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Jonathan Broxton and his big-league debut vs. Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on February 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

In his debut series as a major-league pitcher, Jonathan Broxton handled Albert Pujols just fine. It was John Rodriguez who gave the big rookie trouble.

jonathon_broxtonIn 2016, Broxton, 31, entered his 12th year in the big leagues and his second as a Cardinals reliever.

The right-hander, an imposing 6 feet 4 and 305 pounds, is seeking an encore to his Cardinals performance in 2015, when he posted a 2.66 ERA in 26 appearances and struck out 26 in 23.2 innings after being acquired from the Brewers on July 31.

Broxton has built a solid big-league resume (3.23 ERA, 118 saves) since making his debut against the Cardinals a month after turning 21.

Right stuff

A second-round selection of the Dodgers in the 2002 amateur draft, Broxton began the 2005 season with Class AA Jacksonsville. Under manager John Shoemaker, Broxton was converted from a starter to a reliever. The transformation led to an increase in the velocity of Broxton’s fastball. It was recorded as high as 101 mph on the speed gun.

Before a series against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on the last weekend of July 2005, Broxton got the call to come to Los Angeles.

Asked why the Dodgers would have Broxton skip Class AAA and jump directly to the big leagues, Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta told MLB.com, “Because he throws 101. He has the perfect makeup for the bullpen. After his first game pitching relief, he came back to the dugout and said, ‘I could do this the rest of my career.’ He just took off in the role and made himself a major league-ready pitcher.”

Debut game

On July 29, 2005, Broxton’s first night in the big leagues, the Dodgers led the Cardinals, 5-4, after five innings when manager Jim Tracy opted to replace starter Brad Penny with Broxton.

The first batter Broxton faced, David Eckstein, singled to center. The next, Abraham Nunez, also singled to center, moving Eckstein to second base.

Pujols, the Cardinals’ best hitter, stepped to the plate.

Broxton struck out Pujols on a pitch described by Matthew Leach of MLB.com as “a biting slider.”

“It was my first time facing the guy and that’s always tough,” Pujols said.

Broxton still wasn’t out of trouble.

With Jim Edmonds at the plate, Broxton unleashed a wild pitch, enabling Eckstein to move to third and Nunez to second.

Tracy ordered an intentional walk to Edmonds, loading the bases for Rodriguez.

A left-handed batter, Rodriguez, 27, had made his big-league debut with the Cardinals 11 days earlier on July 18.

Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Eckstein with the tying run.

Broxton limited the damage by striking out Mark Grudzielanek, ending the inning.

Passing grade

In the seventh, Duaner Sanchez relieved Broxton, held the Cardinals scoreless and got the win when the Dodgers scored twice in the bottom half of the inning off starter Matt Morris. Boxscore

“Despite displaying a 96 mph fastball as advertised, Broxton admitted to feeling jittery and pitched that way,” wrote Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

Asked why he had Broxton make his debut in a pressure situation, Tracy replied, “It was quite a test and he passed. What are you going to wait for? A seven- or eight-run lead? You can’t find out much then. In situations like this, you find out about ability, about character, about poise. He passed. He handled it extremely well.”

The game was attended by Broxton’s father, who coached his son from T-ball through middle school in Georgia.

“I’ve always dreamed of getting to this level and it was great having him there to share it,” Broxton said in the book “Major League Dads.”

Back-to-back

The next night, July 30, Tracy called on Broxton again.

This time, the situation was different, though the batters were the same.

With the Cardinals ahead, 8-4, Broxton, the Dodgers’ fourth pitcher of the game, entered to work the eighth.

Eckstein led off and flied out to center. Nunez walked.

Again, Broxton struck out Pujols. (Through 2015, Pujols had a career .143 batting average, 3-for-21, against Broxton.)

Edmonds walked and Nunez advanced to second.

With a runner in scoring position, Rodriguez delivered again, singling to right and scoring Nunez.

Like the previous night, the inning ended with Broxton striking out Grudzielanek. Boxscore

Broxton would finish the 2005 season with a 1-0 record, 5.93 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 13.2 innings for the Dodgers.

Through 2015, his career numbers versus the Cardinals: 2.47 ERA, six saves and 40 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched.

Previously: Dodgers rake Tom Poholsky for 14 singles, lose to Cardinals

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Cardinals taught Mike Leake hard lesson as a rookie

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on February 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Dec. 21, 2024)

Matched against a big-game pitcher in an atmosphere overloaded with emotion, Reds rookie Mike Leake unraveled versus the Cardinals.

mike_leakeOn Aug. 9, 2010, Reds manager Dusty Baker gave Leake the start in the opener of a showdown series against the Cardinals at Cincinnati. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa countered with an ace, Chris Carpenter.

After a scoreless duel for three innings, Leake cracked. He yielded seven runs in the fourth and became unnerved, losing track of the number of outs and heading toward the dugout before being sent back to the mound.

Emboldened, the Cardinals won the game, swept the series and overtook the Reds for first place in the National League Central Division.

Five years later, on Dec. 22, 2015, Leake, a free agent, signed with the Cardinals.

Queen City drama

In 2010, the Reds were seeking their first NL Central title in 15 years. On the morning of Aug. 9, they held a two-game lead over the second-place Cardinals entering a three-game series against them.

The tension between the division rivals, already high, was intensified that day by two developments:

_ Reds general manager Walt Jocketty acquired Jim Edmonds from the Brewers for outfielder Chris Dickerson.

Jocketty won two NL pennants and a World Series title as Cardinals general manager before he was fired after the 2007 season. Edmonds was the Cardinals’ center fielder on those championship clubs, but was traded after Jocketty left.

Edmonds joined four other former Cardinals _ third baseman Scott Rolen, infielder Miguel Cairo and pitchers Russ Springer and Mike Lincoln _ on the Reds.

_ In an interview with Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips lit into the Cardinals. McCoy posted the comments online before the game and the Cardinals read the remarks.

Said Phillips of the Cardinals, “All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them. They’re little bitches … I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals.”

Schumaker slam

Dusty Baker started a lineup that night with Phillips in the leadoff spot, Rolen at cleanup and Edmonds, in his Reds debut, batting fifth.

The Cardinals focused on trying to lay off Leake’s sinker and get him to deliver pitches up in the strike zone.

In the fourth, the Cardinals produced six hits and six runs on 12 pitches. Jon Jay doubled and Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus and Yadier Molina each singled. The hits by Holliday and Rasmus each drove in a run. Molina’s single loaded the bases for Skip Schumaker, who was playing his first game since spraining his left wrist Aug. 3.

Schumaker swung at Leake’s first pitch and drove the ball 408 feet over the wall in left-center field for his first career grand slam, giving St. Louis a 6-0 lead.

Dazed and confused

“They got six in a span of 12 pitches,” Baker said to the Associated Press. “It happened so quickly that I didn’t have time to get anybody warmed up.”

After Schumaker’s slam, Leake fanned two batters, jogged off the mound and was at the foul line before he realized there were two outs, not three.

Leake returned, pitched to Felipe Lopez, who singled, and got yanked. Reliever Carlos Fisher walked Jay and yielded a single to Pujols, scoring Lopez. That run was charged to Leake, whose final line showed seven runs allowed in 3.2 innings.

Good plan

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Joe Strauss wrote, “The Cards perfectly executed an early attack against Leake … They noticed a flattening of Leake’s assortment in his previous start and adopted a very aggressive tact.”

The Cardinals won, 7-3, and moved within a game of the Reds. Boxscore

Phillips was 0-for-5. Edmonds and Rolen also were hitless.

“I’m guessing Phillips really hated seeing Schumaker hit the grand slam, a massive hit that wasn’t very Cubs-like,” wrote columnist Bernie Miklasz.

Tempers flare

The next night, Aug. 10, Phillips sparked a brawl when, in the batter’s box, he used his bat to tap Molina’s shin guards. Molina responded angrily, both benches emptied and the fight carried to the backstop.

Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto kicked Cardinals catcher Jason LaRue in the head and he also kicked Carpenter in the back. Baker and La Russa were ejected.

The Cardinals won that game, 8-4, and moved into a tie with the Reds for first place. Boxscore

(Asked about the incident with Phillips, Molina said to Stan McNeal in an interview for the 2019 Cardinals Yearbook, “Moments like that are going to happen. We spent time together at the All-Star Game {the next year}, and we talked. I met his family. He met mine. We’re good.”)

On Aug. 11, the Cardinals completed the sweep with a 6-1 triumph. Rasmus hit a grand slam off Bronson Arroyo, Adam Wainwright pitched seven shutout innings and the Cardinals had first place to themselves.

The Reds, though, recovered and went on to win the division title, finishing five games ahead of the runner-up Cardinals.

 

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Jedd Gyorko feasted on Cardinals pitching

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Trades on February 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

If Jedd Gyorko hits as well for the Cardinals as he did against them, St. Louis will have added a productive batter to its lineup.

jedd_gyorkoAcquired by the Cardinals from the Padres in a trade for outfielder Jon Jay on Dec. 8, 2015, Gyorko entered the 2016 season as a versatile infielder who can perform at second base, shortstop and third base.

His career batting average versus the Cardinals is .342 (25-for-73), with five home runs and 16 RBI in 20 games.

Two of Gyorko’s best games came against the Cardinals in 2014.

Here is a look at those performances:

Sweet swing

Batting sixth and playing second base, Gyorko was 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored against the Cardinals in a 12-1 Padres victory at San Diego on July 30, 2014.

He got a hit apiece off three pitchers.

Gyorko began his barrage with a solo home run in the fourth inning off starter Joe Kelly.

“Pitches were up that should have been down,” Kelly told the Associated Press.

In the sixth, Gyorko singled off Carlos Martinez. An inning later, with the bases loaded and one out, Gyorko hit a three-run double off Seth Maness, giving San Diego a 9-1 lead.

‘It was probably our ugliest loss of the year,” said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny.

Gyorko had been activated two days earlier after a 44-day stint on the disabled list because of foot problems.

“It obviously feels good to swing the bat the way I wanted to,” Gyorko said. “It feels a lot like how I was swinging it there at the end of the year last year. It’s something to build on, but I still have a long way to go.” Boxscore

Grand game

Two weeks later, on Aug. 16, 2014, at St. Louis, Gyorko hit a grand slam, lifting the Padres to a 9-5 victory over the Cardinals.

Batting fifth and playing second base, Gyorko was 2-for-3 with five RBI, two runs scored and two walks.

In the third, Gyorko’s two-out, RBI-single off Shelby Miller scored Abraham Almonte from third base, sparking a four-run Padres inning and tying the score at 4-4.

Said Miller: “Unacceptable. Obviously, it doesn’t sit well with me. I should have done a better job of making pitches.”

The Cardinals led, 5-4, entering the seventh. With one out and the bases loaded, Gyorko connected on a 94-mph fastball from reliever Kevin Siegrist, launching a grand slam over the left field wall and giving the Padres an 8-5 lead.

“It was a fastball down and in,” Gyorko said. “It probably wasn’t a bad pitch. I just put a good swing on it.”

The home run was the 31st of Gyorko’s big-league career, moving him past Mark Loretta as the Padres’ all-time home run leader as a second baseman.

“That’s a credit to the guys hitting in front of me,” Gyorko told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Really, they are doing a great job of getting on base. I just have to capitalize more like tonight.”

The grand slam was the third of Gyorko’s big-league career and the only one yielded by Siegrist with the Cardinals. Boxscore

Afterward, Siegrist was demoted to the minor leagues and Martinez was recalled from Class AAA Memphis to replace him.

Said Matheny of Siegrist: “He feels physically strong, but there’s just something that’s a click off.”

Previously: Cards steals leader Jon Jay plays similar to Wally Moon

Previously: Jon Jay matched Curt Flood as flawless in center

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How Jim O’Toole performed escape act versus Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on January 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Of the many duels the Reds’ Jim O’Toole had with the Cardinals, the most bizarre was his performance in the first game of a 1963 doubleheader. Even without his nemesis, Ken Boyer, in the lineup, O’Toole was pummeled by the Cardinals, but still won.

jim_otooleA left-hander, O’Toole posted double-digit wins for the Reds in five consecutive seasons (1960-64) and was an All-Star Game starter in 1963. In nine years with Cincinnati, O’Toole was 10-14 with a 4.17 ERA in 38 appearances against the Cardinals.

His best game versus St. Louis was on May 6, 1960, when he pitched a four-hitter in a 1-0 Reds triumph. Boxscore

His worst game against St. Louis was on June 7, 1962, when he was rocked for six runs and 10 hits in 4.1 innings in an 8-2 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

Perhaps the most memorable was the escape act he performed on May 5, 1963, at Cincinnati.

Grim work

Though he yielded 12 hits, walked two, had two batters reach base on errors and threw a wild pitch before he was lifted with two on and none out in the seventh, O’Toole got his major league-leading sixth win of the season in a 5-4 Reds victory.

The Cardinals had two runners thrown out at home, two runners caught attempting to steal second, grounded into a double play and stranded nine.

In addition, “several Redbird smashes were kept in the ballpark by a treacherous wind,” The Sporting News reported.

“There’ll be games like that all season because the league is so well balanced,” said Cardinals general manager Bing Devine.

The Reds never trailed. Or, as the Associated Press noted, “The Reds scored three runs in the opening inning and held on grimly.”

O’Toole did the bulk of that grim work.

Unconventional script

Among the twists and turns:

_ O’Toole retired the first four batters he faced.

_ In the second inning, with the Reds ahead, 3-1, the Cardinals had Leo Burke on second and Gene Oliver on first with one out. Julian Javier grounded to shortstop Leo Cardenas, who booted the ball. Javier reached first safely on the error. Burke rounded third and headed for home. Cardenas recovered in time and threw to catcher Johnny Edwards, who tagged out Burke.

_ With two outs in the fourth and the Reds ahead, 4-2, the Cardinals had Javier on third and Ray Sadecki on first. O’Toole uncorked a wild pitch, enabling Sadecki to reach second. Dick Groat singled, scoring Javier but left fielder Frank Robinson’s throw to Edwards nailed Sadecki at the plate for the third out.

_ In the seventh, Curt Flood doubled and Groat followed with a RBI-single, knocking O’Toole from the game and cutting the Reds’ lead to 5-4. Al Worthington relieved and yielded a single to Bill White, moving Groat to third. The rally unraveled when George Altman struck out, White was caught attempting to steal and Charlie James flied out. Boxscore

Perhaps the outcome would have been different if Boyer had played.

O’Toole tormentor

Two nights earlier, in the series opener, Boyer was injured when Edwards spiked him while sliding into third. Boyer needed 13 stiches to close two wounds. He wouldn’t return to the lineup until after the Cardinals left Cincinnati.

Boyer had the most career hits (36) against O’Toole of any batter. He hit .468 (36-for-77) with five doubles, four home runs, 10 walks and 22 RBI versus O’Toole. Boyer’s career on-base percentage against him was .529.

In O’Toole’s first three full seasons with the Reds, Boyer haunted him, hitting .636 (7-for-11) in 1959, .462 (6-for-13) in 1960 and .750 (6-for-8) in 1961, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

O’Toole was the starting pitcher in the 1963 All-Star Game at Cleveland when the National League started an all-Cardinals infield of White at first, Javier at second, Groat at shortstop and Boyer at third.

In the second inning of that game, the American League had Leon Wagner on second, Zolio Versalles on first, two outs and pitcher Ken McBride at the plate.

McBride hit a grounder to Boyer’s left. He dived for the ball, but it deflected off his glove and into left field for a RBI-single, tying the score. Boxscore

 

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Sunday night pioneer: How Hal Brown baffled Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on January 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Sunday night baseball, a standard feature on today’s major-league schedule, was a radical idea, born of necessity, when the Cardinals first experienced it in 1963.

hal_brownAt that time, the Houston Colt .45s, in their second National League season, played their home games at an outdoor ballpark. In the summer, the oppressive Texas heat and humidity made day baseball uncomfortable, if not impractical, for fans and players.

“Rivals agreed that it’s too hot to play on Sunday afternoons,” United Press International reported.

The 1963 Colt .45s became the first big-league club to schedule Sunday night home games. The first was against the Giants on June 9. The second was played against the Cardinals on June 30. The winning pitcher in both was a 38-year-old knuckleball specialist, Hal Brown, a World War II combat veteran who had served as a gunner on U.S. Army Air Force bombers.

Need to be stingy

Brown, winding down his career with the weakest-hitting team in the National League, knew his best chance to win was to pitch a shutout for the Colt .45s.

The 1963 Colt .45s would rank last in the 10-team NL in runs (464), RBI (420) and home runs (62).

Brown earned five wins for the 1963 Colt .45s. He pitched complete-game shutouts _ two versus the Cardinals, including the Sunday night game, and one against the Phillies _ for three of those wins. In the other two, he pitched 6.1 innings of scoreless relief versus the Giants and held the Mets to three runs in a rain-shortened seven-inning start.

Thus, in his wins for the 1963 Colt .45s, Brown had an ERA of 0.66, yielding three runs in 49.1 innings.

Overall, Brown was 5-11 with a 3.31 ERA in 26 games, including 20 starts, for the 1963 Colt .45s. Brown yielded three runs or fewer in seven of his losses, with the Colt .45s scoring a total of five runs in those defeats.

Richards connection

Brown debuted in the major leagues with the 1951 White Sox. He also pitched for the Red Sox and Orioles before joining the Yankees in September 1962.

On April 21, 1963, the Yankees sent Brown to the Colt .45s for $25,000. Paul Richards, general manager of the Colt .45s, had been Brown’s manager with the White Sox and for most of his time with the Orioles. It was Richards who encouraged Brown to use the knuckleball.

“I don’t want a big knuckler,” Brown said to The Sporting News. “I want it to look just good enough to swing at. When you’re 38, you would rather get them out on one pitch than strike them out on three.”

Night moves

In the inaugural big-league Sunday night game, Brown relieved injured starter Turk Farrell with two outs in the third inning. Brown pitched the rest of the way, yielding one hit _ a Willie Mays single _ and retiring the last 17 Giants batters in a row for his first NL win in a 3-0 Colt .45s victory. Boxscore

Outside the ballpark, protesters opposed Sunday night baseball, according to the book “Colt .45s: A Six-Gun Salute.”

“It’s just plain wrong and ought not to be,” Baptist minister O.A. Taylor said of Sunday night games. “If they get by with this, they’ll start scheduling games on Sunday morning.”

Three weeks later, Brown got the start against the Cardinals in the second Sunday night game.

Brown pitched a complete-game seven hitter in a 1-0 Colt .45s victory. Houston scored in the fourth off starter Lew Burdette on John Bateman’s RBI-single.

Brown held the Cardinals to six singles and a triple, striking out six and walking one. He escaped several jams, including:

_ In the first inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs before Brown retired George Altman.

_ In the second, Curt Flood reached second with none out, but was caught attempting to steal third.

_ Altman tripled leading off the seventh. He was unable to advance on groundouts by Flood and Tim McCarver. Carl Sawatski flied out, ending the inning and stranding Altman at third.

_ In the eighth, the Cardinals had runners on first and third with one out. Brown retired Charlie James and Ken Boyer without allowing the runner from third to score.

“It was a weird but wonderful triumph,” wrote Mickey Herskowitz in The Sporting News.

Said Brown: “It’s a pretty good feeling to know you have to pitch a shutout to win and then to do it.” Boxscore

Brown shut out the Cardinals for the second time on Aug. 24, 1963, a Saturday night in Houston. He limited the Cardinals to four singles _ three by Flood and one by Altman _ in a 4-0 Colt .45s victory.

Stan Musial, making his final visit to Houston as a player and honored in ceremonies before the game, was 0-for-3 against Brown that night. Boxscore

Previously: From the start, Cardinals vs. Houston rivalry was special

Previously: Reds-Cardinals: Easter night to remember

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A stormy relationship between Walker Cooper, Cardinals

Posted in Hitters, Opponents, Trades on January 7, 2016| 4 Comments »

Fed up with contract hassles and uneasy with the prospect of playing for manager Eddie Dyer, Walker Cooper, the best catcher in the National League, wanted out of St. Louis. Seeing a surplus of suitors causing Cooper’s market value to skyrocket, Cardinals owner Sam Breadon was willing to accommodate him.

walker_cooper2On Jan. 5, 1946, the Cardinals sent Cooper to the Giants for $175,000.

The cash amount was the third-largest paid by a club to acquire a player, according to media reports at that time.

(In 1934, the Red Sox sent $250,000 and shortstop Lyn Lary to the Senators for shortstop Joe Cronin. In 1938, the Cubs gave $185,000, plus pitchers Curt Davis and Clyde Shoun and outfielder Tuck Stainback, to the Cardinals for pitcher Dizzy Dean.)

“I decided Cooper wasn’t satisfied here and would do better elsewhere,” Breadon said. “But get me right: Walker was a great player here and I consider him the greatest catcher in the majors since Bill Dickey of the Yankees was a young man.”

In the short term, the trade didn’t hurt the Cardinals. Without Cooper, they won the 1946 World Series championship.

In the long run, losing Cooper was a factor in the erosion of the Cardinals, who went 18 years before winning another World Series crown.

3-time all-star

Along with his brother Mort, a starting pitcher, Walker Cooper was a key player on Cardinals clubs that won three consecutive NL pennants and two World Series titles from 1942-44.

He was named an all-star catcher in each of those three seasons. His numbers:

_ 1942: Batted .281 with 32 doubles and 65 RBI. Ranked second among NL catchers in assists (62) and runners caught attempting to steal (58 percent). Batted .286 in the World Series.

_ 1943: Batted .318 with 30 doubles and 81 RBI. Caught 48 percent of runners attempting to steal. Batted .294 in the World Series.

_ 1944: Batted .317 with 25 doubles and 72 RBI. Caught 43 percent of runners attempting to steal. Batted .318 in the World Series.

Cooper also was touted for game-calling skills. “He’s the best fellow handling young pitchers I have ever seen,” said Coaker Triplett, a Cardinals outfielder from 1941-43.

Feuding with front office

The relationship between Cooper and the Cardinals soured in 1945.

In spring training, Mort Cooper demanded a $15,000 contract. Breadon refused. In protest, Mort Cooper and Walker Cooper left camp and threatened to boycott the Cardinals’ opening series against the Cubs.

The brothers gave in and were with the club on Opening Day. Soon after, Walker Cooper was inducted into the Navy after playing four April games for the 1945 Cardinals. A month later, Mort Cooper was traded to the Braves.

While serving his Navy stint in 1945, Walker Cooper remained miffed at Cardinals management for the contract dispute and for dealing his brother.

Trade me

In October 1945, Walker Cooper called Breadon and requested a trade, the Cardinals owner told The Sporting News.

Cooper confirmed to the Associated Press he had asked to be traded.

A month later, Cardinals manager Billy Southworth resigned and joined the Braves. Breadon replaced Southworth with Dyer. Cooper again contacted the Cardinals and “said he would rather not play under Dyer,” Breadon said.

Cooper’s problem with Dyer occurred when both were with the Cardinals’ Houston farm club during spring training in 1939. Cooper apparently clashed with Dyer, who had replaced Ira Smith as manager. Cooper was shipped to the Cardinals’ Asheville, N.C., affiliate.

“(Dyer) said there had been differences with Cooper in Houston, but he believed they could be ironed out,” Breadon said. “He felt a player didn’t have to like him personally if he played good ball for his team.”

Said Dyer: “I have always been able to get along with any ballplayer and I could have gotten along with Cooper, whom I consider the best catcher in baseball.”

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Breadon said Coop didn’t want to play for Dyer, but the boss gave (Dyer) no chance to talk to the catcher. The truth is, Mr. Breadon was annoyed at the Cooper boys for squabbling over salaries.”

Money talks

At the baseball winter meetings in December 1945, at least five clubs inquired about Cooper, with the Giants, Braves and Phillies making the most lucrative offers.

The Cardinals asked the Giants for $150,000 and three players. A few weeks later, the trade came together when the Giants offered to increase the cash amount to $175,000 if the Cardinals would drop their demand for players.

The transaction was announced three days before Cooper turned 31. It “kicked up more commotion among Polo Grounds customers than any deal since Frank Frisch was traded for Rogers Hornsby in 1926,” wrote The Sporting News.

Cooper was released from the Navy on April 2, 1946, and debuted with the Giants about two weeks later.

Looking back

His first season with New York was a dud. Cooper hit .268 with 46 RBI for a 1946 Giants team that finished in last place at 61-93. The 1946 Cardinals, using a platoon of Joe Garagiola and Del Rice at catcher, finished in first place at 98-58.

Cooper did better for the 1947 Giants, hitting .305 with 35 homers and 122 RBI.

After stints with the Reds, Braves, Pirates and Cubs, Cooper finished his career as a backup catcher for the 1956-57 Cardinals.

Neither Garagiola nor Rice performed at the level Cooper had for St. Louis.

In his book “Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man,” author James N. Giglio wrote, “Both Musial and (Enos) Slaughter rightly contended that the loss of Cooper cost the Redbirds several pennants.”

In choosing his all-time NL all-star team, Musial picked Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella “in a photo finish with Walker Cooper.”

Comparing the Cooper deal with the 1941 trade of St. Louis slugger Johnny Mize to the Giants, Musial said, “Big Coop’s sale by the Cardinals probably was even worse than the loss of Johnny Mize.”

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