RetroSimba

The Cardinals’ ninth-inning meltdown at Colorado July 6 was unprecedented in my 47 years of following the team. The Cardinals blew a 9-3 lead, yielding 9 runs in a 12-9 loss.

The last time St. Louis surrendered 9 runs in the ninth was Aug. 6, 1959. On that day, the Pirates scored 10 in the ninth at St. Louis. But it wasn’t as devastating as the loss to Colorado because the Pirates entered the ninth with an 8-2 lead. The 10-run inning gave Pittsburgh an 18-2 victory.

Smokey Burgess and Bill Virdon each belted home runs in that inning and Rocky Nelson had a pair of doubles.

Here’s the most interesting fact about that 1959 collapse: The two Cardinals relievers who yielded the 10 runs in the ninth never appeared in another big-league game.

Jack Urban, a right-hander acquired by the Cardinals from the Athletics in June that year, entered the game in the ninth for St. Louis and gave up 5 runs, 4 hits and a walk in 0.1 innings.

He was lifted for another right-hander, Hal Jeffcoat, who had been acquired by St. Louis from the Reds for pitcher/author Jim Brosnan in June. Jeffcoat, a six-year veteran with 39 big-league wins, was rocked for 5 runs, 6 hits and a walk in 0.2 innings. Boxscore

Neither Urban nor Jeffcoat pitched in the major leagues again.