RetroSimba

(Updated April 18, 2020)

Don Young began his professional baseball career in the Cardinals system, played for George Kissell, departed and was brought back by Stan Musial.

Though he had two stints in the Cardinals organization, Young never played for St. Louis.

Instead, he played for the Cubs, made his debut in a legendary game and became a central character in one of their most notorious defeats.

Teen hopeful

Young was 17 when he signed with the Cardinals as an amateur free agent out of Aurora High School in Colorado in June 1963.

An outfielder, he was assigned to a Class A club in Brunswick, Ga., managed by Kissell, the respected instructor. Young batted .280 in 16 games for Brunswick and was sent to another Cardinals Class A team in Billings, Mont., where he hit .257 in 58 games.

After spring training in 1964, Young was placed on waivers, claimed by the Cubs and began to re-establish himself. In 1965, Young batted .273 with 25 doubles and 16 home runs for the Class AA Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs.

At 19, he was rewarded with a promotion to the Cubs in September 1965.

Big-league welcome

Young made his major-league debut as the starting center fielder and leadoff batter for the Cubs in Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Sept. 9.

The Dodgers pitcher that night: Sandy Koufax.

The result: a perfect game.

Koufax retired 27 batters in a row and struck out 14. Young popped out twice and struck out. The Dodgers, held to one hit by Cubs starter Bob Hendley, won, 1-0. Boxscore

The next night, in San Francisco, Young, described by the Chicago Tribune as “perhaps the Cubs’ top outfield farm prospect,” got his first big-league hit, a solo home run off the Giants’ Ron Herbel. Boxscore

Lou Klein, Cubs manager and former Cardinals infielder, started Young in five games versus the Dodgers and Giants, drawing criticism from Braves manager Bobby Bragan for using a rookie in the pennant stretch against contenders.

Overmatched, Young batted .057 (2-for-35) in his September stint with the Cubs.

Musial maneuvers

Young was back in the minor leagues in 1966 and 1967.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals were trying to figure out what to do with Ted Savage.

Savage, acquired by the Cardinals from the Pirates after the 1964 season, spent most of the next two years in the minor leagues.

After Musial became Cardinals general manager in January 1967, he promised Savage he would try to keep him in the major leagues.

Savage earned a spot as a utility player on the Opening Day roster of the 1967 Cardinals, but seldom played. In May, Savage was ticketed for a return to the minors, but indicated he wouldn’t report, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Determined to fulfill his vow, Musial looked for a big-league team for Savage.

Brief return

On May 13, 1967, the Cardinals traded Savage and outfielder John Kindl to the Cubs for Young and catcher Jim Procopio.

The Chicago Tribune noted Young was “once rated a potential Cubs center fielder” but “still was struggling in the minors.”

The Cardinals assigned Young to their Class AAA Tulsa team. Young played in 12 games for manager Warren Spahn, batted .147 and was sent back to the Cubs on Aug. 1, 1967.

Young spent the 1968 season with the Lodi (Calif.) Crushers, a Class A club.

Though he wasn’t on their 40-man roster, the Cubs invited Young, 23, to attend their 1969 spring training camp. It was there he received an unexpected opportunity.

Rebuilding project

Adolfo Phillips, projected to be the starting center fielder for the 1969 Cubs, broke his hand at spring training. Cubs manager Leo Durocher considered giving the job to a prospect, Oscar Gamble, but the 19-year-old had only a year of minor-league experience.

With his options limited, Durocher turned to Young.

Young “conceivably could be ready for the big time,” Jerome Holtzman of The Sporting News wrote.

“He hasn’t been a strong hitter,” Holtzman opined. “He is, however, a beautiful center fielder … and could very well become a Gold Glove winner _ if he can hit enough to stay.”

Young worked with Klein, his former manager who had become a batting instructor, and Cubs coach Pete Reiser on his hitting. Durocher also wanted Young to become more aggressive.

“He could have a great future, but it’s up to him,” Durocher said. “I can’t do it for him. I don’t care what he hits. I want to see more enthusiasm from him.”

Blame game

Young was the Opening Day center fielder for the 1969 Cubs.

The Cubs won 11 of their first 12 games and Durocher stayed with Young. In June, Phillips was traded to the Expos, solidifying Young’s hold on the job.

On July 8, 1969, the first-place Cubs opened a key series with the second-place Mets at New York.

The Cubs led, 3-1, in the ninth inning of the opener, but the Mets rallied for a 4-3 victory when Young was unable to catch two fly balls that fell for doubles. Cubs third baseman Ron Santo blamed the loss on Young. Boxscore

“He was just thinking of himself,” Santo said. “He had a bad day at the bat, so he’s got his head down. He is worrying about his batting average and not the team … He can keep his head down and he can keep right on going, out of sight, for all I care.”

The next day, Santo apologized: “What I said about Donnie, I didn’t mean. I said it because I was upset.”

In his book, “Thanks for Listening,” Cubs broadcaster Jack Brickhouse said later in the day, “I was sitting on the team bus waiting to go to the park. I was sitting behind Young. Santo got on and sat on the armrest of Young’s seat and put his arm around the kid and apologized once more.”

The damage, though, was done. When the Cubs returned to Chicago, Santo was booed at Wrigley Field. The Mets eventually surged ahead of the crumbling Cubs, clinched the division title and went on to win the National League pennant and World Series crown.

“Let’s face it,” Brickhouse said in his book, “the Cubs were a ragtag team in the stretch, wandering aimlessly, with assorted regulars physically exhausted as the result of failure to get a day off here and there when their lead was commanding.”

“That had to be Leo’s responsibility,” Brickhouse said of Durocher, “and he added fuel to the fire with the tensions he created by nitpicking controversies with certain of his players and certain members of the media.”

Young finished the 1969 season, his last in the big leagues, with a .239 batting average in 101 games.