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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.

On 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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(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.

On 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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