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Carlos Beltran challenged 78-year-old Cardinals record

Posted in Hitters, Records on June 13, 2012| 2 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 13, 2017)

Carlos Beltran had a chance in 2012 to break one of the longest-lasting records in Cardinals history.

Beltran was a threat to top the Cardinals’ single-season record for home runs by a switch-hitter, a mark established by Rip Collins, with 35, for the 1934 World Series championship team.

Beltran finished the 2012 season with 32 home runs, three shy of tying Collins’ mark.

Cardinal with clout

James “Rip” Collins, a 5-foot-9 first baseman, played for the Cardinals from 1931-36 before being traded to the Cubs. He hit better than .300 in four of his nine big-league seasons and played in three World Series (for the Cardinals in 1931 and 1934 and for the Cubs in 1938.)

Collins was the first switch-hitter to top the 30-homer mark in the big leagues. His 35 home runs in 1934 tied him with Mel Ott of the Giants for the National League lead. Collins remains the only Cardinals switch-hitter to lead the NL in homers in a season.

After Collins, no other NL switch-hitter achieved a 30-homer season until the Dodgers’ Reggie Smith hit 32 in 1977. It took 53 years for a NL switch-hitter to break Collins’ league record of 35 homers in a season. Howard Johnson of the Mets did it with 36 homers in 1987. (Johnson also hit 36 in 1989 and 38 in 1991 for the Mets.)

The home run barrage was part of a career year for Collins in 1934. His 128 RBI were second in the NL to Ott’s 135. His .333 batting average tied for fourth in the NL. Collins led the league in both slugging percentage (.615) and total bases (369.) He collected 200 hits, including 40 doubles and 12 triples.

Collins was described by Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a “choked-grip longball batter (who) hit for more distance left-handed but he stroked the ball better and for higher average right-handed.”

Batting left-handed, Collins hit 30 of his 35 homers in 1934 against right-handers.

One of three starters on the 1934 Cardinals who switch-hit (second baseman Frank Frisch and right fielder Jack Rothrock were the others,) Collins primarily batted fifth in the order (behind cleanup batter and left fielder Joe Medwick.)

Included in his top performances that year:

_ On June 2, 1934, in the first game of a doubleheader at Pittsburgh, Collins had a triple, two home runs and seven RBI in the Cardinals’ 13-4 victory over the Pirates. Boxscore

_ Collins went 5-for-5 against the Giants on July 23, 1934, in the Cardinals’ 6-5 victory at New York. Boxscore

_ In the 1934 World Series, Collins hit .367 (11-for-30) in helping the Cardinals defeat the Tigers in seven games.

Merry prankster

Clever, with a devilish sense of humor, Collins fit in well with the Gashouse Gang Cardinals of the 1930s. A 1975 article in Baseball Digest detailed one incident:

“A carefree refugee from the Pennsylvania coal mines, Rip Collins was reportedly the instigator of one unforgettable prank pulled off by the Cardinals at a hotel in Philadelphia where the club stayed.

“The Ripper had noticed ladders, paint buckets, white overalls and other paraphernalia of painters in a corner of the service area of the hotel. He rounded up Dizzy Dean, Heinie Schuble and Billy DeLancey. They donned the overalls, took the equipment into a busy dining room and began painting the walls and ceiling, splattering paint on the customers, shouting instructions to one another ala the Marx brothers and promoting general chaos.

“It took all of general manager Branch Rickey’s persuasive powers to prevent the hotel management from evicting the entire ballclub immediately.”

Collins said, “It was great until the cops showed up.”

 

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How Red Schoendienst almost joined original Angels

Posted in Hitters on June 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated April 11, 2026)

If second baseman Red Schoendienst had signed with the expansion Angels _ and he came close to doing just that _ he might never have returned to the Cardinals and become their manager, guiding them to two National League pennants and a World Series title.

Rejecting a “lush contract” from the 1961 Angels, Schoendienst accepted an invitation to try out for a spot with the Cardinals, made the roster, finished his playing career with them, became a coach on manager Johnny Keane’s staff and then replaced Keane.

In October 1960, a year after his comeback from tuberculosis, Schoendienst, 37, was released by the Braves. “It doubtless was shocking to many that the Braves began cleaning house by cutting one of baseball’s biggest names,” The Sporting News reported.

In his book, “Eddie Mathews and the National Pastime,” Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews said, “That move made no sense to us. They didn’t trade him for anybody. They just let him go. Red was getting up in years, but he had some baseball left.”

Schoendienst had opened the 1960 season as the Braves’ starting second baseman. He was batting .306 on May 13, but manager Chuck Dressen eventually lost confidence in him. After starting at second base for the Braves on Aug. 10, Schoendienst appeared in only one game after Aug. 11 and finished the season with a .257 batting average in 68 games.

General manager John McHale offered Schoendienst a non-playing job in the Braves’ organization (The Sporting News reported it probably was a minor-league manager position) but Schoendienst rejected it. “I don’t know what they had in mind,” Schoendienst said, “but I told them to forget it.”

Schoendienst, who had excelled for the Cardinals from 1945-56 before being traded to the Giants and then the Braves, told reporters he preferred to stay in the National League. “You hear some people say I’ve slowed up in the field,” Schoendienst said. “Well, maybe I have a little bit, but I’m confident that I can still make the plays at second base and I know I can help some club next year.”

In November 1960, St. Louis general manager Bing Devine invited Schoendienst to attend Cardinals spring training in 1961 for a tryout. “There is no question in my mind that he can prove valuable in a reserve capacity,” Devine said. “Meanwhile, I told him that if any other opportunity comes his way he is not committed to the Cardinals.”

A month later, Angels general manager Fred Haney offered Schoendienst a contract to join the expansion team as a second baseman, The Sporting News reported. Haney had been manager of the Braves in 1957 and 1958 when Schoendienst helped Milwaukee win two pennants and a World Series title.

Schoendienst told friends, “If the contract is satisfactory, I’ll sign it. I think I can play 100 games in 1961.”

The Sporting News reported the contract as “lush” and Haney “undoubtedly will take the veteran second baseman to camp with the club at Palm Springs.”

Instead, Schoendienst, who turned 38 in February 1961, chose to attend Cardinals camp as a non-roster player. “I told Fred (Haney) I’d be better off staying in St. Louis with my family,” Schoendienst said.

In the book “Redbirds Revisited,” Schoendienst recalled, “I promised Bing Devine and the Cardinals that I’d go to spring training if they’d give me a shot to make the club. I made the promise … and I thought I should keep my promise.”

Reporting in top condition after a winter of workouts, Schoendienst impressed Devine and manager Solly Hemus with his play. On March 15, they signed him to a contract and declared he would back up starting second baseman Julian Javier.

The move paid off for the Cardinals and Schoendienst. He hit .300 in 72 games for the 1961 Cardinals. He was a player-coach for Keane (who replaced Hemus) in 1962 _ and did even better, hitting .301 in 98 games.

Schoendienst remained a Cardinals coach in 1963 and 1964 (appearing as a pinch-hitter in 1963) and became St. Louis manager in 1965. In 14 years as Cardinals manager, Schoendienst had a 1,041-955 record. Only Tony La Russa had more wins as a Cardinals manager.

 

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Why Cardinals were keen on Gene Freese

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades on May 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The Cardinals thought so highly of Gene Freese they offered to trade Ken Boyer for him.

Freese, an infielder, hit 14 home runs as a Pirates rookie in 1955 and batted .283 for them in 1957.

“I like that Freese … He’s my type of player,” Cardinals general manager Frank Lane told The Sporting News. “He’s aggressive and strong.”

In November 1957, Lane agreed to deal Boyer and another player (probably pitcher Willard Schmidt) to the Pirates for Freese and outfielder Frank Thomas, according to The Sporting News, but “Anheuser-Busch brass is understood to have frowned on the proposed deal.”

Soon after, Lane resigned to become general manager of the Cleveland Indians. Bing Devine replaced Lane in St. Louis and Freese appealed to him, too. On June 15, 1958, Devine acquired Freese and utility player Johnny O’Brien from the Pirates for shortstop Dick Schofield and cash.

The Cardinals projected Freese as a player who could back up Don Blasingame at second, Eddie Kasko at short or Boyer at third. In late July 1958, Blasingame was injured and Freese got his first stretch of starts for the Cardinals. After Blasingame returned to the lineup, manager Fred Hutchinson, unhappy with the weak hitting of Kasko and backup Ruben Amaro, installed Freese as the shortstop.

Though he lacked range, Freese provided pop. On Aug. 7, 1958, Freese, batting second, was 3-for-5 with a double and three runs scored in the Cardinals’ 12-1 victory over the Giants at St. Louis. Boxscore

Freese also was part of a power performance against the Dodgers at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. On Aug. 17, 1958, Curt Flood and Freese led off the game with back-to-back home runs to left field off Sandy Koufax. It was only the fifth time a National League team opened a game with consecutive homers. Boxscore Freese slugged three home runs in the four-game series.

Impressed, The Sporting News reported, “Since coming to the Redbirds, the 24-year-old Freese has been a life-saver. He’s filled in competently at both second base and shortstop … Neither the ex-Pirate nor the Cards’ high command has any illusions about his defensive talent. He doesn’t pretend to be a premier shortstop, but Hutchinson reluctantly sacrificed defense to get some hitting.”

Freese hit .257 with six home runs in 62 games for the 1958 Cardinals, but his on-base percentage was a poor .294. He committed eight errors in 28 games at shortstop and four errors in 14 games at second base.

On Sept. 29, a day after the 1958 season ended, the Cardinals traded Freese to the Phillies for infielder Solly Hemus, who became St. Louis’ player-manager, replacing Hutchinson.

Freese became the starting third baseman for the 1959 Phillies, hitting 23 home runs. His best season was 1961. As the third baseman for the National League champion Reds, managed by Hutchinson, Freese posted single-season career highs of 26 home runs and 87 RBI.

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Memorial Day magic: Willie McGee ignited Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters on May 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

On a wet Memorial Day evening in St. Louis, the Cardinals received a special performance from a player who was starting to show he, too, was special.

In his 16th game for the Cardinals since his promotion from Class AAA Louisville, rookie center fielder Willie McGee had his first four-hit game in the big leagues and sparked a 10-run fourth inning, leading St. Louis to an 11-6 victory over the Giants on May 31, 1982. Boxscore

McGee, batting sixth in the order, stroked two of his four singles in the fourth inning. The 10 runs were the most the Cardinals had scored in an inning in two years and the most in the National League at that point of the 1982 season.

The performance lifted McGee’s batting average to .378 and his on-base percentage to .410. McGee had transformed from a fill-in to a regular who would be integral to the Cardinals’ successful run to their first World Series title in 15 years.

“Willie has been very impressive,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said to the Associated Press after the game. “In spring training, I knew he was going to come up here and hit big-league pitching the way he has.”

Seven months earlier, Oct. 21, 1981, the Cardinals had acquired McGee from the Yankees in a trade for pitcher Bob Sykes. McGee had spent five seasons in the Yankees’ minor-league system without reaching the majors.

“After my second or third year, I started telling myself the Yankees weren’t the only team,” McGee said to the Associated Press. “I know I can hit. ”

McGee didn’t make the 1982 Cardinals’ season-opening roster. Sent to Louisville, he hit .291 in 13 games. When outfielder David Green suffered a hamstring injury May 7, the Cardinals called up McGee, who made his big-league debut three days later.

McGee, 23, started in the outfield in just one of his first nine big-league games. The Memorial Day performance helped solidify him as St. Louis’ everyday center fielder.

An all-day rain in St. Louis had left the Busch Stadium field wet. Both teams skipped fielding and batting practice. Attendance for the Memorial Day evening game was a paltry 11,313, even though the Cardinals were in first place in the National League East.

The Giants led 3-1 before the Cardinals battered them for 10 runs in the fourth. The Cardinals had 15 batters in the inning and 12 reached base on nine hits, two walks and an error against three pitchers, starter Renie Martin, Dan Schatzeder and Fred Breining.

Eight of St. Louis’ nine hits in the inning were singles (Ozzie Smith doubled). McGee and pinch-hitter Tito Landrum each singled twice in the inning. Smith, McGee and Landrum also drove in two runs apiece in the fourth.

Orlando Sanchez, a catcher who entered the game 2-for-30 for the season, singled in the first run of the fourth, knocking out Martin. Schatzeder yielded six runs and six hits.

“It’s the momentum,” said McGee. “It’s like when you play basketball. One team gets the momentum and just keeps going. I felt my adrenaline pumping.”

Herzog said McGee’s second single in the fourth inning was the key hit. Batting right-handed against the left-hander Schatzeder, McGee delivered a bases-loaded two-run single to right.

“He had two strikes and he reached out and hit a breaking ball,” Herzog said.

Said McGee: “I’m starting to relax and just let things happen.”

The win, the Cardinals’ sixth in seven games, boosted their record to 31-18, giving them a 3.5-game lead over the second-place Mets.

McGee would go on to bat .296 for the season, with 24 stolen bases and 56 RBI.

In his book “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said, “Willie McGee … became the biggest story in baseball that summer … Once Willie McGee hit town and the kid pitchers started coming through, I began to feel that 1982 might be the Cardinals’ year.”

Previously: Five fabulous facts about Willie McGee

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Mark Whiten, Josh Hamilton: Same feat, different path

Posted in Games, Hitters on May 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Linked by two of the greatest single-game hitting performances in the history of big-league baseball, Mark Whiten of the 1993 Cardinals and Josh Hamilton of the 2012 Rangers were very different ballplayers at those stages of their careers.

Whiten, Hamilton and Gil Hodges of the 1950 Dodgers are the only major leaguers to hit four home runs in a game and have at least one runner on base for each of the four, Elias Sports Bureau noted.

On May 8, 2012, at Baltimore, Hamilton went 5-for-5 with four home runs, a double and eight RBI in the Rangers’ 10-3 victory over the Orioles. Each of Hamilton’s homers was a two-run shot _ and each time shortstop Elvis Andrus was the runner on base. Boxscore

On Sept. 7, 1993, at Cincinnati, in the second game of a doubleheader, Whiten went 4-for-5 with four home runs and 12 RBI in the Cardinals’ 15-2 victory over the Reds. Whiten hit a grand slam, two three-run homers and a two-run shot. Boxscore

Whiten and Hamilton each played center field in those games. Each hit all four of his home runs left-handed. That’s where the similarities end.

Hamilton was 30 and in his sixth big-league season when he had his four-homer game. He was a four-time all-star who had played in two World Series.

Whiten was 26 and in his fourth major-league season when he had his four-homer game. He hadn’t been an all-star and hadn’t played in a World Series. He didn’t begin playing baseball seriously until his senior year in high school. Considered a raw talent, Whiten would attend the Florida Instructional League in St. Petersburg, Fla., after the 1993 season.

“The main thing Mark has to understand is to have a game plan when he goes up to bat,” Cardinals hitting coach Chris Chambliss told The Sporting News. “Sometimes you go up there and you’re not really watching what the pitcher is doing to you, or what to look for, but he may be catching on.”

Said Whiten: “The mental part of the game I’ve got to work on. The physical part is all here. I think I have the swing, but if you don’t have the mental approach to this game, you’re lost.”

Signed by Toronto after being selected in the fifth round of the 1986 draft, Whiten was traded to Cleveland in June 1991. Instructor Charlie Manuel taught him a home run swing. Cleveland dealt him to the Cardinals on March 31, 1993, for pitcher Mark Clark and prospect Juan Andujar.

Whiten had 18 homers for the 1993 Cardinals entering the Sept. 7 doubleheader at Cincinnati, but he hadn’t hit one in nearly a month and he hadn’t had any multi-homer games for St. Louis.

In the opener of the Tuesday night doubleheader against the Reds, Whiten had been part of a disheartening defeat. Though he had a walk and a RBI, Whiten was hitless in four at-bats and misplayed a ninth-inning single by Reggie Sanders into a triple that enabled the Reds to rally for a 14-13 victory. The Reds and Cardinals combined to use a major-league record 15 pitchers. Boxscore

(My wife and I attended the game. Disgusted by the Cardinals’ failure to protect a 13-9 eighth-inning lead, I decided, against my wife’s advice, to forgo any further agony and skip the second game. I still regret missing the chance to witness the only four-homer game in Cardinals history.)

Whiten’s first home run of the second game was a grand slam off Larry Luebbers in the first inning. In the fourth, Whiten popped out to third baseman Chris Sabo.

Mike Anderson, making his major-league debut, relieved Luebbers in the sixth. After the first two batters walked, Whiten connected for his second homer of the game. In the seventh, Whiten smacked another three-run homer off Anderson.

St. Louis led 13-2 in the ninth, with one out and a runner on first, when Whiten faced the original Nasty Boy, Rob Dibble. “I didn’t think about it (a fourth home run),” Whiten told the Associated Press. “Well, I thought about it when I was in the field, but not once I stepped into the box and put the bat on my shoulder.”

Dibble’s first two pitches to Whiten missed the strike zone. “I thought he was going to pitch around me,” Whiten said.

Said Dibble: “I was going to go right after him. I knew it was history.”

The next was a fastball down the middle. Whiten swung and launched a home run to center field. “I was impressed by that one,” Whiten said. “It was the best of the four, I think. It was straightaway.”

Whiten took five swings to hit his four home runs. The homers totaled 1,634 feet. Whiten tied the major-league single-game RBI mark of 12 set by Cardinals first baseman Jim Bottomley in 1924. He also tied the big-league doubleheader RBI record of 13 set by Padres first baseman Nate Colbert in 1972.

After the game, Whiten walked into the clubhouse, clutching his four home run balls in a plastic bag as his teammates held their bats aloft in a salute, the New York Times reported.

“You can’t even do what he did in batting practice,” third baseman Todd Zeile said to Sports Illustrated.

Said shortstop Ozzie Smith: “I’ve been around the game 16 years. I’ve seen some guys do some unbelievable things, but nothing like tonight.”

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Cardinals swept series in initial visit to Dodger Stadium

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on May 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

When the Cardinals played in Dodger Stadium for the first time the weekend of May 18-20, 1962, they felt right at home. The Cardinals swept the three-game series, receiving complete-game wins from each of their starting pitchers, and Stan Musial stroked a single, surpassing Honus Wagner to become the National League all-time hits leader.

Moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, the Dodgers played four years at the Coliseum while Dodger Stadium was being built. On April 10, 1962, in the first regular-season game at Dodger Stadium, the Reds defeated the Dodgers, 6-3. Boxscore

As the Cardinals-Dodgers series opened May 18, the Dodgers were in second place, three games behind the Giants, at 23-12. The Dodgers had won four in a row and eight of their last nine. The Cardinals were in third place at 18-13 and had lost five of their last seven.

The Cardinals’ arrival brought out the entertainment crowd. While the Cardinals were warming up before the first game, comedian Milton Berle, seated near the dugout, performed card tricks for Musial, Red Schoendienst and Ernie Broglio, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The opener matched Johnny Podres against Larry Jackson. In the first inning, Ken Boyer smashed a drive that struck Podres in the left forearm. Podres threw three pitches out of the strike zone to the next batter, Gene Oliver, and walked off the field, unable to pitch. X-rays revealed a severe bruise, no fracture.

Bill White drove in three runs, Charlie James scored three runs and knocked in two, and Jackson went the distance as the Cardinals won, 8-3, before 38,951. Boxscore

“I had a pretty good curve and fastball,” Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The story the next night, May 19, normally would have been the pitching of Cardinals left-hander Ray Sadecki. The Dodgers had defeated six consecutive left-handers and Sadecki was 0-3 in his career against them, but Sadecki changed the script, pitching his first complete game of the season and got the win in the Cardinals’ 8-1 triumph before 44,559. Boxscore

The headlines, however, went to Musial, the 41-year-old left fielder. His single to right field in the ninth inning off a curve from Ron Perranoski gave Musial his 3,431st hit and moved him ahead of Wagner for No. 1 on the NL career list, breaking a mark that had been held for 45 years. Dodgers first baseman Wally Moon, a former Cardinals teammate, fielded the throw from right fielder Frank Howard and handed the ball to Musial, who received a standing ovation.

“Stan hit a good curveball,” Perranoski told The Sporting News.

Said Musial: “I never worked so hard for two hits.”

(Musial had hit the record-tying single off Juan Marichal in San Francisco on May 16, ending a string of 15 hitless at-bats. He went hitless in nine more after that until he connected on the 0-and-1 pitch from Perranoski.)

“At least I got it in a beautiful new park and against the Dodgers, who have been good to me over the years,” Musial said.

Only Ty Cobb (4,191) and Tris Speaker (3,515) had more career hits than Musial at that time.

After the game, Musial and teammates Boyer and Schoendienst went to the Stadium Club at the ballpark. Musial enjoyed a steak sandwich and French fries. As Neal Russo reported in The Sporting News, few tables had a trio with more hits _ a total surpassing 7,000.

Exhausted by the strain to break the record, “I just about wilted when I got to first base with the record hit,” Musial said.

While Musial sat out the series finale on Sunday afternoon, May 20, Schoendienst, 39, started at second base for the fifth consecutive game. He was filling in for Julian Javier, who was sidelined because of a torn fingernail on his right index finger.

Curt Simmons yielded three runs, none earned, and got the complete-game win in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory before 38,474. Boxscore

The Cardinals had swept a series in Los Angeles for the first time since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. They moved into a second-place tie with the Dodgers and got within 4.5 games of the Giants.

Previously: How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

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