RetroSimba

(Updated Oct. 25, 2022)

Mike Shannon almost got traded to the Red Sox before he played a game for the Cardinals.

Shannon was loaned by the Cardinals to the Red Sox organization during the summer of 1962. For a while, the Red Sox were interested in acquiring him and the Cardinals were interested in doing a deal.

Shannon began the 1962 season with the Cardinals’ Class AAA Atlanta farm club in the International League. After 31 games with Atlanta, Shannon was among the top 10 in the league in batting at .321. He also had four home runs and 15 RBI.

After that, Shannon’s production dropped. He played a total of 66 games with Atlanta and hit .260 with six homers and 28 RBI.

During the 1962 season, the Cardinals loaned Shannon to the Red Sox, who assigned him to their Class AAA Seattle farm club, managed by Johnny Pesky, in the Pacific Coast League. The move revived Shannon, who hit .311 with seven home runs and 47 RBI in 76 games for Seattle.

“The Red Sox showed some interest in him,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We would have dealt him if we could have got what we wanted, but then the Red Sox lost interest in him.”

Overall, Shannon’s combined season statistics for Atlanta and Seattle were solid: .288 batting average, 13 home runs, 75 RBI in 142 games.

At age 23, he finally got the call to St. Louis.

In his first big-league game, on Sept. 11, 1962, at St. Louis against the Reds, Shannon, batting seventh and playing right field, went 1-for-4 in the Reds’ 6-2 victory. Shannon’s hit was one of only three the Cardinals managed against Cincinnati ace Bob Purkey.

After grounding out to second baseman Don Blasingame in the second inning, Shannon led off the fourth with a single to left. Dal Maxvill bunted Shannon to second before Purkey struck out Bob Gibson and Julian Javier. Boxscore

That was Shannon’s lone Cardinals highlight that month. After getting that first big-league hit, Shannon went 0-for-12 the rest of September before singling to left in his last at-bat of the season against Billy Pierce in the eighth inning of a 6-3 Giants victory on Sept. 26 at San Francisco. Boxscore

In 10 games for the 1962 Cardinals, Shannon hit .133 (2-for-15) with a walk and three strikeouts.

Shannon also opened the 1963 season in the minor leagues, but by mid-season in 1964 he became the Cardinals’ right fielder and played an important role in sparking them to a World Series title that year.

Converted to a third baseman for the 1967 season, Shannon was a starter for two more Cardinals pennant winners and another World Series championship team. He joined their broadcast team in 1972.