A central figure in an unpopular trade, Al Dark responded with a hitting display that endeared him to Cardinals fans and gained him satisfaction against his former team.
Dark was a three-time all-star shortstop with the Giants and 1948 National League Rookie of the Year with the Braves. He played for 14 seasons in the major leagues and hit a combined .323 in 16 World Series games for the Braves (1948) and Giants (1951 and 1954). Dark also managed four big-league clubs, winning a pennant with the 1962 Giants and a World Series championship with the 1974 Athletics.
On June 14, 1956, Cardinals general manager Frank Lane traded second baseman Red Schoendienst, a nine-time all-star, to the Giants. The key player the Cardinals received in return was Dark.
The full trade was Schoendienst, outfielder Jackie Brandt, catcher Bill Sarni, pitcher Dick Littlefield and two players to be named (shortstop Bob Stephenson and pitcher Gordon Jones) to the Giants for Dark, outfielder Whitey Lockman, catcher Ray Katt, pitcher Don Liddle and cash.
Lane made the trade because he wanted to move Don Blasingame from shortstop to second base. He figured trading Schoendienst would land him a shortstop in return. Lane had been trying for months to get Dark.
“The Giants wanted a second baseman, the Cardinals a shortstop and everybody was pleased except the Cardinals fans, who, understandably, loved Red. He was the finest second baseman in the game,” Dark said in his book “When in Doubt, Fire the Manager.”
Said Lane to The Sporting News: “We let Schoendienst go with great reluctance, naturally, but to get a star like Dark you’ve got to give a star.”
Cardinals fans expressed their displeasure. “The switchboard at Busch Stadium lighted up like a Christmas tree and stayed that way for more than two hours June 14,” wrote The Sporting News.
Dark, 34, had a torrid start to his Cardinals career, hitting .366 in his first 28 games.
On July 12, the Giants visited St. Louis for the first time since the trade. Dark had nine hits in 11 at-bats and drove in seven runs, sparking the Cardinals to a three-game sweep. Schoendienst had three hits in 11 at-bats and walked twice.
In the first game of the series, won by the Cardinals, 5-3, on July 12, Dark was 2-for-3, scored a run and drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Boxscore
Dark drove in the winning run again in Game 2, a 7-5 Cardinals triumph on July 13. With the score tied at 5-5 in the eighth, he hit a two-run double against Hoyt Wilhelm. Dark was 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Boxscore
In the series finale on July 14, Dark was 3-for-3 with three RBI against starter Al Worthington in the Cardinals’ 5-2 triumph. Boxscore
Dark had seven hits in his last seven at-bats of the series.
“He’s a polished professional, a real leader who leads without being ostentatious,” Lane said.
Dark hit .286 in 100 games for the 1956 Cardinals.
In 1957, Dark batted .290. One of his best performances occurred July 24 when he tripled twice _ against Sal Maglie and Sandy Koufax _ and scored twice in a 3-0 Cardinals victory over the Dodgers. Boxscore
By 1958, Dark, 36, had lost fielding range. The Cardinals had a replacement, shortstop Eddie Kasko, on the roster. Dark was traded to the Cubs on May 20, 1958, for pitcher Jim Brosnan.
Dark had 306 hits in 258 games over three seasons for the Cardinals and batted .289. He produced four hits in a game seven times.
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