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Top 5 Canadian Cardinals of all-time

Posted in Hitters, Pitchers on February 9, 2020| 5 Comments »

(Updated March 9, 2021)

The election of outfielder Larry Walker to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020 qualifies him as the top Canadian to play for the Cardinals.

Here’s a look at the five best Canadian Cardinals:

LARRY WALKER

Acquired from the Rockies on Aug. 6, 2004, Walker, 37, hit .280 in 44 games for the 2004 Cardinals. With a .393 on-base percentage, the right fielder helped the Cardinals win a division title.

In the 2004 postseason, Walker hit six home runs: two in the National League Division Series versus the Dodgers, two in the NL Championship Series against the Astros and two in the World Series versus the Red Sox.

In Game 1 at Fenway Park in Boston, Walker, appearing in a World Series for the first time, was 4-for-5, including two doubles and a home run, and two RBI. Boxscore

The Associated Press noted, “He hasn’t allowed the atmosphere to overwhelm him. He said he was most excited about seeing Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler, who sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’ standing a few feet away from him.”

Born in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Walker became the second Canadian to hit a home run in a World Series game. The first was George Selkirk for the 1936 Yankees against the Giants.

In 2005, his final season, Walker hit .289 for the Cardinals. His .384 on-base percentage helped them qualify for the postseason again.

RON TAYLOR

A right-handed pitcher who could start and relieve, Taylor was 19-12 with 20 saves in three seasons (1963-65) with the Cardinals. His best pitches were a sinking fastball and slider.

Acquired from the Indians on Dec. 15, 1962, the Toronto native was a prominent member of the Cardinals’ staff in 1964 when they won a World Series title.

“As long as we have him in the bullpen, we’ll be well-fortified,” Cardinals consultant Branch Rickey told The Sporting News.

In the 1964 World Series against the Yankees, Taylor allowed no hits in 4.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Five years later, in the 1969 World Series for the Mets versus the Orioles, Taylor allowed no hits in 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.

His career statistics in the World Series: seven innings pitched, no hits, no runs and two saves.

Taylor, who earned a degree in engineering from the University of Toronto in 1961, enrolled in medical school after his playing career, graduated in 1977 and became the team physician of the Blue Jays in 1979.

REGGIE CLEVELAND

Born in Swift Current, Canada, the pitcher was 17 when he signed with the Cardinals as an amateur free agent in August 1965.

He made his Cardinals debut with a start against the Phillies on Oct. 1, 1969.

Cleveland lost his first six big-league decisions before outdueling Juan Marichal and beating the Giants at San Francisco on April 20, 1971.

Cleveland’s best season with the Cardinals was 1973 when he was 14-10 with a 3.01 ERA in 32 starts.

Though he threw right-handed, Cleveland used his left hand to eat, write and play other sports such as bowling and billiards.

“If somebody gave me a million dollars, I still couldn’t pitch left-handed,” Cleveland told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In five seasons with the Cardinals, Cleveland was 40-41 with eight shutouts and 27 complete games.

RHEAL CORMIER

A left-handed pitcher, Cormier was chosen by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the amateur draft in 1988 when he was a member of the Canadian Olympic team.

A native of Moncton, Canada, he spent college summers working as a lumberjack.

Cormier played for the Cardinals for four seasons (1991-94). Appearing in 87 games, including 68 as a starter, he was 24-23.

His best Cardinals season was 1992 when he won his last seven decisions in a row and finished 10-10 in 30 starts. The winning streak was a relief for Cormier after he lost 10 of his first 13 decisions. He told the Post-Dispatch, “My wife and I were talking. She said we could be back in Canada chopping wood.”

TYLER O’NEILL

A native of Burnaby, Canada, O’Neill went to high school in Larry Walker’s hometown of Maple Ridge. In 1975, O’Neill’s father was named Mr. Canada for winning the nation’s bodybuilding championship.

O’Neill, who played the piano as a youth, is a power-hitting outfielder who bats right-handed.

Selected by the Mariners in the third round of the 2013 amateur draft, O’Neill was acquired by the Cardinals for pitcher Marco Gonzales on July 21, 2017.

In his first three seasons (2018-20) with the Cardinals, O’Neill had far more strikeouts (153) than hits (94), but the club remained intrigued by his slugging potential.

“I get overanxious and I swing at stuff I shouldn’t swing at,” O’Neill told the Post-Dispatch in January 2020. “When I’m in my groove, I’m not chasing nearly as much and I have the ability to play in this league and excel in this league.”

SPECIAL MENTION

_ Tip O’Neill: A native of Springfield, Canada, the outfielder never played for the Cardinals but he did play for their predecessors.

O’Neill spent seven seasons (1884-89 and 1891) with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, a major league at the time. The American Association Browns were unrelated to the St. Louis Browns of the American League. In 1892, the American Association Browns joined the National League and eventually were renamed the Cardinals.

O’Neill, a right-handed batter, hit .344 during his St. Louis years, with an on-base percentage of .406.

_ Dave McKay: The Vancouver native was a Cardinals coach for 16 seasons (1996-2011) and helped them win three pennants and two World Series titles. His son, Cody McKay, also a Canadian, was a Cardinals utility player in 2004.

_ Stubby Clapp: A native of Windsor, Canada, Clapp became a Cardinals coach in 2019 after a successful stint as a manager in their farm system. Clapp managed Memphis to consecutive Pacific Coast League titles in 2017 and 2018.

His big-league playing career consisted of 23 games as a utility player for the Cardinals in 2001.

_ April 14, 1969: The Cardinals faced the Expos at Montreal in the first regular-season big-league game played outside the United States.

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How Herman Franks caught on with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects, Trades on February 6, 2020| 2 Comments »

Herman Franks was a player, coach and manager in the major leagues for five decades and it all began with the Cardinals.

A catcher who batted left-handed, Franks made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in 1939 as a backup to Mickey Owen.

With Owen as the starter and prospect Walker Cooper waiting in the minors, Franks was unlikely to get much playing time.

On Feb. 6, 1940, the Cardinals sold Franks’ contract to the Dodgers, who were managed by Leo Durocher, the former Cardinals shortstop. Durocher played a pivotal role in Franks’ career.

Divine intervention

Franks was born in Price, Utah, where his father, an Italian immigrant, and mother settled.

In high school, Franks excelled at multiple sports. He opted to pursue a baseball career. At 18, Franks signed with the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League and played a few games for them in 1932 and 1933. Overmatched, Franks was advised by manager Ossie Vitt to go home.

“He didn’t think I’d ever be a good ballplayer,” Franks told The Sporting News.

Franks enrolled at the University of Utah and played amateur baseball for a Catholic Youth Organization team. The Catholic bishop of Salt Lake City recommended Franks to Cardinals scout Charley Barrett.

In the spring of 1935, Barrett invited Franks to a Cardinals tryout camp in Houston. Franks impressed Barrett and was signed. The Cardinals sent him to a farm team in Jacksonville, Texas, tomato capital of the world, in the West Dixie League and paid him $100 a month.

“I was just glad to make the club and be back in baseball,” Franks said.

Looking the part

Franks worked his way up the Cardinals’ system. At Sacramento in 1937 and 1938, Franks played for manager Bill Killefer, a former big-league catcher who managed the Cubs from 1921-25 and was a coach for the 1926 World Series champion Cardinals.

“Men in the Cardinals organization have a high regard for Killefer’s judgment,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

At spring training in 1939, Franks, 25, fulfilled expectations.

“Franks is built for catching, looks like he has been behind the plate all his life, throws accurately and easily and has the reputation of being a smart receiver,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

The Cardinals opened the 1939 season with Franks and Don Padgett as backups to Owen.

“Pitchers like to throw to Herman Franks.” the Post-Dispatch reported. “He chatters incessantly behind the plate, makes a fine target, isn’t afraid to assume responsibility and is said to be a good thrower.”

Twist of fate

Franks started for the first time in the majors on May 2, 1939, against the Braves at Boston. It was a bittersweet experience.

In the second inning, Franks drove in Johnny Mize from second base with his first big-league hit, a looping single to left against Danny MacFayden.

Moments later, Franks wrenched his left leg when he caught his spikes in the bag sliding back to first while eluding a pickoff throw, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported. Franks departed and was replaced by Owen. Boxscore

Sidelined for three weeks, Franks seldom played when he returned.

Sad times

On July 4, 1939, Franks was saddened to learn Charley Barrett, the scout who gave him his big break, died of heart disease at 68.

After the Cardinals played a night game at Cincinnati on July 6, manager Ray Blades and four players, Franks, Owen, Don Gutteridge and Pepper Martin, returned to St. Louis for Barrett’s funeral service the next morning while the rest of the team went to Pittsburgh for a series against the Pirates.

Among the pallbearers were Cardinals owner Sam Breadon, executive Branch Rickey and Martin. According to the Globe-Democrat, “Martin was always considered by Barrett as the greatest player he ever discovered.”

The day after Barrett’s funeral, Franks was sent to a farm club in Columbus, Ohio, after the Cardinals tried to trade him.

“Wonder how much truth there is to the report that the Cardinals offered catcher Herman Franks and $30,000 to Kansas City (a Yankees farm club) for Joe DiMaggio’s brother, Vince,” the Globe-Democrat reported.

Franks batted .297 for Columbus and was called up to the Cardinals in September. For the season, Franks had one hit in 17 at-bats for the Cardinals.

Dodgers days

Killefer, a coach on Durocher’s staff with the 1939 Dodgers, recommended the club acquire Franks.

The Dodgers opened the 1940 season with Babe Phelps as their starting catcher and a pair of former Cardinals, Franks and Gus Mancuso, as backups. In 1941, Owen, acquired from the Cardinals, was the Dodgers’ starting catcher, with Franks and Phelps in reserve.

The Dodgers won the 1941 National League pennant.

In Game 1 of the 1941 World Series at Yankee Stadium, Durocher lifted Owen for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. In the ninth, with the Yankees ahead, 3-2, the Dodgers had Joe Medwick on second, Pee Wee Reese on first and one out, with Franks due up. Durocher would have preferred to send a pinch-hitter, Augie Galan, but he couldn’t because Franks was their only available catcher.

On the first pitch from Red Ruffing, Franks grounded to second baseman Joe Gordon, who fielded the ball and flipped to shortstop Phil Rizzuto.

Rizzuto tagged the bag just before Reese arrived. Reese slid hard into Rizzuto, hurling him into the air, but not before Rizzuto made a throw to first to nab Franks and complete a game-ending double play. Boxscore

Career choices

Franks enlisted in the Navy in 1942 and served for four years. After his discharge in 1946, Franks, 32, played for the Dodgers’ Montreal farm club.

Rickey, who left the Cardinals for the Dodgers, made Franks the manager of the St. Paul farm team in 1947. In August, the Athletics, desperate for catching help, inquired about Franks.

“Mr. Rickey gave me my choice of staying on as a manager in St. Paul or going back to the big leagues again as a catcher,” Franks said.

Franks joined the Athletics for the last month of the 1947 season and was with them in 1948, too.

In 1949, Durocher, who became Giants manager, hired Franks to be a coach. Franks was a Giants coach for Durocher from 1949-55.

In his book, “The Echoing Green,” author Joshua Prager revealed Durocher’s Giants stole signs of opposing catchers. Franks used a telescope from a perch above the center field wall at the Polo Grounds to view the signs and relay them via a buzzer system, according to the book.

When the Giants fired manager Alvin Dark after the 1964 season, Franks replaced him. He managed the Giants for four seasons (1965-68) and finished in second place each year, including 1967 and 1968 when the Cardinals prevailed.

Franks also managed the Cubs from 1977-79.

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Dusty Baker: A mystical path from Purple Haze to Astros

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers on February 4, 2020| 4 Comments »

(Updated April 5, 2023)

Dusty Baker was 19 when he debuted in the majors with the Braves against the Astros in 1968.

Baker was 73 when he managed the Astros to a World Series championship in 2022.

Music man

Johnnie B. Baker was born in Riverside, Calif. When he was a boy, his mother called him Dusty because he often got dust all over himself while playing, according to The New Yorker magazine.

Baker was a gifted athlete with a passion for music. He played the piano as a youth.

“Deep down inside, I don’t think of myself so much as a baseball man as I see myself as a music man, a blues man and much more than that,” Baker said in his 2015 book “Kiss The Sky.”

When he was 10, Baker wanted to stop playing baseball. “I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was playing ball,” Baker recalled to The Sporting News, “but, thankfully, my father wouldn’t let me quit. He kept me going, kept up my interest in playing.”

After he moved with his parents to the Sacramento area, Baker was the lead singer and only black member of a garage band. “I was going to be Hootie and the Blowfish before Hootie,” Baker said.

He excelled in multiple prep sports, including baseball, and was selected by the Braves in the 26th round of the amateur draft in June 1967, a week before he turned 18. The scout who recommended him to the Braves was Bob Zuk, who signed Willie Stargell for the Pirates and Reggie Jackson for the Athletics.

As an 18th birthday present, Baker’s mother bought tickets for him and a friend to the three-day June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, featuring performances by Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane and Otis Redding, among others.

Turning pro

In a Zoom interview with the Baseball Hall of Fame on April 4, 2023, Baker recalled, “As a kid, I was always a Dodgers fan … I prayed that the Braves would not draft me. I didn’t want to go to the South.”

In August 1967, two months after they drafted him, the Braves brought Baker for a workout at Dodger Stadium and he said he got a warm welcome from the likes of Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou and Joe Torre.

After signing with the Braves that month, Baker reported to their Austin, Texas, farm club. Austin was managed by Hub Kittle, who would become the pitching coach for the 1982 World Series champion Cardinals.

Two of Austin’s most prominent players were Cito Gaston and Walt Hriniak. Like Baker, Gaston would become a Braves outfielder and a big-league manager, leading the Blue Jays to World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. Hriniak would become an influential hitting coach who mentored Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Frank Thomas, among others.

Baker joined Austin too late in the season to do much, but it was a different story the next year. He hit .342 for the farm club at Greenwood, S.C., in 1968 and was called up to the Braves in September.

Big time

On Sept. 7, 1968, the Astros led the Braves, 2-0, at Atlanta when Baker appeared in a big-league game for the first time, batting for a future Hall of Famer, pitcher Phil Niekro, with one out and the bases empty. Facing Denny Lemaster, Baker grounded out to short.

Baker’s teammates in the game included four future Hall of Famers: players Hank Aaron, Joe Torre and Niekro, plus coach Satchel Paige.

The game had four players who would become big-league managers: Baker, Felipe Alou, Torre and the Astros’ Doug Rader. Boxscore

Baker made the most of his stint with the 1968 Braves. “You see the way he’s hitting the ball in batting practice?” Braves manager Lum Harris said to the Atlanta Constitution.

Baker’s first big-league hit was a single against the Astros’ Mike Cuellar, a former Cardinal. Boxscore His second hit was a single versus future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal of the Giants. Boxscore

“Baker will be a big-league star,” Lum Harris said. “I’d bet on that.”

After the season, Baker returned to California. In his book, he said he was on a street in San Francisco when he had a chance encounter with Jimi Hendrix and smoked a joint with him.

Distinguished career

In 1972, Baker’s first full season with the Braves, Hank Aaron said, “He does everything now but hit with consistent power. He’ll do that. I think he’ll hit between 25 and 30 homers a year in the future.”

Baker hit 20 or more home runs in a season six times, including a career high of 30 with the 1977 Dodgers.

In 19 seasons as a big-league player with the Braves, Dodgers, Giants and Athletics, Baker had 1,981 hits and 1,013 RBI.

Before accepting the Astros job in January 2020, Baker managed the Giants, Cubs, Reds and Nationals. The 2022 World Series title was his first as a manager.

Baker played for 11 managers in the big leagues: Lum Harris, Eddie Mathews, Clyde King and Connie Ryan with the Braves; Walter Alston and Tommy Lasorda with the Dodgers; Frank Robinson and Danny Ozark with the Giants; and Jackie Moore, Jeff Newman and Tony La Russa with the Athletics.

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How Larry Walker hit 3 homers in a game at St. Louis

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on January 29, 2020| 2 Comments »

(Updated March 17, 2020)

Larry Walker, who completed his career with the Cardinals, had one of his greatest games as their opponent.

On April 28, 1999, Walker hit three home runs for the Rockies in their 9-7 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Walker was the first opposing player to hit three homers in a game at St. Louis since the Expos’ Larry Parrish did it 22 years earlier in 1977.

It was the second of three times Walker hit three home runs in a game for the Rockies. He also did it against his former club, the Expos, at Montreal in April 1997 and against the Indians at Cleveland in June 2004, two months before he was traded to the Cardinals.

On Jan. 21, 2020, Walker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

An outfielder who batted left-handed, Walker began his career with the Expos and spent his prime seasons with the Rockies before finishing with the Cardinals.

In 144 regular-season games for the Cardinals, Walker batted .286 with 26 home runs and 79 RBI. He also hit six home runs in 15 postseason games for the 2004 Cardinals. In 150 regular-season games against the Cardinals, Walker hit .300 with 28 home runs and 110 RBI.

Canadian club

Born in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Walker wanted to be a professional hockey player. When a junior-level hockey team coach told him he’d be their third-string goalie, Walker, 17, switched to baseball, according to the Associated Press.

Signed by the Expos in 1984, Walker became a prized prospect in their farm system when he hit 33 home runs in 1986 and 26 in 1987.

On Jan. 16, 1988, while playing winter baseball in Mexico, Walker tore ligaments in a knee when he slipped while crossing home plate. He sat out the 1988 season and “there were times I didn’t think I’d make it” to the majors, Walker told the Montreal Gazette.

“I wondered, ‘What am I going to do now? Be a garbageman?’ ” Walker said.

Walker was with Class AAA Indianapolis when he got called up to the Expos in August 1989. He became the fifth Canadian to play for the Expos, following Claude Raymond, Larry Landreth, Bill Atkinson and Doug Frobel.

Though he grew up 2,300 miles from Montreal, Walker said, “This is one big country. We’re one big family.”

In his debut game against the Giants at Montreal, Walker had a single and three walks in four plate appearances. Boxscore

“What I liked about him is he had an idea about what he wanted to do every time he went to the plate,” Expos manager Buck Rodgers said.

According to the Montreal Gazette, when Walker reached base for the fourth time in the game, Giants first baseman Will Clark turned to him and said, “Geez, three walks. Not bad. They’re pitching you like a 10-year veteran.”

At spring training in 1990, Walker impressed the Expos with his dedication. In a four-day stretch, he took 500 swings per day in the batting cage. “I can’t believe how hard he works,” said Expos hitting coach Hal McRae.

Walker won the Expos’ right field job and never looked back. He hit .281 in six seasons (1989-1994) with the Expos before becoming a free agent and signing with the Rockies.

Powering up

Walker won the first of his three National League batting titles in 1998, but a rib injury sidelined him for the Rockies’ first seven games of the 1999 season.

When he returned to the lineup, he went homerless in his first eight games before he busted out against the Cardinals on a Wednesday night in St. Louis.

Walker had four hits, including the three home runs, and a career-best eight RBI in the game. Boxscore

The performance drew comparisons to Mark McGwire, the Cardinals’ first baseman, who witnessed it, but Walker dismissed such talk.

“My name is Larry, not Mark,” Walker told the Associated Press. “I don’t have Popeye arms. I’ve just got little tiny ones.”

In the opening inning, after the first two Rockies batters singled, Walker hit a three-run homer on a 1-and-2 pitch from right-hander Jose Jimenez.

With the Rockies ahead, 4-3, in the second, Walker batted with runners on first and third, two outs, and hit the first pitch from Jimenez for another three-run home run.

Walker had three hits, all home runs, in four career at-bats versus Jimenez. The last also was in a three-homer game for Walker in 2004 when Jimenez was with the Indians. Walker and Jimenez were Rockies teammates from 2000-2003.

Walker’s third home run of the game at St. Louis came in the seventh. Facing Scott Radinsky with a runner on first and one out, Walker hit a 1-and-2 pitch from the left-hander for a two-run homer, giving the Rockies a 9-6 lead.

All three home runs were hit over the right-field wall.

In 17 seasons in the majors, Walker batted .313 with 2,160 hits, 383 home runs, 1,311 RBI and a .400 on-base percentage. He won the Gold Glove Award for his outfield play seven times.

In an interview with the Baseball Hall of Fame magazine, “Memories and Dreams,” Jim Leyland, who managed the Rockies in 1999, said, “Barry Bonds is the best player I ever managed, but Larry Walker was the best five-tool player I ever saw. There was nobody more impactful in a game than Larry Walker. He beat you all five ways _ defense, his throwing, his base running, his hitting and his power.”

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Home runs came in bunches for Larry Walker as Cardinal

Posted in Games, Hitters on January 23, 2020| 6 Comments »

Larry Walker hit two home runs in a game five times for the Cardinals, including once in the postseason.

A three-time National League batting champion who spent most of his career with the Expos and Rockies, Walker was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 21, 2020, by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

A left-handed batter and outfielder, Walker played his last two seasons for the Cardinals after being acquired from the Rockies on Aug. 6, 2004.

In 17 seasons (1989-2005) in the majors, Walker hit for average (.313) and power (383 homers).

With the Cardinals, Walker hit 26 home runs in the regular season and six in the postseason.

Here are Walker’s two-homer games with St. Louis:

Solving Nomo

On Sept. 12, 2004, at Los Angeles, Walker was 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs scored in the Cardinals’ 7-6 win over the Dodgers. Boxscore

Walker produced two homers and a double against Dodgers starter Hideo Nomo.

“I never think about hitting home runs,” Walker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I only think about hitting the ball hard.”

In the sixth inning, with the score tied at 6-6, Walker’s single against Edwin Jackson moved Tony Womack from first to third with none out. Womack scored the winning run when Albert Pujols grounded into a double play.

Mr. October

In the first game of the National League Division Series against the Dodgers at St. Louis on Oct. 5, 2004, Walker had two solo home runs in an 8-3 Cardinals victory.

Walker’s first home run, against starter Odalis Perez, sparked the Cardinals to a five-run third inning. His other was against Giovanni Carrara in the seventh. Boxscore and Video

“My heart was pounding the whole game,” Walker said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Walker became the third Cardinals player to hit two home runs in a postseason game, joining Willie McGee (Game 3, 1982 World Series) and Ron Gant (Game 3, 1996 NL Championship Series).

Walker was playing in the postseason for the second time in his career. The first time was nine years earlier for the Rockies in the 1995 NL Division Series versus the Braves.

“Normally, I’m up in my cabin in British Columbia with my brother and some fishing buddies for some salmon that are running up the rivers,” Walker said. “I’d much rather be here.”

Native son

A Canadian, Walker took pride in hitting two home runs at Toronto in a 7-0 Cardinals triumph over the Blue Jays on June 14, 2005.

Walker’s pair of two-run homers against Chad Gaudin provided support for Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, a former Blue Jay, who pitched a one-hitter. Boxscore

The home runs were Walker’s first in Canada since he hit one for the Rockies against the Expos’ Carl Pavano at Montreal on May 8, 2002. Boxscore

Walker was hitless in 10 career at-bats in Toronto before hitting the home runs.

“I feel good about it,” Walker told the Canadian Press. “I’ve had two-homer games before, but this one felt a lot better.”

Walker said he worked with hitting coach Hal McRae before the game and made “a couple of tweaks” in his stance.

“I moved my front foot to try and get a different wave on the bat, a different plant on my foot,” Walker said.

Pain in the neck

On June 29, 2005, Walker hit a pair of two-run homers against Reds starter Ramon Ortiz in an 11-3 Cardinals victory at St. Louis. Boxscore

“Don’t expect this every day,” Walker said.

Walker, 38, said he got a cortisone shot before the game to relieve discomfort from a herniated disc in his neck.

Hit man

The last two-homer game of Walker’s career came on Oct. 1, 2005, in a 9-6 Cardinals win against the Reds at St. Louis. Ortiz again was the pitcher. The home runs were the last of Walker’s career. Boxscore and Video

Walker was 6-for-13 versus Ortiz in his career. All six hits were for extra bases (four home runs and two doubles).

In two seasons with St. Louis, Walker batted .286 and had an on-base percentage of .387.

For his big-league career, Walker had 2,160 hits in 1,988 regular-season games and an on-base percentage of .400.

He won NL batting titles in 1998 (.363), 1999 (.379) and 2001 (.350). In 1997, he was the recipient of the NL Most Valuable Player Award. He had 208 hits, 143 runs scored, 130 RBI, 49 home runs and 33 stolen bases for the 1997 Rockies.

Walker also was the recipient of seven Gold Glove awards for his outfield play.

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Derek Jeter, Ozzie Smith formed mutual admiration

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on January 21, 2020| 6 Comments »

(Updated Jan. 21, 2020)

Ozzie Smith welcomed Derek Jeter as a peer among baseball’s best shortstops.

In 2014, when Jeter came to St. Louis with the Yankees for the last time as a player, he was embraced by Smith in a pre-game ceremony near home plate at Busch Stadium.

Smith, who won 13 Gold Glove awards, including 11 with the Cardinals, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002 in his first year on the ballot. Smith got 91.7 percent of the votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America.

On Jan. 21, 2020, Jeter was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. Jeter got 99.7 percent of the votes from the baseball writers.

Parting gifts

After Jeter, 39, said 2014 would be his final season as Yankees shortstop, he was honored at each stop on the schedule.

The Yankees came to St. Louis for a three game series May 26-28 in 2014.

Jeter had played against the Cardinals in 2003 at Yankee Stadium and in 2005 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The 2014 visit was at the downtown ballpark that opened in 2006.

Before the Memorial Day series opener in 2014, the Cardinals presented Jeter with cuff links bearing the likeness of franchise icon Stan Musial. The Cardinals also gave Jeter a $10,000 donation to his Turn 2 Foundation. According to its Web site, the foundation “strives to create outlets that promote and reward academic excellence, leadership development and positive behavior” for young people.

Among those representing the Cardinals at the ceremony were Red Schoendienst, the Hall of Fame second baseman who wore the same uniform number (No. 2) as Jeter did, and Smith, the acrobatic fielder nicknamed The Wizard. Video

Special bond

Smith “put out his arms and embraced” Jeter, MLB.com reported.

Smith’s last two seasons in the majors (1995-96) were Jeter’s first two.

“He’s always treated me good, especially when I was a younger player,” Jeter said. “He’s a guy that I admire. I admire his career. When you’re a young player, you remember how guys treat you. Ozzie always treated me well.”

Smith told the New York Post, “He’s probably been the perfect example of what a baseball player should be. Great ambassador for the game. He’s done it the right way.”

Cardinals reliever Randy Choate, Jeter’s teammate from 2000-2003 with the Yankees, said to MLB.com, “He leads by example. When you play with him, you want to play like him.”

Showing respect

In his first at-bat after the ceremony, Jeter singled and received a standing ovation. Boxscore

Jeter “was feted at every opportunity” during the three-game series, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Jeter started the first two games but sat out the third when the Yankees went with his backup, former Cardinal Brendan Ryan. In the seventh inning, Jeter got a standing ovation when the scoreboard camera showed him in the dugout. He responded by going to the top step and doffing his cap. Boxscore

“It’s much appreciated,” Jeter said. “It’s not something that’s expected.”

Hall of Fame stats

Jeter’s best performances against the Cardinals were in 2005 when he had five hits in 13 at-bats. His career batting mark versus St. Louis was .265 (9-for-34).

In 20 seasons (1995-2014) with the Yankees, Jeter won five Gold Glove awards and was named an American League all-star 14 times. One of his all-star appearances was the 2009 game in St. Louis.

Jeter produced a career batting mark of .310 and an on-base percentage of .377. He had 3,465 hits, including 544 doubles, with 1,311 RBI and 358 stolen bases.

Jeter has the most career hits of any shortstop.

According to MLB.com, the top six players all-time in career hits are Pete Rose (4,256), Ty Cobb (4,191), Hank Aaron (3,771), Stan Musial (3,630), Tris Speaker (3,515) and Jeter (3,465). Aaron is the only right-handed batter with more career hits than Jeter.

Jeter played in seven World Series and the Yankees won five of those. He had a World Series batting average of .321, with 50 hits in 38 games, and an on-base percentage of .384.

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