RetroSimba

Frankie Frisch didn’t try to hit home runs, but he had the ability to produce them in bunches.

Frisch, a 5-foot-9 switch hitter, slugged only 105 home runs in 2,311 big-league games during a stellar 19-year Hall of Fame career. Yet he hit five home runs in a seven-game span for the 1930 Cardinals.

“The secret of hitting is to pick out a good ball and hit it properly,” Frisch said in an interview published by The Sporting News after the 1930 season. “Do not swing too hard. (Jim) Bottomley and (Chick) Hafey, two sweet hitters, do not take a vicious cut at the ball. (Babe) Ruth is the only player I know who takes a real cut. The player who hits the ball squarely will get as much distance as the next fellow. It is just like hitting a golf ball.”

Frisch’s power surge for the 1930 Cardinals occurred during a road trip to his native New York in games against the Giants at the Polo Grounds and against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. All five of his home runs in that span of seven games were hit against right-handers.

Here is a look at what Frisch did:

July 18, 1930

On a Friday afternoon at the Polo Grounds, Frisch, who played for the Giants before being traded to the Cardinals for Rogers Hornsby after the 1926 season, hit a three-run home run against starter Pete Donohue in the third inning. In the eighth, Frisch connected for a two-run shot off Joe Heving, giving the Cardinals a 7-3 lead.

The Giants, however, scored five times in the bottom of the ninth against Bill Hallahan and Burleigh Grimes and won, 8-7. Frisch was 2-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored. Boxscore

July 19, 1930

The Cardinals swept a doubleheader against the Giants, but Frisch went a combined 0-for-9 in the two games.

July 20, 1930

Frisch hit a two-run home run off Sloppy Thurston in the ninth, capping a 15-6 Cardinals triumph over Brooklyn. Frisch, who also doubled, had six RBI and two runs scored. Boxscore

July 21, 1930

In a Monday afternoon doubleheader, Frisch hit a solo home run off starter Ray Phelps in the sixth inning of Game 1. The Cardinals led, 8-6, until Brooklyn scored three in the ninth to win, 9-8. Frisch was 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored. Boxscore

Frisch helped the Cardinals recover in Game 2, hitting a two-run home run against Dolf Luque in the first and launching St. Louis to a 17-10 victory. Frisch was 3-for-6 with three runs scored and two RBI. Boxscore

Frisch produced 14 RBI in those five games in which he homered. He finished the 1930 season with 10 home runs, 114 RBI, 121 runs scored, 46 doubles, 187 hits and a .346 batting average.

The 1930 season was the last of five in which he achieved double figures in home runs. Frisch hit a single-season high of 12 home runs for the 1923 Giants.

Awesome all-star

Frisch played in 50 World Series games and never hit a home run. He did, however, hit homers in each of his two All-Star Game appearances.

In the inaugural 1933 All-Star Game, Frisch hit a solo home run in the sixth against General Crowder of the Senators. Boxscore

Leading off the bottom of the first inning of the 1934 All-Star Game, Frisch hit a homer against the Yankees’ Lefty Gomez.

Joe Medwick, Frisch’s Cardinals teammate, also homered in that game. It’s one of two times two Cardinals hit home runs in the same All-Star Game. Boxscore The other occurred in 1960 when Ken Boyer and Stan Musial achieved the feat. Boxscore

Previously: Rift with Branch Rickey led Cardinals to oust Frankie Frisch