RetroSimba

(Updated Feb. 20, 2023)

Hank Aaron could have added to his home run total if not for an unusual call in a game against the Cardinals.

Aaron, who would break Babe Ruth’s career home run record of 714 in 1974 and finish with 755, hit a home run against the Cardinals in 1965 that didn’t count toward his total.

On Aug. 18, 1965, at St. Louis, Aaron came to bat for the Braves against Cardinals starter Curt Simmons with the score tied 3-3 in the eighth.

In his autobiography, “I Had a Hammer,” Aaron said, “I always had difficulty with Curt Simmons because he would put the ball behind his back and then pound his leg with his glove. You never knew where the ball was coming from. Simmons used to drive me crazy with his herky-jerky delivery and his floating change of pace.”

In the 1965 game, Simmons teased Aaron with a changeup so high and so slow it seemed much like a blooper pitch. “I double-hitched my swing,” Aaron said in his book, “and took a big step up to meet the ball.”

Aaron lifted a high fly ball onto the pavilion roof in right for an apparent go-ahead home run.

Instead, Aaron was called out by plate umpire Chris Pelekoudas for being out of the batter’s box when he connected with the ball, nullifying the home run. Pelekoudas, in his sixth season as a National League umpire, ruled Aaron’s left foot was in front of the batter’s box.

“It’s the worst call I’ve ever seen,” Aaron said to the Associated Press. “I did the same thing the time before and popped up, and he (Pelekoudas) didn’t say a word. I always hit Simmons that way.”

Braves manager Bobby Bragan argued with the umpire and was ejected.

“It was either a grudge call, or he wanted to get his name in the paper,” Bragan said. “I’ve never seen such a call.”

Said Pelekoudas: “Bragan’s protest was strictly on judgment. His only argument was about a grudge _ and that is stupid. I didn’t hesitate in making the call.”

Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver said Aaron stepped out of the box and, “I expected (Pelekoudas) to call it.”

Cardinals coach Joe Schultz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “You’ve got to give the umpire credit for having the nerve to call it.”

Aaron said in his book, ‘I won’t swear to you that I didn’t step over the line of the batter’s box, but it was nothing that I or other hitters hadn’t done before.”

Cardinals backup catcher Bob Uecker wasn’t in the game, but years later, in July 1973, he claimed to the Boston Globe and the Associated Press that he “pointed out Aaron’s cleat marks” to Pelekoudas. “It was one of the few occasions I’ve seen Aaron blow his stack,” Uecker said to the Associated Press.

In his 1982 book “Catcher in the Wry,” Uecker told another version. “I had to tell Henry the truth. It wasn’t me,” Uecker said. “Tim McCarver was the catcher who took the homer away from him, but it was the sort of thing I would have been proud to do.”

In the ninth, with Ray Washburn pitching in relief of Simmons, the Braves sent Don Dillard to pinch-hit with a runner on base and two outs. Dillard delivered a home run _ the last of his big-league career.

In a fitting twist, the Cardinals argued the ball hit by Dillard didn’t clear the wall and shouldn’t have been ruled a home run, but the Cardinals lost that argument and the game, 5-3. Boxscore

Umpire Bill Jackowski said the ball hit the top of the wall, caromed off a fan in the stands and bounced back onto the field.

The Post-Dispatch reported the ball Dillard hit “came straight down and hit the outfield wall padding before bouncing onto the field.”

“I came very close to catching the ball,” Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood said to the Post-Dispatch. “I thought it was a big can of corn. There was no way for the ball to come down the way it did if a fan had touched the ball.”

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(Updated June 9, 2024)

One of the most remarkable teams in St. Louis history was the 1987 Cardinals.

Managed by Whitey Herzog, the 1987 Cardinals overcame adversity and several back-to-the-wall predicaments to finish 95-67 (three games ahead of the favored Mets in the National League East). The Cardinals then won the pennant by beating the Giants in the League Championship Series and got to Game 7 of the World Series before losing to the champion Twins.

In his book “Mookie,” Mets center fielder Mookie Wilson said, “I loved the Cardinals’ style of play. They were so aggressive, always running on the bases until there was no place else to go … It was an exciting brand of baseball. I always believed that I could have fit in well with that club because I liked running when there were no rules or boundaries.”

The Cardinals started the season with an injury to their top starting pitcher, John Tudor, who suffered a broken kneecap in the dugout when Mets catcher Barry Lyons crashed into him while chasing a pop fly Boxscore, and ended the season without their top slugger, first baseman Jack Clark, who was limited to one postseason at-bat after tearing a tendon in his ankle in a game at Montreal Sept. 9. Boxscore

Two nights after the injury to Clark, the Cardinals were at Shea Stadium to open a three-game series against the second-place Mets, who had moved to within 1.5 games of St. Louis in the NL East standings.

In the ninth, the Mets led 4-1 and were within a strike of getting within a half-game of St. Louis, but Willie McGee delivered a two-out, two-strike RBI-single and Terry Pendleton followed with a two-run home run off Roger McDowell, tying the score. The Cardinals scored twice in the 10th to win, 6-4, stunning the Mets and building their lead to 2.5 games. Boxscore

After clinching the division title Oct. 1 with an 8-2 victory over the Expos at St. Louis, Herzog told the Associated Press, “We could’ve folded when we lost Jack, but we didn’t. The Mets talk about adversity, but we really had it.” Boxscore

In the best-of-seven NL Championship Series, the Giants won three of the first five (on the strength of four Jeffrey Leonard home runs) before the Cardinals won Game 6, 1-0, behind Tudor and two relievers Boxscore and Game 7, 6-0, on a Danny Cox masterpiece. Boxscore

The Cardinals won three of the first five in the World Series against the Twins and held leads in Game 6 (5-2 in the fifth inning) and in Game 7 (2-1 after four) before losing both at Minnesota.

“I look back on that as the biggest miracle year _ the 1987 team,” Herzog said to Cardinals Magazine. “No one even gave us a chance … That was the first year of the juiced-up baseball _ and I didn’t have much juice on that team.”

In honor of this resilient team, here are 10 top facts about the 1987 Cardinals:

1. Shortstop Ozzie Smith led the team in hitting, with a .303 batting average _ the only time he hit .300 or better in a season during his 19-year major-league career.

2. Clark had 57 fewer hits than McGee (120 to 177), but finished with one more RBI (106 to 105).

3. Clark drew 136 walks in 131 games. Mark McGwire (with 162 in 155 games in 1998) is the only Cardinal with more walks in a season.

4. Left fielder Vince Coleman was first in the NL in steals (109), second in runs (121) and second in singles (153).

5. With 35, Clark was the only Cardinal to hit more than 12 home runs.

6. Cardinals hitters were remarkably consistent. They batted .264 at home and .263 on the road.

7. Four Cardinals pitchers posted double-digit win totals, but none won more than 11: Cox (11-9), Greg Mathews (11-11), Bob Forsch (11-7) and Tudor (10-2).

8. Pendleton produced 96 RBI, the most in his seven years with the Cardinals and 22 more than his next-best total for St. Louis.

9. McGee had 37 doubles, 11 triples, 11 home runs and 105 RBI, but also grounded into a league-leading 24 double plays.

10. Catcher Tony Pena, who hit .214 in the regular season, hit .381 (8-for-21) in the NL Championship Series and .409 (9-for-22) in the World Series.

Previously: Sweep of Dodgers gives Cardinals a link to 1987

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