Andy Hassler was willing to return to the minor leagues for the first time in 10 years to show the Cardinals he belonged with them in the majors.
A left-hander, Hassler pitched for 14 seasons in the big leagues, primarily with the Angels.
In 1984, the Angels released Hassler at the end of spring training. He was 0-5 with a 5.45 ERA for them in 1983 and didn’t do enough at training camp the following spring to convince them to keep him.
The Cardinals offered Hassler, 32, a chance to stay in the game, but it was a humbling proposition. He would have to go to the minors, two levels down to Class AA. The last time he pitched in the minors was 1974. The last time he pitched in Class AA was 1970 when he was 18.
“It’s tough to go down after that many seasons,” Hassler told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “You have to question yourself why you really want to do it.”
Hassler did it, and by the end of the season he was back in the big leagues with the Cardinals.
Rapid rise
Hassler was 17 and recently graduated from high school in Tucson, Ariz., when he was chosen by the Angels in the 25th round of the 1969 amateur draft.
Two years later, on May 30, 1971, he made his major-league debut for them at 19 in a start at Yankee Stadium. Boxscore
Hassler lost his first eight decisions in the big leagues. Though he pitched for the Angels in parts of 1971 and 1973, his first win for them didn’t come until June 23, 1974, versus the Rangers. Boxscore
His career often was defined by extremes. He either was very good or very bad. In 1974, Hassler pitched a one-hitter against the White Sox and, on a staff with Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana, led the Angels in ERA at 2.61. From 1975-76, he lost 18 consecutive decisions _ his last 11 of 1975 and his first seven of 1976.
“There were games in there where I pitched downright badly. I pitched poorly, period,” Hassler told the Boston Globe. “When I did pitch well, something (bad) would happen. I don’t like to make excuses, but it was a last-place team. There were a lot of plays that weren’t made.”
Hassler’s success depended on the effectiveness of his sinker.
“If I can keep the ball down, I don’t give a damn who’s up there,” Hassler told the Los Angeles Times.
Red Sox slugger Carl Yastrzemski rated Hassler “one of the four best left-handers in the league.”
Mutual admiration
On July 5, 1976, the Angels sold Hassler’s contract to the Royals, who were in first place in the American League West. The Royals’ manager, Whitey Herzog, had been an Angels coach in 1974 and 1975 when Hassler pitched for them.
According to The Sporting News, Angels owner Gene Autry told Hassler, “At least you are going to a team on top that will score some runs for you.” Regarding his Angels, Autry added, “You can’t get any lower than this one.”
After losing his first decision, his 18th in a row, with the Royals, Hassler won four in a row. “Without Andy, we wouldn’t be in first place,” Herzog said.
Said Hassler: “I have all the admiration in the world for Whitey.”
In 1984, Herzog was manager of the Cardinals when Hassler took the offer to go back to the minors.
Comeback trail
After signing with the Cardinals on May 2, 1984, Hassler reported to their Class AA farm club at Arkansas. In his Arkansas debut, Hassler took the loss, giving up a home run to Mets prospect Billy Beane, who years later became the Athletics general manager who inspired the book and movie “Moneyball.”
Hassler pitched in nine games for Arkansas, posted a 1-1 record with three saves and showed enough to earn a promotion to Class AAA Louisville.
The 1984 Louisville manager, Jim Fregosi, was Hassler’s teammate with the 1971 Angels and managed him with the 1981 Angels during Hassler’s second stint with the franchise.
Hassler regained his form with Louisville, putting together a stretch of 15 scoreless innings over nine appearances. With a 7-4 record, 10 saves and a 2.11 ERA at Louisville, Hassler got called up to the Cardinals in September 1984.
In his Cardinals debut on Sept. 16, 1984, against the Pirates at St. Louis, Hassler got the win when David Green produced a two-run single in the bottom of the 10th. Boxscore
Real pro
At spring training in 1985, Hassler allowed one earned run in 11 innings and got a spot as a reliever on the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster.
“If I was a right-hander, I’d have been done 10 years ago,” Hassler said. “Thank God there will always be teams looking for left-handers.”
Herzog said he liked Hassler “for his control and movement on his fastball.”
Hassler made 10 appearances for the 1985 Cardinals and was 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA, but with two other left-handers, Ken Dayley and Ricky Horton, in the bullpen, Hassler was sent back to Louisville in May to open a roster spot in St. Louis for outfielder Tito Landrum.
“I might be the first guy to get sent out with an ERA under two,” Hassler said.
At Louisville, Hassler, 33, mentored Todd Worrell, who struggled as a starter and was being converted into a reliever.
“It was just good timing that he was there to help me,” Worrell said. “What better source to get it from than somebody who’s been there?”
Worrell excelled as a reliever, got promoted to the Cardinals, became their closer in the last month of the 1985 season and helped them become National League champions.
Hassler was 4-5 with two saves and a 3.29 ERA for Louisville and retired from baseball in August 1985.
Pitching for six big-league teams (Angels, Royals, Red Sox, Mets, Pirates and Cardinals), Hassler was 44-71 with 29 saves.
RetroSimba 
Yastrzemski’s high regard for Hassler is something considering his career record of 44-71. I can across some articles that say Andy was rushed to the big leagues. I also came across another piece that criticized the way Gene Mauch used the Angels bullpen. One such example is that during the ’82 season, besides appearing in more than 50 games, Hassler was called to warm up 249 times. The way he was willing to work with Todd Worrell and Todd’ s appreciation is pretty cool.
Thanks for the insights. Indeed, as a big-league starter, Andy Hassler pitched a pair of one-hitters and a two-hitter, so his talent was better than what his career record indicated. At Class AA El Paso in 1970 and again at Class AAA Salt Lake City in 1971, his manager was the former Cardinals catcher, Del Rice. Hassler thrived while pitching for him.
Enjoyed the article! Appreciated Phillip’s comment about Hassler warming up 249 times in ’82; can you imagine anyone in today’s bullpens even warming up half that many times?! And 7-8 years ago Nolan Ryan was chased from the Rangers for trying to make pitchers work more…and was chased from the Astros a year ago for who knows what! Perhaps–after today’s news–they’ll try to get him and his son back to restore some integrity to the organization!! As a long-time baseball lover, I really appreciate the digging you do to turn out these articles…keep up the good work!
Thanks! In 1982, Andy Hassler appeared in 5 games in 6 days (May 2-5) for the Angels, totaling 7.1 innings of relief. In hist first 20 appearances of 1982, he had an ERA of 0.69, allowing a run in just one of those appearances.