With two swings in one game, Biff Pocoroba created quite a bit of damage against the Cardinals.
A switch-hitting catcher, Pocoroba played 10 years in the major leagues, all with the Braves.
Born in Burbank, Calif., “Biff” was Pocoroba’s given name, not a nickname.
Selected by the Braves in the 17th round of the 1971 amateur baseball draft, Pocoroba reached the majors in 1975. He became the Braves’ starting catcher in 1977 and hit .290 with 24 doubles and an on-base percentage of .394. The Braves rewarded him with a six-year, $1 million contract.
In 1978, Ted Simmons of the Cardinals was voted starting catcher for the National League all-star team and his backups were the Reds’ Johnny Bench and the Phillies’ Bob Boone. When an injury made Bench unavailable for the All-Star-Game in San Diego, Pocoroba was chosen to replace him and caught an inning. Boxscore
A month later, Pocoroba injured his right shoulder and was out for the rest of the season. During rotator cuff surgery in September 1978, Dr. Frank Jobe transferred muscle from Pocoroba’s lower bicep to his shoulder, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
When Pocoroba returned to the Braves in June 1979, Bruce Benedict had taken over as the starting catcher.
Danger zone
On May 14, 1982, Pocoroba was in the lineup against the Cardinals in Atlanta. The Cardinals were in first place in the East Division and the Braves led the West. The pitching matchup was Joaquin Andujar for the Cardinals and Phil Niekro for the Braves. During Niekro’s Hall of Fame career, Benedict and Pocoroba caught more of his games than any other catchers.
While batting in the second inning, Pocoroba’s foul tip broke the right index finger of Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter. After the inning, Porter was replaced by Orlando Sanchez. The injury sidelined Porter for three weeks.
Pocoroba helped Niekro hold the Cardinals scoreless for eight innings. He threw out two base runners, Keith Hernandez and Mike Ramsey, attempting to steal.
Trailing 1-0, the Cardinals rallied for a run in the top of ninth versus Braves closer Gene Garber. Lonnie Smith singled, swiped second, moved to third on Ozzie Smith’s bunt hit and scored on Hernandez’s sacrifice fly.
Biff bops
In the bottom half of the ninth, Cardinals reliever Doug Bair retired the first two batters before Pocoroba came to the plate.
“I was looking for a fastball because Bair had been getting ahead of batters with the pitch,” Pocoroba told the Atlanta Constitution.
Bair told the Post-Dispatch, “I tried to throw the ball low and away. He’s a first-ball, fastball hitter. I threw it right in his wheelhouse.”
Pocoroba hit Bair’s first pitch over the fence in right for a walkoff home run and a 2-1 Braves victory. Boxscore
It was Pocoroba’s first home run since August 1980 versus the Cardinals’ Bob Forsch. It also was the first home run Bair allowed in 22 innings in 1982.
The Cardinals and Braves went on to win division titles and met in the 1982 National League Championship Series. The Cardinals won the pennant, sweeping the Braves in three games. Pocoroba had one at-bat in the postseason. Porter was named most valuable player in both the NL Championship Series and in the World Series versus the Brewers.
RetroSimba 
His first career homerun against St. Louis came on June 7, 1978. He hit a grandslam, Pete Falcone was the pitcher. In the 1971 draft, more than 20 catchers were selected ahead of Pocoroba. The only one to have a successful career was Charlie Moore of the Milwaukie Brewers.
In the clubhouse after the game in which Pete Falcone gave up the grand slam to Biff Pocoroba, Cardinals pitching coach Claude Osteen told the Post-Dispatch, “He was throwing an 88 or 89 mph fastball with nobody on base, but when he got in trouble he was only throwing 82 or 83. When you’re not getting the curveball over, 82 or 83 lands in the left field seats.”
Pete Falcone. The Cardinals gave him three years to prove that he wasn’t “the next Sandy Koufax.”
Yep, Sandy Koufax and Pete Falcone both were left-handed pitchers and both were born in Brooklyn, but that’s pretty much where the comparison ends, unless you note that Falcone’s cousin, catcher Joe Pignatano, was a teammate of Koufax with the Dodgers.
[…] League manager Tommy Lasorda chose Simmons, Boone and the Braves’ Biff Pocoroba (.262, four homers) as all-star catchers, and named Simmons the starter. Before Simmons in 1978, […]