RetroSimba

Ready, set, go: How Willie Mays ran rings around Cardinals

September 21, 2026 by retrosimba

Willie Mays was having an unhappy 25th birthday the afternoon of May 6, 1956, at St. Louis.

Batting cleanup for the Giants in a doubleheader against the Cardinals, Mays went hitless in the opener and stranded five base runners as St. Louis prevailed, 5-4.

Willie’s birthday blues extended into the second game. In the first inning, he retrieved Red Schoendienst’s double and unleashed a wild throw that sailed past third baseman Foster Castleman and landed in the seats on one hop. Schoendienst scooted to home plate on the error, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Mays was such an exceptional ballplayer, though, that even when his hitting and fielding were askew, he could find another way to beat a team. In this instance, it was his base running that sparked the Giants to a Game 2 victory and gave Mays a birthday treat to celebrate. Mays swiped four bases in a game for the first time.

On the run

In his first three seasons with the Giants, Mays rarely attempted to steal bases, but manager Leo Durocher gave him the green light in 1955 and “I found out I could steal,” Mays told the Jersey Journal.

Mays swiped 24 bases in 28 attempts in 1955.

Durocher was Willie’s mentor and protector. When Bill Rigney took over as Giants manager in 1956, Mays had trouble adapting to the change. Rigney didn’t coddle Mays as Durocher had and tension developed between player and manager.

Mays hit .200 and made no steal attempts in the Giants’ first 13 games of 1956. A breakout came on May 4 at Milwaukee when Mays hit a home run and stole a base against Lew Burdette.

Then the Giants went to St. Louis for the Sunday twin bill on Willie’s birthday.

Coming up empty

In the opener, Mays went 0-for-5 against three Cardinals pitchers _ Harvey Haddix, Larry Jackson and Ellis Kinder.

He had hard luck against Haddix in the third. Batting with two on, two outs, Mays sent a drive to deep left. It looked to be a double or triple, but Rip Repulski made a leaping catch against the concrete wall.

Two innings later, Mays again batted with two on, but Larry Jackson got him to foul out to first baseman Wally Moon.

After Stan Musial put the Cardinals ahead, 5-4, with a home run versus Al Worthington in the eighth, Mays batted with one on in the ninth, but Ellis Kinder, the 41-year-old closer facing Mays for the first time, got him to fly out. Boxscore

Finding a weakness

Eager to atone for the error that gave St. Louis the lead in the first inning of Game 2, Mays led off the second with a single against Vinegar Bend Mizell. Back with the Cardinals after two years in the Army, Mizell was a left-hander who threw with a “slow, exaggerated delivery,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mays was seeing Mizell for the first time. Willie was in the Army when Mizell had his first two seasons with St. Louis (1952-53).

As Mays took his lead off first, he “did not get a good read on Mizell’s move,” according to James S. Hirsch, author of the authorized biography “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend.”

Willie’s hesitancy cost the Giants. Daryl Spencer followed with a grounder that the Cardinals converted into a double play _ Ken Boyer to Schoendienst to Moon.

If he reached base again, and Mays had no doubt he would, he was determined to take advantage of Mizell’s slow-motion windup. As biographer Hirsch noted, “Mays studied the pitcher from the bench. Left-handers were tougher to decipher, but he thought they all had one vulnerability: their eyes signaled their intentions. He also found a tip-off in Mizell’s delivery. With a speedy runner on first base, Mizell assumed, like most pitchers, that his fastball would give his catcher a better chance on an attempted steal, but Mays saw that Mizell kicked his right leg higher on a fastball, making that the ideal pitch on which to run.”

Next time up, in the fourth, Mays walked, got a running jump and stole second. Then he swiped third. He was stranded there, but Mays now knew he could run at will on Mizell and there was little that catcher Bill Sarni could do to stop him.

In the sixth, Mays walked again, stole second and “could feel the angry, frustrated stares of both Mizell and Sarni,” biographer Hirsch noted.

Sarni, who began his pro career at 15 with Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League in 1943, had a strong arm and took pride in his ability to thwart stolen base attempts. He nailed 48 percent (70 of 146) of those trying to steal against him during his big-league career. After Mays ran wild against the Cardinals, Sarni told the Post-Dispatch, “I guess 26,000 people (at the game) will think I can’t throw.”

Applying pressure

With St. Louis ahead, 4-3, in the ninth, Mays led off against Mizell and singled. According to Hirsch, “Mizell tried to hold him with several throws, but Mays ran on the first pitch and beat the peg _ four steals in one game. He considered stealing third, though with none out, the attempt would have carried undue risk.”

“I could have taken third base easy,” Mays said.

Instead, Mays dashed home from second with the tying run on Daryl Spencer’s double against a rattled Mizell. After Ellis Kinder relieved, Foster Castleman bunted Spencer to third and Dusty Rhodes drove him in with a single, giving the Giants a 5-4 lead.

The Cardinals put two on with one out in their half of the ninth, but Hoyt Wilhelm came in and retired Bill Virdon and Walker Cooper on pop-outs to the catcher, preserving the win. Boxscore

NL’s first 30-30 player

A month after the base stealing show by Mays in St. Louis, Bill Sarni was sent with Red Schoendienst and others to the Giants in the trade that brought Alvin Dark to the Cardinals.

(Sarni threw out 15 of the 26 runners who tried to steal against him with the 1956 Giants. Impressed, the Giants projected him as their catcher in 1957, but on the first day of spring training Sarni, 29, suffered a heart attack. He survived but never played again.)

Willie Mays went on to steal 40 bases in 50 attempts and belt 36 home runs for the 1956 Giants, becoming the first National League player with at least 30 homers and 30 steals in a season.

(The first to do it in the American League was Ken Williams, with 39 homers and 37 steals for the 1922 St. Louis Browns. No AL player achieved the feat again until Tommy Harper, 31 homers; 38 steals, with the 1970 Milwaukee Brewers.)

Mays repeated the achievement in 1957, with 35 homers and 38 steals.

(In the long and prominent history of the Cardinals, none has achieved 30 steals and 30 homers in a season.)

Mays in 1956 became the first National League player to swipe 40 bases since Kiki Cuyler totaled 43 for the 1929 Cubs.

Mays led the NL in steals for four consecutive seasons: 1956 (40), 1957 (38), 1958 (31) and 1959 (27).

He had 338 steals in his big-league career, according to retrosheet.org, and he was successful on most of his attempts. For instance, Mays had 27 steals in 31 tries in 1959 and 18 in 20 attempts in 1962. At age 40 in 1971, Mays was caught just three times in 26 attempts.

Mays swiped four bases in a game just once after his thefts at St. Louis. That came against the Reds in 1957, the year the Cardinals tried to acquire Mays with a $750,000 cash offer to the Giants. Boxscore

As for Vinegar Bend Mizell, Mays remained his menace throughout his career. Mays hit .392 (40 for 102) versus Mizell, with six doubles, five triples, five home runs and a .488 on-base percentage.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 8 Comments »

How Dave Koslo turned into Superman against Cardinals

September 14, 2026 by retrosimba

During a three-year stretch (1950-52), when pitchers such as Warren Spahn and Robin Roberts dominated the National League, none was tougher for the Cardinals to solve than Dave Koslo of the Giants.

As The Sporting News put it, “His specialty was beating the Cardinals.”

A left-hander who relied on pitch location rather than velocity, Koslo won 13 consecutive decisions versus the Cardinals from June 1950 to July 1952.

Of Koslo’s 92 National League wins, 24 (or 26 percent) came against St. Louis.

In his autobiography, “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “We helped keep Dave Koslo in the league.”

Name of the game

George Bernard Koslowski was born to Polish immigrant parents Stanley and Theodosia in the Wisconsin town of Menasha. (The town’s name is derived from a Menominee Indian tribe word meaning little island.) A paper mill center, Menasha is located on the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, 100 miles north of Milwaukee.

A quiet youth, Koslowski raised pigeons, liked polkas and was adept at athletics. He was in his teens when an uncle, Julian Konetzke, taught him how to pitch, according to The Sporting News. Koslowski caught on fast and began playing semipro baseball for the Menasha Polish Falcons of the Fox River Valley League.

At a tournament in Milwaukee, a scout, Richard (Red) Smith, signed Koslowski to a pro contract with the Class D Hopkinsville (Ky.) Hoppers for the 1939 season.

A newspaper reporter advised Koslowski he’d get his name in the headlines more often if he’d shorten it. According to the Stevens Point (Wisc.) Journal, George consulted with his father, a printer, who said, “How about Dave Koslo?”

The name stuck.

Advancing quickly, Koslo, 21, joined the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association in 1941. The Brewers, having financial trouble, hoped Koslo would pitch well enough so his contract could be sold to a big-league team. As Milwaukee manager Bill Killefer said to The Sporting News, “He’s our pot of gold.”

Killefer, former manager of the Cubs and Browns, had been Grover Cleveland Alexander’s catcher with the Phillies (1911-17) and knew a thing or two about pitching. Koslo impressed him. “I’ll tell you why Koslo is ready for our league,” Killefer told Sam Levy of the Milwaukee Journal. “He has poise, brains and, what’s more, he’s a cold-blooded cuss.”

Koslo led the 1941 Milwaukee club in wins (13), innings pitched (203) and complete games (15). A scout, Hank DeBerry, who had been Dazzy Vance’s catcher with Brooklyn, recommended Koslo to the Giants, who paid Milwaukee $10,000 for his contract.

Koslo joined the Giants for the last month of the 1941 season and got his first win with a complete game against the Braves at Boston. Boxscore

Ups and downs

A three-year stint (1943-45) in the Army interrupted Koslo’s baseball career. In his first year back with the Giants (1946), he worked 265 innings for a last-place club. His first winning season in the majors was 1947 (15-10). In January 1948, Koslo had surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow, but was pitching for the Giants three months later.

Koslo had an unusual 1949 season, posting the best ERA in the National League (2.50), issuing the fewest walks (1.82) per nine innings but compiling an 11-14 record. The Giants didn’t score in five of those defeats and managed just one run in four others.

It wasn’t until 1950, though, that Koslo became a consistent Cardinals killer and, as Stan Musial said in his autobiography, “cast quite a spell over us.”

Cardinals nemesis

In his 13 wins in a row against the Cardinals from June 22, 1950, to July 22, 1952, Koslo pitched three two-hit shutouts. Boxscore Boxscore Boxscore

For a while, it seemed he could do no wrong when facing St. Louis. In his second win of the streak, Koslo, a career .109 hitter, produced two hits and three RBI, scored twice and pitched a complete game. He also had two hits, two RBI and a run scored in the 12th win of the streak. Boxscore Boxscore

Even Stan Musial was stymied. In 1950, when he led the National League in hitting at .346, Musial batted .167 against Koslo. In 1951, when Musial repeated as NL batting champion at .355, he batted .130 against Koslo, including a stretch of 17 consecutive at-bats without a hit.

“He had control and he could win at the Polo Grounds because he could keep the ball low and away,” Musial said in his autobiography. “He wasn’t overpowering, didn’t have what you could call a good curve, but wouldn’t walk anybody. He was awful tough for me for a time.”

(As usual, Musial adjusted, though. He hit .412 against Koslo in 1952 and .308, with 10 doubles and five home runs, for his career.)

Musial wasn’t kidding when he said the Cardinals kept Koslo in the National League. A breakdown of Koslo’s records shows:

_ 1950, 4-1 versus the Cardinals; 9-14 versus the rest of the league.

_ 1951, 4-0 versus the Cardinals; 6-9 versus the rest of the league.

_ 1952, 5-1 versus the Cardinals; 5-6 versus the rest of the league.

Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described Koslo as “a cunning Carl Hubbell against the Cardinals and pretty much a humpty-dumpty otherwise.”

Big stage

Koslo’s biggest win, though, came against the Yankees, not the Cardinals.

Thirty minutes after Bobby Thomson hit the walkoff home run against the Dodgers’ Ralph Branca that clinched the National League pennant for the 1951 Giants, manager Leo Durocher told Koslo he would start Game 1 of the World Series the next day at Yankee Stadium.

It was a daring choice. Koslo hadn’t made a start in two weeks. The New York Daily News called him “little more than the No. 6 starter on the club” and “a second-line pitcher who had been an ill-fitting cog most of the year.”

The Giants had big winners on their staff _ Sal Maglie (23 wins), Larry Jansen (also 23), Jim Hearn (17) _ but all three appeared in the playoff series against the Dodgers and Durocher ruled them out for the World Series opener.

A special feature of the 1951 World Series was the presence of Joe DiMaggio (center field) and Mickey Mantle (right field) for the Yankees and Willie Mays (center field) for the Giants. It was the only time all three appeared in games together. Mantle and Mays were rookies. DiMaggio was closing out his career.

Amid the glitter, Koslo stole the Game 1 spotlight. DiMaggio and Mantle went hitless. Yogi Berra was limited to a harmless single. Finding the outside corner with sinkers, Koslo pitched a complete game in the Giants’ 5-1 victory.

“He never actually fooled us,” DiMaggio said to the Daily News, “but he kept us off balance continually.” Boxscore

Koslo also started Game 6 at Yankee Stadium. With the score tied at 1-1 in the sixth, Hank Bauer hit a two-out, bases-loaded triple against him and the Yankees went on to win, 4-3, clinching their third consecutive World Series title. Boxscore

Koslo always returned home to Menasha after the baseball season. (He delivered mail during the holiday rush, according to the Stevens Point Journal.) When he got home in October 1951, Koslo was given a hero’s welcome for being a member of the National League champions and winning a World Series game.

Menasha held a parade in his honor. Escorted by three marching bands and a squadron of police cars with sirens blaring, Koslo stood in a convertible, happily puffing on a cigar and waving to the nearly 4,000 people who lined the main street, the Appleton Post-Crescent reported.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 12 Comments »

Brooklyn bizarre: Cardinals win argument, lose game

September 7, 2026 by retrosimba

Stan Musial wanted out. The Cardinals wanted to give away an out. The ninth inning at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field on Sept. 18, 1948, was, in a word, outlandish.

Musial, who hit .522 (24 for 46) at Ebbets Field in 1948, set the stage an inning earlier when he slammed a Paul Minner pitch out of the ballpark for his 36th home run of the season, tying the score at 2-2 in the eighth.

Stan comes clean

The score remained even when the Dodgers came to bat in the ninth against the Cardinals’ best reliever, Ted Wilks.

Pee Wee Reese led off and hit a pop fly into shallow left. Shortstop Ralph LaPointe chased after it and called off left fielder Enos Slaughter.

(LaPointe had entered the game in the fourth for Marty Marion, whose back ached. Marion committed two errors in the first, leading to a Brooklyn run.)

With the wind twisting the ball away from him, LaPointe changed direction at the last moment. He got his hands on the ball, then dropped it. Reese was safe at second with what was ruled a double.

Then Musial, playing center field, called a timeout, trotted toward the dugout and conferred with manager Eddie Dyer.

To the surprise of all in the ballpark, Musial took a seat on the bench and Erv Dusak went out to center field to replace him.

A day earlier, as it turned out, when Musial made a somersaulting catch of Tommy Brown’s short fly to center with two on in the eighth, he strained his left arm.

Musial kept quiet about the ailment because he didn’t want to remove his bat from the lineup. However, now that the Dodgers had the potential winning run in scoring position, Musial confessed to Dyer that he didn’t think he could make a strong throw from the outfield to the plate if Reese tried to score on a single to center, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the Irv Goodman book “Stan The Man Musial,” Musial knew he was due to bat second in the 10th inning and “this, too, had kept him quiet when he went out to the field at the bottom of the ninth.”

Now that Brooklyn had a scoring chance, “My turn at bat wouldn’t mean anything if there wasn’t going to be a 10th inning,” Musial told reporter Bob Broeg.

So he huddled with Dyer, who said, “thanks,” according to the Irv Goodman book.

Decisions, decisions

Next up for Brooklyn was Carl Furillo. He fouled off a bunt attempt, then tried again and the ball “glanced straight down off the bat and wound up in fair territory on the left side,” the New York Daily News reported.

According to reporter Dick Young, “Furillo stood still at the plate for the longest moment and then decided to run.”

Wilks fielded the ball and fired to first for the out, with Reese advancing to third.

Rather than accept the out, Eddie Dyer and Cardinals catcher Del Rice insisted to plate umpire George Barr that the ball struck Furillo’s foot and thus was foul. After conferring with fellow umpires Lee Ballanfant and Al Barlick, Barr reversed his call, declaring Furillo’s bunt try was a foul, and ordered Reese to go back to second.

Instead of one out and a runner on third, the Dodgers still had none out and a runner on second.

With two strikes on Furillo, a third bunt try was impractical. So Dodgers manager Burt Shotton sent a left-handed batter, Pete Reiser, to replace Furillo and swing away against the right-handed pitcher.

A St. Louisan, Reiser drilled Wilks’ first pitch into the alley between Erv Dusak in center and Ron Northey in right. Reese raced home with the winning run. Reiser was credited with a single, though he easily could have reached second or third.

The victory, in the final 1948 matchup between the Cardinals and Dodgers, gave Brooklyn 12 wins in 22 games versus St. Louis. It was the first time the Dodgers won a season series against the Cardinals since 1932. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Hitters | 9 Comments »

How Cardinals nearly struck out on getting Orlando Cepeda

August 31, 2026 by retrosimba

Orlando Cepeda was supposed to be traded to the Cubs, not the Cardinals.

In April 1966, the Giants offered to swap Cepeda, a slugger recovering from knee surgery, to the Cubs for left-handed starting pitcher Dick Ellsworth. The Cubs were willing but wanted an outfielder included with Cepeda in the deal.

While the sides dickered, details of the talks were leaked to newspapers, irritating Giants owner Horace Stoneham, who killed the proposed deal.

The Cardinals, desperate for a first baseman, stepped in and made their pitch: left-handed starting pitcher Ray Sadecki for Cepeda.

Pain relief

A right-handed batter, Cepeda was a consistent run producer for the Giants after entering the majors in 1958 and earning the National League Rookie of the Year Award. In his first seven seasons (1958-64) with San Francisco, Cepeda averaged 106 RBI and 31 home runs each year.

His right knee, though, ached after he dropped a weight on it during a workout late in 1962. He had knee surgery in December 1964. At 1965 spring training, the knee caused Cepeda “constant pain,” he said in “Baby Bull,” his autobiography.

Manager Herman Franks “kept saying I was faking, that there was nothing wrong with my knee,” Cepeda recalled in his book. “He said it was all in my mind and that I should get my ass on the field and earn some money.”

Cepeda spent most of the first month of the 1965 season on the bench. On May 3, he was sent to bat for Jose Pagan in the seventh inning at St. Louis and flied out to left. “I could barely walk,” Cepeda said in his autobiography. “I had to walk up to the batter’s box using my bat as a cane because my knee hurt so much.” Boxscore

He didn’t appear in another game until August. For the season, Cepeda batted .176 with one home run in 33 games, 27 as a pinch-hitter.

Let’s make a deal

At home in Puerto Rico during the winter, Cepeda worked to get the knee in shape. “I would run in the water, work with weights, then run some more,” he said in his book. “I was like Rocky Balboa training for a shot at the title, working harder than I ever had before. When I arrived in Arizona in the spring (of 1966), I was in the best shape of my life. Even my knee felt good. I was running well.”

However, when the Giants opened the season at home against the Cubs, Herman Franks started Willie McCovey at first base and Len Gabrielson in left. Cepeda, who played both positions, was on the bench. Boxscore

Cepeda finally got a chance to start in the sixth game, as the left fielder, only because the Giants intended to trade him for a left-handed starting pitcher and wanted to show clubs his knee was OK. Boxscore

The Giants’ starting rotation consisted of right-handers Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Bobby Bolin, Bob Shaw and Ron Herbel.

General managers Chub Feeney of the Giants and John Holland of the Cubs met in April to discuss a swap of Cepeda for Dick Ellsworth, the San Francisco Examiner and Chicago American reported. Ellsworth, 26, a Fresno resident, won 22 for the Cubs in 1963 and 14 in each of the next two seasons.

“What a deal that would have been, especially for the Giants, who are dirt-poor for southpaw pitchers,” Fresno Bee sports editor Omer Crane wrote. “Ellsworth, with that Giants power behind him, could win 20 to 22 games.”

Willie McCovey, who had one hit in 20 career at-bats against Ellsworth, said to The Sporting News, “He’s tough for any hitter.”

The trade would have given the Cubs a lineup with four future Hall of Fame run producers: Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Cepeda. With Banks stationed at first base, the Cubs would have put Cepeda in left field, John Holland told the Chicago Daily News.

“While Cubs fans thrill at the thought of Cepeda (40 home runs?) in the lineup, they shudder at the suggestion of their otherwise aging pitching staff without the presence of Ellsworth,” the Chicago Tribune noted.

Loose lips sink trades

Herman Franks was pushing for Chub Feeney to make the trade for the Giants, but Cubs manager Leo Durocher wanted John Holland to get more for Ellsworth than Cepeda. Durocher also insisted on proof that Cepeda’s knee was sound.

“Sure, I wanted Cepeda,” Durocher told Dick Young of the New York Daily News, “but I wanted some assurance that his knee was all right. After all, if I give them a pitcher like Ellsworth and then Cepeda’s knee goes pop, what have I got?”

The Giants would make no guarantee, but would permit the Cubs to have their own team doctor examine Cepeda’s knee in advance of a deal.

As for including an outfielder with Cepeda in the trade, Jesus Alou, Ollie Brown and Len Gabrielson were discussed, according to published reports. The Giants were given until two weeks after the season opened to agree to the terms, John Carmichael reported in the Chicago Daily News.

Giants owner Horace Stoneham didn’t like the Cubs’ demands and was miffed that they were leaking details to the newspapers. He told Chub Feeney and Herman Franks to call off the deal.

In the book “The Man Stan Musial Then and Now,” Musial, a Cardinals vice president in 1966, said, “It was common knowledge that a Cepeda-to-Chicago deal had fallen through because the Cubs, giving up Dick Ellsworth, wanted something other than the knee-damaged Cepeda to sweeten the pot. Those of us who knew Horace Stoneham were aware you didn’t push or prod” him.

According to Jack McDonald of the San Francisco Examiner, “Chicago fans are crying in their beer because the Cubs missed the boat on a Cepeda for Dick Ellsworth deal. Every Cubs official wanted it.”

Cardinals swoop in

After the collapse of the discussions with the Cubs, the Giants went after Ray Sadecki, 25, of the Cardinals. A 20-game winner in 1964, Sadecki won just six the next year but looked good in 1966. In April, he was 2-0 with an 0.98 ERA. One of those wins was a five-hitter against the Giants. Boxscore

The Cardinals were dissatisfied with rookie first baseman George Kernek, who lacked power. Cepeda, who slammed a two-run homer against the Cardinals on April 30, appealed to them. Boxscore

However, like the Cubs, Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam tried to get the Giants to include another player with Cepeda in a trade for Sadecki.

In the book “The Man Stan Musial Then and Now,” Musial recalled to collaborator Bob Broeg that “Howsam hedged and vacillated” on making the Sadecki for Cepeda deal until Cardinals executive vice president Dick Meyer, the top aide to team owner Gussie Busch, intervened.

Because of Howsam’s haggling, “We were fearful Horace (Stoneham) would nix the deal with St. Louis, too,” Musial said, “but Dick Meyer, always a sound stabilizing influence, urged Howsam to get along with the deal and to forget trying to get more for Sadecki.”

Getting it done

On May 7 at St. Louis, Cepeda clouted a grand slam against Cardinals starter Art Mahaffey. The next day, during the final game played at the former Sportsman’s Park, soon after Cepeda hit a two-run double against Larry Jaster, the Cardinals and Giants agreed to the Cepeda for Sadecki trade. Boxscore and Boxscore

The Cardinals and Cubs were the winners in the deal.

Cepeda helped the Cardinals win two National League pennants (1967-68) and a World Series title (1967). He received the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player Award.

Immediately after Horace Stoneham stopped the Cepeda trade talks with Chicago, the Cubs contacted the Phillies. On April 21, 1966, the Cubs sent pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl to Philadelphia for pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, center fielder Adolfo Phillips and first baseman John Herrnstein.

Jenkins developed into an ace and a Hall of Famer. He totaled 167 wins for the Cubs, and remains their career leader in strikeouts (2,038) and starts (347).

“I doubt very much whether we would have made the Philadelphia deal if we’d got Cepeda,” John Holland told the Chicago Daily News, “because we couldn’t afford to send two starters like Jackson and Ellsworth away at the same time.”

Former Cardinals ace Dizzy Dean predicted to United Press International that Sadecki “will give” the Giants the 1966 pennant. However, Sadecki was 32-39 in his four seasons with the Giants, who won no pennants during that time.

Posted in Executives, Games, Hitters, Pitchers, Trades | 20 Comments »

Good catch: Andy Etchebarren, Dave Duncan to the rescue

August 24, 2026 by retrosimba

Closers get the glory, but catchers get the most valuable saves.

Within an eight-month period, August 1966 to March 1967, catchers Andy Etchebarren (Orioles) and Dave Duncan (Athletics) saved people from drowning.

Etchebarren rescued his teammate, Frank Robinson, who sank to the bottom of a swimming pool. Duncan saved a girl who tumbled into the Gulf of Mexico.

Deep end

The 1966 Orioles made themselves hard to catch in the American League pennant race, winning 12 of their first 13 games and then 25 of 33 in June.

A key to their success was Frank Robinson. Acquired from the Reds in December 1965 _ Bill DeWitt Sr. made the decision to trade him _ Robinson would have a spectacular 1966 season, achieving the Triple Crown as the league leader in home runs (49), RBI (122) and batting average (.316). He also was tops in total bases (367), runs scored (122), on-base percentage (.410) and slugging (.637).

“Frank Robinson was the catalyst who transformed a good Baltimore team into one that could be the strength of the American League for several years,” Steve Jacobson of Newsday noted.

On a day off, Monday, Aug. 22, the Orioles (80-43) awoke with a 12.5-game lead over their closest pursuers (Detroit). To reward his hometown heroes, Baltimore mortician Leonard Ruck gave them a private party at his estate that evening.

Many of the guests gathered around or in the swimming pool. Boog Powell, the massive first baseman, slipped and fell trying to throw teammate Moe Drabowsky into the pool. Powell suffered a cut above his right eye and had to go to the hospital for stitches, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Frank Robinson said other players threatened to toss him in fully clothed, even though he told them he couldn’t swim, the Associated Press reported. He said he changed into swim trunks (which he apparently had brought for lounging on the pool deck) and eased into the shallow end to prevent an expected dunking.

“I was jumping up and down (in the water) when I slipped off into the deep end,” Robinson told reporter Gordon Beard. “I went down a couple of times and kept yelling for help every time I surfaced. My wife thought I was kidding, and I guess everybody else did, too.”

Orioles outfielder Paul Blair recalled to the Associated Press, “The way Frank was jumping up and down, it looked like he knew how to swim. We were trying to catch (teammate) Charley Lau to throw him in at the time, so we weren’t paying too much attention (to Robinson) anyway.”

Sensing Robinson, 30, was in trouble, rookie Andy Etchebarren, 23, jumped in. “I thought he was kidding at first,” Etchebarren said to Gordon Beard, “but then I decided it was time to do something. When I reached Frank, he was just off the bottom and couldn’t move up.”

Etchebarren grabbed Robinson, then let go and returned to the surface for air. “I didn’t take a deep breath when I jumped in because I wasn’t really sure if Frank was kidding,” said Etchebarren. “When I realized he wasn’t, I pushed him a few yards and then resurfaced.”

Robinson told the Associated Press, “I remembered that a person in this kind of trouble is not supposed to struggle, so I kept as calm as I could. After giving me a couple shoves, Andy lost contact with me for a few seconds. I could see the headlines: ‘Robinson drowns at team party.’ Finally, Andy grabbed me again and shoved me to the side of the pool.”

No resuscitation effort was needed. “We let him lie by the side of the pool for about five minutes and then he got up,” Etchebarren said to Gordon Beard.

The next day, Etchebarren learned he had a cracked bone in his hand. Five weeks earlier, when he was struck on the hand by a Dennis Higgins pitch, X-rays showed no fracture. Pain persisted, and when another exam was done the day after the pool rescue, the fracture was discovered.

Etchebarren was back in the lineup a week later. In the Orioles’ World Series sweep of the Dodgers, he was the starting catcher in all four games. He fielded flawlessly, with no errors in 36 innings, and handled a pitching staff that limited the Dodgers to two total runs.

Frank Robinson’s home run against Don Drysdale lifted Baltimore to a 1-0 victory in the decisive Game 4. He received both the World Series Most Valuable Player Award and the American League MVP honor. Boxscore

Taking the plunge

After clouting 46 home runs for minor-league Modesto in 1966, Dave Duncan, 21, went to the Kansas City Athletics’ 1967 spring training camp at Bradenton, Fla.

On March 24, 1967, the day after Duncan walloped a 400-foot homer to break a tie and propel the A’s to an exhibition game win against the White Sox, he was fishing from Rod and Reel Pier in Anna Maria, Fla. A family from Benton Harbor, Mich., 11-year-old Vickie Peet and her parents, were fishing there too.

Vickie lost her balance, fell into the sea and sank in about 12 feet, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Duncan, fully clothed, leaped in after her and “brought the struggling girl to safety,” according to the Bradenton Herald.

“She was backing up (on the pier) and it looked like she stumbled,” Duncan told The Sporting News. “She was struggling around in the water and no one was doing anything, so I jumped in and got her.”

According to the Bradenton newspaper, the girl’s parents, Nick and Patricia Peet, “were eternally grateful.”

Duncan began the 1967 season at Birmingham, Ala., and was brought to the A’s for stints in June and September. He started in 27 games for Kansas City.

In February 1975, Duncan was traded by Cleveland to Baltimore for Boog Powell and Don Hood. With Duncan and Elrod Hendricks sharing the catching spot, the Orioles no longer needed Etchebarren, who was sent to the Angels in June 1975.

Duncan, who played in two World Series for Oakland, became a pitching coach, primarily on teams managed by Tony La Russa. As a coach, Duncan helped Oakland to three American League pennants and a World Series title and St. Louis to three National League pennants and two World Series championships.

Posted in Hitters | 17 Comments »

No place like home for Cardinals farmhand Tony Freitas

August 17, 2026 by retrosimba

The Cardinals had a pitcher in their system who collected wins the way neighborhood kids flocked to an ice-cream truck _ in bunches.

A left-handed lilliputian who relied on control and off-speed pitches, Tony Freitas achieved 20 or more wins for six seasons in a row (1937-42) with Sacramento. The Cardinals offered to bring him to the majors, but Freitas said no. Sacramento was his home and that’s where he preferred to stay.

Besides, Freitas had been in the big leagues _ with the Athletics and Reds _ before the Cardinals acquired him, and though he had multiple highlights, including 10 wins in a row as a rookie and an epic 17-inning duel with Dizzy Dean, the overall experience wasn’t satisfying.

So, being in the minors, where he won a lot, felt appreciated and got to remain in his home state of California, was all right with him.

Freitas went on to pitch until he was 45. He is the career leader in minor-league wins for a left-hander (342). Only right-handers Bill Thomas (383), Joe Martina (349) and George Payne (348) have more career wins in the minors than Freitas.

In the fast lane

Antonio Freitas was the son of immigrants from the Azores, a cluster of Portuguese islands. Freitas and Eve Arden were born a week apart in Mill Valley, a town near San Francisco. Arden became an actress in movies (“Mildred Pierce”) and television (“Our Miss Brooks”). Freitas chose baseball.

A cabdriver who’d seen Freitas pitch semipro ball in Mill Valley recommended him to Sacramento manager Buddy Ryan, who arranged for Freitas, 20, to start a pro career with Class D Phoenix in 1928. In his first pro game he pitched a one-hitter, according to the Sacramento Union. A year later, Ryan put him on the pitching staff of the Pacific Coast League’s Sacramento Senators.

Freitas had consecutive 19-win seasons for Sacramento in 1930-31. He listed his height as 5-foot-7. His weight during the season usually dropped below 160 pounds. Freitas lacked velocity on his pitches, so he depended on an assortment of curves and changeups with pinpoint control.

He made up for his dearth of speed on the mound when he got behind the wheel of a car. Freitas drove like a demon, paying no attention to speed limits, and was arrested multiple times. When the leadfoot got cited yet again in August 1931, Marin County Justice Thomas Rudolff sentenced him to serve five days in jail.

A Brooklyn Dodgers scout had come to San Francisco to see Freitas pitch the next night. Sacramento club owner Lewis Moreing told the San Francisco News he pleaded with Marin County authorities to free Freitas just long enough to pitch in the game. The nation was in the grip of the Great Depression and it was important to Moreing for Freitas to be showcased in the hope a big-league club would make a lucrative offer to purchase his contract.

Freitas was released and escorted to the San Francisco ballpark by a deputy sheriff, who kept a close watch over the prisoner during the game. Freitas got the win, going the distance in a snappy one hour, 40 minutes, and was back behind bars by 11 p.m., the San Francisco Call-Bulletin reported.

The scout was impressed, the San Francisco News noted, but the Dodgers wouldn’t agree to Moreing’s purchase price, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.

In the groove

Back with Sacramento in 1932, Freitas pitched a no-hitter versus Oakland on May 5, his 24th birthday. Two weeks later, he was in the majors, dealt to the Athletics for a pitcher (Jimmie DeShong) and $25,000.

Managed by Connie Mack, the A’s were the three-time defending American League champions and featured a roster with the likes of Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove and Al Simmons. “I was a green kid, shy as the devil,” Freitas recalled to the Sacramento Bee. “I didn’t have enough guts to go up to somebody and ask them something. I was scared. I was in awe of the big names.”

Mack put the rookie in the starting rotation. In his debut, at home against the Washington Senators, Freitas pitched well. He retired 12 batters in a row, 11 of them on ground outs.

With the A’s ahead, 3-2, one out, in the ninth, Joe Cronin was at the plate for Washington. Catcher Mickey Cochrane told Freitas not to give Cronin a low pitch, but he did, and Cronin walloped it over the wall for a home run, tying the score. Freitas departed after 10 innings and Washington won in the 12th against George Earnshaw, but Freitas “made an impression with the crowd with his brainy and steady pitching,” the Philadelphia Inquirer noted. Boxscore

Freitas’ second start was against the Yankees. He walked the first two batters, then struck out Babe Ruth on a changeup. If the strikeout caused Freitas to have his head in the clouds, the Yankees brought him quickly back to earth. Lou Gehrig (single), Ben Chapman (triple), Bill Dickey (double) and Tony Lazzeri (single) followed with consecutive hits, giving New York a 5-0 lead on the way to a win. Boxscore

Freitas lost again, to Cleveland, then won 10 in a row. Nine of those wins were complete games, including a shutout of the White Sox. Boxscore

During that streak, Freitas turned a rare unassisted double play against the Browns. With one out in the fifth, the Browns had runners on second (George Blaeholder) and third (Jim Levey). Fred Schulte hit a high bouncer toward the mound. Freitas snared it, ran toward Levey, who had stopped between third and home, and tagged him before he could return to the bag. Then Freitas saw Blaeholder frozen between second and third. With Freitas in pursuit, Blaeholder retreated toward second. Freitas caught up to the runner, tagged him to complete the double play, but lost his balance. In the tangle, Freitas was spiked across the right instep and had to depart. Boxscore

Freitas completed his rookie season with a 12-5 record and earned the admiration of Connie Mack, who told the Sacramento Bee, “Freitas is a great pitcher because he has a wonderful change of pace, deadly control and the knack of putting the ball any place he wants.”

Duel with Dean

Imagine Freitas’ surprise when the A’s sent him a 1933 contract calling for a $1,400 pay cut. Mack blamed the economy. Freitas wouldn’t accept the offer and finally signed for the same amount he got in 1932 _ $1,000 a month for seven months, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

He pitched three scoreless innings against the Cardinals in a 1933 spring training game, but the success from his rookie year didn’t carry over to his sophomore season. Freitas got hit often and was sent to the minors that summer. The Reds rescued him, bringing Freitas to the National League in May 1934.

On July 1, at Cincinnati, Freitas was matched against Dizzy Dean, who was on his way to 30 wins for the Cardinals that season. Freitas and Dean each pitched 17 innings, and Freitas stroked three hits versus the St. Louis ace. The Cardinals won in the 18th with two runs against Paul Derringer. Jim Lindsey (traded by the Reds for Freitas) got the save for the Cardinals. Boxscore

Freitas was 6-12 for the Reds in 1934 and 5-10 in 1935, when he beat the Cardinals twice. The wins came against the Dean brothers _ Dizzy and Paul. Boxscore and Boxscore

Home sweet home

In 1936, a lump formed on Freitas’ left elbow. For a month he “could not even comb his hair or butter his toast with his left hand,” the Sacramento Bee reported.

The swelling eventually faded but the Reds no longer wanted him. The Cardinals, though, were willing to take a chance. They bought his contract and sent him to their Columbus (Ohio) farm team.

Freitas earned 10 wins for Columbus in 1936. Afterward, he asked Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey to move him to Sacramento. The Sacramento Solons became a Cardinals affiliate in 1936, four years after Freitas had settled in the California capital city with his wife.

Rickey granted the request.

Comfortable at home, Freitas posted records of 23-12 for Sacramento in 1937 and 24-11 in 1938.

Rickey offered to reward Freitas, 30, with a promotion to the majors. “I said, ‘Mr. Rickey, I never felt good back there (in the majors) and I feel great out here … and I don’t care about going back up.’ ” Freitas told the Sacramento Bee.

In an interview with reporter Marco Smolich, Freitas explained, “I’ve had a shot in the American League and in the National League. Frankly, I think I got a raw deal each time. Why ask for more? The main thing is, though, that I’d just as soon pitch in my own backyard. I’m happy in Sacramento.”

Freitas’ next four seasons with the Cardinals’ farm club produced marks of 21-18 (1939), 20-19 (1940), 21-15 (1941) and 24-13 (1942).

Gene Lillard, who played with and against Freitas in the Pacific Coast League, told the Sacramento Bee, “He was about as smart as any pitcher in the league … He threw at different speeds … That made it difficult to time. Hitting is mostly timing.”

Henry Oana, who played for the San Francisco Seals, said to the Associated Press, “He’s got five different speeds. I can’t figure him out. When I get set for number one, he feeds me number four. Just when I’m ready for number five, he gives me number two. I wish he’d get out of the league.”

On the final day of the 1942 season, Sacramento, managed by Pepper Martin, needed to sweep a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels to win its first pennant. Freitas earned a save in the opener, then pitched a four-hitter for the win in the finale.

Man of many skills

Freitas spent the next three years (1943-45) as an aircraft mechanic in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

He pitched for Sacramento (1946-49), Modesto (1950-51), Stockton (1952-53) and did some managing, too. After that, Freitas worked from 1956-70 as a mechanic at Aerojet, a rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer.

In retirement, Freitas enjoyed fishing in the Sacramento River and tending to his garden, which included a small orchard of apple, lemon, orange and peach trees.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects, Trades | 12 Comments »

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