RetroSimba

Lance Rentzel: The good, the bad and the ugly

June 29, 2026 by retrosimba

It was challenging enough for the St. Louis football Cardinals to cover receiver Lance Rentzel when quarterbacks the likes of Don Meredith and Roger Staubach threw to him. Then halfbacks started heaving passes and more bedlam ensued.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1967, when the Cardinals faced the Cowboys at the Cotton Bowl, Dallas’ big-play receiving duo of Rentzel and Bob Hayes shredded the defense. Hayes had four catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns. (He also returned a punt 69 yards for a score.) Rentzel had five catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

The play that broke the game open was a 74-yard touchdown pass from halfback Dan Reeves to a wide-open Rentzel in the third quarter. As Rentzel recalled to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “I said to myself, ‘If you drop this one, keep going.’ I would have, too. Right up the stairs, through the stands and far away.”

Dallas rolled to a 46-21 victory. Video and Stats

(St. Louis wasn’t alone in being fooled by Dallas’ halfback option play. A month later, on Dec. 31, 1967, in the NFL championship game at Green Bay, Reeves completed a 50-yard touchdown toss to Rentzel. Video and Stats)

By 1969, a knee ailment limited Reeves’ availability, but the halfback option remained prominent in the Dallas playbook. In the season opener, two rookies, quarterback Roger Staubach and halfback Calvin Hill, made their NFL debuts against the Cardinals at Dallas. Rentzel caught touchdown throws from both.

In the first quarter, Rentzel beat cornerback Lonnie Sanders and connected with Staubach on a 75-yard touchdown reception.

Clinging to a 7-3 lead late in the third quarter, the Cowboys called for Hill to throw. As a Yale senior, the former high school quarterback threw the halfback option pass for four touchdowns.

“It should have come as no surprise to the Cardinals that (Hill) could throw, but it did,” Robert Morrison of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

Rentzel got behind safety Larry Wilson and Hill found him for a 53-yard touchdown. “How’d you like that spiral?” Hill said to the San Antonio Light. “It usually doesn’t do that in practice.”

Dallas won, 24-3, prompting Cardinals head coach Charley Winner to moan to the Star-Telegram, “They caught our guys with their pants down.” Video and Stats

Unfortunately for Rentzel, getting caught with his pants down became a more serious matter.

Golden boy

Thomas Lance Rentzel was raised in Oklahoma City. His father, Delos Rentzel, served as chairman of the Civil Aeronautics Board and Undersecretary of Transportation when Harry Truman was president. In 1948, Delos Rentzel ordered an end to segregation at Washington’s National Airport, where blacks were barred from the restaurant and coffee shop, the New York Times reported.

Lance Rentzel excelled in academics, athletics and music. He was an accomplished pianist. Accepted to Ivy League schools, Rentzel instead chose the University of Oklahoma because he wanted to play football for head coach Bud Wilkinson.

The experience was eye-opening.

In his book “When All the Laughter Died in Sorrow,” Rentzel described an Oklahoma practice session: “I saw two players lose every bit of salt in their bodies and cramp up into coils of agony. They were rushed to the hospital. I saw another guy go crazy. He’d been knocked out and had been revived with smelling salts. When they stood him up on his feet, he went for Coach Wilkinson and began cursing him, then actually attacked him with his fists. The practice went on and on as though none of this were taking place … The regimen made us think we were prisoners on Devil’s Island. The pressure was tremendous.”

Rentzel found time for fun, though. As a sophomore in 1962, he wasn’t on the football travel squad. On the day before Oklahoma played Texas at the Cotton Bowl, Rentzel hitchhiked with friends to Dallas. “I didn’t want to miss the parties,” he recalled to William Gildea of the Washington Post.

At the game the next day, he was told he could suit up and watch from the sidelines. What he saw was Texas stuff Oklahoma’s running attack. Determined to spread the Texas defense, Wilkinson looked for a pass-catching threat. To Rentzel’s surprise, the coach sent him onto the field. Rentzel caught two consecutive passes _ the first for 38 yards and the next for 34 yards and Oklahoma’s only touchdown.

Troubling time

The Minnesota Vikings took Rentzel in the second round of the 1965 NFL draft. After trying Rentzel at running back early in training camp, Vikings head coach Norm Van Brocklin made him a receiver and also used him to return kickoffs. The rookie returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown against the Baltimore Colts.

The Vikings had high hopes for Rentzel, but then came some disturbing behavior.

During Rentzel’s second NFL season in 1966, he was charged with having exposed himself to children on three occasions in St. Paul’s Highland Park area, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. On Oct. 4, Rentzel, 22, pleaded guilty in St. Paul municipal court to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, with no jail time. Judge James Lynch ordered psychiatric care.

Change of scene

The Vikings traded Rentzel to the Cowboys for a third-round draft choice. No one mentioned the St. Paul trouble. Instead, Rentzel cultivated an image of a glib, charming playboy. He was the Cowboys’ self-described “social chairman.” As the Post-Dispatch noted, “Disciplinary fines became so routine that Rentzel gave coaches $500 at the start of a season to apply to future fines.”

According to the Star-Telegram, a rookie receiver, Dennis Homan, said, “When I came to camp, I asked which receiver’s moves I should watch and they told me Rentzel. I watched his moves for three days and three nights. The days were OK, but the nights like to have killed me.”

Rentzel’s nightlife seemed all right with Cowboys management as long as he was catching passes and scoring touchdowns. As general manager Tex Schramm said to the Star-Telegram, “He’s young, single and good looking. What do you expect? There’s a difference between a guy going out and having fun, and one that goes out and has fights and is in trouble.”

In 1967, Rentzel was the team leader in receptions (58). The next year, ex-Colt Raymond Berry joined the Cowboys as receivers coach and sharpened Rentzel’s pass routes. Rentzel thrived, leading Dallas in receptions (54), receiving yards (1,009) and yards per catch (18.7), but his football feats took a backseat to his man-about-town persona. As Fort Worth writer Frank Luska put it, “Rentzel was stuck with the reputation that he’d rather chase a skirt than a football, that he’d rather make a pass than catch one.”

Living large

In May 1968, Rentzel met actress Joey Heatherton in Los Angeles during rehearsals for her summer TV show on NBC. Following a whirlwind courtship, they married on April 12, 1969, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Ushers in the wedding party included three of Rentzel’s football teammates _ Don Meredith, Craig Morton and Ralph Neely.

The year was gratifying for Rentzel on the football field, too. In 1969, he led the NFL in touchdown receptions (12) and yards per catch (22.3).

Then his demons reappeared.

Repeat offender

On Nov. 30, 1970, Rentzel was arrested on a charge of having exposed himself to a 10-year-old girl in Dallas. He pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and was sentenced to five years probation and mandatory psychiatric care. Judge John Mead could have sent Rentzel to prison but took into consideration no prior felony conviction. “I plan to work with my doctor until the problem is resolved,” Rentzel said to the Associated Press. “I promise that.”

In the book “When All the Laughter Died in Sorrow,” a psychiatrist described Rentzel’s behavior as “less an affliction than it is an impairment of maturation in a rather small area of personality.”

A month after his sentencing, Rentzel was traded to the Los Angeles Rams for Billy Truax and Wendell Tucker. That same day, the Cowboys dealt Pettis Norman, Tony Liscio and Ron East to the San Diego Chargers for Rentzel’s replacement, receiver Lance Alworth.

Joey Heatherton filed for divorce in September 1971 and it became final in 1972.

Life after football

After his second season with the Rams, Rentzel was arrested in a Los Angeles police raid and charged with possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty and was suspended “for conduct detrimental to the NFL.”

Rentzel sat out the 1973 season, got reinstated in May 1974 and played a final season with the Rams that year.

“I had to realize that you can learn by mistakes,” Rentzel said to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “I had to realize that no matter what happens to you or me or anyone else, the sun has a good track record for rising again tomorrow.”

Rentzel, who graduated from Oklahoma in 1965 with a degree in mathematics and an interest in computer science, relocated to the Washington, D.C. area, remarried and worked for a computer company before becoming a government contractor in technology. He was 82 when he died on June 7, 2026.

Posted in Football, Games, Opponents | 9 Comments »

Author talk: A book about first Cardinals champions

June 23, 2026 by retrosimba

In 1926, St. Louis was the largest U.S. city west of the Mississippi River and a place where people dared to dream big.

The Southwestern Bell Building, a 28-story art deco skyscraper with 17 individual roofs, was built in downtown St. Louis that year. Charles Lindbergh, flying the mail at night through rain, sleet and snow from St. Louis to Chicago, was pondering a daring non-stop solo flight from New York to Paris. A group of shrewd St. Louis businessmen would be ready to invest in him the next year.

That spirit of St. Louis was alive on the baseball diamond, too. The 1926 Cardinals won their first National League pennant and prevailed against the Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in a classic seven-game World Series.

Terry Lemons, a former newspaper reporter for the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has written a book about the 1926 Cardinals. “The Year St. Louis Became a Baseball Town” skillfully tells of how the Cardinals transformed into a premier franchise.

The book is available from the publisher, Arcadia, and on Amazon. Check out the author’s website as well.

In June 2026, I conducted an email interview with the author:

Q: Congratulations on the book. I enjoyed it and found it to be a lively, well-researched and journalistically credible read. What inspired you to do a book about the 1926 Cardinals?

A: “The book is a culmination of a lot of things through my life. I’ve been a Cardinals fan as long as I can remember, and writing and reporting have been a passion since my days at Southwest High School in St. Louis. I wound up in newspapers as a news reporter, not sports. I ended up in Washington in the 1990s covering the Clinton administration for Little Rock’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“A couple of years ago, a good friend _ National Journal reporter Dick Kirschten, a St. Louisan who grew up as a “Knotholer” in Sportsman’s Park _ had terminal cancer, and he wanted me to have his collection of Cardinals books. I started leafing through those, and I noticed the 100th anniversary of the 1926 World Series was coming up. I dug around a bit, and sensed there was an interesting _ and different _ story about 1926 to pull together. That’s the genesis of the book.”

Q: Your mother, Ann Lemons Pollack, was a noted food writer and restaurant critic. Your stepfather, Joe Pollack, was a sports reporter. How did this journalism heritage help you in writing the book?

A: “For me, it’s fascinating how all of this flowed together. While I was a journalism student at Mizzou in the 1980s, my mom started writing about food _ and it was a bit of a race between us to see who could get the first writing job that paid. That path took her into writing, and she eventually met Joe, who at the time was a movie and restaurant critic. They got married after I was in Washington, but the family and I came back to visit often. Joe’s background covered a lot. He started out as a sports reporter, then moved into public relations for the football Cardinals in the 1960s before going back into newspapers. So when I came home to St. Louis, there was always this delicious mix of discussions revolving around food, sports and journalism. Mom and Joe wrote several books together over the space of nearly 20 years, and then she did two solo projects. As I watched their process, I found it intriguing and thought it would be a natural for me to give a book a shot when life got to a good point.”

Q: During your years covering the Bill Clinton presidency, did you ever get the chance to talk with him about Cardinals baseball?

A: “Clinton was a dedicated sports fan and stayed on top of a lot of different sports. Like a lot of people across the Midwest and South, Clinton listened to the Cardinals’ radio broadcasts so he counted himself as a fan.

“Baseball came into play often on Capitol Hill outside the Senate chambers. It’s a lot less formal than the White House and senators can be willing to casually chat. I was struck by how many senators _ not just those from Missouri and Illinois _ seemed to keep track of the Cardinals. I think that’s a reflection of the power the KMOX clear-channel broadcast signal coming out of St. Louis had on that generation of politicians. Perhaps those senators also carried a bit of the legacy the Cardinals developed across large parts of the country following the 1926 World Series. As the book explores, the Redbirds had fervent support across the nation for the first time during the 1926 World Series.”

Q: Who were your favorite baseball players during your youth?

A: “Oh, that’s an easy call _ Bob Gibson. In the early 1970s for a Cardinals fan in second and third grade, Gibson was the man. When you went down to the corner drug store, there was Gibson’s face staring at you from the box of Topps baseball cards on the counter. He even showed up in the school library, where there was a surprisingly well-stocked supply of books about baseball. I found one that described Gibson’s heroics during the great Cardinals World Series runs in the 1960s. I was over the moon in 1971 when I got to see Gibson pitch in my first two visits to Busch Stadium.”

Q: Halfway through May 1926, the Cardinals hardly looked like a championship contender. After a 12-1 loss at home to the Giants, the Cardinals were 12-17. What accounted for the turnaround?

A: “General manager Branch Rickey and manager Rogers Hornsby found the secret sauce in mid-June. The New York Giants were struggling and center fielder Billy Southworth had become something of a scapegoat for manager John McGraw. Rickey, an incredibly shrewd judge of baseball talent, sensed an opportunity and shipped off Heinie Mueller in exchange for Southworth on June 14 and promptly put him back in his natural spot in right field. Invigorated, Southworth became the Cardinals’ cleanup hitter and lit things up.

“Amazingly, just eight days later, the Chicago Cubs released Grover Cleveland Alexander, an aging and troubled pitcher. Hornsby thought Alexander, who had been remarkable a decade earlier with the Philadelphia Phillies, still had the potential to be a master pitcher despite heavy drinking. When those two new players arrived, they were the missing spark the team lacked early in the season _ a bit like when the Cardinals got Lou Brock from the Cubs in 1964.”

Q: The 1926 Cardinals played their last home game of the season on Sept. 1. With a one-game lead over the Reds, the Cardinals then embarked on a 24-game road trip to end the season. What were the key factors in how they managed to come out of that grueling trip with a pennant?

A: “They had a lot of momentum coming out of that final, frenetic, fan-fueled St. Louis homestand where they won the “Little World Series” against the defending champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Not counting a meaningless final game against Cincinnati, the Cardinals’ final 15 games came against the bottom half of the National League _ Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston and the New York Giants, all teams under .500. Also helping out: Blasting 52 runs in a four-game stretch against the Phillies in mid-September.”

Q: Player-manager Rogers Hornsby was a strict teetotaler but two of the top 1926 Cardinals pitchers, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Flint Rhem, were notorious drinkers. How did that dynamic work?

A: “Hornsby certainly wasn’t wild about the off-field drinking, but he ended up tolerating it as long as it translated into success.

“Hornsby had something of a soft spot for Alexander. He recognized the man’s talent, and ultimately had some compassion for the issues that caused Alexander to imbibe off the field. Rhem, famously described as hailing from the South Carolina moonshine belt, seemed to be the straw that stirred the drink. Sportswriter Bob Broeg and others recounted that Rhem thought his role off the field was to drink more than Alexander. In Rhem’s view, drinking more meant Alexander would somehow drink less.

“A side note on Rhem’s league-leading 20 wins: You have to wonder how much defensive wizard Tommy Thevenow helped out Rhem through the course of the year. Rhem walked more batters than he struck out _ 75 versus 72. So he had some traffic on base, but he also had Thevenow backing him up at shortstop. Thevenow just happened to lead the league in putouts and assists. Rhem probably doesn’t lead the league in wins if an average shortstop is behind him. I sure hope Rhem bought little Tommy a drink or two.”

Q: On a team with the likes of Rogers Hornsby, Jim Bottomley and Chick Hafey, the leading hitter for the 1926 Cardinals was Les Bell (189 hits, .325 batting mark). Bell also was the team leader in RBI (six) during the World Series. What made him such an effective hitter that year?

A: “This is an example of where Hornsby excelled as a manager. He was a bit like Tony La Russa and could squeeze the most out of the talent that he had. Hornsby seemed to understand what worked for Bell. The 1926 season turned out to be a career year for Bell, who (heard) some boos in spring training but held down the sixth spot in the batting order. Southworth’s arrival helped everyone around him, and perhaps no one ultimately benefited from that more than Bell. The third baseman’s average kept climbing through the summer months, which meant in late July Hornsby moved Bell up to bat fifth behind Southworth. That batting arrangement clicked all the way through the World Series.”

Q: Babe Ruth hit four home runs in the 1926 World Series. He also drew 11 walks, but only one of those walks resulted in him scoring a run. Was walking Ruth an intentional strategy of the Cardinals?

A: “Hornsby said before the Series that they were going to pitch to Ruth, and I think the Cardinals generally did, but they pitched to him on their terms. He may have had 11 walks, but all of those weren’t on purpose. The Cardinals were just being extremely cautious with the greatest home run hitter on the planet _ especially after Ruth’s home run barrage in Game 4.

“Consider Ruth’s walk at the very end of Game 7. It wasn’t deliberate. With two outs, Alexander was ahead of Ruth with a 1-and-2 count. Alexander kept nibbling at the corners of the plate, but ball four (was) an extremely close call. Umpire George Hildebrandt hesitated before calling the pitch, and Alexander was visibly upset. Keep in mind the mystique around Ruth was unbelievable. Could that have played into the back of the umpire’s mind? That umpire already had a high-profile run-in with Ruth in 1922. An angry Ruth threw dirt in Hildebrandt’s face after being called out at second base.

“Here’s the other interesting twist on Ruth in the ninth inning: After he gets caught stealing second base to end the game, I was stunned by how the press dealt with it afterward. Most of the writers didn’t call him out for making a mistake; instead, they wrote it like he was the hero trying to steal second base and carry the Yankees single-handedly to a win. The baseball writers simply didn’t want to challenge the decision by Babe and his Ruthian-sized persona. That makes me wonder if the umpire dealt with his own version of that complex with Ruth at the plate. Maybe Hildebrandt didn’t want another controversial run-in with Ruth by calling a third strike to end the Series; instead, Ruth gets another walk.”

Q: The iconic moment in the 1926 World Series is the Grover Cleveland Alexander strikeout of Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the seventh. What do you think is the most overlooked key moment in that Series?

A: “Beyond Alexander’s legendary appearance, my money for the key moment is the fourth inning of Game 7. It was a study in defensive contrasts between the Yankees and the Cardinals. In the top of the fourth, two Yankees made critical defensive misplays. That allowed shortstop Tommy Thevenow, a fascinating player, to drop a soft single in front of Ruth and score two runs to give the Cards the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, the exact opposite happened. New York was trying to make a comeback, and Lou Gehrig was in scoring position with the potential tying run. Hank Severeid, the Yankees catcher and a former St. Louis Brown, then hits a tremendous smash. Thevenow timed the play perfectly, leaping several feet to make a catch and save a run. For me, that inning was a bit of a microcosm of the Series.

“There were a number of heroes for the Cardinals in the 1926 World Series, but none more surprising than Thevenow. Imagine combining a mixture of Ozzie Smith’s fielding with the unexpected hitting heroics of David Eckstein in the 2006 World Series. Thevenow stepped up repeatedly with dazzling defensive plays and shockingly hit .417 at the bottom of the order. A small guy delivered a big series for the Cardinals 100 years ago.”

Posted in Bloggers, Games, Hitters, Pitchers | 13 Comments »

Bill Sherdel sought to solve a pitcher’s hitting puzzle

June 16, 2026 by retrosimba

Bill Sherdel, a mite on the mound, nearly achieved a mighty hitting feat.

No big-league pitcher has hit for the cycle (single, double, triple, home run) in a game, but Sherdel, a half-pint Cardinals left-hander, twice came close to doing it.

In 1922, Sherdel produced a single, double, home run (but no triple) in a game against the Phillies. Four years later, versus Brooklyn, he got the triple, as well as a double and home run, but missed out on a single.

Changing speeds

A son of German immigrants, Sherdel grew up about 12 miles east of Gettysburg, Pa. He started out in sandlot baseball as a left-handed catcher and his brother, Fred, pitched. Eventually they switched roles.

Sherdel turned pro at 18 in 1915. He was 5-foot-8 and less than 150 pounds, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. As he advanced through the minors, Sherdel developed a dazzyling array of changeups and slow curves.

With Milwaukee of the American Association in 1917, Sherdel won 19. Cardinals president Branch Rickey took notice and purchased Sherdel’s contract for $1,000.

“Baseball men cheerfully admit that Bill Sherdel pitches primarily with his head and secondarily with his arm,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

(During a visit to St. Louis in 1962, Sherdel was asked by Cardinals manager Johnny Keane to meet with the club’s pitchers. According to The Sporting News, Sherdel told them, “I tried to hit the plate low and on the outside corner. Learn that and you’re bound to last.”)

In his first big-league win, a complete game for the Cardinals against the Reds in 1918, Sherdel allowed 12 hits but two runs. He also had a RBI and scored a run. Boxscore

Branch Rickey, who became Cardinals manager in 1919, always called him William. The local newspapers called him Wee Willie and referred to him as “undersized,” “diminutive,” and “peewee.”

Rickey used Sherdel as both a starter and reliever. In 1922, he produced 17 wins and 17 hits. That was the year he first came close to hitting for the cycle.

In four plate appearances versus the Phillies’ Jesse Winters on Aug. 19 at St. Louis, Sherdel had a walk, single, solo home run and two-run double. Perhaps all that hitting and baserunning took its toll on the little man. He carried a 7-5 lead into the ninth, but the Phillies rallied and won, 8-7. Boxscore

Help from Hornsby

Sherdel had 15 wins and hit .337 for the 1923 Cardinals, but in 1924 Rickey used him more as a reliever (25 games) than as a starter (10).

Deciding the bullpen was where Sherdel belonged, Rickey took him out of the starting rotation in 1925. Sherdel made 11 relief appearances, but then Rogers Hornsby replaced Rickey on May 31. One of his first moves was to restore Sherdel to the rotation. Sherdel won 15 for the 1925 Cardinals and was 11-3 as a starter.

Back in the rotation in 1926, Sherdel lost four of his first five decisions. Hornsby stuck with him and Sherdel won eight of his next 10.

In June 1926, the Cardinals got Grover Cleveland Alexander from the Cubs to join a rotation with Sherdel, Jesse Haines and Flint Rhem.

“Alexander taught me more about pitching than any manager or coach,” Sherdel told Bill Duncan for The Sporting News. “There was a wonder. I studied him hour after hour, how he worked on the various hitters, what he threw each one and what he didn’t throw them. I talked to (Alexander) dozens of times and asked him many questions. He was friendly and cooperative.”

On Aug. 4, 1926, at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Sherdel flirted with the cycle for the second time. Facing starter Burleigh Grimes, he grounded out in the second, tripled in the fifth and lashed a two-run double down the line in right in the sixth. In the ninth, against reliever Rube Ehrhardt, Sherdel clouted a home run that struck the flagpole on top of the wall in right. Sherdel pitched a complete game in the 8-4 St. Louis victory. Boxscore

Describing Sherdel’s tantalizing off-speed pitches that kept the Brooklyn batters off balance, Thomas Holmes of the Brooklyn Eagle wrote, “He starts his slow ball delivery on Saturday morning and it reaches home plate on the following Wednesday afternoon. Beg pardon, that’s his fast one. His floater occupies two days longer in transit.”

Sherdel is among a small number of pitchers to get the three extra-base hits in a game needed for the cycle but come up short on the single. Others:

_ Grover Cleveland Alexander, who had a double, triple and home run for the Cubs against the Phillies on June 20, 1925, at Chicago. Boxscore

_ Steve Sundra, who had a double, triple and home run for the Browns against the White Sox on July 5, 1942, at Chicago. Boxscore

Leading lefty

Sherdel had 16 wins, including six against Brooklyn, in helping the Cardinals earn a National League pennant for the first time in 1926. Cardinals third baseman Les Bell said to The Sporting News, “Alexander was the more famous pitcher and Haines was great, too, but never overlook the magnificent work of Sherdel.”

He won 21 when the Cardinals earned another pennant in 1928.

Sherdel is the Cardinals’ franchise leader in most career wins by a left-hander (153). Only right-handers Bob Gibson (251), Jesse Haines (210), Adam Wainwright (200) and Bob Forsch (163) have more wins as Cardinals.

Just missed

Some other big-leaguers who almost hit for the cycle as pitchers include:

_ Jimmy Ryan of the Chicago White Stockings hit for the cycle on July 28, 1888, against the Detroit Wolverines. Ryan began the game as a center fielder. He got two hits (a single and triple) before he was switched to pitcher in the second inning. As the pitcher, Ryan hit a double, triple and home run, giving him five hits for the game. He pitched 7.1 innings in Chicago’s 21-17 victory.

_ Babe Ruth got four or more hits in a game 29 times but never achieved the cycle. As a pitcher, he came close to doing it at St. Louis. Ruth had four hits (single, home run and two doubles) for the Red Sox against the Browns in a 4-2 Boston victory on July 21, 1915. Boxscore

_ Shohei Ohtani hit for the cycle on June 13, 2019, as the designated hitter for the Angels against the Rays. As a pitcher, he came close to achieving the cycle, hitting a single, double and triple (but no home run) against the Athletics on April 27, 2023. Boxscore and Boxscore

Besides Bill Sherdel and Steve Sundra, some other St. Louis pitchers who nearly achieved a cycle:

_ Jesse Haines had two singles, a double and home run for the Cardinals against the Phillies on Aug. 11, 1920, at Philadelphia. Haines also walked and reached on an error, but couldn’t produce a triple. He hit two triples in 19 seasons in the majors. Boxscore

_ Milt Gaston hit a single, double and home run for the Browns versus the Tigers on July 5, 1927, at St. Louis. Gaston batted .260 with three homers for the 1927 Browns. Boxscore

_ Tommy Byrnes had four RBI, hitting a double, home run and two singles, for the Browns against the Athletics on July 17, 1952, at Philadelphia. In 13 seasons in the majors, Byrnes totaled 14 homers and 98 RBI. Boxscore

_ Scott Terry had a three-run home run, single, double and sacrifice bunt for the Cardinals versus the Giants on April 27, 1989, at St. Louis. A former minor-league outfielder, Terry had 21 hits, but no triples, in the majors. Boxscore

Special mention belongs to pitcher Don Newcombe. He three times came close to hitting for the cycle. Each time was against the Cardinals. The triple eluded him.

_ On June 17, 1955, Newcombe had a home run, double and single for the Dodgers at St. Louis. Boxscore

_ On July 15, 1955, Newcombe produced two singles, a double and home run for the Dodgers at Brooklyn. He also reached on an error. Newcombe hit .359 with seven home runs for the 1955 Dodgers and posted a 20-5 record. Against the Cardinals that season, he was 4-0 and hit .524. Boxscore

_ On July 18, 1958, Newcombe had a single, double and home run for the Reds at Cincinnati. In 10 big-league seasons, he slugged 15 homers, including six versus the Cardinals, and totaled 108 RBI. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers | 9 Comments »

Elusive quest: Aaron Herr and his bid to reach the majors

June 9, 2026 by retrosimba

Aaron Herr had reason to think his baseball story would have a fabled climax.

After his playing career stalled in the Braves’ system, Herr, 24, went to a Cardinals farm club in 2005 and experienced a revival. Wearing a uniform jersey with the organization’s iconic birds on the bat seemed to conjure something magical in his game. He hit for average and with power. Talent evaluators took notice.

A former Cardinals batboy, Aaron was a second baseman, same position his father, Tommy Herr, played for 1980s Cardinals clubs that won three National League pennants and a World Series title.

Now, it seemed, Aaron Herr was following in those footsteps, firmly on a path toward reaching the major leagues as a second baseman for St. Louis.

It turned out the plot line was too good to be true.

High hopes

A standout high school shortstop in Lancaster, Pa., Aaron Herr was a supplemental pick of the Braves in the first round of the 2000 amateur draft. Another first-round pick of the Braves that year was pitcher Adam Wainwright.

Receiving an $850,000 signing bonus, Herr entered the Braves’ farm system as a second baseman. He underwent reconstructive right knee surgery in 2001 and had two follow-up arthroscopic procedures. After five seasons, Herr had advanced no higher than Class AA.

In December 2004, the Mariners selected him in the minor-league draft. After seeing Herr at 2005 spring training, the Mariners informed him he’d be a utility infielder at Class AA. Stunned to be relegated to a reserve role, Herr asked for and was granted his release.

“I lay in bed every night and I just wonder,” Herr said to Jason Guarente of Lancaster Newspapers. “I think about if things could have been different.”

Herr planned to play for an independent minor-league team, the Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers, managed by his father, but on the eve of the 2005 season opener the Cardinals offered a one-year contract to play in their farm system.

“We thought he’d definitely be an upgrade from what we had in double-A,” Cardinals director of player development Bruce Manno told Lancaster Newspapers.

Fresh start

Assigned to Springfield (Mo.), Herr was given uniform No. 38. (His father wore No. 28 with the Cardinals.) Though the word “Springfield” was on the front of the jersey, the rest of the uniform looked similar to the one worn by the big-league Cardinals. “This is the happiest I’ve been in professional baseball … I feel like a kid again, back in Little League,” Herr told the Springfield News-Leader. “I’ve always wanted to be able to put on a Cardinals uniform, so I’m doing everything possible to impress the right people.”

A right-handed batter, Herr (whose father was a switch-hitter) struggled at the plate his first few games with Springfield. “His swing was absolutely ugly,” hitting coach Dallas Williams told Springfield reporter Kary Booher.

Williams corrected a hitch in Herr’s swing and it made a positive difference. Herr led Springfield in home runs (21), batted .298 and produced 81 RBI. It was the most successful of his six seasons in the minors. “The job he did there was very impressive,” Bruce Manno told Lancaster Newspapers.

There were things, though, the Cardinals didn’t like. Herr struck out 108 times and had a mere 15 walks. He also made 22 errors at second base. “There are times when Herr just takes too much time getting to ground balls and tries to backhand them, then ends up in trouble,” the Springfield newspaper noted.

Bruce Manno told Harold Zeigler of Lancaster Newspapers, “Defensively, I think he needs to continue to work and improve. We talked to him about what he needs to do in the offseason to try to improve his defensive skills. If he can improve defensively, he’s got a chance to play at a higher level.”

Unfazed, Herr said to his hometown paper, “Hitting is going to get you to the big leagues … My defense will be good enough. That’s something I’ll work on. I know I can play second base.”

Moving on

After his season at Springfield, Herr became a free agent and said he wanted to re-sign with the Cardinals. “I love putting on that Cardinals jersey … I think that was one of the reasons I had such a good season,” Herr told Lancaster Newspapers. “I felt more at home with them than I ever had with any other team. I was in a comfort zone. I went to the field every day happy.”

However, Herr said he wanted a promise he’d be invited to the big-league training camp in February and given a chance to show manager Tony La Russa what he could do. “That’s a must,” Herr said. “My ultimate goal is to make the big leagues, and I’d prefer the Cardinals, but, with the kind of year I had, somebody’s going to give me what I want.”

The Cardinals didn’t accept Herr’s terms. In November 2005, he signed with the Reds, who invited him to their big-league training camp. “They’re not afraid to bring young guys up and give them a chance,” Herr told reporter Jason Guarente.

Reds director of player development Tim Naehring told Lancaster Newspapers, “Aaron has some outstanding power numbers. He has been seen by multiple people in our organization who feel at some point in his career he’ll be an everyday major-league player … We don’t have anybody with comparable production in our middle infield.”

Hit and miss

Herr went to big-league spring training with the 2006 Reds, but didn’t make the team. Instead, he was assigned to Class AA Chattanooga, shifted to third base and hit .287. He was promoted to Class AAA Louisville in July but injured a wrist. When he played, there were nights manager Rick Sweet “wondered if Herr was so determined to hit that he forgot that baseball players carried gloves as well as bats,” Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal noted.

Sweet, a former big-league catcher, got through to Herr. In 2007, when Herr returned to Louisville, he often took extra practice at third base. To help Herr enhance his potential value to a big-league club, Sweet used him at both second and third throughout the season.

Herr, 26, had a terrific 2007 season for Louisville. He and first baseman Joey Votto tied for the team lead in total bases (each with 237). Herr produced 31 doubles, 19 home runs, 83 RBI, and did well enough in the field to impress Sweet.

“Aaron is the best all-around hitter on this team, if you’re talking about hitting for average, for power or controlling the strike zone,” Sweet told the Courier-Journal. “He’s also the most improved player on this team. That’s the thing that makes me the happiest for Aaron Herr. He’s becoming a good all-around baseball player, including his defense.”

However, the Reds promoted Mark Bellhorn from Louisville instead of Herr to fill a backup infield spot late in the season. The Reds said they considered calling up Herr but opted for Bellhorn, 33, because he had big-league experience.

After eight seasons in the minors, Herr was left to wonder what it would take for him to reach the big leagues. His father told Mike Gross of Lancaster Newspapers, “He had a great year … Did everything that was asked of him … He needs somebody to vouch for him.”

Bitter end

The 2008 season was Herr’s last with a farm club affiliated with a major-league franchise. From 2009-11 he played for the independent Lancaster Barnstormers. (Aaron’s brother, Jordan Herr, also spent a season with Lancaster in 2008.)

In 2010, when Tommy Herr was Lancaster’s manager, Aaron Herr played third base and hit .321 with 35 doubles, 23 homers and 103 RBI. (The team’s center fielder was Joe Gaetti, son of former Cardinals third baseman Gary Gaetti.)

Herr’s 12th and final minor-league season was with Lancaster in 2011. The manager was Butch Hobson, the former Red Sox third baseman and manager. Herr played right field.

Before the start of the Atlantic League playoffs in September 2011, Hobson cut Herr, 30, from the team, citing insufficient fielding skills. “He’s a hitter, that’s what he is, and I didn’t see him fitting in with my team for what I wanted to do for the playoffs,” Hobson told Lancaster Newspapers.

Herr said to the newspaper, “I try not to have bitter feelings but I do. I can’t get myself not to … I really felt like I got smacked in the face.”

Posted in Hitters, Prospects | 10 Comments »

How Bob Forsch flipped the script on Bruce Sutter

June 2, 2026 by retrosimba

In a storybook season for the Cardinals, starter Bob Forsch changed the narrative.

The ability of closer Bruce Sutter to consistently seal wins for the Cardinals was a key to their becoming World Series champions in 1982. Sutter led the majors in saves that season, with 36. He saved eight of Forsch’s 15 wins.

It was a different story, though, in a game at Atlanta. Forsch got a save, his first in the majors, to preserve a win for Sutter and the Cardinals.

National League showdown

In May 1982, the two division leaders, Cardinals and Braves, opened a four-game series in Atlanta. It was a matchup of future Hall of Fame managers, Whitey Herzog and Joe Torre. Besides Torre, the Braves had a strong Cardinals connection, with coaches Bob Gibson and Dal Maxvill, and reliever Al Hrabosky.

Forsch started the opener and wasn’t effective (five runs in 3.2 innings) but the Cardinals won, with Sutter pitching 2.2 innings for the save. A Biff Pocoroba walkoff home run against Doug Bair lifted the Braves to victory in Game 2.

A throng of 48,433 turned out for Game 3 on a Saturday night at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It was the largest baseball crowd in Atlanta since 50,595 packed the ballpark for a July 4, 1977, Tom Seaver versus Phil Niekro matchup.

Unhappy with the performance of starter John Martin, Herzog yanked him in the first inning. Herzog used six pitchers in seven innings.

With the Braves ahead, 3-2, Sutter was brought in to pitch the eighth and retired them in order.

In the ninth, the Cardinals tied the score with two outs when Keith Hernandez laced a Gene Garber pitch past diving first baseman Bob Watson for a double, driving in Lonnie Smith from third.

After Sutter retired the Braves in order again in their half of the ninth, the Cardinals scored four in the 10th and led, 7-3. The big blow was Lonnie Smith’s three-run home run against Rick Camp.

Emergency call

As Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted, “A four-run lead with Sutter pitching seemed safe enough, but Sutter, pitching his third inning for the second time in three days, had nothing in the 10th.”

Sutter told Hummel, “Even the first two innings, I didn’t have anything.”

Sutter struck out the first batter he faced in the 10th, Dale Murphy, but Bob Horner followed with a deep drive. Left fielder Lonnie Smith froze and the ball struck the top of the low fence for a double. “I just panicked instead of busting my butt,” Smith told the Post-Dispatch.

After Bob Watson’s single moved Horner to third, Chris Chambliss batted for Bruce Benedict. A left-handed batter, Chambliss had produced only a single in 10 previous at-bats versus Sutter. This time, though, he clouted a three-run homer, cutting the St. Louis lead to one at 7-6.

Herzog decided to replace the weary closer with the Cardinals’ eighth pitcher of the game. The only remaining ones were Joaquin Andujar, who’d started the night before and went seven innings; Steve Mura, who was scheduled to start the next day; and Bob Forsch, who hadn’t appeared in relief since 1979.

Forsch was “the only one I had left,” Herzog told the Atlanta Constitution.

Role reversal

Rafael Ramirez was due to be the first batter Forsch faced, but Joe Torre sent a pinch-hitter, Ken Smith. A week earlier, Smith drilled a pinch-hit single against Forsch. This time, he singled again.

Next up was Biff Pocoroba, who’d beaten the Cardinals with his walkoff homer the night before. Another homer here would lift the Braves to victory. Pocoroba was a career .400 hitter against Forsch. This time, he popped up to shortstop Ozzie Smith for the second out.

Forsch ended the drama by getting Claudell Washington to ground out to third baseman Ken Oberkfell.

In a reverse of the norm, Sutter was the winning pitcher and Forsch had his first career save.

“Say, I wonder how I stand in the Rolaids Relief Standings?” Forsch said to the Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel. Boxscore

Rest of the story

Forsch made 34 starts for the 1982 Cardinals and was 15-9. He had one more relief appearance that season, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings versus the Cubs on Oct. 2.

In 10.2 regular-season innings against the 1982 Braves, Forsch gave up 10 runs, but he tossed a three-hit shutout against them in the rescheduled Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. “My best game ever,” Forsch said in the book “Whitey’s Boys.” Boxscore

Forsch’s gem came after the first try at playing Game 1 (a matchup of Phil Niekro and Joaquin Andujar) was rained out with the Braves ahead, 1-0, in the fifth.

The Cardinals went on to sweep the Braves and then prevailed in a seven-game World Series versus the Brewers.

In 1985, when the Cardinals again won a National League pennant, Forsch got two more saves, one against the Cubs; the other versus the Dodgers. At 35, he was used as both a starter (19 appearances) and reliever (15 appearances) that season, contributing a 9-6 record.

Forsch finished with 168 wins and three saves in his 16 seasons in the majors.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 16 Comments »

Cardinals reject Dick Hughes came to club’s rescue

May 26, 2026 by retrosimba

As a Cardinals prospect in 1966, Dick Hughes appeared headed for the scrap heap. A year later, he was the leading winner for the World Series champions.

Hughes’ emergence as a top starter for the 1967 Cardinals seemed about as likely as if another Arkansas native, Dizzy Dean, tried making a comeback with them at age 57.

The 1966 season was Hughes’ ninth in the Cardinals’ system. A right-hander who threw hard but lacked command, he was 28 and going backwards. After starting the season at Class AAA, Hughes was demoted to Class AA in May. Two weeks later, needing roster room for more promising pitchers, St. Louis loaned him to the Toledo Mud Hens, top farm club of the Yankees.

It was the second time the Cardinals had loaned Hughes to another organization, a sure sign he wasn’t rated a serious candidate to reach the majors with them.

Reflecting on his struggles, Hughes told Neal Russo of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “A lot of times I figured it was do or die, and a lot of times I halfway died.”

Golden arm

Hughes moved with his family from rural Arkansas to Shreveport, Louisiana, when he was 8. He had poor eyesight _ 20-350 vision in one eye; 20-300 in the other _ and “couldn’t recognize his mother without his glasses,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

His right arm, though, was strong and he threw a baseball with velocity. Cardinals scout Fred Hawn took an interest. When Hughes graduated from high school, he told Hawn he wanted to try college. Hawn helped Hughes get a baseball scholarship to the University of Arkansas and urged him to stay in touch.

Two years later, in 1958, Hughes contacted Hawn, who arranged a tryout in St. Louis. Liking what they saw, the Cardinals gave Hughes a $10,000 signing bonus. He used most of the money to join his father in buying an Arkansas cattle ranch.

Help wanted

Entering St. Louis’ farm system with only a fastball, “I was a wild, strong-armed kid who kept fooling around too much looking for a second pitch,” Hughes recalled to Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch.

In 1963, his sixth season in the minors, Hughes was loaned by the Cardinals to the Washington Senators, who sent him to pitch for the York (Pa.) White Roses. He did enough (11-5, 2.17 ERA) to rekindle the Cardinals’ interest. They put him with their Class AAA Jacksonville farm club in 1964 and he was effective (9-4, 2.92 ERA), but not impressive enough to get a call to the majors.

Hughes was tempted to quit. “My confidence was shaken,” he told Bob Broeg.

Returned to Jacksonville in 1965, Hughes regressed (7-8, 3.82 ERA). The Cardinals made him available in the minor-league draft, but no team wanted him.

So it was back to the Cardinals’ farm in 1966 _ and that’s when Hughes caught a break. Billy Muffett had become the franchise’s minor-league pitching instructor. He taught Hughes to pitch with a no-windup delivery, which helped his control considerably, and showed him how to throw a hard slider.

The results weren’t immediate. Hughes flopped at Tulsa (1-1, 5.40 ERA), got demoted to Little Rock (2-3, 2.35) and then loaned to Toledo in June 1966.

Holy Toledo!

The Toledo Mud Hens played their games at a converted harness racing track in suburban Maumee, Ohio. The Yankees farm team was managed by Loren Babe, who later would mentor infielder Tony La Russa and encourage him to think like a manager. “I’ve learned something from every manager I played for, but nobody taught me as much as Loren,” La Russa said in the book “Man on a Mission.”

Hughes’ Toledo teammates included pitchers Stan Bahnsen, Paul Toth and Jerry Walker, first baseman Mike Hegan and a heralded shortstop, Bobby Murcer.

“Rescued from Cardinals farm system obscurity,” as the Toledo Blade put it, Hughes found his groove. The no-windup delivery enabled him to consistently throw strikes. The hard slider became a formidable complement to the fastball.

In his first Toledo appearance, Hughes pitched a two-hit shutout against Toronto. Then he struck out 10 in six innings versus Buffalo.

John Hannen of the Toledo Blade called Hughes the “mystery man of the Toledo Mud Hens. The mystery of it all is how a pitcher of Hughes’ caliber was lying around loose on a double-A roster.”

Hughes kept up the good work all summer. He struck out 13 in a win against Columbus and 14 in a two-hitter versus Richmond. Rochester manager Earl Weaver was so impressed that “I tried to get my boss, Harry Dalton, to get Hughes” for the Orioles, he told the Post-Dispatch.

Suddenly, the Cardinals coveted the pitcher they had rejected. On Sept. 5, they sought to call up Hughes. It was the same day as Toledo’s season finale and Hughes was the scheduled starter.

The pitcher who had waited nine years to reach the majors asked the Cardinals to delay the promotion one day so that he could pitch the final game for Toledo. “I felt obligated to pitch this last game,” Hughes told Bill Fox of the Toledo Blade, “and I wanted to do it.”

The game matched Hughes against Jacksonville’s Tom Seaver. Hughes struck out 12 and Seaver fanned 10, but ex-Cardinal Johnny Lewis slugged a two-run home run to win it for Jacksonville.

Hughes finished 9-4 with a 2.21 ERA and 132 strikeouts in 110 innings for Toledo.

In comments to the Post-Dispatch, Cardinals farm director Sheldon Bender called Hughes “one of those guys who has seemed to arrive just about when you’ve given up on him.”

Big-league stuff

Hughes’ first Cardinals appearance came on Sept. 11, 1966, at Pittsburgh. Relieving Al Jackson with the Pirates ahead, 3-2, in the seventh, Hughes “could not have had a much tougher task for his debut,” the Post-Dispatch noted. The Pirates were the best-hitting team in the big leagues and the first batter to face Hughes was Matty Alou, who was leading the majors with a .348 batting mark.

Undaunted, Hughes retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, including Alou twice. He struck out Roberto Clemente and got Willie Stargell to fly out. The only batter to reach base was Bill Mazeroski on a walk. The Cardinals rallied for two runs, making Hughes the winning pitcher. Boxscore

In his next appearance, Hughes earned a save against the Reds. Boxscore

Manager Red Schoendienst gave Hughes a start in the season’s final series against the Cubs and he responded with a three-hit shutout, winning a duel with Ferguson Jenkins. Boxscore

In 21 innings for the 1966 Cardinals, Hughes struck out 20 and was 2-1 with a save and a 1.71 ERA.

“The big thing about Hughes is he throws strikes,” Cardinals pitching coach Joe Becker told the Post-Dispatch, “and, when you throw strikes, you have a chance.”

Ace in the hole

The 1967 Cardinals began the season with a starting rotation of Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Ray Washburn, Al Jackson and Larry Jaster. Hughes was a reliever and spot starter.

On May 25 at Atlanta, after Hughes pitched a two-hit shutout against the Braves, he and Al Jackson swapped roles. Boxscore

While in Atlanta, Hughes bought a hunting rifle. In an insensitive and chilling stunt, he “checked out the scope by zeroing in on pedestrians from the window of his hotel room,” according to Bob Gibson in the book “Stranger to the Game.” After that, teammates “started calling me The Sniper and Lee Harvey Hughes because I was lugging the rifle around so much,” Hughes told Neal Russo of the Post-Dispatch in a comment appallingly devoid of self-awareness.

Wins have a way of making people overlook ignorant behavior _ and Hughes did a lot of winning for the Cardinals. After shutting out the Braves, he struck out 13 Reds in eight innings but lost, 2-1, then won five in a row.

“Hughes threw a hard slider that was almost unhittable,” Cardinals first baseman Orlando Cepeda said in his book “Baby Bull.”

In July, a Roberto Clemente shot fractured Bob Gibson’s leg. Nelson Briles moved into the rotation. Briles and Hughes each won seven of nine decisions during Gibson’s absence.

Hughes’ salary for 1967 was $10,000, but general manager Stan Musial twice rewarded him with bonuses _ one for $1,500 and another for $2,500.

Hughes led the 1967 Cardinals in wins (16), complete games (12), shutouts (three) and innings pitched (222.1). Along with a 16-6 record, he had three saves and a 2.67 ERA.

Though the Cardinals lost both games Hughes started in the 1967 World Series against the Red Sox, St. Louis won the championship largely because of Bob Gibson (three wins), Nelson Briles (one win), Lou Brock (12 hits, eight runs scored, seven stolen bases) and Roger Maris (10 hits and seven RBI).

In 1968, Hughes tore muscles in his right shoulder and lost his effectiveness. His final big-league appearance was a brief relief stint in Game 6 of the 1968 World Series versus the Tigers.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Prospects | 15 Comments »

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