RetroSimba

(Updated Oct. 18, 2022)

Born and raised near Pittsburgh, John Stuper wanted to pitch for the Pirates, went to the Cardinals instead and became a World Series winner as a rookie.

On Jan. 25, 1979, the Pirates traded Stuper to the Cardinals for infielder Tommy Sandt.

The minor-league move turned into a big deal for the Cardinals, but not before Stuper had to revive a career headed in reverse.

Hometown hopeful

A native of Butler, Pa., near Pittsburgh, Stuper had a 34-3 record in three seasons as a college pitcher. He was 25-3 in two years at Butler County Community College and 9-0 for Point Park College in downtown Pittsburgh.

The Pirates chose Stuper in the 18th round of the June 1978 amateur draft, offered a $2,500 bonus and signed him that night.

“It’s been my lifelong dream to be a professional baseball player,” Stuper said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I know the odds are against making it to the majors, but I’m not thinking about that now.”

Years later, asked by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch why he wasn’t drafted in a higher round, Stuper replied, “The rap on me in high school and later in college was I labored too much and didn’t have a smooth enough delivery.”

A right-hander, Stuper was assigned to the Pirates’ Class A club at Charleston, S.C., and posted a 4-8 record and 5.33 ERA.

“He still has a few mechanical problems he has to correct,” said Pirates farm director Murray Cook.

Said Stuper: “I learned a lot. It was an adjustment getting used to being away from home and playing against better talent.”

Climbing the ladder

Four months after his first professional season ended, Stuper was called at home by Cook, who told him of the trade to the Cardinals.

“I was a little disappointed when I was traded, but my friends encouraged me to think positively that the Cardinals wanted me, not that the Pirates didn’t,” Stuper said to The Pittsburgh Press.

In the Cardinals’ minor-league system, Stuper had ERAs of 2.71 in 1979 and 2.41 in 1980. He credited Cardinals pitching instructor Hub Kittle for the turnaround.

“I don’t make it to the big leagues without Mr. Hub Kittle,” Stuper told Cardinals Magazine. “I loved the man. He believed in me. He was probably the best pitching coach for mechanics I’ve ever encountered.”

Kittle told The Southern Illinoisan, “When we got him, he was a strong and well-conditioned kid, but he was throwing down from the side. Gradually we changed his mechanics, and when he came over the top, the ball began to jump.”

After the 1979 season, Stuper earned a degree in English at LaRoche College in McCandless, Pa. He pitched winter ball in Mexico after the 1980 season.

When Stuper got to Cardinals spring training camp in 1981, he was “in midseason form,” he later told the Post-Dispatch, because of his work in Mexico.

Stuper impressed the Cardinals, who conceded he pitched well enough to deserve a role on the Opening Day roster, but they sent him to Class AAA Springfield, Ill., so he could pitch regularly as a starter.

“He’s going to be a good pitcher,” said Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog. “He’s been awfully impressive.”

A step back

Stuper struggled at Springfield and couldn’t get untracked. When major leaguers went on strike in June 1981, Herzog said he intended to go to Springfield “to see what’s wrong with Stuper,” who had lost seven of nine decisions.

Turns out the toll of pitching in Mexico, followed by a spring training workload, left Stuper out of sorts. He finished the 1981 season with a 6-14 record and 4.92 ERA.

“In the long run, pitching in the winter hurt me,” Stuper said. “My arm was very fatigued all season.”

Stuper went home and worked to get his arm in shape, but he had a poor spring training in 1982 and the Cardinals sent him to Class AAA Louisville in mid-March.

A year after being the surprise of spring training camp, Stuper went to Louisville knowing he needed a good showing to get back in the Cardinals’ plans.

Mission accomplished

“One of my goals this year is to show that last season was a fluke,” Stuper said to the Associated Press.

After taking the loss on Opening Night, Stuper won seven consecutive decisions for Louisville and was 7-1 with a 1.46 ERA when he was called up to the Cardinals on May 28, 1982.

“I was shooting for September,” Stuper said to the Louisville Courier-Journal. “I would have been happy with that, so obviously I’m elated with this.”

Stuper made his major-league debut on June 1, 1982, in a start against the Giants at St. Louis. He pitched eight innings, allowing three runs, tripled against Atlee Hammaker and scored the tying run, but the Giants prevailed, 4-3, in 11. Boxscore

Giants first baseman Reggie Smith, a former Cardinal, said, “I liked the young guy’s guts. He challenges you.”

Said Stuper: “I thought my stuff was OK, but I wasn’t real sharp. I was getting behind on too many hitters. My location wasn’t as good as I like it to be.”

Homeward bound

Stuper won four of his first five decisions with the Cardinals.

On Aug. 14, 1982, Stuper pitched in Pittsburgh for the first time as a big-leaguer, getting the start against the Pirates. He yielded one run in 7.1 innings, earning the win in a 4-1 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t kind of special. Very special,” Stuper said. “I always dreamed about coming here to pitch for the Pirates. The day I got traded, I started dreaming about coming here to pitch against them.”

Stuper finished his rookie season with a 9-7 record and 3.36 ERA, helping the Cardinals win the National League East Division title.

In the postseason, he made three starts and the Cardinals won all three, though he didn’t get a decision in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Braves or in Game 2 of the World Series versus the Brewers.

Stuper did win Game 6 of the 1982 World Series, pitching a four-hitter in a 13-1 Cardinals victory and setting up a decisive Game 7 won by St. Louis.

Stuper was 12-11 for the Cardinals in 1983 and 3-5 in 1984 before he was traded to the Reds for outfielder Paul Householder.

In 1989, Stuper earned a master’s degree in English from Slippery Rock University. He was a Cardinals minor-league pitching instructor in 1991 and 1992 before becoming head baseball coach at Yale in 1993.