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Archive for the ‘Hitters’ Category

2nd career as Cardinal was long, fruitful for Ted Savage

Posted in Executives, Games, Hitters on October 25, 2012| 2 Comments »

Before the 1967 season, Ted Savage competed with Mike Shannon for the role of starting third baseman of the Cardinals. Neither could have imagined then that both would have long careers with the Cardinals after their playing days.

Shannon, who would win the third base job, played until 1970. After a year as the franchise’s assistant director of promotions and sales, Shannon became a Cardinals broadcaster in 1972 and remained in the job through the 2021 season.

Savage spent three (1965-67) of his nine years in the majors as a Cardinals reserve. He joined their front office in September 1987 as assistant director of community relations and minor-league instructor. The 2012 season was his 25th and last in the Cardinals’ front office. At 75, he retired as director of target marketing in the Cardinals Care and community relations department.

A native of the St. Louis-area town of Venice, Ill., Savage signed with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1960 and quickly made a favorable impression. In 1961, Savage was named most valuable player of the Class AAA International League after hitting .325 with 24 home runs, 31 stolen bases and 111 runs scored for Buffalo.

Savage became the Phillies’ left fielder as a rookie in 1962 and hit .266 with 16 stolen bases. He was traded to the Pirates after the season, beginning a journey that would land Savage with eight big-league teams between 1962 and 1971.

In December 1964, the Pirates traded Savage and pitcher Earl Francis to the Cardinals for second baseman Jack Damaska and outfielder Ron Cox.

A substitute school teacher in St. Louis during the off-season (he was graduated from Lincoln University, with a bachelor’s degree in education), Savage reported to spring training in 1965 with the Cardinals’ minor-league players. He began the regular season with Class AAA Jacksonville, stole 34 bases in 87 games and was called up to St. Louis on July 23 after reserve outfielder Carl Warwick was dealt to the Orioles.

Savage didn’t get a hit until his 19th at-bat as a Cardinal. The slump-busting double on Aug. 2 sparked a winning rally against the Dodgers. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Savage hit his first and only Cardinals home run, a two-run shot off Joe Nuxhall of the Reds. Boxscore

The highlights were too few. Savage hit .159 (10-for-63) in 30 games for the 1965 Cardinals. He opened the 1966 season with Class AAA Tulsa.

“Ted is really something,” Tulsa manager Charlie Metro told The Sporting News. “He can do everything _ and well. I consider him a better center fielder than eight of those now up in the big leagues.”

Savage, hitting .317 with 34 doubles, 18 homers and 43 steals for Tulsa, was called up to the Cardinals in August 1966. He was instrumental in helping St. Louis to a 5-1 victory over the Pirates on Aug. 27. Savage doubled and scored against starter Steve Blass and rapped a two-run double off reliever Pete Mikkelsen. Boxscore

Just as in 1965, though, Savage mostly struggled, batting .172 (5-for-29) in 16 games for the 1966 Cardinals.

After the season, Savage was sent by the Cardinals to the Florida Instructional League with the intent of being converted to a third baseman. He also received instruction on playing second base. Savage responded well to the challenges.

Wrote The Sporting News: “Besides playing a slick hot corner, Savage also won three straight games for the Cards. In one, he stole home with the winning run. In another, he drove in the deciding run with a single. And, in the third, he hit a game-winning 415-foot homer.”

Meanwhile, Shannon also was working toward a conversion from outfield to third base. In December 1966, the Cardinals traded their starting third baseman, Charlie Smith, to the Yankees for right fielder Roger Maris.

Though Shannon was regarded the frontrunner to replace Smith, Savage was considered a good bet to win a spot with the 1967 Cardinals. St. Louis ace Bob Gibson told The Sporting News, “Ted’s really improved. He’s got lots of guts and he could help some team right now.”

His confidence bolstered, Savage had a spectacular spring training, hitting .364 in exhibition games. Cardinals hitting instructor Joe Medwick said, “Savage became a good hitter again by going with the pitch.”

Savage made the 1967 Opening Day roster as a reserve infielder-outfielder. (Shannon was the starting third baseman and Lou Brock, Curt Flood and Maris were the outfielders).

However, Savage hardly played _ and when he did, he wasn’t effective. With his batting average at .125 (1-for-8), Savage was in the visitors’ clubhouse at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh when manager Red Schoendienst informed him he was being optioned to Tulsa. Angered, Savage grabbed a ukelele he had purchased and smashed it against his locker, The Sporting News reported.

The Cardinals switched gears. They sent Savage to the Cubs rather than return him to the minor-league system. Savage made an immediate impression in Chicago. He twice scored on steals of home. On June 2, his first time facing the Cardinals since his departure, Savage hit a home run against Steve Carlton, one of two he would hit against the St. Louis left-hander that season. Boxscore

Savage told The Sporting News he was sorry he had smashed the ukelele and explained, “I figured I had done everything they (the Cardinals) had asked me to. I just wasn’t going to go back to the minors.”

Savage also would play for the Dodgers, Reds, Brewers and Royals. His best season was 1970 when he hit .279 with 12 homers and 50 RBI for the Brewers.

After his playing career, Dr. Ted Savage earned a Ph.D. degree in urban studies from St. Louis University and spent nine years as athletic director at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis before joining the Cardinals’ front office.

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Bob Forsch, Cards are part of the Champ Summers lore

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on October 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In 11 big-league seasons, Champ Summers hit only one home run against the Cardinals. Like many of the events involving Champ Summers, it was bigger than life.

The last home run of Summers’ major-league career was a pinch-hit grand slam off the Cardinals’ Bob Forsch, lifting the Padres to a 7-3 victory on April 10, 1984, at San Diego.

It was fitting that Summers’ final home run was struck as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded. His first big-league homer _ hit for the Cubs against the Astros’ Jim York on Aug. 23, 1975, at Chicago _ also was a pinch-hit grand slam. Boxscore

From his colorful nickname to his unusual path to the major leagues, Summers was one of the game’s endearing characters.

In 1984, Summers, 38, was in his last big-league season, primarily employed as a left-handed pinch-hitter for San Diego. In their sixth game of a three-city West Coast trip to open the season, the Cardinals were leading the Padres, 3-1, in the fifth inning when Summers batted for pitcher Andy Hawkins with the bases loaded. He lined Forsch’s second pitch into the right-field seats. Boxscore

Summers rounded the bases so slowly his home run trot “made a wedding march look like a 40-yard dash,” wrote Bud Shaw of the San Diego Evening Tribune.

“I did take some time to watch that one,” Summers said with a smile. “I felt like I won the lottery.”

Summers told Phil Collier of the San Diego Union, “Hitting is like dancing. If you can’t hear the music, you can’t dance. I feel like I could dance all night.”

Under the headline “Performance of Padres’ Champ Worth an Oscar,” Shaw wrote, “For just one day, it would be nice to live the charmed life of Champ Summers. Preferably on a day when the rent is overdue, the unemployment check is lost in transit and your mother-in-law isn’t.”

Asked about his at-bat against Forsch, Summers said, “I don’t know what the pitch was and I don’t know where it was. I never know.”

John Junior Summers was born June 15, 1946, in Bremerton, Wash. He was nicknamed “Champ” at birth.

“My father was a prizefighter in the Navy,” Summers told the Belleville (Ill.) newspaper. “He said when I was born I looked like I went 10 rounds with Joe Louis. It’s a sad story, but true.”

Champ Summers moved with his family to the St. Louis metropolitan area. He was a natural athlete. At 17, while attending Madison (Ill.) High School, Summers was challenged to a tennis match by a local 13-year-old looking to test himself against worthy competition. The phenom was Jimmy Connors.

Summers entered the Army, became a paratrooper and served in Vietnam. When he came back to the U.S., he enrolled at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and played basketball and baseball. He was playing in a men’s softball league when a scout for the Oakland Athletics discovered him and signed him to a free-agent contract in 1971.

When Summers reached the major leagues with Oakland in 1974, the year he turned 28, he was known as John Summers, the name he had used throughout his minor-league career as well.

One day, Summers said, as he was signing autographs before a game at Oakland during his rookie season, teammate Reggie Jackson watched him slowly sign “John J. Summers Jr.” on each item handed him. Reggie asked Summers whether he had a nickname. When Summers replied “Champ,” Jackson told him he’d be a fool not to use it.

When Summers was traded to the Cubs in 1975, he introduced himself as Champ Summers _ and it remained his big-league moniker.

Summers played in the majors, primarily as an outfielder, for six teams (Athletics, Cubs, Reds, Tigers, Giants and Padres) from 1974 through 1984.

A career .255 hitter, he batted .271 against the Cardinals. He was tough versus St. Louis with the Cubs in 1975 (.313) and with the Giants in 1982 (.364).

In 2001, Summers returned to the St. Louis region as the first manager of the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League in Sauget, Ill.

Previously: Rick Horton: Bob Forsch was heart, soul of Cardinals’ staff

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Danny Cox vs. Mike Aldrete: Duel of 1987 Cards, Giants

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on October 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Mike Aldrete threatened to derail the Cardinals’ pennant push with a knockout smash off the foot of Danny Cox.

Cox was a starting pitcher for the 1987 Cardinals and Aldrete was a lethal hitter for the 1987 Giants.

Aldrete hit .438 (14-for-32) against the Cardinals during the 1987 regular season. His most damaging swing, however, produced a groundout that broke a bone in Cox’s right foot and sidelined him for a month.

Cox got even in the 1987 National League Championship Series. In a Game 7 pennant-clinching triumph, Cox held Aldrete hitless and shut out the Giants.

Riding a seven-game winning streak, the first-place Cardinals opened a series against the Giants at St. Louis on July 9, 1987.

In the seventh inning, Aldrete smacked a low liner and it struck Cox in the right foot. The ball caromed back to catcher Tony Pena, who threw out Aldrete at first base.

Cox remained in the game and completed eight innings before being relieved by Todd Worrell with the score tied 3-3. The Cardinals won, 7-6, scoring four in the 10th after the Giants had scored three in the top of the inning. Boxscore

The next day, it was discovered during an examination by team physician Dr. Stan London that Aldrete’s shot broke a bone in Cox’s foot. Cox, who had an 8-3 record, went on the disabled list and his foot was placed in a cast.

“I was throwing the ball real well and the team was playing real well,” Cox said to the Associated Press. “If anything good came out of it, at least we got (Aldrete) out.”

Aldrete, a Carmel, Calif., native and former standout for Stanford University, was enjoying a productive year for the Giants. He replaced injured right fielder Candy Maldonado in late June and put together an 11-game hitting streak before the all-star break. In his first 21 outfield starts after replacing Maldonado, Aldrete hit .341 with 15 RBI.

“I’ve tried to be a patient, disciplined hitter,” Aldrete said to The Sporting News. “You swing at strikes and let the balls go _ that’s the key to hitting.”

Nick Peters, a Bay Area baseball reporter, wrote of Aldrete, “He has a classic swing and the ability to foul off pitches until he finds something he likes. When he does, it usually becomes a rope.”

Cox returned to the Cardinals’ rotation Aug. 8, 1987. He finished the regular season with 31 starts, 199.1 innings pitched, an 11-9 record and a 3.88 ERA.

Aldrete posted a .325 batting average and a .396 on-base percentage in 126 regular-season games. He hit .419 with runners in scoring position.

As division champions, the Cardinals and Giants advanced to the National League Championship Series. They split six games, setting up a deciding Game 7 at St. Louis.

For the winner-take-all finale, Cox was named the Cardinals’ starting pitcher by manager Whitey Herzog. Aldrete was placed first in the Giants’ batting order by manager Roger Craig.

Cox set the tone early, retiring Aldrete on a groundout to second to begin the game.

In the third, with the Cardinals ahead 4-0, the first two Giants batters of the inning singled, bringing Aldrete to the plate. Cox got him to ground into a double play.

From there, Cox and the Cardinals were in control. Aldrete flied out to left, leading off the sixth, and he ended the eighth with a groundout to third. Cox pitched a shutout and the Cardinals won, 6-0. Boxscore

“He’s a good pitcher, no matter what the score is,” Aldrete said of Cox. “When he gets a lead, it makes him that much tougher.”

Previously: On 25th anniversary, top 10 facts about 1987 Cardinals

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Scout to Cardinals: I know what’s in Pete Kozma’s heart

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects on October 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In 2007, Cardinals scout Steve Gossett pushed hard for the franchise to draft Pete Kozma. Gossett saw more than baseball skills from the Oklahoma high school shortstop. He saw a player whose character and dedication could pay dividends.

Gossett was betting on Kozma’s heart.

The Cardinals followed Gossett’s advice and in 2012 they benefitted from it.

After replacing the injured Rafael Furcal in September as the everyday shortstop, Kozma played a significant role in helping the Cardinals reach the 2012 National League Championship Series against the Giants.

Kozma, 24, hit .333 (24-for-72) in the 2012 regular season for the Cardinals and achieved an on-base percentage of .383. In the postseason, his two-run single in the ninth inning capped the Cardinals’ come-from-behind 9-7 victory over the Nationals in Game 5 of the NL Division Series. Boxscore

Because he often struggled in the minor leagues since being selected as the 18th pick in the first round of the 2007 amateur draft, Kozma’s productive play for the Cardinals was a surprise to most, but Gossett saw Kozma as a standout after coaching him in an Oklahoma summer league while Kozma was in high school.

In 2007, his senior season at Owasso High School in suburban Tulsa, Kozma hit .522 and struck out five times in 113 at-bats. His first-inning home run lifted Owasso to a 1-0 victory in the Oklahoma Class 6A state championship game. The Oklahoman newspaper named Kozma all-state player of the year.

“I would play every day if I could,” Kozma said to The Oklahoman.

Owasso coach Larry Turner told the Associated Press that Kozma was “the best player I’ve ever had.”

Draft forecasters expected the Cardinals to take a college player with their first pick. Gossett advised Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals’ vice president in charge of their draft, to select Kozma.

“I got to know this kid,” Gossett said. “I know what’s in his heart. I know what kind of family he comes from, his work ethic.”

Gossett predicted the Cardinals “are going to love the way (Kozma) attacks the game.”

“The one thing that stuck out in my mind about Pete is you look in his eyes and you see a guy that you really feel is going to play in the big leagues,” Gossett said.

Baseball America magazine had forecast Kozma being selected by the Reds with the 15th choice in the first round. The magazine rated Kozma “the best all-around middle infielder in the draft,” but the Reds chose catcher Devin Mesaraco.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals were prepared to select pitcher Blake Beavan in the first round, but the Rangers, with the pick just ahead of St. Louis, drafted Beavan.

Though pitchers such as Rick Porcello and Jordan Zimmerman were available, the Cardinals took Kozma.

“This is a first-round talent,” Luhnow told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch. “He has the potential to be a real impact in the big leagues at a premium position.”

(In the third round of that 2007 draft, the Cardinals chose infielder Daniel Descalso. In the Cardinals’ four-run ninth inning against Washington in Game 5 of the 2012 NL Division Series, Descalso got the two-run single that tied the score and Kozma followed with the two-run single that produced the winning runs.)

Kozma became the third infielder selected by the Cardinals in the first round since 1997. The others were Adam Kennedy (1997) and Tyler Greene (2005).

Though he had committed to play college baseball at Wichita State, Kozma signed with St. Louis.

He wasn’t a sensation.

In 2009, his third minor-league season, Kozma appeared to be regressing. He hit .231 and had almost as many strikeouts (104) as hits (111). Baseball America did name him the best defensive shortstop in the Texas League, but in 2010 Kozma committed 34 errors at shortstop.

In 2011, Kozma received fielding instruction from coach Jose Oquendo during a brief stay at the big-league spring training camp. It was enough to steady his defensive play. In May 2011, Kozma was called up to the Cardinals from Class AAA Memphis as a replacement for injured utility player Nick Punto. Kozma produced a RBI-double in his first big-league at-bat (against the Astros’ Bud Norris), becoming the first Cardinal to get an extra-base hit in his first at-bat since Hector Luna (a home run) in April 2004. Boxscore

That was the highlight of his initial St. Louis stay. Kozma batted .176 (3-for-17) for the Cardinals and soon was returned to Memphis. There, his struggles continued. He hit .214 for Memphis and finished the 2011 Class AAA season with more strikeouts (91) than hits (85).

Kozma opened 2012, his sixth professional season, at Memphis again. He hit .232. When the Cardinals tabbed him to replace Furcal in September, some wondered whether rookie Ryan Jackson would have been a better choice, but Cardinals manager Mike Matheny liked Kozma’s defense.

“To me, Pete has impressed everybody at every level with his defensive ability,” Matheny said to the Post-Dispatch on Sept. 8. “When we have a need around here … there is no question that takes priority.”

It proved to be the right choice.

Previously: Cardinals would do well to develop another Dal Maxvill

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Rookie Wally Moon helped Cardinals offense soar in ’54

Posted in Games, Hitters on October 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In 1954, Cardinals center fielder Wally Moon batted .304 with 18 stolen bases, had an on-base percentage of .371 and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

A left-handed batter, Moon had most of his at-bats from the leadoff or No. 2 spots in the order.

He was part of a 1954 Cardinals team that led the National League in steals (with 63) after having just 18 as a team in 1953.

At 24, Moon took over for Enos Slaughter, who was traded to the Yankees just before the start of the 1954 season. Moon played center field and was flanked by Stan Musial in right and Rip Repulski in left.

Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky, looking for speed and a more aggressive style of play, promised to buy a suit for every St. Louis player who would steal 10 or more bases in 1954.

(According to The Sporting News, National League president Warren Giles later ordered Stanky to stop offering incentives to players for individual performances. Replied Stanky: “I respect authority and I’ll respect Mr. Giles’ wishes, though … I do feel I must live up to the promise to give the prizes for 10 or more stolen bases.”)

Moon was the only Cardinal to reach the goal. With nine steals, third baseman Ray Jablonski fell one short.

On May 25, 1954, Moon swiped four bases in the Cardinals’ 9-4 victory over the Cubs at St. Louis. The National League single-game record at the time was five by first baseman Dan McGann of the 1904 Giants.

With ex-Cardinal Walker Cooper, 39, catching for the Cubs, Moon stole second in the first inning, second in the fourth, and second and third in the fifth. Jim Willis’ pitch on Moon’s steal of third was wild and Moon continued home. Willis was so steamed that he plunked the next batter, Alex Grammas, with a pitch.

In the seventh, Moon flied out. If he had reached base, Stanky said, Moon would have gotten the signal to attempt to steal because Stanky was aware of the record. Boxscore

“I would have given Moon every chance to get that fifth steal,” Stanky told The Sporting News. “He’s a nervy youngster and when he says he’ll have another go at it, I’m sure that he will.”

Moon told reporters he expected to “take another crack one of these days” at the record, but the most steals he ever got in a game after that was two.

Two weeks after his four-steal performance, Moon was reckless rather than savvy on the bases in a game against the Phillies at St. Louis on June 6, 1954.

With the score tied 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs and Jablonski at the plate. Moon tried to steal home, but pitcher Bob Miller’s delivery to catcher Smoky Burgess was on time to retire Moon and end the inning.

Stanky, coaching at third, was booed. The fired-up Phillies scored five in the seventh and went on to win, 11-8. Boxscore

Afterward, Stanky told St. Louis writer Bob Broeg, “When things go wrong on the field, it’s my fault. I gave the sign,” but Moon told Broeg he had run on his own.

Moon’s 18 steals in 1954 were the single-season high of his 12-year major-league career. He finished with 89 career steals in the big leagues.

With 17 of 24 votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, Moon won the Rookie of the Year Award against top-flight competition. The Cubs’ Ernie Banks placed second in the voting (four votes) and the Braves’ Hank Aaron finished fourth (one vote).

Moon had 193 hits in 151 games for the 1954 Cardinals, with 12 home runs, 29 doubles, 71 walks, 76 RBI and 106 runs scored.

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Dick Allen: 1st to hit 30 HRs in 1st Cardinals season

Posted in Games, Hitters on October 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated May 24, 2025)

In an era when hitting 30 home runs in a season was an extraordinary feat for a Cardinal, Dick Allen captivated St. Louis fans with his power.

Allen, in his lone season with St. Louis in 1970, was the first player to hit at least 30 homers in his first year with the Cardinals.

Allen was acquired for his power in the October 1969 trade that sent center fielder Curt Flood and catcher Tim McCarver from the Cardinals to the Phillies. Flood refused to report and launched a court challenge against baseball.

Dubbed by syndicated columnist Jim Murray as “the bad boy of baseball,” Allen was suspended by the Phillies during the 1969 season after he failed to show for a doubleheader. He also reported late for games. Murray wrote, “When someone pointed out to his former manager, Gene Mauch, that Richie was a loner, Mauch retorted bitterly, ‘Yeah. He’s fallen in with the wrong crowd.’ ”

Sports Illustrated noted, “He is known as a man who hits a baseball even harder than he hits the bottle.”

Allen was on good behavior from the start with the 1970 Cardinals.

In St. Louis’ Opening Day game, a 7-2 victory over the Expos on April 8, 1970, at Montreal, Allen hit a home run and two doubles, driving in three. Boxscore

He hit 10 home runs in May and nine in July. His jaw-dropping blast at the Reds’ new Riverfront Stadium on July 27 caromed off the facing of the upper deck in left field. Boxscore

Allen ended July with 30 home runs. He became the eighth Cardinal to hit 30 and the first since Ken Boyer in 1960.

“He’s better than any power hitter we’ve had on this club,” Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson said to the Philadelphia Daily News.

Allen used bats weighing 40 ounces. Jerry Risch, a Cardinals bat boy in 1970, recalled to Cardinals Yearbook in 2004, “He could swing it like a straw, too. No effort … At that time, players used a more moderate bat, ounce-wise, like 34. So 40 ounces was a lot.”

Allen started all but one game of the Cardinals’ first 118, playing mostly at first base. (He also played at third base and in left field.) With 33 home runs, he was on pace to hit 45, according to The Sporting News. The Cardinals’ record was 43 by Johnny Mize in 1940.

However, on Aug. 14, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Giants, Allen pulled a hamstring in his right leg while swiping second base. Boxscore 

He appeared in only five games (three as a pinch-hitter) after the injury.

After at-bats as a pinch-hitter on Aug. 23 and Aug. 25, Allen made his first start in more than three weeks on Sept. 8, the Cardinals’ final appearance of the season at Philadelphia. Batting fourth and playing first base, Allen was 2-for-3 with a walk. In his final at-bat of the game, he hit a home run, his last as a Cardinal, off Rick Wise. Boxscore

With 34 home runs in 122 games, Allen hit the most by a Cardinal since Stan Musial had 35 in 1954. Allen’s total also was the most by a Cardinals right-handed batter since Rogers Hornsby hit 39 in 1925.

The Cardinals wanted Allen to continue receiving treatment on his leg in St. Louis. Allen wanted the work done in Philadelphia. After appearing in a game for the Cardinals at Pittsburgh Sept. 10, he never played in another for St. Louis.

Four days after the Cardinals completed the 1970 season with a 76-86 record, Allen was traded to the Dodgers for second baseman Ted Sizemore and catcher Bob Stinson.

St. Louis general manager Bing Devine told The Sporting News the trade had more to do with the Cardinals’ need for a second baseman to replace aging Julian Javier than it did with unhappiness regarding Allen.

“Allen did everything we could hope for and more,” Devine said. “… If there was any major problem of morale, I was not aware of it and I’m sure I’d have been aware of it if there was. Allen’s a controversial guy and, naturally, if you’re looking to find something wrong about him, you can find it. But I can’t fault him. He was acquired to do a job at bat and on the field, and he did it.”

Said Allen: “I wanted one season that I could play in peace and I sure got to do that. The fans and the ballclub were wonderful. I just wish I could have done a little more to repay them all.”

In his book “Red: A Baseball Life,” Red Schoendienst, the Cardinals’ manager in 1970, said of Allen: “It was hard for right-handed hitters at that time to hit the ball to right-center with any authority, and he could do it. He had a reputation of being a difficult player, but he played hard for me. The only problem I had with him, and it was true throughout his career, is that he never seemed to play the last month of the season. He was always hurt or something was wrong.”

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