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Archive for the ‘Hitters’ Category

Small ball: Willie McCovey and a creative extra-base hit

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on October 5, 2026| 3 Comments »

Willie McCovey was frustrated. What’s with these pitchers and managers, he wondered? Why don’t they throw him strikes? What’s with those defensive shifts?

It was early in the 1970 season. McCovey was perhaps the most feared hitter in the National League. He won the 1969 NL Most Valuable Player Award. Led the league in home runs and RBI. Now pitchers preferred to walk him instead of challenge him, and fielders filled the right side of the diamond when the Giants’ left-handed slugger came to the plate.

McCovey was pressing, swinging at slop and trying too hard to slam the ball past the gimmicky alignments. His batting mark sunk below .200. He’d had enough.

On May 3, 1970, McCovey settled into the batter’s box in the first inning at Candlestick Park and saw a phalanx of Phillies fielders bunched on the right side, like mussels clustered on a rock in San Francisco Bay.

He looked to the left and saw only an umpire.

McCovey chose to do something that was as abnormal to him as rooting for the Dodgers. He bunted _ and got a double.

Power supply

From the moment he came to the majors and got four hits, including two triples, in his debut game against future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, McCovey’s swing sent shivers through the National League.

In 22 big-league seasons, McCovey totaled 521 home runs and 1,555 RBI. He belted 41 homers against the Cardinals, including a 1966 clout some consider to be the longest ever hit at Busch Memorial Stadium. Even at age 41, in 1979, he was a force, blasting a walkoff homer to beat St. Louis.

McCovey hit .301 (with three homers) against Steve Carlton, .290 (seven homers) versus Bob Gibson and tormented Don Drysdale (.336 with 12 homers). “He’d climb out of a hospital bed just to bat against me,” Drysdale said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Stretch, as McCovey was called, reached his peak in 1969 when he led the league in homers (45), RBI (126), on-base percentage (.453) and slugging (.656). McCovey also hit .320, scored 101 runs and struck out a mere 66 times.

That was the first of four consecutive seasons McCovey received the most intentional walks in the league. The 45 intentional passes he got in 1969 were 26 more than the runner-up, Hank Aaron, with 19.

In addition, teams tried defensive shifts in a bid to cut down his extra-base hits to the outfield and singles through the infield.

At San Francisco in June 1969, Reds manager Dave Bristol utilized a four-man outfield against McCovey. Shortstop Darrel Chaney moved to straightaway center, center fielder Pete Rose shifted to right-center and right fielder Bobby Tolan played along the line. Third baseman Tony Perez joined second baseman Tommy Helms and first baseman Lee May on the right side of the infield. Only left fielder Alex Johnson remained on the left side of the field.

(In 1954, another Reds manager, Birdie Tebbetts, also used four outfielders with Stan Musial at the plate for St. Louis.)

Double trouble

After his MVP season “most of the league’s managers rearranged their defenses for McCovey” in 1970, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

McCovey batted .192 in April 1970 but his on-base percentage for the month was .404. He had 26 walks (eight intentional) with 14 hits (eight for extra bases).

“Pitchers just refuse to give me anything much to hit,” McCovey told The Sporting News. “Then sometimes I get overanxious and swing at bad pitches.”

In the opener of a Sunday doubleheader at home on May 3, McCovey went hitless, dropping his season batting mark to .193, and then received his 1969 MVP award in an on-field ceremony between games.

The Phillies went into a shift when McCovey came to the plate in the first inning of Game 2. Willie Mays, three days away from turning 39, was the runner on first, with one out. Pitching for the Phillies was left-hander Woodie Fryman, who, shift or no shift, was tough on McCovey. (For his career, McCovey hit .190 with no homers and 14 strikeouts versus Fryman.)

Third baseman Don Money had moved to the right side of the infield. McCovey bunted a Fryman pitch down the third-base line. When the ball hit the artificial turf, which was installed at Candlestick Park that spring, it picked up speed and skimmed past the bag and down the line in left field.

Willie Mays, hurtling around the bases like a runaway trolley car, scored easily, and by the time left fielder Tony Taylor got to the ball, McCovey had a double, laughing as he cruised into second.

In 2018, recalling the play to his listeners, Giants broadcaster Jon Miller said, “To this day it was the most outstanding thing I’ve ever seen in a baseball game.”

Rattled, Woodie Fryman gave up a home run and a triple to the next two batters, Ken Henderson and Al Gallagher, and was removed from the game.

“I’m not going to do it as a regular thing,” McCovey said of his bunt to Jim McGee of the San Francisco Examiner. “If I kept bunting like that, they’d make me a leadoff man. Can you imagine me being the next Matty Alou?” Boxscore

Mac is back

Energized, McCovey returned to his MVP form. On May 10, 1970, he drove in six runs against the Mets with a two-run homer off Nolan Ryan and a grand slam, the 12th of his career, versus Tug McGraw. Boxscore

McCovey had 26 RBI in 20 games in May; 10 homers and 28 RBI in August.

In a Sept. 7 game at San Francisco, Reds manager Sparky Anderson tried a shift with six outfielders against McCovey. Shortstop Dave Concepcion and second baseman Tommy Helms were stationed in short right field. Left fielder Bernie Carbo joined Pete Rose in deep right. Tony Perez moved from third base to left field and Bobby Tolan was in center.

McCovey could have bunted for an easy hit. Instead, he clobbered a Jim Maloney pitch over the fence in right for a shift-shattering home run. As McCovey trotted around second, he waved to Perez. “I was waving for him to come in … He didn’t have any reason for being out there any more,” McCovey told the San Francisco Examiner. Boxscore

After the frustrating first month, McCovey ended up with a 1970 season that was similar to his MVP year of 1969. He had a career-high 137 walks but also produced 39 homers and 126 RBI (same as 1969). His on-base (.444) and slugging percentages (.612) were stellar, too.

“I realize I could get more hits if I’d bunt against some of those shifts,” McCovey said to The Sporting News. “You can see that a lot of them would like me to, but that’s not normally my job.”

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Ready, set, go: How Willie Mays ran rings around Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on September 21, 2026| 12 Comments »

Willie Mays was having an unhappy 25th birthday the afternoon of May 6, 1956, at St. Louis.

Batting cleanup for the Giants in a doubleheader against the Cardinals, Mays went hitless in the opener and stranded five base runners as St. Louis prevailed, 5-4.

Willie’s birthday blues extended into the second game. In the first inning, he retrieved Red Schoendienst’s double and unleashed a wild throw that sailed past third baseman Foster Castleman and landed in the seats on one hop. Schoendienst scooted to home plate on the error, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Mays was such an exceptional ballplayer, though, that even when his hitting and fielding were askew, he could find another way to beat a team. In this instance, it was his base running that sparked the Giants to a Game 2 victory and gave Mays a birthday treat to celebrate. Mays swiped four bases in a game for the first time.

On the run

In his first three seasons with the Giants, Mays rarely attempted to steal bases, but manager Leo Durocher gave him the green light in 1955 and “I found out I could steal,” Mays told the Jersey Journal.

Mays swiped 24 bases in 28 attempts in 1955.

Durocher was Willie’s mentor and protector. When Bill Rigney took over as Giants manager in 1956, Mays had trouble adapting to the change. Rigney didn’t coddle Mays as Durocher had and tension developed between player and manager.

Mays hit .200 and made no steal attempts in the Giants’ first 13 games of 1956. A breakout came on May 4 at Milwaukee when Mays hit a home run and stole a base against Lew Burdette.

Then the Giants went to St. Louis for the Sunday twin bill on Willie’s birthday.

Coming up empty

In the opener, Mays went 0-for-5 against three Cardinals pitchers _ Harvey Haddix, Larry Jackson and Ellis Kinder.

He had hard luck against Haddix in the third. Batting with two on, two outs, Mays sent a drive to deep left. It looked to be a double or triple, but Rip Repulski made a leaping catch against the concrete wall.

Two innings later, Mays again batted with two on, but Larry Jackson got him to foul out to first baseman Wally Moon.

After Stan Musial put the Cardinals ahead, 5-4, with a home run versus Al Worthington in the eighth, Mays batted with one on in the ninth, but Ellis Kinder, the 41-year-old closer facing Mays for the first time, got him to fly out. Boxscore

Finding a weakness

Eager to atone for the error that gave St. Louis the lead in the first inning of Game 2, Mays led off the second with a single against Vinegar Bend Mizell. Back with the Cardinals after two years in the Army, Mizell was a left-hander who threw with a “slow, exaggerated delivery,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mays was seeing Mizell for the first time. Willie was in the Army when Mizell had his first two seasons with St. Louis (1952-53).

As Mays took his lead off first, he “did not get a good read on Mizell’s move,” according to James S. Hirsch, author of the authorized biography “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend.”

Willie’s hesitancy cost the Giants. Daryl Spencer followed with a grounder that the Cardinals converted into a double play _ Ken Boyer to Schoendienst to Moon.

If he reached base again, and Mays had no doubt he would, he was determined to take advantage of Mizell’s slow-motion windup. As biographer Hirsch noted, “Mays studied the pitcher from the bench. Left-handers were tougher to decipher, but he thought they all had one vulnerability: their eyes signaled their intentions. He also found a tip-off in Mizell’s delivery. With a speedy runner on first base, Mizell assumed, like most pitchers, that his fastball would give his catcher a better chance on an attempted steal, but Mays saw that Mizell kicked his right leg higher on a fastball, making that the ideal pitch on which to run.”

Next time up, in the fourth, Mays walked, got a running jump and stole second. Then he swiped third. He was stranded there, but Mays now knew he could run at will on Mizell and there was little that catcher Bill Sarni could do to stop him.

In the sixth, Mays walked again, stole second and “could feel the angry, frustrated stares of both Mizell and Sarni,” biographer Hirsch noted.

Sarni, who began his pro career at 15 with Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League in 1943, had a strong arm and took pride in his ability to thwart stolen base attempts. He nailed 48 percent (70 of 146) of those trying to steal against him during his big-league career. After Mays ran wild against the Cardinals, Sarni told the Post-Dispatch, “I guess 26,000 people (at the game) will think I can’t throw.”

Applying pressure

With St. Louis ahead, 4-3, in the ninth, Mays led off against Mizell and singled. According to Hirsch, “Mizell tried to hold him with several throws, but Mays ran on the first pitch and beat the peg _ four steals in one game. He considered stealing third, though with none out, the attempt would have carried undue risk.”

“I could have taken third base easy,” Mays said.

Instead, Mays dashed home from second with the tying run on Daryl Spencer’s double against a rattled Mizell. After Ellis Kinder relieved, Foster Castleman bunted Spencer to third and Dusty Rhodes drove him in with a single, giving the Giants a 5-4 lead.

The Cardinals put two on with one out in their half of the ninth, but Hoyt Wilhelm came in and retired Bill Virdon and Walker Cooper on pop-outs to the catcher, preserving the win. Boxscore

NL’s first 30-30 player

A month after the base stealing show by Mays in St. Louis, Bill Sarni was sent with Red Schoendienst and others to the Giants in the trade that brought Alvin Dark to the Cardinals.

(Sarni threw out 15 of the 26 runners who tried to steal against him with the 1956 Giants. Impressed, the Giants projected him as their catcher in 1957, but on the first day of spring training Sarni, 29, suffered a heart attack. He survived but never played again.)

Willie Mays went on to steal 40 bases in 50 attempts and belt 36 home runs for the 1956 Giants, becoming the first National League player with at least 30 homers and 30 steals in a season.

(The first to do it in the American League was Ken Williams, with 39 homers and 37 steals for the 1922 St. Louis Browns. No AL player achieved the feat again until Tommy Harper, 31 homers; 38 steals, with the 1970 Milwaukee Brewers.)

Mays repeated the achievement in 1957, with 35 homers and 38 steals.

(In the long and prominent history of the Cardinals, none has achieved 30 steals and 30 homers in a season.)

Mays in 1956 became the first National League player to swipe 40 bases since Kiki Cuyler totaled 43 for the 1929 Cubs.

Mays led the NL in steals for four consecutive seasons: 1956 (40), 1957 (38), 1958 (31) and 1959 (27).

He had 338 steals in his big-league career, according to retrosheet.org, and he was successful on most of his attempts. For instance, Mays had 27 steals in 31 tries in 1959 and 18 in 20 attempts in 1962. At age 40 in 1971, Mays was caught just three times in 26 attempts.

Mays swiped four bases in a game just once after his thefts at St. Louis. That came against the Reds in 1957, the year the Cardinals tried to acquire Mays with a $750,000 cash offer to the Giants. Boxscore

As for Vinegar Bend Mizell, Mays remained his menace throughout his career. Mays hit .392 (40 for 102) versus Mizell, with six doubles, five triples, five home runs and a .488 on-base percentage.

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Brooklyn bizarre: Cardinals win argument, lose game

Posted in Games, Hitters on September 7, 2026| 9 Comments »

Stan Musial wanted out. The Cardinals wanted to give away an out. The ninth inning at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field on Sept. 18, 1948, was, in a word, outlandish.

Musial, who hit .522 (24 for 46) at Ebbets Field in 1948, set the stage an inning earlier when he slammed a Paul Minner pitch out of the ballpark for his 36th home run of the season, tying the score at 2-2 in the eighth.

Stan comes clean

The score remained even when the Dodgers came to bat in the ninth against the Cardinals’ best reliever, Ted Wilks.

Pee Wee Reese led off and hit a pop fly into shallow left. Shortstop Ralph LaPointe chased after it and called off left fielder Enos Slaughter.

(LaPointe had entered the game in the fourth for Marty Marion, whose back ached. Marion committed two errors in the first, leading to a Brooklyn run.)

With the wind twisting the ball away from him, LaPointe changed direction at the last moment. He got his hands on the ball, then dropped it. Reese was safe at second with what was ruled a double.

Then Musial, playing center field, called a timeout, trotted toward the dugout and conferred with manager Eddie Dyer.

To the surprise of all in the ballpark, Musial took a seat on the bench and Erv Dusak went out to center field to replace him.

A day earlier, as it turned out, when Musial made a somersaulting catch of Tommy Brown’s short fly to center with two on in the eighth, he strained his left arm.

Musial kept quiet about the ailment because he didn’t want to remove his bat from the lineup. However, now that the Dodgers had the potential winning run in scoring position, Musial confessed to Dyer that he didn’t think he could make a strong throw from the outfield to the plate if Reese tried to score on a single to center, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the Irv Goodman book “Stan The Man Musial,” Musial knew he was due to bat second in the 10th inning and “this, too, had kept him quiet when he went out to the field at the bottom of the ninth.”

Now that Brooklyn had a scoring chance, “My turn at bat wouldn’t mean anything if there wasn’t going to be a 10th inning,” Musial told reporter Bob Broeg.

So he huddled with Dyer, who said, “thanks,” according to the Irv Goodman book.

Decisions, decisions

Next up for Brooklyn was Carl Furillo. He fouled off a bunt attempt, then tried again and the ball “glanced straight down off the bat and wound up in fair territory on the left side,” the New York Daily News reported.

According to reporter Dick Young, “Furillo stood still at the plate for the longest moment and then decided to run.”

Wilks fielded the ball and fired to first for the out, with Reese advancing to third.

Rather than accept the out, Eddie Dyer and Cardinals catcher Del Rice insisted to plate umpire George Barr that the ball struck Furillo’s foot and thus was foul. After conferring with fellow umpires Lee Ballanfant and Al Barlick, Barr reversed his call, declaring Furillo’s bunt try was a foul, and ordered Reese to go back to second.

Instead of one out and a runner on third, the Dodgers still had none out and a runner on second.

With two strikes on Furillo, a third bunt try was impractical. So Dodgers manager Burt Shotton sent a left-handed batter, Pete Reiser, to replace Furillo and swing away against the right-handed pitcher.

A St. Louisan, Reiser drilled Wilks’ first pitch into the alley between Erv Dusak in center and Ron Northey in right. Reese raced home with the winning run. Reiser was credited with a single, though he easily could have reached second or third.

The victory, in the final 1948 matchup between the Cardinals and Dodgers, gave Brooklyn 12 wins in 22 games versus St. Louis. It was the first time the Dodgers won a season series against the Cardinals since 1932. Boxscore

 

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How Cardinals nearly struck out on getting Orlando Cepeda

Posted in Executives, Games, Hitters, Pitchers, Trades on August 31, 2026| 20 Comments »

Orlando Cepeda was supposed to be traded to the Cubs, not the Cardinals.

In April 1966, the Giants offered to swap Cepeda, a slugger recovering from knee surgery, to the Cubs for left-handed starting pitcher Dick Ellsworth. The Cubs were willing but wanted an outfielder included with Cepeda in the deal.

While the sides dickered, details of the talks were leaked to newspapers, irritating Giants owner Horace Stoneham, who killed the proposed deal.

The Cardinals, desperate for a first baseman, stepped in and made their pitch: left-handed starting pitcher Ray Sadecki for Cepeda.

Pain relief

A right-handed batter, Cepeda was a consistent run producer for the Giants after entering the majors in 1958 and earning the National League Rookie of the Year Award. In his first seven seasons (1958-64) with San Francisco, Cepeda averaged 106 RBI and 31 home runs each year.

His right knee, though, ached after he dropped a weight on it during a workout late in 1962. He had knee surgery in December 1964. At 1965 spring training, the knee caused Cepeda “constant pain,” he said in “Baby Bull,” his autobiography.

Manager Herman Franks “kept saying I was faking, that there was nothing wrong with my knee,” Cepeda recalled in his book. “He said it was all in my mind and that I should get my ass on the field and earn some money.”

Cepeda spent most of the first month of the 1965 season on the bench. On May 3, he was sent to bat for Jose Pagan in the seventh inning at St. Louis and flied out to left. “I could barely walk,” Cepeda said in his autobiography. “I had to walk up to the batter’s box using my bat as a cane because my knee hurt so much.” Boxscore

He didn’t appear in another game until August. For the season, Cepeda batted .176 with one home run in 33 games, 27 as a pinch-hitter.

Let’s make a deal

At home in Puerto Rico during the winter, Cepeda worked to get the knee in shape. “I would run in the water, work with weights, then run some more,” he said in his book. “I was like Rocky Balboa training for a shot at the title, working harder than I ever had before. When I arrived in Arizona in the spring (of 1966), I was in the best shape of my life. Even my knee felt good. I was running well.”

However, when the Giants opened the season at home against the Cubs, Herman Franks started Willie McCovey at first base and Len Gabrielson in left. Cepeda, who played both positions, was on the bench. Boxscore

Cepeda finally got a chance to start in the sixth game, as the left fielder, only because the Giants intended to trade him for a left-handed starting pitcher and wanted to show clubs his knee was OK. Boxscore

The Giants’ starting rotation consisted of right-handers Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Bobby Bolin, Bob Shaw and Ron Herbel.

General managers Chub Feeney of the Giants and John Holland of the Cubs met in April to discuss a swap of Cepeda for Dick Ellsworth, the San Francisco Examiner and Chicago American reported. Ellsworth, 26, a Fresno resident, won 22 for the Cubs in 1963 and 14 in each of the next two seasons.

“What a deal that would have been, especially for the Giants, who are dirt-poor for southpaw pitchers,” Fresno Bee sports editor Omer Crane wrote. “Ellsworth, with that Giants power behind him, could win 20 to 22 games.”

Willie McCovey, who had one hit in 20 career at-bats against Ellsworth, said to The Sporting News, “He’s tough for any hitter.”

The trade would have given the Cubs a lineup with four future Hall of Fame run producers: Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Cepeda. With Banks stationed at first base, the Cubs would have put Cepeda in left field, John Holland told the Chicago Daily News.

“While Cubs fans thrill at the thought of Cepeda (40 home runs?) in the lineup, they shudder at the suggestion of their otherwise aging pitching staff without the presence of Ellsworth,” the Chicago Tribune noted.

Loose lips sink trades

Herman Franks was pushing for Chub Feeney to make the trade for the Giants, but Cubs manager Leo Durocher wanted John Holland to get more for Ellsworth than Cepeda. Durocher also insisted on proof that Cepeda’s knee was sound.

“Sure, I wanted Cepeda,” Durocher told Dick Young of the New York Daily News, “but I wanted some assurance that his knee was all right. After all, if I give them a pitcher like Ellsworth and then Cepeda’s knee goes pop, what have I got?”

The Giants would make no guarantee, but would permit the Cubs to have their own team doctor examine Cepeda’s knee in advance of a deal.

As for including an outfielder with Cepeda in the trade, Jesus Alou, Ollie Brown and Len Gabrielson were discussed, according to published reports. The Giants were given until two weeks after the season opened to agree to the terms, John Carmichael reported in the Chicago Daily News.

Giants owner Horace Stoneham didn’t like the Cubs’ demands and was miffed that they were leaking details to the newspapers. He told Chub Feeney and Herman Franks to call off the deal.

In the book “The Man Stan Musial Then and Now,” Musial, a Cardinals vice president in 1966, said, “It was common knowledge that a Cepeda-to-Chicago deal had fallen through because the Cubs, giving up Dick Ellsworth, wanted something other than the knee-damaged Cepeda to sweeten the pot. Those of us who knew Horace Stoneham were aware you didn’t push or prod” him.

According to Jack McDonald of the San Francisco Examiner, “Chicago fans are crying in their beer because the Cubs missed the boat on a Cepeda for Dick Ellsworth deal. Every Cubs official wanted it.”

Cardinals swoop in

After the collapse of the discussions with the Cubs, the Giants went after Ray Sadecki, 25, of the Cardinals. A 20-game winner in 1964, Sadecki won just six the next year but looked good in 1966. In April, he was 2-0 with an 0.98 ERA. One of those wins was a five-hitter against the Giants. Boxscore

The Cardinals were dissatisfied with rookie first baseman George Kernek, who lacked power. Cepeda, who slammed a two-run homer against the Cardinals on April 30, appealed to them. Boxscore

However, like the Cubs, Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam tried to get the Giants to include another player with Cepeda in a trade for Sadecki.

In the book “The Man Stan Musial Then and Now,” Musial recalled to collaborator Bob Broeg that “Howsam hedged and vacillated” on making the Sadecki for Cepeda deal until Cardinals executive vice president Dick Meyer, the top aide to team owner Gussie Busch, intervened.

Because of Howsam’s haggling, “We were fearful Horace (Stoneham) would nix the deal with St. Louis, too,” Musial said, “but Dick Meyer, always a sound stabilizing influence, urged Howsam to get along with the deal and to forget trying to get more for Sadecki.”

Getting it done

On May 7 at St. Louis, Cepeda clouted a grand slam against Cardinals starter Art Mahaffey. The next day, during the final game played at the former Sportsman’s Park, soon after Cepeda hit a two-run double against Larry Jaster, the Cardinals and Giants agreed to the Cepeda for Sadecki trade. Boxscore and Boxscore

The Cardinals and Cubs were the winners in the deal.

Cepeda helped the Cardinals win two National League pennants (1967-68) and a World Series title (1967). He received the 1967 NL Most Valuable Player Award.

Immediately after Horace Stoneham stopped the Cepeda trade talks with Chicago, the Cubs contacted the Phillies. On April 21, 1966, the Cubs sent pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl to Philadelphia for pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, center fielder Adolfo Phillips and first baseman John Herrnstein.

Jenkins developed into an ace and a Hall of Famer. He totaled 167 wins for the Cubs, and remains their career leader in strikeouts (2,038) and starts (347).

“I doubt very much whether we would have made the Philadelphia deal if we’d got Cepeda,” John Holland told the Chicago Daily News, “because we couldn’t afford to send two starters like Jackson and Ellsworth away at the same time.”

Former Cardinals ace Dizzy Dean predicted to United Press International that Sadecki “will give” the Giants the 1966 pennant. However, Sadecki was 32-39 in his four seasons with the Giants, who won no pennants during that time.

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Good catch: Andy Etchebarren, Dave Duncan to the rescue

Posted in Hitters on August 24, 2026| 17 Comments »

Closers get the glory, but catchers get the most valuable saves.

Within an eight-month period, August 1966 to March 1967, catchers Andy Etchebarren (Orioles) and Dave Duncan (Athletics) saved people from drowning.

Etchebarren rescued his teammate, Frank Robinson, who sank to the bottom of a swimming pool. Duncan saved a girl who tumbled into the Gulf of Mexico.

Deep end

The 1966 Orioles made themselves hard to catch in the American League pennant race, winning 12 of their first 13 games and then 25 of 33 in June.

A key to their success was Frank Robinson. Acquired from the Reds in December 1965 _ Bill DeWitt Sr. made the decision to trade him _ Robinson would have a spectacular 1966 season, achieving the Triple Crown as the league leader in home runs (49), RBI (122) and batting average (.316). He also was tops in total bases (367), runs scored (122), on-base percentage (.410) and slugging (.637).

“Frank Robinson was the catalyst who transformed a good Baltimore team into one that could be the strength of the American League for several years,” Steve Jacobson of Newsday noted.

On a day off, Monday, Aug. 22, the Orioles (80-43) awoke with a 12.5-game lead over their closest pursuers (Detroit). To reward his hometown heroes, Baltimore mortician Leonard Ruck gave them a private party at his estate that evening.

Many of the guests gathered around or in the swimming pool. Boog Powell, the massive first baseman, slipped and fell trying to throw teammate Moe Drabowsky into the pool. Powell suffered a cut above his right eye and had to go to the hospital for stitches, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Frank Robinson said other players threatened to toss him in fully clothed, even though he told them he couldn’t swim, the Associated Press reported. He said he changed into swim trunks (which he apparently had brought for lounging on the pool deck) and eased into the shallow end to prevent an expected dunking.

“I was jumping up and down (in the water) when I slipped off into the deep end,” Robinson told reporter Gordon Beard. “I went down a couple of times and kept yelling for help every time I surfaced. My wife thought I was kidding, and I guess everybody else did, too.”

Orioles outfielder Paul Blair recalled to the Associated Press, “The way Frank was jumping up and down, it looked like he knew how to swim. We were trying to catch (teammate) Charley Lau to throw him in at the time, so we weren’t paying too much attention (to Robinson) anyway.”

Sensing Robinson, 30, was in trouble, rookie Andy Etchebarren, 23, jumped in. “I thought he was kidding at first,” Etchebarren said to Gordon Beard, “but then I decided it was time to do something. When I reached Frank, he was just off the bottom and couldn’t move up.”

Etchebarren grabbed Robinson, then let go and returned to the surface for air. “I didn’t take a deep breath when I jumped in because I wasn’t really sure if Frank was kidding,” said Etchebarren. “When I realized he wasn’t, I pushed him a few yards and then resurfaced.”

Robinson told the Associated Press, “I remembered that a person in this kind of trouble is not supposed to struggle, so I kept as calm as I could. After giving me a couple shoves, Andy lost contact with me for a few seconds. I could see the headlines: ‘Robinson drowns at team party.’ Finally, Andy grabbed me again and shoved me to the side of the pool.”

No resuscitation effort was needed. “We let him lie by the side of the pool for about five minutes and then he got up,” Etchebarren said to Gordon Beard.

The next day, Etchebarren learned he had a cracked bone in his hand. Five weeks earlier, when he was struck on the hand by a Dennis Higgins pitch, X-rays showed no fracture. Pain persisted, and when another exam was done the day after the pool rescue, the fracture was discovered.

Etchebarren was back in the lineup a week later. In the Orioles’ World Series sweep of the Dodgers, he was the starting catcher in all four games. He fielded flawlessly, with no errors in 36 innings, and handled a pitching staff that limited the Dodgers to two total runs.

Frank Robinson’s home run against Don Drysdale lifted Baltimore to a 1-0 victory in the decisive Game 4. He received both the World Series Most Valuable Player Award and the American League MVP honor. Boxscore

Taking the plunge

After clouting 46 home runs for minor-league Modesto in 1966, Dave Duncan, 21, went to the Kansas City Athletics’ 1967 spring training camp at Bradenton, Fla.

On March 24, 1967, the day after Duncan walloped a 400-foot homer to break a tie and propel the A’s to an exhibition game win against the White Sox, he was fishing from Rod and Reel Pier in Anna Maria, Fla. A family from Benton Harbor, Mich., 11-year-old Vickie Peet and her parents, were fishing there too.

Vickie lost her balance, fell into the sea and sank in about 12 feet, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Duncan, fully clothed, leaped in after her and “brought the struggling girl to safety,” according to the Bradenton Herald.

“She was backing up (on the pier) and it looked like she stumbled,” Duncan told The Sporting News. “She was struggling around in the water and no one was doing anything, so I jumped in and got her.”

According to the Bradenton newspaper, the girl’s parents, Nick and Patricia Peet, “were eternally grateful.”

Duncan began the 1967 season at Birmingham, Ala., and was brought to the A’s for stints in June and September. He started in 27 games for Kansas City.

In February 1975, Duncan was traded by Cleveland to Baltimore for Boog Powell and Don Hood. With Duncan and Elrod Hendricks sharing the catching spot, the Orioles no longer needed Etchebarren, who was sent to the Angels in June 1975.

Duncan, who played in two World Series for Oakland, became a pitching coach, primarily on teams managed by Tony La Russa. As a coach, Duncan helped Oakland to three American League pennants and a World Series title and St. Louis to three National League pennants and two World Series championships.

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Adios: Hector Espino gave quick hello, goodbye to Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects on August 10, 2026| 12 Comments »

Just as Yankee Stadium was the House That Babe Ruth Built, perhaps Busch Memorial Stadium, which opened in downtown St. Louis in 1966, could have been the House That Hector Espino Built.

Known as Bambino Mexicano, or the Babe Ruth of Mexico, Espino was invited by the reigning World Series champion Cardinals to their big-league spring training camp in 1965.

A right-handed power hitter who played first base (his best position) and the outfield, Espino joined the Cardinals’ Class AAA Jacksonville Suns farm club in August 1964 and helped them win the International League pennant.

The Cardinals purchased his contract after they prevailed against the Yankees in the 1964 World Series. They were intrigued by Espino’s home run swing as they prepared to move from the former Sportsman’s Park to the new stadium in 1966.

Mentioned with the likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Harmon Killebrew, Espino was considered a sure bet to hit in the big leagues, but it didn’t work out.

Mexican marvel

A truck driver’s son from Chihuahua, Mexico, Hector Espino was 5-foot-10, 190 pounds “with a thick, muscular upper body and large, thick wrists,” according to Scott Ostler of the Los Angeles Times.

Taking a short stride, Espino hit with power to all fields while playing summers in the Mexican League and winters in the Mexican Pacific League. “No one can hit a ball farther and higher than Espino,” Joe Reichler of the Associated Press observed. “He has been known to have hit some drives 500 feet.”

Espino clouted more than 700 home runs in his pro career. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, he hit 453 in the Mexican League; 299 in the Mexican Pacific League. Espino also hit 28 homers in the Mexican minors and three more with the Cardinals’ Jacksonville club, MLB.com reported.

The Arizona Daily Star called him “Bambino Mexicano.” Espino’s Jacksonville teammate Joe Morgan (the future Red Sox manager, not the future Hall of Fame second baseman) recalled to Rob Terranova of MLB.com, “I remember them telling us we were getting the Babe Ruth of Mexico.”

In 1989, the New York Times rated Espino as “Mexico’s greatest homegrown (baseball) talent.” Rafael Dominguez of the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame described him as “the maximum expression of Mexican baseball.”

As Encyclopedia Britannica put it, “Although virtually unknown in the United States, Espino is considered by many in Mexico to be the greatest native-born hitter of all time and is a national hero in that country.”

Cleveland calling

Playing for the Monterrey Sultans as a rookie in the Mexican League in 1962, Espino, 23, made an immediate impact: .358 batting average, .457 on-base percentage, .613 slugging mark. In June 1962, The Sporting News reported that Espino “already was attracting major-league scouts, and (team) owner Anuar Canavati of the Sultans predicted the husky hitter would bring the club a fancy return on the open market in the near future.”

The Sultans and Cleveland Indians formed a working agreement for 1963. Espino and his Monterrey teammate, pitcher Mike Cuellar, were invited to 1963 spring training in Arizona and assigned to Jacksonville, a Cleveland farm club that year.

Ben Geraghty, who 10 years earlier managed Hank Aaron at Jacksonville, gave Espino a chance to play regularly in exhibition games and he hit well, including a game-winning home run against Tacoma on March 31. The next day, Espino was a no-show at Jacksonville’s workout.

In a story headlined “Suns wonder: Where did Hector go?,” Cuellar told the Jacksonville Journal, “I saw him in the morning and I told him where he was supposed to report. He said he understood but I haven’t seen him since.”

According to the Florida Times-Union, Espino “left camp without saying a word.”

Feeling homesick, he was located at Chihuahua, where he was visiting his parents, The Sporting News reported.

Espino opted to stay in Mexico and play for Monterrey.

Pennant push

The Monterrey club shifted Espino from the outfield to first base in 1964. Comfortable with the move, he responded with a big season at the plate: 46 homers and a league-leading .371 batting mark.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Suns became a Cardinals farm club in 1964. Managed by Harry Walker, the Suns were competing for the International League pennant. To help their chances, Suns general manager Bobby Maduro used his close ties to Monterrey management to arrange for three Sultans players to join Jacksonville after completion of the Mexican League season in early August.

The trio consisted of former Washington Senators pitcher Evelio Hernandez, shortstop Rigo Mena and Espino, who was expected to provide the right-handed power Jacksonville lost when Mike Shannon was called up to the Cardinals. “There were great hopes (Espino) would be the difference in the International League pennant race,” Jacksonville journalist Jack Hairston wrote.

The transition to a new team late in the summer and in a town that was deeply segregated and filled with racial tension was challenging. Intensely shy and introverted, Espino “spoke no English, had difficulty adjusting to the alien culture and, like many Latin players who come to the United States, he was homesick,” Leo W. Banks of the Arizona Daily Star noted.

Pat Corrales, then a catcher in the Phillies’ system, recalled years later to Newsday, “He had no way to communicate, and this Mexican superstar was treated like a rank amateur … What an insult.”

Jacksonville teammate Joe Morgan said to MLB.com, “I’m just not sure he ever got comfortable here … You definitely got the feeling he was homesick.”

Adding to Espino’s discomfort was the position he was required to play. The Suns put him in the outfield after he thrived at first base in the Mexican League.

A low point came during a doubleheader at Buffalo on Aug. 18. The Cardinals sent their 82-year-old consultant, Branch Rickey, to watch Espino play and assess whether the parent club should purchase his contract. What Rickey saw was a player who shouldn’t be in the outfield.

As Bill Kastelz observed in the Florida Times-Union, “His defensive play in right field was enough to make you turn your head away as he committed three errors in two games and failed to get two or three fly balls which were more or less routine, losing one because his cap fell down over his face.”

It dawned on the Suns that Espino might be better playing first base. Moved there, he began to feel at ease and his overall performance improved.

On Sept. 8, Espino crushed a home run (his 49th of the year) in a win that clinched the pennant. Through interpreter and teammate Coco Laboy, Espino told Wayne Minshew of the Jacksonville Journal, “I’ll take that one over all the rest of my homers.” In 32 games for Jacksonville, Espino hit .300 with 15 RBI, 15 runs scored and three homers.

Deal or no deal

According to the Jacksonville Journal, Harry Walker said Espino showed much potential as a hitter. The Cardinals purchased his contract for $25,000 and invited him to their 1965 big-league spring training camp at St. Petersburg. “Not since Bobby Avila teamed with Lou Boudreau in Cleveland’s pennant-winning years have the Mexican people had a baseball hero to compare with Hector Espino, Mickey Mantle’s counterpart south of the border,” the Associated Press declared.

Plans went awry, however, as the opening of training camp neared. Espino’s father became ill and the first baseman was given permission to report late, but then the Cardinals received no communication from him, the Jacksonville Journal reported.

A few weeks later, Espino’s luggage arrived without him in Florida. He’d taken a flight from Monterrey to Dallas, changed his mind about going to spring training and went back to Mexico. By then his checked baggage was on its way to Florida.

Espino never did report to the Cardinals. He wanted a share of the purchase price Monterrey Sultans owner Anuar Canavati received from the Cardinals for him, but Canavati refused. “When the (spring training) invitation came in 1964, I looked forward to going and wanted to continue with the Cardinals in 1965, but it was Canavati who stopped me,” Espino told the Arizona Daily Star.

He also said to the Los Angeles Times, “If they had given me the money, I’m pretty sure I’d have been there (with the Cardinals) a long time.”

Asked in 1985 whether he had regrets, Espino replied to journalist Leo W. Banks, “I would do the same thing over again.”

The Cardinals kept the door open. In August 1965, St. Louis general manager Bob Howsam told Larry Lee of the Columbus (Ind.) Republic that Espino didn’t want to play in the United States but added, “We’re keeping track of him just in case.”

Safe at home

Espino had one more flirtation with a major league franchise. In 1967, he agreed to report to Angels spring training at Holtville, a California agricultural town of about 3,000 residents and home to the annual Carrot Festival.

Holtville was 15 miles from Mexicali, a bustling Mexican city with the cantinas and strip clubs Holtville lacked. Before camp opened, Angels manager Bill Rigney issued a stern warning to his players about journeying to Mexicali at night. “I realize we are not at war with Mexico, but I would prefer my guys stay on this side of the border,” Rigney told Ross Newhan of the Long Beach Independent.

Espino notified the Angels he would remain in Mexico.

“He was some hitter, but he didn’t care about leaving Mexico,” catcher Elrod Hendricks, a former Cardinals prospect who played three years (1964-66) in the Mexican League before going to the majors, said to the Associated Press.

Testimonials to Espino’s talents from the archives of the Los Angeles Times and Arizona Daily Star included:

_ Maury Wills, who managed the Hermosillo Orange Growers to a Mexican Pacific League title in 1971 with Espino at first base: “Espino is about as fine a hitter as I ever saw. He should have been in the big leagues five or six years ago.”

_ Frank Lane, ex-Cardinals general manager: “He was one of the great hitters … In the major leagues, he would have been a .320 to .340 hitter, with power.”

_ George Brunet, who played 10 seasons in the Mexican League after pitching for the 1971 Cardinals: “If he got a chance in America … he would have been just like Harmon Killebrew.”

_ Eddie Leon, an American League infielder and Espino’s Mexican League teammate: “I saw Hector when he was 36 and even at that age I thought he was as good a hitter as I’d ever seen or played against, and I played with Dick Allen on the White Sox the year after he won the MVP. Hector couldn’t do as many things as Dick Allen, but he was as good a hitter.”

Looking back on his pro career, Espino said to journalist Leo W. Banks, “Hitting a home run is a great satisfaction, but it is momentary … The satisfying thing, the thing I am most proud of, is that I’ve played 24 years.”

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