Tony La Russa had lots of time to think about his faltering Cardinals club during the 1998 all-star break. The Cardinals manager used that time off to devise a batting order that surprised players and fans, creating a controversy that lingered throughout La Russa’s tenure in St. Louis.
In July 1998, La Russa chose to bat the pitcher eighth rather than ninth in the order.
In an article for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reporter Rick Hummel referred to the decision as “The Great Experiment.”
Intelligent innovation or egotistical folly? La Russa’s move was labeled both.
Even with an offense powered by the record-setting home run pace of Mark McGwire, the bullpen-poor, error-prone 1998 Cardinals entered the all-star break having lost 10 of their last 12 games.
In their first game after the break, July 9 vs. the Astros at St. Louis, La Russa posted a batting order that had pitcher Todd Stottlemyre batting eighth and rookie second baseman Placido Polanco batting ninth.
Stottlemyre became the first major-league pitcher to bat anywhere but ninth in the order since the Phillies’ Steve Carlton on June 1, 1979, at Cincinnati.
(In that game, Phillies manager Danny Ozark batted Carlton eighth and shortstop Bud Harrelson ninth. Carlton went 0-for-3 and hit into a double play; Harrelson, who entered the game hitless in five at-bats that season, was 1-for-3 with a single. The Reds won, 4-2. Boxscore)
The Phillies had been shut out in their previous three games, so the move of Carlton to the eighth spot was a gimmick. Ozark never tried it again.
La Russa was committed to the strategy. He batted his pitcher eighth in each of the last 77 games of the 1998 season.
In the 1960s, Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson had asked manager Red Schoendienst to bat him eighth and to move shortstop Dal Maxvill to the ninth spot. Schoendienst didn’t do it. “If he had,” Maxvill said to Hummel, “I would have been so ticked off I wouldn’t have talked to him for the rest of my life. I don’t think he would want to show me up.”
La Russa informed Hummel he sought the advice of Schoendienst, then a St. Louis consultant, and Cardinals instructor George Kissell before deciding to bat the pitcher eighth in 1998. “They said it was OK,” La Russa said.
In explaining his decision, La Russa told the Post-Dispatch, “I don’t see how it doesn’t make sense for the ninth-place hitter to be a legitimate hitter. This gives us a better shot to score runs. It’s an extra guy on base in front of Ray (Lankford), Mark (McGwire) and Brian (Jordan). The more guys who are on base, the less they’ll be able to pitch around Mark. I don’t have a problem with it.”
Cardinals’ first game with pitcher batting eighth
Polanco, appearing in his third big-league game, was 0-for-2 from the ninth spot on July 9, 1998, before Willie McGee pinch-hit for him in the seventh. Stottlemyre was 1-for-2. The pitcher led off the third with a single and scored on Royce Clayton’s double. Still, the Cardinals made four errors and grounded into three double plays. Houston won, 5-4. Boxscore
Said Stottlemyre: “I stink whether I hit eighth or ninth. I take my swings. I take my seat. And I get ready to pitch.”
The more La Russa continued to bat the pitcher eighth, the more the criticism grew.
“I think the National League is investigating the Cardinals and Tony,” catcher Tom Pagnozzi said after batting ninth for the first time.
Said La Russa: “It would be nice if it would become a non-issue.”
La Russa legacy?
According to the book “Cardinals Journal” (2006, Emmis Books), the 1998 Cardinals scored 4.98 runs per game with the pitcher batting ninth and 4.96 runs per game with the pitcher batting eighth.
From 1998 to 2011 (his last season as manager), La Russa batted the pitcher eighth 432 times. He batted Cardinals pitchers eighth in the last 56 games of 2007 and in 153 games in 2008.
(Until La Russa, the manager who had batted the pitcher eighth the most times in a season was Lou Boudreau of the 1957 Athletics. He batted the pitcher eighth for the first 56 games that season. Boudreau was fired in August that year.)
La Russa batted Cardinals pitchers eighth 55 times in 2009, 77 times in 2010 and 14 times in 2011.
Previously: Tony La Russa: Proud pupil of mentor Paul Richards
RetroSimba 
[…] are on base, the less they’ll be able to pitch around Mark. I don’t have a problem with it.” (RetroSimba). In our case, the cost of giving a worse hitter slightly more at-bats may be offset by the […]