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St. Louis was a special place for Juan Pizarro. He got his first and 100th wins in the majors there against the Cardinals.

A left-hander, Pizarro pitched 18 seasons in the big leagues. He was 20 when he got his first win in the majors for the Braves in a start versus the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. He also got his first big-league hit, a home run, in that game.

The Cardinals thought so highly of Pizarro that they tried to trade for him that season.

Ten years later, Pizarro, 30, got his 100th win in the big leagues for the Pirates in a start versus the Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium.

Prime prospect

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Pizarro was signed by Braves scout Luis Olmo, the former outfielder.

In 1956, his first season in the minors, Pizarro, 19, was 23-6 with a 1.77 ERA for Jacksonville, a Class A club in the South Atlantic League. With future Cardinals pitching coach Mike Roarke doing most of the catching, Pizarro struck out 318 batters in 274 innings.

Rollie Hemsley, a former catcher who managed Charlotte in the South Atlantic League, told Sports Illustrated that Pizarro is “the nearest thing to Bob Feller I’ve ever seen.”

Bill Terry, the Hall of Fame first baseman who was president of the South Atlantic League, said, “He could be just as great as Warren Spahn.”

Big leap

While playing winter baseball in Puerto Rico, Pizarro said teammate Ruben Gomez, a Giants pitcher, taught him to throw the screwball. Pizarro added the pitch to an arsenal that included a fastball and curve. He reported to spring training with the Braves in 1957, trying to make the leap from Class A ball to the majors.

The Miami News declared Pizarro the most exciting rookie in spring training: “His every pitch is being watched with high expectancy.”

Pizarro posted a 3.31 ERA in five spring training games and made the Braves’ Opening Day roster. “He has proved to me he can pitch major-league ball,” Braves manager Fred Haney told The Sporting News.

After Pizarro’s final exhibition game, Haney said, “He’ll be another Warren Spahn some day.”

First win

The Braves opened the 1957 season on April 16, but Pizarro sat for three weeks before making his big-league debut in a start against the Pirates at Pittsburgh on May 4. He limited the Pirates to a run in seven innings, but Pittsburgh won, 1-0, on Vern Law’s two-hit shutout. Boxscore

Six days later, on May 10, Pizarro made his second big-league appearance with a start versus the Cardinals at St. Louis.

The start of the Friday night game was delayed 31 minutes because of rain and neither team took batting practice.

In the second inning, with the Braves ahead, 3-0, Pizarro swung at the first pitch he saw from Cardinals starter Sam Jones and hit the ball onto the roof of the pavilion behind right field for a home run.

Ken Boyer tagged Pizarro for a solo home run in the second. With the Braves up, 6-1, in the fourth, the Cardinals’ Wally Moon walloped a three-run home run in the fourth. The Moon shot carried out of the ballpark and across Grand Avenue before crashing into a window pane.

“He had to rely on his fastball and he had a tendency to relax when we had a pretty good lead, especially in the fourth,” Braves catcher Del Crandall told the Associated Press. “After that, he became more determined and began firing again.”

Though Pizarro wobbled, he never lost the lead and he continued to contribute with his bat. After Pizarro led off the sixth with a single, Eddie Mathews won a matchup of future Hall of Famers when he hit a two-run home run against reliever Hoyt Wilhelm. The ball cleared the roof and landed on Grand Avenue.

In the ninth, the Cardinals, trailing 10-5, loaded the bases with two outs, but Pizarro struck out Del Ennis and sealed his first win.

Pizarro gave up nine hits and issued four walks, but the Cardinals stranded eight.

Unimpressed, Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson told the Associated Press, “He’d better be better than that. If that’s all he can do, then I’ve got news for him. He won’t stay up here … He was only throwing, not pitching.”

Cardinals backup catcher Walker Cooper, who at 42 was 22 years older than Pizarro, batted against him in the ninth as a pinch-hitter and singled. “I could hit that guy with baling wire at midnight with the lights out,” Cooper boasted.

Among the Cardinals held hitless by Pizarro were Al Dark and Stan Musial. Pizarro ended Dark’s 15-game hit streak. Musial, who entered the game with a batting mark of .403 for the season, was 0-for-4 with a walk.

Pizarro was “awfully quick,” Musial said. “There’s no reason why he shouldn’t be a winner up here.” Boxscore

No deal

Later that month, the Braves and Cardinals had trade talks focused on outfielder Del Ennis. The Associated Press reported the Braves offered three players for Ennis. They gave the Cardinals their choice of a starting pitcher, either Ray Crone or Gene Conley, plus reliever Dave Jolly and outfielder Chuck Tanner.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals asked for Crone and outfielder Wes Covington, and the Braves countered with Conley and Tanner.

“Before I let a guy like Ennis go, I’d want a lot of pitcher in return,” Cardinals general manager Frank Lane told the Associated Press.

Lane said he was interested in Pizarro and another pitcher, Bob Trowbridge. The Braves wouldn’t give up Pizarro, and the talks ended.

On July 3, the Braves sent Pizarro to the minors to get more work. He went 4-0 and was back with the Braves on July 26.

Pizzaro lost twice to the Cardinals in 1957. The second of those defeats occurred on Aug. 18 when Musial beat him with a two-run home run in the 10th inning at Milwaukee. Pizarro never lost to the Cardinals again. Boxscore

Better with age

In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson, who played winter ball with Pizarro in Puerto Rico, called him “an immensely talented” teammate.

On April 30, 1967, Pizarro, in his first season with the Pirates, started for them against the Cardinals and pitched a four-hit shutout at St. Louis for his 100th win in the majors.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst, who was Pizarro’s teammate with the Braves from 1957-60, told the Associated Press, “He used to be much faster but very wild then. He has much better control now. The big difference was in the old days if you stayed close to him you could beat him. Now he can protect a one- or two-run lead.” Boxscore

Pizarro was 3-0 with two saves and a 1.07 ERA versus the 1967 Cardinals, who won the National League pennant and became World Series champions. He earned saves in both games of a doubleheader against them on Labor Day, Sept. 4.

In 1971, Pizarro, 34, had one more gem versus the Cardinals. He pitched a six-hit shutout for the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Boxscore

“He makes pitching an art,” Cubs manager Leo Durocher said.

Pizarro finished with a career mark against the Cardinals of 7-2. Overall, he was 131-105.

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Grant Jackson made his mark in the majors as a reliever, but his work as a starter, including gems against the Cardinals, made him an all-star.

A left-hander, Jackson pitched 18 seasons in the majors.

For his career, Jackson was 62-33 as a reliever and had 79 saves. In Game 7 of the 1979 World Series, he pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief versus the Orioles and was the winning pitcher for the champion Pirates. Boxscore

When he first got to the majors with the Phillies, Jackson wanted to be a starter. In 1969, while in the Phillies’ rotation, he beat the Cardinals twice, impressing their manager, Red Schoendienst. When it came time to pick pitchers for the National League all-star team, its manager, Schoendienst, chose Jackson as one of the nine.

Getting initiated

Jackson was about to turn 23 when he got to the big leagues with the Phillies in September 1965. It was a rough introduction.

In his debut, a relief stint against the Reds, Jackson gave up a three-run home run to Frank Robinson. Boxscore

In his next appearance, a relief stint against the Cardinals, Jackson gave up a three-run home run to Lou Brock. Boxscore

Two appearances, two home runs allowed, both to future Hall of Famers. Welcome to the big leagues, Mr. Jackson.

Speed it up

After spending most of the 1966 season in the minors, Jackson stuck with the Phillies and pitched effectively in relief. In 1968, Jackson had a 1.97 ERA in 27 relief appearances.

The Phillies left him unprotected in the expansion draft for 1969, but he wasn’t selected. “Jackson was disappointed by that,” The Sporting News reported. “He made no secret of his desire to get away from the Phillies. He wanted a chance to pitch regularly as a starter.”

Jackson got his chance to start in 1969 as a replacement for Chris Short, who developed back trouble. Jackson found his stride when he picked up his pace between pitches. “Before, he was too deliberate,” pitching coach Al Widmar told The Sporting News. “He was trying to make every pitch a masterpiece.”

In command

On April 25, 1969, Jackson was matched against Bob Gibson in a start against the Cardinals at Philadelphia. Jackson pitched a complete game, held the Cardinals to one unearned run and got the win. The game was completed in one hour, 48 minutes. Boxscore

Jackson limited the two-time defending league champions to seven singles and a walk. Dal Maxvill, who went hitless, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I don’t think he should beat us quite that easily.”

Ahead 1-0, the Phillies broke open the game with four runs in the sixth against Gibson. Jackson started the uprising with a bunt single.

After he took the first pitch from Gibson, Jackson looked to third-base coach George Myatt and “he gave me the sign for a drag bunt,” Jackson told the Philadelphia Daily News.

Jackson, the Phillies’ fastest runner, bunted the ball to the right side and legged out a single “despite Gibson’s catlike pickup and throw,” the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Stunned but impressed, Phillies manager Bob Skinner remarked, “He says Myatt gave him the sign? We don’t have any play like that for our pitchers.”

Nine days later, on May 4, 1969, Jackson started versus the Cardinals again at St. Louis. Matched against Dave Giusti, Jackson pitched his first shutout in the majors. Boxscore

Costly mistake

The next time Jackson faced the Cardinals was July 10, 1969, at Philadelphia. The game turned in the fourth inning. Ahead 2-1, the Cardinals had runners on second and third, two outs, and Julian Javier at the plate. 

Javier pounded left-handers. He hit .319 against them in 1969. With first base open and light-hitting Steve Huntz on deck, Skinner went to the mound and told Jackson to pitch around Javier instead of issuing an intentional walk.

Javier worked the count to 1-and-1 before he pulled a pitch hard on the ground along the third-base line and into left field for a two-run double.

“That was my mistake,” Skinner, a former teammate of Javier with the 1964-66 Cardinals, told the Post-Dispatch. “I knew how well he hit left-handers.” Boxscore

Ups and downs

Five days later, on July 15, 1969, Schoendienst named Jackson to the all-star team. The other left-handers selected to the staff were the Cardinals’ Steve Carlton and the Mets’ Jerry Koosman.

That night, Jackson started against the Cardinals and took the loss. In the fifth, after he got thrown out by Curt Flood while running from first to third, Jackson was routed, giving up four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Boxscore

In September, Jackson lost to the Cardinals for the third consecutive time, dropping his record for the season to 12-15. Boxscore

Grand finale

On Oct. 2, 1969, the Cardinals closed out their season with a game against the Phillies at St. Louis. The matchup was Gibson, seeking his 20th win, versus Jackson. It was quite a duel.

As the game entered the 12th with the score tied at 2-2, both starters still were pitching.

In the bottom half of the inning, Mike Shannon drew a leadoff walk. After failing twice to advance Shannon to second with a sacrifice bunt, Vic Davalillo tapped a grounder to the right of the mound. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jackson could have had a forceout at second but played it safe and threw to first, retiring Davalillo.

After Jerry DaVanon was walked intentionally, Gibson hit the first pitch from Jackson to Rick Joseph at third. Joseph stepped on the bag for a forceout of Shannon and had an “easy chance” to get Gibson at first to complete a double play, but his throw pulled Richie Allen off the base, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

With DaVanon at second and Gibson at first, Lou Brock batted and coaxed a walk on a 3-and-2 pitch.

The next batter, Curt Flood, fouled off the first pitch, then watched four in a row go out of the strike zone. The walk, which drove in DaVanon from third with the game-winning run, was the last plate appearance for Flood as a Cardinal. Five days later, he was traded to the Phillies. Boxscore

The win gave Gibson 20 in a season for the fourth time. The only other Cardinals pitcher to do that was Dizzy Dean.

Jackson finished the season at 14-18 with a 3.34 ERA. He had four shutouts and 13 complete games.

Jackson went on to make 692 appearances, 83 as a starter, with the Phillies (1965-70), Orioles (1971-76), Yankees (1976), Pirates (1977-81 and 1982), Expos (1981) and Royals (1982).

He was 7-11 with six saves and a 3.85 ERA in 66 appearances, including 11 starts, versus the Cardinals. Jackson pitched more innings (149.2) against the Cardinals than he did versus any other opponent.

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(Updated March 5, 2023)

After getting caught breaking the rules in a game at St. Louis, Don Sutton and the Dodgers denied, covered up and threatened to sue. The National League caved.

On July 14, 1978, Sutton, the Dodgers’ ace, was ejected by umpire Doug Harvey for pitching a defaced baseball against the Cardinals.

The punishment for such a violation included a 10-day suspension, but National League president Chub Feeney opted not to take that disciplinary action after getting a visit from Sutton’s lawyer.

Under suspicion

A right-hander, Sutton was a gifted pitcher who consistently achieved double-digit season win totals.

He also had a reputation for doctoring the ball. The Cardinals accused him of throwing a spitball the first time they faced him his rookie season. Ten years later, the Cardinals’ Lou Brock implied Sutton used Vaseline to make his pitches dart and dip. Reds manager Sparky Anderson complained Sutton routinely broke the rules by scuffing the ball.

Scuffing “makes the ball unpredictable,” Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It’s like a dry spitball.”

On June 8, 1977, in a game versus the Cubs, Sutton was ejected for the first time. Bill Buckner, an ex-Dodger, was batting against Sutton when he asked plate umpire Bruce Froemming to inspect the ball. Cubs manager Herman Franks joined in, requesting a search of Sutton. Umpires obliged, but found nothing.

Before delivering his next pitch, Sutton knelt on the mound and belligerently rubbed the ball in the dirt, the Los Angeles Times reported. Dick Stello, umpiring at third, asked for the ball. Sutton fired it low and hard, and the ball skimmed past Stello and into left field.

Froemming started out to the mound to confront Sutton. “His face was red and his veins were throbbing,” Sutton told the Los Angeles Times. “I called him a fat, gutless, little jackass.”

Sutton was ejected. Boxscore

Finding evidence

A year later, Sutton, 33, was seeking his 200th career win in a Friday night start for the Dodgers at Busch Memorial Stadium. The Cardinals had the worst record (35-53) in the league and the Dodgers were defending champions.

Early in the game, either in the second or third, Jerry Crawford, umpiring at first, looked at the ball after the Cardinals had made the last out of the inning. Crawford showed it to crew chief Doug Harvey and said, “Doug, this ball has been defaced,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Harvey told Crawford to hold onto the ball.

In the sixth, after Keith Hernandez lined out to center fielder Bill North to end the inning, North rolled the ball toward the infield. Harvey, umpiring at second, picked up the ball and saw it was defaced.

According to Harvey, “the ball had an identical type of scuff mark” as the one Crawford showed him a few innings earlier, the Los Angeles Times noted.

Harvey went to Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda and said, “Someone is fooling with the baseball.”

“I told him if the pitcher pitched another defaced ball I would eject him,” Harvey recalled to The Sporting News.

You’re out

In the seventh, the Cardinals’ Mike Tyson flied out to right fielder Rick Monday for the third out of the inning. As the Dodgers left the field, Harvey called for the ball. He saw the same scuff mark in a similar spot as the other two balls.

There was, Harvey told the Los Angeles Times, “a roughness on the ball almost in exactly the same spot on all three. It was enough of a scuff to alter the flight of the ball.”

Harvey ordered the Dodgers to return to the field and ejected Sutton. He declared Sutton’s last pitch to Tyson a ball and told Tyson to get back into the batter’s box.

Lance Rautzhan relieved Sutton and got Tyson to again fly out to Monday in right.

The Cardinals, ahead, 2-1, when Sutton was tossed, scored twice against rookie Bob Welch in the eighth and won, 4-1, behind Pete Vuckovich’s three-hitter. Boxscore

Reasonable doubt?

In the clubhouse, Sutton told the Post-Dispatch, “I’m suing Harvey, the National League and whoever runs the umpiring for depriving me of my rights to earn a living as a pitcher.”

The Dodgers claimed the scuff marks on the balls were caused by the AstroTurf.

“It’s like bouncing a leather basketball on asphalt,” Rick Monday told the Los Angeles Times. “That’s what happens to a baseball on AstroTurf.”

Lasorda said Sutton “did absolutely nothing to the ball.”

Technically, Lasorda may have been correct. Post-Dispatch columnist Bob Broeg reported a Cardinals player suggested a Dodgers infielder concealed in his glove a piece of sandpaper with which to scuff the baseball for Sutton.

Harvey told the Post-Dispatch, “I want to make it clear I’m not saying Sutton was doing it. I’m just saying it was Sutton who was pitching a defaced baseball.”

The Post-Dispatch noted that because all three balls were defaced in the same area and in the same manner “it hardly could be a matter of coincidence.”

“I was three-fourths sure Sutton was doing it,” Harvey told The Sporting News.

Backing down

Sutton was represented by Ed Hookstratten, an attorney whose celebrity client list ranged from entertainers Elvis Presley and Joey Bishop to broadcasters Tom Brokaw and Vin Scully. Hookstratten was the husband of actress Patricia Crowley, who starred in the TV series “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.”

Hookstratten met Feeney at the National League office in New York and presented the artificial turf theory, The Sporting News reported.

“They didn’t have a case,” Hookstratten said. “Those artificial fields are so tough on the ball that everyone is throwing doctored pitches.”

Hookstratten phoned Sutton and said, “I met with Mr. Feeney. You’re not suspended. Keep your mouth shut and I’ll talk to you later.”

On July 17, three days after Sutton was ejected, Feeney ruled there was insufficient evidence for a suspension. “The action taken by the umpires was proper … but no further disciplinary action appears appropriate at this time,” Feeney said.

In his Post-Dispatch column, Broeg wrote, “Feeney fumbled.”

The beat goes on

The next night, July 18, Sutton started against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. He wore a T-shirt with the words, “Not Guilty,” under his uniform jersey. Sutton pitched a six-hitter and got the win, No. 200 for his career. Boxscore

Sutton joined Don Drysdale as the only pitchers with 200 wins as Dodgers. “When you talk about him, you’re talking about durability, consistency and dependability,” Sutton said. “I want to be thought of in that light.”

(In the book “The Head Game,” Drysdale told writer Roger Kahn, “I threw a good spitball. When I wet the ball and kept my fingers on the smooth part, the bottom would drop out of the pitch when it reached the plate. A pretty good fastball that falls off the table.”)

A month later, Sutton again made headlines when, in an interview with the Washington Post, he said Reggie Smith, not Steve Garvey, was the Dodgers’ best player. When Garvey confronted Sutton about it in the clubhouse before a game against the Mets, they argued and got into a fight.

The rough-and-tumble Dodgers went on to win the 1978 National League pennant.

Sutton ranks as the Dodgers’ franchise leader in career wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched.

Sutton and Harvey both were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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