Three years after his pitching helped the Cardinals to a National League pennant and World Series title, Jim Kaat used his skills as a talent evaluator to help them to another championship season.
Kaat, a left-handed reliever for the 1982 champion Cardinals, was a coach for the 1985 Reds when he recommended Cesar Cedeno to St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog.
Acting on Kaat’s advice, the Cardinals acquired Cedeno from the Reds on Aug. 29, 1985, for minor-league outfielder Mark Jackson.
The deal rejuvenated the Cardinals and Cedeno.
Filling in for injured first baseman Jack Clark, Cedeno batted .434 (33-for-76) with six home runs in 28 games, sparking the Cardinals to the 1985 NL East Division title and onto a path to a pennant and a berth in the World Series.
After clinching the division crown in the next-to-last game of the 1985 season, Herzog told The Sporting News, “If we hadn’t got Cedeno, we would have been at least three games out of first, maybe more, going into this last week.”
Breakfast bunch
With the Astros from 1970-81, Cedeno hit .289 with 343 doubles and 487 stolen bases. He was named an all-star four times and twice led the NL in doubles.
The Astros dealt Cedeno to the Reds in December 1981 for third baseman Ray Knight. By 1985, Cedeno, 34, had a falling out with Reds manager Pete Rose.
Cedeno, eligible to become a free agent after the 1985 season, said he expected to be traded and heard the Blue Jays were interested.
The Cardinals were in Cincinnati for an Aug. 26-28 series with the Reds when Kaat, who pitched for St. Louis from 1980-83, and Herzog met for breakfast.
In his book “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said, “Kaat told me Cesar Cedeno might be available to us, to fill in for Clark. Cesar was on the outs with Pete Rose … Kaat said he thought (Cedeno) could still play.”
The Cardinals and Reds arranged a deal.
“I’m very happy an opportunity like this _ to play with a contender _ came around,” Cedeno said. “I will welcome whatever they want me to do. I’m thrilled an organization like the Cardinals has interest in me. It’s a great feeling to be wanted.”
When the trade was made, the Cardinals led the second-place Mets by 2.5 games.
A right-handed batter, Cedeno hit .241 in 83 games for the 1985 Reds, but the Cardinals saw him as a good fit to platoon with Mike Jorgensen at first base until Clark, who had suffered a rib injury on Aug. 23, could return to the lineup.
Hot hitter
The trade paid immediate dividends.
In his first at-bat with the Cardinals, Cedeno hit the first pitch he saw from the Astros’ Mike Scott for a home run on Aug. 30 at St. Louis. Boxscore
A week later, on Sept. 6, Cedeno, batting for Jorgensen, clouted a grand slam off Gene Garber in an 8-0 Cardinals victory over the Braves at St. Louis. Boxscore
Cedeno had eight hits in his first 16 at-bats for the Cardinals. “He’s been awesome, hasn’t he?” teammate John Tudor said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. It seems like every time he’s up he hits the ball on the nose.”
Beat the Mets
On Sept. 10, the Mets beat the Cardinals at New York and moved into first place in the NL East, a game ahead of St. Louis.
The next night, Sept. 11, produced a matchup of aces: Tudor vs. Dwight Gooden. Both were sharp and the game was scoreless through nine innings.
In the 10th, Jesse Orosco relieved Gooden and the first batter he faced was Cedeno. Orosco hung a slider and Cedeno belted a home run, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Tudor held the Mets scoreless in the 10th, clinching the victory and moving the Cardinals into a tie for first place with New York. Boxscore and Video
Thanks, Pete
Four days later, Sept. 15, with the Cardinals clinging to a half-game lead over the Mets, Cedeno went 5-for-5 with four RBI in a 5-1 St. Louis victory over the Cubs at Chicago. Cedeno had two singles, two doubles, a two-run home run and a stolen base. Boxscore
Cedeno said he spoke with Rose and told him, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for trading me to St. Louis.”
Said Herzog: “He’s been a blessing to us.”
In his month with the Cardinals, Cedeno hit .528 (19-for-36) at home and .541 (20-for-37) against left-handers. He had a .477 batting average (21-for-44) with runners on base. Cedeno further endeared himself to Cardinals fans by shredding Cubs pitchers at a .560 clip (14-for-25) with nine RBI.
It was a different story in the postseason. Cedeno hit .167 (2-for-12) in the NL Championship Series versus the Dodgers and .133 (2-for-15) against the Royals in the World Series.
Cedeno became a free agent after the 1985 postseason, signed with the Blue Jays, got released before the 1986 season began and was picked up by the Dodgers, who released him in June. A month later, he signed with the Cardinals and was sent to Class AAA Louisville. Cedeno hit .169 in 20 games for Louisville and never returned to the big leagues.
Previously: Jim Kaat interview: ’82 Cards were close-knit club
Previously: How Cardinals’ Jim Kaat appeared forever young
Previously: Jim Kaat revived both his career and the Cardinals
that 1-0 extra inning win on the homer at new york was probably the biggest victory of the season. put cards back on top to stay i think instead of 1.5 back. i remember listening to that tense game on the radio; i seem to recall it was pulled down the left field foul line just fair. cedeno was awesome in september but cooled off in october, unfortunately.
tudor’s 1985 season – 21-8, 1.93 era, 10 shutouts – would be good enough to win the cy young most years. started 1-7, then went 20-1.
Thanks for the insights. I agree that the 1-0 win on the home run by Cesar Cedeno was key to keeping the surging Mets from getting the upper hand in the 1985 division race.
That 85 team was a blast. What fun it was living there and going to games at Busch.
Cedeno was a major spark plug. Great addition and Whitey was dead on with his thoughts on getting him from the Reds.
I can still see that team: Porter, Clark, Herr, Ozzie, Pendleton, Coleman, McGee, Van Slyke, Cedeno, Landrum, Jorgenson, Nieto and more.
Pitching was great with the big 3: Tudor, Andujar and Cox. For school and Kepshire supported the excellent bullpen by committee.
Thanks for the great memory jogger. Reminds me of great times as a teenager in St. Louis. Always love the stories, Thank You!
Tim, I share your passion for that team. Thanks for the fun feedback.
LOVE this website! Cant thank you enough for all the great memories… and all the new knowledge!! Some stories bring tears to my eyes! SIMBA was always my favorite! Im 47 years old and had his posters in theb70s!
Thank you, Jamie. I appreciate your support and readership.
What great memories! Even though they fell short in the Series, that squad will forever be my favorite. Cedeno’s contributions, McGee’s MVP, Coleman’s ROY, Tudor’s amazing season, over 300 stolen bases as a team, epic postseason homers by Ozzie & Clark. My goodness, what a team!
I’m convinced that 1985 & 2004 were the two best Cardinals teams of my lifetime.
Thanks for the comments, Pete. Those 1985 and 2004 Cardinals teams indeed were loaded with talent and were fun to watch.
Back in the mid 70’s, when the Cardinals were stuck in mediocrity, Cedano was one of those players who drove me nuts. In 1972 he hit .377 against us. He hit .320 against us in 1975 and on August 9, 1976, a game that the Astros won 13-4, he hit for the cycle. That was all forgotten though, when he became a Cardinal. Too bad his bat tapered off during the post season. But then again, by the time the Royals came calling, so did everyone else’s bat!
Thanks for the info on Cesar Cedeno vs. the Cardinals.