Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Hitters’ Category

Late streak made Ray Lankford’s 1995 season

Posted in Games, Hitters on April 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Like the Cardinals, Ray Lankford was having an uninspired season in 1995 when he suddenly jump-started it with a sizzling September.

As part of a 16-game hitting streak from Aug. 29 to Sept. 16, Lankford had multiple hits in seven consecutive games (Sept. 4 to Sept. 11).

As reported by Fox Sports Midwest in a story carried by Cardinals Best News Links, Lankford was the last Cardinal to achieve a multiple-hit streak of seven games until Lance Berkman matched it this year.

In a season that began late with the threat of using replacement players and included the firing of manager Joe Torre and the trading of popular first baseman Todd Zeile to the Cubs, the Cardinals had a 48-66 record the morning of Aug. 29. Lankford, 1-for-14 in his last four games, was batting .258.

The center fielder then hit safely in five consecutive games before entering a three-game series at Atlanta against the Braves. Facing three of the best pitchers of that era _ John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine _ Lankford launched into his unlikely multiple hits stretch.

Sept. 4 at Atlanta, Braves 6, Cardinals 5: Lankford went 2-for-3. Both hits came against John Smoltz _ a leadoff home run in the fourth and a one-out double in the sixth. Boxscore

Sept. 5 at Atlanta, Braves 1, Cardinals 0: Lankford had a double and two singles against Greg Maddux. But, with two on and two out in the third, Lankford struck out _ the only time Maddux retired him in the game. Boxscore

Sept. 6 at Atlanta, Braves 6, Cardinals 1: A left-handed batter, Lankford singled twice against left-hander Tom Glavine. Boxscore

Sept. 7 at St. Louis, Cardinals 5, Padres 2: Facing another left-hander, Glenn Dishman, Lankford solved him with a run-scoring double in the first and a two-run triple in the fifth. Boxscore

Sept. 8 at St. Louis, Cardinals 5, Padres 2: Lankford led off the fifth with a homer against starter Joey Hamilton and added a seventh-inning single against reliever Andres Berumen. Boxscore

Sept. 9 at St. Louis, Cardinals 7, Padres 5: Lankford lifted a two-out, fourth-inning homer against starter Willie Blair. In the eighth, Lankford greeted rookie left-handed reliever Ron Villone with a run-scoring single. Boxscore

Sept. 10 at St. Louis, Cardinals 13, Giants 4: After he contributed a two-RBI single against starter Jamie Brewington in a six-run second, Lankford smacked a homer against left-handed reliever Joe Rosselli, leading off the fourth. Boxscore

Lankford extended his hitting streak in the next game, hitting a home run in his fourth consecutive game, a shot off Giants starter Mark Leiter, but it was his only hit, ending the multiple hits stretch.

“I’m just … trying to make good contact and drive the ball,” Lankford told the Associated Press. “Fortunately, I’m hitting them out of the ballpark. The balls that I’ve been hitting out, I’ve been hitting on a line.”

After the hitting streak reached 16 games, Lankford went 0-for-3 against Ismael Valdez of the Dodgers on Sept. 17 at St. Louis.

In a syndicated column, Gordon Edes reported Lankford’s hitting streak “coincides with the recovery of his 1-year-old daughter (Racquel) from second-degree burns suffered last month in Los Angeles when she pulled a room service coffee container onto herself.”

“I knew I loved my daughter before,” Lankford said. “But now I realize how lucky I really am to have her.”

Lankford finished the 1995 season with a .277 batting average, 25 home runs and 82 RBI.

Read Full Post »

Joe Torre, Nolan Ryan and the April streak

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on April 27, 2011| 2 Comments »

(Updated April 13, 2025)

Nolan Ryan and Danny Frisella, two pitchers Joe Torre hit well in his career, combined to stop the Cardinals third baseman’s April hitting streak.

Torre hit safely in each of the Cardinals’ first 22 games of the 1971 season.

Torre’s streak gave him a .386 batting average entering a game against the Mets on April 29, 1971, in St. Louis.

Batting fourth, Torre went 0-for-3 with a walk against Ryan and Frisella. “In a way, I’m relieved,” Torre told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Ryan and Frisella, both right-handers, were unlikely candidates to end Torre’s streak. For his career, Torre hit .318 (7-for-22) against Ryan and .500 (7-for-14) against Frisella.

Facing Ryan in the first inning with two runners on base and one out, Torre rapped into a 6-4-3 double play.

In the fourth, Ryan got Torre on a pop-up to shortstop Bud Harrelson.

Torre led off the sixth with a walk, one of eight Ryan issued in the game.

Frisella, who relieved in the seventh, struck out Torre leading off the eighth.

“At least it was another Italian who stopped me,” Torre told the Post-Dispatch.

The Mets won, 7-0, as Ryan and Frisella combined to limit the Cardinals to three hits. Boxscore

With the streak broken, Torre experienced a brief skid, going hitless in four of five games (1-for-15) and seeing his batting average drop to .340.

He went on to lead the National League in batting that season with a .363 average and 230 hits.

Ken Boyer, hitting coach for the 1971 Cardinals, cited Torre’s “short stride, quick stroke and great stength” for his success. Another Cardinals coach, George Kissell, told The Sporting News that Torre was able to focus on hitting when the Cardinals settled on him as their third baseman.

“For the first time since he joined the club (in 1969), he was able to have a closed mind about playing one position,” Kissell said. “Before, he had to be thinking about first base and catching as well as third base.”

Recalling 1971, Torre told Cardinals Yearbook in 2014, “It was magical, no question. I used to go to sleep at night, knowing which pitcher I would see the next day, and, in my mind, I knew which pitch I wanted to hit off him.”

Read Full Post »

Albert Pujols has most grand slams by a Cardinal

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on April 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Oct. 26, 2024)

Here are the top 5 with the most regular-season career grand slams as Cardinals:

_ Albert Pujols, 13 grand slams with the Cardinals. Pujols hit five of his grand slams in 2009, tying Ernie Banks of the 1955 Cubs for the National League single-season record. His 13th grand slam for the Cardinals came on Aug. 18, 2022, versus the Rockies’ Austin Gomber. With the three grand slams Pujols hit for the Angels, he totaled 16 in his career in the major leagues.

_ Stan Musial, 9 grand slams with the Cardinals. Musial hit his first grand slam in 1942 and his last in 1961.

_ Ken Boyer, 7 grand slams with the Cardinals. Not included in that total is Boyer’s most famous grand slam: a sixth-inning shot against Al Downing of the Yankees in Game 4 of the 1964 World Series, giving St. Louis a 4-3 victory. Boxscore

_ Ted Simmons, 7 grand slams with the Cardinals. On June 11, 1979, at Los Angeles, Simmons wiped out a 3-0 Dodgers lead with a third-inning grand slam against former teammate Jerry Reuss. In the ninth, Simmons launched a two-run shot against another former St. Louis teammate, Lerrin LaGrow, snapping a 7-7 tie and giving the Cardinals a 9-7 victory. Simmons totaled nine grand slams: seven for the Cardinals and one each for the Brewers and Braves. Boxscore

_ Yadier Molina, 7 grand slams with the Cardinals. Molina got his first grand slam on April 5, 2010, against Reds reliever Nick Masset. One of Molina’s grand slams was hit against a future Hall of Famer, Roy Halladay of the Phillies, on May 27, 2012, at St. Louis. Boxscore

 

Read Full Post »

In Dodger Stadium debut, Cards drilled Johnny Podres

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on April 14, 2011| 2 Comments »

The Cardinals played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for the first time on May 18, 1962.

Bill White drove in three runs and Ken Boyer drove Dodgers starter Johnny Podres out of the game. The Cardinals won, 8-3.  Boxscore

In the first inning, with Red Schoendienst on first and two outs, Boyer hit 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. Stan Williams relieved and threw ball four to Oliver, loading the bases.

Charlie James followed with a two-run single and the Cardinals were on their way to a fruitful weekend.

The Cardinals won all three games in the series and never used a reliever. Larry Jackson, Ray Sadecki and Curt Simmons pitched successive complete-game victories.

Podres went to the hospital, where X-rays revealed no fracture. Six days later, he started against the Mets and Podres went on to enjoy a 15-win season.

Read Full Post »

Rogers Hornsby couldn’t help 1919 Cards

Posted in Games, Hitters on April 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The 1919 Cardinals experienced a dreadful season-opening drought.

Managed by Branch Rickey, the 1919 Cardinals scored a total of 10 runs in their first eight games. Their only win in that stretch was by a 1-0 score against the Cubs. Boxscore

Only once in their first eight games did the 1919 Cardinals score as many as three runs.

Only twice in their first 15 games did the 1919 Cardinals score more than two runs. In opening with a 3-12 record, their one outburst was an 8-1 win against the Reds on May 2.  Boxscore

Rogers Hornsby, the Hall of Fame player who some consider the best right-handed hitter of all time, was the third baseman and cleanup hitter for the 1919 Cardinals, but he couldn’t ignite the offense alone.

Hornsby, 23, in his fourth full big-league season and fifth overall, hit .318 with eight home runs and 71 RBI for the 1919 Cardinals. He led the team in all three categories. No other Cardinal hit more than two home runs.

The only other run producer of note for the 1919 Cardinals was second baseman and No. 3 batter Milt Stock. He hit .307 with 52 RBI and no home runs. Hornsby and Stock were the only Cardinals with as many as 50 RBI.

The 1919 Cardinals finished 54-83-1 and in seventh place in the eight-team National League. They scored 463 runs in 138 games and were shut out 11 times. Only the third-place Cubs (with 454) scored fewer. By comparison, the NL champion Reds scored 577 and the second-place Giants led the NL, with 605.

Read Full Post »

Joe Torre erased Felix Millan with 4 double plays

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on April 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

When Albert Pujols grounded into three double plays on Opening Day in 2011, it put the spotlight back on Joe Torre.

Torre established a National League record by hitting into four double plays while with the Mets in a game against the Astros on July 21, 1975.

“It’s the first record I’ve ever set in baseball,” Torre told The Sporting News at the time. “But I’m not nearly as embarrassed by it as I am by my RBI total.”

Torre, traded after six seasons with the Cardinals to the Mets on Oct. 13, 1974, for pitchers Ray Sadecki and Tommy Moore, had 21 RBI in New York’s first 73 games in 1975.

Torre became the first player in the 100-year history of the NL to hit into four double plays in a game. He tied the major league record held by American League players Goose Goslin of the 1934 Tigers and Mike Kreevich of the 1939 White Sox.

Second baseman Felix Millan, batting No. 2 in the order for the Mets, had four singles but never reached second base. Torre, batting No. 3 in the order, followed each of Millan’s singles by grounding into double plays against pitcher Ken Forsch, brother of Cardinals pitcher Bob Forsch.

“I couldn’t have set a record without Millan,” Torre said, tongue in cheek, to the Associated Press after the game. “He ought to get an assist.”

Torre grounded into a 1-4-3 double play in the first, a 6-4-3 double play in the third, a 4-6-3 double play in the sixth and another 6-4-3 double play in the eighth. Boxscore

Asked whether he was trying to avoid hitting into a double play when he came to bat in the eighth with runners on first and second and none out, Torre replied, “I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t anxious. I made up my mind to be aggressive.”

Showing a sense of humor, Torre told reporters, “When I retire, I’m going to buy a shortstop and put him in my den. At night, when I’m lonely, I’m going to go down there and hit grounders to him.”

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »