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How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

Posted in Games, Hitters on February 10, 2012| 11 Comments »

(Updated June 10, 2023)

In 1962, at age 41, Stan Musial, thought by some to be finished, produced like a star player in his prime. He placed second in the National League in on-base percentage (.416) and third in batting average (.330).

It remains one of the great performances by a player 40 or older.

After hitting .310 or better in each of his first 17 big-league seasons, Musial failed to reach .300 in three consecutive years (1959-61). Many assumed the 1962 season would be his last and that he might be relegated to part-time status.

Musial worked out diligently after the 1961 season and reported to spring training in top shape in 1962. “I came into camp this year weighing 184, four pounds lighter than a year ago,” Musial told The Sporting News. “And believe me, those four pounds make a difference.”

From the start of spring training, Musial hit well _ “The Man had one of the best springs of his career,” The Sporting News reported _ and Cardinals manager Johnny Keane developed a plan to rest Musial as required during the 162-game season schedule.

Keane elected to open the season with an outfield of Musial, 41, in right, Minnie Minoso, 36, in left, and Curt Flood, 24, in center.

At a community luncheon before the season opener, Musial said he told Minoso, “We’re going to keep Flood in good condition. I’ll catch whatever comes to me and you catch whatever comes to you. Curt can have everything else.”

Musial established a blistering pace to open the season. Here is what he did in his first three games:

_ April 11, vs. Mets, at St. Louis: Musial was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and two RBI in the Cardinals’ 11-4 victory. Boxscore

_ April 13, vs. Cubs, at Chicago: Musial was 2-for-4 in the Cardinals’ 8-5 victory. Boxscore

_ April 14, vs. Cubs, at Chicago: Musial had a home run, two RBI and a stolen base in the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory. The steal was Musial’s first in two years. Surprised Cubs catcher Cuno Barragan, unprepared for Musial’s theft attempt, threw wildly into center field, enabling Stan to scamper to third. Boxscore

“The Cubs, feeling that old guy won’t be going any place, patently ignored him and he was off and running,” reported The Sporting News.

Said Musial: “My boy, Dick, came over from Notre Dame for that game and he said he got a much bigger kick out of watching me steal the base than he did in seeing me hit a home run.”

Musial batted .396 (19-for-48) for April. His batting average dipped below .300 only once (.298 on May 24) all season. In July, undeterred by the steamy St. Louis summer, Musial hit .397 (27-for-68).

On Aug. 9, Musial led the league in batting at .354, nine points better than Tommy Davis of the Dodgers.

All season, Musial continued to defy the odds with sensational performances. Among the most notable:

_ May 19, vs. Dodgers, at Los Angeles: Musial broke an 0-for-9 slump with a ninth-inning single off a Ron Perranoski curveball. The hit was No. 3,431 for Musial, breaking the NL record of Honus Wagner.

“When I finally got to first base after breaking the record, I felt so relaxed I could have fallen over,” Musial told the Associated Press. “That’s when I realized the pressure had been on.” Boxscore

_ July 8, vs. Mets, at New York: Musial hit 3 home runs in the Cardinals’ 15-1 victory. He remains the oldest player to achieve the feat. Boxscore

In his 1998 book, “Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans,” Musial’s former Cardinals teammate, Tim McCarver, said, “If a batter keeps his shoulder locked in, he can be fooled on a pitch and start forward too early with his body yet still be able to keep his hands back and generate power. Stan Musial was the quintessential guy in this regard. You could fool Musial and his body would commit, but … he had his hands back and, boom, he could still deliver his power.”

_ July 25, vs. Dodgers, at St. Louis: Musial hit a two-run homer off Don Drysdale, giving Stan a NL-record 1,861 RBI, breaking the mark held by Mel Ott. Boxscore

_ Sept. 27, vs. Giants, at San Francisco: Musial went 5-for-5 with 2 runs scored in the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory. Boxscore

After the season, Musial was named the NL comeback player of the year in a poll of national baseball writers conducted by the Associated Press.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “What gave me my greatest thrill in 1962 was the year I had at bat … I walked out there, day after day, certain I would play, confident I would hit. It was like old times.”

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Stan Musial and the Cardinals’ most iconic moment

Posted in Bloggers, Games, Hitters, Pitchers on January 27, 2012| 11 Comments »

(Updated Sept. 10, 2022)

My choices for the top 5 iconic moments in Cardinals history:

1: STAN MUSIAL’S FINAL AT-BAT

What happened: In a fitting ending to an illustrious career, Stan Musial went out like he came in. Playing in his final big-league game on Sept. 29, 1963, against the Reds at St. Louis, Musial broke a scoreless tie in the sixth by smacking a single past second baseman Pete Rose, scoring Curt Flood. Lifted for a pinch-runner, Musial left to a thunderous ovation. He finished his final game with two hits and a RBI. Boxscore Ever consistent, Musial began his career in similar fashion, getting two hits and two RBI in his big-league debut on Sept. 17, 1941, against the Braves at St. Louis. Boxscore The Cardinals won both games by the same score: 3-2. Musial had 3,630 career hits (1,815 at home and 1,815 on the road).

Why it qualifies: The final at-bat brought to a close the career of the greatest Cardinal. No Cardinal has been more outstanding.

Fun fact: After being lifted from the game, Jim Maloney, the Reds pitcher who gave up the two hits to Musial, went to the St. Louis clubhouse to seek out the retiring Cardinal and tell him, “It was a pleasure watching you play ball.”

Top quote: “It was a great day and I’m grateful that I was able to do something well in my last game.” _ Stan Musial to the Associated Press.

2: THE STRIKEOUT OF TONY LAZZERI

What happened: On Oct. 10, in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series at New York, the Cardinals led 3-2. In the seventh, the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs against starter Jesse Haines, who split a finger on his pitching hand. Cardinals manager Rogers Hornsby called on Grover Cleveland Alexander to relieve. Alexander had pitched a complete game the day before in the Cardinals’ Game 6 victory. Boxscore In the book “The Glory of Their Times,” Cardinals catcher Bob O’Farrell said Alexander was “tight asleep in the bullpen, sleeping off the night before,” when Hornsby called him into Game 7.

Facing rookie Tony Lazzeri, who had 18 home runs and 114 RBI that season, Alexander struck him out. Alexander shut down the Yankees with 2.1 hitless innings, earning a save to go with two World Series wins and preserving the 3-2 St. Louis victory. Boxscore

Why it qualifies: By defeating the Yankees and winning their first World Series championship, the Cardinals transformed from a perennial also-ran into an elite franchise in the National League.

Fun fact: Alexander retired the first six batters he faced in Game 7. None of them hit a fair ball out of the infield. The seventh, Babe Ruth, walked with two outs in the ninth and was thrown out attempting to steal.

Catcher Bob O’Farrell, who fired the ball to Hornsby at second to nab Ruth, told author Lawrence Ritter, “I wondered why Ruth tried to steal second there. A year or two later, I went on a barnstorming trip with the Babe and I asked him. Ruth said he thought Alexander had forgotten he was there. Also, that the way Alexander was pitching they’d never get two hits in a row off him, so he better get in position to score if they got one. Maybe that was good thinking and maybe not. In any case, I had him out a mile at second.”

Top quote: “I knew he was all rattled and nervous and would go after anything, so I gave him a low curve a foot and a half from the plate and he swung and missed.” _ Grover Cleveland Alexander to The Sporting News, describing the pitch on which he struck out Tony Lazzeri.

3: DAVID FREESE’S HOME RUN

What happened: On Oct. 27, in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series at St. Louis, third baseman David Freese, whose two-out, two-run triple in the ninth tied the score, delivered a game-winning home run to lead off the 11th. The Cardinals rallied from deficits of 1-0, 3-2, 4-3, 7-4 and 9-7 against the Rangers to win 10-9 in 11 innings. St. Louis became the first team to score in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th innings of a World Series game. The Cardinals were within one strike of elimination in the ninth and 10th innings, and survived. Boxscore

Why it qualifies: The home run capped the most dramatic World Series comeback victory in Cardinals history. It advanced the Cardinals to Game 7 and they clinched their 11th World Series title.

Fun fact: Freese became the fourth Cardinal to receive the World Series Most Valuable Player Award, joining pitcher Bob Gibson (1964 and 1967), catcher Darrell Porter (1982) and shortstop David Eckstein (2006).

Top quote: “Your Game 6 performance, David, will turn out to be one for the ages.” _ Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, in presenting the World Series MVP Award to David Freese.

4: ENOS SLAUGHTER’S DASH TO HOME PLATE

What happened: On Oct. 15, in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1946 World Series at St. Louis, the Cardinals’ Enos Slaughter was on first base with two outs and the score tied, 3-3. Harry Walker hit a line drive that fell into left-center, where Leon Culberson (who had replaced an injured Dom DiMaggio) retrieved the ball and threw to the cutoff man, shortstop Johnny Pesky. Slaughter rounded third and slid home safely, beating Pesky’s throw. The daring baserunning gave the Cardinals a 4-3 victory and the championship. Boxscore

Why it qualifies: Slaughter’s hustle symbolized the smart and sound Cardinals teams that dominated the National League in the 1940s. The Cardinals won four pennants and three World Series championships in the decade and finished second five times.

Fun fact: Slaughter credited third-base coach Mike Gonzalez for waving him to home plate as soon as he reached third. It was redemption for Gonzalez, who was criticized after Game 4 when two Cardinals baserunners he waved home were thrown out at the plate.

Top quote: “They say if Pesky hadn’t held the throw I would have been out by a country mile. I don’t know about that. I know the throw to the plate was a little wide, up the third-base line. I also know I had to score.” _ Enos Slaughter to International News Service.

5: OZZIE SMITH’S HOME RUN

What happened: In Game 5 of the best-of-seven National League Championship Series on Oct. 14, 1985, at St. Louis, Ozzie Smith snapped a 2-2 tie with a home run in the ninth against Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer, giving St. Louis a 3-2 victory. Boxscore It was the first home run Smith hit left-handed in eight years as a big-leaguer.

Why it qualifies: The blast (along with broadcaster Jack Buck’s memorable call of “Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!”) symbolized the spirit of manager Whitey Herzog’s 1980s Cardinals clubs and helped clinch Smith’s reputation as a Hall of Famer.

Fun fact: Niedenfuer said the pitch was supposed to be up and in to Smith, but instead was down and in. That mistake enabled Smith to drop the head of the bat on the ball and golf it over the right-field wall.

Top quote: “All I was trying to do was get the ball down the line, into the corner. Fortunately, I got enough to put it out. It was exciting.” _ Ozzie Smith to the Associated Press.

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Top 10 facts about 1987 National League champion Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on January 20, 2012| 3 Comments »

(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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Six switch-hitters equal zero runs for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters on December 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

(Updated March 22, 2026)

On July 8, 1988, at San Francisco, the Cardinals featured a batting order with six switch-hitters: first baseman Jose Oquendo, second baseman Luis Alicea, shortstop Ozzie Smith, third baseman Terry Pendleton, left fielder Vince Coleman and center fielder Willie McGee. Catcher Tony Pena, right fielder Tom Brunansky and pitcher Joe Magrane batted right-handed.

Stacking the batting order with switch-hitters didn’t work for manager Whitey Herzog that night, though. Giants right-hander Mike LaCoss pitched a four-hitter in San Francisco’s 1-0 victory. Boxscore

For LaCoss, it was his only shutout of the season and the last of his big-league career. Three of the Cardinals’ hits were singles by switch-hitters Alicea, McGee and Oquendo.

LaCoss “was getting his curveball in on the first pitch,” catcher Bob Melvin told the San Francisco Examiner. “When you are able to throw a strike on the first pitch with a breaking ball, that means you’ve got a lot of room to work from there with your other pitches.”

Mixing in fastballs, split-fingered pitches and changeups, LaCoss never topped 92 mph on the radar gun.

“I don’t think he threw a fastball right over the middle of the plate all night,” Melvin told the Peninsula Times Tribune. “He was hitting the corners with it and keeping the breaking ball down.”

With a cold wind blowing through Candlestick Park and a fog rolling in, it was a “perfect LaCoss night,” the Examiner noted.

“Clubs don’t like to come in and play under these conditions,” LaCoss said to the newspaper. “The wind blows in the hitters’ faces and their eyes start to water. If it’s windy and cool, I feel like I have an advantage. When you know what you’re doing and have some luck, you can make the ball move more.”

St. Louis’ switching-hitting infield that night was reminiscent of the 1965 Dodgers, who also started four switch-hitting infielders _ first baseman Wes Parker, second baseman Jim Lefebvre, shortstop Maury Wills and third baseman Jim Gilliam _ in the World Series against the Twins. Boxscore

In 1993, the Mets opened the season with six switch-hitters in their lineup: catcher Todd Hundley, first baseman Eddie Murray, shortstop Tony Fernandez, third baseman Howard Johnson, left fielder Vince Coleman and right fielder Bobby Bonilla. Boxscore

 

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Cardinals were victims of historic homers by Gil Hodges

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on December 26, 2011| 3 Comments »

Gil Hodges hit two of the most important home runs of his career against the Cardinals.

Hodges, a first baseman, played 18 seasons in the big leagues with the Dodgers and Mets.

He was one of the greatest right-handed home run sluggers in the National League in the 1950s, and an outstanding defensive first baseman.

Hodges had more career RBI (190) against the Cardinals than he did against any other team. His 57 career home runs against the Cardinals rank only behind the 58 he hit against the Cubs.

In 1962, as a member of the expansion Mets, Hodges hit a pair of historic home runs against St. Louis.

On April 11, 1962, Hodges hit the first regular-season home run in Mets history. The solo shot leading off the fourth inning against Cardinals starter Larry Jackson was Hodges’ 362nd of his career and moved him ahead of Joe DiMaggio for 11th place on big-league baseball’s all-time list. The Cardinals won, 11-4, at St. Louis in the Mets’ first regular-season game. Boxscore

Almost three months later, July 6, 1962, Hodges hit the 370th and last home run of his big-league career. The solo blast off Ray Sadecki with one out in the second moved Hodges into 10th place on big-league baseball’s all-time list, ahead of Ralph Kiner, and solidified Hodges’ hold on the record (since broken) for most National League home runs by a right-handed batter. The Mets, who had lost nine of their previous 11, beat the Cardinals, 10-3, at New York. Boxscore

With the Dodgers, Hodges three times produced five RBI in a game against the Cardinals. The most important of those was the first.

On Sept. 22, 1949, the Cardinals clung to a 1.5-game lead over the second-place Dodgers heading into the finale of a three-game series with Brooklyn at St. Louis. Hodges delivered three singles, a walk and five RBI, carrying the Dodgers to a 19-6 victory and cutting the Cardinals’ lead to a half-game. Boxscore

Hodges had two-run singles off Ted Wilks in the fourth and fifth innings, and drew a bases-loaded walk against Ken Johnson in the sixth.

Brooklyn took over first place on Sept. 29 and went on to win the pennant, finishing a game ahead of the Cardinals, who had 96 wins.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial expressed his admiration for Hodges as a fielder as well as a slugger.

“Gil Hodges was a remarkable first baseman,” Musial said. “If Hodges had been left-handed, he might have been remembered as the most efficient first baseman ever … The quick-handed, good-natured big guy revolutionized bunt defense. Fact is, the Dodgers as a team popularized the pressure-charging defense that makes sacrificing difficult …

“For his blacksmith build, Gil was quick and had lightning-like hands … A gentle big guy who could really hit the long ball.”

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Ozzie Smith cheered Barry Larkin’s best personal feat

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Records on December 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

(Updated Sept. 25, 2016)

Barry Larkin played shortstop with distinction for the Reds from 1986-2004, but for most of the first half of his career he was overshadowed by the Cardinals’ Ozzie Smith.

In a classy twist, Smith witnessed and cheered Larkin’s greatest individual feat on a baseball field.

Smith won the Gold Glove Award among National League shortstops in each of Larkin’s first seven seasons in the major leagues, including 1990, when Larkin helped lead Cincinnati to its most recent World Series championship.

Larkin didn’t win the first of his three Gold Glove awards until 1994, the year Smith turned 40. Smith, who won the Gold Glove Award 13 times, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2012, it was Larkin’s turn.

Larkin, 1995 winner of the NL MVP Award, had 2,340 hits and a .295 career batting average.

Larkin had several memorable performances against the Cardinals, including a pinch-hit grand slam off reliever Steve Kline in St. Louis’ 11-10 victory over the Reds on July 28, 2004, at Cincinnati. Boxscore

Larkin’s greatest moment against the Cardinals occurred in the first game of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader on Sept. 22, 1996, at Cincinnati.

In the fifth inning, with St. Louis ahead 3-1, Larkin launched a home run, his 30th of the season, over the left-field wall against starter Donovan Osborne. With that solo shot, Larkin became the first shortstop in major-league history to achieve 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season.

As he rounded first base, Larkin thrust both fists in the air in jubilation. Smith, positioned at shortstop for the Cardinals, hollered his congratulations as Larkin trotted past him.

Asked afterward to assess Larkin’s feat, Smith told the Associated Press, “It gives him his own spot in history. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Larkin became the 17th player in big-league history to achieve 30 homers and 30 steals in a season. Fifteen were outfielders and the other, Howard Johnson of the Mets, was a third baseman.

Larkin finished the 1996 season with 33 homers and 36 steals. He would achieve the steals standard again (with 30 in 1999, his fifth season of 30 or more steals), but he never came close to matching 30 homers.

Previously: Ken Boyer belongs in Hall of Fame

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