RetroSimba

In 1980, catcher Darrell Porter received treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, slumped in the second half of the season and had a terrible World Series for the Royals. The Cardinals signed him anyway.

On Dec. 7, 1980, Porter agreed to a five-year, $3.5 million offer to be the Cardinals’ catcher, supplanting one of the franchise’s best players, future Hall of Famer Ted Simmons. According to the Associated Press, the deal made Porter baseball’s highest-paid catcher.

A free agent who had spent his career in the American League with the Brewers and Royals, Porter, 28, had a bond with Whitey Herzog, who had the dual role of Cardinals manager and general manager. Herzog was Porter’s manager with the Royals from 1977-79 and was credited with reviving Porter’s career.

With Porter again at a crossroads, Herzog gave him another chance.

Helped by Herzog

Born in Joplin, Mo., and raised in Oklahoma City, Porter was 18 when he was selected by the Brewers in the first round of the June 1970 amateur baseball draft. He made his debut in the majors a year later in September 1971.

In six seasons with the Brewers, Porter, a left-handed batter, hit .229. He reached a low point in 1976 when he hit .208. Porter was “beset with personal problems, principally a divorce,” during the 1976 season, the Associated Press reported.

On Dec. 6, 1976, the Brewers traded Porter to the Royals, and Herzog went to work on getting him to fulfill his potential.

“I’ve played for quite a few managers, but I’ve never respected one more than Whitey,” Porter told The Sporting News. “He gave me back a lot of confidence.

“Whenever I would get discouraged and feel like I didn’t belong in the major leagues, Whitey would tell me, ‘You’re my catcher. You’ll come back and feel OK tomorrow.’ Just the way he said it made me believe in myself.”

Porter helped the Royals win division titles in 1977 and 1978. His breakout season came in 1979 when he hit .291 and had an on-base percentage of .421. He led the league in walks (121), scored 101 runs and drove in 112. According to The Sporting News, Porter joined Mickey Cochrane of the 1932 Athletics as the only American League catchers with 100 runs, 100 walks and 100 RBI in a season.

Though Porter excelled, the Royals failed to win a division title for the first time in four years, and Herzog was fired. According to columnist Dick Young, when Porter heard the news, he called Herzog and cried.

Destructive demons

At spring training the next year, Porter left camp and was admitted to The Meadows, a facility in Wickenburg, Ariz., to get help for his addictions.

Dick Young suggested, “Porter would not have retrogressed had Herzog still been there for him to turn to.”

Porter admitted he was “a drug addict and an alcoholic” who “almost destroyed myself.”

“From this day forward, I will be facing the greatest challenge of my life,” Porter said.

Porter returned to the Royals’ lineup in May 1980. He spent a month as the designated hitter, batting .314 with 26 RBI in 22 games in May. When he went back to catching, his hitting declined. He hit .224 in August and .109 in September. For the season, Porter hit .249 with 51 RBI.

The 1980 Royals won the franchise’s first American League pennant and advanced to the World Series against the Phillies.

The Royals lost four of six games to the Phillies and Porter was part of the reason. In Games 1 and 5, both one-run losses for the Royals, Porter was thrown out at home attempting to score. He hit .143 for the Series.

Afterward, Porter, who became a free agent, told The Sporting News, “I can’t picture myself ever leaving Kansas City.”

Asked whether the Royals would attempt to keep Porter, club owner Ewing Kauffman said, “Depends on how silly other clubs are in offering him money. The Darrell Porter of the last four months is not the same as the Darrell Porter of a year ago.”

Royals flushed

The bidding for Porter came down to the Royals and Cardinals.

In his book, “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said, “I wanted Porter a lot. The big question mark was drugs, but knowing Darrell as I did, I was sure that if he said he was OK, he was OK.”

On Dec. 5, 1980, two days before the start of the baseball winter meetings, Herzog told Porter’s financial advisor, Frank Knisley, he’d withdraw the Cardinals’ offer if he didn’t receive an immediate answer.

“I wasn’t going to leave my offer out there while they shopped,” Herzog told the Kansas City Times. “I wanted an answer before the meetings or I’d pull out, take our offer off the board.”

Knisley called Royals general manager Joe Burke “and asked him if he could give me what the Cardinals were offering, or if he could come close,” Porter told the Associated Press. “Joe said no. He said what he had in mind was a three-year contract. It was for so much less that there really was no decision.”

Porter added, “It would have cost me over a million dollars to stay with the Royals. I stopped being a fool when I left The Meadows.”

Burke told the Kansas City Star, “We’d love to have Darrell Porter, but when you stop and analyze it, Darrell had a bad year and we were still able to win.”

Stepping on Simmons

While Porter was on a honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean, he and the Cardinals reached an agreement on Dec. 6 and it was announced at the start of the baseball winter meetings on Dec. 7.

With Porter as catcher, Herzog said he planned to move Ted Simmons to first base and shift Keith Hernandez from first base to left field.

Herzog spoke with Simmons on Dec. 5 about moving to first base, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

“I like Ted Simmons,” Herzog said. “I think he’s a winner … but Darrell Porter is my catcher.”

Porter said, “I don’t want to cause any problems, that’s for dang sure. Ted could help me a whole lot.”

Initially, Simmons told the Post-Dispatch, “I would think I’ll be playing a lot of first base and it’ll be just fine with me, but I don’t know if it will be just fine for Keith. You’re taking a Gold Glove and putting him somewhere where he might not win another one.”

Regarding Porter replacing him, Simmons said, “There’s going to come a time when you’re not going to be able to catch forever. It certainly isn’t bad judgment to find someone who is qualified and capable, and I presume he is.”

Simmons later said to the Post-Dispatch his understanding of Herzog’s decision was he would play first base only once in a while. Simmons said he didn’t want to play first base every day, in part because he couldn’t compare with Hernandez, and would prefer to be traded.

Herzog responded, “I think we can win with Ted Simmons at first base, but if he wants to be traded, we’ll trade him.”

Series standout

On Dec. 12, 1980, Simmons was dealt to the Brewers, creating an uproar among the Cardinals’ fan base and a backlash against Porter.

Porter told The Sporting News, “I just hope the fans don’t resent me all year.”

He also was starting to feel homesick. “When I get to thinking about leaving Kansas City, I get real depressed,” he told the Associated Press.

Two years later, Simmons and the Brewers were matched against Porter and the Cardinals in the 1982 World Series. Porter helped the Cardinals get there. In the National League Championship Series versus the Braves, Porter had five hits and five walks in 14 plate appearances and was named most valuable player. He followed up with eight hits, a walk and five RBI in the World Series and again was selected most valuable player when the Cardinals prevailed.

In his book, “You’re Missin’ a Great Game,” Herzog said, “Porter’s style was the kind that turns chumps into champions.”

In five seasons with St. Louis, Porter hit .237, but Herzog saw attributes beyond batting average. In the book “Whitey’s Boys,” Herzog said, “He was the kind of guy who could hit .220 and help a team just about as much as a guy who hit .300 and didn’t pull the ball. When he got a hit, everybody advanced two bases, and when he made an out, they advanced one base. He could do more a lot of times making an out than a guy who hit a clunker to left field.”

As for Porter’s catching, Herzog said, “He had a knack of knowing how his pitchers got people out. He didn’t catch as much against the hitter as he caught to the strength of the pitcher.”

After the 1985 World Series, when Porter allowed a critical passed ball in Game 6 Video, he became a free agent, signed with the Rangers and played his last two seasons with them.