Enticed by the chance to add a left-hander to the starting rotation and a potential power hitter to the batting order, the Cardinals gave up a Gold Glove Award winner at third base.
The deal didn’t work out the way either the Cardinals or Giants envisioned.
On Dec. 8, 1975, the Cardinals traded third baseman Ken Reitz to the Giants for pitcher Pete Falcone.
Though Reitz had been awarded the National League Gold Glove for his defensive work at third base in 1975, the Cardinals thought he was expendable because of the availability of Hector Cruz, who had excelled as a slugging third baseman for manager Ken Boyer at Class AAA Tulsa.
When Boyer, a five-time Gold Glove winner and seven-time all-star as a Cardinals third baseman, endorsed Cruz, the Cardinals were confident in dealing Reitz.
“Boyer is very high on Cruz,” Cardinals general manager Bing Devine said to the Associated Press.
Carpet cleaner
Reitz debuted with the Cardinals in 1972 and was their everyday third baseman from 1973-75. He led NL third basemen in fielding percentage in 1973 and 1974.
Mike Shannon, a Cardinals broadcaster and former third baseman, dubbed Reitz “Zamboni” because, like the machine, he cleaned up everything in his path on the artificial turf carpet at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The Sporting News praised Reitz for having “quick hands, an extremely accurate arm, superb lateral movement.”
Reitz, 24, committed 23 errors in 1975. Noting that only eight of those errors allowed scoring or led to scoring, The Sporting News wrote that Reitz’s “great stops and throws helped save many a game” and he “has displayed the same knack shown by such former Cardinals as Ken Boyer, Julian Javier and Dal Maxvill. They rarely killed you with an error in a tight situation.”
Reitz hit .269 for the 1975 Cardinals, with five home runs and 63 RBI.
Top prospect
In contrast, Cruz, 22, batted .306 with 29 home runs and 116 RBI in 115 games for Tulsa in 1975. He made 17 errors in 289 chances at third base.
Cruz, whose brothers Jose and Tommy had been Cardinals outfielders, was named winner of the 1975 Most Valuable Player Award in the American Association and Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News.
“He has been the best ballplayer in the minor leagues the past two years,” said Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst.
Devine told United Press International: “We feel he’s ready.”
Falcone fits
The Cardinals saw the Giants as an ideal trade partner. The Giants needed a third baseman and they had starting pitching depth.
Falcone, 22, debuted with the Giants in 1975, posting a 12-11 record and 4.17 ERA in 32 starts. He struck out 131 and issued a team-high 111 walks.
The Cardinals’ only other potential left-handed starter was John Curtis. The Cardinals envisioned Falcone joining a 1976 rotation with Bob Forsch, John Denny, Lynn McGlothen and either Eric Rasmussen or Curtis.
“We didn’t have any good left-hand pitching prospects in the minor leagues,” said Schoendienst. “We hope to start Falcone. That’s what we acquired him for.”
The Giants were seeking a defensive upgrade at third base. Their primary starter in 1975, Steve Ontiveros, hit .289 but committed 21 errors in 89 games at third base.
Jerry Donovan, assistant to Giants owner Horace Stoneham, said, “We haven’t had a third baseman since Jimmy Davenport retired (in 1970).”
Donovan, who engineered the trade with Devine, added, “We hated to give up Pete, but we needed a third baseman badly. The Cards insisted on Falcone if we were to make the deal.”
Giants fan
Reitz was born in San Francisco and grew up in nearby Daly City. As a youth, he would scale a fence to get into Giants games at Candlestick Park. He watched as many as 60 games a season there, according to the Oakland Tribune.
His favorite player was first baseman Willie McCovey. Like McCovey with the Giants, Reitz wore No. 44 with the Cardinals.
Still, Reitz was stunned and initially disappointed to be traded. He and his wife had bought a house in St. Louis.
“I thought they’d stick with me for a couple of more years at least,” said Reitz. “I thought there was maybe one chance in 100 that I’d be traded.”
Falcone was working an off-season job as a salesman in the New York garment center while staying with his parents in Brooklyn.
“When I first learned about (the trade), I was a little mad,” said Falcone. “It was a shock. Now that I’ve thought it all over, I kind of like the idea of going to St. Louis and getting out of the cold and fog.”
How they fared
In 1976, Falcone was 12-16 with a 3.23 ERA in 32 starts for St. Louis. He led the 1976 Cardinals in strikeouts (138) and innings pitched (212) and was second in wins.
After beating the Reds on a five-hitter on Aug. 24, he was 11-11 with a 3.29 ERA, but he lost five of his last six decisions while lowering his ERA to 3.23.
Cruz hit .228 with 13 home runs and 71 RBI with a team-high 119 strikeouts for the 1976 Cardinals. He made a NL-leading 26 errors at third base.
Reitz made 19 errors in 155 games at third base for the 1976 Giants. He hit .267 with five home runs and grounded into 24 double plays.
Return to sender
After the 1976 season, the Giants traded Reitz to the Cardinals for McGlothen.
The Cardinals moved Cruz to right field. He hit .236 with six home runs in 1977 and was traded after the season with catcher Dave Rader to the Cubs for outfielder Jerry Morales and catcher Steve Swisher.
Falcone had terrible second and third seasons with the Cardinals _ 4-8 with a 5.44 ERA in 1977 and 2-7 with a 5.76 ERA in 1978 _ and was traded to the Mets in December 1978 for outfielder Tom Grieve and pitcher Kim Seaman.
Reitz remained the Cardinals’ third baseman through 1980. He was traded with first baseman Leon Durham and third baseman Ty Waller to the Cubs for reliever Bruce Sutter in December 1980. Ken Oberkfell replaced Reitz at third base.
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