RetroSimba

(Updated Sept. 21, 2022)

Showing a sense of place and a concern for the hometown fans, Walter Alston gave Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver a spot on the National League all-star team and a chance to play a key role.

On July 12, 1966, McCarver sparked a 10th-inning rally and scored the winning run in the National League’s 2-1 victory over the American League at St. Louis.

Played on a sweltering Tuesday afternoon two months after Busch Memorial Stadium opened, the game is best remembered for the searing heat and humidity. Game time temperature was 100 degrees and the thermometer reached a peak of 105 during the game.

Asked his opinion of the new stadium, honorary coach Casey Stengel famously replied, “Sure holds the heat well.”

Stengel also added, “The heat took the press right out of my pants.”

Right fielder Roberto Clemente of the Pirates told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “You could have put salt and pepper on me and fried me out in right field.”

The game attracted 49,936 spectators and 135 received first-aid treatment for ailments related to the heat, according to The Sporting News.

Often overlooked is the performance of McCarver and the role Alston played in giving the Cardinals catcher a chance to thrill the St. Louis fans.

Tim’s town

In 1966, players, managers and coaches _ not the fans _ selected the position player starters for the All-Star Game. The National League catchers who received the most votes were Joe Torre of the Braves and Tom Haller of the Giants. As was customary then for the runner-up pick, Haller was placed on the all-star squad as a reserve.

Because he had led the Dodgers to the 1965 pennant, Alston was named manager of the 1966 National League all-stars and got to choose the pitchers and the reserves. Alston selected three Cardinals for the team: pitcher Bob Gibson, center fielder Curt Flood and McCarver.

Gibson developed a sore elbow and was replaced on the all-star team by Dodgers reliever Phil Regan. Asked by The Sporting News why he chose McCarver as a third catcher for the National League, Alston replied, “Bob Gibson was forced off the squad. This is McCarver’s town.”

Haller bypassed

In the third inning, Alston had Flood bat for pitcher Sandy Koufax. Flood’s sharp grounder deflected off pitcher Denny McLain to second baseman Bobby Knoop, who fielded it behind the bag and threw out Flood.

That left McCarver as the only remaining Cardinals player.

“I didn’t think I’d get in the game because Tom Haller was still on the bench and he was voted No. 2,” McCarver said.

In the eighth, McCarver, not Haller, replaced Torre.

“I wanted very much to play,” Haller said. “I just didn’t think it was right that I didn’t.”

Said Alston: “The game was in St. Louis and the only Cardinal I’d used … was Flood and he only pinch-hit. The Giants already were well-represented with (Willie) Mays, (Willie) McCovey, (Juan) Marichal, (Gaylord) Perry and (Jim Ray) Hart. So I used Tim, the hometown boy.”

Lefty vs. lefty

McCarver, playing in his first All-Star Game, caught the eighth, ninth and 10th innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, with the score tied at 1-1, McCarver, a left-handed batter, led off against left-hander Pete Richert of the Senators.

“I know McCarver could handle left-handed pitchers pretty well,” Alston said.

McCarver said he was determined to swing at the first pitch “because I don’t like to get behind, especially against a good lefty.”

Richert threw a fastball and McCarver pulled it sharply into right field for a single.

Good jump

The next batter, Mets second baseman Ron Hunt, a St. Louis native, executed a sacrifice bunt, moving McCarver to second base.

Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills was up next. He and Richert had been Dodgers teammates. In his book, “On the Run,” Wills said, “He and I had gone out the night before to Gaslight Square in St. Louis. We listened to the Dixieland music and I played my banjo with the band and we had a good time.”

Wills worked the count to 2-and-1. “I tried to make Wills hit the ball on the ground,” Richert said.

Instead, Wills lifted a line drive to short right field for a single.

“I had a good jump and I felt I had to make them try to throw me out in that situation,” McCarver said. “I was going all the way.”

Pirates manager Harry Walker, coaching at third, had a good view of the play unfolding. Walker, a former Cardinals player, gave McCarver the green light to head toward home.

“When I saw Tim coming to the (third base) bag, (right fielder) Tony Oliva was just getting to the ball.” Walker said. “It was off-center and Oliva had to turn a little to throw it. Tim’s speed helped a lot in making up my mind.”

McCarver scored easily with the run that gave the National League its victory. Boxscore

Among the first to greet him were Perry, the winning pitcher, and Mays.

“This is my biggest thrill in baseball outside of winning the (1964) World Series,” McCarver said. Video

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Bobby Gene Smith twice opened seasons as the starting center fielder for the Cardinals. Both times, he was unable to hit consistently.

In 1957, Smith, a rookie, was the Cardinals’ starting center fielder from Opening Day through May 20. He was replaced by Ken Boyer, who moved from third base to center field.

In 1958, Boyer was back at third base and Smith again was manager Fred Hutchinson’s choice to be the Cardinals’ Opening Day starter in center field. He kept the job for a week, got sent to the minors and was replaced by rookie Curt Flood.

Top prospect

Smith signed as an amateur free agent with the Cardinals in 1952.

He had three consecutive impressive seasons in the Cardinals’ minor-league system:

_ In 1954, with Class C Fresno, Smith hit .305 with 22 triples and 107 RBI.

_ In 1955, still with Fresno, Smith batted .370 with 206 hits in 141 games.

_ In 1956, with Class AA Houston, Smith hit .299 with 21 home runs and 109 RBI.

Though he hadn’t played at the Class AAA level, Smith, 22, went to spring training in 1957 with the Cardinals and was tabbed by The Sporting News as a “standout candidate” for the starting center field job.

Rookie starter

Based primarily on his fielding in spring training, Smith was chosen by Hutchinson to supplant Bobby Del Greco as the starting center fielder.

In his major-league debut, Smith was 2-for-5, including a two-run home run off Art Fowler, in the Cardinals’ 13-4 Opening Day victory over the Reds on April 16, 1957, at Cincinnati. Boxscore

“That kid is going to be a real good one _ and for a long time,” Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts said.

However, the leap from Class AA to the big leagues proved too big of an adjustment for Smith. His batting average was .225 on May 21, 1957, when Hutchinson moved Boyer into center field and put rookie Eddie Kasko at third base.

Smith remained with the Cardinals as a reserve. On July 7, 1957, with Boyer nursing a stiff elbow, Smith got the start in center field and had his most productive game in the big leagues. Facing the Reds in the second game of a doubleheader at St. Louis, Smith was 3-for-4 with four RBI, including a three-run home run off Tom Acker. Boxscore

The highlights, though, were few for Smith. He hit .211 for the 1957 Cardinals, with 39 hits in 93 games. Smith made 41 starts in center and four starts in right.

On the move

In spring training 1958, Smith regained the center field job and was in the starting lineup when the Cardinals opened the season on April 15 at home against the Cubs.

Smith started in center in six of the first eight games for the 1958 Cardinals and batted .208. By the end of April, Flood was called up from the minor leagues, inserted as the starter in center and Smith was demoted to Class AAA Omaha, where he played for manager Johnny Keane.

In December 1959, the Cardinals traded Smith to the Phillies for catcher Carl Sawatski.

“We think he might be one of those players who develops as a hitter a little late,” Phillies general manager John Quinn said.

Three years later, on June 5, 1962, the Cardinals reacquired Smith, sending shortstop Alex Grammas and outfielder Don Landrum to the Cubs for him and infielder Daryl Robertson.

“We’re going to use Smith in the ballgames _ not as a pinch-hitter,” Keane, the Cardinals’ manager, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. ‘He’s going to be playing. We need right-handed hitters.”

Smith, sometimes platooning with Stan Musial in left field, hit .231 in 91 games for the 1962 Cardinals. In April 1963, the Cardinals sold Smith’s contract to the Red Sox, who assigned him to the minor leagues.

In four seasons (1957-59 and 1962) with the Cardinals, Smith hit .231 overall. In a seven-year big-league career with the Cardinals, Phillies, Mets, Cubs and Angels, Smith batted .243 with 13 home runs.

Two of those home runs were with the Phillies against the Cardinals: a two-run, pinch-hit home run off Bob Gibson on June 26, 1960, and a solo shot off Curt Simmons on Sept. 11, 1960.

Previously: Ken Boyer converted from infield to center

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(Updated July 1, 2019)

In the most productive month of his Cardinals playing career, Mike Shannon hit home runs off future Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry, achieved his lone five-hit game in the big leagues and re-established his status as a reliable everyday player.

In July 1966, Shannon entered the month with a .222 batting average for the season. He exited the month with a season batting mark of .304.

Shannon, the Cardinals’ right fielder, hit .395 (45-for-114) in July 1966, with 17 extra-base hits (seven home runs, eight doubles and two triples), nine walks, 23 RBI and 25 runs scored. His on-base percentage for the month was .435.

Bad habits

The Cardinals opened the 1966 season with a starting outfield of Alex Johnson in left, Curt Flood in center and Lou Brock in right. Johnson struggled to hit for average and was sent to the minor leagues in May. Brock was shifted to left and Shannon took over in right.

However, like Johnson, Shannon also struggled. He hit .197 (13-for-66) in May and .222 (12-for-54) in June.

“Mike was too much of a guess hitter and a guess hitter is a .250 hitter or lower,” Cardinals hitting coach Dick Sisler told The Sporting News.

Said Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst: “Every time someone on the club would hit a home run, Mike would try to hit one farther.”

Solving Sandy

On July 1, 1966, Shannon’s turnaround began against the unlikeliest of opponents. Koufax entered his start for the Dodgers against the Cardinals at Los Angeles with a season record of 14-2 and a 1.56 ERA. His last five decisions against the Cardinals all were wins.

In the seventh inning, with the score at 0-0 and one out, Orlando Cepeda singled. Shannon batted next and worked the count to 3-and-1. “Shannon was the only batter Koufax got behind,” Schoendienst said to the Pasadena Star News.

Koufax told the Los Angeles Times, “With Cepeda on first base and the count 3-and-1 on Shannon, I didn’t want to walk him and put a runner in scoring position, so I had to try to blow one by him.”

The next pitch was a fastball and Shannon hit it for a home run into the seats in left-center at Dodger Stadium.

“The fastball was right down the middle,” Shannon said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Koufax said, “Outside of that one pitch, I thought I had the best stuff I’ve had this year. My curve was working again.”

Said Shannon: “He worked fastballs in and out to me and I finally got one I could hit off him. I’m glad he didn’t throw me a curve.”

The combination of Shannon’s power and the shutout pitching of Al Jackson carried the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory. It was “a measure of sweet revenge” for Jackson, who had lost 10 of 11 previous career decisions versus the Dodgers, the Los Angeles Times reported. Boxscore

Picking his pitch

In seven games at Los Angeles and San Francisco over the first six days of July, Shannon produced 12 hits in 27 at-bats, including the home runs off Koufax, Marichal and Perry, and a triple off another future Hall of Fame pitcher, Don Drysdale. The home runs against Marichal and Perry occurred on the same day, July 4, with Shannon hitting one in each game of a doubleheader.

Said Perry of Shannon’s blast: “It was a good pitch _ a slider away from him. I pitched against him a lot in the minors and when Mike is hitting good you can’t get him out.”

Shannon’s hot streak continued throughout July.

On July 15, Shannon’s 27th birthday, he had four hits in five at-bats in a game against the Reds at Cincinnati. Boxscore

A week later, on July 22, Shannon was 5-for-5 in a game versus the Cubs at Chicago. Boxscore

“Mike has been picking the good pitches consistently for a change,” said Sisler. “He’s not lunging the way he used to. He’s not trying to pull those outside pitches for home runs. He’s making the pitchers come to him.”

Bob Skinner, a Cardinals reserve outfielder and friend of Shannon, said, “Mike has been looking like an altogether different hitter. He’s hitting more home runs than ever because he’s just meeting the ball instead of swinging like a wild man.”

Shannon finished the 1966 season with a .288 batting average and a career-best 16 home runs. He was converted to a third baseman after the season and started for the 1967 and 1968 Cardinals clubs that won two NL pennants and a World Series title.

Previously: Here’s how Mike Shannon became a Cardinals catcher

Previously: The stormy, unfulfilled Cardinals career of Alex Johnson

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