RetroSimba

(April 13, 2020)

Within a span of two months in the final season of his big-league pitching career, Milt Pappas experienced one of his worst and best performances against the Cardinals.

On April 13, 1973, Pappas, pitching for the Cubs, yielded 13 hits and six runs in seven innings in a loss at St. Louis.

On June 24, 1973, Pappas pitched the last shutout of his career in a win at St. Louis.

Pappas pitched 17 years in the major leagues. The first nine were in the American League with the Orioles. The last eight were in the National League with the Reds, Braves and Cubs.

St. Louis blues

A two-time all-star, Pappas was a good pitcher who found the Cardinals to be a tough foe.

Pappas had a career record of 209-164. Against the Cardinals, he was 6-11 with a 4.71 ERA, his highest vs. any team. Pappas yielded 150 hits in 116.2 career innings against St. Louis.

Among those who often hit Pappas hard were:

_ Ted Simmons, .542 batting average (13-for-24).

_ Jose Cruz, .462 (6-for-13).

_ Ted Sizemore, .455 (10-for-22).

_ Curt Flood, .412 (14-for-34).

_ Lou Brock, .397 (23-for-58)

_ Tim McCarver, .377 (20-for-53) and six walks.

_ Joe Torre, .333 (14-for-42).

Cards end skid

With Bob Gibson of the Cardinals, Al Downing of the Dodgers and Steve Blass of the Pirates, Pappas was the 1971 National League co-leader in shutouts, with five.

In 1972, Pappas was 17-7 with a 2.77 ERA and 10 complete games for the Cubs. The next year, he was 7-13 with a 4.28 ERA.

The Cardinals were 0-5 when Pappas, in his second start of 1973, faced them at St. Louis on April 13.

Pappas had won his last 11 decisions of 1972, including a no-hitter versus the Padres, but the 1973 Cardinals handed him his first loss since July 28, 1972.

Pappas yielded hits in five of the first six innings, but limited the damage to two runs.

In the seventh, with the score tied at 2-2, the Cardinals broke through with four runs off Pappas. The big blow was a two-run home run by Cruz. It was the second home run in two days for Cruz. The other came against the Mets’ Tom Seaver. “The kid is strong,” Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said to the Associated Press.

Every starter in the Cardinals’ lineup, except pitcher Rick Wise, had at least one hit off Pappas in the 6-3 victory.  Boxscore

Pickup game

In June 1973, the Cubs returned to St. Louis for a three-game series. The Cardinals won the first two _ 3-0 (a Reggie Cleveland three-hitter) and 3-2 in 11 innings.

Pappas was the Cubs’ starter for the finale on a Sunday afternoon before 41,517 at Busch Memorial Stadium. His season record was 3-5 with a 5.21 ERA and he had made 14 starts without pitching a complete game.

Pappas, 34, held the Cardinals to five singles (two by first baseman McCarver) in earning the final complete game of his career, a 2-0 triumph.

“This was a very selfish game for me,” Pappas told the Chicago Tribune. “I wanted to show some people I’m not finished in this game. I changed my game plan a little. The Cardinals had hurt me on the slider earlier, so I went to my fastball more to see what would happen. It worked out well.”

The Cubs broke a scoreless tie in the eighth. With Rick Monday on second base and Paul Popovich on first, reliever Rich Folkers threw a wild pitch, enabling each runner to advance a base. Glenn Beckert, batting for center fielder Gene Hiser, hit a Folkers screwball to center for a single, scoring Monday and Popovich.

When the game ended, Pappas stood “arm raised, fist clenched in triumph like a warrior of ancient Greece,” Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote.

“It was a long time coming,” Pappas said of his complete game, “and I’m very, very happy. It couldn’t have come at a better time after losing the first two games. I hope it picks up the ballclub. I know it picked me up.” Boxscore