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Why Cardinals had Rudy May on their shopping list

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on November 1, 2024| 5 Comments »

Rudy May pitched 16 years in the majors. He never appeared in an All-Star Game, and he lost more than he won, but at times he nearly was unhittable, performing on a par with teammates such as Nolan Ryan, Catfish Hunter and Jim Palmer.

One of May’s nicknames was The Dude. He got it, the Baltimore Sun noted, because of “his funky wardrobe” and “unflappable optimism.”

He was an interesting dude for more reasons than that though. His boyhood friend was Joe Morgan, the future Hall of Fame second baseman. May’s first marriage was to a rhythm and blues singer. When he wasn’t playing baseball, May worked as a licensed commercial scuba diver.

Though he spent most of his baseball career in the American League, the Cardinals saw plenty of him during a stint with the Montreal Expos and sought to sign him when he became a free agent.

Early journeys

Though born in Kansas, May was raised in Oakland. That’s where he and Joe Morgan became friends. They’d go to Arroyo Viejo Park near their homes and “we’d pitch and catch for hours,” May recalled to the Montreal Gazette. May and Morgan also were baseball teammates at Castlemont High School.

A left-hander, May was with four organizations in his first three seasons as a pro. He was 18 when the Twins signed him in November 1962. They sent him to Bismarck, N.D., and, though he won 11 and struck out 173 in 168 innings there, he also walked 120 and threw 25 wild pitches.

After a season (1964) in the White Sox system, May was traded to the Phillies, who flipped him to the Angels for Bo Belinsky.

May, 20, made the 1965 Angels’ Opening Day roster as a starter. “We never had any question about Rudy’s stuff being major league,” Angels pitching coach Marv Grissom told the Oakland Tribune. “The only question is his control.”

In his big-league debut, May was matched against Detroit’s Denny McLain. The rookie held the Tigers hitless until Jake Wood doubled with one out in the eighth. May completed nine innings, striking out 10 and allowing the one hit, but the Tigers won in the 13th. Boxscore

In his next appearance, a start versus the Yankees and Mel Stottlemyre, May gave up his first home run, a Mickey Mantle solo shot, and lost, 1-0. Boxscore

Treasure hunts

During that 1965 season, outfielder Leon Wagner introduced May to Eleanor Green, a singer with the group The Superbs.

“She was only 18 and she was singing at this club in L.A. and I thought when I saw her that, ‘whoo-eee _ this was some kind of chick,’ ” May said to the Los Angeles Times. “She’d had these two hit records that year _ ‘Baby, Baby All The Time,’ and ‘Baby’s Gone Away‘ … I really came on strong. She showed me who the real pro was. She put me off good.

“Later that year, I was peddling my threads _ you know, just walking around, cooling it _ in Hollywood when I stopped at this club and saw this same girl. I sent a note backstage and she came out to met me. It was different this time, man … Three weeks later, we flew to Las Vegas and got married.”

While his personal life was on the upswing, May’s pitching career hit a sour note. He hurt his shoulder, developed arm problems and was demoted to the minors.

Limited to 35 innings pitched in 1966 and 84 in 1967, May “admits he thought about saying goodbye to baseball” until his wife convinced him to continue, the Los Angeles Times reported.

May wanted a backup plan, though. A recreational scuba diver since his teens, May took commercial diving courses in 1967, earned a license and began spending winters “working on salvage and construction projects beneath the sea,” United Press International reported.

Asked about his most dangerous dive, May told the wire service that while working on a salvage project about 400 feet under the surface, “I got the bends and blacked out. I was in a coma in a depression chamber for about six hours.”

On the road again

May spent a third consecutive season in the minors in 1968. Pitching for El Paso, May was 2-7, then performed his own salvage operation, closing with six consecutive wins. The Angels brought him back to stay in 1969.

May’s highest win total for the Angels was 12 in 1972. In a game against the Twins that year, he struck out 16. Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew each fanned twice. Boxscore

The wins, though, didn’t come often enough. In seven seasons with the Angels, May was 51-76. In June 1974, they shipped him to the Yankees. He won 14 for them in 1975, got traded to the Orioles in 1976 and won 15 that year.

May did even better in 1977, winning 18 for the Orioles and leading the staff in shutouts (four), but after the season he was on the move again, getting traded to the Expos.

His first win in the National League came against the Cardinals. Boxscore

Expected to be a big winner, as he had been with the Orioles, May was mediocre with Montreal. In one stretch, he lost three in a row to the Cardinals, including two in three days. Removed from the rotation by manager Dick Williams, May broke an ankle in July. Given a start against the Cardinals when he returned two months later, May crafted a gem, pitching a three-hitter for the win. Boxscore

He finished the 1978 season with an 8-10 mark, including 3-3 versus St. Louis.

Back in the groove

May was deep in Dick Williams’ doghouse as the 1979 season got underway. As the Montreal Gazette noted, “May was not only out of the rotation, but he wasn’t even called when the Expos needed fifth and sixth starters. If that wasn’t bad enough, he wasn’t used in important relief assignments.”

He asked to be traded but the Expos didn’t oblige. It turned out well for them. Needing relief help in July, Williams called on May and he delivered.

Then, on July 31, May got his first start of the season and came through with a three-hit shutout against the Cardinals.

“There wasn’t any team in the world that could have hit him tonight,” Cardinals manager Ken Boyer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cleanup hitter Ted Simmons, unable to get a ball out of the infield, said to the Montreal Gazette, “May has an exceptional curveball and, when he gets it over like he did tonight, he’s virtually unbeatable.”

After watching May blank the Cardinals, scout and former Yankees pitcher Eddie Lopat told the Gazette, “I’ve never seen him pitch better. He’s right back where he was when he won those 18 games with Baltimore. Tonight he had command of all his pitches _ fastball, slider and curve. When he has control of his breaking ball, he’s almost impossible to beat.” Boxscore

For the month of July, May was 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings pitched.

Moved into the rotation in September, May contributed a 10-3 record and 2.31 ERA for the 1979 Expos.

In demand

Seeking left-handed pitching, the Cardinals pursued May and a couple of their former players, John Curtis and Al Hrabosky, in the free agent market.

General manager John Claiborne “expressed serious interest in May and Hrabosky,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

However, May took a three-year deal totaling $1 million from the Yankees. “Our offer was not in the ballpark,” Claiborne confessed to the Post-Dispatch.

After Hrabosky signed with the Braves and Curtis went to the Padres, the Cardinals shifted gears. To fill their left-handed pitching spots, they got free agent Don Hood in March 1980 and acquired Jim Kaat from the Yankees a month later.

Kaat turned out well for the Cardinals, helping them become World Series champions in 1982, and May turned out well for the Yankees. He was 15-5 for them in 1980 and had the best ERA (2.46) in the American League.

May credited Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford, a Yankees spring training instructor, with helping his approach.

“Ford told me I should learn to pitch when I didn’t have it all going for me,” May said to the Montreal Gazette. “I had it in my head that the only way to get guys out was to strike them out. Ford taught me the mechanics of pitching. He showed me how to mix up my fastballs. I’ve always had a good curve, but he showed me how to take something off my curve as well.”

In 1981, May pitched in three World Series games for the Yankees. The next season, when he turned 38, he appeared in 41 games and his ERA was 2.89.

He pitched for the final time in 1983 and completed his career with a 152-156 mark. Jim Rice, who batted .706 (12-for-17) against May, was sorry to see him go. George Brett, a career .174 hitter (4-for-23) versus May, felt differently.

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Pitching guru: Joe Becker brought out best in the best

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers on October 28, 2024| 14 Comments »

For a club with Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton, the Cardinals hired a coach who caught Bob Feller and aided the development of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

In October 1964, Joe Becker joined the Cardinals as pitching coach on the staff of newly appointed manager Red Schoendienst.

Becker, a St. Louisan, came to the Cardinals from the Dodgers after serving 10 seasons (1955-64) as their pitching coach. During that time, the Dodgers won three World Series titles (1955, 1959, 1963) and four National League pennants (1955, 1956, 1959, 1963). Becker coached three Cy Young Award winners: Don Newcombe (1956), Don Drysdale (1962) and Sandy Koufax (1963).

A catcher who played in the Cardinals farm system, Becker reached the majors with Cleveland the same year another rookie, Bob Feller, joined the club.

Learning the ropes

Becker grew up on the south side of St. Louis and attended Cardinals games as a Knothole Gang member. His favorite player was catcher Bob O’Farrell.

In 1930, the year he turned 22, Becker signed with Des Moines, an independent minor league team. “I started at $200 a month in the middle of the Depression and I was the richest kid on the block,” Becker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals purchased his contract during the 1930 season on the recommendation of scout Charley Barrett. Becker played four seasons (1930-33) in the Cardinals’ farm system, then was declared a free agent by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. After sitting out a year, Becker signed with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1935 and became a teammate of their 20-year-old center fielder, Joe DiMaggio.

The Seals sold his contract to the Cleveland Indians and that’s how Becker reached the majors as a backup catcher in 1936. His first big-league hit was a home run at Boston’s Fenway Park against winning pitcher Jim Henry. Boxscore

Most of the time, though, Becker, 28, was catching warmup throws of Cleveland pitchers, including those of 17-year-old fellow rookie Bob Feller.

“Feller was just a kid … but he had the liveliest fastball I ever saw,” Becker said to Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch in 1965. “Afterward, he developed not only one good curve, but three or four different sizes and speeds.”

Though Feller’s fastball was a rocket, the ball came in “alive and light” rather than heavy and didn’t sting the catcher’s hand, Becker told the Los Angeles Times.

After a second season with Cleveland in 1937, Becker returned to the minors. At 36, he joined the Navy and served for two years (1944-45) as a chief gunner’s mate on the USS Wake Island, a converted Casablanca-class escort carrier in the Pacific during World War II.

Discharged in February 1946, Becker went to play for a Giants farm team but tore cartilage in a knee early in the season. Discouraged, “I just wanted to go home and forget baseball,” Becker told the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal.

Giants farm director Carl Hubbell convinced Becker to try managing instead. Becker took over a club in Seaford, Del., in 1946 and went on to manage in the minors for nine years in the Giants, Browns and White Sox systems.

Special project

After his first season as Dodgers manager in 1954, Walter Alston replaced pitching coach Ted Lyons with Becker, who had impressed Alston when they managed against one another in the minors.

Becker was put in charge of a pitching staff that included Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Johnny Podres and a 19-year-old rookie, Sandy Koufax.

When he first saw Koufax, the left-hander “had a world of stuff,” Becker told the Chicago Tribune, but “was so damn wild he couldn’t throw the ball through an open barn door.”

At spring training in Vero Beach, Fla., “we had a half-dozen mounds and home plates so that several pitchers could work at the same time,” Becker said to Bill Bryson of the Des Moines Register. “They were spaced far enough so there wasn’t any danger from wild pitches _ until Koufax came along.”

Becker moved Koufax to a secluded area of the training site. “Sandy was a sensitive boy and he was getting awfully self-conscious about his wildness,” Becker told Bryson. “The guys were laughing at him and he was losing what little confidence he had. So we had the groundkeepers build us a mound over behind the barracks where nobody could see us.”

Though it took six years to get the desired results _ “Many kids would have given up,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch _ he and Koufax put in the effort to improve the pitcher’s poise, control and confidence. “I’d made up my mind that what the boy needed most was kindness and encouragement _ and work,” Becker said to the Des Moines newspaper. “I never had a pitcher who worked harder.”

Koufax told Bill Bryson, “Becker taught me the curve and just about everything else about pitching. I don’t know whether I ever would have mastered control if Joe hadn’t been so patient with me in those early years.”

(Don Drysdale, a more polished rookie, joined the Dodgers a year after Koufax did, in 1956. Though Becker helped him, too, such as on location of pitches and footwork, the approach was sometimes different. “Becker will bawl me out and chew me out and even tell me I’m lousy, but I like that,” Drysdale told the Los Angeles Mirror. “He does it face to face.”)

Change of scenery

In 1964, the Cardinals won the pennant, dethroning the Dodgers, who finished 80-82, even though Becker’s pitching staff had the best ERA (2.95) in the National League. Management reacted by overhauling Alston’s entire coaching staff. Becker was banished to the minors to manage Spokane. “I’d spent too many years in the minors to go back,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch.

After the Cardinals beat the Yankees for the World Series title, manager Johnny Keane resigned (in part, because club owner Gussie Busch clumsily schemed during the season to hire Dodgers coach Leo Durocher as manager) and joined the Yankees. Red Schoendienst, who replaced Keane, told the Post-Dispatch he talked with pitching coach Howie Pollet about staying but Pollet indicated he wanted to spend more time on his insurance business in Houston.

Schoendienst and the Cardinals then reached out to Becker, who agreed to replace Pollet as pitching coach. (A week after Becker was hired, Pollet was named pitching coach of the Astros.)

“I had talked with some of the Dodgers pitchers abut Joe,” Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch. “They all said Joe helped them quite a bit, especially with control.”

Though the Cardinals were champions in 1964, their pitching staff allowed more runs than all but three National League teams. Becker said to the Los Angeles Times, “It’s quite a challenge to see if I can improve the Cardinals’ staff and make it easier for the club to win the pennant again.”

Good stuff

Bob Gibson was the ace of the Cardinals’ staff. He earned 19 wins in 1964, including the pennant-clinching season finale, and also won Games 5 and 7 of the World Series.

“Of 100 pitchers in the National League, not more than five or six can throw high strikes,” Becker said to the Toronto Star. “By that, I mean throwing strikes to a batter’s strength _ up where he can hit them. Koufax and Drysdale can do it. So can Bob Veale and Jim Maloney. Gibson is on that list, too.”

Becker said to the Post-Dispatch, “With what Gibson has going for him, there’s no reason in the world why he can’t become the best pitcher in the league.”

Gibson was averaging 140 to 145 pitches per game, according to Becker. He worked with Gibson to cut that to 120 to 125 by getting ahead in more counts.

The results were impressive: Gibson won 20 in a season for the first time with the 1965 Cardinals and struck out 270 batters.

(At spring training in 1965, Becker also took notice of a 20-year-old Steve Carlton. “He can be a good one in the future,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch.)

Moving on

A year later, with a mix of established starters (Gibson, Al Jackson and Ray Washburn) and emerging prospects (Carlton, Larry Jaster and Nelson Briles), Becker’s pitching staff ranked second in the National League in ERA.

Gibson won 21 in 1966 and his 78 walks were quite an improvement from the 119 he totaled five years earlier when he joined the starting rotation.

“The big thing about Gibson is that he’s continuing to cut down on his pitches and he’s not just trying to overpower the hitters,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch. “No doubt it, Gibson has been much more a pitcher than a thrower. His concentration is so much better. He’s (pitching) to spots much better.”

Despite the strides he made, Becker resigned after the 1966 season because he objected to “interference from the front office,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the newspaper, “It is no secret that Becker has resented numerous suggestions and memorandums from general manager Bob Howsam regarding the pitching staff.”

Red Schoendienst tried to get Becker to reconsider but was unsuccessful. “My relationship with Schoendienst has been happy,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch. “Red has done a real good job under the circumstances. I’ve enjoyed working with the Cardinals players, especially the pitchers.”

A couple of weeks later, at the urging of manager Leo Durocher, the Cubs hired Becker to be their pitching coach. He completed the conversion of Ferguson Jenkins from reliever to starter and worked with another emerging left-hander, Ken Holtzman.

Becker wanted to retire after the 1969 season but the Cubs convinced him to come back for another year. In August 1970, Becker, 62, suffered a heart seizure and collapsed in the clubhouse. He recovered but his coaching days were finished.

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Gaylen Pitts was mentor to bevy of Cardinals prospects

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers on October 21, 2024| 13 Comments »

Though the minor leagues were where Gaylen Pitts spent most of his long and accomplished baseball career, he twice reached the majors _ and both times with the help of Dal Maxvill.

Pitts was a player, manager, coach and instructor in the minors, primarily with the Cardinals.

An infielder, he played 13 years in the farm systems of the Cardinals, Athletics and Cubs. He managed in the minors for 19 years for the Cardinals, A’s and Yankees.

Pitts got to the big leagues with the A’s for the first time in 1974 as an infield replacement for Maxvill, who got injured. Then, after the 1990 season, it was Maxvill, the Cardinals’ general manager, who recommended Pitts for the role of bench coach on the staff of manager Joe Torre.

Down on the farm

Pitts moved with his family from Wichita, Kan., to Mountain Home, Ark., when he was a boy. He listened to Cardinals games on the radio, played baseball in high school and caught the attention of scout Fred Hawn, who arranged for a tryout in St. Louis. Pitts was 18 when the Cardinals signed him for $8,000 in 1964. “I bought a car; a good one,” he recalled to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Early in the 1966 season, Pitts was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam. He returned to baseball in 1968. Two years later, Pitts, a utility infielder candidate, got invited to the Cardinals’ big-league spring training camp for the only time. He didn’t make the club, but he did become pals with the Cardinals’ shortstop, Dal Maxvill, Pitts recalled to the Society for American Baseball Research.

“When I was with the Cardinals, they wanted only veteran players,” Pitts told the Wichita Beacon. “If something went wrong with the big club, they’d go out and trade or buy a veteran. When they started their youth movement, I was traded.”

During the 1971 season, his seventh in the Cardinals’ farm system, Pitts was dealt to the A’s for Dennis Higgins, and sent to Class AAA Iowa, where he took the place of another veteran infielder, Tony La Russa, who got called up to Oakland.

Pitts never hit .300 in the minors. His single-season career highs in home runs (12) and RBI (58) were not robust. His hope for reaching the majors came from his ability to play multiple infield positions (second, short and third).

In May 1974, 10 years after he started out in the minors, Pitts got the call. With A’s second baseman Dick Green and third baseman Sal Bando sidelined because of injuries, Maxvill, their reserve infielder, got hurt. Needing someone who could fill in at multiple spots, the A’s promoted Pitts.

That’s a winner

When Pitts arrived in Oakland, Maxvill’s name was marked above the locker he was given, indicating the club didn’t expect the 27-year-old rookie to be around long. Nonetheless, his teammates “treated me great, from Catfish Hunter to Reggie Jackson,” Pitts recalled to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

A highlight came on May 14, 1974, at Oakland against the Royals when Pitts drove in both runs with doubles in a 2-1 victory for the A’s.

Facing Lindy McDaniel, the 38-year-old former Cardinal _ “I used to follow him when I was a kid,” Pitts told the Oakland Tribune _ Pitts drove in Angel Mangual from second with a double in the fifth.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the 10th, Ted Kubiak was on first, one out, when Pitts lined a McDaniel slider over the head of left fielder Jim Wohlford. Kubiak slid around catcher Fran Healy to score just ahead of the relay throw and give the A’s a walkoff win.

Ron Bergman of the Oakland Tribune wrote of Pitts’ game-winning double, “He put some cream in his major league cup of coffee.”

Pitts told the newspaper, “I’ll remember this no matter what happens.” Boxscore

A month later, Pitts was back in the minors. He returned to the A’s in September 1975 and got three at-bats, his last as a big leaguer.

Follow the leader

After playing his final season in the minors in 1977, Pitts was named manager of an A’s farm club at Modesto, Calif. On a salary of $8,000, he couldn’t afford a car, so he rode a bicycle back and forth from his residence to the ballpark.

Recalling that first season as manager, Pitts told the Modesto Bee, “They say you learn from your mistakes, and I want to tell you, I did a lot of learning.”

After two years with Modesto, Pitts rejoined the Cardinals and spent 16 seasons managing their farm clubs. In other years with them, he was special assistant for player development, minor league field coordinator and a coach on the staff of Louisville manager Jim Fregosi.

“I’ve picked up a little from every manager I’ve ever played for or worked with,” Pitts told the Louisville Courier-Journal, “but I probably learned the most with Fregosi, not just on the field, but off the field, too.”

(According to the Courier-Journal, in 1990, when Pitts was Louisville manager, the team was waiting in the Denver airport for a flight when he struck up a conversation with a woman. They hit it off and eventually married.)

Among the Cardinals prospects Pitts managed were Rick Ankiel, Allen Craig, Daniel Descalso, J.D. Drew, Bernard Gilkey, Jon Jay, Ray Lankford, Joe McEwing, Adam Ottovino, Placido Polanco and Todd Zeile. Pitts also managed Andy Van Slyke and later Andy’s son, A.J. Van Slyke.

Future big-league managers who were managed by Pitts included Terry Francona, Oliver Marmol and Jim Riggleman.

“I’m really impressed with the job that Gaylen does,” Tony La Russa, the Cardinals’ manager, said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2000.

In describing Pitts as a manager who stressed fundamentals, Don Wade of the Memphis Commercial Appeal noted, “Pitts was old school before old school was retro. He’s brick foundation old school, not prefab.”

Regarding his managing style, Pitts told the Courier-Journal, “You’ve got to know when to bark and when not to. It’s just mutual respect. There’s a fine line there.”

Pitts briefly left the Cardinals’ organization. In 2003, he was the hitting coach on the staff of manager Cecil Cooper at Indianapolis, a Brewers farm team. Noting that Cooper had 2,192 big-league hits and Pitts had 11, the Post-Dispatch suggested the roles should be reversed. Pitts said with a laugh, “Cecil told me he would help me with the hitting stuff if I would help him with the managing.”

In 2006, Pitts managed a Yankees farm club, Staten Island, to the championship of the New York-Pennsylvania League.

Cardinals candidate

After Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog quit the team in July 1990, general manager Dal Maxvill interviewed seven candidates for the job: Don Baylor, Pat Corrales, Mike Jorgensen, Hal Lanier, Gene Tenace, Joe Torre and Pitts, according to the Post-Dispatch. (Ted Simmons removed himself from consideration.)

Noting that Pitts “has done a good job developing talent for the Cardinals,” columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote that Pitts would be “in over his head” as Cardinals manager because he “doesn’t have any experience working with major league players.” Miklasz suggested Pitts “needs to become a major league coach first to receive the needed exposure.”

Maxvill hired Torre in August 1990. After the season, Torre chose Pitts for his coaching staff on the suggestion of Maxvill, Pitts told researcher Gregory H. Wolf.

Pitts was Torre’s bench coach from 1991-94 and third-base coach in 1995.

When Torre was fired in June 1995 by Maxvill’s replacement, Walt Jocketty, Pitts and fellow coach Chris Chambliss were considered for the role of interim manager, but the job went to the club’s director of player development, Mike Jorgensen.

According to the Post-Dispatch, Jocketty said Pitts and Chambliss “were very qualified to manage, but I wanted to bring in someone who could change the dynamics a little … someone familiar with the situation, yet who was not there on the front line every day.”

Though he never got the chance to manage in the majors, Pitts told the Baxter (Ark.) Bulletin in 2004, “For a country boy from Arkansas who had never been out of Mountain Home much before I got out of high school, I’ve had a great ride.”

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Little big man: NFL’s Pat Fischer played like King Kong

Posted in Football, Games on October 16, 2024| 16 Comments »

By NFL standards, St. Louis Cardinals cornerback Pat Fischer was small. Not jockey size, but not as big as the team’s placekicker, Jim Bakken, who was two inches taller and 30 pounds heavier. Even another noted Fischer, 6-foot-1 chess grandmaster Bobby, towered over Pat.

Listed at 5 feet 9 and 170 pounds _ “Anyone who ever saw him in person knew even those measurements were somewhat exaggerated,” the Washington Post noted _ Fischer shed the blocks of Goliath-like guards and tackles, took down steamrolling fullbacks, and stymied rangy receivers during a 17-year NFL career with the Cardinals (1961-67) and Washington Redskins (1968-77).

The signature play of Fischer’s NFL tenure came on Sept. 20, 1964, for the Cardinals against the Cleveland Browns. Jim Brown, the punishing fullback who regularly ran over defenders or carried them on his back, took a pitch, swept to the outside and roared into the clear like a bull entering the ring. Fischer, 62 pounds lighter than Brown, came up from his cornerback spot, lowered his shoulder and met the fullback head-on.

Making “a picture-book tackle,” Fischer “actually lifted the running back into the air and tossed him backward,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Joe Pollack of the Post-Dispatch, a longtime NFL observer, called it “the greatest individual play I’ve ever seen,” adding that Brown was “the best back I ever saw,” and Fischer was “maybe the best player, pound for pound, in NFL history.”

Noting that Fischer brought down Brown singlehandedly, the Post-Dispatch offered, “It isn’t often anybody does much singlehandedly against Brown, so the memory of that play will last a long time.”

In that same game, the feisty Fischer was involved in an incident that cost the Browns their halfback, Ernie Green, who was ejected in the second quarter for throwing a punch at Fischer, the Associated Press reported.

“Fischer had grabbed my face guard first and I was just backing up, trying to push him away,” Green told the Dayton Journal Herald, “but the official didn’t see that, just me pushing him off.”

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the officials ruled Green struck Fischer after the whistle, prompting the ejection. Game stats

A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Fischer intercepted 56 passes, including four for touchdowns, in his NFL career.

Big man on campus

After high school in Omaha, Fischer, like three of his brothers before him, played football at the University of Nebraska.

In his varsity debut as a sophomore in 1958, Fischer, listed as a 163-pound halfback and cornerback, returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in Nebraska’s 14-7 upset of Penn State. As a junior in 1959, Fischer ran back a punt 61 yards to the 3-yard line, setting up Nebraska’s winning touchdown against Oklahoma. The 25-21 victory snapped Oklahoma’s 74-game Big Eight Conference win streak.

Fischer became Nebraska’s starting quarterback as a senior in 1960. In the season opener, at Texas, he led the Cornhuskers to a 14-13 upset victory. Fischer returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown and scored another on a two-yard scamper. As the holder on the extra-point try, Fischer pulled off a fake, firing a pass to Bill “Thunder” Thornton for the winning two-point conversion. (Thornton also was Fischer’s teammate on the Cardinals.) Video

Inhaling oxygen from a hissing tank in the locker room afterward, Fischer told the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, “My head hurts and I’m tired, but I’d play another half if that’s what it took to beat Texas.”

(Like Fischer, two of his 1960 Nebraska teammates had long NFL playing careers. Defensive end Ron “The Dancing Bear” McDole played 18 seasons, including his rookie year with the Cardinals, and center Mick Tingelhoff played 17 years with the Minnesota Vikings and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)

Fitting in

Drafted in the 17th round by the Cardinals, the pint-sized Fischer (listed at 166 pounds) arrived at 1961 training camp “and spent his first few practices in shorts and a T-shirt as the team tried to find equipment that would fit him,” according to the Washington Post.

In recalling his first exhibition game with the Cardinals, Fischer told the Post, “My game pants fell down below my knees. I had to tape them up. I had to tape my pads on to make sure they wouldn’t fall off.”

The Cardinals’ coaching staff wasn’t quite sure what to do with him. “Coaches all have a predetermined idea of what a cornerback is supposed to look like,” Fischer said to the Post. “I never did fit the description.”

He made the team, returning punts and kickoffs, and filling in as a backup receiver. In a December 1961 game versus Washington, Fischer returned two kickoffs, including one for 53 yards. He also lined up as a flanker. In the third quarter, with the Cardinals facing third-and-11 at their 45, Sam Etcheverry passed over the middle to Fischer. The throw was high and behind the rookie, but he leaped, twisted and made a 22-yard catch for the first down, keeping alive a drive that led to a field goal. Game stats

Fischer made four starts at cornerback in 1962 before he tore a hamstring. He came back in 1963, intercepted eight passes in 14 games and became “a big favorite with the fans” for his mighty-mite grit, the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the Washington Post, Fischer was “one of the earliest defensive backs to employ the bump and run technique. He would initiate contact at the line of scrimmage, throwing a receiver off balance and disrupting his path toward his normal pass route.”

As for his ability to take on blockers at least 70 pounds heavier and half a foot taller, Fischer explained to United Press International, “Football really is a game of angles or leverage, and that works to my advantage. I’m usually attacking a guard or tackle at a pivotal point. If I can just get underneath him a little bit and raise up at the same moment, I can knock him off balance much easier than he can me because he doesn’t have good balance when he comes out of the line.”

Rough boys

It all came together for Fischer in 1964. Cardinals defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis told the Post-Dispatch, “Pat is the best cornerback in the league right now. He seldom has been beaten this season.”

According to Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch, only one receiver, Washington’s Bobby Mitchell, caught a touchdown pass against Fischer in 1964.

“Mitchell is the toughest receiver I’ve ever tried to cover,” Fischer said to Broeg. “Playing a corner, you line up about seven yards from the flanker. If you backpedal, you ordinarily can afford to let the receiver close the gap to three yards before you’re forced to turn your back and start to run. If you let Mitchell get that close, he’s gone and so are you. You’ll never match him stride for stride when he turns on the juice.”

Though often matched against gifted pass catchers such as Mitchell, Boyd Dowler, Tommy McDonald and Jimmy Orr, Fischer had 10 interceptions in 14 games for the 1964 Cardinals. He returned two of those for touchdowns (both on passes thrown by Sonny Jurgensen) and also turned a fumble recovery into a score. Video

Another top receiver, the Browns’ Gary Collins, told the Associated Press, “Pat Fischer stayed so close to me that I thought I’d wake up in the morning and find him next to me in bed.”

Though he seemed to be the underdog because of his size, Fischer was a rough and rugged player who used intimidation to his advantage. “When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I growl,” he said to the Post-Dispatch.

“If he hits you, he’ll knock your socks off,” Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas told the Washington Post.

Chicago Bears head coach George Halas accused Fischer of gouging the eyes of receiver Johnny Morris on consecutive plays. “On our ballclub, we don’t mind a little punch in the puss,” Halas said to the Chicago Tribune, “but sticking your finger in somebody’s eye is another matter. That’s not the name of the game.”

Job well done

Fischer played out his option, became a free agent after the 1967 season, and signed with Washington. (NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle compensated the Cardinals, awarding them Washington’s No. 2 draft pick in 1969 and a No. 3 choice in 1970.)

During his Washington stint, Fischer played in a Super Bowl (against the undefeated Miami Dolphins) and had a series of fascinating duels covering Harold Carmichael, the 6-foot-8 Philadelphia Eagles receiver who would earn election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Fischer never lost his edge. In 1976, when he was 36, Fischer found himself in a situation similar to the one with Jim Brown 12 years earlier. This time, the bruising fullback was the 237-pound Larry Csonka, then with the New York Giants.

Bracing himself and using leverage, Fischer upended Csonka, who landed upside down. According to the Washington Post, in a gesture of respect from one top pro to another, Csonka got up and patted the diminutive cornerback on the back.

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Cardinals were cure to what ailed rookie Pete Rose

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on October 7, 2024| 9 Comments »

A month into his rookie year with the 1963 Reds, Pete Rose was struggling to hold on to his job. Then he played the Cardinals for the first time and got his career back on track.

Making a leap from the Class A level of the minors to the big leagues, Rose won the starting second base spot with the Reds at 1963 spring training. Once the season began, the player who would become baseball’s all-time hits king looked feeble at the plate.

Rose was batting .158 for the season when the Reds opened a four-game series against the Cardinals on May 3, 1963, at Cincinnati. Cardinals pitching turned out to be the remedy for Rose’s slump. He produced seven hits in 14 at-bats and drew five walks in the four games. He also totaled four RBI and scored three times, helping the Reds win three of the four.

After that, Rose thrived and went on to win the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year Award. The switch-hitter eventually totaled 4,256 career hits.

The Cincinnati Kid

A Cincinnati native, Rose was 19 when scout Buzz Boyle signed him for the Reds. Boyle said most clubs overlooked Rose because he only weighed 150 pounds in high school. “Knowing his family and seeing the kid and knowing his ambition, I felt he was well worth the chance,” Boyle told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I don’t think he can be a mediocre player.”

Though he wasn’t on the Reds’ 40-man roster, Rose was invited to their Tampa spring training camp for a look in 1963 after hitting .330 for manager Dave Bristol’s Class A Macon (Ga.) Peaches the year before.

Don Blasingame, a former Cardinal who hit .281 for Cincinnati in 1962, was the Reds’ incumbent second baseman. Blasingame had a strong connection with Reds manager Fred Hutchinson. He was the second baseman when Hutchinson managed the Cardinals (1956-58) and again when Hutchinson led the Reds to a National League pennant in 1961.

Conventional wisdom had Rose ticketed to start the 1963 season at Class AAA San Diego but he took advantage of the spring training invitation with the Reds.

“The most exciting young ballplayer in the Cincinnati camp this spring is Pete Rose,” Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News proclaimed. “He gives the club added speed, enthusiasm, drive. He wants to play. Hutchinson has become so fond of the youngster, he doesn’t want to let him out of his sight.”

Hutchinson said to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “You’ve got to like a kid like Rose. He’s the winning type of player that a manager looks for.”

Reds third baseman Gene Freese told the newspaper, “Pete is another Nellie Fox, with power.” (Fox, a future Hall of Famer, was the all-star second baseman for the White Sox.)

Before a spring training game, Hutchinson and Phillies manager Gene Mauch watched Rose take his cuts in the batting cage. According to Si Burick, Hutchinson said to Mauch, “This boy came to play. He runs to first when he draws a walk and we’ve timed him going down to first on a pass in 4.2 seconds.”

The newspaper noted Rose was “nicknamed Charlie Hustle by his teammates.”

Asked by Si Burick why he ran hard to first base when issued a walk, Rose replied, “When I was a little kid, my dad took me to (Cincinnati’s) Crosley Field to see the Reds play the Cardinals. I saw (Enos) Country Slaughter run to first on a walk and I figured if it was good enough for him it was good enough for me.”

Bumpy beginning

As spring training neared an end, Hutchinson sought the advice of his coaches on whether Rose should be the Reds’ second baseman. According to Ritter Collett of the Dayton Journal Herald, Hutchinson asked them, “Do any of you think we’d hurt our chances by giving him a trial? Is there any of you who feels he hasn’t earned it?”

The answers to both were no.

Si Burick reported that on the day before the Reds’ season opener, Blasingame shook hands with Rose and said, “Kid, good luck. You’ve got a chance to make a lot of money in this game. Don’t do anything foolish to waste your chance.”

Rose told Burick, “You have to respect him for that.”

In the Reds’ season opener at home against the Pirates, Rose, batting second, was the first Cincinnati player to reach base (on a four-pitch walk from Earl Francis) and the first to score (on Frank Robinson’s home run). He helped turn three double plays. Rose also struck out looking and booted a routine grounder. In explaining the error, Rose told the Dayton Daily News, “I was still cussing myself for looking at that (third) strike. I wasn’t thinking about my job in the field.”

Hutchinson said to the newspaper, “He’ll learn that all this is part of the game … If you brood about a mistake and it leads to another mistake, you can’t make it in this game.”

Asked whether he was nervous in his debut, Rose replied to the Dayton Journal Herald, “Sure, I was nervous, but not scared. There’s a difference.” Boxscore

Hutchinson started Rose in the first six games (he batted .130), then benched him for Blasingame. As the Reds headed on a trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco, there was speculation Rose “probably will be dropped off at San Diego” to join the farm club there, the Journal Herald reported.

Instead, after Blasingame made eight consecutive starts at second and batted .160, Hutchinson restored Rose to the starting lineup on April 27.

Power hitter

When the first-place Cardinals (15-7) arrived in Cincinnati on May 3 for a weekend series with the ninth-place Reds (7-11), Rose was in a funk. He had one hit in 15 at-bats since regaining his starting status and was “perilously close to a return to the minors,” according to the Dayton Daily News.

The task didn’t figure to get any easier against the Cardinals’ Game 1 pitcher, Ernie Broglio. He was 3-0, and two of the wins were shutouts.

In his first at-bat against Broglio, Rose grounded out, but the next two turns at the plate were spectacular. Rose drove a Broglio pitch over the head of George Altman in right for a triple. Then he slammed a Broglio fastball for a two-run home run, “a prodigious blast that soared high over the center field wall,” the Daily News reported.

The homer, RBI and multi-hit game all were firsts for Rose as a big leaguer.

(According to the Daily News, after the home run, Rose crowed, “Sixty more and I tie [Roger] Maris.” Overhearing the remark, Hutchinson barked, “Don’t let that homer give you the idea you’re a slugger.”)

Facing Diomedes Olivo, 44, in the ninth, Rose, 22, grounded to short and nearly beat the throw to first. According to the Daily News, the brash rookie turned to umpire Jocko Conlan, 63, and said, “I need those close ones, Jocko. I’m only hitting .170.” Conlan replied, “I don’t care if you’re hitting .470. You’re still out.” Boxscore

Going against Gibson

In Game 2 of the series, Rose was perfect, with two singles and three walks in five plate appearances. He had a single and two walks against starter Bob Gibson, and a single and a walk versus Ed Bauta.

Rose’s one-out walk against Gibson in the third ignited a four-run outburst from the Reds, who won, 6-0, for the second day in a row. Boxscore

In his 1994 book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “For a singles and doubles hitter, Pete Rose carried himself with a big man’s swagger and could give a pitcher a hard time just through his sheer will to make something happen.”

(Gibson versus Rose was the ultimate in competitiveness and intensity. For his career against Gibson, Rose had a .307 batting average and .385 on-base percentage, with 35 hits, 12 walks and three hit by pitches. In 1967, Gibson and Rose were involved in a brawl. Another time, Gibson said in his autobiography, “I thought for sure I was getting to Pete Rose when I knocked him down and he got up and spit at me. When he got back to the dugout, though, I saw [manager] Sparky Anderson say something to him. I heard later Sparky advised Rose never to show me up.”)

On the way

The series ended with a Sunday doubleheader. Rose had two walks (one each against Ray Sadecki and Ron Taylor) in the opener, a 5-4 Reds triumph, and three hits (two versus Curt Simmons and one against Bobby Shantz) with two RBI in the finale, a 7-4 victory for the Cardinals. Boxscore and Boxscore

Steadied by his performances against the Cardinals, Rose produced consistently the remainder of his rookie season. On May 24, Hutchinson moved him into the leadoff spot and kept him there. In July, Blasingame was dealt to the Senators.

Rose played in 157 games for the 1963 Reds, batted . 273 and led the team in runs scored (101). He also ranked second on the club in hits (170), doubles (25), triples (nine) and walks (55).

Rose remained a thorn against Cardinals pitching. In 18 games against St. Louis in 1963, Rose had a .373 batting mark and a .435 on-base percentage. He had more hits (28) and more RBI (eight) versus the Cardinals than he did against any other club that year.

In nine games at St. Louis in 1963, Rose hit .419. Before the last of those games, the season finale, Rose shook hands with Stan Musial near the batting cage. Playing the final game of his career, Musial smacked two singles, both past Rose at second and into right field. Musial’s 3,630 hits were the National League record until Rose broke the mark 18 years later in 1981. Boxscore

Rose, who went 3-for-6 with a walk in Musial’s last game, finished his career with a .299 batting mark versus the Cardinals. Following the 1978 season, after he became a free agent and left the Reds, Rose considered an offer from the Cardinals but opted to sign instead with the Phillies.

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Orient Express: Masanori Murakami blazed pioneer path

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects on September 27, 2024| 12 Comments »

In a bid to contend with the Cardinals and others for the 1964 National League pennant, the Giants added the majors’ first Japanese import to their bullpen.

On Sept. 1, 1964, Masanori Murakami, 20, became the first Japanese native to play in the big leagues when he pitched in relief for the Giants against the Mets.

Possessing impressive command of his pitches, Murakami, a left-hander, made an impact. Though the Giants didn’t win a pennant in either of his two seasons with them, Murakami “was right at the top among relief pitchers in the National League,” Giants general manager Chub Feeney told the San Francisco Examiner in 1965. “Possibly only Ron Perranoski of the Dodgers was better.”

In two years with the Giants, Murakami was 5-1 with nine saves and struck out 100 batters in 89.1 innings.

He faced the Cardinals four times, all in 1965, and was 1-0 with a save.

Baseball rebirth

Murakami was born during World War II in Otsuki, Japan, a silk production center, on May 6, 1944.

After the war, Tsuneo “Cappy” Harada, a Japanese-American who served the Allies in military intelligence, was assigned by General Douglas MacArthur to encourage the resumption of baseball in Japan, according to the Hartford Courant.

Helping Harada in his efforts was Lefty O’Doul, two-time National League batting champion. O’Doul made multiple trips to Japan to promote baseball before the war and became a national institution, according to Red Smith of the New York Herald Tribune. In return visits there after the war, O’Doul was an influence on young Masanori Murakami, according to the Examiner.

Murakami was 19 when he joined the Nankai Hawks of the Japan Pacific League in September 1963. Cappy Harada was scouting for the San Francisco Giants then. Harada arranged with Nankai to let three of their teen prospects _ Murakami, infielder Tatsuhiko Tanaka and catcher Hiroshi Takahashi _ join the Giants’ organization in 1964. “They sent me over … to study the baseball system,” Murakami said years later to the New York Times.

New world

After getting a look at the Japanese teens in 1964 spring training, the Giants determined Murakami could pitch for the Class A Fresno farm club. The other two players were sent there with Murakami to observe before they’d join a rookie level farm team at Twins Falls, Idaho, in June.

The agricultural Fresno area then was home to 15,000 Japanese-Americans. Murakami and his two countrymen resided in the home of Keek Saiki and his wife Fumiko. “They drink milk by the gallon,” Fumiko said to the Examiner, “and go for fried chicken and westerns on TV. They are very quiet, write letters a yard long and ask where they can swim.”

Murakami’s manager at Fresno was Bill Werle. A former left-handed reliever for the Cardinals, he saw Murakami had the makeup to be a closer. “His control is incredible,” Werle told the Examiner. “That’s why I put him in tight spots in late innings … His low curve makes the batsmen tap grounders for double plays.”

Murakami was 11-7 with 11 saves and a 1.78 ERA for Fresno. He struck out 159 batters in 106 innings. Murakami made one start _ on Japanese-American Night in Fresno _ and pitched a complete game in a 3-2 win over Reno.

“He was too good for the league,” Werle told the Los Angeles Times.

The 1964 Giants entered September in third place in the National League and were a half game ahead of the Cardinals when they called up Murakami. Attempting the leap from Class A to the majors was formidable. The cultural significance of being the first Japanese-born big leaguer added to the challenge.

Big Apple

The rookie joined the Giants in New York for their series against the Mets. At Shea Stadium, he was greeted by general manager Chub Feeney and several Japanese reporters and photographers.

Murakami carried with him a Stan Musial model glove. When asked by the Examiner whether Musial was one of his favorites, Murakami shrugged. His English was limited.

Feeney “trailed him around the field, pen in hand, before the game,” trying to get Murakami to sign a major-league contract, the Times reported. Murakami didn’t want to sign until he understood what the contract meant. Feeney scrambled to find an interpreter and eventually got Murakami’s signature.

With the Mets ahead, 4-0, Giants manager Al Dark brought in Murakami to pitch the eighth. According to Newsday, “Many of the (39,379) fans stood and cheered when the pitcher came into the game.”

Mets starter Al Jackson told the newspaper, “We thought he might be a little nervous, but he wasn’t.”

Actually, Murakami told the San Francisco Chronicle, “I was afraid.” To calm his nerves, he said he hummed the tune “Sukiyaki” as he walked to the mound.

Murakami struck out the first batter, Charlie Smith. Chris Cannizzaro singled, then Ed Kranepool struck out and Roy McMillan grounded out. “As Murakami, with a spring in his gait and a wad of chewing gum in his mouth, strode toward the Giants’ dugout, Mets fans stood and cheered,” the Associated Press reported.

Stadium organist Jane Jarvis saluted Murakami’s successful debut with “The Japanese Sandman.” Boxscore

The next day, from Lefty O’Doul’s saloon near San Francisco’s Union Square, Examiner columnist Prescott Sullivan wrote that Murakami’s debut made the proprietor the happiest man in town. “Such was his joy, that for a period of six seconds, shortly before 11 a.m. when a slow bartender was on duty, all drinks served at his Geary Street tavern were on the house,” Sullivan noted.

Back in New York, Murakami was a guest on Ralph Kiner’s TV show, but, even with an interpreter, something got lost in translation, according to the Examiner.

Kiner: “What is your best pitch?”

Murakami: “Koufax.”

Kiner: “Who is your favorite pitcher?”

Murakami: “Curveball and a little bit changeup.”

Murakami asked to meet 74-year-old Mets manager Casey Stengel, who spoke his own unique style of English, Stengelese. Stengel posed with Murakami for a photo. Asked what he thought of him, Murakami said to the Examiner, “Nice old man. Very friendly.”

Sudden impact

In his first nine appearances for the 1964 Giants, covering 11 innings, Murakami didn’t allow a run. His first big-league win came against Houston at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. Murakami pitched three scoreless innings and the game ended when Matty Alou of the Dominican Republic slugged a home run (his first in two years) against French-Canadian Claude Raymond in the 11th. Boxscore

In his next appearance, against the Cubs, Murakami faced three future Hall of Famers, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, and retired them in order. Boxscore

Described by the Examiner as “the slingin’ samurai,” he finished with a 1-0 record, one save and a 1.80 ERA for the 1964 Giants, striking out 15 and walking one in 15 innings. Batters hit .163 against him.

The Giants and Nankai Hawks both wanted Murakami to pitch for them in 1965, causing a dispute between the clubs. The matter got settled in late April 1965 when the Hawks agreed to let Murakami play for the Giants on the condition he’d be allowed to return to Japan in 1966 if he desired.

Murakami made his first appearance for the 1965 Giants on May 9, three days after he turned 21. (Murakami and teammate Willie Mays shared a birthday.)

When the Giants were at home, Murakami resided at the Benjamin Franklin Hotel in San Mateo. On the road, his roommate was fellow left-handed reliever Bill Henry, 37, a Texan, who began playing professional baseball in 1948 with the Clarksdale Planters of Mississippi.

Popular with teammates, Murakami “has an innate dignity, a quiet confidence and a sly sense of humor,” the Examiner’s George Murphy observed.

Giants manager Herman Franks was trying to find the players who were helping Murakami learn English. When Franks went to the mound to talk to Murakami during a game, the pitcher smiled and said to him, “Take a hike.” (Or words a good deal stronger than that.) Franks told the Examiner, “I don’t think he knows what he’s saying.”

Reliable reliever

Murakami beat the Cardinals the first time he faced them. With the score tied at 2-2 and Cardinals runners on first and second, one out, Murakami relieved Frank Linzy. He got Tim McCarver to pop out to second and fanned Carl Warwick. After Tom Haller’s two-run homer against Bob Gibson in the top of the 13th, Murakami retired the Cardinals in order for the win. Boxscore

A month later, with the Giants clinging to a 3-2 lead, the Cardinals had Julian Javier on second, two outs, in the ninth when Murakami relieved Linzy and struck out Bill White for the save. Boxscore

Murakami was especially effective against the Dodgers. In eight appearances covering 11 innings versus the 1965 Dodgers, he allowed one run (for an 0.82 ERA) and struck out 11. He also got his first big-league hit, a bunt single, against the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax. Boxscore

Because of his delayed start to the season, Murakami wasn’t available when the Giants’ bullpen lost games to the Dodgers on April 30 and May 7.

“We lost the pennant to the Dodgers by only two games, and I missed one month,” Murakami said to Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times. “If I pitched more, we would have won the pennant.”

Murakami was 4-1 with eight saves for the 1965 Giants. He struck out 85 in 74.1 innings and held batters to a .206 average.

Times have changed

Afterward, Murakami opted to play for the Nankai Hawks. “Murakami explained he wanted to stay with the Giants in 1966, but pressure from his parents, among others, forced him to return to Japan,” the Examiner reported.

Years later, asked by Jim Murray whether he wished he had stayed a Giant, Murakami replied, “Oh, yes.”

Murakami pitched in Japan for 18 years. His best season was 1968 when he was 18-4 with a 2.38 ERA for the Nankai Hawks. His teammates that season included second baseman Don Blasingame, a former Cardinal, and first baseman Marty Keough, who would become a Cardinals scout.

In 1983, when he was 38, Murakami attempted a comeback with the Giants but was released in spring training. “Fastball not so fast,” he told the Examiner.

Thirty years passed between the time Murakami last pitched for the 1965 Giants and the next Japanese player, Hideo Nomo of the 1995 Dodgers, reached the majors. A Japanese network arranged to televise Nomo’s games and hired Murakami as a broadcaster. On Aug. 5, 1995, at Candlestick Park, Murakami was honored by the Giants and threw the ceremonial first pitch. Then Nomo took the mound and hurled a one-hit shutout. Boxscore

Nomo received the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Award. More Japanese players followed. The Cardinals signed their first, outfielder So Taguchi, in January 2002. In 2024, the most celebrated player in the game was the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani of Japan.

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