Capping a Cardinals rally, Roger Freed burned the team he cheered for as a boy.
Freed, a Los Angeles native reared in suburban Baldwin Park, Calif., hit a walkoff three-run home run, enabling the Cardinals to overcome a five-run deficit in the ninth inning and defeat the Dodgers.
Freed was batting for pitcher Al Hrabosky when he hit his game-winning home run against knuckleball specialist Charlie Hough.
At a time before cable television and the Internet, the game was showcased nationally as ABC’s “Monday Night Baseball” telecast.
“I knew my mother was watching (in Baldwin Park),” Freed said to the Los Angeles Times. “I kept telling myself I was going to hit one for Mom. She never gives up until the game is over. She’s been a baseball rooter ever since I was in Little League.”
No surrender
The Dodgers were comfortably in first place in the National League West, 9.5 games ahead of the Reds, entering their Aug. 22, 1977, game against the Cardinals at St. Louis.
Sparked by a Steve Yeager grand slam against John Denny, the Dodgers led, 6-1. Jerry Mumphrey opened the Cardinals’ ninth with a single and scored on Garry Templeton’s triple, cutting the deficit to 6-2. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda lifted starter Burt Hooton and replaced him with a rookie, Lance Rautzhan.
Ted Simmons singled, scoring Templeton and getting the Cardinals within three at 6-3. Keith Hernandez followed with a double just inside the first-base line. When the throw from right fielder Reggie Smith eluded cutoff man Bill Russell, Simmons continued home, making the score 6-4, and Hernandez went to third.
Hough, the Dodgers’ closer, relieved Rautzhan.
Dodgers dandy
With Mike Anderson at the plate, Hough unleashed a knuckler that got past Yeager. Hernandez scored and the Cardinals were within a run, 6-5.
After Anderson struck out for the first out of the inning, Ken Reitz singled and Rick Bosetti ran for him. Mike Tyson singled _ the Cardinals’ sixth hit of the inning _ and Bosetti moved to second.
With Hrabosky due up next, Cardinals manager Vern Rapp called on Freed to bat. Freed, acquired by the Cardinals from the Expos in the December minor-league draft, was batting .345 overall and .438 as a pinch hitter for St. Louis.
Hough went to work against him with his signature knuckler and got ahead on the count 1-and-2.
“The knuckler was dancing all over the place,” Freed said. “Hough has a dandy.”
Low liner
Then Hough threw Freed a knuckler that was at the bottom of the strike zone. “A good knuckler,” Hough said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Said Cardinals general manager Bing Devine: “It was low and away.”
Freed took a big swing and connected.
“I knew I hit it hard, but the pitch had been so low that I thought it might be right at the shortstop,” Freed said.
The line drive rose and carried over the left-field wall for a home run, giving the Cardinals an 8-6 victory. “I didn’t know it was gone until I looked up,” Freed said. Boxscore
Freed, a reserve first baseman and right fielder, finished the 1977 season with a .398 batting average (33-for-83). He hit .545 (6-for-11) with two outs and a runner in scoring position.
Freed batted .239 for the 1978 Cardinals and .258 for the 1979 Cardinals before he was released in April 1980.
Previously: Carl Taylor, Roger Freed experienced the ultimate
Lifelong Cardinals fan here. Thank you for this wonderful recap of what was my first-ever MLB game. I was 8 years old and still remember the magic of watching Lou Brock emerge from the dugout and take his place in the outfield, and, later, the despair I felt entering the ninth with the Cardinals trailing by five and Burt Hooton cruising. I vividly recall watching Freed’s walkoff from the upper tier along the third-base line, and I will never forget the unbridled joy he brought info my life that day. Just wished I could have met the man. We lost him way too soon. Best wishes to all. Sean McDevitt, Spring Hill, Tennessee
Thanks for reading and for commenting, Sean. I enjoyed your firsthand account of being at the game and seeing Roger Freed’s game-winning home run.
Though he cherished this homer and a walkoff grand slam he had for the Cardinals against the Astros, Freed’s favorite personal feat was getting his one and only stolen base in the majors. It came for the Cardinals against the Expos at St. Louis. “It was the biggest thrill of my life,” Freed told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
When Freed took off from first _ “I went on my own,” he said to Frank Dolson of Knight News Service. “Nobody’s ever given me the steal sign, so I went.” _ Expos catcher Bobby Ramos was so surprised he dropped the ball. Freed did a two-hop belly flop into second.
“The second base umpire (Dick Stello) stopped the game,” Freed recalled to Dolson. “He reached down, got the bag and gave it to me. I got it autographed by all my Cardinals teammates. it’s home, in front of my fireplace.” https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1978/B09300SLN1978.htm
P.S. This game was exactly five years to the day that Glenn Brummer made his epic steal of home against Gary Lavelle and the Giants — August 22, 1982.
Thanks, Sean. If time permits, you also might like this post about the walkoff grand slam Roger Freed clouted for the Cardinals: https://retrosimba.com/2011/07/16/carl-taylor-roger-freed-experienced-the-ultimate/