RetroSimba

During his year in the Cardinals’ farm system, Jim Hicks was the best hitter in the Pacific Coast League.

Though he hit for power and average in the minors, Hicks primarily was a reserve player in brief stints in the majors with the White Sox, Cardinals and Angels. A right-handed slugger, he began the 1969 season as a backup outfielder for the Cardinals.

His best season was 1968 when he played for the Cardinals’ Tulsa farm team and earned the Most Valuable Player Award in the Pacific Coast League. Hicks led the league in hitting (.366) and helped Tulsa win the championship. In 117 games played, Hicks had 149 hits, including 32 doubles and 23 home runs, scored 100 runs and drove in 85.

Thanks, coach

According to the Chicago Tribune, Hicks grew up in a section of East Chicago, Indiana, “where you either eat or get eaten up.”

His father was a steel mill foreman, according to The Sporting News.

When he went East Chicago Roosevelt High School, “I guess you could say I was on the road to becoming a hoodlum at the time,” Hicks told The Sporting News.

Hicks excelled in baseball, basketball and football, and credited a coach, Pete Rucinski, with changing his life. “He’s the greatest man I’ve known because he took me out of the streets and made me an athlete,” Hicks said.

Rucinski told the Chicago Tribune, “Jim wasn’t a bad kid, but he was unsettled.”

In 1958, Hicks got an athletic scholarship to the University of Illinois, but during his freshman year he signed a baseball contract with the White Sox when they offered him $15,000.

Seeking a break

Hicks spent nine seasons (1959-67) in the White Sox farm system. He hit home runs with an upper-cut swing, but also struck out a lot. He got called up to the White Sox for stints as a reserve in 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Limited to 19 at-bats with the White Sox in 1965 and 26 at-bats with them in 1966, Hicks told The Sporting News, “You can’t play one day and sit out two weeks and expect to do any good. You have to play regularly.”

In 1967, when White Sox manager Eddie Stanky assigned Hicks to the minors during spring training and told him to work on becoming a first baseman, Hicks said, “I was discouraged.”

Hicks, married with children, had gotten a degree in business at the Gary branch of Indiana University, and considered quitting baseball when he failed to make the White Sox’s Opening Day roster in 1967.

After thinking it over and determining he’d give the sport another try, Hicks reported to the White Sox’s farm club at Indianapolis, became the first baseman and produced 20 doubles, 12 triples and 21 home runs.

The Cardinals took notice. In October 1967, right after the Cardinals won the World Series championship, general manager Stan Musial made a trade, swapping first baseman George Kernek for Hicks.

Hicks, 27, was ticketed to play outfield for the Cardinals’ Tulsa affiliate in 1968.

“Even though I’d been up and down with the Sox and really had not had a chance to play regularly, I didn’t look forward to joining a St. Louis farm club,” Hicks told The Sporting News.

Hicks explained the Cardinals were stocked with “good, young outfielders like Curt Flood, Lou Brock and Bob Tolan” and he didn’t see much chance of getting to play regularly if he got to St. Louis.

Happy days

At spring training in 1968, Hicks bonded with Tulsa manager Warren Spahn and quickly adapted to being part of the Cardinals’ organization. When the regular season began, he was a terror against Pacific Coast League pitching.

“This is the best thing that ever happened to me,” he told The Sporting News. “I found this is a friendly organization in which there was none of the secret cloak and dagger stuff I encountered with the White Sox. I was relaxed from the outset and had more confidence. I give Warren Spahn considerable credit. He told me to take it easy, not to press.”

Spahn said Hicks “has good power to all fields and he has poise and balance at the plate.”

The Cardinals might have called up Hicks in June 1968 when they were seeking a backup outfielder, but he instead got called to serve a two-week stint for military reserve training. With Hicks unavailable, the Cardinals made a trade with the Astros for outfielder Ron Davis.

When he returned to Tulsa, Hicks continued to compile hits, but the Cardinals, on their way to winning a second consecutive National League pennant, didn’t ask him to join them.

Short stay

After Hicks’ successful 1968 season for Tulsa, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine said he “had quite a few inquiries about Hicks” from potential trade partners, but the Cardinals opted to keep him.

Hicks “figures to get a good shot at an outfield reserve job in addition to drawing a big part of the pinch-hitting assignments” with the 1969 Cardinals, The Sporting News reported.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said, “Anybody who hits .366, even in a cow pasture league, is worth giving a good look.”

The Cardinals went into the 1969 regular season with Hicks and Joe Hague as backup outfielders to Brock, Flood and Vada Pinson.

On May 6, 1969, Hicks got the start in right field against the Giants at St. Louis and was credited with two assists in one inning.

It happened in the fifth. The Giants’ Hal Lanier was on first with one out when Bobby Bonds singled to right. Hicks quickly threw to second. When Lanier overran the bag and got caught in a rundown, Bonds broke for second and was tagged out. Ron Hunt followed with a single to right and Hicks’ one-hop throw to the plate nailed Lanier for the third out. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Hicks had five hits, including a home run versus Gaylord Perry, in two games against the Giants at San Francisco. Boxscore 1 and Boxscore 2

“He swings the bat with authority,” Giants coach Wes Westrum told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He has a quick swing and he’s learned to lay off the high, inside pitch.”

Though Hicks had two triples and a home run for the 1969 Cardinals, he also had more strikeouts (14) than hits (eight) in 44 at-bats.

On May 30, 1969, the Cardinals traded Hicks to the Angels for outfielder Vic Davalillo.

Hicks had four hits, three for home runs, in 48 at-bats for the 1969 Angels. He got four more at-bats for the Angels in 1970 and spent the rest of his playing career in Hawaii and Japan.

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A day at the beach turned deadly for Cardinals outfielder Herman Hill.

On Dec. 14, 1970, Hill, 25, drowned while swimming in the sea in Venezuela.

Fourteen years earlier, on Nov. 27, 1956, another Cardinals outfielder, Charlie Peete, also was the victim of a fatal accident in Venezuela. Peete, 27, his wife and three children were passengers in an airplane that crashed into a mountain top in Venezuela. All 25 people onboard perished.

Both Hill and Peete batted left-handed and intrigued the Cardinals with their talents.

Peete made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in July 1956, four months before his death. Hill made his debut in the majors with the Twins in 1969, but never got to play for the Cardinals, who acquired him in a trade two months before his death.

Special speed

Hill was born in Tuskegee, Ala., and raised in Farmingdale, N.J. A standout athlete in high school in Freehold, N.J., he attended Yankees games and followed his favorite player, Mickey Mantle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.

Jack McKeon, a scout for the Twins before he became a big-league manager, signed Hill in 1966.

In the Twins’ farm system, Hill’s speed distinguished him. He hit .292 with 58 stolen bases for Orlando in 1967 and had a 26-game hitting streak.

At spring training with the Twins in 1968, Hill was noticed “for his creativity and originality in baserunning,” the Star-Tribune reported, and he earned the nickname “Beep-Beep” because of “his roadrunner speed and posture.”

On March 15, 1968, in an exhibition game versus the Cardinals, Hill drove in a run with a single against Jim Cosman.

Though the Twins sent him back to the minors for the 1968 season, Hill said his experience at spring training convinced him he’d have success as a base-stealing threat in the majors.

“I’ve seen these pitchers and catchers now,” Hill said. “I could steal on them if they let me get a little jump. I could steal quite a few.”

In the majors

Hill had his best season in 1969 when he hit .300 with 31 stolen bases for Denver. He was called up to the Twins in September and made his big-league debut as a pinch-runner for Harmon Killebrew in a game versus the Indians. Boxscore

Hill got into 16 games, 13 as a pinch-runner, for the 1969 Twins.

In 1970, Hill began the season with the Twins’ farm club in Evansville. He’d been timed running 100 yards in 9.5 seconds, and he went from home to first in 3.4 seconds, The Sporting News reported. Hill said he set a goal of hitting .340 with 70 stolen bases for the season.

Hill was hitting .276 for Evansville when he got called up by the Twins in June 1970, replacing Charlie Manuel on the roster.

On June 29, 1970, Hill got his first major-league hit, a single versus the Royals’ Dick Drago. Boxscore

According to the Star-Tribune, the Twins talked to the Red Sox about a trade of Dave Boswell, Dick Woodson, Brant Alyea and Hill for Reggie Smith and Sparky Lyle, but the proposal was rejected.

In July 1970, Hill was returned to Evansville. The Twins brought him back in September and he was used mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement.

Terror and tragedy

The Cardinals had installed AstroTurf at Busch Memorial Stadium in 1970 and were looking to build a lineup featuring speed and defense. Hill was a prospect who appealed to them.

“Our scouts, Fred McAlister and Mo Mozzali, liked him a lot and figured he’d be able to take advantage of the AstroTurf with his speed,” Cardinals director of player procurement George Silvey told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He had to learn things like hitting more to the opposite field and making contact more consistently.”

Twins owner Calvin Griffith tried to get the Cardinals to deal pitcher Steve Carlton, but was turned down, the Star-Tribune reported. On Oct. 20, 1970, the Twins settled for a swap of Hill and minor-league outfielder Bob Wissler to the Cardinals for pitcher Sal Campisi and infielder Jim Kennedy.

Hill was placed on the Cardinals’ major-league roster and they were eager to see him in spring training after he fulfilled a commitment to play winter ball in Venezuela for the Magallanes Navigators, a team based in Valencia.

On Dec. 14, 1970, a Monday, the Navigators had a day off. Hill and three Navigators teammates, Indians catcher Ray Fosse, Brewers pitcher John Morris and Dale Spier, a minor-league pitcher in the Yankees’ system, decided to go to the beach in Puerto Cabello on Venezuela’s north coast.

Hill was swimming in the Caribbean Sea when a large wave swept him away from shore, The Sporting News reported.

While Hill struggled to stay afloat, his teammates tried to rescue him. According to The Sporting News, Morris grabbed hold of Hill, who flailed to keep from sinking. Morris had three teeth knocked out in the desperate thrashing. Fosse saved Morris from going under, The Sporting News reported.

Three days later, on Dec. 17, Hill’s body was recovered, according to United Press International.

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J.W. Porter began his major-league career with the St. Louis Browns and ended it with the St. Louis Cardinals.

He was a highly regarded prospect who experienced personal tragedy soon after he got to the majors.

Primarily a catcher, Porter spent six seasons in the big leagues and played for the Browns (1952), Tigers (1955-57), Indians (1958), Senators (1959) and Cardinals (1959).

Prime prospect

When Porter was born in Shawnee, Okla., in 1933, his father wanted to name him James William and his mother preferred initials, so they settled on J.W., according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

The family moved to California when Porter was 10 and he became a standout youth baseball player in Oakland. One of his American Legion teammates was Frank Robinson, who was two years younger than Porter. “Frank always could hit hard,” Porter told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We all knew he would become a great ballplayer.”

Pro scouts expected the same from Porter. He was a strong-armed catcher and a right-handed batter who hit for power. With red hair, freckles and green eyes, Porter resembled Red Schoendienst or Huckleberry Finn, the Post-Dispatch noted.

White Sox scout Hollis Thurston told the Saturday Evening Post, “I’m so sold on him that I’m willing to say without reservation that if he doesn’t make stardom then I see no point in the whole scouting system. Porter is just one of those naturals.”

Before the 1951 baseball season, Porter signed with the White Sox for $65,000, but he never would play a game for them in the majors.

Brought to Browns

In 1952, Porter was with the White Sox’s farm club in Colorado Springs and learning to play outfield. The manager was Don Gutteridge, former infielder for the Cardinals and Browns. Gutteridge told the Post-Dispatch, “I have one outfielder who can’t miss. He’s certain to be playing big-league ball. His name is J.W. Porter.”

On July 28, 1952, Porter, batting .340 for Colorado Springs, was traded by the White Sox to the Browns with Ray Coleman for Jim Rivera and Darrell Johnson.

Two days later, on July 30, 1952, at St. Louis, Porter made his big-league debut. Pinch-hitting against the Senators’ Bob Porterfield, Porter was called out on strikes. Boxscore

After the game, Porter, 19, spoke by phone with his wife of seven months, Patricia, 18, who had stayed in Colorado Springs after Porter got traded. Patricia’s father, Walter Singleton, had joined her, and together they planned to drive home to Oakland while Porter played out the season. According to the Post-Dispatch, Patricia was pregnant.

Devastating deaths

The next day, July 31, 1952, Patricia and her father were beginning their journey to Oakland when they were killed in a head-on car crash near Gunnison, Colo. Porter learned of the deaths from Browns owner Bill Veeck.

Devastated, Porter, accompanied by Browns assistant trainer Bob Spackman, returned home to Oakland, The Sporting News reported.

“I hope the boy will be able to shake off the terrible shock,” Veeck said to the Post-Dispatch. “He’s at liberty to take all the time he wants to take care of his affairs at home.”

After the funerals, Porter rejoined the Browns. He was a pinch-hitter against the Indians on Aug. 9, and started in left field versus the White Sox on Aug. 12.

“Porter may make it, but he’s too young to be counted right now as anything but a good prospect,” Browns manager Marty Marion told the Post-Dispatch.

“I’ve hit Porter a lot of fungoes during the brief spell he’s been with the club and I can’t say he’s a good outfielder, but he has the physical requirements,” Marion said. “He can run well, he has a strong arm and practice should develop his defensive play. As a hitter, he looks great. He has a fine, natural swing, good power and apparently sharp eyes.”

Porter made 24 starts in center field for the 1952 Browns and hit .250 for them. He had a four-hit game against the Senators on Aug. 19. Boxscore

After the season, it was learned Porter would be drafted into the Army. Soon after, on Dec. 4, 1952, the Browns traded Porter, Bob Nieman and Owen Friend to the Tigers for Virgil Trucks, Johnny Groth and Hal White.

“I hate to lose title to Porter, who is a fine prospect,” Veeck told the Post-Dispatch, “but he’s 19 years old and headed for two years in the armed services and the Browns can’t wait for him to be available again.”

Reserve role

Porter was inducted into the Army in February 1953 and he remarried in 1954. After a two-year Army hitch, Porter reported to Tigers spring training in 1955. When Ferris Fain got hurt, Porter became the Opening Day first baseman for the 1955 Tigers. Boxscore

Mostly, though, Porter filled a utility role for the rest of his career.

His first major-league home run was hit in June 1957 against the Yankees’ Don Larsen. Boxscore

In May 1958, when he was with the Indians, Porter batted for Roger Maris and hit a home run versus the Orioles. Boxscore.

Cards come calling

Porter began the 1959 season as the backup catcher for the Senators. On July 25, 1959, the Cardinals acquired him on waivers to be the backup to starting catcher Hal Smith.

Porter, 26, played in 23 games for the 1959 Cardinals and hit .212. He made nine starts at catcher. In two of those starts, rookie Bob Gibson was the Cardinals’ starting pitcher.

On Aug. 8, 1959, with Gibson pitching and Porter catching, Porter hit a home run against the Phillies’ Taylor Phillips. The ball landed “far up in the left-center field bleachers” at Busch Stadium, the Post-Dispatch reported. Boxscore

Two months after acquiring Porter, the Cardinals called up a catching prospect, 17-year-old Tim McCarver. The Cardinals ticketed Porter for the minors in 1960. The Braves acquired him and he played in their farm system from 1960-66.

In 1969 and 1970, Porter managed Expos farm teams in West Palm Beach and settled in the area. When the Cardinals opened a spring training facility in nearby Jupiter, Fla., in 1998, Porter became a stadium usher at their exhibition games.

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