Desperate for pitching, the 1943 Athletics turned to Carl Scheib, a 16-year-old with a strong arm. Eleven years later, the 1954 Cardinals, desperate for pitching, took a chance on Scheib, then a 27-year-old with a damaged arm.
Scheib, who died March 24, 2018, at 91, finished his major-league career with the Cardinals after a brief, unsuccessful stint with them.
The Cardinals’ pitching in 1954 was so bad they were willing to try just about anything to give the staff a boost. On May 7, 1954, in a creative cash transaction, the Cardinals acquired Scheib from the Athletics on a conditional basis. The Cardinals agreed to give Scheib a look in exchange for a small amount of cash to the Athletics. If the Cardinals kept Scheib for 30 days, they would increase the amount of compensation to the Athletics.
Teen-age wasteland
Scheib, born Jan. 1, 1927, became the youngest player to appear in an American League game when he debuted with the Athletics in the ninth inning of the second game of a doubleheader against the Yankees on Sept. 6, 1943. Boxscore
The 1943 Athletics had the worst pitching staff (4.05 ERA) in the league and the team, managed by Connie Mack, finished in last place at 49-105.
A year later, on June 10, 1944, Joe Nuxhall, 15, became the youngest player to appear in a major-league game when he debuted with the Reds in the ninth inning against the Cardinals.
Scheib pitched for the Athletics from 1943-45 and from 1947-54. His best season was 1948 when he had a 14-8 record and 3.94 ERA with 15 complete games. He also experienced two particularly dreadful seasons in 1950 (3-10 record, 7.22 ERA) and 1951 (1-12, 4.47).
Bargain shopping
When Scheib got to spring training in 1954, it was evident to the Athletics he was experiencing weakness in his right shoulder, according to a biography by the Society for American Baseball Research. After making his final spring training appearance, Scheib didn’t appear in another game for more than a month until given a regular-season start against the White Sox on May 3, 1954. Scheib yielded five runs in two innings and took the loss. Boxscore
Four days later, on May 7, 1954, the Cardinals made the conditional deal to land Scheib.
Cardinals pitchers gave up 34 runs in their last three games prior to acquiring Scheib. The staff would finish the 1954 season with a 4.50 ERA. Their relievers formed the worst bullpen in franchise history.
Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky said Scheib was “the best we could do because we couldn’t get a big-name pitcher without giving up too much playing strength in return.”
Two days after the deal was made, Scheib reported to the Cardinals in Cincinnati and threw pitches to coach Johnny Riddle while Stanky watched. Scheib “showed speed, a sweeping curve and promising knuckler,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Said Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts, a former American League catcher who had faced Scheib often: “Don’t worry about his record. He was with a poor ball club over there. If waivers had been asked on him, I’d have claimed him.”
Short stay
Scheib made his first Cardinals appearance in a start against the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader on May 16, 1954, at Philadelphia. He struck out the first two batters, but gave up five runs, including back-to-back home runs by Johnny Wyrostek and Del Ennis, in two innings and was the losing pitcher. Boxscore
Cardinals general manager Dick Meyer said catcher Del Rice “didn’t think Scheib was as bad as those five early runs would indicate.”
Scheib was used twice in relief by the Cardinals, pitching two scoreless innings against the Reds on May 22 and yielding a home run to Cubs catcher Joe Garagiola in a stint that lasted two-thirds of an inning on May 24.
By then, the Cardinals decided Scheib wasn’t effective enough to pay additional compensation to the Athletics. On May 27, they returned Scheib to the Athletics. Two days later, the Athletics asked waivers on Scheib for the purpose of giving him an unconditional release.
Unclaimed and free to make his own deal, Scheib signed with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League. He spent two years (1954-55) with Portland and two more (1956-57) with the San Antonio Missions, managed by future Cardinals coach Joe Schultz, of the Texas League before ending his playing career.
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