Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Opponents’ Category

Top 10 facts about 1987 National League champion Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on January 20, 2012| 3 Comments »

(Updated June 9, 2024)

One of the most remarkable teams in St. Louis history was the 1987 Cardinals.

Managed by Whitey Herzog, the 1987 Cardinals overcame adversity and several back-to-the-wall predicaments to finish 95-67 (three games ahead of the favored Mets in the National League East). The Cardinals then won the pennant by beating the Giants in the League Championship Series and got to Game 7 of the World Series before losing to the champion Twins.

In his book “Mookie,” Mets center fielder Mookie Wilson said, “I loved the Cardinals’ style of play. They were so aggressive, always running on the bases until there was no place else to go … It was an exciting brand of baseball. I always believed that I could have fit in well with that club because I liked running when there were no rules or boundaries.”

The Cardinals started the season with an injury to their top starting pitcher, John Tudor, who suffered a broken kneecap in the dugout when Mets catcher Barry Lyons crashed into him while chasing a pop fly Boxscore, and ended the season without their top slugger, first baseman Jack Clark, who was limited to one postseason at-bat after tearing a tendon in his ankle in a game at Montreal Sept. 9. Boxscore

Two nights after the injury to Clark, the Cardinals were at Shea Stadium to open a three-game series against the second-place Mets, who had moved to within 1.5 games of St. Louis in the NL East standings.

In the ninth, the Mets led 4-1 and were within a strike of getting within a half-game of St. Louis, but Willie McGee delivered a two-out, two-strike RBI-single and Terry Pendleton followed with a two-run home run off Roger McDowell, tying the score. The Cardinals scored twice in the 10th to win, 6-4, stunning the Mets and building their lead to 2.5 games. Boxscore

After clinching the division title Oct. 1 with an 8-2 victory over the Expos at St. Louis, Herzog told the Associated Press, “We could’ve folded when we lost Jack, but we didn’t. The Mets talk about adversity, but we really had it.” Boxscore

In the best-of-seven NL Championship Series, the Giants won three of the first five (on the strength of four Jeffrey Leonard home runs) before the Cardinals won Game 6, 1-0, behind Tudor and two relievers Boxscore and Game 7, 6-0, on a Danny Cox masterpiece. Boxscore

The Cardinals won three of the first five in the World Series against the Twins and held leads in Game 6 (5-2 in the fifth inning) and in Game 7 (2-1 after four) before losing both at Minnesota.

“I look back on that as the biggest miracle year _ the 1987 team,” Herzog said to Cardinals Magazine. “No one even gave us a chance … That was the first year of the juiced-up baseball _ and I didn’t have much juice on that team.”

In honor of this resilient team, here are 10 top facts about the 1987 Cardinals:

1. Shortstop Ozzie Smith led the team in hitting, with a .303 batting average _ the only time he hit .300 or better in a season during his 19-year major-league career.

2. Clark had 57 fewer hits than McGee (120 to 177), but finished with one more RBI (106 to 105).

3. Clark drew 136 walks in 131 games. Mark McGwire (with 162 in 155 games in 1998) is the only Cardinal with more walks in a season.

4. Left fielder Vince Coleman was first in the NL in steals (109), second in runs (121) and second in singles (153).

5. With 35, Clark was the only Cardinal to hit more than 12 home runs.

6. Cardinals hitters were remarkably consistent. They batted .264 at home and .263 on the road.

7. Four Cardinals pitchers posted double-digit win totals, but none won more than 11: Cox (11-9), Greg Mathews (11-11), Bob Forsch (11-7) and Tudor (10-2).

8. Pendleton produced 96 RBI, the most in his seven years with the Cardinals and 22 more than his next-best total for St. Louis.

9. McGee had 37 doubles, 11 triples, 11 home runs and 105 RBI, but also grounded into a league-leading 24 double plays.

10. Catcher Tony Pena, who hit .214 in the regular season, hit .381 (8-for-21) in the NL Championship Series and .409 (9-for-22) in the World Series.

Previously: Sweep of Dodgers gives Cardinals a link to 1987

Read Full Post »

Cardinals were victims of historic homers by Gil Hodges

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on December 26, 2011| 3 Comments »

Gil Hodges hit two of the most important home runs of his career against the Cardinals.

Hodges, a first baseman, played 18 seasons in the big leagues with the Dodgers and Mets.

He was one of the greatest right-handed home run sluggers in the National League in the 1950s, and an outstanding defensive first baseman.

Hodges had more career RBI (190) against the Cardinals than he did against any other team. His 57 career home runs against the Cardinals rank only behind the 58 he hit against the Cubs.

In 1962, as a member of the expansion Mets, Hodges hit a pair of historic home runs against St. Louis.

On April 11, 1962, Hodges hit the first regular-season home run in Mets history. The solo shot leading off the fourth inning against Cardinals starter Larry Jackson was Hodges’ 362nd of his career and moved him ahead of Joe DiMaggio for 11th place on big-league baseball’s all-time list. The Cardinals won, 11-4, at St. Louis in the Mets’ first regular-season game. Boxscore

Almost three months later, July 6, 1962, Hodges hit the 370th and last home run of his big-league career. The solo blast off Ray Sadecki with one out in the second moved Hodges into 10th place on big-league baseball’s all-time list, ahead of Ralph Kiner, and solidified Hodges’ hold on the record (since broken) for most National League home runs by a right-handed batter. The Mets, who had lost nine of their previous 11, beat the Cardinals, 10-3, at New York. Boxscore

With the Dodgers, Hodges three times produced five RBI in a game against the Cardinals. The most important of those was the first.

On Sept. 22, 1949, the Cardinals clung to a 1.5-game lead over the second-place Dodgers heading into the finale of a three-game series with Brooklyn at St. Louis. Hodges delivered three singles, a walk and five RBI, carrying the Dodgers to a 19-6 victory and cutting the Cardinals’ lead to a half-game. Boxscore

Hodges had two-run singles off Ted Wilks in the fourth and fifth innings, and drew a bases-loaded walk against Ken Johnson in the sixth.

Brooklyn took over first place on Sept. 29 and went on to win the pennant, finishing a game ahead of the Cardinals, who had 96 wins.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial expressed his admiration for Hodges as a fielder as well as a slugger.

“Gil Hodges was a remarkable first baseman,” Musial said. “If Hodges had been left-handed, he might have been remembered as the most efficient first baseman ever … The quick-handed, good-natured big guy revolutionized bunt defense. Fact is, the Dodgers as a team popularized the pressure-charging defense that makes sacrificing difficult …

“For his blacksmith build, Gil was quick and had lightning-like hands … A gentle big guy who could really hit the long ball.”

Read Full Post »

Ozzie Smith cheered Barry Larkin’s best personal feat

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Records on December 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

(Updated Sept. 25, 2016)

Barry Larkin played shortstop with distinction for the Reds from 1986-2004, but for most of the first half of his career he was overshadowed by the Cardinals’ Ozzie Smith.

In a classy twist, Smith witnessed and cheered Larkin’s greatest individual feat on a baseball field.

Smith won the Gold Glove Award among National League shortstops in each of Larkin’s first seven seasons in the major leagues, including 1990, when Larkin helped lead Cincinnati to its most recent World Series championship.

Larkin didn’t win the first of his three Gold Glove awards until 1994, the year Smith turned 40. Smith, who won the Gold Glove Award 13 times, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2012, it was Larkin’s turn.

Larkin, 1995 winner of the NL MVP Award, had 2,340 hits and a .295 career batting average.

Larkin had several memorable performances against the Cardinals, including a pinch-hit grand slam off reliever Steve Kline in St. Louis’ 11-10 victory over the Reds on July 28, 2004, at Cincinnati. Boxscore

Larkin’s greatest moment against the Cardinals occurred in the first game of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader on Sept. 22, 1996, at Cincinnati.

In the fifth inning, with St. Louis ahead 3-1, Larkin launched a home run, his 30th of the season, over the left-field wall against starter Donovan Osborne. With that solo shot, Larkin became the first shortstop in major-league history to achieve 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season.

As he rounded first base, Larkin thrust both fists in the air in jubilation. Smith, positioned at shortstop for the Cardinals, hollered his congratulations as Larkin trotted past him.

Asked afterward to assess Larkin’s feat, Smith told the Associated Press, “It gives him his own spot in history. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Larkin became the 17th player in big-league history to achieve 30 homers and 30 steals in a season. Fifteen were outfielders and the other, Howard Johnson of the Mets, was a third baseman.

Larkin finished the 1996 season with 33 homers and 36 steals. He would achieve the steals standard again (with 30 in 1999, his fifth season of 30 or more steals), but he never came close to matching 30 homers.

Previously: Ken Boyer belongs in Hall of Fame

Read Full Post »

Bob Gibson often had edge in matchups with Ron Santo

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on December 6, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Ron Santo _ deserving of election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame but no more so than his Cardinals peer, Ken Boyer _ usually was on the short end of matchups with Bob Gibson, but he did hit three home runs against him.

Santo, elected to the Hall of Fame Dec. 5, 2011, by the 16-member Golden Era committee, played 15 years in the major leagues as a third baseman for the Cubs and White Sox.

Like the Cardinals’ Ken Boyer, Santo won the Gold Glove Award five times. Boyer (.287) had a higher career batting average than Santo (.277). Santo had more home runs (342) than Boyer (282) and more RBI (1,331) than Boyer (1,141) but also had 688 more at-bats than Boyer. (Boyer received fewer than three votes from the 16 members of the Golden Era committee; Santo received 15).

Santo struck out more times against the Cardinals (156) than he did against any other team. Overall against the Cardinals, Santo batted .269 with 33 home runs and 137 RBI.

Against Gibson, Santo hit .243 (37-for-152) with 35 strikeouts. Of his 37 hits against the Cardinals’ ace, 31 were singles, three were doubles and three were home runs. Santo’s first homer off Gibson was the most significant.

On June 4, 1964, the Cardinals were in third place, 3.5 games behind the National League-leading Phillies, when they faced the Cubs at Chicago. With St. Louis ahead 1-0, the Cubs had Billy Williams on second base with one out in the fourth when Santo came up against Gibson. Santo responded with a two-run home run and that was the difference in Chicago’s 2-1 victory. Boxscore

The setback launched the Cardinals into a four-game losing streak that dropped them into fifth place, a game ahead of the seventh-place Cubs. A week later, still scuffling and having fallen three games below .500, the Cardinals, seeking a spark, traded for Cubs outfielder Lou Brock. The deal was the catalyst in igniting St. Louis’ run to the World Series title that year.

Santo’s other two homers against Gibson came on Sept. 16, 1970 (a fifth-inning solo shot in a game the Cardinals won 8-1 at Chicago Boxscore), and June 26, 1971 (a two-out, three-run blast in the Cubs’ 5-1 victory at St. Louis Boxscore).

 

Read Full Post »

Forsch vs. Forsch: Bob had edge in brotherly matchup

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on November 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

From 1974 through 1980, the Cardinals’ Bob Forsch made 17 starts against Houston and the Astros’ Ken Forsch made eight starts against St. Louis, but the brothers never started in the same game against one another.

Bob Forsch and Ken Forsch did pitch in the same game four times _ in each, Bob was a starter and Ken was a reliever _ and it was Bob who usually got the upper hand.

Ken Forsch entered the majors with Houston in 1970. Bob Forsch, four years younger than Ken, made his big-league debut with the Cardinals on July 7, 1974. Two weeks later, Bob faced Ken in a major-league game for the first time.

In his book “Tales From The Cardinals Dugout,” Bob Forsch wrote he and his brother almost faced one another as starting pitchers in Game 1 of the 1982 World Series. Ken Forsch then was with the Angels, who played the Brewers in the best-of-five American League Championship Series. The Brewers won Game 5, earning the AL pennant, but if the Angels had won, “Kenny … was scheduled to pitch the opener in the World Series,” Bob Forsch wrote. “I was scheduled to start Game 1 for the Cardinals.”

Here are the four games in which Bob Forsch and Ken Forsch pitched:

Cardinals 9, Astros 1, July 21, 1974, at St. Louis

In his fourth big-league appearance, Bob Forsch earned his second win and pitched his second complete game.

Ken Forsch pitched the seventh and eighth innings and gave up three runs.

In the eighth, Bob Forsch batted against his brother for the first time in the big leagues. With Mike Tyson on third and one out, Bob Forsch hit a grounder to shortstop Roger Metzger, who threw to the plate to retire Tyson. The next batter, Jose Cruz, hit an inside-the-park home run off the center-field wall, scoring Bob Forsch from first. Boxscore

Describing his at-bat, Bob Forsch wrote, “I hit what I thought was a sizzling ground ball to the shortstop … I didn’t want to strike out. I was just so glad I hit the ball … and that my brother didn’t hit me first.”

The game was the finale of a four-game series. Before the first game, Bob Forsch was shagging balls in the outfield during batting practice when Ken Forsch walked onto the field, greeted his brother, congratulated him on reaching the major leagues and shook hands with him. Wrote Bob Forsch:

When batting practice was over, we left the field. Bob Gibson came over and told me, “That’ll cost you $25 (for fraternizing with an opponent). Don’t talk to anyone on the other team.”

This was my own flesh and blood. And Gibby obviously knew it. I mean, Kenny had his uniform on with “FORSCH” on the back. Nobody spoke up and defended me. Hey, I was a rookie. And who’s going to go against Bob Gibson?

Astros 8, Cardinals 7, June 15, 1975, at St. Louis

Bob Forsch was lifted for pinch-hitter Ron Fairly in the eighth inning, with the Cardinals ahead, 7-4. But the Astros loaded the bases against Al Hrabosky in the ninth. After Mike Garman relieved Hrabosky, Cliff Johnson greeted Garman with a grand slam, depriving Forsch and St. Louis of a win.

Ken Forsch relieved Astros starter Doug Konieczny in the fifth and pitched three scoreless innings.

In the top of the sixth, Ken Forsch batted against his brother for the only time in their big-league careers. He struck out, ending the inning. In the bottom half, Bob Forsch faced his brother and grounded into an inning-ending forceout. Boxscore

Cardinals 8, Astros 4, May 18, 1977, at Houston

Bob Forsch started and was lifted for pinch-hitter Don Kessinger after five innings, with the score 3-3. Ken Forsch relieved in the eighth, entering with St. Louis ahead, 5-4, and gave up three unearned runs on five hits in his one inning of work. He did strike out the side, including Lou Brock and Ted Simmons. Boxscore

Cardinals 3, Astros 1, Aug. 6, 1977, at Houston

In the first game of a Saturday night doubleheader, Bob Forsch pitched eight innings and got his 14th win of the season. Butch Metzger earned the save with a perfect ninth.

Ken Forsch entered in the ninth for Astros starter Mark Lemongello and retired the Cardinals in order. Boxscore

On April 1, 1981, Ken Forsch was traded by the Astros to the Angels for infielder Dickie Thon. Ken Forsch finished his big-league playing career with the Angels in 1986.

In a fitting twist, the only big-league team Bob Forsch played for besides the Cardinals was the Astros. On Aug. 31, 1988, Bob Forsch was dealt to Houston for utilityman Denny Walling. Bob Forsch closed out his big-league career with Houston in 1989. His overall record with the Astros was 5-9 with a 5.56 ERA.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Cardinals broke Astrodome hex with 19 RBI in one game

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on November 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

The Astrodome opened in Houston in 1965 and was billed “the eighth wonder of the world.” To the Cardinals, there was nothing wonderful about it.

The Cardinals lost the first five games they played at the Astrodome, scoring a total of eight runs. They were swept by the Astros in a three-game series in May, losing by scores of 6-1, 3-2 and 4-3, and were swept again, in a two-game series, in July, losing by scores of 2-0 and 3-2.

When the Cardinals returned to Houston Sept. 30 to close the 1965 regular season with a four-game series against the Astros, they were in seventh place in the National League at 77-80 and the Astros were ninth at 64-94.

Based on how the Cardinals produced in their first two trips to the Astrodome _ and with regulars such as third baseman Ken Boyer, first baseman Bill White and shortstop Dick Groat out of the lineup as manager Red Schoendienst took a look at younger players _ there was no way to anticipate the breakout performance St. Louis was about to unleash.

The Cardinals produced 19 RBI in defeating Houston, 19-8, before a Sept. 30 Thursday night gathering of 7,494.

The 19 RBI are the third-highest total in Cardinals history. Others that surpassed or matched it:

_ 25 RBI for St. Louis in the Cardinals’ 28-6 victory over the Phillies on July 6, 1929. Boxscore

_ 20 RBI for St. Louis in the Cardinals’ 21-5 victory over the Giants on Aug. 2, 1948. Boxscore

_ 19 RBI for St. Louis in the Cardinals’ 20-2 victory over the Dodgers on July 24, 1937. Boxscore

Against Houston, the Cardinals started a lineup that included right fielder Mike Shannon batting cleanup, rookie George Kernek (.143 batting average) playing first base, and Jerry Buchek (.227) at shortstop, Phil Gagliano (.241) at third base and Dal Maxvill (.135) at second base.

All nine Cardinals starters produced at least one RBI in the game. Starting pitcher Nelson Briles had two. His two-run single highlighted a six-run first that chased Astros starter Jim Ray.

The Cardinals scored in every inning except the second and the third. Buchek, batting seventh, had a game-high five RBI. He had a two-run home run against Dave Giusti in the fifth, a RBI-groundout in the seventh and a two-run double in the ninth.

Gagliano and Maxvill each had three RBI. Left fielder Lou Brock and center fielder Curt Flood had four hits apiece. Brock singled twice in the first.

The Cardinals led 16-2 in the seventh. When the game finished in a relatively snappy 2:49, the Cardinals had 19 runs on 19 hits and seven walks. Boxscore

Part Three: Forsch vs. Forsch: Bob had edge in brotherly matchup

Part One: Cardinals first visit to Houston

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »