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Moe Drabowsky, Stan Musial: Special connection

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on May 10, 2018| 2 Comments »

Sons of Polish fathers, Stan Musial and Moe Drabowsky reached the major leagues, played central roles in a baseball milestone and honored their heritages by helping others learn the game they loved.

On May 13, 1958, Musial got his 3,000th career hit, a double against Drabowsky at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The feat forever linked Drabowsky with Musial.

The relationship didn’t end there. In September 1987, Musial and Drabowsky went to Poland together to instruct men and women in their fathers’ homeland how to play baseball.

Land of opportunity

Miroslav Drabowski, later known as Moe Drabowsky, was born on July 21, 1935, in Ozanna, Poland. His father was Polish and his mother was American. In 1938, when Miroslav was 3, the family moved to the United States and settled in Connecticut.

In America, Miroslav took the name of Myron Walter Drabowski, though nearly everyone called him Moe. He was a natural as a baseball player. In school, his name often was misspelled as Drabowsky and he stuck with that, according to a biography by the Society for American Baseball Research.

After earning an economics degree from Trinity College in Connecticut, Drabowsky signed with the Cubs and made his big-league debut with them in 1956.

Musial, whose father immigrated to the United States from Poland in 1910, entered the 1958 season needing 43 hits to become the eighth player to reach 3,000. On May 12, against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, Musial got his 2,999th hit and indicated he’d prefer to achieve No. 3,000 before the fans in St. Louis.

Work day

Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson told Musial to sit out the May 13 game at Chicago and prepare to return to the lineup May 14 against the Giants at St. Louis. Musial went to the bullpen along the right-field line at Wrigley Field and watched the game.

In the sixth inning, with the Cubs ahead, 3-1, Gene Green led off for the Cardinals and doubled. Hal Smith was up next, with pitcher Sam Jones on deck. As Smith batted, Hutchinson motioned for Musial. After Smith grounded out, Musial walked from the bullpen to the dugout, picked out a bat and went to the plate to hit for Jones. The Tuesday afternoon crowd of 5,692 cheered in approval.

Drabowsky, 22, was glad Cubs manager Bob Scheffing showed confidence in letting him pitch to Musial. Drabowsky won 13 for the Cubs in 1957 and was considered one of their best pitchers in 1958.

“I thought, ‘Here’s a guy who deserves No. 3,000.’ A nice guy,” Drabowsky told David Condon of the Chicago Tribune. “Then I remembered our 3-1 lead and that I was trying to preserve a victory. So I told myself, ‘Sure, he’s a nice guy, but he’ll have to earn No. 3,000.’ So I bore down.”

Hugs and kisses

Working methodically, Drabowsky alternated curves and fastballs. Musial fouled off three pitches to left and watched two others go wide of the strike zone.

With the count at 2-and-2, Drabowsky threw a curve. “Outside corner, higher than intended,” Drabowsky said.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “I picked up the spin of the pitch, strode into the ball and drove it on a deep line into left field. I knew as soon as it left my bat that it would go between the left fielder, Walt Moryn, and the foul line.”

Musial’s No. 3,000 was a run-scoring double. “I don’t mind him getting 3,000 off me,” Drabowsky said, “but when I had two strikes, I thought I had him _ not for a strikeout, but I figured he’d hit it in the ground.” Video

As Hutchinson ran onto the field to congratulate Musial, he was followed by a pack of photographers. Umpire Frank Dascoli retrieved the ball and handed it to Musial, who was lifted for a runner, pitcher Frank Barnes.

Before leaving the field, Musial went to the box seats next to the Cardinals dugout and kissed his wife, Lillian. A photographer asked, “Say, Stan, did you know that blonde?” Musial laughed and replied, “I’d better. That’s my wife.”

Sparked by Musial’s hit, the Cardinals scored three more runs against Drabowsky in the inning and won, 5-3. Boxscore

Polish pride

Musial, who retired after the 1963 season, batted .405 with two home runs, four doubles and six walks against Drabowsky in his career.

Drabowsky pitched 17 seasons in the major leagues with eight teams: Cubs (1956-60), Braves (1961), Reds (1962), Athletics (1962-65), Orioles (1966-68 and 1970), Royals (1969-70), Cardinals (1971-72) and White Sox (1972). His best years were as an Orioles reliever. In Game 1 of the 1966 World Series, Drabowsky struck out 11 Dodgers, including six in a row, and earned the win with 6.2 innings of scoreless relief. Boxscore

In two seasons with the Cardinals, Drabowsky was 7-2 with 10 saves.

In 1987, Musial and Drabowsky reconnected, going to the town of Kutno in Poland to teach baseball to men and women in the Polish Baseball Union. It was Drabowsky’s first visit to Poland since he left when he was 3.

With equipment provided by baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, Musial and Drabowsky gave out enough bats, balls, gloves and catchers’ gear to supply 12 men’s teams and six women’s teams, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“We’re here to help get them going and maybe we can invite some of their coaches to the U.S. next year to see how we train so they can come home and teach the kids more,” said Musial.

The effort by Musial and Drabowsky led to Kutno, Poland, becoming home to the Little League Baseball European Leadership Training Center.

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Dodgers, Cardinals discussed deal for Duke Snider

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on April 24, 2018| 3 Comments »

(Updated July 22, 2020)

Knowing Duke Snider wasn’t enamored with the new home of the Dodgers, the Cardinals made a bid to acquire him, but the price was deemed too high.

On April 25, 1958, the Cardinals played the Dodgers in Los Angeles for the first time in the regular season. The Dodgers left Brooklyn after 1957 and relocated to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum while waiting for Dodger Stadium to be built.

Snider, a left-handed pull hitter who thrived at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, was frustrated by the dimensions of the Coliseum. The distance from home plate to the fence in right-center was 440 feet and it was 390 feet from home plate to straightaway right. Snider found drives hit to right that would have been home runs at Ebbets Field were outs at the Coliseum.

The Coliseum was much friendlier to right-handed pull hitters, with a distance of 251 feet down the line from home plate to the left field fence. Though a screen stretching 42 feet high and 140 feet long was erected along the left field wall, hitters reached the seats with routine fly balls.

Musial as mentor

Snider, the Dodgers’ highest-paid player at $42,000, was batting .231 with one home run when the Cardinals arrived in Los Angeles for the first time in 1958. A gimpy left knee was bothering him and he was being booed by hometown crowds who expected the outfielder to hit with the kind of power he displayed in Brooklyn.

When asked about his knee, Snider replied to the Los Angeles Times, “It hurts like the dickens.”

Asked about the booing, Snider said, “I’m used to it and I expect it when I’m not going good. I’d boo, too. I’m supposed to be a hitter, a long ball hitter. When I don’t hit, the fans certainly are entitled to boo.”

Before the opening game of the series with the Cardinals, Snider and his St. Louis counterpart, left-handed hitter Stan Musial, met at the batting cage, and Musial tried to console him. In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial recalled the conversation. “You can’t let this thing throw you,” Musial told Snider. “You can’t beat a park like this, so join it.”

In the game that night, Musial practiced what he preached. He produced a double and three singles in four at-bats against a left-hander, Fred Kipp, and raised his batting average for the season to .533 in nine games.

Snider was 0-for-4, but the Dodgers won, 5-3, Boxscore

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bob Broeg wrote, “If the Cardinals can’t win with Stan Musial hitting as though he had invented the game, what’s going to happen to the Redbirds when the man cools off to _ oh, say, a simple .400?”

High stakes

The game, however, was overshadowed by Broeg’s Post-Dispatch exclusive, reporting how the Cardinals discussed with the Dodgers a proposed trade involving Snider.

According to Broeg, Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi offered Snider to the Cardinals for third baseman Ken Boyer and outfielder Wally Moon. Though Cardinals general manager Bing Devine wanted Snider, whose power stroke was suited for St. Louis’ ballpark, he thought Bavasi was asking too much in return.

Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson said, “Sure, we’d like to have Snider. He’s not hitting in this heartbreak park (the Coliseum), but he’d rattle that fence at Busch Stadium. Still, he’s damaged goods _ with that operated-on left knee _ and we wouldn’t give Boyer for him, let alone both Boyer and Moon. Besides, (at 31) he’s nearly five years older than Kenny.”

Asked by the Los Angeles Times about the Post-Dispatch scoop on the proposed Snider deal, Bavasi said, “Somebody’s been smoking the wrong stuff.”

According to the Times, Bavasi said he and Devine were being facetious when they talked about a deal involving Snider, Boyer and Moon. The Times said Devine wanted Snider, “but realizes that the chances of getting him are as remote as northeastern Nepal.”

Devine continued to shop for a left-handed hitter and admitted discussing an offer with the Reds for either of their catchers, Ed Bailey or Smoky Burgess.

The Sporting News, meanwhile, acknowledged the Cardinals’ interest in Snider was sincere, telling its readers, “The Cardinals appeared unwilling to give up Boyer, Moon and others as requested by Los Angeles for Duke Snider.”

Snider snapped out of his slump and batted .312 for the 1958 Dodgers, but his 15 home runs were far below the 40 or more he hit in each of the previous five seasons. Musial, 37, hit .337 in 1958, placing third in the National League behind Richie Ashburn of the Phillies (.350) and Willie Mays of the Giants (.347).

After the 1958 season, the Cardinals traded Moon and pitcher Phil Paine to the Dodgers for outfielder Gino Cimoli.

Seven years later, in March 1965, Joe Becker, who joined the Cardinals’ coaching staff after serving as a Dodgers coach, said the Cardinals in 1958 tried to trade Ken Boyer and pitcher Larry Jackson to the Dodgers for Duke Snider and pitcher Roger Craig, but the deal fell through, the Dayton Daily News reported.

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Stan Musial, Ty Cobb: A San Francisco treat

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on April 18, 2018| 4 Comments »

(Updated April 22, 2020)

Displaying mutual respect, Ty Cobb and Stan Musial met on the field before the first regular-season game between the Giants and Cardinals in San Francisco.

On April 22, 1958, the Cardinals played at Seals Stadium for the first time since the Giants moved from New York.

Cobb, 71, a resident of Atherton, Calif., went to the game to see Musial, 37, who was in the lineup for his first West Coast regular-season game.

Cobb played for 24 years (1905-28) in the American League and retired as baseball’s career hits leader. Cobb and Musial rank first and second all-time in career hits among left-handed batters. The top four in career hits among all batters are switch-hitter Pete Rose (4,256), Cobb (4,189), right-handed Hank Aaron (3,771) and Musial (3,630).

Cobb, dressed in coat and hat and described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “tall and sharp-eyed,” went onto the field during pre-game warmups and chatted with Musial. Their conversation continued in the dugout before Cobb took a seat in the stands to watch the game.

Musial, batting third and playing first base, produced a double and two singles in five at-bats, scored twice and drove in a run. Cobb admired how Musial scored from second on Gene Green’s line-drive single to left.

In comments published by The Sporting News, Cobb said of Musial, “He showed me that his legs are still good. That’s the life of a ballplayer _ his legs. I’ve always contended Joe DiMaggio could have lasted five years longer had he used his legs more in the winter.

“Musial’s speed impressed me,” Cobb said. “Too many long ball hitters today think they’re paid only to hit homers. Musial always hits his share of them, but he also fields and runs the bases. Stan is of the stripe who played in my time. There are too few of them today.”

Drawing a crowd

Musial and his road roommate, Del Ennis, sparked St. Louis to a 7-5 victory in the first Cardinals regular-season game at San Francisco. Ennis, a left fielder who batted cleanup, hit a two-run home run against Giants starter Johnny Antonelli in the first inning and a RBI-single off Al Worthington in the seventh.

The game drew a near sellout crowd of 22,786 to Seals Stadium (capacity 22,900) on a Tuesday night, and many were there to see Musial. “San Franciscans began to line up as early as noon for the 4,000 unreserved seats,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Approximately 1,000 reportedly were turned away when the general admission and bleacher tickets were exhausted.”

Retired Cardinals who visited the clubhouse included Taylor Douthit and Tommy Glaviano. Musial and ex-teammate Hank Sauer of the Giants posed together for photographers before the game. Both wore uniforms with the No. 6. “Musial got by far the largest hand of the night when he batted,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, the fans cheered for Musial “just as lustily as they applauded their own Willie Mays. The crowd enjoyed Musial and gave him repeated ovations, even during batting practice.”

Said Musial: “I never thought I’d play long enough to be in the majors when the big leagues went to the Coast, but it’s quite a thrill. Personally, I’ll miss New York _ wish we could go there, too.”

Opposite field swing

With the wind blowing in from right field to home plate, Musial decided not to try pulling pitches. His singles were hit to center and his double, which produced a run against Mike McCormick, was slashed along the left-field line.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said of Seals Stadium, “I found that the trade winds made it tough (to bat) for a left-hander … and served as an anchor on drives smashed to right.”

Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda each had three hits for San Francisco, but the Giants stranded 13 base runners. Boxscore

After winning the series opener, the Cardinals lost the next two games when the Giants came from behind in the ninth innings of both.

In two seasons at Seals Stadium before the Giants moved to Candlestick Park in 1960, Musial batted .294, with 20 hits and 11 walks in 20 games.

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Familiar foes: Rusty Staub vs. Bob Gibson

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on April 3, 2018| 2 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 25, 2019)

Rusty Staub, who did his best hitting versus right-handed pitchers, and Bob Gibson were matched against one another often. Though Staub didn’t hit Gibson as well as he did most right-handers, he had a couple of significant games while facing the Cardinals’ ace.

Staub had more plate appearances (162) and more at-bats (143) versus Gibson than he did against any other pitcher in his major-league career.

A left-handed batter, Staub played 23 seasons in the big leagues, starting in 1963, when he was 19, with the Houston Colt .45s before they were renamed the Astros. An outfielder and first baseman, Staub also played for the Expos, Mets, Tigers and Rangers.

Staub had career totals of 2,716 hits and 1,466 RBI, with a .279 batting average. Against right-handed pitching, he hit .291. Gibson was among the few right-handers who fared well against Staub, limiting him to a .224 batting average, but Staub was a respected adversary, compiling 32 hits, 16 walks and 15 RBI against him.

Cardinals nemesis

In 256 games against the Cardinals, Staub batted .273, with 226 hits, 109 walks and 102 RBI. He hit .300 or better versus the Cardinals every year from 1966 to 1973. Some of his performances against St. Louis were dominant: .484 batting average and 13 RBI in 1966; .328 and 15 RBI in 1967; and .343 and 15 RBI in 1975.

In a November 2019 interview with broadcaster Dan McLaughlin, longtime Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons said, “If Rusty decided he wasn’t going to strike out, you couldn’t strike him out. I mean, it wasn’t a matter of him trying to foul the ball off. He would put an at-bat on you. Every swing was critical.”

Staub was tough on Cardinals right-handers such as Nelson Briles (.384 batting average against) and Ray Washburn (.327), and one of the left-handers he solved was Steve Carlton (.308). Staub had more RBI (25) versus Carlton than he did against any other pitcher. All four of his career home runs off Carlton came while the pitcher was with the Cardinals.

Staub was 20 when he hit his first home run against a Cardinals pitcher, left-hander Curt Simmons, 35, in 1964.

Another longtime Cardinals left-hander, Ray Sadecki, struck out Staub more times (21) than any other major-league pitcher.

Perfect at plate

On May 1, 1968, Gibson pitched 12 innings, yielding seven hits and no earned runs, in a 3-1 Cardinals victory over the Astros at Houston. Staub gave him the most trouble, with four hits and a sacrifice bunt in five plate appearances.

“You can’t trick Staub,” Gibson said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Said Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood: “Staub has a good, short stride and he seems to know what kind of pitch is coming.”

Staub, batting in the cleanup spot, produced three singles and a double.

Explaining how Gibson relied on fastballs and sliders, Cardinals catcher Johnny Edwards said, “I think Gibby threw two curves all night and the only changeup was the one Rusty Staub hit up the middle (in the fourth) for a single.”

In the Astros’ half of the 11th, with the score tied at 1-1, Jim Wynn drew a leadoff walk. Staub was up next, and even though he was perfect at the plate against Gibson, Astros manager Grady Hatton instructed him to bunt. Staub executed, moving Wynn into scoring position at second base.

After Doug Rader struck out, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst ordered Gibson to walk John Bateman to get to Denis Menke, a career .184 batter versus Gibson. Menke grounded into a forceout. Boxscore

Sweet swing

Seven years later, on April 23, 1975, Gibson was matched against Mets ace Tom Seaver in a game at New York. Staub was with the Mets then.

In the fifth, with the Cardinals ahead, 1-0, Jack Heidemann singled against Gibson and moved to second on Jerry Grote’s single. With Seaver at the plate, Gibson made a pickoff throw to second baseman Ted Sizemore. Sizemore applied a tag, but umpire Tom Gorman ruled Heidemann safe.

“He never got to the bag,” Sizemore complained.

After Seaver grounded out, Wayne Garrett walked, loading the bases, and Felix Millan hit a two-run double. After an intentional walk to Del Unser, reloading the bases, Staub came up, swung at Gibson’s first pitch, a fastball, and walloped it for a grand slam. The Mets won, 7-1.

“I’ve always said the key to hitting is to have men on base,” Staub said to The White Plains Journal News. “It doesn’t matter who bats behind you in the batting order. It matters only if men are on base in front of you and you can get a pitch to hit.”

Said Gibson: “I was having control problems and when you have control problems you don’t throw the same.” Boxscore

The grand slam was the sixth of nine Staub hit in the big leagues. Two other future Hall of Fame pitchers, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley, also yielded grand slams to Staub.

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Why Cardinals gave up on hometown prospect Dick Sisler

Posted in Hitters, Trades on March 31, 2018| 2 Comments »

Dick Sisler, a standout as a St. Louis prep school athlete and son of a Hall of Fame baseball player, came to the Cardinals amid high expectations. He earned starts in two Opening Day lineups for the Cardinals but departed before he developed into a major-league all-star.

On April 7, 1948, the Cardinals traded Sisler to the Phillies for infielder Ralph LaPointe and $20,000.

Initially, the deal disappointed Sisler, who hoped to establish a big-league career with the hometown Cardinals. Sisler soon learned, however, that joining the Phillies was a good break for him.

Preps to pros

Dick Sisler excelled at baseball, basketball, football and track at John Burroughs School in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue. His father, George Sisler, a first baseman, was one of baseball’s best hitters, primarily for the St. Louis Browns of the American League, in a major-league career that spanned from 1915 to 1930.

As a high school senior, Dick Sisler accepted a college scholarship offer from Colgate, but when the Cardinals came calling with a professional contract in February 1939, Sisler, 18, went with them instead.

Sisler made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in 1946, starting at first base on Opening Day. When a hand injury sidelined Sisler in June, Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer moved Stan Musial from the outfield to first base. After Sisler recovered from his injury, Dyer kept Musial at first and put Sisler in left. Sisler hit .260 with 42 RBI in 83 games as a Cardinals rookie.

When the 1947 season opened, the Cardinals started Musial at first base and Sisler in left field. Sisler didn’t provide the power the Cardinals sought, and in May they acquired left fielder Ron Northey from the Phillies and moved Sisler to the bench. Sisler batted .203 in 46 games for the 1947 Cardinals.

When Sisler signed his Cardinals contract for the 1948 season, club owner Robert Hannegan informed him Musial would be moved back to the outfield. Sisler was told he would have the chance to compete for the starting first base job, but would be traded if someone else got the role, according to The Sporting News.

Spring cleaning

Sisler played well for the Cardinals at spring training in 1948. “Dick was meeting the ball better and seemed to be on his way to a bright season,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Sisler told the St. Louis Star-Times, “I was given to understand that I had a real chance to make the Cardinals’ ball club if I had a good spring training season. Well, I had a big spring. I know I led the club in home runs. In extra-base slugging, my percentage must have been over .600.”

After the Cardinals left Florida and made their way north, they stopped in Columbus, Ga., to play an exhibition game on April 7, 1948, against their farm team. The Cardinals were at a team barbecue when Hannegan approached Sisler and told him he’d been traded to the Phillies.

The Post-Dispatch reported the deal as “something of a surprise move” and the newspaper’s editorial page predicted the Cardinals are “going to regret trading Dick Sisler.”

According to the Star-Times, the trade was made because Dyer and Sisler “were hardly of one mind on Dick’s baseball abilities or on other subjects.”

The Sporting News said Dyer planned to start Sisler at first base, but changed his mind because he wanted a right-handed batter to better balance a lineup with left-handed hitters such as Musial, Northey and Enos Slaughter. After the trade, Dyer named Nippy Jones, a right-handed batter, to start at first base.

“I feel the deal ultimately will prove to be in Sisler’s best interest as well as the Cardinals’,” Hannegan said.

Philadelphia freedom

After Sisler reported to the Phillies, he appeared to be more naturally relaxed in his approach than he had been with the Cardinals. “Perhaps it would have been better for Dick if he had started in a town other than St. Louis, someplace where the fans didn’t have as many recollections of his brilliant dad,” columnist J.G. Taylor Spink wrote in The Sporting News.

Meanwhile, LaPointe, the player the Cardinals acquired from the Phillies for Sisler, was tabbed by Dyer to be a backup to Red Schoendienst at second base and to Marty Marion at shortstop.

“Coming to this ball club is like falling into Utopia,” LaPointe said.

Sisler batted .274 with 56 RBI for the 1948 Phillies and Jones, his replacement at first base, hit .254 with 81 RBI for the 1948 Cardinals. In his lone St. Louis season, LaPointe batted .225 in 1948.

Sisler had his all-star season with the 1950 Phillies, hitting .296 with 83 RBI. In the final regular-season game that year, Sisler hit a three-run home run in the 10th inning against Don Newcombe, lifting the Phillies to a 4-1 pennant-clinching victory over the Dodgers.

In four seasons with the Phillies, Sisler hit .287. He went to the Reds in 1952 but was traded back to the Cardinals in May that year. He finished his big-league playing career with the 1953 Cardinals.

After a stint as a minor-league manager, Sisler was a Reds coach from 1961-64. Late in the 1964 season, he replaced an ailing Fred Hutchinson as Reds manager and guided them into a pennant race with the Cardinals and Phillies. The Reds finished in second place when the Cardinals clinched the pennant on the last day of the regular season.

Sisler managed the Reds in 1965, and though the club finished 89-73, he was fired after the season. He was a Cardinals coach on manager Red Schoendienst’s staff from 1966-70, and he also coached for the 1975-76 Padres (managed by John McNamara) and the 1979-80 Mets (managed by Joe Torre).

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Catcher Francisco Pena followed dad Tony to Cardinals

Posted in Hitters, Records on March 28, 2018| 2 Comments »

(Updated May 2, 2019)

Francisco Pena provided one of the surprises of the Cardinals’ 2018 spring training, leapfrogging ahead of prospect Carson Kelly and earning the backup catcher spot behind Yadier Molina on the Opening Day roster.

Pena, son of former Cardinals catcher Tony Pena, played in the Mets’ system for seven seasons (2007-13) before reaching the majors with the Royals in 2014. After the 2015 season, his contract was sold to the Orioles and Pena was with them in 2016 and 2017.

The Cardinals signed Pena after he was granted free agency in October 2017.

Francisco Pena hit his first Cardinals home run, and his fourth overall in the major leagues, on May 18, 2018, versus the Phillies at St. Louis.

Tony Pena and Francisco Pena became the second father-son pair to hit home runs for the Cardinals, following Ed Spiezio and Scott Spiezio. Ed Spiezio played five years (1964-69) for the Cardinals and hit five home runs for them. His son, Scott Spiezio, played two years (2006-07) for the Cardinals and hit 17 home runs for them.

Tony Pena hit 107 big-league home runs, including 19 in three seasons (1987-89) with the Cardinals. Tony helped the Cardinals win the 1987 National League pennant and he was an all-star with them in 1989.

Francisco Pena never got to see his father Tony play for the Cardinals. Francisco was born on Oct. 12, 1989, 11 days after Tony played in his final game for the Cardinals. Tony Pena became a free agent on Nov. 13, 1989, and signed with the Red Sox two weeks later.

Francisco Pena hit .203 with two home runs in 58 games for the 2018 Cardinals. In 2019, the Cardinals sent Pena to the minor leagues and on May 2, 2019, they traded him to the Giants in a cash transaction.

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