RetroSimba

When the Cardinals acquired Wally Westlake from the Pirates, he seemed to be the ideal hitter to put pop into the cleanup spot, but it didn’t work out the way they expected.

Westlake played in the major leagues for 10 years, primarily with the Pirates. In a stretch between 1949-51, he was one of the top hitters in the National League.

On June 15, 1951, the Cardinals traded five players _ pitchers Howie Pollet and Ted Wilks, catcher Joe Garagiola, outfielder Bill Howerton and infielder Dick Cole _ to the Pirates for Westlake and pitcher Cliff Chambers.

The surprise deal was big news because Westlake, 30, was among the National League leaders in home runs and RBI, and his departure upset many Pirates fans.

Westlake was acquired to be the Cardinals’ center fielder and to bat No. 4 in the order between future Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter.

“Baseball men believe the Cardinals got the best of the deal,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Said Pollet: “The Cards have been looking for a hard right-handed hitter and now they’ve got one.”

Position change

Westlake debuted in the majors with the Pirates in 1947. He had his first big season two years later when he hit .282 with 23 home runs and 104 RBI for the 1949 Pirates. In 1950, he had similar numbers: .285, 24 home runs, 95 RBI.

In 1951, Westlake began the season in left field. In the Pirates’ home opener, his home run was the decisive run in a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals. Boxscore

On May 8, 1951, Pirates manager Billy Meyer, acting on instructions from club executive Branch Rickey, moved Westlake to third base, a position he last played 10 years earlier in the minors. The move was made as part of an overall infield shift to add hitting to the lineup.

Westlake responded well, producing 34 RBI in 34 games as the third baseman.

Looking to deal

The 1951 Cardinals were struggling to score. Musial and Slaughter were productive left-handed hitters, but the club lacked a consistent power threat from the right side.

From June 1 through June 14, the Cardinals lost 10 of 14 games and scored two runs or less in eight of those defeats.

“Musial is the greatest player in the game today _ he’s always on base _ but he can’t do it all himself,” Cardinals manager Marty Marion said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals made an offer for Andy Pafko, a right-handed hitter who played center field for the Cubs, but he was dealt to the Dodgers.

“The strange thing is we offered the Cubs considerably more for Pafko than the Dodgers did, but the deal was turned down as not enough,” Cardinals owner Fred Saigh said.

According to The Sporting News, the Cubs wanted second baseman Red Schoendienst for Pafko, but the Cardinals refused.

Good fit

With Pafko out of the picture, the Cardinals went after Westlake. The Pirates were in last place in the National League and Rickey was looking for a package of players to upgrade several positions.

At the time of the trade, Westlake was second in the league to Gil Hodges in home runs and second to Duke Snider in RBI.

According to the Pittsburgh Press, the Cardinals demanded Westlake “or it was no deal.”

The inclusion of Chambers in the trade also was appealing to the Cardinals. Chambers, a left-hander, pitched a no-hitter against the Braves on May 6, 1951. Though he lost his next four decisions, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported he still was considered “a dandy southpaw when his arm is right.”

Loss of appetite

Westlake, teammate Ralph Kiner and Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince were having lunch at Dutch Henry’s restaurant on Diamond Street in downtown Pittsburgh when Prince took a call from a secretary informing him Westlake had been traded to the Cardinals.

When Prince returned to the table, he said, “Wally, you’re going to St. Louis.”

Westlake was “stunned” and took the news “very hard,” the Pittsburgh Press reported.

Westlake liked Pittsburgh. The reason he, Kiner and Prince were at the restaurant is they were negotiating to buy it, The Sporting News reported.

The Pittsburgh Press called the decision to deal Westlake “a shocking surprise.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette added, “A shocker to say the least.”

“Next to Ralph Kiner, the most popular Pittsburgh player was Westlake,” the Pittsburgh Press reported.

Westlake was batting .282 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI in 50 games for the 1951 Pirates. Chambers was 3-6 with a 5.58 ERA.

“I won’t have to worry about pitching to Stan Musial anymore,” Chambers said.

Tough to adjust

Westlake arrived at the St. Louis airport on June 16, 1951, and went directly to Sportsman’s Park for the Saturday night game between the Phillies and Cardinals. Marion put him in the lineup as the center fielder, batting fourth.

In a storybook start to his Cardinals career, Westlake lined a three-run home run to left in the eighth inning against relief ace Jim Konstanty, breaking a 3-3 tie and carrying the Cardinals to a 6-5 victory. Boxscore

Westlake totaled five hits and five RBI in his first three Cardinals games, but his production faded as the season unfolded. Westlake hit .255 with six home runs and 39 RBI in 73 games for the 1951 Cardinals. He batted .180 against left-handers.

One factor in Westlake’s struggles could have been the dimensions of Sportsman’s Park. It was 351 feet from home plate to left field, 20 feet more than at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, where the fence had been moved in to create Greenberg Gardens, a cushy landing spot for the shots hit by right-handed sluggers Hank Greenberg, Kiner and Westlake.

For Westlake, drives which hit or cleared the left-field wall in Pittsburgh were outs in St. Louis.

Chambers gave the Cardinals the better value from the deal. He was 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA for them in 1951.

Westlake’s woes continued the next season. He batted .216 with no home runs in 21 games for the Cardinals. On May 13, 1952, the Cardinals traded Westlake and third baseman Eddie Kazak to the Reds for first baseman Dick Sisler and shortstop Virgil Stallcup.

Westlake played in the majors until 1956, including a stint with the Indians, whom he helped to an American League pennant in 1954, but he never replicated the power numbers he produced for the Pirates.