Danny Cox began the 1983 baseball season in the low level of the minors and ended it as a member of the starting rotation of the reigning World Series champion Cardinals.
Matched against Steve Carlton and facing a lineup with Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt, Cox pitched 10 scoreless innings versus the Phillies in his big-league debut on Aug. 6, 1983.
The stellar performance didn’t get Cox a win, though. That came a couple of weeks later when he opposed another future Hall of Fame pitcher, Nolan Ryan.
Fun in Florida
A right-hander attending Troy University, Cox, 21, was chosen by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the 1981 amateur draft, a couple of picks after the Mets took a high school outfielder, Lenny Dykstra, in the same round.
Cox pitched for a rookie team and a Class A club his first two seasons in the Cardinals’ farm system. Then in 1983, he was assigned to rookie manager Jim Riggleman’s Class A team, the St. Petersburg Cardinals. Even at that level, Cox was matched against an exceptional pitching opponent.
After losing his first two decisions in 1983, Cox, 23, started on May 12 at home against the Fort Myers Royals. Their starter, Bret Saberhagen, 19, was in his first season of professional ball. (Two years later, Saberhagen received the first of his two American League Cy Young awards with the Kansas City Royals.)
Pitching before 882 spectators at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Cox threw a four-hitter in a 2-1 victory. Saberhagen went six innings and allowed both runs.
Facing a Fort Myers lineup that included future big-leaguers Mike Kingery and Bill Pecota, Cox retired the last 11 batters in a row. “He dominated,” St. Petersburg catcher Barry Sayler told the St. Petersburg Times. “He was working the inside of the plate, mixed his fastball and slider, and threw hard.”
Cox credited the advice he received from St. Petersburg teammate and closer Mark Riggins (who went on to become pitching coach of the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds). “I started off throwing my fastball inside, and then Mark Riggins told me to take a little off my slider and mess up their timing,” Cox said to the St. Petersburg Times. “I was wanting to win real bad.”
Five days later, in a rematch at Fort Myers, Cox, with relief help from Riggins, again beat Saberhagen in a 7-2 St. Petersburg triumph.
On the rise
After five starts for St. Petersburg (2-2, 2.53 ERA), Cox was promoted to Class AA Arkansas. Playing for manager Nick Leyva, Cox was 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA in 11 starts. In July, he got promoted again, to manager Jim Fregosi’s Class AAA Louisville club. Cox made two starts for Louisville and pitched well (2.45 ERA).
Then came a special audition. The St. Louis Cardinals chose him to start against the Baltimore Orioles in the Baseball Hall of Fame exhibition game at Cooperstown, N.Y., on Aug. 1.
The Orioles, on their way to an American League pennant and World Series championship in 1983, were limited to three hits and no runs in the six innings Cox worked against them. “He was very impressive,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Herzog wanted to see more. The Cardinals put Cox on their roster. His next start came in a big-league game against the Phillies.
Tough task
Cox’s debut assignment was daunting. The opposing starter, Steve Carlton, had dominated the Cardinals since being traded by them to the Phillies in 1972.
The matchup was intriguing for other reasons as well:
_ Chase Riddle, head coach of Troy’s baseball team when Cox pitched there, was the Cardinals scout who signed Carlton two decades earlier.
_ Like Cox, Carlton also impressed the Cardinals by pitching well in a Hall of Fame exhibition game. On July 25, 1966, Carlton, 21, was at Class AAA Tulsa when the Cardinals chose him to start against the Minnesota Twins in the Cooperstown exhibition. Carlton pitched a complete game, striking out nine, and was the winning pitcher. He never went back to the minors.
Carlton and Cox engaged in a mighty duel. The ace was in top form, pitching nine scoreless innings. The newcomer matched him, then surpassed him, pitching a scoreless 10th after Carlton was relieved by Al Holland.
Cox “didn’t look like a rookie to me,” Joe Morgan told the Associated Press. “I was really impressed by the way he located his pitches and hit the corners.”
Phillies manager Paul Owens said to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “He moved the ball around and threw strikes. That kid was excellent.”
Bruce Sutter, who hadn’t pitched in a week because of the funeral of his father, took over for Cox in the 11th and gave up a run. The 1-0 victory moved the Phillies ahead of the Pirates and into first place in the National League East.
“That was a World Series type of game,” Owens told the Inquirer. “Nobody even left the park.”
Morgan said, “These are the games that win pennants.”
Indeed, the Phillies went on to become National League champions in 1983. Boxscore
Sweet win
In his next start, Cox gave up a grand slam to ex-Cardinal Leon Durham and was beaten by the Cubs. Boxscore
His first win came in his fourth start on Aug, 21. Matched against Nolan Ryan and the Astros, Cox prevailed in a 5-2 Cardinals victory. Cox pitched 7.2 innings and allowed two runs. Ryan surrendered five runs in six innings. Cox also got his first big-league hit in that game, a single against Ryan in a two-run sixth. Boxscore
Cox made 12 starts for the 1983 Cardinals and was 3-6 with a 3.25 ERA. He pitched a total of 218 innings _ 129.1 in the minors, 83 with the Cardinals and another six in the Hall of Fame exhibition game.
Money ball
Two years later, Cox had his best year in the majors. He was 18-9 for the Cardinals during the 1985 regular season, flirted with a perfect game bid against the Reds, and won Game 3 of the National League Championship Series versus the Dodgers.
The 1985 World Series matched Cox and the Cardinals against Bret Saberhagen and the Royals. In starts against Joaquin Andujar and John Tudor, Saberhagen beat the Cardinals twice, including Game 7, and was named most valuable player of the World Series. Cox was just as good but not as fortunate. He started Games 2 and 6, allowed just two runs in 14 total innings, but didn’t get a decision in either game.
Cox helped the Cardinals win another pennant in 1987. He shut out the Giants in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. Video
In the World Series versus the Twins, Cox won Game 5, beating Bert Blyleven, but was the losing pitcher in relief of Joe Magrane in Game 7.
In six seasons with St. Louis, Cox was 56-56. As a reliever with the 1993 Blue Jays, he got to be part of a World Series championship club.
RetroSimba 
Another great write-up, Mark….please forgive my blathering.
* I don’t remember 88 Donruss being orange. Strange.
* I attended my first minor league game in 1991 and Jim Riggelman was the manager of the then Las Vegas Stars.
* Was Cox injured during the 89-90 seasons? He missed both of them and seemed quite ineffective after coming back–even though he had a solid season for the Jays as a reliever in 1993.
Jim Riggleman sure had a long career in baseball, including 23 seasons as a manager at the minor-league and big-league levels.
Danny Cox developed right elbow problems in 1988 and underwent surgery in May 1988 to remove a bone spur from the elbow.
In 1989, he went to spring training with the Cardinals, but in March he damaged a ligament in his right elbow and underwent a second surgery. He sat out all of the 1989 season and most of the 1990 season, except for six appearances with Cardinals farm clubs.
When the Phillies signed him in December 1990, it was to a minor-league contract. He made their big-league roster in 1991. The Phiilies’ general manager, Lee Thomas, was the Cardinals’ farm director when Cox was on his way up.
For some reason I don’t remember this guy at all. Pretty impressive but seemed to have nothing but bad luck when it came to matchups.
Fun facts: Danny Cox was born in Northhampton, England. According to the Cardinals media guide, Cox joined George Calmers (Scotland) of the 1915 Phillies and Bert Blyleven (Holland) of the 1979 Pirates and 1987 Twins as the only European-born pitchers to start World Series games.
Danny Cox was a big part of those 80’s Cardinals. A rookie pitcher going 10 innings in his debut? Unthinkable in today’s game. From 1983 to 1987 no Cardinals hurler logged more innings. Maybe that had something to do with the subsequent injuries. I am glad though, that after the heartbreaking World Series losses in 1985 and 1987 he was able to pick up a World Series ring with the Blue Jays. That particular season as a reliever, Danny Cox led the major league in allowing the lowest batting average to the first batter faced. For the year, the first batters that Danny Cox faced in all his appearances hit a measly .140.
Thanks for the time you put into the additional research, Phillip.
That pitching staff for the 1993 World Series champion Blue Jays that Danny Cox was on was loaded with future Cardinals (Pat Hentgen, Todd Stottlemyre, Mike Timlin, Woody Williams) and, for a brief time, another former Cardinal (Ken Dayley).
I’m so glad you told this story Mark. Cox’s 1983 season is remarkable and inspiring…to go from class A all the way to the big leagues in the same season and to pitch for the defending WS champions. What a thrill that must have been for him. It’s a great mystery to me how momentum works.
You got it, Steve. I try to imagine being 23 years old and reporting to a job in St. Petersburg, Florida. Then the company tells me they want me to report to a job in Little Rock, Arkansas. A short time later, they have me report to a job in Louisville, Kentucky. Then, it’s report to a job in St. Louis, Mo. All this happens in a five-month period. At each step of the way, I have to adjust to a new boss and the demands of the job intensify.
So, yes, it’s amazing what Danny Cox accomplished that year, and I am grateful you appreciate it.
I remember listening to the Danny Cox debut on the radio and the fans were going crazy. Jack Buck was excited and Mike Shannon seemed to be losing his mind with excitement. The 1983 Cardinals were a huge disappointment and similar to this year there seemed to be no optimism after the joy of 1982. Pitching was thin and his electric debut start offered hope to the fans that maybe better pitching was on the way. And of course, in 1985 Danny was terrific.
How wonderful that you got to listen to the KMOX broadcast of that Danny Cox debut. Thanks for the insights about Jack Buck and Mike Shannon.
You are right about the pitching in 1983: Joaquin Andujar was 6-16, Bob Forsch was 10-12 and Bruce Sutter had a 4.23 ERA. Other factors: Keith Hernandez was traded in June, Lonnie Smith went into drug rehab, Tommy Herr got hurt and played in just 89 games.
Nonetheless, after sweeping a Labor Day doubleheader from the Pirates, the Cardinals were just a half-game out of first place in their division. Then they lost 9 out of 10 games between Sept. 12 and Sept. 20, ending their hopes.