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Cardinals gave Jack Hamilton his start as a pro

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects on March 4, 2018| 3 Comments »

(Updated Sept. 12, 2024)

Jack Hamilton was a hard-throwing Cardinals pitching prospect who left the organization after four seasons and went on to experience his best major-league moments against them.

Hamilton is most remembered as the pitcher who in 1967 beaned Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro, fracturing his cheekbone, dislocating his jaw and severely damaging his left eye.

Though wildness plagued him throughout his professional baseball career, Hamilton was capable of dominating a game. With the Mets in 1966, he pitched a one-hitter against the Cardinals. A year later, he surprised the Cardinals with his bat, hitting a grand slam.

Wild Thing

Hamilton, 18, attended a Cardinals tryout camp at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in 1957 and impressed. “There were a lot of kids there, but I believe only two of us signed contracts,” Hamilton said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals gave Hamilton a $4,000 bonus and assigned him to Wytheville, Va., a Class D club in the Appalachian League. Hamilton posted a 7-0 record for Wytheville and pitched a no-hitter in a game scheduled for seven innings.

After that, though, he was erratic in pitching for other Cardinals farm clubs. Hamilton was 12-16 for Keokuk, Iowa, in 1958 and 6-10 for York, Pa., in 1959.

Assigned to Class AA Memphis in 1960, Hamilton was chosen by manager Joe Schultz to be the Opening Day starter against Nashville. “He shut them out for four innings and then he went wild,” Schultz said. “He kept hitting the backstop and a couple of balls almost hit my catcher, Tim McCarver, on the head.”

The Cardinals demoted Hamilton to the Class B Winston-Salem Red Birds and he was 6-9 with a 4.33 ERA. Despite an exceptional fastball _ “He could throw a ball through a brick wall,” said Cardinals icon Red Schoendienst _ Hamilton wasn’t protected on the St. Louis roster and he was chosen by the Phillies in the November 1960 minor-league draft.

“Jack always could throw hard, but he was too wild,” Schultz said.

Beware the bunt

Hamilton, a right-hander, got to the majors with the Phillies in 1962 and the rookie led the National League that season in walks (107) and wild pitches (22).

After stints with the Phillies (1962-63) and Tigers (1964-65), Hamilton landed with the Mets in 1966. “Spitball Jack, a card shark,” Mets first baseman Ed Kranepool told Dave Anderson of the New York Times. “He liked poker. He beat all of us young guys.”

On May 4, 1966, Hamilton started for the Mets against the Cardinals at St. Louis and was opposed by Ray Sadecki. Hamilton and Sadecki became friends when both were in the Cardinals’ minor-league system.

Hamilton held the Cardinals to one hit over nine innings in an 8-0 Mets triumph. The lone St. Louis hit was a bunt single by Sadecki with two outs in the third.

With the count at 1-and-1, Sadecki pushed a bunt toward the third-base side of the infield. “A bunt was the furthest thing from my mind in the third inning,” said Mets third baseman Ken Boyer, the former Cardinal.

Hamilton told The Sporting News, “He (Sadecki) caught me flat-footed.”

After the game, Sadecki came into the Mets’ clubhouse and congratulated Hamilton. “Ray and I … were old buddies,” Hamilton said. “He told me he was sorry he got the hit. I ribbed him about that, telling him how much money he cost me by preventing me from pitching a no-hitter.” Boxscore

Hard to believe

A year later, on May 20, 1967, Hamilton, a .107 career hitter in the big leagues, hit his only home run, a grand slam off the Cardinals’ Al Jackson in the second inning. Hamilton, however, yielded four runs in three innings and the Cardinals came back for an 11-9 victory over the Mets at New York. Boxscore

“We get the Cardinals games clear on radio from St. Louis to our home in Burlington, Iowa,” Hamilton said, “and my wife said right after I hit the home run she must have got 10 phone calls asking if it was really true.”

A month later, the Mets traded Hamilton to the Angels. He was 9-6 with a 3.24 ERA for the 1967 Angels, but his peformance was marred by the beaning of Conigliaro in August that year.

Hamilton, often accused of throwing a spitball, finished his major league career in 1969 with the Indians and White Sox. His big-league totals include a 32-40 record, 20 saves and almost as many walks (348) as strikeouts (357).

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Why Bud Norris looked like a winner to Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on February 19, 2018| 2 Comments »

(Updated Feb. 14, 2019)

In his first major-league start, Bud Norris pitched against the Cardinals with the poise and skill of an established winner.

On Aug. 2, 2009, Norris, appearing in his second big-league game, started for the Astros at St. Louis, held the Cardinals to two hits in seven innings and earned the win.

Nine years later, on Feb. 14, 2018, Norris, a free agent, joined the Cardinals, signing a one-year contract for a base salary of $3 million after earning 19 saves for the 2017 Angels.

“I’m honored to be here,” Norris said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “This is a world-class organization.”

With Luke Gregerson the projected closer, the Cardinals viewed Norris as a candidate for any number of roles, including starting. Though he succeeded as a reliever with the 2017 Angels, Norris told the Post-Dispatch he was excited about possibly having a chance to start for the Cardinals. “In my heart of hearts, I believe I can do that,” Norris said.

This Bud’s for you

David Norris, nicknamed “Bud” because at age 3 he imitated his father and ordered a beer in a restaurant, was selected by the Astros in the sixth round of the 2006 amateur draft.

After making his major-league debut in relief against the Cubs on July 29, 2009, Norris, 24, got the start four days later at Busch Stadium when Astros ace Roy Oswalt became sidelined with a bad back.

Norris, a right-hander, held the Cardinals hitless the first five innings.

In the sixth, the Cardinals appeared poised to strike when Adam Wainwright led off with a single and, one out later, Colby Rasmus walked. Norris got out of the jam by inducing Albert Pujols to pop out to third and striking out Matt Holliday.

“He kept his composure,” Wainwright said.

In the seventh, the Cardinals threatened again. With one out, Mark DeRosa walked and Yadier Molina singled, but Norris struck out Julio Lugo and Joe Thurston.

The Astros prevailed, 2-0. “I told him he had 299 (wins) more to go and he’d be in the Hall of Fame,” Oswalt said. Boxscore

Purpose pitches

Norris was 7-2 with a 2.17 ERA in his first 11 career appearances versus the Cardinals. Pujols took to calling him “Chuck Norris,” in reference to the tough-guy actor, Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch reported.

By the time Norris joined the Cardinals, his career mark against them was 8-7, but he maintained the reputation as a nemesis.

Perhaps Norris’ best outing came on June 8, 2011, when he limited the Cardinals to one hit in eight innings in a 4-1 Astros victory at Houston.

“Every pitch he threw had a purpose,” said Cardinals leadoff batter Ryan Theriot.

Wrote Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz: “The Cardinals turn Norris into Bob Gibson, circa 1968.”

The lone hit allowed by Norris was a solo home run to former teammate Lance Berkman with two outs in the seventh. Noting how Norris effectively mixed sliders and changeups with fastballs, Berkman said, “He’s got a better feel for his off-speed stuff.” Boxscore

Norris had his best season as a starter (15-8, 3.65 ERA) with the 2014 Orioles.

In 2018, Gregerson was injured and Norris stepped into the role of closer. Norris led the Cardinals in saves (28) and posted a 3-6 record and 3.59 ERA in 64 relief appearances. In July 2018, a report by The Athletic indicated tensions had developed between Norris and rookie reliever Jordan Hicks, but Hicks told the Post-Dispatch that Norris “has the best intentions for me.”

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Bob Bailey, Al Hrabosky and big drama in St. Louis

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on January 19, 2018| 2 Comments »

(Updated April 10, 2026)

Bob Bailey had lots of hits against the Cardinals in his career, but it was an out he made that was most memorable.

Bailey, a right-handed hitter with power, played 17 years in the major leagues. Primarily a third baseman and left fielder, Bailey played for the Pirates (1962-1966), Dodgers (1967-1968), Expos (1969-1975), Reds (1976-1977) and Red Sox (1977-1978).

In 199 games versus the Cardinals, Bailey had 176 hits, including 20 home runs, and 82 RBI. He batted .358 (24-for-67) against the Cardinals in 1964 and .339 (20-for-59) in 1974. One of his best games occurred on May 21, 1968, when he produced five RBI for the Dodgers against the Cardinals at St. Louis.

“That Bailey makes his living off high sliders,” Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons told The Sporting News.

By 1977, when Bailey was with the Reds, he primarily was a pinch-hitter. That was the year he had a feature role in a St. Louis drama.

Big Red Machine

On May 9, 1977, a game between the Reds and Cardinals at Busch Stadium was the ABC-TV “Monday Night Baseball” national telecast. The Reds, with their powerful Big Red Machine lineup, were two-time defending World Series champions. The Cardinals, in their first season under manager Vern Rapp, were looking to make a mark after finishing 18 games under .500 in 1976.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Cardinals’ Keith Hernandez led off with a home run against Rawly Eastwick, tying the score at 5-5.

Rapp sent Al Hrabosky to pitch the ninth. The left-hander, known as the “Mad Hungarian,” got into immediate trouble. Ken Griffey singled, Joe Morgan walked, Dan Driessen bunted for a single, loading the bases with none out. George Foster was up next and Johnny Bench was on deck _ both right-handed sluggers.

“I thought with Foster and Bench coming up, there was no way,” Hernandez said to Dick Kaegel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I thought they’d at least get a fly ball and get a run in.”

Mind games

Hrabosky, forced by Rapp to shave his Fu Manchu in compliance with the manager’s policy banning facial hair, decided to challenge the sluggers exclusively with fastballs. “They knew it was coming,” said Simmons.

Foster struck out swinging.

Bench did the same.

With a left-handed batter, Cesar Geronimo, due up next, Reds manager Sparky Anderson sent Bailey to face Hrabosky. Bailey, whose father, Paul, played in the Cardinals’ farm system in 1940, batted .370 as a Reds pinch-hitter in 1976.

When the count got to 1-and-2 on Bailey, Hrabosky walked in a semicircle from the mound almost to second base, turned his back on Bailey, talked to himself, pounded the ball into his mitt and stomped back onto the hill. “I talk to the gypsy war gods,” Hrabosky said. “I work myself into a controlled rage.”

Bailey fouled off each of Hrabosky’s next three pitches. After each one, Hrabosky went behind the mound and performed his antics, heightening the tension with each delivery. “In a way, I self-hypnotize myself,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I learned how to manipulate my mind between pitches.”

In the book “Redbirds Revisited,” Hrabosky said, “Mentally, I’d watch myself doing everything mechanically correct. I’d imagine a positive reaction from the hitter, seeing him swing and miss.”

On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Bailey watched the ball go into Simmons’ glove for a called strike three.

Hrabosky gave a performance worthy of Houdini, striking out three right-handed sluggers and leaving the bases loaded.

“I was completely in awe,” said Hernandez.

Said Simmons: “It was dark and all of a sudden he groped around until he found the light switch and turned it on.”

Hrabosky told Stan McNeal of Cardinals Magazine, “After I struck out Foster … and Bench, I didn’t know if I would get a third strikeout, but I knew there was no way they were going to score.”

Perfect play

After the Cardinals went down in order in their half of the ninth, Hrabosky returned to pitch the 10th. He retired the first two batters before Ray Knight singled. Griffey followed with a double off the wall in right.

As Knight raced around the bases, right fielder Mike Anderson, inserted as a defensive replacement for starter Hector Cruz, fielded a carom off the padding of the wall, turned and fired a throw to the cutoff man, shortstop Don Kessinger.

“He gave me a good, high relay throw where I could handle it,” Kessinger said.

Simmons kneeled in front of home plate, awaiting the peg from Kessinger. “My theory is to block the plate. Don’t let him get there,” Simmons said.

Knight dived head-first and was tagged out by Simmons, ending the Reds’ threat.

“It was a perfect play,” Rapp told United Press International. “Anderson acted real cool and Kessinger did a superb job. Simmons knew he had the guy.”

Simmons connects

The Reds brought in Dale Murray, a right-hander, to pitch the bottom half of the 10th. His best pitch was a sinking fastball, but it had been staying up in the strike zone in recent outings. With switch-hitter Simmons, batting left-handed, leading off, Murray told Bench he would throw knuckleballs.

Hernandez tipped off Simmons that Murray might throw the knuckler. “The thing I try to do with knuckleballs is not swing until I have to,” Simmons told the Associated Press. “All you can hope is that you can gauge the speed of it.”

With the count 2-and-2, Murray delivered a knuckleball that darted toward Simmons’ right knee. He drove it over the wall in right for a walkoff home run, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 triumph. Boxscore

“It was the greatest game I ever played in,” Hernandez said.

Calling it “a game that wobbled the knees and blew the mind,” Kaegel informed Post-Dispatch readers, “It was a classic thriller, baseball at its spine-tingling best.”

Previously: 5 memorable Reds-Cardinals games of 1970s

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How Vladimir Guerrero welcomed Rick Ankiel to majors

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on January 16, 2018| 2 Comments »

(Updated Aug. 23, 2018)

In his major-league debut for the Cardinals, Rick Ankiel gave up a home run to Vladimir Guerrero. Like many pitchers, Ankiel learned fast Guerrero was a dangerous hitter.

Guerrero was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018. In his playing career with the Expos (1996-2003), Angels (2004-2009), Rangers (2010) and Orioles (2011), Guerrero batted .318 with 2,590 hits, 449 home runs and 1,496 RBI.

A right-handed batter and outfielder, Guerrero batted .280 against the Cardinals with 59 hits in 55 games and 43 RBI.

His best seasons versus St. Louis were 1999 (.333 with nine RBI in nine games) and 2002 (.409 with seven RBI in six games).

Guerrero had two hits, both home runs, and three walks in seven career plate appearances against Ankiel.

Rookie mistake

Ankiel, 20, was a highly touted pitching prospect. He heightened expectations by posting a combined 13-3 record and 2.35 ERA with Class AA Arkansas and Class AAA Memphis in 1999. The Cardinals promoted him to the big leagues in late summer and he was given a start in his debut on Aug. 23, 1999, at Montreal.

In his first at-bat against Ankiel, Guerrero grounded out sharply to first baseman Mark McGwire in the second inning. With the Cardinals ahead, 4-1, Guerrero batted again in the fourth. Ankiel, a left-hander, wanted to jam Guerrero with a fastball on the fists, but the pitch stayed over the plate and Guerrero lined it over the right-field wall. The home run was his 30th of the season and extended his hitting streak to 28 games.

“I didn’t get the fastball inside,” Ankiel told columnist Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I left it out there and he capitalized on it.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Guerrero told the Associated Press, “The only thing I do is try to swing. So far, so good. I’m going to keep swinging.”

In the sixth, after Jose Vidro singled, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa lifted Ankiel with Guerrero at the plate and St. Louis ahead, 4-2. “Guerrero already had centered two balls off him, so I thought it was time for the change,” La Russa said.

Heathcliff Slocumb relieved and got Guerrero to pop out to McGwire. After that, the game unraveled for the Cardinals. Vidro eventually scored and Slocumb and Rich Croushore gave up eight runs. The Expos won, 11-7, and Ankiel, who departed with the lead, didn’t get a decision. Boxscore

Hitting a hanger

A year later, on Aug. 1, 2000, at Montreal, Guerrero came to bat against Ankiel with runners on first and second, two outs, in the fifth inning of a scoreless game.

Ankiel’s first pitch to Guerrero was a curve. He “tried to throw the best curveball he ever threw,” La Russa said. “Sometimes you try to do more and you end up doing less.”

The pitch floated over the middle of the plate and Guerrero hit it over the wall in left-center for a three-run home run. The Expos went on to win, 4-0.

Said Ankiel: “I hung it … With him up to bat, you can’t hang that pitch in that situation.” Boxscore

Pals with Pujols

Guerrero, 6 feet 3 and 235 pounds, hit 12 career home runs against the Cardinals. He hit three against Matt Morris, two apiece off Ankiel and Garrett Stephenson and one each against Cliff Politte, Larry Luebbers, Travis Smith, Jason Simontacchi and Woody Williams.

In 2001, when the Expos and Cardinals shared a spring training facility at Jupiter, Fla, Guerrero befriended Cardinals rookie Albert Pujols, who, like Guerrero, is a native of the Dominican Republic. Pujols, in a big-league camp for the first time, was looking to fit in. Guerrero included Pujols in friendly games of dominoes with other Dominican players and treated him to his mother’s home-cooked meals.

“Vladdy was one of the first guys I looked up to,” Pujols said to the Los Angeles Times in a 2016 interview. “People kind of misread Vladdy because he doesn’t like to talk too much, but he’s one of the best guys that I’ve ever been around. The way he treats people is really special. He’s always smiling. He played the game hard and had fun.”

Pujols was playing left field for the Cardinals in a game at Montreal when Guerrero hit a ball so hard it bent the top of the wall and carried over for a home run.

“On a line. He bent the wall,” Pujols said to Yahoo Sports in 2016. “He was unbelievable … He was a fearless hitter … You had to stop and watch him. If they were on TV and you were going out, you had to watch his at-bat first.”

Previously: How Cardinals gambled on Rick Ankiel in 1997 draft

Previously: Revisiting Rick Ankiel’s debut with Cardinals

 

 

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Frank Lary vs. Bob Gibson matchups favored Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on December 26, 2017| 1 Comment »

Frank Lary, who mastered the Yankees during his prime with the Tigers, couldn’t beat the Cardinals when he was near the end of his pitching career with the Mets.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, Lary was a durable and consistent winner in the American League.

When he got sent by the Tigers to the Mets in May 1964, Lary no longer was an elite pitcher, but he still had the guile and ability to be effective as a starter and in relief.

In two starts for the Mets versus the Cardinals _ one in 1964 and another in 1965 _ Lary was matched against Bob Gibson. Lary was poised to win the first matchup until the Cardinals rallied in the ninth inning. In the second matchup, Lary hit against Gibson better than he pitched against the Cardinals.

A right-hander, Lary pitched 12 years (1954-1965) in the major leagues and posted a career record of 128-116 with a 3.49 ERA. He was 28-13 versus the Yankees, including 7-1 in 1958.

Throwback to Gashouse Gang

Lary led the American League in wins (21) in 1956 and was second (with 23) in 1961. He three times was the AL leader in innings pitched and in complete games. Unafraid to pitch inside, Lary four times led the AL in batters hit by pitch.

“He is a throwback to the Cardinals of the ’30s, a cotton-pickin’, gee-tar-strummin’, red clay Alabama farm boy, unspoiled by a little college and a lot of success,” Sports Illustrated wrote of Lary in 1961. “He is mean on the mound and a joker off it.”

In June 1963, Chuck Dressen replaced Bob Scheffing as Tigers manager. Lary and Dressen clashed. On May 30, 1964, before a game against the White Sox at Detroit, Dressen informed Lary, 34, his contract had been sold to the Mets.

“Dressen was hurting me,” Lary said to The Sporting News. “He gives up on a pitcher too soon.”

The uniform No. 17 Lary wore was inherited by a future Tigers ace, Denny McLain.

On May 31, the day after the trade, Lary arrived at Shea Stadium in New York during the first game of a doubleheader between the Giants and Mets. Lary made his Mets debut in the second game, pitching the sixth and seventh innings and retiring all six batters he faced, including Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda. The Giants won, 8-6, in 23 innings. Boxscore

Cardinals comeback

Lary made his first career appearance against the Cardinals on July 19, 1964, at St. Louis. The Cardinals scored twice in the first and once in the second. Lary held them scoreless over the next six innings.

At one point, Lary “cheated a bit” on a pitch to Dick Groat, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lary delivered a pitch “while standing a couple of feet short of the pitcher’s rubber,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Third base umpire Chris Pelekoudas spotted the infraction and called it no pitch.”

The Mets took a 6-3 lead into the ninth. The Cardinals sent six batters to the plate against three Mets pitchers and each got a hit.

Carl Warwick, batting for Gibson, led off the ninth against Lary and laced a line drive into the left-field corner for a double. “He threw me a slider that broke over the plate and I was able to pull it,” Warwick said.

Curt Flood followed with his fourth single of the game against Lary.

Willard Hunter relieved and gave up three hits _ singles by Lou Brock and Bill White and a double by Ken Boyer. Each hit drove in a run, tying the score at 6-6.

With White on third, Boyer on second and Groat at the plate, Darrell Sutherland relieved. “I was surprised they didn’t walk me,” Groat said.

Mets manager Casey Stengel said he considered having Sutherland intentionally walk Groat, loading the bases and setting up a force at any base, but instead “I just told him to pitch the way he wanted to.”

With the infield playing in, Groat looped a single over the outstretched glove of second baseman Ron Hunt, scoring White from third and giving the Cardinals a 7-6 victory. Gibson, who struck out 11, got the win. Boxscore

From foe to friend

Seven days later, on July 26, Lary sparked a brawl in a start against the Braves at New York. After Denis Menke led off the game with a home run, Lary hit the next batter, Lee Maye, in the back of the neck with a pitch. Maye yelled, “That’s a lousy thing to do,” and headed toward the mound. Catcher Chris Cannizzaro grabbed Maye before he could reach Lary, but both benches emptied and fights broke out.

“I don’t know what I would have done if Cannizzaro hadn’t grabbed me,” Maye said.

Said Lary: “I was just pitching him inside. Sometimes a ball goes more inside than you want it.” Boxscore

Two weeks later, on Aug. 8, Lary was traded to the Braves.

Encore performance

Near the end of spring training in 1965, the Braves dealt Lary back to the Mets. He made his final Mets appearance on July 2, 1965, in a start against the Cardinals at Shea Stadium.

The Cardinals, who had Phil Gagliano batting leadoff and Curt Flood in the cleanup spot, scored six runs against Lary _ two each in the second, third and sixth. Flood, who batted .714 (5-for-7) in his career against Lary, had a single and a sacrifice fly.

Lary did more good with his bat than his arm. He singled twice and scored twice against Gibson. The Cardinals won, 6-3. Gibson struck out 13, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. Boxscore

“Gibson’s ball was moving so much he couldn’t control it,” said Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst.

Said Gibson: “I didn’t know where half of the pitches were going.”

Previously: Phil Regan talks Lou Brock, Roger Maris, Al Hrabosky

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Roy Halladay gems were not rare versus Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on November 13, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Jan. 22, 2019)

Besides being a principal player in a Cardinals classic, Roy Halladay also factored prominently in other games versus St. Louis.

Halladay was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 22, 2019, 14 months after he died at age 40 in a plane crash on Nov. 7, 2017. He will be best remembered by Cardinals fans as the Phillies pitcher who dueled St. Louis’ Chris Carpenter in the decisive Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series.

Carpenter and the Cardinals won that game, 1-0, on Oct. 7, 2011, extending a postseason run that led to a World Series championship.

Halladay, who shut out the Cardinals for seven innings after yielding a run in the first, was the hard-luck loser in that drama. He and Carpenter had been teammates on the Blue Jays from 1998-2002.

Usually, though, when Halladay pitched a gem against the Cardinals, he won.

Halladay made seven regular-season starts and two postseason starts against the Cardinals. His regular-season career record versus St. Louis: 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA. In the postseason, Halladay was 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA against the Cardinals.

Here is a look at the games in which Halladay got decisions when facing St. Louis:

Swinging at sinkers

Halladay faced the Cardinals for the first time on June 13, 2005, at Toronto. He pitched a complete game in a 4-1 Blue Jays victory.

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described Halladay’s effort as “a dominant performance worthy of his resume.”

The Cardinals got five hits _ two apiece by David Eckstein and John Mabry, and one by designated hitter Scott Seabol. Mabry got the Cardinals’ lone extra-base hit _ a home run in the fourth inning.

“He’s out there throwing the ball 94 (mph) with a lot of sink,” Mabry said. “He’s using both sides of the plate, sinking and cutting it. His curveball is awesome. He makes it tough. You just try to stay on top of it.” Boxscore

Simply the best

Five years later, Halladay next faced the Cardinals as a member of the Phillies. On May 6, 2010, Halladay pitched seven innings, yielding one earned run, and got the win in a 7-2 Phillies triumph at Philadelphia.

Skip Schumaker, who had two hits for the Cardinals, called Halladay “probably the best pitcher I’ve ever faced.” Boxscore

A breakthrough

On Sept. 19, 2011, Halladay lost to the Cardinals for the first time.

Playing at Philadelphia, Rafael Furcal hit Halladay’s first pitch for a double. Furcal moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Nick Punto. One out later, Lance Berkman followed with a home run, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals won, 4-3, and advanced to within 2.5 games of the Braves for the wild-card spot in the playoffs. Halladay gave up eight hits and walked four in eight innings. Boxscore

Don’t get me mad

Two weeks later, on Oct. 1, 2011, the Cardinals and Phillies played Game 1 of the best-of-five NL Division Series at Philadelphia.

In the first inning, Furcal singled and Albert Pujols walked. With one out, Halladay threw Berkman a two-seam fastball intended to sink away from the left-handed batter. Instead, the pitch was “thigh-high and center cut. About as bad as you can put it,” Halladay told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Berkman connected for a three-run home run.

Halladay “got mad after he gave up the homer,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “That ticked him off and he got going.”

After Schumaker led off the second with a single, Halladay retired the next 21 batters in a row. In eight innings, he gave up three hits and three runs, getting the win in an 11-6 Phillies victory. Boxscore

Dog fight

In his column about Game 5 of the 2011 NL Division Series, Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “Carpenter and Halladay, two alpha dogs, could have burned the hitters’ bats with the intensity of their glares.”

After scoring in the first, the Cardinals were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position against Halladay. Fortunately for the Cardinals, Carpenter was better than Halladay, holding the Phillies scoreless for nine innings.

“You hate to lose in a one-run game,” Halladay said, “but you have to hand it to him (Carpenter). He was unbelievable.”

Furcal led off the game with a triple to center.

“He tried to come inside with a cutter,” Furcal said. “I got a good swing on it and the ball jumped off my bat.” Video

Said Halladay: “The ball was up.”

Schumaker followed with a run-scoring double to right on a curve after fouling off six pitches, including five with two strikes. Video

“I don’t think it was a terrible curveball,” Halladay said. “It was a very good at-bat.” Boxscore

It hurts

The next time Halladay faced the Cardinals was May 27, 2012, at St. Louis. Yadier Molina hit a grand slam in the first and Halladay departed after the second because of a sore shoulder. The Cardinals won, 8-3. Boxscore

Asked about Halladay’s ailment, Manuel said, “Worried? Yeah, definitely I’m concerned.”

Wily veteran

Soon after, Halladay went on the disabled list. When he returned, he made the adjustments needed to be effective again.

On Aug. 10, 2012, Halladay held the Cardinals to two hits in eight innings and got the win in a 3-1 Phillies victory at Philadelphia. A home run by Carlos Beltran accounted for the St. Louis run. Boxscore

“I don’t try to do what I used to do,” Halladay said. “I try to do what I need to do to be successful.”

Science of pitching

Halladay beat the Cardinals for the final time on April 19, 2013, at Philadelphia. He limited them to two hits _ home runs by Beltran and Matt Holliday _ over seven innings in an 8-2 Phillies victory. Boxscore

Halladay retired 14 batters in a row. “When I stay within myself and execute the mechanics the way it should be done, I feel good,” he said.

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