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Bill Hands and a 1969 showdown between Cubs, Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on March 17, 2017| 2 Comments »

Bill Hands, whose effective starting pitching helped transform the Cubs from losers to contenders under manager Leo Durocher, was a familiar opponent of the Cardinals in the late 1960s and early 1970s. His best performance against the Cardinals came on a day when the behavior of the Wrigley Field Bleacher Bums got out of hand.

Hands pitched 11 seasons (1965-75) in the major leagues and had a career record of 111-110 with a 3.35 ERA.

A right-hander, Hands was best in a three-year stretch for the Cubs when he was 16-10 in 1968, 20-14 in 1969 and 18-15 in 1970.

Against the Cardinals, Hands was 14-12 with a 2.58 ERA in his career. He had more wins (14), innings pitched (205.2) and appearances (38) against the Cardinals than he did versus any other opponent.

After posting losing records in 13 of 14 seasons from 1953-66, the Cubs had 87 wins in 1967 and 84 in 1968. By 1969, they were a threat to the reign of the Cardinals, who had won consecutive National League pennants in 1967 and 1968.

Fired up

On June 28, 1969, the Cubs were in first place in the East Division at 46-26 entering a Saturday game with the Cardinals at Chicago. St. Louis was 35-37, 11 games behind the Cubs. Looking to put a dagger into the Cardinals’ title hopes, the Cubs started Hands against Dave Giusti.

The left field stands at Wrigley Field filled quickly with Cubs fans. Known as Bleacher Bums, the group was whipped into a frenzy by the early-season success of their hometown team and by the sight of the archrival Cardinals.

As Cardinals players appeared in the outfield to shag flies and play catch before the game, “bleacher fans showered the Redbirds players with flashlight batteries, quarters, paper cups, dry ice and other debris in pregame practice,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Cage match

Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood told the Chicago Tribune, “They were throwing steel ball bearings at me. If I turn and catch one in the eye, it’s bye-bye career. I can start carrying a lunch pail to work.”

Cardinals pitcher Mudcat Grant said he was hit in the mouth by a hard rubber ball thrown from the left-field bleachers. Someone also flung a hard hat at him. Teammate Bob Gibson picked up the hard hat and “played the conductor’s role in leading the Bleacher Bums as they jeered the Cardinals with chants,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the Tribune, bleacher fans claimed Grant retaliated by hitting three of them with baseballs he threw into the stands.

“I just lobbed the ball,” Grant said to the Post-Dispatch. “They weren’t lobbing those nails and flashlight batteries and that helmet at me.”

Grant said he “scared” the fans by throwing two baseballs hard against the ivy-covered wall.

“You ought to put a cage over them,” Grant said.

The Bleacher Bums also taunted left fielder Lou Brock, a former Cub, with calls of “bush leaguer.”

“The thing that really bothers me about it is that they are showing you people (reporters) up,” Brock said. “You have glorified them and they show their gratitude by behaving like that. It’s not right.”

Bearing down

Once the game began, Hands became the story. He held the Cardinals to one hit _ a Tim McCarver single _ through five innings.

In the sixth, with the Cubs ahead, 1-0, Flood led off with a single to left. Brock stretched his hitting streak to 13 games with a double into the left-field corner, scoring Flood.

“Both the pitches they hit in that inning were mistakes,” Hands said. “Brock hit a fastball down the middle and Flood got a hanging slider.”

Reminding himself to bear down, Hands struck out Vada Pinson and Joe Torre _ “I got Pinson on a fastball on the corner and Torre missed a slider,” Hands said _ before McCarver flied out.

The Cubs went ahead, 2-1, when Willie Smith hit a home run off Giusti in the bottom half of the inning and they added a run in the seventh.

Hands retired the Cardinals in order in the last three innings, sealing the 3-1 win and finishing with a three-hitter. Boxscore

Koufax impressed

It was the third consecutive complete game pitched by Hands.

“I knew Hands was a good pitcher, but I didn’t know he was that good,” said Sandy Koufax, the retired Dodgers ace who was broadcasting the game for NBC. “He really showed me something today.”

Said Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst: “He threw a good slider about 85 percent of the time to our right-handed batters. He had marvelous control of it _ low and away.”

The loss dropped the Cardinals 12 games behind the Cubs. “They’re far enough behind us that they’ve got to win almost every one of the (13) games left between us,” said Cubs shortstop Don Kessinger.

Though the Cardinals didn’t catch them, the Cubs couldn’t hold onto the division lead. The Mets would finish in first place at 100-62. The Cubs (92-70) placed second and the Cardinals (87-75) were fourth.

Previously: How Mike Shannon put brakes on Cubs title hopes

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How Mike Caldwell recovered from Cardinals rejection

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades on March 8, 2017| 4 Comments »

In his spring training stint with the Cardinals, Mike Caldwell appeared to be a pitcher whose career was in decline. Shelled early and often, Caldwell showed no signs of developing into what he would become: a 20-game winner who would torment the Cardinals in the World Series.

Caldwell’s five-month stint as a Cardinal is a tale of a late bloomer who was in the wrong organization at the wrong time.

In March 1977, Caldwell, 28, was considered a leading candidate to fill a role in the Cardinals’ bullpen. Instead, he was traded before he got a chance to appear in a regular-season game for St. Louis.

Giant troubles

Caldwell, a left-hander, made his major-league debut with the 1971 Padres. He had a 13-25 record in three seasons with the Padres before he was traded to the Giants for slugger Willie McCovey.

In 1974, his first year with the Giants, Caldwell had a breakout season, posting a 14-5 record and 2.95 ERA.

After the season, Caldwell had surgery to remove bone spurs in his left elbow. When he returned, he struggled. “I lost some movement on my best pitch, the sinker, and I tightened up some and came sidearm at times,” Caldwell told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

By 1976, Caldwell was having troubles in the Giants clubhouse as well as on the mound. “I didn’t get along with a couple of the coaches and they took it personally,” Caldwell said.

The Giants’ pitching coach was the former catcher, Buck Rodgers.

Caldwell reached a low point on April 28, 1976, when Doug Clarey hit a home run, the lone hit of his big-league career, against him in the 16th inning, lifting the Cardinals to a 4-2 victory.

Caldwell finished 1-7 with a 4.86 ERA for the 1976 Giants. “I lost my confidence, tried too hard _ overthrew, I guess you’d say _ and I didn’t do very well,” Caldwell said.

Hope rekindled

On Oct. 26, 1976, the Giants traded Caldwell, pitcher John D’Acquisto and catcher Dave Rader to the Cardinals for pitcher John Curtis, outfielder Willie Crawford and utility player Vic Harris.

“I’m just glad to get away from a bad situation,” Caldwell said of leaving the Giants.

The Cardinals slotted Caldwell for the bullpen. “It’s common knowledge that the problem with the Cardinals last year was that middle relief and late relief, except for Al Hrabosky, couldn’t get the other clubs out,” said St. Louis manager Vern Rapp.

Said Caldwell: “I have no illusions. I’ve got to prove I’m good enough to make the staff.”

Bad audition

On March 12, in the Cardinals’ 1977 spring training opener against the Mets, Caldwell pitched two innings and gave up four runs. Three days later, Caldwell pitched an inning against the Dodgers and yielded three runs.

The Cardinals didn’t pitch him much after that.

On March 29, 1977, the Cardinals traded Caldwell to the Reds for pitcher Pat Darcy. In eight spring training innings, Caldwell yielded nine earned runs.

“Rapp called me in and told me, ‘Don’t get mad. You’re going to a contender,’ ” Caldwell said. “I wasn’t mad about that. I just thought he should’ve had some respect for me as a pitcher. That’s all I wanted: Throw me out there to see what I can do.”

Right fit

The Reds weren’t too impressed with Caldwell either. Three months after they acquired him, the Reds dealt Caldwell to the Brewers.

In 1978, Caldwell got a break when the Brewers named George Bamberger their manager. Under Bamberger, who had been a pitching coach for the Orioles, Caldwell fulfilled his potential. He was 22-9 with a 2.36 ERA and 23 complete games for the 1978 Brewers.

“Lots of people had given up on me,” Caldwell said to The Sporting News, noting he was traded by four clubs, including the Cardinals. “Maybe the people who gave up on me were responsible in an indirect way for my coming back. I knew I could pitch and I hope those who gave up on me will say now, ‘Well, he had the guts to battle back and win.’ ”

The third-base coach for Bamberger’s Brewers was Buck Rodgers, with whom Caldwell had feuded in his last season with the Giants. In 1980, Rodgers replaced Bamberger as Brewers manager.

Old wounds

Early in the 1982 season, Caldwell had a run-in with Rodgers aboard a plane, The Sporting News reported. In June 1982, Rodgers was fired and replaced by hitting coach Harvey Kuenn. Rodgers said disgruntled players had “tried to stab me in the back.”

Kuenn led the Brewers to the 1982 American League pennant and a matchup against St. Louis in the World Series.

Five years after he’d been dealt by the Cardinals, Caldwell would be facing them on baseball’s biggest stage.

Series drama

Caldwell, nicknamed “Mr. Warmth” by teammate Gorman Thomas because of his sometimes grumpy nature, was Kuenn’s choice to start Game 1.

Caldwell responded with a three-hit shutout in a 10-0 Brewers victory. Boxscore

Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez said he thought Caldwell was throwing a spitter, an illegal pitch. “He might have been throwing me screwballs, but I never saw a screwball drop like that,” Hernandez said.

Caldwell said he threw “natural sinkers.” Regarding the spitball accusation, Caldwell replied, “I look at it as a compliment. If the ball drops so much that they’re accusing me of throwing a spitter, I’ve got pretty good stuff.”

With the Series deadlocked at 2-2, Caldwell started Game 5 and again was the winning pitcher. He yielded 14 hits and two walks in 8.1 innings, but the Cardinals stranded 12 and the Brewers won, 6-4. Boxscore

The Cardinals won Game 6, setting up a deciding Game 7.

Clinging to a 4-3 lead in the eighth, the Cardinals had runners on first and second, two outs, when Kuenn lifted Moose Haas and replaced him with Caldwell. Darrell Porter and Steve Braun responded with RBI-singles, stretching the lead to 6-3, before Caldwell got Willie McGee to ground out.

Bruce Sutter set down the Brewers in order in the ninth, clinching the championship for the Cardinals. Boxscore

 

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Clay Carroll and his storybook home run off Bob Gibson

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades on February 27, 2017| 2 Comments »

Though relief pitcher Clay Carroll was successful in his lone season with St. Louis, his most significant Cardinals connection came as an opponent.

clay_carrollOn May 30, 1969, in what The Sporting News described as a storybook feat, Carroll hit the only home run of his big-league career. The improbable shot was struck against Bob Gibson in the 10th inning and it carried the Reds to a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals.

Eight years later, Carroll was traded to the Cardinals and excelled for them as a consistently reliable reliever.

Heavy lumber

Carroll’s home run against Gibson occurred in the opener of a series between the Reds and Cardinals at St. Louis. With the Cardinals ahead, 3-0, in the seventh inning, Johnny Bench tied the score with a three-run home run _ his first career hit against Gibson.

Carroll relieved Wayne Granger in the eighth and the game became a duel between Carroll and Gibson.

After Gibson retired the first two batters in the 10th, Carroll stepped to the plate with a bat he borrowed from teammate Alex Johnson, a former Cardinal. Johnson’s bats, Carroll explained to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “have a lot more wood in them than the one I had been using.” Johnson’s bats “normally are about as heavy as any in baseball _ some weighing as much as 40 ounces,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

With the count 3-and-2, Carroll swung at a high fastball and lifted a fly ball to left. “I don’t want to brag, but when I hit the ball I knew it was gone,” Carroll said to United Press International. “Did you see it take off?”

The ball hit the top of the fence at Busch Stadium and bounced over the wall, giving the Reds a 4-3 lead.

“I was just swinging, trying to get on,” said Carroll. “Usually when I face Gibson, I just chop at the ball. That’s about all you can do against him.”

Said Reds manager Dave Bristol: “You should have seen the smile on Carroll’s face when he returned to the dugout. It looked like a cut watermelon.”

In the bottom half of the 10th, Carroll got Joe Hague to fly out before walking Lou Brock. Curt Flood grounded out, moving Brock into scoring position at second, before Vada Pinson, Carroll’s former Reds teammate, lined out to shortstop, ending the game.

Carroll pitched three hitless innings to earn the win. Boxscore

Championship caliber

Carroll was an important contributor to Reds teams that won pennants in 1970, 1972 and 1975. In 14 World Series appearances for the Reds, Carroll was 2-1 with a save and a 1.33 ERA over 20.1 innings. He was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, shutting out the Red Sox for two innings.

Dealt by the Reds to the White Sox in December 1975, Carroll produced a 4-4 record, six saves and a 2.56 ERA for Chicago in 1976.

On March 23, 1977, the Cardinals acquired Carroll, 35, from the White Sox for pitcher Lerrin LaGrow. The Cardinals projected Carroll to set up closer Al Hrabosky.

“This is obviously what we’ve been after _ consistency and experience from a right-handed reliever, a guy who’s been under fire in championship play,” said manager Vern Rapp. “We had nobody on our staff who fit those qualifications.”

Said Carroll: “I want to work as often as possible because the more I work the more consistent I am. I like the Cardinals, especially because they’re an aggressive team at bat and on the bases.”

Carroll reported to camp at 215 pounds, according to the Post-Dispatch. Rapp wanted him to be at 200 pounds when the season began. He instructed Carroll to run extra laps each day during spring training.

A master at locating his pitches, Carroll delivered for the 1977 Cardinals. “When Carroll wasn’t saving games, he at least was dousing huge blazes to keep the Cardinals in the games,” The Sporting News reported. “The tighter the situation, the more (Carroll) seemed to enjoy it.”

Noting how Carroll got batters to swing at pitches out of the zone, Bristol said, “Carroll would rather eat a green fly at home plate than throw a strike.”

Carroll was 4-2 with four saves and a 2.50 ERA in 51 appearances for the Cardinals before they traded him back to the White Sox on Aug. 31, 1977.

3-for-1

The trade created “a lot of eyebrow raising” because Carroll had been the Cardinals’ most consistent reliever, The Sporting News reported.

The Cardinals were 10 games out of first place with about a month remaining in the season when the deal was made. The White Sox wanted Carroll because they were in contention for a division title, two games behind the first-place Royals.

St. Louis got three players in the deal: pitchers Silvio Martinez and Dave Hamilton and outfielder Nyls Nyman.

Carroll was disappointed to leave the Cardinals. “I thought I did a good job,” he said. “I guess they’re planning to go with a younger pitching staff next year.”

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How Buddy Schultz became valuable to Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades on February 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Two years after he made his big-league debut against St. Louis as a winner in a game that ended Bob Gibson’s career, Buddy Schultz surprised the Cardinals by becoming one of their most effective relievers.

buddy_schultzOn Feb. 28, 1977, Schultz was traded by the Cubs to the Cardinals for minor-league pitcher Mark Covert.

A left-hander, Schultz, 26, was acquired to pitch for the Cardinals’ top farm club.

When given a chance to fill in for an injured pitcher early in the Cardinals’ season, Schultz capitalized on the opportunity and gained the confidence of manager Vern Rapp.

On a staff with established talent such as Bob Forsch, John Denny and Al Hrabosky, it was Schultz who emerged as the Cardinals’ leader in earned run average that season.

Name game

Charles Budd Schultz was born Sept. 19, 1950, in Cleveland. “The middle name was for my Uncle Bud and they fancied it up by adding the extra ‘d,’ ” Schultz told Dick Kaegel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Schultz received a baseball scholarship from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts. In a game for Miami against Wright State, Schultz struck out 26 batters.

The Cubs selected Schultz in the sixth round of the June 1972 amateur free-agent draft.

Win vs. Gibson

Schultz made his big-league debut for Chicago on Sept. 3, 1975, at St. Louis. In the sixth inning, with the score tied at 6-6, Schultz relieved Tom Dettore and got Bake McBride to ground out to second, ending the inning.

In the seventh, the Cubs struck for five runs against Gibson, who had relieved Ron Reed. Pete LaCock, batting for Schultz, hit a grand slam off Gibson, giving the Cubs an 11-6 lead. Paul Reuschel shut out the Cardinals over the last three innings, preserving the win for Schultz. Boxscore

Gibson, 39, never pitched in a big-league game again, ending a career that led to induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

A week later, on Sept. 10, 1975, Schultz pitched 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Steve Stone and got his second win in the Cubs’ 7-5 triumph over the Cardinals at Chicago. Boxscore

In two seasons (1975-76) with the Cubs, Schultz was 3-1 with a 6.14 ERA in 35 games.

Getting a break

On the eve of spring training in 1977, Schultz got into a contract squabble, prompting the Cubs to make him available. Cardinals general manager Bing Devine took a chance on Schultz, signed him to a minor-league contract and instructed him to report to the Class AAA New Orleans Pelicans.

“Devine asked me what I wanted and I told him and I signed in one minute,” Schultz said. “Maybe I should have asked for more.”

On March 31, 1977, Schultz worked a scoreless eighth inning in a 2-1 Cardinals spring training victory over the Mets. He caught Rapp’s attention by retiring all three batters he faced, striking out two. “You had to like what Schultz did,” said Rapp.

However, when the 1977 big-league season opened, the Cardinals kept rookie relievers John Urrea and Johnny Sutton on the roster. Schultz stayed behind at the minor-league camp in Florida.

On April 9, two days after the Cardinals’ season opener, pitcher John D’Acquisto injured his right calf and was placed on the disabled list. Schultz was called up to replace him.

Good stuff

Mixing a slider with a fastball and palmball, Schultz pitched consistently well in long relief for the Cardinals.

On May 12, 1977, he combined with D’Acquisto and Hrabosky on a one-hitter against the Reds at St. Louis. Relieving D’Acquisto, who started and pitched four hitless innings, Schultz held the Reds hitless until Ken Griffey doubled with two outs in the eighth.

“The fastball Griffey hit was up in his eyes,” Schultz said.

Hrabosky pitched a hitless ninth, preserving the win for Schultz, who was 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA. Boxscore

A month later, the Cardinals made a series of moves that blindsided Schultz.

Strikeout artist

On June 15, 1977, the Cardinals acquired a starter, Tom Underwood, from the Phillies and a reliever, Rawly Eastwick, from the Reds.

Eastwick joined three other high-profile veterans _ Hrabosky, Clay Carroll and Butch Metzger _ in the St. Louis bullpen. Needing to open a roster spot for the newcomers, the Cardinals demoted Schultz (3-1, 1.41 ERA) to New Orleans, with instructions to use him as a starter.

Stunned, Schultz took out his frustration on American Association batters.

In his first start for New Orleans, on June 18, 1977, Schultz struck out 15 in a 9-3 victory over Denver. Schultz also contributed a double, single and RBI. “Maybe they sent me down here to work on my hitting,” he said to The Sporting News.

In his second start, Schultz struck out 10 before a blister developed on a left finger, causing him to depart in the sixth.

Over two starts for New Orleans, Schultz struck out 25 in 14.2 innings.

When John Denny pulled a hamstring and was placed on the disabled list, the Cardinals recalled Schultz to replace him.

Triumphant return

On June 28, 1977, the Cardinals gave Schultz his first big-league start in the opener of a doubleheader against the Pirates at St. Louis. Schultz, who held the Pirates to a run over 7.1 innings in a 6-1 Cardinals victory, departed to a standing ovation.

“With that, he suddenly produced a two-arm victory thrust and yelled, ‘I’m back,’ ” Neal Russo of the Post-Dispatch reported.

Before he could make a second start for St. Louis, Schultz pulled a leg muscle and was placed on the disabled list. When he returned, the Cardinals utilized him primarily as a reliever.

“He’s much too valuable to take out of the bullpen,” said Cardinals pitching coach Claude Osteen.

Schultz finished the 1977 season with a 6-1 record and a team-leading 2.32 ERA.

Previously: Bob Gibson and his final days with Cardinals

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How Dave LaPoint got second chance with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades on February 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(Updated May 29, 2026)

Looking to rebuild his reputation, Dave LaPoint returned to the organization where he felt the most comfortable and had enjoyed his greatest success.

dave_lapointOn Jan. 19, 1987, LaPoint, a free agent, signed with the Cardinals, who expected him to compete for a spot in their starting rotation.

At 27, his career was at a crossroads.

Five years earlier, LaPoint, a left-hander, helped the Cardinals win the 1982 National League pennant and World Series championship.

After the Cardinals traded him in February 1985, LaPoint’s career spiraled. He pitched for three teams in two years, posting losing records at each stop, got traded twice and released once.

Out of shape and labeled a clubhouse jester, LaPoint said he was committed to rededicating himself to becoming a winner and was seeking a nurturing environment in which to attempt that comeback. The 1987 Cardinals and manager Whitey Herzog provided the setting LaPoint sought.

Cards contributor

LaPoint’s tenure with the Cardinals began in December 1980 when he was acquired from the Brewers in a deal engineered by Herzog. The Cardinals traded Rollie Fingers, Ted Simmons and Pete Vuckovich for Sixto Lezcano, David Green, Lary Sorensen and LaPoint.

LaPoint’s breakthrough year was 1982. He’d spent the last month of the 1980 season with the Brewers and the last month of the 1981 season with St. Louis, but 1982 was the first year he started a season in the majors. Veteran players such as Gene Tenace and Keith Hernandez expressed to him what was expected.

In the book “Whitey’s Boys,” LaPoint recalled, “The very first week, after a game, I was just going out of the clubhouse to go home when Tenace grabbed me by the collar and said, ‘Sit down, kid. We’re going to talk about the game and see if you learned anything tonight.’ We did that over and over. That’s how I learned to pitch. That’s how I learned to play the game.

“Against Pittsburgh, I had two outs in the first inning and nobody on and I struck out Bill Madlock on a changeup. I came in after the inning and Hernandez put me up against the wall. He said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I just struck out Bill Madlock.’ He said, ‘What happens when he comes up in the seventh inning with men on base and you’ve got to get him out? What are you going to throw then? Are you going to tell me you couldn’t have gotten him out there with something else? Now you’ve just wasted your best pitch in a non-RBI situation.’ I said, ‘Man, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’ After that, I did. Those were the little things they did that made the team successful.”

LaPoint began the 1982 season as a reliever and joined the starting rotation in May. He appeared in 42 games, including 21 as a starter, for the 1982 Cardinals and had a 9-3 record and 3.42 ERA. He started Game 4 of the 1982 World Series against the Brewers, yielded one earned run in 6.1 innings and got no decision in a 7-5 Milwaukee victory.

LaPoint earned 12 wins for the Cardinals in both 1983 and 1984.

In the book “Whitey’s Boys,” Whitey Herzog said, “LaPoint lived on his changeup, one of the greatest I’ve ever seen.”

When the Cardinals, seeking a run producer to replace George Hendrick, had a chance to get Jack Clark before the start of the 1985 season, they sent LaPoint, David Green, Jose Uribe and Gary Rajsich to the Giants.

Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the Cardinals parted with LaPoint because they “thought he might be influencing young players unduly.”

Hummel described LaPoint as a “leader in clubhouse revelry” and “a top consumer of the owner’s (Anheuser-Busch’s) product.”

Prodigal son

LaPoint had a 7-17 record for the 1985 Giants, who traded him to the Tigers after the season.

LaPoint and Tigers manager Sparky Anderson were a bad match. “I couldn’t get along with Sparky,” LaPoint said. After posting a 3-6 record and 5.72 ERA for the Tigers, LaPoint was traded to the Padres in July 1986. He was 1-4 for the Padres, who released him after the season.

LaPoint decided to make changes. Weighing between 230 and 240 pounds, he dropped to 220.

The Expos and Giants wanted to sign LaPoint, but he chose the Cardinals, whose offer of a base salary of $125,000 was a cut from his $550,000 contract in 1986.

“It feels finally that I’m back where I belong,” LaPoint said. “… In talking to Whitey, he said he would use me like he did in ’82. That’s fine with me. It got me a World Series ring.”

Asked his reaction to LaPoint rejoining the Cardinals, center fielder Willie McGee said, “I like him … He’s kind of a clown, but that’s Dave LaPoint.”

It’s a reputation LaPoint said he was determined to change.

“I used to mess around during drills and I don’t do that anymore,” LaPoint said after reporting to Cardinals camp. “… It was time to put a stop to it.”

Redbird reliever

LaPoint had a successful spring training. He was 2-0 with a 2.34 ERA in 15.1 innings pitched in Grapefruit League exhibition games.

The Cardinals opened the 1987 regular season with five left-handers: starters John Tudor and Greg Mathews and relievers Ricky Horton, Pat Perry and LaPoint. (Ken Dayley, another left-handed reliever, was on the disabled list.)

In his first appearance for the 1987 Cardinals, on April 10 against the Pirates at Pittsburgh, LaPoint took the loss when he yielded a RBI-double to Sid Bream in the bottom of the ninth. Boxscore

LaPoint was scheduled to make a start April 25, 1987, versus the Mets at New York, but that plan was scratched when the Cardinals called up Joe Magrane from the minors and put the rookie left-hander into the rotation.

LaPoint remained in the bullpen and largely was ineffective.

He got a win on April 18, 1987, against the Mets at St. Louis, but didn’t perform well. In the 10th, LaPoint threw a wild pitch, enabling Al Pedrique to score from third with the go-ahead run. LaPoint was rescued when the Cardinals scored five times off Jesse Orosco in the bottom half of the inning. Tom Pagnozzi’s RBI-single tied the score at 8-8 and Tommy Herr’s grand slam made LaPoint the winner. Boxscore

On the road again

With his ERA at 6.75 after four relief appearances, LaPoint was demoted to Louisville on April 27, 1987. LaPoint had the option of declaring himself a free agent, but agreed to return to the minor leagues for the first time since 1981.

Placed in the starting rotation by Louisville manager Dave Bialas, LaPoint lost his first three decisions, but found his groove. He completed four of his last five starts for Louisville and had a 5-5 record when he was recalled by the Cardinals on July 8, 1987.

“It was the best thing in the world for me,” LaPoint said of his stint in the minors. “… I’ve learned to pitch a little different style.”

LaPoint made two July starts for the Cardinals and got no decision in either.

On July 30, 1987, the Cardinals traded LaPoint to the White Sox for minor-league pitcher Bryce Hulstrom.

“LaPoint’s main problem has been control,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “If he gets the ball up, he gets hammered. It usually takes him a couple of innings to find the strike zone and by then the game usually is out of control.”

After posting a 1-1 record and 6.75 ERA for the 1987 Cardinals, LaPoint was 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA for the 1987 White Sox.

The Cardinals, helped by a combined 30 wins from left-handed starters Mathews, Tudor and Magrane, finished 95-67 and won the pennant.

Previously: Trade for Jack Clark shook Cards from their slumber

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The day Warren Spahn shocked Stan Musial

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on January 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(Updated May 3, 2026)

Given a choice of facing Del Ennis or Stan Musial with runners in scoring position and the game on the line, Warren Spahn did what no other big-league pitcher had done before him: He opted to pitch to Musial.

warren_spahnIt was the only time in Musial’s illustrious 22-year Cardinals career that a pitcher intentionally walked a batter in order to get to him.

It happened on Aug. 17, 1957, when the Cardinals and Braves played at Milwaukee’s County Stadium.

Pennant race

The slumping Cardinals, who had lost nine in a row, were fighting to remain in the 1957 National League pennant race when they went to Milwaukee for a four-game series in August. The Braves, riding a 10-game winning streak, were in first place, 7.5 games ahead of the Cardinals.

St. Louis won the series opener, 6-2, behind the slugging of Ennis, who hit a three-run home run off Juan Pizarro.

Game 2 of the series matched Larry Jackson of the Cardinals against Lew Burdette. The Cardinals jumped ahead with three runs in the first, but the Braves came back with two in the sixth and one in the eighth, tying the score at 3-3.

Managerial moves

Don McMahon, a rookie, relieved Burdette in the ninth. After Eddie Kasko grounded out, Jackson hit a broken-bat pop fly to right that fell safely in front of Bob Hazle for a single. The next batter, Ken Boyer, reached base when shortstop Felix Mantilla booted a grounder for an error.

With Wally Moon at the plate, McMahon’s first pitch eluded catcher Del Crandall for a passed ball. Jackson advanced to third on the play and Boyer to second.

Braves manager Fred Haney lifted McMahon and brought in Spahn, a left-hander, to face Moon, a left-handed batter, with the count at 1-and-0.

Two nights earlier, on Aug. 15, Spahn started against the Reds at Cincinnati and pitched a complete game in an 8-1 Braves victory. With one day of rest, the Braves ace was making his fourth and final relief appearance of the season.

Unforgettable ploy

Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson countered by bringing in Ennis, who batted from the right side, to replace Moon.

Ennis, batting .275 with 17 home runs, was a threat, but he was no Musial. At 36, Musial was batting .333 and would finish the year at .351, earning his seventh National League batting crown.

With first base open, Spahn issued an intentional walk to Ennis, loading the bases with one out and bringing Musial, a left-handed batter, to the plate.

In his autobiography “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said the sight of Spahn walking Ennis to face him is one “I’ll never forget.”

Musial rapped a groundball to the second baseman, friend and former teammate Red Schoendienst, who fielded the ball and flipped it to Mantilla for the force of Ennis at second. Mantilla’s relay throw to first baseman Frank Torre was in time to retire Musial, completing the inning-ending double play.

“He’s the only pitcher ever to walk a batter to face me,” Musial said in his book.

Musial told writer Roger Kahn, “Spahnie knew everything about his profession, and he was smart enough to change before he had to … He began tinkering with a screwball, and as the fastball began to go, he’d come at you with the screwgie. Then came the slider.”

In Jim Brosnan’s book “Great Baseball Pitchers,” he said of Spahn, “His carefully controlled motion gave no hint of the type of pitch he was delivering. Batters had to wait, watch for the spin and break of the screwball. Yet they had to be ready also for the fastball … Spahn exercised tight control on each of his deliveries. Most pitchers work for years just to be able to throw the ball consistently into the strike zone. Spahn worked just on the edges (of) the strike zone.”

Spahn said, “The plate is 17 inches wide. I try to avoid the foot in the middle. I pitch to the two-and-a-half inches on each side.”

Back and forth

Even after Spahn got Musial to ground into the double play, the drama wasn’t over. Braves center fielder Hank Aaron had a large role to play in the outcome.

In the 11th, with Spahn pitching, Don Blasingame led off and stretched a single into a double. Kasko grounded out to second, advancing Blasingame to third.

Larry Jackson was due up next, but Hutchinson sent Walker Cooper, 42, to bat for the pitcher. Cooper lifted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Blasingame and giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

Billy Muffett, a rookie, was Hutchinson’s choice to pitch the bottom half of the inning. Muffett retired the first batter, Schoendienst, on a pop-up.

The next batter, Frank Torre, hit a low line drive to left. Ennis lumbered in, got a glove on the ball and dropped it. Torre, credited with a single, was replaced by pinch-runner Hawk Taylor.

Eddie Mathews followed with a single to center and Taylor advanced to third.

That brought Aaron to the plate.

Hank hammers

Aaron was angry. In the ninth, Jackson moved Aaron off the plate with a high, tight pitch. Aaron, in comments to the Associated Press, accused Jackson of “trying to stick one in my ear.”

“It’s on purpose,” Aaron said. “I can tell when they’re throwing at me.

“If that’s the only way they can win a ballgame, they ought to get other jobs. I don’t mind being brushed back … but I don’t like them balls aimed at my head. We don’t knock Stan Musial down, so why do they do it to me?”

Aaron hit Muffett’s first pitch into right-center for a two-run double, giving the Braves a 5-4 victory and making a winner of Spahn. Boxscore

The Braves went on to clinch the pennant Sept. 23 on Aaron’s 11th-inning walkoff home run against Muffett. Boxscore

Previously: Del Ennis provided power in Cardinals lineup

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