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Why Cardinals traded pitching ace Mort Cooper

Posted in Executives, Pitchers, Trades on May 22, 2015| 2 Comments »

(Updated May 23, 2020)

Convinced he had the leverage to demand a more lucrative contract, Cardinals ace Mort Cooper played hardball with Sam Breadon. The club owner responded by trading Cooper rather than negotiating with him.

“In reckoning on his ability to outmaneuver Sam Breadon, Cooper encountered an old master who is familiar with a wide variety of curves,” The Sporting News reported.

On May 23, 1945, the Cardinals traded Cooper, 32, to the Braves for pitcher Red Barrett, 30, and $60,000. Three months later, Cooper had elbow surgery. Barrett earned 21 wins for the 1945 Cardinals.

Show me the money

Cooper was a key reason the Cardinals won three National League pennants and two World Series championships from 1942-44. He was named winner of the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 1942 when he was 22-7 with a 1.78 ERA. He followed that with a 21-8 record and 2.30 ERA in 1943 and a 22-7 record and 2.46 ERA in 1944.

Before the 1945 season, Cooper signed a one-year contract for $12,000. That amount, Breadon told Cooper, was the club ceiling on salaries. In spring training, Cooper learned the Cardinals made an exception for Marty Marion and signed the shortstop for $13,000.

Breadon offered to increase Cooper’s 1945 salary by $1,500, giving him a total of $13,500, but Cooper demanded $15,000, according to the St. Louis daily newspapers. Breadon refused. In protest, Cooper and his brother, catcher Walker Cooper, left the Cardinals’ spring training camp at Cairo, Ill., and threatened to boycott the club’s opening series against the Cubs.

The Cooper brothers eventually gave in and were with the club on Opening Day at Chicago. Soon after, Walker Cooper was inducted into the Navy. Mort Cooper made his first appearance of the season on April 22, pitching in relief against the Reds at St. Louis.

Cooper still was miffed about his contract and he didn’t show when the Cardinals left St. Louis by train for a series at Cincinnati. Instead, he arrived in Cincinnati the next day with his lawyer, Lee Havener, and demanded a salary increase.

Cooper started on April 29 against the Reds and earned the win. He also won his next start, versus the Cubs, on May 6 and got a no-decision in his third start on May 13 against the Giants.

With a 2-0 record and 1.52 ERA, Cooper appeared headed toward another big season. Because of injuries and commitments to military service, the Cardinals had little pitching depth. Sensing he had the upper hand, Cooper decided the time was right to force the issue of a new contract.

Jumping ship

In mid-May, while the Cardinals were in Boston, Cooper called traveling secretary Leo Ward about 3 a.m. at the team hotel and informed him he was leaving without permission and returning to St. Louis. Manager Billy Southworth suspended the pitcher indefinitely and fined him $500.

In St. Louis, Cooper and Havener asked Breadon to discuss a new contract. A meeting was scheduled for May 23 in Breadon’s office.

Secretly, Breadon began talking with clubs to gauge interest in Cooper. The Giants offered cash but no players. The Cubs and Phillies offered a combination of players and cash. The Braves offered the most cash, plus Barrett.

Cooper and Havener arrived at Breadon’s office, expecting to renegotiate a contract. Southworth was there with Breadon. After exchanging pleasantries, Breadon delivered his surprise, informing Cooper he was traded to the Braves.

“You could have floored Cooper and Havener with a feather,” the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cooper “was shocked and crestfallen.”

“This is all a big surprise to me,” Cooper said to the Star-Times.

Deal of the year

“In disposing of Cooper, Breadon took the best course, since there was little chance of an amicable agreement,” The Sporting News opined.

Post-Dispatch columnist John Wray suggested “pitchers like Cooper today are rarer than banana trees in Iceland,” but added, “a disgruntled, malingering Cooper, forced to labor in a vineyard he hated, might have hurt the morale of the other players and done even greater damage.”

United Press called the transaction “the most important baseball deal of 1945” because the departure of a perennial 20-game winner gave hope to NL teams that the three-time defending champion Cardinals could be dethroned.

Cooper “almost overnight transformed (the Braves) into a pennant contender,” wrote The Sporting News.

Braves right fielder Tommy Holmes told the Boston Globe, “Brother, he’s got everything and he knows how to use it. I’m glad to have him on my side.”

Braves general manager John Quinn deemed Cooper “the best pitcher in the league.” The Braves reworked his contract and gave Cooper $15,000 for 1945.

Singing slinger

Barrett nearly was overlooked in most reviews of the trade. He was 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA for the 1945 Braves.

Informed of the trade by Braves manager Bob Coleman, Barrett said, “I didn’t give them a chance to change their minds. I was packed and ready to leave for St. Louis two minutes later. I’d have been ready sooner but I had difficulty in getting my suitcase closed.”

Breadon told the Post-Dispatch, “Barrett is not a star, but he’s an earnest, conscientious pitcher who will strive always for the best interests of his club.”

Barrett was almost as well-known as a singer as he was a pitcher. He sang a role in the opera “Narcissus” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He toured with bands during the off-season. “There is scarcely a big jazz band in the country that I haven’t sung with,” Barrett said. “Sammy Kaye. Tommy Dorsey. Skinny Ennis and the rest of them.”

No one expected Barrett would be the equal of Cooper. His career record in seven seasons with the Reds and Braves was 16-37.

Inserted into the rotation, Barrett produced a 21-9 record and 2.74 ERA for the 1945 Cardinals. Cooper was 7-4 with a 3.35 ERA for the 1945 Braves.

Final years

The 1945 Cardinals finished in second place at 95-59, three games behind the Cubs. The Braves finished sixth in the eight-team league at 67-85, 30 games behind Chicago.

With Breadon’s approval, Southworth left the Cardinals after the 1945 season and accepted an offer to manage the Braves. His replacement, Eddie Dyer, preferred using Barrett in relief and giving him spot starts. Barrett was 3-2 for the 1946 Cardinals. After the season, he was sent back to the Braves and pitched three more years for them.

Under Southworth, Cooper was 13-11 with a 3.12 ERA for the 1946 Braves. It was his last hurrah. In 1947, Cooper was a combined 3-10 with a 5.40 ERA for the Braves and Giants.

Previously: How Mort Cooper pitched 2 straight one-hitters for Cardinals

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The story of how the Cardinals acquired Lee Smith

Posted in Executives, Hitters, Pitchers, Trades on April 27, 2015| 2 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 1, 2025)

Unwilling to bend on principle, Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill reluctantly traded a slugger he wanted to keep. In a stroke of good fortune, he got in exchange a closer who would rank among the franchise’s all-time best.

On May 4, 1990, the Cardinals acquired Lee Smith from the Red Sox for outfielder Tom Brunansky.

It was one of Maxvill’s best trades during his tenure (1985-94) as Cardinals general manager. On Dec. 9, 2018, Smith was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The deal came about after Brunansky demanded a no-trade clause in exchange for waiving free agency and staying with St. Louis. “I haven’t been looking to trade him,” Maxvill told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We wanted to keep Brunansky.”

Seeking security

The Cardinals had acquired Brunansky from the Twins for second baseman Tommy Herr on April 22, 1988, six months after Minnesota had prevailed in a seven-game World Series with St. Louis.

Early in the 1990 season, the Cardinals approached Brunansky about a three-year contract. Eligible to become a free agent after the 1990 season, Brunansky wanted a no-trade provision in any new contract. “We don’t have those in St. Louis,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said.

Brunansky explained “my wife and I wanted to settle down and buy a house here,” but couldn’t commit to that without the no-trade clause, the Post-Dispatch reported. “For me to stay here, I would need some kind of security,” Brunansky said. “I wasn’t going to sign here for three years, buy a house and everything and keep hearing trade rumors … It was a big issue for me and, of course, it was a big issue for the ballclub.”

Motivated to act

The Red Sox were eager to deal because they needed a right fielder to replace Dwight Evans, who was restricted to designated hitter duties because of back problems. The Cardinals needed an established closer to replace Todd Worrell, who was recuperating from elbow surgery.

Herzog said to the Post-Dispatch, “We felt if we waited any longer, (Smith) wouldn’t be there.”

Smith became available when the Red Sox signed another closer, Jeff Reardon.

The Cardinals also had talked with the White Sox about closer Bobby Thigpen, according to the Post-Dispatch. The Red Sox, though, were motivated to act.

“They called us. It’s as simple as that,” Red Sox manager Joe Morgan said to the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram and Gazette. “Nobody would give us the kind of pitcher we wanted, so we went with the right-handed power.”

According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox turned down a two-for-one swap with the Braves involving pitcher Tommy Greene and third baseman Jim Presley for Smith. “We offered them a heck of a deal.” Braves general manager Bobby Cox said to The Sporting News.

Reunited with Roarke

Brunansky hit 43 home runs in three years with the Cardinals, but only 11 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. “He’ll hit homers in Fenway (Park),” said Red Sox catcher Tony Pena, a former Cardinal.

Smith posted a 2-1 record with four saves, a 1.88 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14.1 innings for the 1990 Red Sox. In joining the Cardinals, he was reunited with coach Mike Roarke, who had been his coach as a rookie with the 1980 Cubs.

Smith welcomed the chance to be the Cardinals’ closer. With Reardon the primary closer in Boston, Smith said he “sort of felt like the odd man out” there.

“I’m going to get an opportunity to pitch in the situation that I’m used to,” Smith said to Boston reporters. “I’m really pleased.”

Smith earned his first save for the Cardinals on May 11, 1990, pitching a flawless ninth inning in relief of Bryn Smith in St. Louis’ 5-2 victory over the Braves. Boxscore Smith posted 27 saves and a 2.10 ERA for the 1990 Cardinals.

Brunansky played four years with the Red Sox and hit 56 home runs.

Smith played four years with the Cardinals and earned 160 saves. Only Jason Isringhausen (217) has more saves as a Cardinal.

Smith was the first Cardinal to record 40 saves in consecutive seasons. He twice had back-to-back 40-save seasons: 1991-1992 and 1992-1993. He had 47 saves in 1991, 43 in 1992 and 43 again in 1993.

In 1993, less than two hours before the Sept. 1 trade deadline, the Cardinals dealt Smith to the Yankees for pitcher Rich Batchelor, clearing the way to test Mike Perez as the closer the rest of the season. The trade “took me off the hook” from having to inform Smith he was being removed from the closer role, said Joe Torre, who’d replaced Herzog as Cardinals manager.

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Why the Cardinals considered relocating to Detroit

Posted in Executives on March 19, 2015| 3 Comments »

Five months after the 1934 Cardinals won the World Series title in seven games against the Tigers, owner Sam Breadon expressed a desire to move the franchise from St. Louis to Detroit.

Disheartened by attendance figures for a franchise that won five National League pennants and three World Series championships from 1926-34, Breadon was willing to relocate the Cardinals after a bid to sell them collapsed.

The Cardinals’ regular-season home attendance in 1926, when they won the pennant and World Series title for the first time, was 681,575. It increased to 778,147 in 1928, when they again won the pennant.

After the Great Depression began soon after the stock market crash of October 1929, Cardinals attendance spiraled, even though the team was successful.

For sale

The Cardinals, who shared Sportsman’s Park with the American League Browns, drew 519,647 during the regular season in 1930, when they won their third pennant. Their attendance was 623,960 in 1931, when they won the pennant and World Series title.

After regular-season attendance totals of 290,370 in 1932 and 268,404 in 1933, the Cardinals drew 334,863 in 1934, when the colorful Gashouse Gang team of Dizzy Dean, Joe Medwick, Pepper Martin and Frankie Frisch won the pennant and World Series crown.

Fearing for the long-term financial prospects and figuring the value of his World Series championship club was at a premium, Breadon instructed general manager Branch Rickey to negotiate a sale with Lew Wentz, an Oklahoma oil baron who offered to buy the Cardinals.

Wentz, though, withdrew because of the asking price. Breadon wanted $1.1 million, according to the Murray Polner book “Branch Rickey: A Biography.”

With no prospects of a sale, Breadon explored relocation as an option.

Motor City madness

On March 28, 1935, during spring training in Bradenton, Fla., Breadon told reporters he would move the Cardinals to Detroit if Tigers owner Frank Navin approved.

The 1934 Tigers had a regular-season attendance of 919,161 _ nearly three times the Cardinals’ total _ and Breadon saw the job-generating Motor City as a town better suited than St. Louis to support two major-league franchises.

Sid Keener, sports editor of the St. Louis Star-Times, reported, “Breadon intimated that he would make overtures to the two major leagues during the coming season to rearrange the current setups of the National and American leagues. He said he believed baseball would profit by changing St. Louis to a one-club major league city, leaving the Browns as the sole representative in the Missouri city and by moving his own National League franchise to Detroit.”

Said Breadon to Keener: “We can put this over if Frank Navin … will take a sensible view of conditions. I can swing the deal from the National League angle. By that, I mean I have received the consent of the National League club owners to transfer the Cardinals to Detroit. However, we must convince Mr. Navin that it would be a good thing for everyone concerned in baseball before we can put it over.”

Profit over loyalty

According to the Associated Press, Breadon said, “Detroit has enough high-salaried fans to attend ballgames every day and it would help the Tigers. Think of the profit of a spring series alone.”

The Sporting News, the St. Louis-based weekly, quoted Breadon as saying, “I think Detroit would be an ideal spot for the Cardinals and I would go there in a minute if Navin opened the way to come in. But I doubt that he would want us.”

On March 29, 1935, the day after his stunning remarks, Breadon backpedaled. When asked by the Associated Press whether there was an immediate plan for a move, Breadon replied, “Not at all.”

In its April 4, 1935, edition, The Sporting News claimed Breadon “was merely doing a little off-the-record wishing” when he expressed interest in relocating the Cardinals to Detroit. Navin had no interest in sharing his market with the Cardinals, The Sporting News reported.

Still, the magazine left open the possibility of a Cardinals move.

“The meager draw (in 1934) caused Breadon to do a lot of thinking and the club would have shown a loss on the year’s operations had not the team smashed its way into the World Series,” The Sporting News opined. “While Detroit is out of the question as a stamping ground for the Redbirds, there are other possible future landing places for the Cardinals … The time may not be far distant when the Redbirds will be flying away to some other community.”

The Cardinals’ regular-season attendance improved to 517,805 in 1935, when the team finished in second place, but from 1935 through 1945, the Cardinals never drew more than 642,496 for a regular season.

In 1946, the first regular season after World War II, the Cardinals totaled an attendance of more than a million for the first time.

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Why the Cardinals evacuated their spring training site

Posted in Executives, Managers on March 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

When the 1945 Cardinals reported to spring training at Cairo, Ill., they found the outfield better suited for fishing than for chasing fly balls. Unable to have fielding or batting practice because of flooding at Cotter Field, the Cardinals abandoned the Illinois river town and conducted spring training at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

In March 1945, the defending World Series champion Cardinals planned to hold spring training in Cairo for the third consecutive year. St. Petersburg, Fla., was the Cardinals’ spring training base, but the Redbirds, like all big-league clubs, trained at sites closer to home from 1943-45 in order to conserve resources through reduced travel during World War II.

Training at Cairo worked well for the Cardinals in 1943 and 1944. They had more than 100 wins and earned a National League pennant in each of those years, including a World Series title in 1944.

River runs through it

Cairo is located on the southern tip of Illinois, where the Ohio River flows into the Mississippi River. In March 1945, rain swelled the rivers. Even with walls and levees protecting the town, water seeped into the ballpark used by the Cardinals.

The stages of the rivers were 10 feet above the level of the ballpark, according to the Associated Press. Under orders from club owner Sam Breadon, Cardinals traveling secretary Leo Ward searched throughout Cairo for an alternative spot to conduct batting and fielding practice, “but he mired in mud and returned gloomily to the hotel.”

“There was talk of moving the training camp back to St. Louis as early as March 13, the second day the players were in camp,” The Sporting News reported. “However, Breadon gave the Cairo people a few days more to get their park in shape.”

Losing battle

Cairo Mayor E.A. Smith and city fire and street departments “did everything they knew to get the field in shape. They dug draining ditches and put the fire pumps to work in the outfield, but each morning a new film of seepage water covered the infield,” The Sporting News wrote.

In a story filed on March 19, 1945, the Associated Press reported, “The outfield of the practice diamond was under four feet of water and it appeared doubtful that the park would be useable for baseball during the two weeks the team will be in town.”

Among those in camp for the Cardinals were pitchers Max Lanier, Blix Donnelly and Bud Byerly, first baseman Ray Sanders, second baseman Emil Verban, third baseman Whitey Kurowski, outfielder Debs Garms and rookie Red Schoendienst.

A picture in The Sporting News showed Kurowski, Lanier and Sanders casting fishing lines in the outfield water.

Ohio option

Coach Mike Gonzalez was running the club while manager Billy Southworth was at home in Sunbury, Ohio, after spending weeks in New York while joining in a mission to search for his son, who was killed in a crash of a B-29 he was piloting.

Southworth was trying to find a training site for the Cardinals in Ohio. “Breadon announced Southworth is looking for a place and that the squad will leave (Cairo) if satisfactory arrangements can be made,” the Associated Press reported.

The Sporting News revealed Southworth wanted to bring the Cardinals to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where the minor-league Columbus and Rochester teams were training.

“Miami University officials hustled around to find living quarters for the Cardinals and a series of games among the three clubs was being worked up,” The Sporting News wrote. “Manager Billy Southworth … believed the arrangement was set, but owner Sam Breadon vetoed the move to Oxford.”

Homeward bound

Breadon ordered the team instead to return to St. Louis. The last time the Cardinals had spent spring training at home was in 1919. The reason then was lack of finances.

Wrote The Sporting News of the deteriorating conditions in Cairo: “For a week, the Redbirds had no real baseball work. They indulged in pepper games on a hard cinder footing, did some throwing, running and calisthenics but had no batting practice or real infield workout … A soggy infield, no batting practice for five days and fishing in the outfield quickly convinced (Breadon) that he had to act quickly.”

Said Breadon: “Oh for a return to good old St. Petersburg.”

The Cardinals began workouts at Sportsman’s Park on March 26, 1945, and opened the season on April 17 at Chicago.

The disrupted spring training didn’t appear to hurt them much. The 1945 Cardinals had 95 wins and finished in second place, three games behind the Cubs.

Previously: Why the Cardinals chose Cairo, Ill., for spring training

Previously: Why Billy Southworth managed Cardinals with heavy heart

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How Dal Maxvill became general manager of Cardinals

Posted in Executives on February 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

(Updated April 5, 2026)

As an infielder who struggled to hit, Dal Maxvill overcame the odds and started in 21 World Series games for the Cardinals. As a coach with no experience as a baseball executive, Maxvill again overcame the odds and became general manager of the Cardinals.

On Feb. 25, 1985, Maxvill was the surprise choice of the Cardinals to replace Joe McDonald as general manager. Maxvill was a coach with the Atlanta Braves when the Cardinals approached him about becoming their top baseball executive.

As Rick Hummel noted in a report for The Sporting News, “It seemed a rather sizeable leap to go from third-base coach to general manager.”

In his book “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said, “I had my doubts about him when he was hired … He’d never made a trade, never negotiated a contract and I wondered what the hell was going through their minds when they hired him.”

Baseball and business

Maxvill, 46, said he hadn’t applied for the job and was approached by club officials. Team owner Gussie Busch said he was seeking a candidate who knew both baseball and the Cardinals organization and also had business experience.

To Busch, Maxvill met the criteria.

Maxvill played for the Cardinals from 1962-72. Replacing the injured Julian Javier, he started seven games at second base in the 1964 World Series. He started seven games at shortstop in the 1967 World Series and again in the 1968 World Series. Maxvill won a Gold Glove Award in 1968. He hit .220 as a Cardinal.

Maxvill was a Cardinals coach from 1979-80 and an instructor in 1981. He and former Cardinals reliever Joe Hoerner were co-owners of a St. Louis travel agency. Maxvill earned a degree in electrical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and worked for a St. Louis engineering company during his off-seasons as a Cardinals player in the 1960s.

The Cardinals offered Maxvill a one-year contract.

“Of all the people we considered, myself and the other members of the executive committee unanimously agreed that Dal Maxvill has the qualifications we were looking for in a general manager,” Busch told the Associated Press.

Fred Kuhlmann, chief operating officer of the Cardinals, said Tal Smith, a consultant hired to lead the search for a general manager, gave Maxvill “as enthusiastic a recommendation as there could be.”

“We were looking for someone with a sense of business ability to go along with his baseball experience, the innate ability to cope with the business aspects of being general manager,” Kuhlmann said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cardinals connections

Two other ex-Cardinals players _ Tim McCarver and Joe Torre _ were considered before Maxvill was offered the position, The Sporting News reported.

“I’ve been a Cardinals fan since I was 3,” said Maxvill. “My mother and father took me to see Enos Slaughter, Terry Moore and Red Schoendienst.”

Schoendienst, a Cardinals coach in 1985, was Maxvill’s manager from 1965-72. “Once, I was his boss,” Schoendienst said. “Now, he’s mine.”

Asked his opinion of the Cardinals hiring Maxvill, former general manager Bing Devine told Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch, “Why shouldn’t he be a good general manager? He always has done everything better than any of us expected. I think the selection was excellent.”

Good deal

On April 2, 1985, Maxvill made his first trade, acquiring infielder Jose Oquendo from the Mets for infielder Angel Salazar and minor-league pitcher John Young.

The Cardinals won two pennants, 1985 and 1987, with Maxvill as general manager. “He turned out to be a hell of a baseball executive,” Herzog said. “… Maxie is smart and he caught on fast.”

Maxvill was Cardinals general manager from 1985-94 until he was fired by team president Mark Lamping and replaced by Walt Jocketty.

In the 2005 book “Cardinals Where Have You Gone?” Maxvill said to writer Rob Rains, “Probably my biggest disappointment was that I couldn’t convince the powers that be that we needed more of an investment into the ballclub other than just the farm system. We needed to replace the free agents who were leaving us. I could never convince (Anheuser-Busch) that the ballclub needed to dip into their savings account so we could sign a major free agent.”

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Why 1940 was year Cardinals saw the light

Posted in Executives, Games on January 22, 2015| Leave a Comment »

(Updated May 24, 2019)

The first night home game for the Cardinals had two unintended consequences: It prompted the dismissal of their manager and led to a ban on serving beverages in glass bottles.

On Jan. 31, 1940, the National League Cardinals and the American League Browns agreed to share the $150,000 cost to install lights at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

Stupp Brothers Bridge and Iron Company of St. Louis was hired to do the structural work and Westinghouse Electrical Supply Company was given the job of putting in the reflectors and floodlights on eight steel towers.

“It will require electrical energy totaling 1,176,000 watts per hour, not including lighting in the stands, to turn night into day at the historic old Grand Boulevard establishment,” The Sporting News reported. “This, it is said, would be sufficient juice to take care of the lighting needs of a city of 25,000 persons.”

The Browns got the honor of playing the first night game in St. Louis on May 24, 1940, against the Indians. Before 24,827 spectators on a Friday night, Bob Feller pitched a seven-hitter, struck out nine and hit his first big-league home run, leading the Indians to a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

“Baseball under the floodlights has made its bow at Sportsman’s Park and everybody is very happy about it,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. “The barber and the butcher and the man who works in an office or factory are very pleased to know night baseball.”

Most everyone praised the brightness of the lights and the Post-Dispatch noted, “The lights’ reflection in the sky was visible for many blocks from the park and residents as far as four blocks away said it would be an easy matter for them to play cards in their backyards.”

Eleven nights later, the Cardinals got their first chance to play under the lights at home.

Dark times

On June 4, 1940, 23,500 spectators turned out on a Tuesday night to see the Cardinals open a series against the Dodgers. The Cardinals had a 14-22 record and owner Sam Breadon was becoming increasingly impatient with manager Ray Blades.

Seeking a sharp, winning performance before the large crowd in the club’s first night home game, Breadon saw just the opposite. The Dodgers scored five in the first against Mort Cooper.

As the Dodgers continued to add to the lead, “pop bottles thrown from the bleachers littered the outfield,” The Sporting News reported, “partly because the Dodgers rattled long drives off the wall and partly because of (inconsistent) umpiring.”

According to the St. Louis Star-Times, “debris of all kinds filtered from the stands” and “the barrage continued for almost three minutes before a squadron of police detailed to the park appeared and stopped the tossing.”

The grounds crew picked up “several hundred bottles _ 10 bushel baskets full,” the Star-Times reported.

Though Cardinals cleanup batter Joe Medwick went 5-for-5 with three doubles, the Cardinals stranded 14 and the Dodgers won, 10-1, behind Vito Tamulis, who scattered 11 hits. Boxscore

Changing times

Disheartened by the debacle, Breadon made up his mind to fire Blades, The Sporting News reported. The announcement of Blades’ firing came three days later, surprising general manager Branch Rickey, who hadn’t been informed by Breadon of the decision. Billy Southworth, managing the Cardinals’ minor-league club at Rochester, was Breadon’s choice to replace Blades.

Breadon also announced the Cardinals would use paper cups instead of bottles for serving cold drinks in the Sportsman’s Park bleachers.

The 1940 Cardinals played seven home night games, winning three.

Their first home night win occurred on a Tuesday, July 2, 1940, when Bill McGee pitched a seven-hit shutout and contributed a two-run single, beating the Reds, 4-0, before 14,944. Boxscore

A look at the Cardinals’ other five night home games in 1940:

_ Harry Danning had three hits, including two doubles, and a RBI for the Giants in an 8-6, 11-inning victory on Thursday night July 11 before 10,363. Boxscore

_ Hugh Mulcahy pitched a five-hit shutout in a 3-0 Phillies win on Wednesday night July 17 before 7,113. Boxscore

_ Joe Orengo tied the score with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth and the Cardinals got a run in the 11th to beat the Pirates, 7-6, on Wednesday night Aug. 14 before 11,077. Boxscore

_ Al Glossop had two RBI and rookie Nick Strincevich pitched a five-hitter, leading the Braves to a 3-1 triumph on Monday night Aug. 26 before 8,472. Boxscore

_ Johnny Mize and Marty Marion each had two RBI, lifting the Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Cubs on Wednesday night Sept. 4 before 16,197. Boxscore

Previously: Rift with Branch Rickey led Cards to oust Frankie Frisch

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