RetroSimba

Desperate to fill the cleanup spot in the order with a potent bat, Cardinals rookie manager Red Schoendienst turned to Curt Flood, a player better known for scoring, not driving in, runs.

In 1965, Flood was the Cardinals’ No. 4 hitter in the lineup for most of July. It was the only time in 15 major-league seasons Flood batted cleanup. Flood appeared in the cleanup spot as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner four times in 1958 and once in 1959, but didn’t get any at-bats then.

Schoendienst, in his first season as a manager, chose Flood to bat fourth in 1965 because Ken Boyer, bothered by a bad back, wasn’t producing at his usual level and Bill White had an injured foot. Boyer had opened the 1965 season as the cleanup hitter and White largely had taken over the role in June.

Flood had led the Cardinals in runs scored in 1962 (99) and 1963 (112) and was second in 1964 (97), but he never had produced more than 12 home runs and 70 RBI in a season. He appeared to be better suited for one of the top two spots in the order, not the cleanup position usually filled by sluggers.

Mike Shannon and Tim McCarver could have been options to bat cleanup, but Flood was having a better season than either of them.

Schoendienst was rewarded for his faith in Flood.

In 13 games batting fourth for the 1965 Cardinals, Flood hit .345 (19-for-55) with nine RBI. The Cardinals had a 9-4 record with Flood as their cleanup hitter.

Winning combination

On June 30, 1965, White injured his right heel. The injury “has him moving like television’s Chester (Dennis Weaver’s character from “Gunsmoke”) and Grandpa McCoy (Walter Brennan’s character from “The Real McCoys”),” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The next night, the first five batters in the Cardinals’ order against the Pirates were: Phil Gagliano, Dick Groat, Lou Brock, Flood and Boyer. Unimpressed, the Post-Dispatch wrote, “The Cardinals presented one of the lightest 3-4 punches in any batting order, Brock and Flood.”

Flood drove in two runs and the Cardinals won, 7-6. Boxscore

In seven games, from July 1 through July 7, Schoendienst kept the top five in his batting order the same. The Cardinals won six of the seven. Batting cleanup, Flood hit safely in all seven games and produced at least one RBI in four. He delivered hits that drove in the winning runs in consecutive games against the Giants July 5-6.

After July 7, over the next five games, Schoendienst used Boyer, White and Tito Francona in the cleanup role and batted Flood third or first. The Cardinals lost three of the five.

Hitting leader

Flood returned to the No. 4 spot on July 16 and remained there for four consecutive games. Flood had hits in all four games and at least one RBI in two. The Cardinals won three of the four, making their record 9-2 in games with Flood as the cleanup hitter.

On July 20, White batted fourth and the Cardinals beat the Phillies. Flood was back in the cleanup spot for the next two games, July 21-22 against the Astros, and the Cardinals lost both.

For the rest of the season, Flood mostly batted in the No. 2 or No. 3 spots. Boyer went back to being the primary cleanup hitter.

The Cardinals, defending World Series champions, finished in seventh place in the National League at 80-81 in 1965. Boyer finished with 75 RBI and White had 73. Both were traded after the season.

Flood won a Gold Glove Award for his fielding and led the 1965 Cardinals in hits (191), RBI (a career-best 83), batting average (.310) and on-base percentage (.366). He did best from the No. 2 spot, batting .360 in 30 games.

Previously: The day Curt Flood got 8 straight hits against Dodgers