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Spring fling: How Tony Womack sparked 2004 Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades on March 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A minor move for a one-time heartbreaker paid off in a major way for the 2004 Cardinals.

Desperate for a second baseman late in spring training, the Cardinals acquired Tony Womack from the Red Sox for reliever Matt Duff on March 21, 2004.

The Cardinals weren’t sure Womack was even healthy enough to play.

He turned out to be the catalyst for a club that won the National League pennant.

Womack, 34, had undergone ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in October 2003.

The Cardinals, unwilling to enter the 2004 season with either Marlon Anderson or Bo Hart as their everyday second baseman, took a chance on Womack, even though they were told he still was a month away from being able to field and throw.

After Womack reported to the Cardinals’ spring training camp in Jupiter, Fla., pulling into the players’ parking lot in a purple Lamborghini, he declared, “I’m ready to go now. I’ve been ready for a while,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The Cardinals immediately put him into minor-league games on the back fields of the training complex and, sure enough, Womack proved fit. His elbow had healed far ahead of schedule.

An impressed and grateful Cardinals management team, seeking a replacement for departed free-agent second baseman Fernando Vina, quickly made plans to get him into the starting lineup and atop the batting order in big-league games.

Forgive us our trespasses

Three years earlier, Womack was a Cardinals nemesis. Playing shortstop for the Diamondbacks, Womack delivered the game-winning hit that eliminated the Cardinals in the fifth and deciding game of the National League Division Series.

On Oct. 14, 2001, at Phoenix, Womack came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5 against reliever Steve Kline with the score tied at 1-1, two outs and a runner at second. Womack’s single to left drove in pinch-runner Danny Bautista, giving the Diamondbacks a 2-1 victory and enabling them to advance on the path toward their first World Series championship. Boxscore

Reminded of that hit after he joined the Cardinals, Womack told Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break their hearts, but better their heart than mine.”

In response, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, chuckling, told Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch, “I’ve forgiven (Womack). I haven’t forgiven Kline. I’ve got to make sure Kline doesn’t throw batting practice to Womack.”

Said Kline of Womack: “I like the guy. Now he doesn’t have to get a hit off me.”

Spark plug

After Womack singled twice and stole two bases against Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez in his first Cardinals spring training game, La Russa gushed, “He looked like what I thought he’d be, a guy with a lot of energy who can be very disruptive. Impressive.”

Two weeks after he was acquired, Womack was the 2004 Cardinals’ Opening Day second baseman. Batting leadoff against the Brewers at St. Louis, Womack was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Boxscore

He had a strong April (.351 batting average with seven steals and a .415 on-base percentage) and, except for a slump in May, was consistently productive all season.

Womack hit especially well against some of St. Louis’ Central Division foes: . 382 (26-for-68) vs. the Reds; .373 (25-for-67) vs. the Cubs; .357 (25-for-70) vs. the Pirates; and .333 (15-for-45) vs. the Brewers.

In 145 regular-season games for the 2004 Cardinals, Womack had 170 hits, scored 91 runs and had 26 stolen bases. He batted .307 and had an on-base percentage of .349. Both figures were far better than his career marks in those categories. (In 13 major-league seasons, Womack had a .273 batting average and .317 on-base percentage.) He fielded adequately, with 15 errors in 1,113 innings at second base for St. Louis.

In the 2004 World Series, Womack batted .182, 2-for-11, in the four games against the Red Sox, but fielded flawlessly. He then became a free agent and signed with the Yankees. He eventually bounced to the Reds and the Cubs. Two years after leaving the Cardinals, his playing career was finished.

In 2005, the Cardinals replaced Womack with another free agent, Mark Grudzielanek.

Previously: Tino Martinez, Mike Matheny and the Cardinals’ Easter brawl

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John Mozeliak outfoxed Billy Beane on Brett Wallace deal

Posted in Hitters, Prospects, Trades on March 14, 2014| 4 Comments »

(Updated July 14, 2019)

In dealing Brett Wallace, the Cardinals acquired one of the cornerstones of their batting order, left fielder Matt Holliday, and cleared the way for David Freese to become their third baseman.

Holliday and Freese became key players for Cardinals teams that won a World Series championship and two National League pennants.

Heavy hitter

Wallace, a left-handed batter, was chosen by the Cardinals with the 13th pick in the first round of the June 2008 amateur draft. At Arizona State University, he twice led the Pacific-10 Conference in batting average, home runs and RBI.

Though the Cardinals hoped Wallace could handle third base, scout Chuck Fick said, “His position is hitting.”

“It’s too difficult to walk away from a guy who has this kind of chance to hit … He’s a dangerous hitter,” Fick said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Said Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals’ vice-president of player development: “He knows, as do we, his value is what he does at the plate.”

Wallace was listed at 6 feet 1 and between 230 and 245 pounds. The Cardinals’ other 2008 first-round pick, awarded for the loss of free-agent reliever Troy Percival, was pitcher Lance Lynn.

Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “Lynn, like Wallace, has a bulky frame and the Cardinals acknowledge both players will have to watch their weight to reach the potential that got them drafted.”

After receiving an estimated bonus of $1.8 million from the Cardinals, Wallace reported to the minor leagues in July 2008. In 54 games combined for Class A Quad Cities and Class AA Springfield, Wallace had 68 hits and a .337 batting average.

Big deal

Wallace was playing third base and batting .293 (65 hits in 62 games) for Class AAA Memphis in 2009 when he was traded on July 24 to the Athletics with two other prospects, pitcher Clayton Mortensen and outfielder Shane Peterson, for Holliday.

Wallace was the “keystone of the deal,” said Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, who added that his counterpart, Billy Beane of the Athletics, insisted on Wallace being involved in any trade talks.

“He’s a guy we’ve always sort of longed for,” Beane told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Cardinals were bullish on Wallace’s offense _ Mozeliak said Wallace “is not the type of hitter you’re going to replace easily” _ but didn’t see him fitting a position. With Albert Pujols at first base, the Cardinals saw third base as the best option for Wallace.

“There was debate within the Cardinals’ front office whether he could be an everyday third baseman in the majors,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Uncertainty about that made him available in the right trade.”

Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz endorsed the trade: “Wallace represents tomorrow, but you don’t worry about tomorrow when Albert Pujols is batting third in your lineup today. Make the most of it.”

Steal for St. Louis

Freese, who was at Springfield, replaced Wallace as Memphis’ third baseman. He became the Cardinals’ starter the next year and was a World Series hero in 2011.

Holliday immediately boosted the 2009 Cardinals’ production. He batted .353 (83 hits in 63 games) with 55 RBI, helping the Cardinals win the Central Division title.

Wallace never played in a big-league game for the Athletics. He was traded to the Blue Jays and was stuck in their minor-league system until he joined the Astros, where he eventually was reunited with Luhnow, who became their general manager in December 2011.

In six major-league seasons with the Astros (2010-13) and Padres (2015-16), primarily as a first baseman, Wallace batted .238 and had more strikeouts (432) than hits (305).

Previously: Fernando Salas: Cool Hand Luke of 2011 Cardinals

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Pitching or hitting, Rick Ankiel was marvel and mystery

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers on March 7, 2014| 2 Comments »

(Updated Jan. 9, 2019)

When Rick Ankiel confirmed on March 5, 2014, he had retired as a player at 34, it was his second retirement announcement.

Nine years earlier, in March 2005, Ankiel, 25, announced at the Cardinals’ spring training site in Jupiter, Fla., he was retiring as a pitcher and would seek to transform himself into an outfielder.

At the time, the idea seemed to be preposterous _ almost as preposterous as if someone would have suggested in 2000 that the rookie phenom of the Cardinals suddenly would lose his ability to throw strikes during the postseason, igniting his downfall as a pitcher.

After all, the last players to make their big-league debuts as pitchers before earning significant play in the majors as position players were Bobby Darwin (1962-77) and Willie Smith (1963-71), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Ankiel persevered, hit 32 home runs in the minor leagues in 2007, got promoted to the Cardinals in August that year and belted a three-run homer in his first game back in the big leagues as a position player. Boxscore

Feel-good story

In his first 23 games after being promoted to the 2007 Cardinals, Ankiel hit .358 with nine home runs and 29 RBI.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called Ankiel “the sport’s feel-good story of 2007.”

Within 24 hours, following an all-too-familiar-pattern, Ankiel went from being marvel to mystery.

On Thursday afternoon, Sept. 6, 2007, Ankiel capped his comeback with a remarkable performance against the Pirates at St. Louis. Batting second in the order, Ankiel was 3-for-4 with two home runs, a career-high seven RBI, four runs scored and a walk in a 16-4 Cardinals victory.

“Even his foul balls down the left-field line are deep,” Pirates pitcher Matt Morris, Ankiel’s friend and former Cardinals teammate, said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There’s nothing lazy about his swing.”

Ankiel grounded into a double play in the first inning, though the Post-Gazette reported Ankiel hit the ball so hard he “would have had another hit but for a spectacular stop by second baseman Freddy Sanchez.”

In the second, Ankiel launched a three-run home run off Bryan Bullington, making his first big-league start. After drawing a walk and scoring in the fourth, Ankiel smoked a two-run homer off John Grabow in the fifth. He received curtain calls from the appreciative fans after both home runs.

Ankiel added a two-run double in the sixth against Dave Davidson, making his big-league debut. With St. Louis ahead 16-3, manager Tony La Russa removed Ankiel. Boxscore

In the seven-game homestand, Ankiel batted .440 with five home runs and 19 RBI.

“He’s been relentless every at-bat,” La Russa said.

Said Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan: “He’s been putting up Nintendo numbers.”

Right or wrong

Imagine the emotional swing the following morning, Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, when the New York Daily News reported Ankiel in 2004 had received eight shipments of human growth hormone from an Orlando-based pharmacy through a Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., clinic.

Ankiel was attempting to recover from an arm injury in 2004. Major League Baseball didn’t ban the use of human growth hormone by players until 2005. Said Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty: “There was no violation of Major League Baseball rules. There was no violation of any laws.”

The report, though, led some to question whether performance-enhancing drugs were aiding Ankiel in his storybook success with the 2007 Cardinals. “I’m a little surprised at the unfairness of some people who are rushing to conclusions before getting all the information,” La Russa said. “I don’t think he did anything wrong.”

In his 2017 book “The Phenom, Ankiel admitted he used human growth hormone from January 2004 to December 2004 to help him recover from elbow surgery.

“I took human growth hormone because it was, by Major League Baseball standards, legal,” Ankiel said in his book. “I told no one. In 2005, when Major League Baseball banned human growth hormone, I stopped using.

“I felt I’d done nothing illegal … The fact that I was not in trouble legally or, ultimately, with the league seemed lost on everyone.”

In his first at-bat after news of the human growth hormone shipments, Ankiel singled. He went hitless in his next 19 at-bats. He hit just two home runs in his final 24 games of 2007, then returned in 2008 to hit 25.

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What you should know about Frank Robinson, Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on February 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Jan. 5, 2021)

During spring training in 2014, Orioles manager Buck Showalter told a Baltimore prospect to write a report on the career of Frank Robinson after the minor-league player admitted he was clueless about the Hall of Fame slugger who became baseball’s first black manager.

That got me thinking: How many fans know about Robinson’s achievements versus the Cardinals?

In tribute to Frank Robinson, here’s my written report on the feats you should know he achieved while playing against the Cardinals:

Turning anger into runs

Robinson produced 586 home runs, 1,812 RBI and 2,943 hits in a 21-year major-league playing career from 1956-76. He spent 11 seasons _ 10 with the Reds; one with the Dodgers _ in the National League. In 203 games against the Cardinals, Robinson had 220 hits, including 46 home runs and 41 doubles, and drove in 127 runs. His career batting average versus St. Louis was .290.

Against the Cardinals, Robinson made his major-league debut, had his greatest single-game home run performance, delivered several game-winning shots and won a couple of dramatic duels with Bob Gibson.

In the book “Sixty Feet, Six Inches,” Gibson said, “Frank Robinson might have been the best I ever saw at turning his anger into runs. He challenged you physically as soon as he stepped into the batter’s box, with half his body hanging over the plate.

“His fearlessness played a tremendous part in making him the hitter he was. He practically dared you to clip him or knock him down and, when you did, he’d use it as intensity. He seemed to gain strength from it. If you couldn’t drive him off the plate _ and you couldn’t _ then you couldn’t take away his outside corner.

“As a rule, I’m reluctant to express admiration for hitters, but I make an exception for Frank Robinson.”

In the book “Pure Baseball,” first baseman Keith Hernandez said Robinson would wear out a pitching staff if they threw at him. According to Hernandez, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst “called a meeting and told his pitchers he’d fine them $100 for hitting Frank Robinson. Leave him alone. We want to win these games.”

Vinegar Bend Mizell

In his first big-league game, April 17, 1956, at Cincinnati, Robinson, batting seventh and playing left field, was 2-for-3 with a walk versus Cardinals starter Vinegar Bend Mizell. In his first at-bat in his debut game, Robinson doubled. “Second pitch,” Robinson said to the Washington Post, “line drive off the center field fence. Missed being a home run by a couple of feet.” Boxscore

Three years later, Robinson hit three home runs in a major-league game for the only time. It happened against the Cardinals on Aug. 22, 1959, at Cincinnati. All three homers were hit with two outs.

The first of the three came against Mizell. It was a three-run shot in the fifth inning that broke a 1-1 tie. It was one of eight homers Robinson hit against Mizell in his career. Robinson followed that with a two-run homer off Dean Stone in the sixth and a solo blast against Bob Duliba in the eighth. Boxscore

Larry Jackson

Robinson hit 10 home runs in his career against Larry Jackson. Seven occurred while Jackson was with the Cardinals. The most damaging was struck on Sept. 2, 1957, at Cincinnati.

In the second game of a doubleheader with the Cardinals, the Reds batted in the 10th inning with the score 1-1. Jackson, the starter, walked the leadoff batter, Bob Thurman, and Robinson followed with a walkoff, two-run home run, lifting the Reds to a 3-1 victory. Boxscore

Two-homer games

On April 30, 1958, at Cincinnati, Robinson hit a fifth-inning solo home run off Lindy McDaniel, giving the Reds a 4-2 lead. After the Cardinals rallied with two runs in the ninth to tie the score at 4-4, Robinson led off the 10th against Morrie Martin, who had held the Reds scoreless for three innings, and hit a walkoff home run, giving the Reds a 5-4 victory. Boxscore

Robinson also had a pair of other two-homer games against the Cardinals:

_ He hit a solo home run in the second inning off Ernie Broglio and the winning shot in the 11th, also off Broglio, in a 4-3 Reds victory on Sept. 10, 1962, at St. Louis. Boxscore

_ He hit a pair of home runs off Tracy Stallard in a 6-3 Reds victory on April 24, 1965, at Cincinnati. Boxscore

Bob Gibson

In showdowns between Hall of Famers Gibson and Robinson, the Cardinals pitcher usually had the upper hand, but Robinson also enjoyed spectacular successes against Gibson.

Robinson hit .229 (19-for-83) versus Gibson and struck out 12 times. He also hit four home runs.

In his book ‘Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I brought the ball in close to Frank Robinson … although I believe most pitchers tried him outside. The way he crowded the plate, they figured he was waiting to pounce on the inside pitch, but it seemed to me that he beat a hell of a lot of guys who pitched him away.”

In an interview with former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent for the book, “We Would Have Played For Nothing,” Robinson said, “Bob threw what we called a heavy ball. He had a hard slider. He was just mean enough, you know, he was up under your chin and that type of thing. So he was tougher to hit against than Sandy Koufax, but Koufax was tougher to get hits off of.”

Here is a look at the four home runs Robinson hit off Gibson:

_ Gibson blew leads in the ninth and 10th innings of a game at Cincinnati on Sept. 7, 1962.

The Cardinals led, 4-3, entering the bottom of the ninth before the Reds scored a run off Gibson to tie.

In the 10th, St. Louis regained the lead, 5-4, giving Gibson another chance to seal the win, but Robinson hit a solo home run against him in the bottom of the 10th.

The Reds won, 6-5, on a RBI-double by Vada Pinson off Curt Simmons in the 11th. Boxscore

_ Gibson was matched against fellow power pitcher Jim Maloney on May 4, 1963, at Cincinnati.

In the third inning of a scoreless game, Pete Rose walked, Pinson singled and Robinson followed with a three-run home run off Gibson. Maloney shut out the Cardinals on four hits and the Reds won, 6-0. Boxscore

_ In the opener of a doubleheader on Sept. 19, 1964, at Cincinnati, Gibson took a 5-4 lead into the ninth. With two outs and pinch-runner Tommy Harper on third, Gibson walked Pinson, bringing Robinson to the plate.

Robinson crushed a three-run, walkoff home run, lifting the Reds to a 7-5 triumph. Boxscore

_ In the first game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati on June 22, 1965, Robinson hit a solo home run off Gibson in the sixth inning, helping the Reds to a 5-4 victory. Boxscore

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Frenchy Bordagaray: Talent with bat, fiddle for Cardinals

Posted in Hitters on February 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Frenchy Bordagaray was a deluxe pinch-hitter for the Cardinals.

Bordagaray, 5 feet 7, 175 pounds, led the major leagues in pinch-hitting batting average in 1938.

Using a short right-handed swing, Bordagaray, 28, hit a club-record .467 (21-for-45) as a Cardinals pinch-hitter in 1938.

Proud to be Basque

Stanley George Bordagaray was born Jan. 3, 1910, in the California town of Coalinga, near Fresno. His mother nicknamed him Frenchy, according to the New York Times. (Bordagaray told an interviewer, “I had five brothers and we were all called Frenchy, but I’m not a Frenchman. I’m a Basque. Nobody ever got that right.”) His father, a sheepherder who immigrated to the United States from the Basque region between Spain and France at 15, wanted Stanley to become a violinist, but the youth preferred sports.

An outfielder and third baseman, Frenchy Bordagaray made his big-league debut in 1934 with the White Sox and was traded to the Dodgers at the end of the year. After the 1935 season, Bordagaray got a bit part in the John Ford film “The Prisoner of Shark Island.” When Frenchy showed up at Dodgers spring training camp in 1936 still sporting the moustache and goatee he had grown for the movie role, manager Casey Stengel ordered him to shave, saying, “If anyone is going to be a clown on this club, it’s going to be me.”

After the 1936 season, the Dodgers dealt Bordagaray, pitcher Dutch Leonard and infielder Jimmy Jordan to the Cardinals for outfielder Tom Winsett.

Boys in the band

Bordagaray hit .293 as a utility player for the 1937 Cardinals, but he became best known as a member of teammate Pepper Martin’s Mudcats band. The one-time violinist played washboard and fiddle.

Showing no signs of what was to come in 1938, Bordagaray was abysmal as a pinch-hitter in 1937, getting one hit in 16 at-bats for an .063 average.

In 1938, he had three doubles, nine RBI and scored 13 runs in his 21-for-45 performance as a pinch-hitter. Overall, he hit .282 for the 1938 Cardinals.

The Cardinals traded Bordagaray to the Reds for outfielder Dusty Cooke in December 1938. Bordagaray played for the Yankees and returned to the Dodgers before ending his 11-year big-league playing career in 1945.

Bordagaray appeared in the 1939 World Series for the Reds and in the 1941 World Series for the Yankees, but never had a World Series at-bat. His two appearances in the 1939 World Series were as a pinch-runner for Ernie Lombardi. His lone appearance in the 1941 World Series was as a pinch-runner for Bill Dickey.

In two seasons with the Cardinals, Bordagaray batted .289 (132-for-456).

His big-league career batting average as a pinch-hitter was .318 (62-for-195).

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The day Ralph Kiner hit 3 home runs versus Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on February 7, 2014| 1 Comment »

(Updated Nov. 21, 2024)

Ralph Kiner, the Hall of Fame left fielder who hit 369 home runs in a 10-year major league career, slugged three home runs in a game for the Pirates against the Cardinals.

Throughout his career, Kiner was a Cardinals nemesis, hitting .309 with 50 home runs and 142 RBI against them.

A .279 career hitter with the Pirates, Cubs and Indians, Kiner’s batting mark against the Cardinals was his highest versus any National League team.

Kiner blooms at Greenberg Gardens

In 1947, Kiner, 24, was in his second big-league season with Pittsburgh. The Pirates had acquired Hank Greenberg, 36, the longtime Tigers slugger, to play first base and mentor Kiner.

(In the book “Voices from Cooperstown,” Kiner told author Anthony J. Connor that as a boy he rooted for Greenberg and the 1934 Tigers. “I can still rattle off the whole lineup,” Kiner said. “The funny thing is I never saw them play. I was in southern California then and there was no TV. It just goes to show what an 11-year-old boy can do with a newspaper box score and a good imagination.”)

To capitalize on the right-handed power of Kiner and Greenberg, the Pirates extended the bullpen fence about 30 feet in front of the left field wall at Forbes Field, shortening the distance for a home run from about 360 feet to about 330 feet, and dubbed the area Greenberg Gardens.

Though the 1947 Pirates were an awful team _ they would finish in last place at 62-92 _ they topped one million in home attendance for the first time in franchise history because of the slugging of Kiner (51 home runs) and Greenberg (25).

On Aug. 16, 1947, Kiner had three home runs, five RBI, four runs scored and two walks in the Pirates’ 12-7 victory over the Cardinals at Forbes Field.

The Pirates and Cardinals combined to hit 10 home runs in the game. The Pirates accounted for seven _ three by Kiner and two each by Greenberg and Billy Cox. Whitey Kurowski hit two homers for the Cardinals and Terry Moore hit one. All 10 home runs were hit by right-handed batters.

Kiner’s first home run came with the bases empty in the third off starter Ken Burkhart and landed against the light tower in the bullpen. He hit a three-run shot over the scoreboard in left off Ted Wilks in the fourth before capping his day with another solo homer off Johnny Grodzicki in the eighth. The third home run was the longest and “seemed headed for Carnegie Museum in nearby Shenley Park,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Thanks, Hank

Kiner struggled early in the 1947 season and Pirates manager Billy Herman wanted to send him to the minors but Greenberg convinced the front office to keep Kiner on the club, according to the book “Voices From Cooperstown.”

According to author Anthony J. Connor, when Kiner reached a low point, going hitless in five at-bats against the Cubs, Greenberg said to Kiner, “Stay with it. The fundamentals are there and it is going to work.”

Kiner credited Greenberg with making him into a consistent power hitter. “Right from the start of spring training down in Florida, Hank was at my side constantly,” Kiner told The Sporting News. “He got me to move up a little closer at the plate to protect the outside (corner) and to spread my feet a bit, too.

“Hank gave me confidence and he taught me how to relax. Last year, I was usually tense at the plate. When a pitcher had two strikes on me, I was always afraid I’d be called out on strikes and I’d go after that bad one … I bet I’ve hit most of my home runs this year with two strikes on me.”

Said Greenberg: “Ralph had what it takes all the time. I merely gave him a bit of advice here and there when he asked me … Kiner and Ted Williams are probably the best wrist hitters in the game today.”

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” the seven-time batting champion of the Cardinals said Kiner “was the most consistent home run hitter in the National League. Hank Greenberg helped him and so did Greenberg Gardens at Pittsburgh, but Ralph worked at his game and improved himself as a hitter. He had a good eye and good power, plus a type of swing that sent the ball high with good backspin so that it kept sailing.”

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