RetroSimba

After a shaky first impression, Jack Lamabe had a flawless month for the Cardinals and helped them strengthen their hold on first place in the National League.

In a trade made by general managers Stan Musial of the Cardinals and Bing Devine of the Mets, Lamabe, a right-handed reliever, was sent to St. Louis on July 16, 1967.

In exchange, the Mets received a player to be named, pitcher Al Jackson.

Lamabe, 30, had a rough beginning to his Cardinals career. He was the losing pitcher in three of his first four appearances. His ERA in seven July games for St. Louis was 6.75.

The next month, Lamabe was untouchable. He was 3-0 with a save in August and his ERA for the month was 0.00. Lamabe didn’t allow a run in 25 innings over nine August appearances, including a start.

Lamabe’s splendid month helped stabilize a pitching staff that was missing its ace, Bob Gibson, who was sidelined with a broken leg. The first-place Cardinals, who had entered August with a 4.5-game lead, went 21-11 for the month and entered September with a 10-game advantage over the second-place Reds.

Switching sides

Lamabe had played college baseball for Vermont head coach Ralph LaPointe, who had been an infielder for the 1948 Cardinals.

Lamabe made his major-league debut with the 1962 Pirates. He also pitched for the Red Sox (1963-65), Astros (1965) and White Sox (1966). He primarily was a reliever, though he made 25 starts for the 1964 Red Sox and 17 starts for the 1966 White Sox.

After three appearances for the 1967 White Sox, Lamabe was sent to the Mets on April 26. He went 0-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 16 games with the Mets, but he held right-handed batters to a .174 average.

On July 15, Gibson was injured when struck by a line drive off the bat of the Pirates’ Roberto Clemente. With Nelson Briles moving into the starting rotation as Gibson’s replacement, the Cardinals needed a reliever to fill the void left by Briles’ departure from the bullpen.

The Mets had arrived in St. Louis for a July 16 doubleheader with the Cardinals. When Lamabe got to Busch Stadium, he was told to report to the home team clubhouse: He had been traded.

The Mets won the opener, 2-1. When Cardinals starter Jim Cosman struggled in Game 2, manager Red Schoendienst lifted him in the third inning and brought in Lamabe.

Facing batters who had been his teammates earlier that day, Lamabe yielded five runs, including Ed Kranepool’s two-run home run, in two innings and took the loss. “He’s not my friend anymore,” Kranepool said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Take that

A month later, on Aug. 28, the Mets and Cardinals again had a doubleheader in St. Louis. Lamabe started Game 2 and pitched a six-hit shutout. A double by Ed Charles was the lone extra-base hit Lamabe allowed in a 6-0 Cardinals victory.

“That 6-0 lead (after five innings) helped me a lot,” Lamabe said. “When I had the lead, I just challenged the hitters with something on the ball.” Boxscore

Lamabe finished the regular season with a 3-4 record, four saves and a 2.83 ERA for the pennant-winning Cardinals.

He made three relief appearances against the Red Sox in the 1967 World Series and was the losing pitcher in Game 6 at Boston. Entering in the seventh inning with the score tied at 4-4, Lamabe got Elston Howard to ground out, but yielded a single to Dalton Jones and a RBI-double to Joe Foy. The Red Sox went on to an 8-4 victory. Boxscore

Moving on

Lamabe went to spring training with the 1968 Cardinals. As camp was closing, he was cut from the roster and sent to Class AAA Tulsa. Devine, who had replaced Musial as Cardinals general manager, promised Lamabe he’d try to trade him to a team that would keep him in the big leagues.

Lamabe started the Pacific Coast League season opener for Tulsa on April 19 and pitched a five-hit shutout against San Diego.

Three days later, the Cardinals dealt Lamabe and pitcher Ron Piche to the Cubs for pitchers Pete Mikkelsen and Dave Dowling.

Lamabe ended his big-league career with the 1968 Cubs, posting a 3-2 mark with two saves and a 4.30 ERA.

With a master’s degree in physical education from Springfield College, Lamabe went on to become head baseball coach at Jacksonville University (1974-78) and at Louisiana State University (1979-83). After that, he was a minor-league pitching instructor for the Padres and Rockies.