RetroSimba

Mark Ellis nearly lost a leg when injured playing against the Cardinals.

Less than two years later, a healthy Ellis has joined the Cardinals as a reserve infielder and mentor to second baseman Kolten Wong.

Ellis, 36, a free-agent second baseman, signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals on Dec. 16, 2013. In 11 big-league seasons with the Athletics, Rockies and Dodgers, Ellis has a .265 batting average and 1,311 hits. He ranks third in fielding percentage among active major-league second basemen at .9907, behind Placido Polanco (.9927) and Dustin Pedroia (.9909).

On May 18, 2012, Ellis was playing second base for the Dodgers against the Cardinals at Los Angeles. In the seventh inning, with the score tied at 4-4, Tyler Greene was the baserunner at first for the Cardinals when Shane Robinson grounded to shortstop.

Dee Gordon fielded the ball and tossed it to Ellis, covering second. Greene slid into Ellis, who landed hard on his lower left leg.

Ellis remained in the game and lined out leading off the bottom of the seventh. When the pain and swelling in his leg increased, Ellis was replaced before the start of the eighth. The Dodgers won, 6-5. Boxscore

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly called the play “clean” and “a good, hard slide,” reported Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Greene said he wasn’t trying to hurt Ellis. “There’s nothing going on there,” Greene said. “You’re trying to break up the double play. I don’t think he anticipated me being there as soon as I was. The way he came off the bag into the baseline he almost went right in front of it. I think he mistimed it.”

The next day, before the Cardinals played the Dodgers, Ellis told trainer Sue Falsone the leg still was causing pain. After an examination, Falsone and the Dodgers medical staff got Ellis to a hospital.

Doctors determined Ellis needed an emergency fasciotomy. Surgeons cut a six-inch incision into Ellis’ left calf to drain blood and fluid, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Mattingly said he was told by the team’s physician, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, that Ellis might have required amputation of the leg had he not undergone the urgent fasciotomy, MLB.com reported.

“Doc said that if that thing goes another six or seven hours (Ellis) has a chance to lose a leg,” Mattingly said.

Ellis spent five days in the hospital. When the swelling went down, Ellis was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament, according to the Orange County Register.

On July 4, 2012, Ellis returned to the Dodgers’ lineup and resumed being the everyday second baseman. He played 110 games in 2012 and produced 107 hits. In 910.1 innings at second base that season, Ellis committed only three errors.

Previously: How Cardinals pursued trade for Don Mattingly

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(Updated Jan. 8, 2014)

Frank Thomas spent his 19-year big-league career in the American League, which is fortunate for the Cardinals, because they were limited to facing him in interleague competition.

In 12 games against the Cardinals from 1997-2000, the White Sox slugger punished St. Louis pitching. His .372 career batting mark versus the Cardinals (16-for-43) is his highest against any opponent whom he has 50 at-bats against.

Thomas, a first baseman and designated hitter for the White Sox, Athletics and Blue Jays from 1990-2008, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Jan. 8, 2014.

A two-time winner of the American League Most Valuable Player Award, Thomas hit .301 with 521 home runs and 1,704 RBI in his big-league career. He won an American League batting title (with .347 in 1997) and four times topped the league in on-base percentage.

Thomas’ last game against the Cardinals was one of the best of his career. He tied a career-high with six RBI in a 15-7 White Sox victory on July 15, 2000. Boxscore

It was one of only two times Thomas achieved six RBI in a game. He first did it on May 15, 1996, against the Brewers. Boxscore

Thomas got his six RBI against the Cardinals on two swings: a three-run home run in the first inning off Darryl Kile and a three-run double in the seventh off Mike Matthews.

The performance showed how Thomas had emerged as a White Sox leader.

In 1999, Thomas had feuded with White Sox manager Jerry Manuel. The two also got into a shouting match during spring training in 2000, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“Manuel essentially challenged Thomas to take an active role in the club, to be a teammate to the young players,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Thomas rose to that challenge in what was a contentious Cardinals-White Sox series in July 2000. Three Cardinals batters (Fernando Tatis twice and Fernando Vina once) were hit by pitches in the July 14 game against the White Sox. Boxscore

The next day, Tatis and teammate Eduardo Perez were hit by pitches and so, too, were Magglio Ordonez and Jose Valentin of the White Sox. It was after Valentin was plunked that Thomas hit his bases-clearing double, capping his six-RBI performance, and sending a message to his teammates.

“Being the leader has definitely been my role,” Thomas said. “I had to embrace that. It’s been a challenging year for me … Maybe I was down for a while and wasn’t motivated. I said to myself I was going to give my best, day in and day out, and be the best possible teammate I can be.”

Previously: As player, Robin Ventura was tough on Cardinals

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(Updated April 30, 2020)

Stan Musial had such respect for the arm of Andy Pafko he included the National League veteran as part of the best-throwing outfield he’d ever seen.

Because he didn’t use that arm, Pafko committed a blunder that literally handed the Cardinals a comeback victory against the Cubs.

Wild ninth

Pafko was in center field for a Saturday afternoon game, April 30, 1949, against the Cardinals at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Behind the pitching of starter Bob Rush, who threw what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described as a “crackling fastball and corner-cutting curve,” the Cubs entered the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead.

With Enos Slaughter on second base and two outs, Rush was on the verge of a victory until Eddie Kazak hit a pitch off his fists and looped a single to short left, scoring Slaughter and narrowing the Cubs’ lead to 3-2. Chuck Diering ran for Kazak and Rocky Nelson, a rookie first baseman, stepped to the plate for St. Louis.

With Pafko shaded toward right for the left-handed batter, Nelson lined the ball to left-center.

“Even though the ball was slicing away from him in a deep part of the park, his quick start and fleet legs enabled him to gain on the drive,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Pafko lunged to his right, his gloved hand thrust outward in a bid for a backhanded catch.”

Pafko skidded across the grass before he “flung up his hand, clutching the ball, in a gesture of triumph,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

Umpire Al Barlick ruled Pafko trapped the ball, signaling with his hands extended and palms down in a safe call.

Diering and Nelson raced around the basepaths.

Great debate

According to The Sporting News, “Instead of throwing in the ball with his superb arm, Pafko, the ball still lodged in the webbing of his glove, came running in to second base to join the swarm of Cubs who were rushing toward Barlick.”

As Pafko held the ball, Diering scored the tying run and Nelson was waved toward the plate by third-base coach Tony Kauffman.

Pafko, unwilling to believe the no-catch ruling, waited too long before throwing the ball to the plate. The ball hit Nelson in the left shoulder as he was crossing the plate with the winning run.

Cubs fans protested by throwing objects, including cushions, fruit and vegetables, onto the field.

The stunned Cubs were retired in order by closer Ted Wilks in the bottom of the ninth and the Cardinals won, 4-3. Boxscore

The Sporting News summed up the game as probably the first in the history of big-league baseball “decided by what they describe not as an inside-the-park homer but as an in-the-glove homer.”

Two years later, June 1951, Pafko was dealt to the Dodgers, giving Brooklyn an outfield of Pafko in left, Duke Snider in center and Carl Furillo in right.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said with Pafko, Snider and Furillo “the Dodgers had the best-throwing outfield I ever saw.”

“Andy was a strong hitter, a strong-armed fielder and good defensively,” Musial said. “He was steady, gave you a good day’s work.”

Playing for the Cubs, Dodgers and Braves from 1943-59, Pafko batted .285 with 213 home runs and 1,796 hits. In 258 games against the Cardinals, Pafko hit .273 with 22 homers and 120 RBI.

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Snapshots from Stan Musial’s last game, Sept. 29, 1963, when the Reds played the Cardinals at St. Louis:

Mass and McMahon

Musial attended Mass that Sunday morning at St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church near his St. Louis home. He drove to the ballpark with his friend, actor Horace McMahon, who was visiting from Connecticut, The Sporting News reported. McMahon had received an Emmy nomination for his role as a detective in the TV show “Naked City.” Musial was godfather to McMahon’s son.

Visit with Ducky

After parking his steel blue Cadillac, Musial entered the ballpark at 10:50 a.m. One of the first to greet him in the clubhouse was Joe Medwick, a slugger for the Cardinals from 1932-40. “Fellows,” Musial said to the reporters on scene, “this is the guy I replaced as regular left fielder 22 years ago.”

Salute to Shannon

When Cardinals outfielders Gary Kolb, 23, and Mike Shannon, 24, walked by, Musial asked them to stop and sit with him. With Kolb on one side of the retiring legend and Shannon on the other, Musial said to reporters, “And these are my protégés who’ll replace me next year.”

Sharp tune-up

Entering the field wearing the familiar No. 6 on his jersey, Musial went directly to the batting cage. Bill White stepped aside for Musial, who took his swings against Lloyd Merritt, a St. Louis native who pitched for the Cardinals in 1957. Musial hit Merritt’s last batting-practice toss onto the pavilion roof in right field.

Reds rooters

When he left the cage, Musial was greeted by Reds veterans Joe Nuxhall and Frank Robinson and rookie Pete Rose. Nuxhall and Robinson brought baseballs for Musial to sign. Rose shook hands with Musial and wished him well.

Diamonds are forever

During ceremonies before the game, Ken Boyer, the Cardinals’ captain, presented Musial with a gift from his teammates: a ring with six diamonds shaped in the number 6. In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Of all the gifts I’ve been given at one time or another, I believe I cherish most the ring … that was presented by my 1963 teammates. My world championship rings had been stolen from my house several years earlier.”

Feeling the strain

Musial opened the game in left field. In his 22-year Cardinals career, Musial played 929 games in left, the most of the three outfield positions. “My legs were wobbly from emotion and exhaustion as I trotted to the outfield to start my last game,” Musial said.

At-bat interruption

Facing Jim Maloney, a 23-game winner in 1963, Musial struck out on three pitches in the first inning. Musial didn’t swing at the first pitch. Umpire Al Barlick took the ball from catcher Johnny Edwards’ glove and gave it to Musial, who trotted over to a box seat and handed the ball to Sid Keener, director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Musial fouled off the next pitch and watched a curve snap in for strike three. Said Musial: “As I returned to the dugout, trainer Bob Bauman growled, ‘You weren’t bearing down up there.’ ”

No no-hitter

Maloney struck out six of the first 10 batters. When Musial came up in the fourth, the Cardinals were hitless. “I crouched low, trying to forget all else except the giant pitcher and the ball he fired so fast,” Musial said. With the count 1-and-1, Musial swung at a fastball, low and inside, and drilled it to the right of Rose at second base for a single.

The final swing

With Curt Flood at second in a scoreless game, Musial batted against Maloney in the sixth. Shadows covered the batting area. On a 2-and-1 pitch, Maloney threw a curve. “I picked up the spin of the ball in time,” Musial said. “My wrists whipped the bat down and in.” Musial grounded a RBI-single to right, his 3,630th hit.

Kolb relieves

Manager Johnny Keane lifted Musial for a pinch-runner, Kolb. It was the ninth time Kolb had been used as a pinch-runner for Musial, 42, in 1963. Kolb scored in the inning on a sacrifice fly by Charlie James, giving St. Louis a 2-0 lead. In the clubhouse, Musial told reporters, “I feel pretty good. Everyone was pulling for a home run, but I’m a singles hitter, so it seemed appropriate that I should go out with a pair of ’em.”

Classy warriors

After being replaced by a pinch-hitter in the eighth, Maloney went to the Cardinals clubhouse to congratulate Musial. When Musial saw Maloney enter, he said aloud, “Here’s a real tough guy. He had me worried.” Said Maloney to reporters: “I was glad to see him go out hitting.”

That’s a winner

The Cardinals won, 3-2, in 14 innings. Boxscore The Cardinals had won by the same score in Musial’s first game on Sept. 17, 1941. Like his finale, Musial had two hits in his debut game.

Holy cow

After saying more farewells, Musial did a post-game interview with Harry Caray for radio station KMOX. Musial told Caray that Warren Spahn was the best pitcher he faced in his career and Willie Mays was the best all-around player.

Celebration

At 7:45 p.m., nine hours after he had arrived, Musial left the ballpark, stopped home briefly and went with his family to a party in his honor at the restaurant he owned with business partner Biggie Garagnani. Among those attending the party were U.S. senator Stuart Symington, Missouri governor John Dalton and St. Louis mayor Raymond Tucker.

The next day, Musial and his wife, Lil, took a flight to New York to attend the World Series. Musial, dressed in a suit and with Joe DiMaggio at his side, threw the ceremonial first pitch on Oct. 2 before Game 1 between the Dodgers and Yankees. From there, the Musials went to Fort Riley, Kan., to get their first look at their first grandchild, Jeff, who was born Sept. 10.

Previously: Stan Musial and the Cardinals’ most iconic moments

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