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Don Pavletich achieved two special personal milestones versus the Cardinals, but one of his worst moments also occurred in a game against them.

A catcher and first baseman, Pavletich played 12 years in the major leagues for the Reds, White Sox and Red Sox. The 1965 Topps card pictured here incorrectly listed him as a pitcher.

In 1962, while with the Reds, Pavletich got his first major-league hit. A few weeks later, he got his first major-league RBI. Both feats came in games against the Cardinals.

Two years later, Pavletich had a prominent, but unwanted, role versus the Cardinals when his error led to a Reds loss in the thick of the 1964 National League pennant race.

Hot prospect

Born in Milwaukee and raised in nearby West Allis, Wisconsin, Pavletich was Croatian-American. All four of his grandparents immigrated to the United States from Croatia, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

In high school and summer leagues, Pavletich was coached by Steve Belich, who had prepared another West Allis standout, Harvey Kuenn, for the majors.

A powerful right-handed batter, Pavletich, 18, signed with the Reds in August 1956 and made his major-league debut for them in his hometown of Milwaukee on April 20, 1957. A month later, Pavletich began a two-year hitch in the Army.

After hitting .295 with 22 home runs as a catcher and first baseman for manager Cot Deal at minor-league Indianapolis in 1961, Pavletich opened the 1962 season with the defending National League champion Reds as a backup to catcher Johnny Edwards and first baseman Gordy Coleman.

On April 29, 1962, in the first game of a doubleheader at St. Louis, the Cardinals led, 9-1, in the fourth inning when Reds manager Fred Hutchinson replaced Edwards with Pavletich.

In the fifth, Pavletich got his first big-league hit, a single versus Larry Jackson. Pavletich went on to hit .400 (6-for-15) in his career against Jackson. Boxscore

The next time Pavletich faced the Cardinals, on June 5, 1962, at St. Louis, he started at first base and hit a two-run single versus Curt Simmons in the third inning for his first RBI in the big leagues. Boxscore

Pavletich did some of his best hitting against some prominent left-handers, including Dick Ellsworth (.409), Denny Lemaster (.389), Warren Spahn (.364), Johnny Podres (.364) and Simmons (.318).

Costly miscue

On Sept. 19, 1964, the Cardinals and Reds, trying to catch the first-place Phillies in the final two weeks of the season, played a doubleheader at Cincinnati. The Cardinals were jolted in the opener when Frank Robinson hit a three-run walkoff home run against Bob Gibson in the ninth. Boxscore

In the second game, with the pressure on the Cardinals to avoid being swept, the pitchers were left-handers Billy McCool, making his first career start for the Reds, and Ray Sadecki for St. Louis. The catchers were a pair of Milwaukee natives, Pavletich and the Cardinals’ Bob Uecker.

In the second inning, with one out and the game scoreless, the Cardinals’ Bill White and Julian Javier each singled, putting runners on second and first.

As the next batter, Mike Shannon, struck out, White and Javier attempted a double steal. Pavletich’s throw sailed over the head of third baseman Chico Ruiz and into left field. White and Javier both scored on the error and those were the game’s only runs. Boxscore

The 2-0 victory kept the Cardinals in second place, 5.5 games behind the Phillies, and proved to be a difference-maker. The Cardinals clinched the pennant on the last day of the season, finishing a game ahead of both the Reds and Phillies.

Power hitter

At spring training in 1966, Pavletich made a bid to unseat Edwards, a three-time National League all-star, as the Reds’ starting catcher. When Edwards suffered ligament damage to the middle finger of his right hand when struck by a foul ball in an exhibition game on April 9, Pavletich was ready to take over.

After watching Pavletich hit his fifth home run of the spring training season, Edwards told the Dayton Daily News, “Every time I see him swing that bat, my finger feels better.”

With Edwards sidelined, Pavletich opened the 1966 season as the Reds’ catcher. On April 17, in his third consecutive game as starting catcher, Pavletich injured his left foot while rounding first base after hitting a double. He stayed in the game, but awoke the next morning with pain in his foot so intense “he nearly collapsed when he got out of bed,” the Dayton Journal-Herald reported.

Pavletich strained ligaments in the foot and couldn’t play. Edwards, wearing a metal splint on his injured finger, replaced him and remained the starting catcher.

Veteran vs. phenom

In August 1967, Johnny Bench made his major-league debut with the Reds and was their starting catcher the last month of the season.

Six months later, the Reds traded Edwards to the defending World Series champion Cardinals to clear the way for Bench to be their catcher in 1968.

“Bench was conceded the starting position at the start of spring training,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Pavletich, 29, wasn’t ready to give in to Bench, 20. Rising to the challenge, Pavletich hit seven home runs with 19 RBI in Reds spring training games in 1968 and was named the Opening Day starting catcher.

“I must say I’m most pleased by Pavletich’s home run hitting,” Reds manager Dave Bristol said.

Convinced the Reds were a contender, Pavletich said, “I know the Cardinals are a great club and definitely are the club to beat, but I feel we have it on them in two important departments _ pitching and bench strength.”

Pavletich started at catcher in the first five games of the 1968 season before he hurt his right arm swinging at a pitch in Chicago. With Pavletich sidelined for a month, Bench took over as starting catcher and never looked back, building a Hall of Fame career.

Pavletich batted .254 in his big-league career, including .264 in 50 games versus the Cardinals.

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If Walt Jocketty had gotten what he wanted, Larry Walker would have spent most of his career, not just the last two seasons, with the Cardinals.

Walker, a three-time National League batting champion who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 21, 2020, played his first six seasons in the majors with the Expos and became a free agent in October 1994, the same month Jocketty replaced Dal Maxvill as Cardinals general manager.

Jocketty was looking for opportunities to improve the Cardinals, who were 53-61 in strike-shortened 1994, and wanted to sign Walker.

The Rockies made the most lucrative offer and Walker signed with them in April 1995.

Nine years later, Jocketty finally got his man, acquiring Walker in a trade with the Rockies in August 2004. Walker finished his career with the Cardinals, helping them reach the postseason in 2004 and 2005.

Opening at first

In December 1994, Walker, who threw right and batted left, had surgery on his right shoulder. The right fielder’s agent, Jim Bronner, said Walker would wait until March 1995 or later to sign because he wanted to show teams his shoulder was healed, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Jocketty wanted Walker to be the Cardinals’ first baseman, replacing Gregg Jefferies, who became a free agent, according to the Post-Dispatch.

“Walt Jocketty says if he has time and money to sign only one free agent it would be a hitter to replace Gregg Jefferies rather than a pitcher,” the Post-Dispatch reported on Feb. 5, 1995. “His sights still are set on Larry Walker.”

A week later, as the Cardinals and all other major-league teams prepared to open spring training camps with replacement players while the big-leaguers remained on strike, Jocketty was in pursuit of Walker.

“He’s still the best player out there,” Jocketty said. “I think we’ve got as good a chance as anybody.”

Coors vs. Busch

Whatever amount Jocketty offered, it wasn’t enough to top the Rockies, who gave Walker a four-year contract for a guaranteed $22.49 million on April 8, 1995, according to the Associated Press.

The next day, with Walker out of the picture, the Cardinals acquired third baseman Scott Cooper from the Red Sox and planned to move Todd Zeile from third to first.

On April 26, 1995, Walker made his regular-season Rockies debut in the inaugural game played at Coors Field in Denver and produced three doubles and three RBI in a 14-inning victory against the Mets. Five inches of snow fell in the Denver area during the morning and the game, played at night in temperatures in the mid-30s, took 4 hours and 49 minutes to complete. Boxscore

Walker’s first game against the Cardinals since signing with the Rockies occurred on May 29, 1995, at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The high-priced slugger went 0-for-6 and got razzed by some of the spectators after his last plate appearance. Boxscore

“One of the things about this type of deal is you get to hear a lot more imaginative things from the fans,” Walker told the Rocky Mountain News. “They were chanting, ‘Oh for six.’ They didn’t know the half of it.”

Walker’s hitless night extended his skid to 0-for-24 over his last six games.

The next night, Walker was benched by manager Don Baylor. He returned to the lineup for a day game, May 31, 1995, and snapped the slump with a two-run double and a solo home run against Cardinals starter Mark Petkovsek. The homer was a majestic shot which carried into the sixth row of the center-field bleachers, according to the Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Petkovsek “made two bad pitches to Walker,” said Cardinals manager Joe Torre. “You’d like to make bad pitches to smaller guys, though.”

Said Walker: “I wasn’t sure if I should turn left or right the first time I got a hit because all I had been doing lately was turning to the right and going back to the dugout. That home run really messed me up, having to touch all four bases.”

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(Updated March 17, 2020)

Larry Walker, who completed his career with the Cardinals, had one of his greatest games as their opponent.

On April 28, 1999, Walker hit three home runs for the Rockies in their 9-7 victory over the Cardinals at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Walker was the first opposing player to hit three homers in a game at St. Louis since the Expos’ Larry Parrish did it 22 years earlier in 1977.

It was the second of three times Walker hit three home runs in a game for the Rockies. He also did it against his former club, the Expos, at Montreal in April 1997 and against the Indians at Cleveland in June 2004, two months before he was traded to the Cardinals.

On Jan. 21, 2020, Walker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

An outfielder who batted left-handed, Walker began his career with the Expos and spent his prime seasons with the Rockies before finishing with the Cardinals.

In 144 regular-season games for the Cardinals, Walker batted .286 with 26 home runs and 79 RBI. He also hit six home runs in 15 postseason games for the 2004 Cardinals. In 150 regular-season games against the Cardinals, Walker hit .300 with 28 home runs and 110 RBI.

Canadian club

Born in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Walker wanted to be a professional hockey player. When a junior-level hockey team coach told him he’d be their third-string goalie, Walker, 17, switched to baseball, according to the Associated Press.

Signed by the Expos in 1984, Walker became a prized prospect in their farm system when he hit 33 home runs in 1986 and 26 in 1987.

On Jan. 16, 1988, while playing winter baseball in Mexico, Walker tore ligaments in a knee when he slipped while crossing home plate. He sat out the 1988 season and “there were times I didn’t think I’d make it” to the majors, Walker told the Montreal Gazette.

“I wondered, ‘What am I going to do now? Be a garbageman?’ ” Walker said.

Walker was with Class AAA Indianapolis when he got called up to the Expos in August 1989. He became the fifth Canadian to play for the Expos, following Claude Raymond, Larry Landreth, Bill Atkinson and Doug Frobel.

Though he grew up 2,300 miles from Montreal, Walker said, “This is one big country. We’re one big family.”

In his debut game against the Giants at Montreal, Walker had a single and three walks in four plate appearances. Boxscore

“What I liked about him is he had an idea about what he wanted to do every time he went to the plate,” Expos manager Buck Rodgers said.

According to the Montreal Gazette, when Walker reached base for the fourth time in the game, Giants first baseman Will Clark turned to him and said, “Geez, three walks. Not bad. They’re pitching you like a 10-year veteran.”

At spring training in 1990, Walker impressed the Expos with his dedication. In a four-day stretch, he took 500 swings per day in the batting cage. “I can’t believe how hard he works,” said Expos hitting coach Hal McRae.

Walker won the Expos’ right field job and never looked back. He hit .281 in six seasons (1989-1994) with the Expos before becoming a free agent and signing with the Rockies.

Powering up

Walker won the first of his three National League batting titles in 1998, but a rib injury sidelined him for the Rockies’ first seven games of the 1999 season.

When he returned to the lineup, he went homerless in his first eight games before he busted out against the Cardinals on a Wednesday night in St. Louis.

Walker had four hits, including the three home runs, and a career-best eight RBI in the game. Boxscore

The performance drew comparisons to Mark McGwire, the Cardinals’ first baseman, who witnessed it, but Walker dismissed such talk.

“My name is Larry, not Mark,” Walker told the Associated Press. “I don’t have Popeye arms. I’ve just got little tiny ones.”

In the opening inning, after the first two Rockies batters singled, Walker hit a three-run homer on a 1-and-2 pitch from right-hander Jose Jimenez.

With the Rockies ahead, 4-3, in the second, Walker batted with runners on first and third, two outs, and hit the first pitch from Jimenez for another three-run home run.

Walker had three hits, all home runs, in four career at-bats versus Jimenez. The last also was in a three-homer game for Walker in 2004 when Jimenez was with the Indians. Walker and Jimenez were Rockies teammates from 2000-2003.

Walker’s third home run of the game at St. Louis came in the seventh. Facing Scott Radinsky with a runner on first and one out, Walker hit a 1-and-2 pitch from the left-hander for a two-run homer, giving the Rockies a 9-6 lead.

All three home runs were hit over the right-field wall.

In 17 seasons in the majors, Walker batted .313 with 2,160 hits, 383 home runs, 1,311 RBI and a .400 on-base percentage. He won the Gold Glove Award for his outfield play seven times.

In an interview with the Baseball Hall of Fame magazine, “Memories and Dreams,” Jim Leyland, who managed the Rockies in 1999, said, “Barry Bonds is the best player I ever managed, but Larry Walker was the best five-tool player I ever saw. There was nobody more impactful in a game than Larry Walker. He beat you all five ways _ defense, his throwing, his base running, his hitting and his power.”

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