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Pete Mazar: Slinging, singing southpaw in St. Louis system

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Prospects on March 31, 2025| 8 Comments »

While pitching in the Cardinals’ organization, Pete Mazar became known as much for his vocal cords as for his arm.

Dubbed the “Frank Sinatra of baseball” for his singing, Mazar, like Ol’ Blue Eyes, was from New Jersey. Sinatra’s hometown was Hoboken, site of the first organized baseball game played in 1846 between the Knickerbocker Club and New York Nine. Mazar grew up in High Bridge, a mere 50 miles from Hoboken but, otherwise, worlds apart.

An urban melting pot across the Hudson River from Manhattan, Hoboken in Sinatra’s time was known for its gritty industrial docks and was the setting for the film “On the Waterfront.” In contrast, the borough of High Bridge has a reputation as a place for parks, trails and scenic beauty. A resident, Howard Menger, wrote “The High Bridge Incident,” a book about his claim of having met space aliens in the woods near High Bridge when he was a boy. Otherworldly, indeed.

Little lefty

Pete Mazar had eight brothers (including a twin) and five sisters, according to The Sporting News. Though no more than 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, he was a standout athlete in soccer, basketball and baseball at High Bridge High School.

After graduation in June 1940, Mazar was a machinist for the local Taylor-Wharton Iron and Steel Company, makers of railroad fittings and switches and dredging equipment. A left-handed pitcher, he played semipro baseball for the High Bridge team in the well-regarded Tri-County League.

Mazar’s success as a semipro player got him a contract in 1941 with a New York Giants farm club in Milford, Del., but he became ill, pitched briefly and got released, according to the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call. Returning to High Bridge, Mazar went back to the iron and steel job (the company now was producing material for America’s World War II involvement) and pitched semipro baseball.

In May 1944, with the war depleting baseball team rosters, the Cardinals offered Mazar, 23, a tryout with their Allentown farm club. Allentown manager Ollie Vanek, who had a notable eye for talent (the Cardinals signed 16-year-old Stan Musial on Vanek’s recommendation), took one look at Mazar and gave him a spot on the team. Mazar rewarded him with an 11-6 record.

Promoted by the Cardinals to Columbus (Ohio) in 1945, Mazar pitched a no-hitter against manager Casey Stengel’s Kansas City Blues. Of the 27 outs Mazar recorded using a sharp-breaking curve, 20 came on grounders, the Kansas City Times reported.

American idol

Seven of Mazar’s eight seasons in the Cardinals’ system were spent either with Columbus or Houston. In 1947, he pitched for both. After going 0-4 for Columbus, he was sent to Houston and pitched better for manager Johnny Keane’s club, which was on its way to becoming Texas League champions.

On Aug. 19, 1947, an estimated 13,000 spectators packed into Houston’s Buffalo Stadium for a doubleheader on what was promoted as “appreciation night.” Looking for ways to show their appreciation to fans, club officials gave Mazar a microphone before one of the games and asked him to sing for the crowd. Mazar had “served as a vocalist in a nightclub near his home at High Bridge,” according to The Sporting News.

Crooning hit tunes, Mazar thrilled his audience and was touted as “the Sinatra of baseball,” the Associated Press reported. (Sinatra’s popular songs in 1947 included “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Autumn in New York,” and “Time After Time.”)

Word spread that the Houston club had a silky-voiced troubadour with a smooth delivery. “Now everywhere he goes to play ball, they want him to warble,” according to the Associated Press.

On Aug. 24, it was arranged for Mazar to sing a song before Houston’s game at Dallas. “The crowd of 6,000 roared its approval,” the Associated Press reported. “They called him back for another, and still another. They wanted him for a fourth except that the ballgame had to go on.”

The next night, Aug. 25, Mazar was the starting pitcher for Houston at Oklahoma City. He entertained a crowd of 4,937 with three songs, then got the win against an Oklahoma City club that featured hitters such as Ray Boone and Al Rosen.

Houston club president Allen Russell asked Mazar to spend the winter in Texas so that he could promote his singing.

Fan favorite

Back with Houston and Johnny Keane in 1948, Mazar, 27, had his best season as a pitcher. He won 12 of his first 14 decisions and finished 15-10 with a 2.53 ERA in 228 innings.

His most satisfying win came at home on July 17, 1948. When Houston fans learned Mazar and his wife were expecting their third child, they presented the couple with more than 100 gifts before that night’s game. Mazar thanked the crowd of 7,358, crooned several songs and then pitched a three-hit shutout to beat Tulsa. “I never wanted to win a game so much in my life … I didn’t want to let all of those good people down,” Mazar told The Sporting News.

Mazar’s successful 1948 season didn’t do enough to impress the Cardinals. When they didn’t put him on their 40-man winter roster, the Cubs claimed him in the November 1948 minor-league draft on the recommendation of scout Jigger Statz. Mazar reminded him of Tony Freitas, another pint-sized left-hander who pitched in the majors during the 1930s, Statz told the Los Angeles Times.

Assigned to the Cubs’ Los Angeles Angels farm team in 1949, Mazar was 2-4 for the Pacific Coast League team when he got sent back to Houston in May.

In April 1950, Mazar was struck by a line drive, breaking his left thumb. It didn’t hurt his singing, but it did his pitching. The 1951 season was Mazar’s last in the Cardinals’ system. He pitched three more years in the minors but never reached the big leagues _ either as a player or a singer.

Returning to High Bridge, Mazar and his wife operated a tavern and he also worked as a machinist for F.L. Smidth & Company, makers of equipment for mining and cement industries.

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Lou Brock, Bob Gibson give their best in MLK tribute

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers, Pitchers on March 18, 2025| 11 Comments »

In a fundraising game to honor the memory of slain civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., two of the top performers on a genuine field of dreams were Cardinals Lou Brock and Bob Gibson.

On March 28, 1970, the East-West Major League Baseball Classic was played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Saturday afternoon exhibition netted more than $30,000 for two beneficiaries:

_ Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a regional organization founded by King and others in 1957 to help coordinate grassroots efforts in civil rights and voting rights activities.

_ Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, also known as King Center. Located in Atlanta, the center was founded in 1968 by Coretta Scott King to preserve and advance her husband’s legacy. It houses a library, archives and exhibits. It’s also the burial site of Dr. King and his wife.

Most of baseball’s top players participated in the game, taking time out from spring training to show their support for King and his mission.

Baseball tribute

After King was assassinated on April 4, 1968 (the convicted murderer, James Earl Ray, was born in Alton, Illinois, 20 miles north of St. Louis), Bob Gibson spoke with emotion about the bitterness and frustration he felt. In his autobiography, “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I reeled from the impact of the assassination _ the cold-blooded murder of the one man in my lifetime who had been able to capture the public’s attention about racial injustice, break through some of the age-old social barriers and raise the spirits and hopes of black people across the country.”

According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, shortly after King was killed, ballplayers asked King’s associates what they could do as a public tribute to him, Joseph Peters, sports project director for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, explained in a November 1968 letter to baseball commissioner William Eckert.

When Southern Christian Leadership Conference members suggested a fundraising game, Major League Baseball officials agreed to cooperate. The game initially was planned for March 1969, but the Southern Christian Leadership Conference asked for more time. That’s why the event was held in March 1970.

Though spring training exhibitions were under way, every big-league team made players available for the fundraising game and paid their expenses, the Associated Press reported.

Among those who came to Los Angeles to play were Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Johnny Bench, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Clemente, Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, Willie Mays, Joe Morgan, Tony Oliva, Frank Robinson, Pete Rose, Ron Santo, Tom Seaver and Willie Stargell.

Mays traveled from Japan, where his club, the Giants, were playing goodwill games. In explaining why he made the long trip to Los Angeles, Mays told the Torrance Daily Breeze, “This cause is too important to pass up. At last, baseball players can show their feelings about the late Dr. King and his work through the medium of this game. I wouldn’t miss it.”

Players from the East divisions of the American and National leagues were placed on an East team. The West team had players from the West divisions of both leagues. That gave fans the chance to see Angels and Dodgers, Mets and Yankees, and Athletics and Giants perform as teammates.

Joe DiMaggio was chosen to manage the East team. His coaching staff: Billy Martin, John McNamara, Stan Musial and Satchel Paige.

The West team manager was Roy Campanella. His coaching staff: Don Drysdale, Elston Howard, Sandy Koufax and Don Newcombe.

Entertainer Bill Cosby held a reception for the teams at the Warner Brothers Studio the night before the game, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Star power

Starting lineups were selected by members of the Los Angeles-Anaheim chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America and the Southern California Sportscasters Association.

The East batting order: 1. Ron Fairly, first base; 2. Reggie Smith, center field; 3. Frank Robinson, right field; 4. Willie Stargell, left field; 5. Ron Santo, third base; 6. Ernie Banks, shortstop; 7. Don Buford, second base; 8. Tim McCarver, catcher; 9. Tom Seaver, pitcher.

Banks, 39, a Cubs first baseman, was at shortstop for the first time in nine years.

East bench warmers included Lou Brock, Roberto Clemente and Al Kaline.

The West batting order: 1. Maury Wills, shortstop; 2. Pete Rose, center field; 3. Hank Aaron, left field; 4. Reggie Jackson, right field; 5. Johnny Bench, catcher; 6. Orlando Cepeda, first base; 7. Joe Morgan, second base; 8. Sal Bando, third base; 9. Don Wilson, pitcher.

Willie Mays and Tony Oliva couldn’t crack the starting lineup.

Ticket prices ranged from $10 to $2. Among the 31,694 spectators for the 2 o’clock game were baseball pioneers Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby, baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn (successor to William Eckert) and entertainers Sammy Davis Jr. and Danny Kaye.

Mudcat Grant sang the national anthem, a recording of Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was played on the public address system, and Coretta Scott King threw the ceremonial first pitch to Johnny Bench.

(Bench, 22, impressed fellow catcher Roy Campanella, who told the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, “Now there’s a kid who has it all. His future is unlimited.”)

A scheduled home run hitting contest featuring Frank Robinson, Ron Santo and Willie Stargell for the East versus Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda and Reggie Jackson for the West was canceled without explanation, the Long Beach Independent reported.

Aces prevail

The East’s pitching combination of Tom Seaver and Bob Gibson kept the West from scoring.

When Pete Rose batted in the first, Seaver surprised him with a blooper pitch. As Rose watched it drop into catcher Tim McCarver’s mitt, plate umpire Emmett Ashford gave his emphatic “stee-rike-ah” call. Rose stepped out of the box and smiled at Seaver, who grinned back. “It was a little slip curve,” Seaver told the Long Beach Independent. Rose finished the at-bat by flying out to left.

Seaver completed his three-inning scoreless stint with back-to-back strikeouts of Pete Rose and Hank Aaron. Then Bob Gibson took over and also held the West scoreless for three innings. The only hit against Gibson was a Sal Bando single.

Despite his performance, Gibson told Rich Roberts of the Long Beach Independent, “I sure didn’t feel good. I wouldn’t be telling no lie. I just used fastballs, but you better call them straight balls because they weren’t very fast.”

The East went ahead, 1-0, in the third when Ron Fairly hooked the first pitch from Lew Krausse into the stands in right, just inside the foul pole, for a home run. Ron Santo made it 2-0 when he led off the fourth with a homer to left against Krausse.

(Krausse was representing the Seattle Pilots, who were only a few days away from becoming the Milwaukee Brewers.)

Both managers substituted often, trying to get as many players as possible into the game. In a pinch-hit appearance, Willie Mays grounded into a force out.

The East went up 5-0 with three runs in the eighth against Mudcat Grant. After Al Kaline singled, Lou Brock lined a shot that carried over the head of left fielder Hank Aaron for a run-scoring double. A Roberto Clemente smash that eluded Maury Wills was ruled a double and scored Brock. Ken McMullen drove in Clemente with a single.

Facing Grant Jackson in the bottom half of the inning, the West scored a run when Willie Davis singled and came home on a Ken Berry double.

The East won, 5-1, but it wasn’t the outcome that mattered.

“I thank these fellows for giving their time,” West manager Roy Campanella told the Long Beach Independent.

As Pete Rose noted in a column he did for the Cincinnati Enquirer, “Even though it was an exhibition game, it had meaning … I feel good inside because I’ve contributed to a worthy cause.”

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Cardinals to Manny Lee: We hardly knew thee

Posted in Games, Hitters on March 12, 2025| 11 Comments »

Manny Lee was a one-of-a-kind Cardinal.

In the long history of the franchise, Lee is the only Cardinal to play in just one game for them and have a 1.000 batting average.

A 10-year veteran of the American League and shortstop for the 1992 World Series champion Blue Jays, Lee made his Cardinals debut as their 1995 Opening Day second baseman _ and never appeared in another big-league game.

Caribbean to Canada

Manuel Lora Lee was from San Pedro de Macoris, a Dominican Republic city noted for its poets and baseball players. Joaquin Andujar, Rico Carty, Pedro Guerrero, Alfonso Soriano, Sammy Sosa, Fernando Tatis and his son, Fernando Tatis Jr., are some of the many big-league players who came from there.

Lee was 16 when Mets scout Eddy Toledo signed him for $2,000 in May 1982. A switch-hitting shortstop, Lee led the Class A South Atlantic League in hitting (.330) in 1984, his third season in the Mets’ farm system.

To get Ray Knight from the Astros, the Mets sent them Lee and two other prospects near the end of the 1984 season. When the Astros neglected to place Lee on their 40-man winter roster, the Blue Jays claimed him in December 1984.

Boston Globe columnist Peter Gammons noted, “Houston was furious that the Blue Jays took Manny Lee, but if he were one of the best prospects in the Astros’ organization, why didn’t they protect him?”

Rules required the Blue Jays to keep Lee in the big leagues in 1985, or offer him back to the Astros. When Lee, 19 reported to the Blue Jays at 1985 spring training, he weighed 141 pounds on a 5-foot-9 frame, the Toronto Star reported, but he showed enough in the field to make the jump from Class A to the majors. He was the only teen on a 1985 big-league Opening Day roster.

Used mostly as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner, Lee produced no RBI in 40 at-bats and had more strikeouts (nine) than hits (eight). Looking back on that rookie season, Lee told the Star, “I was too young. I was like a little baby.”

Infield shift

Shortstop was the position Lee liked best, but an all-star, Tony Fernandez, had that role with the Blue Jays. After splitting time between the majors and minors in 1986 and 1987, Lee became the Blue Jays’ second baseman in 1988. He hit .291 overall and .316 with runners in scoring position that season.

Though he led American League second basemen in fielding percentage in 1990, Lee sometimes bailed out on double play pivots and was criticized for “indifferent play,” according to the Star.

When the Blue Jays acquired second baseman Roberto Alomar from the Padres after the 1990 season in a trade that included Tony Fernandez, manager Cito Gaston chose Lee to be the shortstop. “We’ve got confidence in Manny,” Gaston told the Star. “He played a decent second base for us, and he was improving, but I think shortstop was in his heart. He loves playing shortstop. Now he’s got the job.”

Star columnist Dave Perkins wrote, “Returning to his natural position should take the whitecaps off Manny’s brainwaves; he never did take to second base, or at least the idea of it.”

At 1991 spring training, the Star described Lee as “the happiest Blue Jay in camp.”

The good vibes didn’t last throughout the season, though. Lee swung like a slugger, but became the first big-league player with 100 or more strikeouts (107) and no home runs.

Blue Jays fans booed “the much-maligned and often maddening shortstop,” the Star reported.

Highs and lows

Larry Hisle joined the 1992 Blue Jays as hitting coach and said the flaw in Lee’s batting approach was obvious. “There is a lot of movement in the upper body,” Hisle told the Star. “On some pitches, his head moves as much as 12 inches.”

At spring training, “I have spent more time with (Lee) than with any other player,” Hisle said. “He has listened and he has worked. I’m urging him to concentrate on putting the ball in play.”

Lee improved, producing a career-best .343 on-base percentage and hitting .330 with runners in scoring position for the 1992 Blue Jays. He also achieved the second-highest fielding percentage among American League shortstops and didn’t commit an error on a ground ball all season. According to the Star, Blue Jays coach Gene Tenace called Lee “one of the unsung heroes of this team.” Lee credited Hisle. “He gave me confidence,” Lee told the newspaper.

In Game 3 of the playoffs against the Athletics, Lee’s two-run triple with two outs in the seventh propelled the Blue Jays to victory. They went on to win the pennant and the World Series championship. Boxscore

Granted free agency, Lee got a two-year guaranteed $3.4 million contract from the Rangers, but his time in Texas didn’t begin well. In 1993, he clashed with manager Kevin Kennedy and had what the Fort Worth Star-Telegram described as “an injury-riddled, error-prone, turmoil-laden debut season with the Rangers.”

The next year, strike-shortened 1994, Lee did better. He hit .278 (second-best batting average of his big-league career) and .337 with runners in scoring position. Though primarily the shortstop, Lee also played second base for the first time in four years and made no errors in 108.1 innings there.

Opening and closing

The Cardinals took notice. After the strike ended on April 2, 1995, the Cardinals went looking for infield help. On April 18, a week before the start of the season, they signed two free agents _ Lee and Luis Rivera _ and had them compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster. Lee won the job, expecting to back up Ozzie Smith at short and Geronimo Pena at second.

However, two days before the season opener, Pena pulled a hamstring running to second base _ on a ground-rule double. Manager Joe Torre picked Lee, 29, to replace him.

“I never thought that I would be the Opening Day second baseman,” Lee said to the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat. “I feel comfortable here, relaxed. There’s no pressure on me any more.” He also told the newspaper that playing alongside Ozzie Smith was “a dream for me.”

The dream turned into a nightmare, though, in the season opener against the Phillies at St. Louis.

In batting practice, Lee’s line drive struck coach Gaylen Pitts in the chest. Though Pitts wasn’t seriously hurt _ “It didn’t get me in the heart,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “My heart is not big enough.” _ it was an omen of bad things ahead for Lee.

In the second inning, Phillies catcher Darren Daulton got an infield single on a ball Lee backhanded but couldn’t get out of his glove in time. In the third, pitcher Curt Schilling also got an infield hit on a bouncer to Lee, who again had trouble releasing the ball after fielding it and threw low and late to first.

Later in the inning, with Mickey Morandini the runner on second, Gregg Jefferies hit another bouncer toward Lee. “The ball glanced off the glove of Lee, who reached for it again and then tumbled flat on his back,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Morandini, who had held at third, motored home” and Jefferies reached first on the error.

Adding injury to insult, Lee sprained his right ankle on the play. He received medical attention but stayed in the game.

Asked whether he should have made the plays on the grounders hit by Daulton, Schilling and Jefferies, Lee told the Post-Dispatch, “I used to, but I haven’t played second base for a full year.”

Leading off the bottom of the third in his first Cardinals plate appearance, Lee singled to left and eventually scored on a Scott Cooper single. After the inning, Lee was unable to continue on the sprained ankle and was replaced at second by Jose Oquendo.

Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “It’s fairly probable that the Manny Lee Show at second base will have a short run.” Boxscore and Video

More to the story

Lee was placed on the 15-day disabled list and the Cardinals called up Tripp Cromer from the minors to replace him.

When Lee’s ankle healed, he played in 12 games for Cardinals farm clubs on an injury rehabilitation assignment. Ready to rejoin the Cardinals, he returned to St. Louis but was told the club was happy with Cromer. Lee was released and finished as a player.

In his quirky stint as a Cardinal, Lee had a higher batting average (1.000) than his fielding average (.800). As the Post-Dispatch noted, it “was a generous” .800.

According to baseball-reference.com, Lee remains the only Cardinal to play in just one game for them and have a 1.000 batting average.

Nine others have 1.000 batting averages as Cardinals, but all played in multiple games for them, according to baseball-reference.com. In alphabetical order, those nine are:

_ Bryan Augenstein, 2011, five games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Justin Burnette, 2000, four games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Eddie Fisher, 1973, six games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Larry Herndon, 1974, 12 games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Bob McClure, 1991-92, 103 games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Kevin Ohme, 2003, two games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Tige Stone, 1923, five games, three plate appearances, one hit, two walks.

_ Abe White, 1937, five games, one plate appearance, one hit.

_ Esteban Yan, 2003, 35 games, one plate appearance, one hit.

After his playing days, Lee stayed in the Dominican Republic. In August 2004, he was in the news there but not for baseball. Using a .38-caliber pistol, Lee shot and killed Edwin Gomez Vasquez, 28, who Lee suspected was trying to rob his residence in San Pedro de Macoris, the daily newspaper, Diario Libre, reported.

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Road to closer role for Bill Caudill began with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades on March 7, 2025| 6 Comments »

Batters might have thought Bill Caudill spelled his name with a K, for strikeout, because that’s what happened to many when trying to hit his fastball.

The correct spelling, though, was C, for closer, because that’s what Caudill became in the American League after beginning his career with the Cardinals.

The letter C also fit because this closer was a clubhouse cut-up who caught attention as much for his pranks as for his pitching.

Big-league prospect

As a high school starter in Redondo Beach, Calif., Caudill didn’t lose an Ocean League game in three varsity seasons. Coach Ken Wilson told the Torrance Daily Breeze, “He can really hum it. It used to be where one good catcher mitt would last the whole season, but I’ve had to buy two because he wears them out that quickly _ and I buy top-quality mitts.”

In June 1974, a month before he turned 18, Caudill was chosen by the Cardinals in the eighth round of the amateur draft.

(Of the Cardinals’ top 20 picks in 1974, the only two to reach the majors were shortstop Garry Templeton and Caudill. In the 28th round, St. Louis selected shortstop Paul Molitor, but he opted to attend college.)

Sent to the Cardinals’ rookie club in Sarasota, Fla., Caudill’s teammates included Scott Boras (the future agent), David Boyer (son of Ken Boyer), Lon Kruger (future head basketball coach of the NBA Atlanta Hawks and multiple college teams), Michael Pisarkiewicz (brother of NFL Cardinals quarterback Steve Pisarkiewicz) and Templeton.

Striking out 35 in 30 innings for Sarasota, Caudill was moved up to Class A St. Petersburg in 1975 and excelled there as a starter (14-8, including five shutouts). After Caudill, 19, pitched a one-hit shutout against the Tampa Tarpons, a Reds farm club, in the opening game of the Florida State League championship series, Cardinals director of player personnel Bob Kennedy told the St. Petersburg Times, “You looked at a big-league prospect tonight.”

A right-hander, Caudill went to Class AA Arkansas in 1976, struck out 140 in 140 innings, and was placed on the Cardinals’ 40-man winter roster.

Excited to be here

At his first big-league spring training camp in 1977, Caudill, 20, entered the Cardinals’ clubhouse and hardly could believe his eyes. “I saw Lou Brock and I was awed,” he told the Torrance Daily Breeze.

When Caudill’s hometown team, the Dodgers, arrived for an exhibition game, he stood near the batting cage and marveled at being among hitters he followed as a youth. “These players were just names to me not that long ago,” Caudill said to the Daily Breeze. “(Steve) Garvey, (Ron) Cey, (Davey) Lopes. This is something else. These are guys I watched on television. I paid to see them at Dodger Stadium. I think it’s an honor just to be here on the same field with them.”

Cardinals veterans were “all nice guys,” Caudill told the Torrance newspaper. “They call me Rook … They all came up to introduce themselves and wish me good luck. I dress next to (catcher) Dave Rader. He talks to me. He’s a serious fellow, an established major leaguer, and I listen to him. He helps me, and I appreciate it.”

In his first exhibition game appearance, against the Mets, Caudill’s nervousness showed. He pitched two innings and didn’t allow a hit, but he walked four, hit two batters with pitches and committed a balk.

“Sometimes I sit on the bench sort of in a daze,” Caudill said to the Daily Breeze. “It seems just like yesterday when I was in my high school uniform. I used to listen to these games on the radio.”

The Cardinals planned to have Caudill begin the season at Class AAA, but just before the end of spring training they traded him to the Reds for Joel Youngblood. The Reds initially asked for pitcher Doug Capilla, but the Cardinals countered with Caudill, the Dayton Daily News reported. (Three months later, the Cardinals sent Capilla to the Reds for Rawly Eastwick.)

Windy City welcome

In October 1977, the Reds sought to acquire Cubs pitcher Bill Bonham. Bob Kennedy was now the Cubs general manager. According to the Chicago Tribune, he told the Reds he would make the deal only if they included Caudill, who’d spent the season in the minors. “I raised him as a baby … He’s going to be a good one,” Kennedy told the Tribune.

The Reds accepted the terms, trading Caudill and Woodie Fryman for Bonham.

After more time in the minors, Caudill, 22, reached the big leagues with the Cubs in May 1979. Used as both starter and reliever, he showed promise but experienced growing pains. Caudill struck out 104 in 90 innings. “He’s the hardest thrower in the league,” the Cardinals’ Keith Hernandez, the 1979 National League batting champion, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, Caudill also gave up 16 home runs, including four in one game against the Dodgers.

With a season record of 0-7, Caudill made his final appearance of 1979 in a relief stint against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. In the 11th inning, with two on and the score tied at 6-6, he struck out slugger Willie Stargell. After the Cubs went ahead with a run in the 13th, Stargell came up with two on and two outs. “I was shaking,” Caudill told the Chicago Tribune. “I had to step off the mound and forget who he was.”

Stargell whiffed again, ending the game and giving Caudill his first win in the majors. “All I threw were fastballs, inside and outside,” Caudill said to The Pittsburgh Press.

Told of Caudill’s comment, Stargell’s teammate, Dave Parker, replied, “That’s all he needs. He’s a good pitcher with good stuff.” Boxscore

No fun

The Cubs made Caudill a reliever in 1980. By September, their bullpen consisted of two future Hall of Famers (Bruce Sutter and Lee Smith), a future American League Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner (Willie Hernandez), the 1980 National League leader in games pitched (Dick Tidrow) and Caudill.

Caudill fit in amid all that talent. In 72 appearances, his ERA was 2.19.

Emboldened by the bullpen depth, the Cubs traded Sutter to the Cardinals, but Caudill regressed in 1981 (5.83 ERA). He said one reason for his poor season was he followed the club’s orders to lose weight. Caudill claimed he dropped at least 20 pounds “but I lost about two feet off my fastball, too,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “My strikeout pitch turned into a single or double pitch.”

Cubs management suggested Caudill’s ineffectiveness was caused by too many late nights on the town. “I found he couldn’t put his body down at night,” Cubs manager Lee Elia told Sports Illustrated. “History had shown here that he couldn’t adapt to day games.”

Caudill said to the magazine, “Show me a Chicago Cub without sacks under his eyes and I’ll show you a Cub who’s only been with the team two weeks.”

Responding to criticism that he was a boisterous presence in the clubhouse, Caudill told Newsday, “The Cubs didn’t really care for all that emotion. It was more like putting on a business suit than a uniform there.”

Elementary, dear Watson

On April 1, 1982, the Cubs sent Caudill to the Yankees, completing a deal for Pat Tabler. Caudill was a Yankee for less than 30 minutes. George Steinbrenner’s club flipped him to the Mariners almost as soon as they acquired him. Regarding his fleeting moments as a Yankee, Caudill told the Los Angeles Times, “Maybe Steinbrenner will send me one pinstripe to put on my mantel.”

Caudill, 25, felt right at home with the Mariners, who made him the closer and encouraged his free spiritedness.

After the Mariners returned from a road trip ruined by a lack of clutch hitting, Caudill reached into his hat collection, pulled out a deerstalker cap and did his best Sherlock Holmes impersonation. “I went up to the bat rack and told everybody I was going to solve The Case of the Missing Hits,” Caudill told the Los Angeles Times. “I took out every bat, looked them over, held them up to my ear and shook them. I threw about four in the trash can. Those were the rotten apples. Now they’re out of the barrel and we’re ready to go.”

Sure enough, the Mariners began producing timely hits. Caudill got dubbed “The Inspector” _ as in Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau _ and was greeted with Henry Mancini’s “The Pink Panther Theme” from the organist whenever he entered a home game. Fans sent him magnifying glasses.

During a rain delay in Detroit, Caudill came onto the field wearing a Beldar the Conehead mask and a jersey of teammate Gaylord Perry with a pillow stuffed underneath. Caudell did an impersonation of the spitball pitcher, “wiping grease from behind his ears and off his eyebrows,” Sports Illustrated noted.

The show ended when Perry tackled Caudill. Though Perry did so good naturedly, “Dick Butkus couldn’t have hit me any harder,” Caudill told the Chicago Tribune.

On another night, Caudill shaved off half his beard. “I told everybody that since we were playing half-assed, I might as well pitch half-bearded,” he told the Sacramento Bee.

Ups and downs

Caudill had 12 wins, 26 saves and 111 strikeouts in 95.2 innings for the 1982 Mariners. The next year, he again earned 26 saves for them. Traded to the Athletics, he posted nine wins and 36 saves in 1984, then got dealt to the Blue Jays for Dave Collins, Alfredo Griffin and cash.

Represented by his former Cardinals minor-league teammate, agent Scott Boras, Caudill got a five-year contract from the Blue Jays. His stay with them, though, was much shorter.

Caudill was removed from the closer role during the 1985 season and replaced by Tom Henke. The next year, shoulder and elbow problems limited Caudill’s effectiveness. Released by the Blue Jays in April 1987, he returned to the Athletics, but broke his right hand when he punched a man Caudill said grabbed his wife in a hotel parking lot, the Associated Press reported. At 31, Caudill was done as a big-league pitcher.

He went to work for Scott Boras and also coached youth baseball. One of the players he instructed, Blake Hawksworth, said Caudill taught him a changeup. Hawksworth used the pitch to reach the majors with the Cardinals in 2009.

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How Ryan Kurosaki got lost in Cardinals system

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Prospects, tagged , , , , on February 24, 2025| 7 Comments »

As an amateur pitcher, Ryan Kurosaki experienced a dramatic change in climate, landscape and culture, leaving the tropical paradise of Hawaii after high school and going to the prairies of Nebraska to attend college.

After making that transition, a leap from the minors at Arkansas to big-league St. Louis might seem feasible, but it turned out to be too much too soon.

Fifty years ago, in 1975, as a right-handed reliever with barely more than a year of professional experience, Kurosaki was called up to the Cardinals from Class AA Little Rock. After only a month with St. Louis, Kurosaki was sent back to Arkansas and never returned to the big leagues.

A pitcher whose job it was to put out fires, Kurosaki built a second career as a professional firefighter.

Aloha

A grandson of Japanese immigrants, Kurosaki developed an interest in baseball as a youth in Honolulu. In June 1962, when he was 9, Kurosaki was among a group of pee-wee players shown receiving instruction from Irv Noren, manager of the minor-league Hawaii Islanders, in a photo published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Kurosaki eventually became a standout pitcher for Kalani High School. As a senior in 1970, he helped Kalani win a state championship. Lenn Sakata, the club’s junior shortstop, recalled to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Kurosaki “was captain of our team. We looked up to him. He was the leader.”

(Sakata went on to play 11 seasons in the majors with the Brewers, Orioles, Athletics and Yankees.)

Dave Murakami, a Hawaiian who played baseball for the University of Nebraska in the 1950s, recommended Kurosaki to Cornhuskers head coach Tony Sharpe, who offered a scholarship. At Murakami’s urging, Kurosaki accepted.

Asked in May of his freshman year about making the adjustment from Hawaii to Nebraska, Kurosaki told the Omaha World-Herald, “It is a lot different … I still miss Hawaii. When you’re stuck in the snow, you get that way.”

Any feelings of homesickness didn’t prevent Kurosaki from developing into a reliable starter for Nebraska. Highlights during his three seasons there included shutouts of Kansas State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

In the summers after his sophomore and junior seasons, Kurosaki pitched for a semipro team in Kansas managed by former big-league outfielder Bob Cerv. “That’s where I developed my slider,” Kurosaki told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

Pitching well in the National Baseball Congress Tournament, Kurosaki impressed Cardinals scouting supervisor Byron Humphrey. Opting to forgo his senior season at Nebraska, Kurosaki, 21, signed with the Cardinals in August 1973.

Fast rise

Assigned to Class A Modesto of the California League, Kurosaki had a splendid first season in the Cardinals’ system in 1974. Playing for manager Lee Thomas, Kurosaki was 7-3 with six saves. He struck out 74 in 71 innings and had a 2.28 ERA. “Ryan has a great slider and keeps the ball low,” Thomas told the Modesto Bee. “He’s everything you want in a relief pitcher.”

Promoted to Class AA Arkansas for his second pro season in 1975, Kurosaki baffled Texas League batters. In his first 11 relief appearances covering 21 innings, he didn’t allow an earned run and was 4-0 with four saves.

In May, the Cardinals demoted starter John Denny to Tulsa, moved reliever Elias Sosa into the rotation and brought up Kurosaki to take Sosa’s bullpen spot.

When Arkansas manager Roy Majtyka informed Kurosaki he was headed to the big leagues, the pitcher called his parents in Hawaii. “The family went crazy when I gave them the news,” Kurosaki told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I still can’t believe I’m up here.”

As he recalled to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, “I was in awe when I reported. My teammates included Lou Brock and Bob Gibson.”

The Cardinals assigned first baseman Ron Fairly, 36, to be the road roommate of Kurosaki, 22, and help him get acclimated. Kurosaki was 6 when Fairly debuted in the majors with the 1958 Dodgers.

Good start

When Kurosaki entered his first game for the Cardinals on May 20, 1975, at San Diego, he became the first American of full Japanese ancestry to play in the majors, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

(The first Japanese native to play in the big leagues was pitcher Masanori Murakami with the 1964 Giants. The first Asian-born player with the Cardinals was Japanese outfielder So Taguchi in 2002.)

Kurosaki’s debut was a good one. He worked 1.2 innings against the Padres, allowing no runs or hits. Boxscore

His next three outings _ one against the Dodgers (two innings, one run allowed) and two versus the Reds _ had many pluses, too.

On May 31 against the Reds, Kurosaki retired Johnny Bench, Dan Driessen, Cesar Geronimo and Dave Concepcion before giving up a solo home run to George Foster. Boxscore

The next day, Kurosaki held the Reds scoreless in two innings of work. He gave up two singles but retired Joe Morgan, Bench, Driessen, Concepcion, Foster and Jack Billingham. Morgan and Foster struck out. Boxscore

In four appearances for the Cardinals, Kurosaki had a 2.45 ERA.

Rough patch

After that, Kurosaki faltered. He allowed four runs in less than an inning against the Reds, gave up a three-run homer to Cliff Johnson of the Astros, and allowed three runs in 1.2 innings versus the Pirates. Relieving Bob Gibson (making his first relief appearance since 1965) at Pittsburgh, Kurosaki gave up singles to pitcher Bruce Kison and Rennie Stennett. Kison stole third and scored on Kurosaki’s balk. (Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst got ejected for contesting the balk call.) Boxscore

Kurosaki was sent back to Arkansas. Little did he know his big-league days were over. His totals in seven appearances for the Cardinals: 7.62 ERA, with 15 hits allowed, including three home runs, in 13 innings.

“I think they might have brought me up a little too quick,” Kurosaki said to the Omaha World-Herald. “It’s tough on you mentally when you’re somewhere you know you don’t belong. I knew that I didn’t belong in St. Louis. I knew that I wasn’t pitching for them the way I knew I could pitch.”

Reflecting on Kurosaki’s stint with St. Louis, former American League umpire Bill Valentine, who became Arkansas general manager in 1976, told 501 Life Magazine of Conway, Ark., “It was one of the silliest things the Cardinals ever did … No way he could be ready.”

Getting sent back to Little Rock did have one significant benefit for Kurosaki: He met Sandra McGee there in 1975 and they married in 1978.

Sounding the alarm

Based on his work at Arkansas, it was reasonable to think Kurosaki would be heading back to St. Louis at some point. He was 7-2 with seven saves and a 2.03 ERA for Arkansas in 1975; 5-2 with six saves and a 3.25 ERA in 1976.

After two good seasons at Class AA, Kurosaki expected a promotion to Class AAA in 1977 but instead the Cardinals sent him back to Arkansas. Once again, he delivered, with 14 saves and five wins.

So it was tough for Kurosaki to take when the Cardinals told him to report to Arkansas for a fourth consecutive season in 1978.

“Same old story year after year,” Kurosaki told the Omaha World-Herald. “They told me I could go to the Mexican League, but I said I wouldn’t go. I asked them to trade me, but they wouldn’t. They told me it was either the Mexican League or Little Rock. It is getting to the point where I’m thinking that if the Cardinals don’t have any plans for me, perhaps it would be better if I went somewhere else.”

The Cardinals wanted Kurosaki to develop a screwball or forkball to go with his slider and sinker, The Sporting News and Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.

Kurosaki, 26, earned 11 saves for 1978 Arkansas and finally got a mid-season promotion _ to Springfield, Ill., where he was 5-2 with three saves and a 2.40 ERA for the Class AAA club.

A second chance at the majors, though, wasn’t offered. As Bill Valentine suggested to 501 Life Magazine, the Cardinals “forgot about him.”

Kurosaki spent two more years in the minors, then was finished playing pro baseball at 28.

In 1982, after a year with the Benton (Ark.) Fire Department, Kurosaki began a 32-year career with the Little Rock Fire Department, retiring as a captain in 2014.

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Yadier Molina to Manny Ramirez: Don’t tread on me

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on February 11, 2025| 11 Comments »

Game 4 of the 2004 World Series was remarkable for more than the obvious reason. It was the game the Red Sox won to become World Series champions for the first time in 86 years. The magnitude of that achievement overshadowed another facet of that game: a drama that underscored the fortitude of the Cardinals’ rookie catcher, Yadier Molina.

Ever since his unplanned ascension from the minors to the Cardinals in June 2004, Molina faced a myriad of challenges, ranging from runners crashing into him at the plate to pitchers trying to embarrass him when he batted.

In his first World Series start, Molina encountered a different kind of test. Two of baseball’s prominent players, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, conspired to steal signs he was flashing to the pitcher.

Molina didn’t back down. Instead, the rookie intimidated the intimidators.

Climbing the ladder

After entering the Cardinals’ farm system in 2001, Molina made a steady rise. The 2004 season was his fourth year in the minors and his first at Class AAA Memphis.

Asked during 2004 spring training about Molina making the move to Class AAA, Cardinals director of player development Bruce Manno said to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Defensively, there’s no doubt in my mind (Molina) can play there. Offensively … we’ll see how he responds.”

Manno told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “We would like to see him play the full season (with Memphis).”

Memphis manager Danny Sheaffer, a former big-league catcher who played three seasons (1995-97) with St. Louis, managed Molina at Class A Peoria in 2002. That year, Molina threw out 52 percent of runners attempting to steal and hit .280.

Sheaffer assured the Memphis newspaper that Molina was a good  hitter _ “He uses the whole field” _  and had superb catching skills. “There’s not a whole lot he needs to improve on to catch in the big leagues right now … He’s real special,” Sheaffer told the Commercial Appeal in May 2004. “He’s head and shoulders above where I was at his age … He’s got a chance to be a good one.”

Call for help

The adjustment to Class AAA was no problem for Molina. In 37 games with Memphis, he hit .302 and nailed 17 of 28 runners trying to steal.

“He’s our top catching prospect,” Bruce Manno told the Memphis newspaper. “We feel that at some point he’s going to make a major contribution to our club at the major league level.”

That time came sooner than the Cardinals and Molina expected. On June 2, 2004, Sheaffer woke Molina during the night to inform him he was going to the Cardinals. Starting catcher Mike Matheny strained a muscle under his right rib cage, necessitating a stint on the disabled list. Molina was called up to join backup Cody McKay (son of Cardinals coach Dave McKay) as the St. Louis catchers.

Molina phoned his brothers, Angels catchers Bengie and Jose, to inform them of his promotion. Never before had three brothers been in the big leagues at the same time as catchers, according to research done by the Post-Dispatch and Joe Hoppel of The Sporting News.

Join the club

Manager Tony La Russa put Molina in the starting lineup for his big-league debut on June 3, 2004, at Pittsburgh. Before the game, Molina told the Post-Dispatch, “I’m ready. This is the best day of my life.”

Molina, 21, was in synch with starting pitcher Woody Williams, 37, who worked six scoreless innings. In the second inning, when Abraham Nunez tried to score from second base on a two-out single to right, Molina made a diving tag to prevent the run. In the eighth, he threw out Jack Wilson attempting to steal second, a key play in helping to short-circuit a Pirates comeback bid.

At the plate, Molina stroked two hits _ a single in the fifth and a double in the seventh _ against starter Oliver Perez. After the double, Molina advanced to third on So Taguchi’s sacrifice bunt and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Woody Williams. Video

(The focus of the game changed in the ninth when La Russa and Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon were ejected after getting into a shouting match.)

After the Cardinals won, 4-2, Molina was praised for his successful debut. “He’s got so much composure,” La Russa told the Post-Dispatch. “He plays like he’s got 10 years of experience.” Pitching coach Dave Duncan said to the reporter Rick Hummel, “He’s not intimidated by the major leaguers. He should do all right.” Boxscore

Good job

On June 23, 2004, a few days after Matheny came off the disabled list, the Cardinals sent Cody McKay to Memphis and kept Molina. Two days later, against the Royals, Molina collected three hits, including two against 20-year-old rookie starter Zack Greinke. Boxscore

Matheny remained the No. 1 catcher but La Russa mixed in starts for Molina, making sure he didn’t rust on the bench. As the summer unfolded, it became evident Molina belonged in the majors. In addition to his brothers, Molina was the latest in a long line of big-league catchers from Puerto Rico. Others in the game then included Sandy Alomar Jr., Javy Lopez, Jorge Posada, Ivan Rodriguez and Benito Santiago.

In explaining why so many accomplished catchers were Puerto Ricans, Molina told the Post-Dispatch, “To me the difference between the Americans and us is we want the hard job.”

On Aug. 7, with the score tied at 1-1 in the ninth inning at St. Louis, the Mets issued an intentional walk to Larry Walker, loading the bases with two outs and bringing Molina to the plate. “If we were going to lose the game, we were going to make the rookie do it,” Mets manager Art Howe told the Post-Dispatch.

Mike Stanton threw a tough pitch, a fastball down and away, but Molina poked a single over the shortstop, giving St. Louis a 2-1 walkoff win. “You don’t have to be afraid in this game,” Molina said to Dirk Chatelain of the Post-Dispatch. “You just have to play the game hard. Respect the game … I’m a rookie but I know what it’s about.” Boxscore

Three weeks later, Molina earned more admiration from his teammates with a play he made at Pittsburgh. In the second inning, Ty Wigginton, trying to score from second on Jose Castillo’s single to right, steamed toward the plate. As Molina gloved Larry Walker’s one-hop throw, the 200-pound baserunner arrived. Wigginton crashed into Molina, bowling him over, but the rookie held onto the ball for the out.

“To take a hit like that and shake it off is just impressive,” Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris said to the Associated Press. “That shows you how much heart he has.”

Wigginton told the news service, “I thought I was going to score, and the next thing I know Molina is right in front of me … If he drops the ball, it might be a different ballgame.”

Two innings later, Molina tagged out Jose Castillo on Jim Edmonds’ throw from center. The Cardinals won, 6-4. Boxscore

In September, Molina hit his first big-league home run. The solo shot against the Brewers’ Matt Wise snapped a 2-2 tie in the eighth and carried the Cardinals to their 100th win of the season. Boxscore

In 59 games for the 2004 Cardinals, including 39 as a starter, Molina hit .267, made just two errors in 344 innings, and caught eight of 17 runners (47 percent) attempting to steal.

Taking a stand

After Matheny started the first three games (all won by the Red Sox) of the 2004 World Series, La Russa wanted him rested in case the Cardinals extended it beyond Game 4. So he gave Molina the Game 4 start. The Cardinals’ starting pitcher, Jason Marquis, worked well with Molina during the season. In 90.2 innings with Molina as his catcher, Marquis had a 3.38 ERA, which was better than his overall season total of 3.71.

In his first two plate appearances of the game, Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox walked and singled. While Ramirez was on base, Molina suspected Ramirez was relaying to cleanup batter David Ortiz the signs Molina was sending to Marquis.

(Years later, Reds first baseman Joey Votto, in discussing Molina with Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch, said, “It’s like he can sniff out, he can sense, where any hitter is looking, or what they’re attempting. It’s something that I don’t think you can measure. That seems like an intangible, but he has it.”)

In the dugout, Molina asked Matheny for advice on what to do about Ramirez’s sign stealing. According to the Post-Dispatch, Matheny replied, “When he comes up, make sure he knows you’re on to it.”

As Ramirez came to bat in the fourth, Molina stood up, stepped forward, got nose to nose with Ramirez and scolded him in Spanish.

“I was sitting over there saying, ‘That’s probably not what I would have done … but that will work,’ ” Matheny recalled to Stan McNeal of Cardinals Yearbook.

As Molina and Ramirez argued, Red Sox manager Terry Francona rushed over to umpire Chuck Meriwether. In pleading Ramirez’s case, Francona said he told Meriwether, “Chuck, Manny doesn’t even know our signs.”

The Cardinals lost the game, but the sight of their rookie catcher confronting Ramirez and refusing to back down made a powerful impression on them.

As La Russa told Cardinals Yearbook, “Yadi got in his face and started jawing at him. He told them to stop that stuff now, or somebody was going to get hurt because he would cross them up … I told him I was glad he did that, that he could not allow that stuff to happen. For a young catcher to do that in the World Series says all you need to know about his competitiveness.” Boxscore and Video at 1:15:46.

After the World Series, Matheny became a free agent and signed with the Giants. The Cardinals’ catching job belonged to Molina.

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