(Updated April 28, 2020)
In a meeting with Cardinals players after they won two consecutive National League pennants and a World Series title, club owner Gussie Busch warned them about getting fat, greedy and selfish, and scolded them for backing union leadership he considered disrespectful to management.
Players expecting gratitude and support for achieving back-to-back championship seasons, and seeking encouragement in their pursuit of more success, instead were told they needed to do a better job of conforming and representing the organization.
Busch’s speech on March 22, 1969, played well with some of the public, but backfired with some of the players, who were demoralized rather than inspired by his words. His rant was cited as a turning point in transforming the Cardinals from proud champions to dispirited underachievers.
Playing hardball
In the weeks leading to spring training in 1969, Busch became irritated and frustrated when the players’ union threatened to strike in a dispute with owners over the percentage players would get from television revenue.
Busch also was miffed by the salary demands of his players. The player payroll for the 1969 Cardinals was reported to be the highest in baseball at an estimated total of $900,000 to $1 million.
On Feb. 4, 1969, Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson was a guest on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” appearing with entertainers Vince Edwards, Redd Foxx, Peter Lind Hayes and Tina Louise. Gibson explained to host Flip Wilson, subbing for Johnny Carson, why players were prepared to boycott spring training and defended their stance.
In his 1994 book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said his comments upset Busch. With a 1969 salary of $125,000, Gibson was the highest-paid Cardinals player and joined Stan Musial as only the second to receive $100,000 in a season. In return for such compensation, Busch expected Gibson to be supportive of management.
Though the players’ union called off the proposed spring training boycott after reaching a compromise on percentage of television revenue shared, the amount owners would contribute to the pension fund and the years needed to qualify for a pension, Busch didn’t like what he was seeing and hearing from players and decided to “get it off my chest.”
Busch prepared a speech and previewed it with Cardinals executive vice-president Dick Meyer, senior vice-president Stan Musial, general manager Bing Devine and manager Red Schoendienst.
With those key management people onboard, Busch invited the media to attend his meeting with the players on a Saturday morning in the team clubhouse at the St. Petersburg, Fla., training camp.
Being bossed
“It was unusual for players to meet with the owner and unprecedented, not to mention discomfiting, to do it with reporters in attendance,” Gibson said.
The players gathered in full uniform as Busch took a seat and began speaking.
“Fans no longer are as sure as they were before about their high regard for the game and the players,” Busch said.
“Too many fans are saying our players are getting fat, that they only think of money, and less of the game itself. The fans will be looking at you this year more critically than ever before to watch how you perform and see whether you really are giving everything you have.”
Regarding the players’ union, Busch said, “Baseball’s union representatives made all kinds of derogatory statements about the owners. We suddenly seem to be your greatest enemies. Representatives threw down all sorts of challenges, threats and ultimatums. Personally, I don’t react well to ultimatums.”
When Busch finished his 25-minute talk, players applauded “politely,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Busch invited players to comment or ask a question, but none did.
Meyer spoke next and made remarks tailored to drive a wedge between players and union leader Marvin Miller.
“He works for you,” Meyer said of Miller. “You don’t work for him. You cannot assign your future and the future of your family to someone else. If you do, you’re in trouble.”
Keeping up appearances
Asked by the Post-Dispatch for their reactions, most players stuck to generalities. “It was well said,” offered Tim McCarver. Lou Brock called it “very well put” and Dal Maxvill said “it was first class.” Others, such as Gibson and Curt Flood, declined comment.
In his 1971 book “The Way It Is,” Flood explained, “I feared that if I so much as hinted at the truth about that meeting I would be gone from the team in a week. I was sick with shame and so was everyone else on the Cardinals except Busch and his claque.”
Flood said Busch “depicted us as a rabble of ingrates” and “humiliated us to the best of his ability.”
“Busch was using the occasion not only to revile us but to reassert the uniquely feudal privileges vested to him and other club owners by baseball’s reserve system,” Flood said.
Anheuser-Busch printed 100,000 copies of Busch’s speech and distributed versions to its 21,000 stockholders, about 10,000 employees and anyone else who wanted one, The Sporting News reported.
Changes in attitude
Busch’s remarks made headlines, but “there is no evidence this had any effect” in him getting what he wanted, The Sporting News observed. On the eve of the 1969 season opener, “several key players refused to attend” a civic dinner.
The Cardinals played poorly in the first half of the 1969 season, posting records of 9-12 in April, 12-13 in May and 14-16 in June. After the Cardinals were swept by the Pirates in a three-game series to open the season, coach Dick Sisler said, “If we don’t win one pretty soon, we are going to have the first million-dollar bench.”
In summarizing the 1969 Cardinals, Sports Illustrated wrote, “The Cards threw to the wrong bases on defense and sometimes did not throw at all. Opposing runners stole with impunity and the St. Louis bullpen collapsed almost completely.”
The Cardinals finished at 87-75 and in fourth place in a six-team division. The Cardinals wouldn’t return to the postseason until 1982.
Gibson cited Busch’s speech as “defining a moment as any” in the Cardinals’ decline. “It seems our deterioration as a ballclub traced back to the fact the Cardinals, as an organization, were simply not willing or prepared to keep up with the times,” Gibson said.
Said Flood: “We Cardinals became a morose and touchy team. Our concentration suffered. So did the remarkable spirit of fraternity that had helped us dominate the league for two years in succession.”
RetroSimba 
When I was growing up (I’m 61), all I heard were stories of Gussie Busch’s generosity. His impatience and imperial attitude weren’t publicized.
I know what you mean. The public images of him on the Clydesdales and rooting enthusiastically for the Cardinals painted a picture of a benevolent baron, but in researching him in recent years I’ve learned he let his ego and power and insecurities cloud his judgment, leading to a string of bad and hurtful personnel decisions. He stepped in and bought the team at a time when it might have been relocated, did a lot to help downtown St. Louis and strived for championships, but, as Bob Gibson pointed out, the Cardinals as an organization did not keep up with the times and a lot of that was because Gussie Busch wanted to dictate. Your words “impatience” and “imperial” are well-chosen.
That 25 minute “pep talk” was a bad omen for what would be the lost decade of the 70’s. In my opinion, up untill ’73and ’74, we still had a decent team. A team that still could have made the playoffs a couple of times had it not been for bad trades and being to cheap. Good thing for Cardinal fans that Mr. Busch got a burning desire to win it all one more time. That’s how Whitey comes on board. And at least for the first couple of years has the ok to wheel and deal.
Well said. Yes, the Cardinals finished in second place in 1971, 1973 and 1974 when the postseason hadn’t yet been cheapened by wild-card entries. As you say, Whitey Herzog was a difference-maker in the 1980s because he had a clear philosophy of how to produce a winner and he knew how to manage up and get Gussie Busch onboard with that vision.
What I remember most about Gussie’s pep talk was how the local media praised and supported his comments. For whatever reason, winning the prior two national league pennants by wide margins, as well as the world series in 1967, wasn’t good enough. Marvin Miller and the players had begun to assert themselves and this rankled the establishment, including the writers and broadcasters. The year before, Bob Burnes, the sports editor of the St. Louis Globe, had stated that the team lost the world series in 68 because they were more interested in the “mod” clothes that they wore. McCarver has said that he never forgave Burnes for that comment.
Your recall is accurate. In my research for this post, I came across a Bob Broeg column in the Post-Dispatch that was completely supportive of Gussie Busch’s speech. Like Cardinals management, some of the old-school journalists of the time couldn’t foresee the times were changing.