Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Games’ Category

Gene Tenace delivered what Cardinals wanted from him

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades on December 11, 2020| 4 Comments »

Gene Tenace brought to the Cardinals a winning pedigree, leadership and a consistent ability to get on base. Willing to accept a reserve role as a catcher and first baseman, Tenace was a good fit for a franchise looking to change its culture and transform from underachievers to champions.

On Dec. 8, 1980, the Cardinals got Tenace, pitchers Rollie Fingers and Bob Shirley, and a player to be named, catcher Bob Geren, from the Padres for catchers Terry Kennedy and Steve Swisher, infielder Mike Phillips and pitchers John Littlefield, John Urrea, Kim Seaman and Al Olmsted.

Fingers, a closer and future Hall of Famer, was the player who got the attention for the Cardinals when the deal was made, but Tenace was the one who contributed the most.

Four days after acquiring Fingers, Whitey Herzog, who had the dual roles of Cardinals manager and general manager, dealt him and another future Hall of Famer, catcher Ted Simmons, to the Brewers. Tenace remained with the Cardinals for two years, fulfilled the role Herzog envisioned for him, and helped them become World Series champions in 1982.

Finding his way

Tenace was born Fiore Gino Tennaci in Russelton, Pa. He grew up in Lucasville, Ohio, and his name was changed to Fury Gene Tenace because the family wanted it to be more American than Italian.

He was 18 and a shortstop when the Athletics selected him in the 20th round of baseball’s first amateur draft in 1965. Tenace was an outfielder and third baseman in the Athletics’ farm system before he was converted to catcher in 1968.

A right-handed batter, Tenace generated tremendous bat speed. “I play to hit,” Tenace told The Sporting News. “I love to hit.”

A turning point in Tenace’s career came in 1969 when he was assigned to Birmingham, a Class AA club managed by Gus Niarhos. A former big-league catcher who started for the 1948 Yankees before being replaced by future Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, Niarhos taught Tenace how to play the position.

Tenace, 22, was called up to the Athletics in May 1969. After he went 0-for-4 in his debut against Denny McLain, Tenace got a single the next day versus Luis Tiant for his first hit in the majors.

Though the Athletics liked Tenace’s hitting, the catcher they liked best was Dave Duncan, the future Cardinals pitching coach. Duncan was the Athletics’ starting catcher in 1971, when they won the first of five consecutive division titles.

Duncan was the starter again in 1972 before he went into a hitting slump. “He wasn’t doing it with the bat and it was beginning to affect his catching,” Athletics manager Dick Williams said.

Tenace replaced Duncan for the last two months of the 1972 season, and he was the starter when the Athletics went into the World Series against the Reds.

Valuable player

Tenace took center stage in the 1972 World Series. In Game 1, he became the first player to hit home runs in his first two World Series at-bats. The homers versus Gary Nolan produced all the runs for the Athletics in a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

Tenace hit .348 with four home runs and nine RBI against the Reds and was named most valuable player of the 1972 World Series. Video

Moved to first base in 1973, he had 24 home runs and a .387 on-base percentage. In the World Series against the Mets, Tenace had 11 walks and three hits.

In 1974, when the Athletics won a third consecutive World Series title, Tenace again played first base and hit 26 home runs. He returned to catcher in 1975 and had 29 home runs and an on-base percentage of .395.

Regarding his ability to get on base often, Tenace told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’ve always used discipline at the plate. I know my limitations. I’ve been in the game long enough to know I can handle only certain pitches.”

Herr almost dealt

Tenace became a free agent after the 1976 season and signed with the Padres. He was tough versus the Cardinals. In 1978, he had 11 RBI in 12 games against them and his on-base percentage was .467.

In 1980, Tenace and Fingers clashed with manager Jerry Coleman and asked to be traded. According to The Sporting News, the Padres tried to trade Tenace to the Cubs in July 1980, but it didn’t work out.

Herzog was interested in both Fingers and Tenace. The Padres wanted a young catcher, and the Cardinals’ Terry Kennedy and the Pirates’ Tony Pena were the two who appealed to them most.

In his book, “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said Kennedy approached him near the end of the 1980 season and asked to be traded to a team needing a starting catcher.

Herzog and Padres general manager Jack McKeon met during the 1980 World Series and agreed to a trade of Kennedy, second baseman Tommy Herr and others for Fingers, Tenace and Bob Shirley. “I can make that deal now,” Herzog told the Post-Dispatch.

Herr said, “I don’t know if I’d like it or not. I want to play with a contender.”

The trade “was close” to being made, The Sporting News reported, but it got held up because of a snag over Fingers’ contract.

Herzog and McKeon resumed their talks at the baseball winter meetings in December. In his book, Herzog said he almost traded Kennedy to the Reds for reliever Tom Hume, but when the Padres agreed to take other players instead of Herr, Herzog closed the deal with them.

Good as advertised

Herzog said Fingers was “the great relief pitcher I needed, but not the one I really wanted. The guy I was really after was Bruce Sutter.”

Fingers was insurance in case Herzog couldn’t make a deal for Sutter.

On Dec. 9, 1980, the day after the trade with the Padres, the Cardinals acquired Sutter from the Cubs. With catcher Darrell Porter joining the Cardinals earlier in the week as a free agent and Sutter filling the closer role, Herzog decided to package Fingers and Ted Simmons in a trade to the Brewers.

Tenace was projected to back up Porter at catcher and Keith Hernandez at first base. Unfazed about a reserve role, Tenace said, “I’ve been adjusting all my life.”

Tenace delivered what was expected of him. He had on-base percentages for the Cardinals of .416 in 1981 and .436 in 1982.

A leader in the clubhouse, he made sure the reserves were as ready as he was to play. Outfielder Tito Landrum said, “If I start having a letdown, he comes over and kicks my rear end. Literally. He pulls no punches. He lets you know.”

After the Cardinals won Game 7 of the 1982 World Series versus the Brewers, Porter, like Tenace in 1972, was named the Series’ most valuable player, meaning the Cardinals had two catchers on the same team who had received the honor.

Tenace became a free agent after the 1982 World Series. Herzog said the Cardinals wanted to keep him, but on a one-year contract. When the Pirates gave Tenace a three-year deal, he accepted.

After one season with the Pirates, Tenace was through playing. He went on to coach, manage and instruct, including a stint with the Cardinals as minor league hitting coordinator from 2002-07.

Read Full Post »

Hometown kid Kerry Robinson made good with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters on December 8, 2020| 4 Comments »

Kerry Robinson encountered multiple roadblocks and detours before he got a chance to play for his hometown Cardinals, completing a family quest his father began several decades earlier.

Robinson, 27, signed a minor-league contract with the Cardinals on Dec. 7, 2000, after becoming a free agent.

An outfielder with speed who hit for contact from the left side, Robinson was a St. Louis native who followed the Cardinals as a youth. His father, Rogers Robinson, spent 11 seasons as an outfielder and first baseman in the Cardinals’ farm system but never played in the majors.

Kerry Robinson was drafted and signed by the Cardinals in 1995 and played in their farm system before he was acquired by the Rays in 1997. Three years later, when he rejoined the Cardinals, Robinson was ticketed for the minor leagues, but he set his sights higher.

All in the family

Robinson was born in St. Louis in October 1973. His mother, Lois, was a special education teacher and his father, Rogers, was a pharmaceutical salesman, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Before Kerry came along, Rogers Robinson was a professional baseball player. A St. Louis native and left-handed batter, Rogers Robinson had two stints in the Cardinals’ farm system: 1957-61 and 1964-69. He had a career batting average of .298, with 1,348 hits in 1,256 games, according to baseball-reference.com.

Rogers Robinson twice reached the Class AAA level (1961 and 1964) and hit .300 or better in six seasons. He twice had seasons of more than 80 RBI and he hit 15 or more home runs five times.

Kerry Robinson attended several Cardinals games at Busch Memorial Stadium as a youth. He also developed into a standout baseball, hockey and football player at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis. As a senior, he scored 29 goals for the hockey team and hit .557 for the baseball team.

“I’m a big hockey fan,” Robinson told the Post-Dispatch. “That’s probably my favorite sport, with football next and then baseball.”

Baseball was the sport Robinson excelled in when he went to college at Southeast Missouri State. He had a 35-game hitting streak, an Ohio Valley Conference record, his senior season.

While working toward a degree in sports management, Robinson spent time as a public relations intern for the NFL Rams, but his future was in baseball. The Cardinals chose him in the 34th round of the June 1995 amateur baseball draft.

Winding road

Robinson adapted quickly to professional baseball. In 1995, his first season, he hit .296, with 74 hits in 60 games, for Johnson City.

At spring training the next year, Robinson caught the attention of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa. “Tony said, ‘If you keep hitting like you are now, you’ll be playing here.’ ” Robinson told the Post-Dispatch.

Assigned to Peoria in 1996, Robinson hit .359 and had an on-base percentage of .422. He also had 50 stolen bases. He got promoted to Class AA Arkansas in 1997 and did well again, hitting .321, swiping 40 bases and producing an on-base percentage of .386.

At 24, his career was on the rise, but it took a turn when the Rays selected him in the American League expansion draft in November 1997.

Called up to the Rays in September 1998, Robinson went hitless in three at-bats, got waived and was claimed by the Mariners, who sent him back to the minors. Traded to the Reds in July 1999, Robinson was called up in September, used as a pinch-runner and was hitless in one at-bat.

Released by the Reds in March 2000, Robinson considered quitting, but instead signed with the Yankees, his fifth organization. He went to their Columbus farm club, hit .318 and had 37 stolen bases.

Granted free agency after the 2000 season, Robinson returned to the Cardinals, who assigned him to Class AAA Memphis.

Opportunity knocks

Though he was a non-roster player, Robinson was determined to make an impression at Cardinals spring training camp in 2001.

“My dream is to play in Busch Stadium this season, even if it’s only one game, or one at-bat,” Robinson told columnist Bernie Miklasz. “I grew up watching baseball at Busch Stadium and I want to be on that field.”

Robinson hit so well throughout spring training that after he was reassigned to the minor-league complex the Cardinals brought him back to play in big-league exhibition games.

Robinson opened the 2001 season with Memphis, batted leadoff and hit .325 in 10 games. When Mark McGwire went on the disabled list on April 18, 2001, the Cardinals called up Robinson to fill a reserve outfield spot while Craig Paquette and Bobby Bonilla moved to first base to substitute for McGwire.

Asked about getting to the big leagues with the Cardinals after his father had tried so long to do the same, Robinson told the Post-Dispatch, “I’m sort of living out his dream. I’m so proud I can do that.”

Welcome to the club

On April 24, 2001, Robinson got his first major-league hit, an infield single for the Cardinals against the Expos’ Masato Yoshii. Boxscore

A month later, Robinson got his first major-league start in the outfield and got a two-run single for his first RBI, giving the Cardinals the lead in a victory against the Brewers. Boxscore

After getting two hits in a start in center versus the Reds on June 4, 2001, Robinson was hitting .368 for the season.

“He’s got a nice calmness about him,” La Russa said. “It’s like he hasn’t been intimidated at all. He’s really had some good at-bats in clutch situations. When he puts it in play, he runs like hell.”

Bernie Miklasz noted, “Robinson is a polished hitter. He knows how to work pitchers, he can draw walks, he makes contact.”

Going deep

On June 17, 2001, Robinson entered a game against the White Sox after McGwire was ejected for arguing a called third strike. Batting in the cleanup spot, Robinson hit his first major-league home run. Boxscore

Robinson hit .285 and had 11 stolen bases for the 2001 Cardinals. In the decisive Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the Diamondbacks, he batted for McGwire in the ninth inning and executed a sacrifice bunt. Boxscore

Robinson hit .260 for the Cardinals in 2002 and .250 in 2003.

Though optioned twice to the minors during the 2003 season, Robinson came back and hit .356 for the Cardinals in August. A highlight was a walkoff home run to beat the Cubs on Aug. 28, 2003. Boxscore and Video

Bernie Miklasz wrote, “Robinson’s hunger and energy are good for the team.”

“He’s an igniter for us,” said La Russa. “He’s got a good idea about being aggressive with a ball in the strike zone, not taking those pitches.”

In March 2004, the Cardinals traded Robinson to the Padres for outfielder Brian Hunter, who was released two months later and never played a game for them.

Read Full Post »

Lindy McDaniel was marathon man in relief for Yankees

Posted in Games, Pitchers on December 2, 2020| 4 Comments »

At an age when many pitchers are finishing their careers, Lindy McDaniel was establishing a personal standard for endurance.

On Aug. 4, 1973, McDaniel, 37, pitched 13 innings in relief and got the win for the Yankees in a game against the Tigers.

It was the most innings McDaniel had pitched in a game since entering the majors at 19 with the Cardinals in 1955. His previous high was 9.2 innings for the Cardinals in a start against the Dodgers at Brooklyn in June 1957.

“He is one of the best-conditioned athletes I have ever managed,” the Yankees’ Ralph Houk told The Sporting News.

McDaniel entered the game in the second inning and pitched through the 14th. He allowed one run, a home run by Mickey Stanley in the fifth, and held the Tigers scoreless over the last nine innings, the equivalent of a complete-game shutout.

Yankee dandies

The bullpen combination of McDaniel, a right-hander, and left-hander Sparky Lyle helped the Yankees contend in the American League East in 1973. “I don’t see any club in the division stronger in the bullpen than we are,” Houk said.

The Sporting News noted, “McDaniel and Lyle are as different as day and night. Lindy is the austere, quiet lay preacher who is all business at all times. Sparky is the bon vivant, the fun-loving Rover boy of loud laughter and practical jokes. Yet they have one similarity: neither frets about his day’s work when it is over, nor does either get too carried away by success.”

Entering their Saturday night game at Detroit, the Yankees (60-51) were tied with the Tigers (58-49) for second place, a half-game behind the Orioles (57-47).

The starting pitchers were left-handers, Fritz Peterson for the Yankees and Woodie Fryman for the Tigers.

In the first inning, the Tigers scored a run. While fielding a groundball for the third out, Peterson felt discomfort in his thigh. When he went out to pitch the second, Peterson threw one pitch to the first batter, felt pain in his leg and removed himself from the game.

Houk brought in McDaniel to relieve.

Good stuff

The Yankees reached Fryman for a run in the third, tying the score at 1-1, and Stanley’s home run against McDaniel put the Tigers back in front, 2-1, in the fifth.

Facing a Tigers lineup featuring Al Kaline, Willie Horton and Frank Howard in the third through fifth spots in the order, McDaniel kept them in check.

“The secret is velocity,” McDaniel told The Sporting News. “I can’t succeed without it. My velocity is better than it had been in a long time. If I have good velocity, I can be successful without a good forkball. A fastball and slider are enough, but when I also have the good forkball, I really can do a job. Without velocity, I can’t go to the fastball when my forkball is off.”

In the ninth, the Yankees had Hal Lanier on first with two outs, when Matty Alou came to the plate to face John Hiller, the Tigers’ closer. The matchup appeared to favor Hiller, the American League saves leader and a left-hander. Alou, who batted from the left side, drove a pitch to the wall in left-center for a double, scoring Lanier with the tying run.

The Tigers threatened in the 12th, loading the bases with two outs, but McDaniel got Tony Taylor to fly out to end the inning.

Oh, what a night

As the game entered the 14th, Houk decided he would lift McDaniel in the bottom half of the inning. Lyle was warming and ready in the bullpen.

Horace Clarke changed Houk’s thinking when he led off the top of the 14th with a home run, his first since September 1972, against Hiller. “I surprised myself as much as everyone in the park,” Clarke told the Detroit Free Press.

With the Yankees ahead, 3-2, Houk stayed with McDaniel to pitch the bottom half of the 14th. “I felt he deserved it,” Houk said.

McDaniel delivered, retiring the Tigers in order. Boxscore

The win boosted McDaniel’s record for the season to 9-3.

“I’m specializing in wins this year and letting Sparky take care of the saves,” McDaniel said to the Detroit Free Press.

McDaniel’s line for the game: 13 innings, 48 batters faced, 6 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts.

“Did you ever see anything like that in your life?” Houk asked.

Dick Young of the New York Daily News wrote, “Of all the wondrous things this night, the most magnificent was the job turned in by Lindy McDaniel.”

Joe Falls of the Detroit Free Press offered, “It was the most amazing night of his baseball life.”

McDaniel’s 13 innings in relief represented a personal best, but not a baseball best. On June 17, 1915, Zip Zabel of the Cubs pitched 18.1 innings of relief in a win against the Dodgers. Boxscore

According to the New York Daily News, the American League mark for most innings pitched in relief in a game was established by Eddie Rommel, who went 17 innings for the Athletics in a win versus the Indians on July 10, 1932. Boxscore

Durable winner

The Yankees and Tigers eventually fell out of contention, and the Orioles won the division title, finishing eight games ahead of the runner-up Red Sox.

McDaniel had a 12-6 record with 10 saves and a 2.86 ERA. He asked for a chance to start and Houk granted the request. As a starter in 1973, McDaniel was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA. As a reliever, he was 12-4 with a 2.60 ERA.

Traded to the Royals after the 1973 season for Lou Piniella, McDaniel pitched two seasons for Kansas City. Though primarily a reliever, he made a few starts as well. On June 23, 1974, when he was 38, McDaniel pitched a three-hitter for the Royals in a 4-1 win versus the defending World Series champion Athletics. Boxscore

Read Full Post »

The story of Lindy McDaniel and his first win for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Prospects, Records on November 26, 2020| 4 Comments »

Though the Cardinals put Lindy McDaniel on their team because they had to, he showed he deserved to be there.

A right-hander who developed into a quality reliever and pitched 21 seasons in the major leagues, McDaniel was 19 when he got to the big leagues with the Cardinals as a teammate of Stan Musial in 1955. He was 39 when he pitched his final game with the Royals as a teammate of George Brett in 1975.

In addition to Cardinals (1955-62) and Royals (1974-75), McDaniel pitched for Cubs (1963-65), Giants (1966-68) and Yankees (1968-73). 

McDaniel led the National League in saves three times: twice with the Cardinals (1959 and 1960) and once with the Cubs (1963). He had a career record in the majors of 141-119 with 174 saves.

One of his most important wins was his first. It came when he was 20 years old and it helped convince the Cardinals his spot on the club was warranted.

Prime prospect

McDaniel was 19 when he signed with the Cardinals for $50,000 on Aug. 19, 1955. Because of the amount he received, the Cardinals were required by a baseball rule at the time to keep McDaniel on the big-league club for at least the next two years.

The Cardinals signed McDaniel on the recommendation of scout Fred Hawn, who called him “the best pitching prospect, maybe the best player, I’ve ever scouted for the Cardinals.,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported. “His fastball and his curve are alive and he gets them over the plate.”

An amateur baseball standout in Oklahoma, McDaniel had been pursued by the Cardinals since he was 16 in 1952. He attended the University of Oklahoma for a year, but left to join the Cardinals, “fulfilling a childhood ambition to play with Dizzy Dean’s old club and alongside his idol, Musial,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The Phillies, Dodgers, Reds, Yankees, Indians and Red Sox also wanted to sign McDaniel, but “when I found out the Cardinals were interested, I told the others not to bother,” McDaniel said to The Sporting News. “They’re a team of the future with a young staff. I’ll get more chances to pitch with them than with other clubs.”

When Lindy and his father, Newell McDaniel, an alfalfa and cotton farmer, went to St. Louis for the contract signing, Lindy let his dad do most of the talking.

“He don’t talk much,” Newell said to the Post-Dispatch. “You won’t get much out of him. He concentrates on training. He’s one of those boys just born that way, not interested in girls or anything. Exercises every night before retiring. He’s a fanatic.”

According to The Sporting News, Lindy invested part of the signing bonus in purchasing a 160-acre farm near his home in Hollis, Okla., and turning it over to his father to tend.

Teen dream

McDaniel reported to the Cardinals on Sept. 1, 1955, and he made his debut in the majors the next day at Chicago. McDaniel, 19, entered in the seventh inning with the Cubs ahead, 11-1, and the second batter he faced, Walker Cooper, 40, hit a home run. McDaniel regrouped and didn’t allow another run over two innings. Boxscore

“That boy may never have to go down to the minors,” Cardinals manager Harry Walker told the Post-Dispatch.

On Sept. 19, 1955, McDaniel got his first start in the majors against the Cubs at St. Louis. He gave up a grand slam to Ernie Banks, making him the first player in the majors to hit five in one season. McDaniel gave up five runs, 10 hits and four walks in seven innings, but didn’t get a decision after the Cardinals rallied to win. Boxscore

McDaniel made four September appearances for the 1955 Cardinals and was 0-0 with a 4.74 ERA. According to The Sporting News, he “demonstrated he might be just more than ornamental in 1956.”

On his way

The Cardinals changed managers after the 1955 season, hiring Fred Hutchinson, a former pitcher, to replace Harry Walker.

McDaniel didn’t pitch much at spring training in Florida, but Hutchinson told The Sporting News, “I saw enough of him to know he had good stuff.”

As the Cardinals headed north from Florida to open the season, they were scheduled to play an exhibition game against the White Sox at Oklahoma City. McDaniel was supposed to pitch before a big crowd in his home state, but the game was canceled because of bad weather.

In the Cardinals’ final exhibition game at Kansas City two days before the season opener, McDaniel pitched two scoreless innings against the Athletics.

After losing two of their first three games of the regular season, the Cardinals were home to play the Braves on April 21, 1956, a Saturday afternoon.

With the Braves ahead, 5-3, McDaniel made his first appearance of the season, entering in the fifth inning in relief of starter Willard Schmidt.

Hutchinson “appeared to be taking a long gamble by bringing in a kid” whose “total professional experience consisted of 19 innings last September,” the Post-Dispatch reported, but Hutchinson “had been impressed with Lindy’s poise and potential.”

McDaniel rewarded his manager’s faith in him, retiring 12 of the 15 Braves batters he faced and pitching five scoreless innings. The Cardinals rallied for a 6-5 victory, giving McDaniel his first win in the majors.

A turning point came in the eighth inning. Eddie Mathews led off with a single and Hank Aaron walked, but catcher Bill Sarni made a snap throw to first baseman Wally Moon, picking off Aaron. McDaniel struck out Bobby Thomson and got Joe Adcock to ground out, ending the threat. He retired the side in order in the ninth.

“The kid did great,” Hutchinson said. Boxscore

Plate umpire Babe Pinelli told the Sporting News, “He showed one of the best curves I’ve ever seen and I’ve been in baseball 40 years. He doesn’t scare. He looks nerveless.”

Family affair

The win gave McDaniel a considerable boost. He was 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA entering June. Hutchinson tried him as a starter, but it didn’t work out. McDaniel finished the season at 7-6. He was 5-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 32 relief appearances and 2-4 with a 5.25 ERA in seven starts.

The next year, the Cardinals signed Lindy’s brother, Von McDaniel, 18, for $50,000 and he joined Lindy on the big-league club.

Von won his first four decisions with the 1957 Cardinals, finished 7-5 and flamed out.

Lindy was 66-54 with 66 saves in eight seasons with the Cardinals before he was traded with Larry Jackson and Jimmie Schaffer to the Cubs for George Altman, Don Cardwell and Moe Thacker on Oct. 17, 1962.

Read Full Post »

Cecil Cooper got miscast in his stint with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Trades on November 23, 2020| 7 Comments »

The Cardinals had the right idea, but the wrong position in mind, when they acquired strong-hitting Cecil Cooper from the Red Sox.

On Nov. 30, 1970, the Cardinals chose Cooper in the Rule 5 draft. Cooper, 20, was the Midwest League batting champion in 1970, but the Red Sox didn’t put him on their 40-man major-league winter roster, leaving him eligible to be drafted by another organization.

The Cardinals took advantage of the opportunity to obtain a left-handed hitter who was tailored for the AstroTurf and spacious dimensions of Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Cooper ran well and consistently hit line drives to all fields, but his best position was first base. The Cardinals wanted him for the outfield.

Cards call

A standout high school player in Texas, Cooper was 18 when he was selected by the Red Sox in the sixth round of the June 1968 amateur draft. Assigned to a Class A farm club in Jamestown, N.Y., Cooper impressed, batting .452 with 38 hits in 26 games.

Though he continued to hit well, Cooper stayed in Class A the next two seasons. He hit .297 as the first baseman for Greenville, S.C., in 1969 and .336 for Danville, Ill., in 1970. Cooper primarily played first base for Danville but he also appeared in the outfield in 47 games.

The Cardinals were looking for backup outfielders for the 1971 season. When Cooper was left unprotected, the Cardinals paid the required $25,000 fee to draft him and put him on their 40-man major-league winter roster as an outfielder.

Either the Cardinals thought Cooper had a good chance to make the leap from Class A to the major leagues, or they figured the Red Sox wouldn’t want him back. Under the rules of baseball, if a player claimed in the Rule 5 draft is not kept on the major-league roster throughout the following regular season, he must be offered back to the team that lost him for $12,500.

Plenty of competition

The Cardinals went into 1971 spring training with a starting outfield of Lou Brock in left, Matty Alou in center and Jose Cardenal in right. Seven other players listed as outfielders on the big-league roster were competing for backup spots. In addition to Cooper, others in the mix were Jim Beauchamp, Bob Burda, Jose Cruz, Leron Lee, Luis Melendez and Jorge Roque.

Of the backup outfielder candidates, Burda, Cooper, Cruz and Lee batted from the left side. Another left-handed batter, Joe Hague, was the starting first baseman. Beauchamp, Burda and Cooper could back up Hague as well as play the outfield, but only Cooper lacked big-league experience.

“The Cardinals tried to make an outfielder out of me,” Cooper told The Sporting News.

When the Cardinals began playing intra-squad games, Cooper swung “a pretty stout bat,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In a game with eight position players in the field and batters taking their cuts against a pitching machine, Cooper hit a three-run triple. In an intra-squad game versus pitchers, he had a triple against Santiago Guzman and a double off George Lauzerique. He also substituted for Alou in center field.

“I’m very happy to get this shot with St. Louis and I hope to make the most of it,” Cooper told the Post-Dispatch. “I’ve got to work on my fielding and my throwing.”

Cooper didn’t fare so well in Grapefruit League exhibition games. He had one hit in 11 at-bats. He also walked and scored a run against the Reds. Meanwhile, his competition hit much better: Beauchamp, .408, and Burda, .438.

The Cardinals opened the 1971 season with Beauchamp, Burda, Lee and Melendez in reserve roles. Cruz and Roque were sent to the minors. Cooper was offered back to the Red Sox.

If the Red Sox had said no thanks, the Cardinals could have kept Cooper and assigned him to the minors, but the Red Sox paid the $12,500 to get him back.

Hot hitting

To his dismay, Cooper was assigned by the Red Sox to Winston-Salem, a Class A team, though he already had proven he could play at that level.

“That got me mad, depressed and frustrated,” Cooper said. “I told them, ‘I’m going home,’ and stayed away for five days. I wasn’t going to quit, but I wanted to get away and think. They told me I was lazy, that I didn’t want to play.”

Cooper took out his frustrations on opposing pitchers. He hit .379 in 42 games for Winston-Salem and got promoted to Class AA Pawtucket. In his first six games for Pawtucket, Cooper had 14 hits in 23 at-bats. He went on to hit .343 for Pawtucket, and in September, five months after the Cardinals rejected him, the Red Sox brought him to the major leagues.

“They aren’t likely to let him get away again,” The Sporting News declared. “Cooper is a hitter of promise.”

Cooper’s first hit in the big leagues was noteworthy, It came on Sept. 11, 1971, against Joe Coleman of the Tigers. Coleman held the Red Sox hitless until Cooper singled to lead off the eighth. Swinging at the first forkball he’d ever seen, Cooper tapped the ball toward third. Aurelio Rodrigeuz tried to make a backhand scoop, but the ball rolled under his glove and was ruled a hit. “I thought it would be an error the way I hit it,” Cooper told the Boston Globe. Boxscore

Cooper hit .310 for the Red Sox in 1971 and figured to be their first baseman in 1972, but they traded for Danny Cater and gave him the job. In 1973, Carl Yastrzemski moved from the outfield to first base and he remained the Red Sox’s first baseman through 1976, relegating Cooper to the role of backup and designated hitter.

“Boston never gave me a chance to show what I could do,” Cooper told The Sporting News. “I feel the Red Sox did me an injustice.”

Everyday excellence

In December 1976, the Red Sox traded Cooper to the Brewers for George Scott and Bernie Carbo. Given the chance to play every day, Cooper thrived as the first baseman. He was named to the American League all-star team five times and twice won a Gold Glove Award for fielding. In 1980, he led the league in total bases (335) and RBI (122). He was the RBI leader again in 1983 (126), and twice topped the league in doubles: 44 in 1979 and 35 in 1981.

The Brewers got to the World Series for the only time in 1982 and faced the Cardinals. Though the Cardinals won the championship in seven games, Cooper hit .286 with six RBI.

In Game 5, with the Brewers clinging to a 3-2 lead, the Cardinals had runners on first and second, two outs, in the seventh when Darrell Porter hit a ball sharply to the right side of the infield. Cooper dived, snared the ball and threw to pitcher Mike Caldwell covering first to retire Porter. The Brewers went on to a win, their third of the Series. Boxscore

“That play changed the whole game,” Cardinals second baseman Tommy Herr told the Post-Dispatch. “Cooper has played great first base the whole Series.”

Cooper batted .298 with 2,192 hits and 1,125 RBI in 17 seasons in the majors.

He became Astros manager late in the 2007 season, and managed them in 2008 (86-75) and 2009 (70-79).

Read Full Post »

How Jim Hicks earned a chance with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades on November 17, 2020| 8 Comments »

During his year in the Cardinals’ farm system, Jim Hicks was the best hitter in the Pacific Coast League.

Though he hit for power and average in the minors, Hicks primarily was a reserve player in brief stints in the majors with the White Sox, Cardinals and Angels. A right-handed slugger, he began the 1969 season as a backup outfielder for the Cardinals.

His best season was 1968 when he played for the Cardinals’ Tulsa farm team and earned the Most Valuable Player Award in the Pacific Coast League. Hicks led the league in hitting (.366) and helped Tulsa win the championship. In 117 games played, Hicks had 149 hits, including 32 doubles and 23 home runs, scored 100 runs and drove in 85.

Thanks, coach

According to the Chicago Tribune, Hicks grew up in a section of East Chicago, Indiana, “where you either eat or get eaten up.”

His father was a steel mill foreman, according to The Sporting News.

When he went East Chicago Roosevelt High School, “I guess you could say I was on the road to becoming a hoodlum at the time,” Hicks told The Sporting News.

Hicks excelled in baseball, basketball and football, and credited a coach, Pete Rucinski, with changing his life. “He’s the greatest man I’ve known because he took me out of the streets and made me an athlete,” Hicks said.

Rucinski told the Chicago Tribune, “Jim wasn’t a bad kid, but he was unsettled.”

In 1958, Hicks got an athletic scholarship to the University of Illinois, but during his freshman year he signed a baseball contract with the White Sox when they offered him $15,000.

Seeking a break

Hicks spent nine seasons (1959-67) in the White Sox farm system. He hit home runs with an upper-cut swing, but also struck out a lot. He got called up to the White Sox for stints as a reserve in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Limited to 19 at-bats with the White Sox in 1965 and 26 at-bats with them in 1966, Hicks told The Sporting News, “You can’t play one day and sit out two weeks and expect to do any good. You have to play regularly.”

In 1967, when White Sox manager Eddie Stanky assigned Hicks to the minors during spring training and told him to work on becoming a first baseman, Hicks said, “I was discouraged.”

Hicks, married with children, had gotten a degree in business at the Gary branch of Indiana University, and considered quitting baseball when he failed to make the White Sox’s Opening Day roster in 1967.

After thinking it over and determining he’d give the sport another try, Hicks reported to the White Sox’s farm club at Indianapolis, became the first baseman and produced 20 doubles, 12 triples and 21 home runs.

The Cardinals took notice. In October 1967, right after the Cardinals won the World Series championship, general manager Stan Musial made a trade, swapping first baseman George Kernek for Hicks.

Hicks, 27, was ticketed to play outfield for the Cardinals’ Tulsa affiliate in 1968.

“Even though I’d been up and down with the Sox and really had not had a chance to play regularly, I didn’t look forward to joining a St. Louis farm club,” Hicks told The Sporting News.

Hicks explained the Cardinals were stocked with “good, young outfielders like Curt Flood, Lou Brock and Bob Tolan” and he didn’t see much chance of getting to play regularly if he got to St. Louis.

Happy days

At spring training in 1968, Hicks bonded with Tulsa manager Warren Spahn and quickly adapted to being part of the Cardinals’ organization. When the regular season began, he was a terror against Pacific Coast League pitching.

“This is the best thing that ever happened to me,” he told The Sporting News. “I found this is a friendly organization in which there was none of the secret cloak and dagger stuff I encountered with the White Sox. I was relaxed from the outset and had more confidence. I give Warren Spahn considerable credit. He told me to take it easy, not to press.”

Spahn said Hicks “has good power to all fields and he has poise and balance at the plate.”

The Cardinals might have called up Hicks in June 1968 when they were seeking a backup outfielder, but he instead got called to serve a two-week stint for military reserve training. With Hicks unavailable, the Cardinals made a trade with the Astros for outfielder Ron Davis.

When he returned to Tulsa, Hicks continued to compile hits, but the Cardinals, on their way to winning a second consecutive National League pennant, didn’t ask him to join them.

Short stay

After Hicks’ successful 1968 season for Tulsa, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine said he “had quite a few inquiries about Hicks” from potential trade partners, but the Cardinals opted to keep him.

Hicks “figures to get a good shot at an outfield reserve job in addition to drawing a big part of the pinch-hitting assignments” with the 1969 Cardinals, The Sporting News reported.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said, “Anybody who hits .366, even in a cow pasture league, is worth giving a good look.”

The Cardinals went into the 1969 regular season with Hicks and Joe Hague as backup outfielders to Brock, Flood and Vada Pinson.

On May 6, 1969, Hicks got the start in right field against the Giants at St. Louis and was credited with two assists in one inning.

It happened in the fifth. The Giants’ Hal Lanier was on first with one out when Bobby Bonds singled to right. Hicks quickly threw to second. When Lanier overran the bag and got caught in a rundown, Bonds broke for second and was tagged out. Ron Hunt followed with a single to right and Hicks’ one-hop throw to the plate nailed Lanier for the third out. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Hicks had five hits, including a home run versus Gaylord Perry, in two games against the Giants at San Francisco. Boxscore 1 and Boxscore 2

“He swings the bat with authority,” Giants coach Wes Westrum told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He has a quick swing and he’s learned to lay off the high, inside pitch.”

Though Hicks had two triples and a home run for the 1969 Cardinals, he also had more strikeouts (14) than hits (eight) in 44 at-bats.

On May 30, 1969, the Cardinals traded Hicks to the Angels for outfielder Vic Davalillo.

Hicks had four hits, three for home runs, in 48 at-bats for the 1969 Angels. He got four more at-bats for the Angels in 1970 and spent the rest of his playing career in Hawaii and Japan.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »