(Updated March 24, 2019)
The second baseman who participated in one of the happiest periods in Cardinals history parted with the franchise in an unhappy manner.
Only three players _ Frankie Frisch, Julian Javier and Tommy Herr _ have been the everyday second basemen on three Cardinals pennant winners. Javier started for the National League championship clubs of 1964, 1967 and 1968.
By 1972, Javier, 35, no longer was prominent in the Cardinals’ plans. Ted Sizemore had taken over as St. Louis’ second baseman and Ed Crosby was seen as a capable backup.
On March 24, 1972, the Cardinals traded Javier to the Reds for pitcher Tony Cloninger. Bob Howsam, who’d been Cardinals general manager before taking the same role with the Reds, acquired Javier to back up Joe Morgan at second base and Denis Menke at third.
After the deal was made, Javier indicated he was unhappy with general manager Bing Devine and manager Red Schoendienst for not getting the chance to play more in spring training and compete for a starting job.
“I feel too good, like 20, to be sitting around,” Javier said to the Associated Press.
During the off-season, Devine and Schoendienst had talked with Javier about his future and were of the impression Javier had agreed to a reserve role in 1972, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. “I thought Bing and I had a perfect understanding with Hoolie,” Schoendienst said to The Sporting News.
At spring training, however, Javier asked the Cardinals for his release because he was upset Schoendienst was taking a look at other candidates for a reserve infield role, according to Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg.
Javier told Schoendienst, “I think I can play everyday for two more years,” the Dayton Journal Herald reported.
Javier’s complaints prompted an uncharacteristic blast from Schoendienst, a former all-star second baseman. “Hoolie wasn’t in shape, didn’t want to play and scarcely could get the ball from second base to first, yet he wants to say we didn’t use him,” Schoendienst told Broeg. “I’m tired of people who don’t want to play but say they do.”
In 12 seasons (1960-71) with the Cardinals, Javier twice was named an all-star (1963 and 1968), twice led National League second basemen in putouts (1963 and 1964) and collected 1,450 hits.
A right-handed batter, Javier hit .299 against left-handed pitching during his major-league career.
Javier’s role with the Cardinals changed after the 1970 season when the club acquired Sizemore from the Dodgers for first baseman Dick Allen.
Javier was found to owe back taxes to the U.S. government, leading to speculation the native of the Dominican Republic could become entangled in a legal case that might jeopardize his career. However, Javier worked out a settlement on his tax problems. When he reported to spring training in 1971, he was 10 pounds lighter (at 180) and performed more like the player he’d been on those championship teams.
Because of an injury to Dal Maxvill, Sizemore opened the 1971 season at shortstop and Javier remained the starter at second base. Javier batted .309 in the first two months of the season, slumped and entered July at .234. Maxvill returned to shortstop and Sizemore moved to second, replacing Javier.
At spring training in 1972, the Cardinals determined they were ready to move on without Javier. The trade to the Reds turned out to be a blessing for him. Javier had several key hits for the Reds and helped them win the 1972 NL pennant. Among the highlights:
_ Reds 11, Cardinals, 2, May 13, at Cincinnati: Facing Cloninger, the pitcher for whom he was traded, Javier delivered a RBI-single, scoring Johnny Bench. Boxscore
_ Reds 4, Giants 3, May 16, at San Francisco: Starting at third base, Javier hit a three-run home run against left-hander Ron Bryant. Boxscore
_ Reds 6, Phillies 5, June 3, at Philadelphia: Javier hit a two-run home run against left-hander Steve Carlton, a former Cardinals teammate. It was the 78th and last homer of Javier’s big-league career. Boxscore
_ Reds 8, Mets 2, June 17, at Cincinnati: Facing another former Cardinals teammate, left-hander Ray Sadecki, Javier hit a two-run single. Boxscore
Javier capped his career by appearing in four games for the Reds against the Athletics in the 1972 World Series.
[…] of $50 (justice served). Given his suspension occurred while playing in the Dominican League and not MLB, this is not entirely […]
It’s too bad it had to end this way. As a manager Red Schoendienst was low key and never would have publicly criticized someone the caliber of Javier without a good reason. Julian would have fit in perfectly with Whiteyball. With that said, can anyone please tell me if Red and the coaching staff ever tinkered with the idea of teaching Javier to switch hit? One final thing. In a way, Julian was a product of the great Rickey Branch. Howe Haak, the Pirates scout who signed Javier, was hired by Rickey during his time with the Pirates. And it was Rickey that convinced the Pirates to start scouting the Caribbean and Latin American players.
Thanks for putting together the connection between Branch Rickey and Julian Javier. In the book, “We Played the Game,” shortstop Dick Groat, who played with Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Bill Mazeroski in Pittsburgh and with Javier in St. Louis, said, “After Maz, Javier was the best-fielding 2nd baseman in baseball.” In the same book, catcher Tim McCarver said of Javier, “He was a great player who never got his due. I even rated him above Mazeroski at second. Unlike Mazeroski, he couldn’t be taken out by a runner on the double play.”