RetroSimba

Entering the 2003 season, some were concerned Woody Williams no longer was effective. The Cardinals pitcher was 36, his spring training ERA was 14.54 and he had been limited to 17 starts in 2002 because of two stints on the disabled list.

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Joe Strauss asked whether an aging, fragile Williams would be treated by the Cardinals like “a pricey piece of red-and-white pitching porcelain.”

Instead, Williams opened 2003 like a staff pillar, posting three wins without allowing a run in his first three starts.

Here’s what Williams achieved:

_ Cardinals 7, Brewers 0, April 2, 2003, at St. Louis: Williams held Milwaukee to two hits in 6.2 innings. The Brewers were hitless until Eric Young tripled with two outs in the sixth. Milwaukee’s only other hit off Williams was a single by Jeffrey Hammonds in the seventh.

“I picture doing that every game,” Williams said. “That’s what I strive to do _ not a no-hitter, but every inning I pitch I want to get a zero.”

Mike Matheny backed Williams’ effort with a three-hit, two-RBI performance. Boxscore

_ Cardinals 3, Astros 0, April 12, 2003, at Houston: After skipping his second scheduled start at Colorado because of neck stiffness, Williams showed no signs of a problem against the Astros, pitching six scoreless innings and extending his streak to 12.2.

A Houston native, Williams improved his career record versus the Astros to 6-2. “I worked ahead and threw good pitches when I needed to,” Williams said.

In the first inning, Houston threatened when Geoff Blum singled and Jeff Bagwell doubled. Lance Berkman followed with a groundball to first baseman Tino Martinez, who threw to the plate to nail Blum. “That’s a veteran Gold Glove play to come up with that throw,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

“The play Tino made was huge,” said Williams. “It stopped the momentum.”

_ Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 3, April 18, 2003, at St. Louis: Williams yielded three hits in seven scoreless innings. Arizona was hitless until Lyle Overbay singled with one out in the fifth. The Diamondbacks scored their runs in the ninth off Russ Springer.

Williams’ scoreless innings streak was at 19.2. “If he ever comes out there and doesn’t have real good stuff and real good location, we’re all going to pass out,” La Russa said. Boxscore

_ Braves 4, Cardinals 3, April 24, 2003, at Atlanta: Williams kept the Braves scoreless for 5.1 innings before the streak ended at 25 when Julio Franco scored from third on a Johnny Estrada single. Boxscore

Williams rewarded the 2003 Cardinals by producing 18 wins in 220.2 innings, both single-season career highs for him.

Previously: Deal for Woody Williams sparked 2001 Cardinals