RetroSimba

Yogi Berra wasn’t kidding when he said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

Berra’s playing days certainly appeared to be over in October 1963 when he became manager of the Yankees. “I’ll have enough trouble managing,” he said to the Associated Press in explaining why he was done playing.

More than a year later, though, the St. Louisan was behind the plate, catching for the 1965 Mets in a spring training game against the Cardinals.

Five months earlier, as Yankees manager, Berra’s club lost to the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series. Afterward, Berra was fired and replaced by the Cardinals’ manager, Johnny Keane. The Mets hired Berra to be a player-coach on the staff of the manager he played for the most as a Yankee, Casey Stengel.

Never say never

Berra appeared in a World Series in 14 of 18 seasons as a Yankees player. A three-time recipient of the American League Most Valuable Player Award, he totaled 2,148 hits and 1,430 RBI with the Yankees.

After the 1963 World Series, Yankees manager Ralph Houk was moved to the front office and Berra replaced him, getting a one-year contract for $35,000, a $5,000 cut from his salary as a player. Asked to describe his feelings about the job, Berra told the New York Daily News, “I just hope I can stay in the same shoes as Houk did.” Asked what he’d learned from those who managed him, Berra said, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

Though the 1964 Yankees won the American League pennant with the best record (99-63) in the majors and reached Game 7 of the World Series, Berra was fired. As the Daily News noted, “It is generally believed the Yankees brass felt Berra had lost disciplinary control of the ballplayers.”

The Yankees offered him a contract to remain as a consultant. Berra accepted, but got them to include an escape clause. A month later, in November 1964, he jumped to the Mets. In addition to coaching, Berra would be added to the playing roster as a catcher and pinch-hitter if he performed well enough at spring training.

Old-timers’ days

On the first day of spring training for the 1965 Mets at St. Petersburg, Fla., observers had flashbacks to another era. Berra took cuts in the batting cage. Pitcher-coach Warren Spahn, the former Braves ace, instructed prospects on the mound. Four-time 1936 Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens, listed as Mets track coach, led players in conditioning exercises. Former Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky, director of player development, was in uniform, directing infield drills.

As Joseph Durso of the New York Times noted, “The Mets opened their spring training circus while manager Casey Stengel (approaching 75) stood like a ringmaster behind home plate bellowing, ‘Yes, sir, come see the amazing Mets.’ ”

Berra was the main attraction, drawing cheers from onlookers when he put on a catcher’s mitt to warm up a teenage pitcher and then again at batting practice.

A couple of weeks later, on March 14, Stengel selected Spahn (nearly 44) and Berra (nearly 40) to start in a Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Larry Merchant described the pitcher-catcher combination as “the oldest, ugliest battery in captivity.”

When the Cardinals took batting practice, their vice president, Stan Musial, 44, came out in uniform and joined in. Musial, who retired from playing two years earlier, “slammed out a dozen drives,” Cy Kritzer of the Buffalo News reported.

Some of the Mets, including Berra and Spahn, gathered to watch him. After sending a pitch to the bleachers in right, Musial said to them, “You fellows inspire me. If you ancients can make a comeback, maybe I’ll try it, too. I’m only nine months older than you, Spahnie.”

Spahn replied, “Don’t do it, please. This league is rough enough without you to worry about.”

According to the Buffalo News, Stengel chimed in. “You’re a vice president, ain’t you?” he said to Musial. “You can do what you want to do. If you’re aiming for a comeback, we can use you. I’d have some fun in those late innings, sending you and Yogi to pinch-hit.”

Musial replied, “Yogi will hit. Hitting is like swimming. If you learn early enough, you’ll hit long after you’ve lost the rest of your skills.”

When the game began, the sight of Spahn on the mound and Berra behind the plate “was enthusiastically greeted by the Geritol set” that made up most of the crowd of 2,989 at Al Lang Field, the Daily News reported.

Spahn’s first pitch, a fastball that cut across the plate for a strike to Lou Brock, sent “a murmur of approval” through the stands, columnist Red Smith noted.

Brock then beat out a high bouncer over the mound for an infield single and Curt Flood walked on a 3-and-2 pitch. After getting two strikes on the next batter, Bill White, Spahn spun a roundhouse curve from a sidearm delivery, fooling White, who swung and missed for strike three, then stood there and laughed. “The pitch fooled me, too,” Berra told Red Smith. “I didn’t expect it to act like that.”

Spahn worked three innings and allowed three runs. Berra was hitless. He flied out against Bob Gibson and whiffed versus rookie Nelson Briles. “He struck me out with a heck of a quick-dipping sinker,” Berra told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The kid has a real arm.”

Asked by the New York Times what was the hardest thing to do in catching a game for the first time since September 1963, Berra replied, “Bend down.”

Like old times

On April 27, two weeks after the Mets began the 1965 season, Berra was activated to the playing roster while maintaining his coaching duties. In his first week, he made one pinch-hit appearance. Then came one last moment of glory.

A couple of hours before the Mets played the Phillies on May 4 at Shea Stadium, Berra was talking with Newsday’s Joe Donnelly. “Give me a cigarette,” Berra said to the reporter. After inhaling deeply, Berra continued, “Maybe I’ll play tonight.” When Donnelly chuckled, Berra barked, “Why not? Let’s find out.”

Moments later, Berra met with Stengel and asked to catch. Stengel put him in the No. 6 spot in the batting order.

When Berra saw Phillies ace Jim Bunning before the game, he needled him: “I wish you were pitching. If I couldn’t get a hit off you, I’d know I was through.”

The Phillies’ starter instead was Ray Herbert, a pitcher Berra faced often during the 1950s when both were in the American League.

Berra’s first test came on defense in the first inning and he did well, making a tough putout at the plate. With Johnny Callison on third, Alex Johnson hit a chopper that was fielded by pitcher Al Jackson. As Callison charged home, Jackson threw to Berra, “who had the plate guarded beautifully,” Red Foley of the Daily News reported. “Callison stopped short, ducked, then tried to veer around Yogi,” but Berra ‘”was spry enough to pin him with the ball.”

Berra got a standing ovation when he batted with Ed Kranepool on second and Joe Christopher on first, two outs, in the first. Herbert threw a pitch around Berra’s eyes and he lined it to center for a single, his first National League hit.

It also should have been his first National League RBI, but this being the Mets, the hit didn’t deliver a run. Center fielder Cookie Rojas threw to third, where Christopher was tagged out before the slow-moving Kranepool reached the plate.

As the game unfolded, Al Jackson got into a good groove with Berra catching him. The Phillies couldn’t score.

With the Mets ahead, 1-0, in the seventh, reliever Gary Wagner gave up a leadoff single to Berra. “I was going to take him out for a pinch-runner,” Stengel told the Philadelphia Daily News. “I only wanted to catch him five innings.”

Jackson interceded, saying to Stengel, “Leave him in there.”

Berra took second on Ron Swoboda’s single, then scored on Roy McMillan’s single to center. When Swoboda reached second, he applauded while watching Berra cross the plate. “I get such a kick out of it because I think a lot of people decided he was no longer capable of this,” Swoboda told Newsday.

Berra’s run turned out to be the difference in a 2-1 Mets triumph. Jackson pitched a complete game and struck out 11. In the book “Baseball’s Greatest Players,” Jackson said, “Yogi was … a huge asset to me … You looked in for the sign like he had some magic. He did.” Boxscore

Stepping aside

When he tried to catch five days later against the Braves, it was a different story. Berra went hitless, striking out three times, and made an error, dropping a pop fly. “Essentially, his reflexes weren’t up to the major league standards,” the New York Times declared.

Berra knew that this time his playing days really were over, and he called it quits. “It’s hard for me to see the ball,” he confessed to the New York Daily News.

As he told Joe Donnelly, “I always felt when a guy couldn’t hit a fastball, he might as well hang up the bat.”

Berra remained with the Mets as coach until 1972, when he took over as manager after the death of Gil Hodges and led them to a pennant a year later.

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Game 4 of the 2004 World Series was remarkable for more than the obvious reason. It was the game the Red Sox won to become World Series champions for the first time in 86 years. The magnitude of that achievement overshadowed another facet of that game: a drama that underscored the fortitude of the Cardinals’ rookie catcher, Yadier Molina.

Ever since his unplanned ascension from the minors to the Cardinals in June 2004, Molina faced a myriad of challenges, ranging from runners crashing into him at the plate to pitchers trying to embarrass him when he batted.

In his first World Series start, Molina encountered a different kind of test. Two of baseball’s prominent players, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, conspired to steal signs he was flashing to the pitcher.

Molina didn’t back down. Instead, the rookie intimidated the intimidators.

Climbing the ladder

After entering the Cardinals’ farm system in 2001, Molina made a steady rise. The 2004 season was his fourth year in the minors and his first at Class AAA Memphis.

Asked during 2004 spring training about Molina making the move to Class AAA, Cardinals director of player development Bruce Manno said to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, “Defensively, there’s no doubt in my mind (Molina) can play there. Offensively … we’ll see how he responds.”

Manno told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “We would like to see him play the full season (with Memphis).”

Memphis manager Danny Sheaffer, a former big-league catcher who played three seasons (1995-97) with St. Louis, managed Molina at Class A Peoria in 2002. That year, Molina threw out 52 percent of runners attempting to steal and hit .280.

Sheaffer assured the Memphis newspaper that Molina was a good  hitter _ “He uses the whole field” _  and had superb catching skills. “There’s not a whole lot he needs to improve on to catch in the big leagues right now … He’s real special,” Sheaffer told the Commercial Appeal in May 2004. “He’s head and shoulders above where I was at his age … He’s got a chance to be a good one.”

Call for help

The adjustment to Class AAA was no problem for Molina. In 37 games with Memphis, he hit .302 and nailed 17 of 28 runners trying to steal.

“He’s our top catching prospect,” Bruce Manno told the Memphis newspaper. “We feel that at some point he’s going to make a major contribution to our club at the major league level.”

That time came sooner than the Cardinals and Molina expected. On June 2, 2004, Sheaffer woke Molina during the night to inform him he was going to the Cardinals. Starting catcher Mike Matheny strained a muscle under his right rib cage, necessitating a stint on the disabled list. Molina was called up to join backup Cody McKay (son of Cardinals coach Dave McKay) as the St. Louis catchers.

Molina phoned his brothers, Angels catchers Bengie and Jose, to inform them of his promotion. Never before had three brothers been in the big leagues at the same time as catchers, according to research done by the Post-Dispatch and Joe Hoppel of The Sporting News.

Join the club

Manager Tony La Russa put Molina in the starting lineup for his big-league debut on June 3, 2004, at Pittsburgh. Before the game, Molina told the Post-Dispatch, “I’m ready. This is the best day of my life.”

Molina, 21, was in synch with starting pitcher Woody Williams, 37, who worked six scoreless innings. In the second inning, when Abraham Nunez tried to score from second base on a two-out single to right, Molina made a diving tag to prevent the run. In the eighth, he threw out Jack Wilson attempting to steal second, a key play in helping to short-circuit a Pirates comeback bid.

At the plate, Molina stroked two hits _ a single in the fifth and a double in the seventh _ against starter Oliver Perez. After the double, Molina advanced to third on So Taguchi’s sacrifice bunt and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Woody Williams. Video

(The focus of the game changed in the ninth when La Russa and Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon were ejected after getting into a shouting match.)

After the Cardinals won, 4-2, Molina was praised for his successful debut. “He’s got so much composure,” La Russa told the Post-Dispatch. “He plays like he’s got 10 years of experience.” Pitching coach Dave Duncan said to the reporter Rick Hummel, “He’s not intimidated by the major leaguers. He should do all right.” Boxscore

Good job

On June 23, 2004, a few days after Matheny came off the disabled list, the Cardinals sent Cody McKay to Memphis and kept Molina. Two days later, against the Royals, Molina collected three hits, including two against 20-year-old rookie starter Zack Greinke. Boxscore

Matheny remained the No. 1 catcher but La Russa mixed in starts for Molina, making sure he didn’t rust on the bench. As the summer unfolded, it became evident Molina belonged in the majors. In addition to his brothers, Molina was the latest in a long line of big-league catchers from Puerto Rico. Others in the game then included Sandy Alomar Jr., Javy Lopez, Jorge Posada, Ivan Rodriguez and Benito Santiago.

In explaining why so many accomplished catchers were Puerto Ricans, Molina told the Post-Dispatch, “To me the difference between the Americans and us is we want the hard job.”

On Aug. 7, with the score tied at 1-1 in the ninth inning at St. Louis, the Mets issued an intentional walk to Larry Walker, loading the bases with two outs and bringing Molina to the plate. “If we were going to lose the game, we were going to make the rookie do it,” Mets manager Art Howe told the Post-Dispatch.

Mike Stanton threw a tough pitch, a fastball down and away, but Molina poked a single over the shortstop, giving St. Louis a 2-1 walkoff win. “You don’t have to be afraid in this game,” Molina said to Dirk Chatelain of the Post-Dispatch. “You just have to play the game hard. Respect the game … I’m a rookie but I know what it’s about.” Boxscore

Three weeks later, Molina earned more admiration from his teammates with a play he made at Pittsburgh. In the second inning, Ty Wigginton, trying to score from second on Jose Castillo’s single to right, steamed toward the plate. As Molina gloved Larry Walker’s one-hop throw, the 200-pound baserunner arrived. Wigginton crashed into Molina, bowling him over, but the rookie held onto the ball for the out.

“To take a hit like that and shake it off is just impressive,” Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris said to the Associated Press. “That shows you how much heart he has.”

Wigginton told the news service, “I thought I was going to score, and the next thing I know Molina is right in front of me … If he drops the ball, it might be a different ballgame.”

Two innings later, Molina tagged out Jose Castillo on Jim Edmonds’ throw from center. The Cardinals won, 6-4. Boxscore

In September, Molina hit his first big-league home run. The solo shot against the Brewers’ Matt Wise snapped a 2-2 tie in the eighth and carried the Cardinals to their 100th win of the season. Boxscore

In 59 games for the 2004 Cardinals, including 39 as a starter, Molina hit .267, made just two errors in 344 innings, and caught eight of 17 runners (47 percent) attempting to steal.

Taking a stand

After Matheny started the first three games (all won by the Red Sox) of the 2004 World Series, La Russa wanted him rested in case the Cardinals extended it beyond Game 4. So he gave Molina the Game 4 start. The Cardinals’ starting pitcher, Jason Marquis, worked well with Molina during the season. In 90.2 innings with Molina as his catcher, Marquis had a 3.38 ERA, which was better than his overall season total of 3.71.

In his first two plate appearances of the game, Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox walked and singled. While Ramirez was on base, Molina suspected Ramirez was relaying to cleanup batter David Ortiz the signs Molina was sending to Marquis.

(Years later, Reds first baseman Joey Votto, in discussing Molina with Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch, said, “It’s like he can sniff out, he can sense, where any hitter is looking, or what they’re attempting. It’s something that I don’t think you can measure. That seems like an intangible, but he has it.”)

In the dugout, Molina asked Matheny for advice on what to do about Ramirez’s sign stealing. According to the Post-Dispatch, Matheny replied, “When he comes up, make sure he knows you’re on to it.”

As Ramirez came to bat in the fourth, Molina stood up, stepped forward, got nose to nose with Ramirez and scolded him in Spanish.

“I was sitting over there saying, ‘That’s probably not what I would have done … but that will work,’ ” Matheny recalled to Stan McNeal of Cardinals Yearbook.

As Molina and Ramirez argued, Red Sox manager Terry Francona rushed over to umpire Chuck Meriwether. In pleading Ramirez’s case, Francona said he told Meriwether, “Chuck, Manny doesn’t even know our signs.”

The Cardinals lost the game, but the sight of their rookie catcher confronting Ramirez and refusing to back down made a powerful impression on them.

As La Russa told Cardinals Yearbook, “Yadi got in his face and started jawing at him. He told them to stop that stuff now, or somebody was going to get hurt because he would cross them up … I told him I was glad he did that, that he could not allow that stuff to happen. For a young catcher to do that in the World Series says all you need to know about his competitiveness.” Boxscore and Video at 1:15:46.

After the World Series, Matheny became a free agent and signed with the Giants. The Cardinals’ catching job belonged to Molina.

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A short stint with the Cardinals was the end of the line in the playing career of Gary Sutherland. Afterward, he dropped them a line in gratitude.

A utilityman whose best position was second base, Sutherland played 13 seasons in the majors with the Phillies (1966-68), Expos (1969-71), Astros (1972-73), Tigers (1974-76) and Padres (1977) before finishing with the 1978 Cardinals.

He appeared in 10 games for the Cardinals, a team on its way to 93 losses. Cut from the roster in May, Sutherland, 33, sent the team a letter. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it read:

“Dear Cards:

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to say goodbye to all of you and that I wasn’t able to contribute much to the ballclub other than keeping the smokers stocked in cigarettes, and having an unblemished record as a prosecuting attorney (in clubhouse mock court hearings).

“My career has been a very good one for me and I have no regrets whatsoever other than having to leave so many friends. Everyone’s playing days must end some day and it seems my time has come …

“I want to wish everyone the best of luck. There’s still a long way to go and I know you’re capable of making it to the top this year. How can you miss? If I can’t make the team, as great as I am, you’ve got to be the best.”

Sutherland went on to become a scout for the Dodgers and Angels, then moved into the Angels’ front office. He was 80 when he died on Dec. 16, 2024.

Baseball bloodlines

Gary Sutherland was raised in Glendale, Calif., by a father (Ralph) who pitched in the Cardinals’ system and was 15-3 for Newport, Ark., in 1936, and a mother who was a catcher for a semipro softball team in Culver City, Calif. Dad pitched batting practice to Gary and his brothers and mom caught their throws in the backyard. Gary’s older brother, Darrell, pitched in the majors for the Mets and Indians.

A second baseman at University of Southern California, Gary Sutherland was chosen for the U.S. team that went to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Baseball then was a demonstration sport, not in medal competition.

The Phillies signed Sutherland, 20, in November 1964. Minor-league teammates dubbed him Casper, as in the cartoon ghost, because of his pale complexion. (Sutherland later was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar.)

After reaching the majors in September 1966, Sutherland stuck with the Phillies as a utility player the next two seasons. He appeared at second base, shortstop, third base, left field, right field, and went to the Florida Instructional League to learn catching in case he was needed in an emergency.

A right-handed contact hitter _ “The name of his game is ping, not power,” Bill Conlin noted in the Philadelphia Daily News _ Sutherland stung the Cardinals a couple of times in 1968.

With the Cardinals ahead, 3-2, at Philadelphia, the Phillies had two on, two outs, in the ninth when Sutherland batted against rookie reliever Hal Gilson. Left fielder Lou Brock shifted toward left-center because, as manager Red Schoendienst told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sutherland “never pulls the ball.”

Gilson threw a slider down and in _ “Always a tough pitch for me to handle,” Sutherland told the Daily News. To nearly everyone’s surprise, he drove it toward the corner in deep left. Brock made a long run and leaped. The ball barely went over his glove for a double. Both runners scored, giving the Phillies a 4-3 walkoff win. “He probably won’t pull the ball to the left field corner the rest of the year,” Schoendienst moaned to the Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Four months later at St. Louis, Ray Washburn started for the Cardinals in his first appearance since pitching a no-hitter. With the score tied at 1-1 in the ninth, the Phillies had a runner on third, two outs, when Washburn intentionally walked former teammate Bill White to pitch to Sutherland. Swinging at a slow curve, Sutherland lashed a double to center, driving in the winning run. Boxscore

Original Expo

The Expos selected Sutherland in the October 1968 National League expansion draft. Gene Mauch, Sutherland’s first big-league manager, was with Montreal. Expos scout Eddie Lopat, who watched Sutherland hit .339 for the Phillies in September 1968, told the Montreal Star, “He’s the best utilityman I saw in the National League.”

Sutherland became the Expos’ starting second baseman. Mauch stuck with him even after Sutherland went hitless in his first 22 at-bats.

On June 8, 1969, Sutherland helped the Expos end a 20-game losing streak. Ahead 2-0 on a Rusty Staub home run, the Expos had runners on the corners, one out, in the fourth against the Dodgers’ Bill Singer when Sutherland perfectly executed a suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Mack Jones from third. The Expos won, 4-3. Boxscore

Sutherland finished the 1969 season with 130 hits (third-most on the club) and 26 doubles. Platooned with Marv Staehle in 1970, Sutherland slumped to .206, then reverted to a reserve role in 1971 after the Expos acquired Ron Hunt.

Traded to the Astros in 1972, Sutherland spent most of that season and the next in the minors.

Tiger tale

Getting demoted “was quite a shock,” Sutherland said to the Detroit Free Press, but a silver lining was he got to play regularly and that helped improve his hitting. He batted .299 for Oklahoma City in 1972 and .294 for Denver in 1973.

The Tigers acquired Sutherland to be their second baseman in 1974. “I’m not going to be outstanding in anything because I’m limited in so many ways,” Sutherland cautioned the Free Press. “I don’t have enough power to hit a lot of home runs and I don’t run well enough to be a .300 hitter.”

He did enough to stay in the lineup. Adept at turning the double play “about as well as any second baseman in the business,” according to the Montreal Star, Sutherland also contributed at the plate for the Tigers. In 1974, he had career highs in hits (157), RBI (49) and total bases (194). With the 1975 Tigers, Sutherland combined 130 hits with a career-best 45 walks.

Though he ended up with just 24 home runs in the majors, Sutherland had some surprising swats. He slugged homers in consecutive seasons versus the Cardinals’ Steve Carlton at Montreal. Boxscore and Boxscore

With the Tigers, facing Catfish Hunter for the first time, Sutherland hit two homers in a game at Oakland. A disgusted Hunter told the San Francisco Examiner, “Both pitches in the same spot, fastball up, slider up, both landed in the same spot.” Sutherland, a good sport, said to the newspaper, “I’m sure the wind helped them out.” Boxscore

The Tigers dealt Sutherland to the Brewers in June 1976. Released after the season, he joined the 1977 Padres and hit .316 for them as a pinch-hitter.

Good connections

Hoping to keep playing after getting released by the Padres in December 1977, Sutherland called Buzzie Bavasi of the Angels and asked for a roster spot. Bavasi said he didn’t have an opening. Soon after, in a talk with St. Louis general manager Bing Devine, Bavasi learned the Cardinals were seeking a backup infielder. Bavasi suggested Sutherland.

The Cardinals signed Sutherland to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training as a non-roster player. Sutherland beat out Ken Oberkfell for one of the two reserve infield spots. The other went to Mike Phillips.

The 1978 Cardinals, though, were a mess. Manager Vern Rapp was fired in April, Ken Boyer replaced him and Sutherland no longer fit the plans. In eight plate appearances for the Cardinals, he produced one hit and two sacrifice bunts.

Just before getting released, Sutherland made an important contribution to the Cardinals. Bing Devine was considering a trade for Padres outfielder George Hendrick. Devine asked Sutherland for an opinion of his former Padres teammate. As Devine recalled to the Post-Dispatch, Sutherland “told me he never knew of a player who had a better relationship with his teammates than Hendrick did with the Padres.”

Devine made the deal and Hendrick helped the Cardinals become World Series champions in 1982.

The ability to assess talent helped Sutherland become a Dodgers scout and coordinator of their professional scouting department. Then the Angels hired him for the same roles.

Sutherland “was a significant influence” in the Angels’ decision to hire manager Mike Scioscia, the Los Angeles Times reported. Scioscia led the Angels to their only World Series title in 2002.

Sutherland became special assistant to Angels general manager Bill Stoneman. Sutherland and Stoneman had been Expos teammates. According to the Times, Sutherland rose to No. 2 on the Angels’ baseball operations staff.

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