RetroSimba

Rod Brewer and Stan Royer, corner infield prospects, each had his best performance in one of the Cardinals’ most productive games.

On Sept. 20, 1992, Brewer had five hits, a walk, four runs scored and a RBI, and Royer had four hits, a walk, four runs scored and four RBI, in the Cardinals’ 16-4 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Brewer, a first baseman, and Royer, a third baseman, combined for nine of the Cardinals’ 22 hits.

Rather than launch them into starting roles the next season, the performances represented the pinnacles of the short Cardinals careers of Brewer and Royer.

By July 1994, neither remained in the Cardinals’ organization.

Getting a look

Brewer and Royer came to the Cardinals by different paths. Brewer was taken by them in the fifth round of the 1987 amateur draft. Royer was one of three players acquired by the Cardinals in the August 1990 trade of Willie McGee to the Athletics.

In 1992, Brewer and Royer were standouts with Louisville, the Cardinals’ top farm club. Brewer, 26, batted .288 with 18 home runs and 86 RBI for Louisville. Royer, 25, hit .282 with 31 doubles and 77 RBI.

Both were called up to the Cardinals in September 1992 when rosters expanded. Manager Joe Torre started them in the Sunday afternoon series finale against the Cubs. Brewer played first base and batted fifth in the order. Royer played third base and batted sixth.

They would be facing Cubs starter Shawn Boskie, who had won his first three decisions and four of his first six before fading.

Head scratcher

Boskie faced seven Cardinals batters in the first inning without getting an out. He yielded six hits and a walk and was charged with six earned runs. Brewer and Royer each singled and scored in the inning. Royer’s hit drove in a run.

“My main problem is all in my head,” Boskie said to the Chicago Tribune. “That’s the last thing I want to admit _ that I’m a head case _ but if I was looking at it from the outside, that’s what I’d have to say.”

The Cardinals totaled 22 hits and five walks against five Cubs pitchers.

“The Cubs not only embarrassed themselves _ they humiliated everyone who paid to watch them wallow through perhaps their most wretched loss of the season,” wrote the Tribune.

Royer hit his first major-league home run, a two-run shot, in the sixth against Jeff Hartsock, who was making his second appearance in the big leagues. There to witness it was Royer’s father, Harold, who coached him at Charleston (Ill.) High School.

“I love this ball park,” Royer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It’s bricks and grass _ what a ball park should be.” Boxscore

Decisions, decisions

The breakout game for Brewer and Royer naturally raised questions about where they fit in the Cardinals’ plans for 1993.

“It was a good day,” said Torre, “but when you play 162 games you don’t get overly excited about one day. You’ve got to watch a number of at-bats and then make up your mind. That’s like a guy hitting two home runs on Opening Day and thinking he’s going to hit .320.”

Cardinals instructor George Kissell had called Royer “a Ken Boyer type” _ referring to the Cardinals’ standout third baseman of the 1950s and 1960s _ but Torre added, “Not that he has Boyer’s ability, obviously, but just the way he carries himself.”

The 1992 Cardinals had Andres Galarraga at first base and Todd Zeile at third base. Galarraga was an impending free agent, creating a potential opening at first in 1993, but Zeile was entrenched at third.

“It’s tough to see where he fits in,” Torre said of Royer, “but if you hit, they will find a place for you.”

Regarding the status of he and Brewer, Royer said, “If we both play well, something is going to happen. Somebody is going to want us. I would love to play for the Cardinals. I grew up watching them and St. Louis is close to my family (in Illinois), but I can’t say that if I had a chance to go somewhere else I wouldn’t be excited.”

Not in the Cards

Brewer and Royer both made the most of their opportunities with the 1992 Cardinals. Brewer hit .301 (31-for-103) in 29 games. Royer hit .323 (10-for-31) in 13 games.

Neither, though, won a starting job in 1993. After Galarraga departed for the Rockies, the Cardinals acquired Gregg Jefferies from the Royals to play first base. Zeile remained at third base.

Brewer spent 1993 as a Cardinals reserve. He hit .286 with two home runs and 20 RBI. After the season, he signed with a team in Japan.

Royer spent most of the 1993 season with Louisville. In 24 games for St. Louis, he hit .304 (14-for-46).

In 1994, Royer stuck with the Cardinals as a reserve, but hit .175 (10-for-57). He was released in July, picked up by the Red Sox and ended his big-league career with them that year.

Previously: Why Cardinals traded Willie McGee to Athletics