Opening the way to a pipeline of talent, second baseman Julian Javier was the first player from the Dominican Republic to play for the Cardinals.
On May 27, 1960, the Cardinals acquired a pair of Pirates prospects, Javier and reliever Ed Bauta, for starting pitcher Vinegar Bend Mizell and infielder Dick Gray.
Making the leap from the minor leagues to the Cardinals’ lineup, Javier became the third player born in the Dominican Republic to play in the major leagues. Before him were Ozzie Virgil of the 1956 Giants and Felipe Alou of the 1958 Giants.
Javier was the Cardinals’ second baseman for 12 years and contributed to three National League pennants and two World Series titles. Dominican Republic natives who followed him to the Cardinals included Albert Pujols, Joaquin Andujar, Pedro Guerrero and Tony Pena.
Opportunity knocks
Javier was born and raised in San Francisco de Macoris, Dominican Republic. Located in the northeast section of the Caribbean island country, his hometown is one of the world’s largest producers of cocoa beans. A son of a truck driver, Javier had seven siblings.
In 1956, when he was 19, Javier attended a Pirates tryout camp in the Dominican Republic and was offered a contract by scout Howie Haak. Javier signed for $500, The Sporting News reported.
“We didn’t know about bonuses then,” Javier said in 1967. “Today, I would ask for $50,000.”
Javier began the 1960 season, his fifth in the Pirates’ farm system, with their Columbus, Ohio, club. The Pirates had a future Hall of Famer, Bill Mazeroski, as their second baseman and were planning to convert Javier to shortstop, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
When the 1960 Pirates got off to a fast start, winning 12 of their first 15 games, general manager Joe Brown began looking for ways to keep the team in contention. To bolster the starting pitching, he made Javier available for trade.
Infield shift
In 1960, Alex Grammas, 34, moved from shortstop to second base for the Cardinals to make room for Daryl Spencer, who was acquired from the Giants. Shortstop was Spencer’s preferred position, but Grammas “did not adjust too well to second base,” The Sporting News reported.
“I think Grammas is more at home at shortstop,” Cardinals manager Solly Hemus told the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
On May 9, 1960, Hemus said Grammas would go back to shortstop and Spencer would shift to second “to tighten our defense.”
The switch “caught Cardinals brass by surprise” and Spencer “felt he was being made a scapegoat,” according to The Sporting News.
Cardinals general manager Bing Devine sought a better solution. He wanted to acquire a young middle infielder, either a second baseman or a shortstop, who would provide long-term stability.
According to Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals pursued Reds shortstop prospect Leo Cardenas, “the tall, skinny kid who looks as though he might be another Marty Marion.” Rejected, the Cardinals’ focus turned to Javier.
Help wanted
Cardinals director of player procurement Eddie Stanky, a former second baseman, scouted Javier and recommended him. Stanky said Javier was “one of the best prospects in the minors” and “his speed was second only to that of Vada Pinson of the Reds,” The Sporting News reported.
“He’s one of the fastest right-handed batters I’ve ever seen,” Stanky told the Post-Dispatch.
The Cardinals weren’t the only club interested. The Phillies wanted a second baseman, too, and were talking to the Pirates about a swap of pitcher Don Cardwell for Javier. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Phillies scouted Javier for 10 days, but “the scout reported back to the front office that Javier struck out too often and had a tendency to become injured.”
After the Phillies dealt Cardwell to the Cubs for second baseman Tony Taylor, the Cardinals offered Mizell to the Pirates for Javier. Pirates general manager Joe Brown viewed Mizell, 29, as a good fit to join a rotation with Bob Friend, Vern Law and Harvey Haddix. Mizell was 1-3 for the Cardinals in 1960, but he had five seasons of double-digit win totals in his previous six with them.
“We are sacrificing a future for the present because in Mizell we have a known quantity,” Brown said.
The Pittsburgh Press noted, “Javier wouldn’t have made it with the Pirates for two or three years, but the team needed pitching help now.”
Javier, 23, hit .288 for Columbus in 1960 and Devine called him “an outstanding glove man as well as an improving hitter,” the Globe-Democrat reported.
“We consider this a major addition to the Cardinals’ regular lineup now and for the future,” said Devine.
In the Post-Dispatch, Bob Broeg concluded, “It took courage to give up a player of some reputation for one with none at the major-league level, an almost unknown.”
Hot start
On May 28, 1960, Javier made his debut in the majors at second base for the Cardinals against the Giants at St. Louis. He had six putouts, three assists and helped turn a double play. Batting eighth, Javier singled twice versus Billy O’Dell. Boxscore
Hemus used Javier’s arrival to make other moves. Spencer shifted back to shortstop and Grammas was benched. Bill White went from center field to first base, replacing Stan Musial, and Curt Flood took over in center.
With White and Javier solidifying the right side of the infield, and Flood in center, the Cardinals improved. On the day they got Javier, the Cardinals were 15-20. After the trade and the moves to upgrade the defense, they were 71-48.
“Javier knows how to make the tough double play,” Hemus told the Post-Dispatch. “He makes the club solid. Not many balls are falling in with him and Curt Flood out there. Those two have helped make our pitching better.”
In addition to showing good range in the field on grounders and pop-ups, Javier hit safely in 10 of his first 11 games. In his third game, on May 30 at Los Angeles, he hit his first big-league home run, leading off the fourth versus Clem Labine of the Dodgers. Boxscore
On June 3, Javier hit two triples versus the Giants’ Mike McCormick at San Francisco, “amazing everybody with his breathtaking speed,” The Sporting News observed. Boxscore
“I used a heavier bat, Carl Sawatski’s, because I broke my bat last night,” Javier said.
Four days later, on June 7, Javier’s wife came from the Dominican Republic to St. Louis and saw her husband play in the majors for the first time. Javier raked the Phillies for three singles. Boxscore
Stellar career
The 1960 Cardinals finished at 86-68, nine games behind the champion Pirates, who were 95-59. Mizell, in his last good season, was 13-5 for the 1960 Pirates.
Javier hit .237 with eight triples and 19 stolen bases for the 1960 Cardinals. His 15 sacrifice bunts led the league. Though he also made the most errors among National League second basemen, Javier was named to the Topps all-rookie team.
In 12 seasons with St. Louis, Javier batted .258 with 1,450 hits, twice led National League second basemen in putouts and twice was named an all-star, including 1963 when he was part of a Cardinals starting infield with Bill White, Dick Groat and Ken Boyer.
In Game 7 of the 1967 World Series, Javier’s three-run home run versus Jim Lonborg of the Red Sox was a key blow in the Cardinals’ championship clincher.
Javier was traded to the Reds for pitcher Tony Cloninger in March 1972. As a utility player, he helped the Reds win the pennant in his last season in the majors.
RetroSimba 
Great at turning the double play. Pop flies and righthanded pitching gave him trouble.
Julian Javier had a career batting average of .233 vs. right-handers and .299 vs. left-handers.
While it is only right to say that Leo Cardenas turned out to be a good player, I’m glad that Julian Javier ended up with us. What made the St. Louis Cardinals of that era a great team wasn’t just a lot of talent, but great team chemistry. Team chemistry that went beyond the clubhouse.
In the book “We Played the Game,” Reds pitcher Jim O’Toole told of the time during a game vs. the Phillies when Leo Cardenas was hit by a pitch and went out to the mound with a bat. After things calmed down and the Reds took the field in the next half inning, O’Toole said Cardenas refused to take throws when the ball was tossed around the infield. “Cardenas was a sulker,” said O’Toole, “and now he sulked because he didn’t think we backed him up enough.” On a pop-up to short, Cardenas “wouldn’t move to catch it,” O’Toole said, and the ball dropped to the ground untouched.”I almost went after Cardenas right there on the field,” O’Toole said. “After the game, I grabbed Cardenas and threw him against the wall and was ready to pound his head a few times, but was pulled off him. He came after me with an ice pick, saying, ‘I kill you.’ Joey Jay grabbed him from behind and he ran off.”
In the same book, Reds reliever Ryne Duren recalled that after Cardenas was hit by the pitch from Chris Short, “We tried to calm down Cardenas. Leo didn’t speak much English and didn’t comprehend what we were saying. He assumed none of us liked him and wouldn’t stick up for him.” In the clubhouse after the game, after Cardenas let the pop-up drop safely, Duren said O’Toole “wanted to kill Cardenas. I remember it being a long screwdriver that Leo picked up and tried to stab O’Toole with.”
Cardenas helped the Cardinals that day. Duren, by the way, was with the Phillies when it happened. Oct. 2, 1964. The pop-up fell between Cardenas and Pete Rose, and led to a Phillies rally and victory. Details found in the 10-3-1964 Cincinnati Enquirer.
My mistake: Duren was with the Reds; began the year with Phillies, then went back to the Philies at the beginning of 65.
As you note, the Frank Thomas pop-up that Leo Cardenas let drop led to a Phillies rally and win. The win snapped their 10-game losing streak.The Mets, behind Al Jackson’s gem, beat the Cardinals that Friday night, 1-0, but because the Reds lost to the Phillies, the Cardinals stayed a half-game ahead of the Reds. Cardinals had two more to play; the Reds had one.
Thanks for pointing me to the Cincinnati Enquirer article. I read it, as well as the Dayton Daily News coverage. Regarding his advance toward the mound with bat in hand after being plunked in the left shoulder by a Chris Short pitch, Cardenas told the Dayton Daily News, “I was wrong. I was excited and I thought he was throwing at me, but I was wrong.” Reds manager Dick Sisler told the Dayton newspaper, “Cardenas is high-strung in certain situations.” Both the Cincinnati and Dayton newspapers referred to the “violent” incident in the clubhouse after the game. According to the Dayton newspaper, Frank Robinson was one of the players who came to Cardenas’ defense in the locker room.
You might be interested in an earlier piece I did on Ryne Duren with the 1964 Reds and his impact on the Cardinals: https://retrosimba.com/2011/01/10/ryne-duren-threw-roadblock-at-64-cards/
This is incredible. I did not know about this. Does this mean that the Cardinals and Reds would have ended the regular season tied for first place?
If the Reds had not blown the 3-0 lead in the 8th and had held on to win the Oct. 2 O’Toole-Cardenas game vs. the Phillies, and if everything else had then played out as it did (Cardinals splitting last two games with Mets and Reds losing season finale to Phillies), yes, the Cardinals and Reds would have finished the regular season tied for first.
I believe there was also a scenario where the season could have ended in a 3 way tie, if the Cards had lost on that last day
Yes, heading into the last day of the 1964 regular season, the Cardinals and Reds were tied for first place, each at 92-69. The Phillies were a game back at 91-70. On Sunday, Oct. 4, if the Phillies beat the Reds at Cincinnati, and the Mets beat the Cardinals at St. Louis, the Cardinals, Reds and Phillies would finish in a three-way tie for first. The Phillies did beat the Reds, but the Cardinals beat the Mets.
In 1967, Cardenas was injured on June 15. The Reds were in first place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals. When he came back on August 16, Cincinnati was 10 1/2 games behind. Chico Ruiz just couldn’t fill the void.
In 1967, when Leo Cardenas was unavailable, Tommy Helms started 44 games at shortstop for the Reds and Chico Ruiz started 10 games at shortstop. Helms, whose best position was 2nd base, hit .274 overall in 1967, but .234 as shortstop. He also made 12 errors at shortstop in 1967. Ruiz batted .220 overall in 1967, but .341 as the shortstop. Ruiz made one error at shortstop in 1967.