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Diamond dash: Slow and steady wins the race? You bet!

Posted in Executives, Games, Hitters, Managers, Opponents on May 5, 2025| 11 Comments »

In a race to determine the slowest runner in the National League, the loser was the commissioner of baseball, and he didn’t even run.

A pair of catchers, Del Rice of the Cardinals and Rube Walker of the Dodgers, were the contestants in what Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described as “a snail versus tortoise match race.”

When some of the Cardinals made small, friendly wagers with their Dodgers counterparts on which of the two leadfoots would win, heavy-handed baseball commissioner Ford Frick initiated a gambling investigation.

Frick backed down quickly after baseball writers mocked him in their newspaper stories for being unable to see the difference between harmless fun and scandal.

Slow going

Signed by Cardinals scout Frank Rickey, brother of general manager Branch Rickey, Del Rice was 18 when he began his pro baseball career in the minors in 1941. Rice reached the majors with the Cardinals four years later.

Listed as 6-foot-2, Rice also played one season (1945-46) of pro basketball with the Rochester Royals. His teammates included Red Holzman (the future head coach of the St. Louis Hawks and New York Knicks), Otto Graham (better known as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns) and Chuck Connors (the big-league first baseman who became TV’s “The Rifleman”). Rochester won the National Basketball League (NBL) championship that season. (In 1949, the NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America and became the National Basketball Association, or NBA.)

Like Rice, Rube Walker also was 18 when he became a pro baseball player, signing with the Cubs in 1944 and advancing to the majors with them four years later. Joe Donnelly of Newsday described him as “a large man with a twinkle in his eye and a heart that reached out to people.”

Rice and Walker were good defensive catchers who didn’t hit much. In 17 seasons in the majors, mostly with the Cardinals and Braves, Rice batted .237. Walker hit .227 in his 11 seasons with the Cubs and Dodgers.

Both also were notorious plodders on the base paths. “Neither could outrun me,” Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, who chain-smoked cigars, said to Dan Daniel of The Sporting News. (Rice managed to steal bases twice in the majors; Walker did it three times.) A good case could be made for either being the slowpoke of the league. Their teammates decided to settle the matter with a footrace.

Amazing race

During warmups before their game on May 17, 1955, at St. Louis, the Cardinals and Dodgers got into some good-natured bantering about who was the slowest man in the league. Rice and Walker were coaxed into having a 50-yard race across the outfield.

(Walker was not the type to back down from a test. According to the New York Times, “he once challenged manager Walter Alston to a billiards match after Alston had taken 130 shots without missing.”)

Members of the teams lined up in two rows _ Cardinals on one side; Dodgers on the other _ forming a lane for Rice and Walker to rumble through, the New York Times reported.

Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky joined some of his players in making bets with Dodgers on who would win, according to the Post-Dispatch. Most of the wagers were for $5. “All told, it was guessed that $45 rested on the outcome,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.

(Dick Young of the New York Daily News noted that the wagers on the Rice-Walker footrace were pocket change compared with what went on in earlier times. When speedy outfielder Ben Chapman was with the Yankees in the 1930s, he’d routinely race all challengers and usually won. According to Young, “Babe Ruth used to bet hundreds of dollars on every race.” Chapman’s teammate, Dixie Walker, told Young, “The first time, Babe bet against Chapman and lost. After that, Babe always bet on Chapman, and cleaned up.”)

In the St. Louis contest, Rube Walker trudged out to a lead but Rice steamed ahead at the finish and won by a yard. One of the observers, 19-year-old Dodgers rookie Sandy Koufax, recalled to the New York Times years later, “They didn’t go fast enough for a photo finish. It was a study in slow motion.”

Little big man

Walker took his loss in good spirit. “I once was a gazelle,” he told the New York Times. However, baseball commissioner Ford Frick was not amused when he learned wagering was involved. He decided to investigate. According to the Daily News, the wires Frick sent to managers Stanky and Alston read: “You are ordered to submit names and amounts bet by the ballplayers.”

While Frick awaited the reports from the managers, the newspapers ridiculed him for overreacting.

_ Dan Parker, syndicated columnist: “Ford Frick is a man of fine character, but a sense of humor forms no part of it.”

_ Morris McLemore, Miami News: “It would appear Ford Frick might have more to do than worry about the footrace between Del Rice and Rube Walker.”

_ Whitney Martin, Associated Press: “Frick probably feels that from such molehills mountains grow, and that the first thing you know the boys will be … gambling that when they put a penny in a (vending) machine a stick of gum will come out.”

_ Dick Young, New York Daily News: “Frick may have been watching too many ‘Dragnet’ shows.”

Soon after, Frick dropped the investigation, the Jersey Journal reported.

Changes afoot

Stanky, Rice and Walker made headlines for a variety of other reasons in the days following the slowest man contest.

On May 27, 1955, the Cardinals fired Stanky. A week later, they traded Rice to the Braves. (The footrace had nothing to do with either move.)

On June 30, 1955, Walker was carted off the field and sent to a hospital for treatment of a gashed shoulder after Willie Mays ran over him while trying to score. “Walker went down flat on his back, clutching the ball grittily,” the Daily News reported.

(Four years later, in June 1959, Rice suffered a broken left leg in a collision with Mays near home plate. Mays slid hard into Rice, who was straddling the line while awaiting a throw. “It wasn’t his fault,” Rice told the Associated Press. “He had to slide _ that’s baseball _ but he certainly slides hard.”)

After his playing days, Walker coached in the majors for 21 seasons. He was the pitching coach for the 1969 World Series champion Mets. He later was a scout for the Cardinals when Whitey Herzog was their manager.

Rice ended his playing career with the 1961 Angels. He was the first player signed by the American League expansion franchise and was the starting catcher in their first regular-season game. Boxscore

According to the Los Angeles Times, during his stint as an Angels coach in the 1960s, Rice “etched his name into the club’s lore by organizing and winning a golf tournament played in the halls of the team’s Boston hotel (Rice wore golf spikes, glove, hat and pajamas), with the players putting into cocktail glasses.”

After four seasons managing in the minors, Rice was the Angels’ manager in 1972, Nolan Ryan’s first season with the club after being coached by Rube Walker with the Mets.

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Carl Warwick came through in a pinch for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Records, Trades on April 21, 2025| 14 Comments »

Carl Warwick seemed an unlikely candidate to shine for the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series.

A week before the season ended, Warwick suffered a fractured cheekbone when he was struck by a line drive during pregame drills. He underwent surgery the next day.

After the Cardinals clinched the National League pennant in the season finale, manager Johnny Keane opted to put Warwick on the World Series roster as a pinch-hitter, even though he hadn’t swung a bat in a game in almost two weeks.

Warwick delivered, with three pinch-hit singles, two of which contributed to wins against the Yankees, and helped the Cardinals become World Series champions.

An outfielder who played for the Dodgers (1961), Cardinals (1961-62, 1964-65), Colt .45s (1962-63), Orioles (1965) and Cubs (1966), Warwick was 88 when he died on April 5, 2025.

Left and right

After leading Texas Christian University in hitting (.361) as a junior in 1957, Warwick got married and planned to start a family. So when Dodgers scout Hugh Alexander offered a contract in excess of $30,000, Warwick signed in December 1957, opting to skip his senior season. “I figured one year in pro ball would be worth more than a final year in college,” Warwick told the Austin American.

(Warwick earned a business administration degree from Texas Christian in 1961.)

He was the rare ballplayer who threw left and batted right. “I’m a natural southpaw,” Warwick said to the Los Angeles Mirror, “but as long as I can remember I’ve always picked up a bat with my right hand and hit right-handed.”

(Before Warwick, big-leaguers who threw left and batted right included outfielders Rube Bressler and Johnny Cooney, and first baseman Hal Chase.)

Though listed as 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, Warwick looked shorter and lighter. As Joe Heiling of the Austin American noted, “Carl didn’t fill the popular image of a slugger. His shoulders weren’t broad as the side of a barn.”

In college, Warwick hit drives straightaway and to the gaps. To hit with power in the pros, he’d need to learn to pull the ball, said Danny Ozark, his manager at Class A Macon (Ga.). Taught by Ozark how to get out in front of pitches with his swing, Warwick walloped 22 home runs for Macon in 1958.

Moved up to Class AA Victoria (Texas) in 1959, Warwick roomed with future American League home run champion Frank Howard and tore up the Texas League, hitting .331 with 35 homers and scoring 129 runs. Victoria manager Pete Reiser, the St. Louis native and former Dodgers outfielder, rated Warwick a better all-around prospect than Howard.

“Carl can play there (in the majors) sooner than Howard,” Reiser told the Austin American. “Carl has a better knowledge of the strike zone than Howard and he’s starting to hit the curveball. To me, that’s a sign that a hitter is coming into his own. You won’t find any better than Carl. Defensively, there’s not too many better than him in the minors or big leagues. He can go get the ball.”

Climbing another notch to Class AAA in 1960, Warwick was a standout for St. Paul (Minn.), with 104 runs scored and double digits in doubles (27), triples (11) and homers (19).

Seeking a chance

Warwick, 24, opened the 1961 season with the Dodgers, who were loaded with outfielders. A couple were veterans (Wally Moon, Duke Snider); most, like Warwick, hadn’t reached their primes (Tommy Davis, Willie Davis, Don Demeter, Ron Fairly, Frank Howard). In May, the Dodgers sent Warwick and Bob Lillis to the Cardinals for Daryl Spencer. According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Cardinals manager Solly Hemus called Warwick the “key man for us” in the deal and named him the center fielder, replacing Curt Flood. “Warwick fits into our future plans very well,” Hemus told the Los Angeles Mirror.

Warwick’s first hit for the Cardinals was a home run he pulled over the fence in left against Bob Buhl of the Braves at Milwaukee. Of his first 12 hits for St. Louis, seven were for extra bases _ four doubles, one triple, two homers. Boxscore

Harry Walker, the Cardinals’ hitting coach, didn’t want Warwick swinging for the fences, though, and suggested he alter his approach.

“He said I didn’t have the power to hit the ball out,” Warwick told the Austin American. “He said I wasn’t strong enough. He wanted me to punch the ball to right field. After you’ve been hitting a certain way so long, it’s hard to change. He made me go to a heavier bat with a thicker handle.”

Out of sync, Warwick said he tried hitting one way in batting practice, then another in games. On July 4, his season average for the Cardinals dropped to .217. Two days later, Solly Hemus was fired and replaced by Johnny Keane, who reinstated Flood in center. Warwick was dispatched to the minors. “We’re sending him out so that he’ll have a chance to play every day the rest of the season,” Keane told the Globe-Democrat.

Houston calling

The next year, Warwick figured to stay busy with the 1962 Cardinals subbing for their geriatric outfielders, Minnie Minoso in left and Stan Musial in right. (“Our outfield has Old Taylor and Ancient Age with a little Squirt for a chaser,” Flood quipped to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)

However, when an expansion club, the Houston Colt .45s, offered the Cardinals a pitcher they’d long coveted, Bobby Shantz, they couldn’t resist. On May 7, 1962, the Cardinals swapped Warwick and John Anderson for Shantz.

The trade was ill-timed for the Cardinals. Four days later, Minoso fractured his skull and right wrist when he crashed into a wall trying to snare a drive.

Warwick became Houston’s center fielder. In his first appearance in St. Louis after the trade, he produced four hits and a walk, including four RBI against Bob Gibson with a two-run double and a two-run homer. (For his career, Warwick hit .333 versus Gibson.) Boxscore

In addition to Gibson, Warwick also homered against Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax and Juan Marichal that season.

When Cardinals general manager Bing Devine had a chance to reacquire Warwick, he swapped Jim Beauchamp and Chuck Taylor for him on Feb. 17, 1964.

Shifting roles

On Opening Day in 1964 against the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax, Warwick was the Cardinals’ right fielder, with Flood in center and Charlie James in left. Boxscore

After two months, the club determined an outfield overhaul was needed. Flood remained, but Lou Brock was acquired from the Cubs in June to replace James and Mike Shannon was promoted from the minors in July to take over in right. Warwick primarily became a pinch-hitter.

He went to Cardinals coach Red Schoendienst and pinch-hitter deluxe Jerry Lynch of the Pirates for advice on how to perform the role. “Both of them agree you’ve got to be ready to attack the ball,” Warwick told Newsday.

On Sept. 27, 1964, before a game at Pittsburgh, Warwick was walking to the sidelines from the outfield during warmup drills when a line drive from a fungo bat swung by pitcher Ron Taylor struck him in the face, fracturing his right cheekbone. The next day, in St. Louis, Cardinals surgeon Dr. I.C. Middleman and plastic surgeon Dr. Francis Paletta performed an operation to repair the damage.

When the World Series began on Oct. 7 in St. Louis, Warwick was on the Cardinals’ roster, even though he hadn’t played in a game since Sept. 23. He also hadn’t produced a RBI since Aug. 2 or a home run since May 8.

However, as Keane explained to columnist Bob Broeg, “Pinch-hitting, Carl is extremely aggressive.”

Big hits

With the score tied at 4-4 in the sixth inning of World Series Game 1 at St. Louis, the Cardinals had Tim McCarver on second, two outs, when Warwick was sent to bat for pitcher Ray Sadecki. As Warwick stepped to the plate against the Yankees’ Al Downing, “my head was aching and my (scarred) cheek was hurting,” he later told United Press International.

Warwick whacked Downing’s first pitch past shortstop Phil Linz for a single, scoring McCarver and putting the Cardinals ahead to stay. St. Louis won, 9-5. Video, Boxscore

“I went up there with the idea of swinging at the first one if it was anywhere close,” Warwick told the Post-Dispatch. “I was looking for a fastball and I got one.”

In Game 2, Warwick, batting for second baseman Dal Maxvill in the eighth, singled and scored against Mel Stottlemyre. Batting again for Maxvill in Game 3, Warwick was walked by Jim Bouton.

The Cardinals, though, were in trouble. The Yankees won two of the first three and led, 3-0, in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium as Downing limited the Cardinals to one hit through five innings.

Needing a spark, Warwick provided one. Sent to bat for pitcher Roger Craig leading off the sixth, Warwick stroked a single on Downing’s second pitch to him.

“I seem to carry a different attitude up there coming cold off the bench,” Warwick told Joe Donnelly of Newsday. “I wouldn’t call it confidence. I come up there swinging. You’ve only got three swings. I don’t want to pass up an opportunity.”

The Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs before Ken Boyer clouted a Downing changeup for a grand slam and a 4-3 triumph. Video, Boxscore

Warwick’s three hits as a pinch-hitter tied a World Series record. The Yankees’ Bobby Brown (1947) and the Giants’ Dusty Rhodes (1954) also produced three pinch-hits in one World Series. Since then, Gonzalo Marquez of the Athletics (1972) and Ken Boswell of the Mets (1973) matched the mark.

(Allen Craig of the Cardinals had four career World Series pinch-hits _ two in 2011 and two more in 2013 _ but not three in one World Series.)

With a chance for a record fourth pinch-hit, Warwick batted for Maxvill in Game 6 but Bouton got him to pop out to third baseman Clete Boyer.

The Cardinals clinched the championship in Game 7, but for Warwick the good vibes didn’t last long. Bob Howsam, who replaced Bing Devine as Cardinals general manager, sent Warwick a contract calling for a $1,000 pay cut. “An insult,” Warwick told the Associated Press.

The magic of 1964 was gone in 1965. Warwick had one hit in April, one more in May and entered June with an .077 batting average. In July, the Cardinals shipped him to the Orioles, who traded him to the Cubs the following spring.

Bing Devine, who as Cardinals general manager twice traded for Warwick, became Mets general manager and acquired him again. Warwick, 29, was invited to try out at 1967 spring training for a reserve spot with the Mets but declined, opting to embark on a real estate career.

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Trouble brewing for Reds owner, fans in trip to St. Louis

Posted in Executives, Opponents on April 16, 2025| 11 Comments »

Looking for a good time in St. Louis when their team came to play the Cardinals, Reds fans rolled out the barrels and got busted.

One hundred years ago, in April 1925, Reds owner Garry Herrmann and seven others associated with the Reds Rooters fan club were arrested at the Hotel Statler for possessing real beer.

Home to breweries such as Anheuser-Busch and Falstaff, St. Louis was synonymous with suds, but not during the Prohibition era in the U.S.

Herrmann and the Reds Rooters found out the hard way when federal agents raided their roost before a game.

Dry land

Influenced by repressive religious groups, particularly Christian denominations, and temperance organizations, federal lawmakers approved an amendment to the Constitution that prohibited the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. The Prohibition era lasted from 1920 to 1933 and prompted gangsters to fill the void with violent bootlegging businesses.

In his book “Mr. Rickey’s Redbirds,” author Mike Mitchell noted, “The battle over Prohibition pitted rural versus urban, Protestant versus Catholic, native-born Americans versus newly arrived immigrants … War gave a final push toward a national prohibition. Those who wanted to ban alcohol often made no distinction between America’s enemies in World War I and brewers in the United States with European heritage.”

St. Louis breweries Anheuser-Busch and Falstaff survived Prohibition by producing near beer, a malt beverage which typically had an alcohol content of less than 0.5 percent, and other products, such as soda pop. (The Anheuser-Busch near beer was called Bevo.) Most other St. Louis beer producers, including Lemp, a major lager brewer, went out of business.

Prohibition didn’t stop the Reds Rooters from carrying on a tradition of traveling to the city where the team played its first road series of the season. About 110 of them went by train from Cincinnati to St. Louis for the four-game set between the Reds and Cardinals April 22-25, 1925.

Beer and bratwurst

The Reds Rooters booked rooms at the elegant Hotel Statler at the corner of Washington Avenue and Ninth Street in downtown St. Louis. Built in 1917, Hotel Statler was the first air-conditioned hotel in the United States.

Another feature of the grand hotel was its 17th floor, which was designated for sample rooms used by traveling salesmen to display products. The Reds Rooters reserved the entire floor and converted it into a party clubhouse for their stay.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Reds Rooters brought with them “several kegs of sauerkraut, barrels of pickles and great quantities of sausages, pretzels and cheeses.”

That’s not all. To quench their thirst, the Cincinnatians also brought 25 half barrels of beer. Real beer.

An informant tipped off John Dyott, special assistant attorney general in charge of federal Prohibition cases, that the Reds Rooters were guzzling illegal brew. Dyott contacted federal law enforcement agents and ordered them to investigate.

At 1:30 p.m. on April 24, 1925, four agents arrived on the 17th floor, where they found 40 Reds Rooters about to leave for the ballpark, the Post-Dispatch reported. The Cincinnati group included Reds owner Garry Herrmann.

Down the drain

Orphaned at age 11, August Herrmann had worked as an errand boy filling salt stacks and then as a printer’s apprentice, where he got the nickname Garibaldi (shortened to Garry), according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He went into politics, becoming a Cincinnati city administrator, and rose to prominence with his creation of a modern waterworks system.

Herrmann was the life of any party. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “He was considered the greatest host in Cincinnati and he entertained his friends lavishly.”

In the raid on the Reds Rooters, agents found two half kegs of beer on tap and 11 more half kegs in an ice box waiting to be tapped, the Post-Dispatch reported. After taking samples for analysis, the agents poured all the brew down the drain.

Tests showed the beer had a 3.94 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and qualified as illegal real beer, the St. Louis Star-Times reported. (Before Prohibition, a typical ABV for beer was 4.5 percent to 6 percent. In the early 1930s, a weaker, 3.2 percent beer gained prominence as a legal alternative in states that repealed dry laws before federal Prohibition ended.)

“We were under the impression that the stuff was near beer,” Herrmann told the Star-Times. “It was just an unfortunate mistake.”

Herrmann, five members of the Reds Rooters who were in charge of the arrangements, and two employees of the group were arrested on federal warrants charging possession of intoxicating alcohol. Herrmann posted a bond of $500 immediately after the warrant was served on him. A hearing in federal court in St. Louis was set back to the fall.

Costly pitchers

In October 1925, Herrmann led a contingent of Cincinnatians to Pittsburgh for the World Series between the Senators and Pirates. According to columnist Westbrook Pegler, when Herrmann arrived at Hotel Schenley, friends approached and asked, “Where are the kegs?” Herrmann replied, “Ever since that time they took the kegs away from the Cincinnati boys in St. Louis, I go without kegs.”

Later that month, Herrmann and the other defendants appeared for their hearing in the St. Louis courtroom of U.S. district judge Charles Breckenridge Faris, a former prosecutor who was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

Charges against Herrmann and the five members of the Reds Rooters were dismissed on the grounds that they were not in physical possession of beer when the agents raided the clubroom.

The two Reds Rooters employees, John Rosskopf and Leonard Schwab, who were in their shirt sleeves and wearing the aprons of bartenders when the agents came, pleaded guilty to charges of possession of alcohol. Each was fined $390.

According to testimony reported in the St. Louis newspapers, agents said they saw Rosskopf at a tapped keg with a foaming pitcher of beer in his hand and Schwab also had a pitcher filled with suds.

After the hearing, Herrmann told the Post-Dispatch, “We feel no malice toward St. Louis for our difficulties in this case. You can tell the world the Reds Rooters are still loyal. They’ll be back in the spring.”

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Yadier Molina to Manny Ramirez: Don’t tread on me

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on February 11, 2025| 11 Comments »

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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Pen pal: How Gary Sutherland bid farewell to Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on January 6, 2025| 11 Comments »

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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How Satchel Paige helped Browns become kings for a day

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on January 2, 2025| 11 Comments »

For the 1953 St. Louis Browns, a downtrodden group accustomed to having the odds stacked against them, the numbers 14 and 18 added up to one in a million as they arrived in New York to play the Yankees.

Fourteen was the number of consecutive losses the Browns had suffered. Eighteen was how many the Yankees had won in a row. Recalling the team’s mindset entering the four-game series at home with the Browns, Mickey Mantle told “Voices From Cooperstown” author Anthony J. Connor, “We figured there’s at least four more wins.”

What the Yankees didn’t factor, though, was another number: 47. The oldest player in the majors, Browns pitcher Satchel Paige, turned 47 in 1953. At least that was his listed age. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested, Paige “is believed to be older than the American League,” which was formed in 1901.

Paige’s favorite number was zero. Those were the number of runs he allowed in securing the victory that ended the Browns’ skid and snapped the Yankees’ winning streak.

Together again

The story of Leroy “Satchel” Paige’s stint with St. Louis begins in July 1951. That was when Bill Veeck bought the Browns from Bill DeWitt Sr. and his brother, Charlie. A few days after Veeck closed the deal, he watched a dreary doubleheader in which Browns pitchers issued 15 walks to Philadelphia Athletics batters, losing both games. Boxscore and Boxscore

That’s when Veeck reached out to Paige, who was pitching for the Chicago American Giants of the Negro American League, and brought him back to the majors. “One thing about Satch is that he can get the ball over (the plate),” Veeck told the Post-Dispatch.

As owner of the Cleveland Indians, Veeck gave Paige his first shot at the big leagues, signing him in July 1948. Paige rewarded him, posting a 6-1 record and helping the Indians become World Series champions that year. After the following season, in 1949, Veeck sold the club and Paige was released by the new regime.

Senior league

Paige began pitching in baseball’s Negro League in 1927. He signed with the Browns on July 14, 1951, a week after he turned 45. Many suspected he was older than that. Even Veeck told the Post-Dispatch, “He’s at least 51.”

Trying to unravel the mystery of how ancient Paige was became baseball’s top parlor game. 

After attempting to determine Paige’s true age, columnist Henry McLemore of the McNaught Syndicate informed readers, “I have come to the conclusion that Satchel was 10th off the Ark, and that while the waters were receding he practiced his curveballs.”

Noting that Paige is “the only baseball player in the world whose birthdays run backward instead of forward,” the Post-Dispatch concluded, “While Satch may be 50, his arm is only 25.”

After joining the 1951 Browns, Paige was invited to attend a gathering of 700 scientists that summer at the International Gerontological Congress at the Hotel Jefferson in St. Louis. Paige was a guest of the group’s president, Dr. E.V. Cowdry, professor of anatomy at Washington University school of medicine.

The “purpose of the congress is the discussion of aging, a subject close to Satch’s heart,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Satch told the scientists he is still going strong because he works every day in the summer, hunts every day in the winter, eats lots of seafood, shuns beer, whiskey, chicken livers and lamb, and likes to sleep.” He added, “When I smoke, I don’t inhale _ just blow it out my nose.”

Mound magician

After making two starts for the 1951 Browns, Paige was moved to the bullpen, a role that better suited a pitcher of his advanced years. In 20 relief appearances, he totaled three wins and six saves using what the New York Times described as “an amazing assortment of trick deliveries” that included a hesitation pitch. According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the pitch got that name because when Paige threw it he went into a “big windup, stepped forward and stooped his body, but his arm continued in a wide arc” before he flipped the ball across the plate. “Damndest changeup pitch I ever saw,” Joe DiMaggio told the Times.

In a game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Paige got an 0-and-2 count on Ted Williams. On the next delivery, Paige went into a leisurely windup, and Williams moved forward in the batter’s box, expecting the hesitation pitch or something similar. Instead, Paige zipped a fastball, startling Williams, who swung late and missed for strike three.

Irate, Williams stomped to the dugout and “smashed his bat into pieces,” the Boston Globe reported. “He first whacked it against the railing of the runway leading to the dressing room. When that didn’t suffice, Williams flung the bat toward the rack. He still wasn’t satisfied, so he smashed it on the floor.”

During Ted’s tantrum, Paige was laughing on the mound, according to the Globe. He told the newspaper, “I’ve never seen anything like it in the big leagues. He was sore because I crossed him up.” Boxscore

For his career, Williams batted .222 (2 for 9) versus Paige. Both hits were singles. That was better than Joe DiMaggio did. The Yankee Clipper went hitless (with three strikeouts) in eight at-bats against Paige.

[In his induction speech at the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966, Williams said, “I hope Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson somehow will be inducted here as symbols of the great Negro (League) players who are not here because they were not given a chance.”]

Winners and losers

In 1952, Paige had 12 wins, 10 saves and a 3.07 ERA for the Browns. His last season with them was 1953.

The 1953 Browns lost nine in a row in May. Then came the 14-game skid in June. All 14 losses came at home. The Browns took a 19-38 record into the June 16 series opener against the Yankees at New York. Winners of 18 in a row, the Yankees were 41-11. Furthermore, their starting pitcher for the first game was Whitey Ford, who, in two seasons with them, was 16-0 as a starter.

A former Yankee, Duane Pillette, was matched against Ford that night. Pillette’s ERA for the season was 5.73.

What should have been a mismatch turned out to be a competitive contest. The Browns scored three runs against Ford, who was lifted after five innings. Pillette limited the Yankees to one run through seven.

In the eighth, after Billy Martin singled with one out, Pillette went to a 2-and-0 count on Joe Collins. Browns manager Marty Marion opted to lift Pillette for Paige.

(Perhaps looking to change the Browns’ luck, Marion, the former Cardinals shortstop, put himself in the starting lineup that night for the only time in 1953. Furthermore, he played third base for the first time in his career.)

Paige ambled from the bullpen to the mound. It took him about 10 minutes to stroll out there, according to the New York Daily News. As the Globe-Democrat noted, “His pants cuff was dragging but there was nothing wrong with the elastic in his arm.”

His first pitch to Collins was out of the strike zone, making the count 3-and-0. Then he retired him on a soft fly. After falling behind 3-and-0 to Irv Noren, Paige got him to pop out to the catcher.

With the Browns still holding a 3-1 lead, Mickey Mantle led off the bottom of the ninth against Paige. With two strikes, Mantle decided to try for a bunt single. In the book “Voices From Cooperstown,” Mantle said a bunt made sense to him because Paige “couldn’t hardly get off the mound.”

“I knew that if I could poke it past him I could beat him to first base,” Mantle said to the New York Times.

Instead, Mantle fouled the ball back to the screen on the bunt attempt, striking out. (More than a decade later, according to the Times, Mantle’s decision to bunt still rankled Whitey Ford. “That was a really stupid play,” Ford told Mantle. “I was so mad at you.” Mantle replied, “I still say it’s not necessarily such a bad play.”)

Paige retired Yogi Berra for the second out, but Gene Woodling singled, bringing Gil McDougald to the plate. Paige fell behind in the count, then got McDougald to pop up in foul territory, but catcher Les Moss dropped the ball.

McDougald fouled off two more pitches. As the Globe-Democrat noted, Paige “got the last bit of good theatre and ham out of the situation.”

With the count 3-and-2, McDougald popped up again _ this time in fair territory, near the mound. Marty Marion, who hadn’t made a play all night, rushed over from his spot near third base and caught the ball for the final out.

In the jubilant clubhouse, Satchel Paige said to the Associated Press, “Man, there’s no team I like to beat better than them Yankees.” Boxscore

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