pitcher. An article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution archives reported:

Schupp was one of the most promising of the younger pitchers of the National League before he entered the army.

Reporting on Schupp’s first start of the 1918 season, the New York Times described him being ”as wild as the proverbial hawk.”

In 10 games for the 1918 Giants, Schupp was 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA. When his troubles continued in 1919 (1-3, 5.62 ERA, in nine games), the Giants traded him to the Cardinals for catcher Frank Snyder on July 16.

The 1919 Cardinals were terrible (they would finish 40.5 games behind the first-place Reds at 54-83) and were willing to take a chance Schupp, 28, would regain his form.

On Aug. 28, the Cardinals and Dodgers were tied 3-3 when Schupp, batting right-handed, led off the bottom of the ninth with his inside-the-park home run off starter Leon Cadore for a 4-3 St. Louis victory. Boxscore

It would be Schupp’s only hit in 20 at-bats for the Cardinals that season.

Previously: Dizzy’s dazzling RBI season

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers | Leave a Comment »

How Derek Lilliquist slugged two homers against Mets

May 2, 2012 by retrosimba

Since 1900, no Cardinals pitcher has hit two home runs in a game. But their present pitching coach, Derek Lilliquist, did it when he was a pitcher for the Braves.

That’s just one of many facts to be found in the re-released updated version of “Great Hitting Pitchers”, originally published in 1979 as one of the first publications produced by the Society for American Baseball Research. The 2012 version, edited by L. Robert Davids, updated by Mike Cook, and aided by David Vincent, has an Ebook price of $5.99 and a paperback cover price of $9.95.

Starting against the Mets on May 1, 1990, at Atlanta, Lilliquist earned the win by limiting New York to three hits over seven innings and hitting a pair of solo homers off Ron Darling in the Braves’ 5-2 victory. Boxscore

“This guy is going to be the next Babe,” Braves manager Russ Nixon told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He hit those balls hard.”

Lilliquist’s home runs, leading off the third and fifth innings, were two of four solo shots yielded by Darling in five innings. The others were hit by center fielder Oddibe McDowell and catcher Ernie Whitt.

“Everyone had told us how good a hitter he was and I went out tonight and proved it,” Darling said to the Associated Press. “We should have studied that chart on Lilliquist a little better.”

Lilliquist, who pitched and batted left-handed, had hit 19 home runs in his final college season as a junior at the University of Georgia in 1987, giving him 35, then a school record, in his college career.

“I know what I’ve got to do to hit,” Lilliquist told the Associated Press. “I look for pitches that I can hit hard. When I’m ahead in the count, I’m not going to go after a ball low and away. I’m going to look for something I can drive and move the runners if I have to get them over.”

Lilliquist became the first Braves pitcher to hit two home runs in a game since Tony Cloninger slugged two grand slams against the Giants at San Francisco on July 3, 1966. (Cloninger’s second grand slam was hit off ex-Cardinal Ray Sadecki) Boxscore

Lilliquist also was the first big-league pitcher to hit two home runs in a game since the Giants’ Jim Gott did it against the Cardinals on May 12, 1985, at San Francisco. Gott hit two solo shots against Bob Forsch in the Giants’ 5-4 10-inning victory. Boxscore

The home runs gave Lilliquist a .556 batting average. In an article for Newsday about Lilliquist’s power hitting, Marty Noble wrote:

He is a marked man now. They’ll let him bunt, they’ll let him swing. But (they) aren’t going to let Lilliquist go deep … Lilliquist won’t see another straight pitch this decade.

Gott, a Dodgers reliever when Lilliquist hit his homers in 1990, told Noble: “They’re going to pitch him like a slugger now. He’ll see the difference.”

They were correct. Traded by the Braves to the Padres in July 1990, Lilliquist hit .150 (3-for-20) for San Diego that season. He never hit another big-league home run. His career batting mark in eight major-league seasons: .213 (23-for-108).

Previously: Cards, once a nemesis, now tout Lilliquist

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers | Leave a Comment »

The story of Herm Wehmeier, 0-14 vs. Cardinals

April 30, 2012 by retrosimba

In a classic example of the adage “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” the pitcher who posted the worst career record against the Cardinals got traded to St. Louis and enjoyed the best stretch of his big-league tenure.

When Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo took the loss April 27 in St. Louis’ 13-1 victory over Milwaukee, it dropped the right-hander’s career record against the Cardinals to 1-9. Boxscore Gallardo is tied with Josh Fogg (who pitched in the big leagues from 2001-2009) for second-worst career mark against the Cardinals.

The pitcher with the worst all-time record versus the Cardinals is Herm Wehmeier, according to Elias Sports Bureau. In 31 appearances against St. Louis for the Reds and Phillies from 1949-1956, Wehmeier was 0-14 with a 4.89 ERA.

Wehmeier’s 14th loss to St. Louis occurred May 9, 1956, in the Cardinals’ 3-0 victory over the Phillies. Boxscore

Two days later, the Cardinals traded pitchers Harvey Haddix, Stu Miller and Ben Flowers to Philadelphia for Wehmeier and pitcher Murry Dickson. The deal was unpopular with many Cardinals fans. Haddix had won 20 in 1953 and 18 in 1954. Though his record in 1955 fell to 12-16, many saw him as a pillar of St. Louis’ rotation.

But Cardinals coach Terry Moore, who was the Phillies’ manager when Philadelphia acquired Wehmeier from the Reds in 1954, had recommended the right-hander highly to St. Louis general manager Frank Lane. According to The Sporting News, Lane said he sought Wehmeier “because he can be depended upon to trouble Brooklyn and Milwaukee, teams the Cards must stop to win.”

Cardinals pitching coach Bill Posedel was successful in working with Wehmeier. Reporting for The Sporting News, Bob Broeg wrote:

With pitching coach Bill Posedel helping him, encouraging him to experiment, Wehmeier began to work with a high leg kick, similar to Paul Derringer’s, and, as others before had told him, he concentrated on letting up on his fastball and curve when the opposition would expect the Wehmeier of old to try to bust his fastball by ‘em.

The results were impressive. Wehmeier won eight of nine decisions for the 1956 Cardinals from July 21 to Sept. 11. He saved his best for his last start of the year.

On the morning of Saturday, Sept. 29, the next-to-last day of the 1956 season, the Braves held first place in the National League, a half-game ahead of the Dodgers.

That day, the Dodgers swept a doubleheader against the Pirates. The Braves entered their night game at St. Louis knowing they needed to win to keep a share of first place. Milwaukee started its ace, Warren Spahn, against Wehmeier.

Spahn and Wehmeier dueled into the 12th inning with the score tied 1-1. In the bottom of the 12th, left fielder Rip Repulski lashed a double against Spahn, scoring Stan Musial from second and giving the Cardinals a 2-1 victory. Boxscore

The loss dropped the Braves a game behind the Dodgers, who clinched the pennant the next day. The win capped a successful season for Wehmeier. He finished 12-9 with a 3.69 ERA for St. Louis. It would be the most single-season wins he would post in his big-league career.

Wehmeier was named the Cardinals’ 1957 Opening Day pitcher by manager Fred Hutchinson. The assignment was especially important for Wehmeier because he would be facing the Reds in Cincinnati.

A Cincinnati native, Wehmeier had been an outstanding athlete at Western Hills High School. When he signed with the Reds at age 18, he was billed as a hometown hero. Instead, plagued by wildness and high expectations, Wehmeier was a bust. In nine seasons with the Reds, Wehmeier was 49-69. He issued more walks (591) than strikeouts (478) and became a target of fan hostility.

“He was one of the greatest natural athletes we ever had in Cincinnati,” Reds general manager Gabe Paul told The Sporting News. “But never in my long baseball experience have I heard a man booed as bitterly as was Wehmeier. Nothing he could do was right. Even when he won, they booed him.”

Wrote Broeg:

One of Wehmeier’s troubles as a Red was that the former Cincinnati high school hero tried too hard. The more red-necked he became and the harder he tried to throw, the wilder he became, either walking himself into trouble or getting the ball up where power hitters and others could swing for the fences.

When Wehmeier took the mound in the Cardinals’ 1957 opener, his mother, father, sister and brother were in the stands. What they witnessed must have stunned many Reds fans. Wehmeier pitched a complete game and got the win in the Cardinals’ 13-4 victory. Boxscore

Wehmeier was winless in May and June, but recovered to win five consecutive decisions from Aug. 24 to Sept. 15. He finished the ’57 season at 10-7 with a 4.31 ERA.

In May 1958, Wehmeier was sent to the Tigers in a waiver deal. He suffered an elbow injury soon after and, at 31, his playing career was done. His big-league record: 92-108. For St. Louis, Wehmeier was 22-17.

Wehmeier scouted for the Reds for three years (he recommended they sign another phenom from Western Hills High School, Pete Rose) and then left baseball. He worked for a trucking company in Texas.

In May 1973, Wehmeier, 46, was testifying during a theft trial in federal court in Dallas when he suffered a fatal heart attack. In an obituary, The Sporting News reported:

Wehmeier was on the witness stand testifying for the government when he collapsed. The case involved theft of merchandise from a shipping company of which Wehmeier was an official.

Previously: An interview with former Cardinals pitcher Al Jackson

Posted in Opponents, Pitchers, Records, Trades | Leave a Comment »

Carlos Beltran soon to join Reggie Sanders in 300 club

April 28, 2012 by retrosimba

Of the seven big-league players who have achieved 300 career home runs and 300 career stolen bases, Reggie Sanders is the only one who has been a Cardinal. Soon, Carlos Beltran should join him in that select group.

Beltran, in his first season as the Cardinals’ right fielder, needs two stolen bases to become the eighth player to reach 300 home runs and 300 steals, according to research by Bruce Fleming of the Society for American Baseball Research.

A big-league player since 1998, Beltran has 307 home runs and 298 stolen bases.

In alphabetical order, the players in the 300/300 club are:

_ Barry Bonds, 22 seasons, 762 home runs, 514 stolen bases.

_ Bobby Bonds, 14 seasons, 332 home runs, 461 stolen bases.

_ Andre Dawson, 21 seasons, 438 home runs, 314 stolen bases.

_ Steve Finley, 19 seasons, 304 home runs, 320 stolen bases.

_ Willie Mays, 22 seasons, 660 home runs, 338 stolen bases.

_ Alex Rodriguez, 19 seasons, 633 home runs, 307 stolen bases.

_ Reggie Sanders, 17 seasons, 305 home runs, 304 stolen bases.

To put into perspective how difficult it is to reach 300 homers and 300 steals, two magnificent players who performed for the Cardinals, Stan Musial and Rogers Hornsby, didn’t come close. Musial had 475 homers and 78 steals in 22 seasons. Hornsby had 301 homers and 135 steals in 23 seasons.

Two former Cardinals who did come close to the achievement were outfielders Vada Pinson and Ray Lankford. Pinson had 256 homers and 305 steals in 18 seasons. Lankford had 238 homers and 258 steals in 14 seasons.

Beltran hit his 300th home run on Sept. 14, 2011, while playing for the Giants against the Padres at San Francisco. After hitting a solo homer off Mat Latos in the first inning for No. 299, Beltran hit another solo shot off Latos into McCovey Cove in the sixth inning, snapping a 1-1 tie and sparking the Giants to a 3-1 victory. Boxscore

“It means a lot for me, actually,” Beltran said to the Associated Press after the game. “Thank God for that, being able to play this game for a long time. Three-hundred, for a guy from Manati, Puerto Rico, a small town, it’s good.”

Beltran has five homers and five steals as a Cardinal.

Sanders signed with the Cardinals as a free-agent replacement for the traded J.D. Drew in December 2003, choosing St. Louis over the Tigers because he wanted to remain in the National League. The outfielder told the Associated Press, “I think it’s going to be an amazing two years.”

Jim Molony, writing for MLB.com about the signing, said of Sanders, “The guy hits, is a winner and has been a good fit in every clubhouse he’s been in.”

In two seasons (2004-2005) with the Cardinals, Sanders had 43 homers and 35 steals and helped St. Louis qualify for the postseason in both years. He hit 22 home runs with 21 stolen bases in 2004, and 21 home runs with 14 stolen bases in 2005.

When he left the Cardinals after the ’05 season to sign with the Royals, Sanders had 292 homers and 297 steals. He reached the 300 mark in each category while with the 2006 Royals.

Sanders’ 300th stolen base occurred on May 1, 2006, at Detroit. In the fourth inning, Sanders swiped second against the battery of pitcher Jeremy Bonderman and catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Boxscore

On June 10, 2006, Sanders hit his 300th home run, a two-run shot in the ninth inning against Tampa Bay reliever Chad Harville at Kansas City. Boxscore

Speaking to the Associated Press after becoming the sixth player to achieve 300/300 (Finley hadn’t done it yet), Sanders said, “I started thinking about where I came from, Florence, South Carolina, and where I am today. It shows the perseverance through the good and the bad. The home runs are tougher than the stolen bases. If you’ve got speed, you’ve got speed. Home runs are mistakes. I’ve been able to hit 300 mistakes.”

Previously: Reds-Cardinals: Easter night to remember

Posted in Games, Hitters, Records | Leave a Comment »

Kyle Lohse starts like Larry Jaster, wants better finish

April 26, 2012 by retrosimba

The Cardinals were launched toward a National League pennant the last time a St. Louis pitcher strung together his first four season starts with the kind of consistent dominance Kyle Lohse has displayed in 2012.

Lohse is the first Cardinals pitcher to compile at least six innings while yielding one earned run or fewer in each of his first four starts since Jaster in St. Louis’ pennant-winning season of ’68, Elias Sports Bureau research shows.

The hope is Lohse will finish better than Jaster did.

In four starts this year, Lohse is 3-0 with a 0.99 ERA. He yielded one earned run in each of the three games he won and no earned runs in a game in which he got no decision. The Cardinals won all four: 4-1 over the Marlins on April 4 Boxscore, 3-1 over the Reds on April 10 Boxscore, 2-1 over the Reds on April 17 Boxscore and 5-1 over the Pirates on April 22 Boxscore.

Unlike Lohse, who was the Cardinals’ Opening Day starter and has been in the rotation all year, Jaster began the 1968 season in the bullpen. A 24-year-old left-hander, Jaster was 1-1 with a 2.13 ERA in seven relief appearances until he moved into the rotation in late May.

Here is how he did in his first four starts that season:

_ Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1, May 20, 1968, at St. Louis: Jaster pitched a complete-game two-hitter, yielding singles to first baseman Wes Parker and second baseman Paul Popovich, and stopped the Cardinals’ four-game losing streak.

The Dodgers scored an unearned run in the first. Center fielder Willie Davis walked, took second on a passed ball by Tim McCarver, was bunted to third and scored on a groundout by third baseman and ex-Cardinal Ken Boyer.

Jaster had pitched five consecutive shutouts against the Dodgers in 1966. After he baffled the Dodgers again with his first start of ’68, frustrated Los Angeles manager Walter Alston stormed into the clubhouse, grabbed a box of bubble gum and threw it across the room “as players and the chewey pellets scattered,” The Sporting News reported. Boxscore

_ Phillies 1, Cardinals 0, May 25, 1968, at St. Louis: Lack of run support led to Jaster taking a loss, even though he held Philadelphia to one earned run in 7.1 innings.

The Phillies scored in the sixth when a sacrifice fly by center fielder Don Lock drove in right fielder Johnny Callison from third.

St. Louis was held to five singles by ex-Cardinal Larry Jackson and reliever Turk Farrell. The Cardinals had two on with one out in the ninth when Farrell relieved and got third baseman Phil Gagliano to pop out and pinch-hitter Dave Ricketts to line out. Boxscore

_ Cardinals 2, Mets 0, May 31, 1968, at New York: Outdueling Tom Seaver with a dazzling curve to complement his fastball and change-up, Jaster pitched a complete-game two-hitter, walking none.

The Mets were hitless until first baseman Greg Goossen singled between short and third on a 2-and-2 curve with two out in the eighth.

“It wasn’t a bad pitch. The pitch was lower than waist high,” Jaster said to The Sporting News.

A ninth-inning single by center fielder Don Bosch accounted for New York’s other hit.

“I think I would have got the perfect game if I had got past Goossen,” Jaster said. Boxscore

_ Cardinals 3, Astros 1, June 5, 1968, at Houston: Jaster allowed one earned run in eight innings. Wayne Granger pitched the ninth for the save. Third baseman Bob Aspromonte drove in right fielder Jim Wynn from third with a single for Houston’s run. Boxscore

Jaster was 4-2 with a 0.98 ERA after the win over Houston. But he won just once after July 23, losing eight of his last nine decisions and finishing 9-13 with a 3.51 ERA. Jaster was 7-12 with a 3.80 ERA in 21 starts for the 1968 Cardinals and 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in 10 relief appearances.

Previously: Chris Carpenter dominates like Larry Jaster, Bob Gibson

Posted in Games, Pitchers | Leave a Comment »

Ron Plaza was mentor to Steve Carlton, Jose Cruz

April 23, 2012 by retrosimba

Ron Plaza never played a game in the major leagues, but he was an influence on several Cardinals big-leaguers.

Plaza was a manager in the Cardinals’ minor-league system for six years, posting a 432-329 record (.568 winning percentage). He also was an infielder in the Cardinals’ organization for 11 years. Plaza, 77, died April 15 at St. Petersburg, Fla.

St. Petersburg was the site of Plaza’s biggest success as a Cardinals minor-league manager. Replacing Sparky Anderson, Plaza managed St. Petersburg to a 96-43 record and the Florida State League championship in 1967. He was named winner of the Class A league’s Manager of the Year Award.

The other Cardinals farm clubs managed by Plaza were Billings in 1963, Winnipeg in 1964, Cedar Rapids in 1965 and ’66 and St. Petersburg in 1968.

Among the players Plaza nurtured in the Cardinals’ system was pitcher Steve Carlton, who would earn election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Pitching for Plaza’s 1964 Winnipeg club, Carlton was 4-4 with a 3.36 ERA.

Future Cardinals who played for Plaza on the 1967 championship St. Petersburg team were outfielders Boots Day (70 RBI and 21 stolen bases in 136 games) and Jose Cruz (.278 batting average in 78 games) and pitcher Santiago Guzman (16-3, 1.74 ERA in 23 starts).

In 1968, pitcher Reggie Cleveland, who would go on to a 13-year major-league career, was 15-10 with a 2.77 ERA in 27 starts for Plaza’s St. Petersburg team.

After the 1968 season, Plaza was selected to the coaching staff of the Seattle Pilots, an American League expansion team managed by Joe Schultz, who had been a coach for the Cardinals from 1963-68. Plaza had played for three Cardinals farm clubs managed by Schultz: 1959 Omaha, 1961 Charleston and 1962 Atlanta.

In his book “Ball Four” (1970, World Publishing), Pilots pitcher Jim Bouton wrote about Plaza. An example:

It is customary for players to pair off and throw easily on the sidelines before a workout or a game. So as I reached into the ballbag to grab some baseballs for the guys Plaza said, “What are you going to do with those baseballs, Bouton?”

“I’m just going to take three or four out to the field because a few guys asked me to.”

“Just take one.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Pilots were relocated to Milwaukee after one season in Seattle and became the Brewers. Schultz and Plaza weren’t retained.

Plaza joined manager Sparky Anderson’s coaching staff with the 1978 Reds. He remained a Reds coach through 1983, serving under managers John McNamara and Russ Nixon.

In 1986, Plaza became a coach for manager Jackie Moore with the Athletics. After Moore was fired in June, Plaza served out the season for Moore’s replacement _ Tony La Russa.

As a player in the Cardinals’ organization, Plaza’s best year was 1956 when he hit .297 in 121 games as a second baseman for Class AAA Rochester, managed by Dixie Walker.

Previously: Cards boosted Sparky’s managing career

Posted in Managers | Leave a Comment »

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