RetroSimba

His name, perfect for a young, hard thrower, seemed the kind a novelist or screenwriter would conjure, but Billy McCool was real, a left-hander who broke into the majors with the Reds as a teenager and for two years was among the top relievers in the National League.

The Cardinals found McCool nearly untouchable in 1966, when he was a National League all-star.

McCool battled the Cardinals for six seasons, 1964-69. He pitched more innings and had more strikeouts versus the Cardinals than he did against any other big-league opponent.

In 1970, the Cardinals acquired McCool, 26, from the Padres, but his career had peaked. In 18 appearances for the 1970 Cardinals, he was 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA and a save.

Reds rookie

A standout athlete at Lawrenceburg, Ind., McCool was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent in 1963. McCool, 19, made his big-league debut with the 1964 Reds and was a prominent pitcher for a club in the thick of a pennant race with the Cardinals and Phillies through the final day of the season.

McCool posted six wins and seven saves with a 2.42 ERA for the 1964 Reds. The Sporting News named him its National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year.

Against the Cardinals that season, McCool was 0-2 with a save in six appearances. On Sept. 19, the Reds beat Bob Gibson and the Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati. McCool got his first big-league start in the second game. Matched against Ray Sadecki, McCool was good, yielding two runs, striking out seven and issuing no walks in eight innings. Sadecki was better. He pitched eight scoreless innings and combined with Barney Schultz for the shutout in a 2-0 triumph for the Cardinals. Boxscore

After the season, McCool and his brother-in-law, a pharmacist, bought a drugstore in Lawrenceburg. Wrote The Sporting News: “Billy McCool not only throws aspirin tablets, he sells them.”

Billy the Kid

McCool sought a pay raise from the Reds for 1965. According to The Sporting News, contract talks between McCool and assistant general manager Phil Seghi included this exchange:

Seghi: “Billy, you’re just a kid yet. You’re asking for too much money.”

McCool: “If I’m only a kid, why do they give me a man’s job to do?”

Appearing in 62 games, including two starts, in 1965, McCool compiled nine wins and 21 saves for the Reds. He ranked second in the league in saves, behind the Cubs’ Ted Abernathy. McCool was 1-1 with four saves versus the Cardinals that season.

Used exclusively in relief in 1966, McCool had eight wins, 18 saves and a 2.48 ERA. He again ranked second in the league in saves, behind the Dodgers’ Phil Regan. In seven games against the 1966 Cardinals, McCool was 2-1 with three saves and a 1.04 ERA. He struck out 23 Cardinals in 17.1 innings and yielded two earned runs.

In the July 2, 1966, edition of The Sporting News, Mets second baseman Chuck Hiller said of McCool’s fastball, “It looks about the size of a Ping-Pong ball when it comes up to the plate.”

Said Mets third baseman and former Cardinals standout Ken Boyer: “That slider he’s throwing now is the best I’ve ever seen a left-hander have.”

McCool made 11 starts in 31 appearances in 1967 and four starts in 30 appearances in 1968.

Battles with Brock

He had two significant games against the 1968 Cardinals.

On April 23, 1968, the Reds led the Cardinals, 2-0, through eight innings at St. Louis. In the ninth, the Cardinals scored twice off starter George Culver, tying the score. In the 10th, Lou Brock hit a two-run walkoff home run against McCool, giving the Cardinals a 4-2 victory. Boxscore

Two months later, on June 14, McCool got a start at St. Louis. He held the Cardinals scoreless in six innings and limited them to two hits _ singles by Julian Javier and Tim McCarver _ and got the win in a 7-0 Reds triumph. Boxscore It was McCool’s last major-league win as a starter.

Brock hit .147, 5-for-34, with 12 strikeouts against McCool in his career. Another Cardinals hitter who struggled versus McCool was Mike Shannon. He hit .100, 2-for-20, with seven strikeouts. The Cardinals who hit McCool best: Javier at .400, 8-for-20, and Curt Flood at .292, 7-for-24.

The Reds made McCool, 24, available in the expansion draft after the 1968 season and he was selected by the Padres. In four appearances for the Padres against the 1969 Cardinals, McCool was 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

On Aug. 6, 1969, at San Diego, McCool relieved Clay Kirby in the ninth with the score tied at 2-2 and retired the Cardinals in order. When ex-Cardinal Ed Spiezio opened the Padres’ ninth with a home run off Steve Carlton, lifting San Diego to a 3-2 victory, McCool got the win, his last in the big leagues. Boxscore

Save for St. Louis

In April 1970, the Cardinals acquired McCool from the Padres for infielder Steve Huntz. After a stint at Class AAA Tulsa, McCool was promoted to the Cardinals in May.

In his third appearance, May 15, 1970, McCool earned a save with two scoreless innings in relief of Mike Torrez in a 1-0 victory over the Cubs at St. Louis. McCool retired Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert and Billy Williams on ground balls in the eighth. In the ninth, after getting groundouts from Jim Hickman and Johnny Callison, McCool walked Ron Santo before retiring Cleo James on a fly ball. Boxscore

That was McCool’s highlight as a Cardinal. In July, he was demoted to Tulsa. After the season, the Cardinals traded him to the Red Sox for pitcher Bill Landis. McCool never returned to the major leagues.

In seven big-league seasons, he posted a 32-42 record with 58 saves and a 3.59 ERA. In 33 games against the Cardinals, McCool was 6-6 with eight saves, a 3.26 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 66.1 innings.

Previously: Cardinals vs. Reds: rich tradition of July 4 showdowns