In a season that started spectacularly before shattering into shambles, the low point for Cardinals pitcher John Denny occurred when he was ejected from a game before it began.
On Sept. 27, 1977, Denny was tossed because he ignored an umpire’s directive to stop talking with people in or near the stands.
It was that kind of season for Denny. He won his first seven decisions for the 1977 Cardinals before losing his next eight in a row. During the skid, he was injured and sat out for more than a month.
A year after leading the National League in earned run average, Denny was an underachiever for the 1977 Cardinals.
Up and down
Denny debuted in the big leagues with the Cardinals in September 1974. He earned 10 wins for St. Louis in 1975 and followed that with 11 wins and a league-leading 2.52 ERA in 1976. Denny was especially strong in the second half of the 1976 season, posting ERAs of 1.93 in July, 1.88 in August and 1.15 in September.
His effectiveness carried over into the start of the 1977 season. Denny was 5-0 with a 2.94 ERA in April and his record stood at 7-0 after a shutout victory over the Cubs on May 31.
After that, his season began to unravel. In June, Denny was 0-2 with a 4.91 ERA. He was ejected on June 6 for bumping an umpire and he got tossed again on June 11 for fighting with Reggie Smith of the Dodgers.
On June 21, Denny suffered a hamstring injury and didn’t pitch from June 22 until July 30. After he came back, Denny lost six decisions in a row, dropping his record to 7-8 with a 4.67 ERA.
“That was the worst stretch I’ve ever been through,” Denny said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It really bothered me.”
Social hour
In their final homestand of the 1977 season, the Cardinals had games with the Expos and Mets.
On Sept. 27, the night before he was scheduled to make a start against the Expos, Denny was talking with people in or near the Busch Stadium stands before the game.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Edwardsville (Ill.) Intelligencer offered slightly different versions of what transpired between Denny and umpire Paul Runge.
_ Post-Dispatch: “Before the game, Runge noticed Denny leaning across the rail, talking to fans in violation of a league rule. When the umpire ordered Denny to return to the dugout, the pitcher got testy and was ejected.”
_ Intelligencer: “Runge objected to Denny talking to photographers in their booth by the dugout after he had asked that players move away from the stands.”
Cardinals management said Runge had overstepped his authority because the game hadn’t started, the Intelligencer reported.
Happy ending
Because Runge was scheduled to work home plate in the Expos-Cardinals game on Sept. 28, Denny was scratched from his start that night by manager Vern Rapp, who wanted to avoid a potential conflict between pitcher and umpire. Rapp moved Denny’s start to Sept. 30 in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Mets.
Denny, 25, ended the tumultuous season on a high note. He pitched a complete game in a 7-2 Cardinals victory against the Mets. The win was his first since May and evened his record at 8-8.
Denny, who yielded eight hits and issued three walks, was helped by a defense that turned three double plays.
“That was one of the hardest games for me because I had to wait so long to win one,” Denny said. Boxscore
Denny credited pitching coach Claude Osteen with finding and fixing a flaw. “Claude noticed in some films that I had been hurrying too much with my pitches,” said Denny. “That made me erratic with my curve and with my changeup.”
Previously: Larry Dierker and his unsatisfying stint with Cardinals
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