RetroSimba

In his most productive game for the Cardinals, Ken Reitz redefined the meaning of the Mendoza Line.

On June 28, 1977, Reitz had a career-high eight RBI against the Pirates in the second game of a Tuesday night doubleheader at St. Louis.

Reitz, the Cardinals’ third baseman, generated those RBI on three hits: a single and two home runs.

The first home run was a grand slam off starter Grant Jackson.

The second was a three-run shot off Mario Mendoza.

Pace setter

An infielder, Mendoza was making his first and only big-league pitching appearance.

As a hitter, Mendoza often had a season batting average of about .200. He eventually became the symbol of the minimum expected of a big-league batter. Today, a .200 batting average commonly is referred to as the Mendoza Line.

As a pitcher, the Mendoza Line is a 13.50 earned run average. That’s what he posted after facing Reitz and the Cardinals.

Let’s play two

In the first game of the June 28 doubleheader, Reitz had a single in four at-bats and the Cardinals won, 6-1.

Cardinals manager Vern Rapp offered to let Reitz sit out the second game _ “He’d been going so hard all season and it was hot,” Rapp explained to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch _ but Reitz wanted to play because the Pirates were starting Jackson, a left-hander. Reitz hit .282 against left-handers in his big-league career and .247 versus right-handers.

Rapp put Reitz in the No. 5 spot in the batting order.

After grounding out in the first inning, Reitz got a RBI-single off Jackson in the third, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2. “The first RBI was the most exciting because it helped us get rolling,” Reitz said.

In the fourth, Reitz, batting with two outs, hit a high, inside pitch off Jackson _ “It was not in the strike zone,” Reitz said _ for the grand slam, putting the Cardinals ahead, 10-2.

“I didn’t even know how many guys were on base when I hit the grand slam because I was concentrating so much at-bat,” Reitz said.

Tough job

With the score 10-3, Pirates manager Chuck Tanner lifted Jackson after six innings. Wanting to rest an overworked bullpen staff, Tanner turned to Mendoza.

“We’ve had him throw batting practice,” Tanner said to United Press International. “We had five games in three days and figured this was a good time to use him.”

Mendoza told the Pittsburgh Press, “My dad used to be a pitcher in the semipros … He said pitching is a tougher life than to be a shortstop.”

Mendoza, a right-hander, pitched a scoreless seventh, getting Keith Hernandez to line out into an inning-ending double play.

In the eighth, Reitz faced Mendoza with runners on first and second, two outs. Mendoza threw a wild pitch, advancing the runners, Roger Freed and Tony Scott, to second and third.

Reitz pulled the next pitch, a breaking ball, down the line. The ball struck the corner of the foul pole for a home run, giving the Cardinals a 13-3 lead. Boxscore

“He’s got a surprisingly good curveball,” Reitz said. “He just threw one too many to me and I happened to hit it down the line. I usually just get doubles off those pitches.”

Reitz was the first Cardinals batter with eight RBI in a game since Augie Bergamo did it in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Giants on July 4, 1945, at New York.

Reitz would finish the 1977 season with single-season career highs in home runs (17) and RBI (79).