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Archive for the ‘Opponents’ Category

Cardinals helped Dan Quisenberry overcome the blues

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents, Pitchers on July 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

After 10 seasons wearing Kansas City Royals blue, Dan Quisenberry was startled when he put on his St. Louis Cardinals jersey, walked by a mirror and glimpsed how he looked in red.

dan_quisenberry“It’s pretty bright red,” Quisenberry said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “My eyes are going to have to adjust.”

In July 1988, Quisenberry joined the Cardinals 10 days after being released by the Royals.

Departing Kansas City was emotional for Quisenberry, who earned 238 saves for the Royals. Quisenberry, who threw a sinker with a submarine delivery, was the closer on the Royals’ World Series championship team in 1985 and led the American League in saves five times.

In 1986, Quisenberry was signed to what the Royals called a lifetime contract. By 1988, the Royals were phasing out Quisenberry, 35, and grooming younger pitchers such as Steve Farr and Jeff Montgomery for the closer job. When Quisenberry was released on July 4, 1988, his season record was 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 20 games.

With tears welling, Quisenberry told Bob Nightengale of the Kansas City Star and Times, “After all of these years, it’s hard not to be emotional … It wasn’t a happy ending and it wasn’t very picturesque.”

Said Royals general manager John Schuerholz to the Associated Press: “The bottom line is effectiveness. It was purely and simply a baseball decision. His effectiveness was just not what it had been.”

Reunited with Whitey

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog was the Royals’ manager in 1979, Quisenberry’s rookie season with Kansas City. Herzog and Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill reached out to Quisenberry and signed him on July 14, 1988.

“A lot of it is being close to my home (in Leawood, Kan.),” Quisenberry told the Post-Dispatch. “One of the other reasons is that Whitey is the manager. I have the utmost respect for Whitey. He’s a real straight shooter.”

Quisenberry also was a friend of Cardinals coach Nick Leyva. They were college baseball teammates at La Verne in California.

Pitching primarily in middle relief, Quisenberry was 2-0 with a 6.16 ERA in 33 games for the 1988 Cardinals. St. Louis brought him back in 1989 and Quisenberry was 3-1 with six saves and a 2.64 ERA in 63 appearances.

Hit man

Because of the designated hitter rule in the American League, Quisenberry never batted in a big-league game with the Royals. He got his lone big-league hit on July 6, 1989, when he delivered a RBI-single against Tim Belcher of the Dodgers at St. Louis. Boxscore

Players in the Cardinals’ dugout “went into hysterics” after Quisenberry reached first base, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Cardinals fans gave Quisenberry a standing ovation as he stood on first.

”That was embarrassing,” Quisenberry said. ”I was hoping they’d stop. The cordial thing is to tip your hat, but I stuttered. It was a stutter tip.”

In the eighth, Quisenberry batted against Ricky Horton and struck out on three breaking pitches.

”I learned I’m a dead-red fastball hitter,” Quisenberry quipped. ”I probably should go back to Triple-A to learn how to hit the curveball.”

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How Giants beat John Tudor, Cardinals, 21-2

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on July 6, 2013| 2 Comments »

In 1988, the defending National League champion Cardinals staggered into the all-star break after experiencing a humiliating loss during a series that exposed multiple flaws and severely tested their resolve.

chris_speierThe 1988 Cardinals ended their first half of the season with three games at San Francisco. Mike LaCoss pitched a four-hitter in the opener, a 1-0 Giants win. Terry Mulholland pitched a five-hitter in the finale and the Giants won, 2-1.

It was the middle game of the set that sent the Cardinals reeling.

The Giants beat them, 21-2, on Saturday afternoon, July 9, 1988, at Candlestick Park.

Summarizing the Cardinals’ performance, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “Their defense was less than airtight and their hitting was poor, but, most strikingly, their pitching was colossally bad.”

The 21 runs allowed were the most a Cardinals team had surrendered in 63 years, according to the Post-Dispatch. The Pirates defeated the Cardinals, 24-6, on June 22, 1925, at St. Louis. Boxscore

The 21 runs also were the most scored by the Giants since they moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958. The previous high was 19.

Two unlikely Giants standouts in the blowout win were infielders Chris Speier and Ernest Riles.

Speier, 38, filling in at second base for ailing all-star Robby Thompson, hit for the cycle and had five RBI. He had two doubles, a triple, a home run and a single. It was the only five-hit game in Speier’s 19-year major-league career.

The oldest big-league player to hit for the cycle was Cy Williams, 39, of the 1927 Phillies, the Post-Dispatch reported. Like Speier, Honus Wagner of the 1912 Pirates was 38 when he hit for the cycle.

Speier entered the game with a .191 batting average. “I hadn’t been doing much the last month and a half,” Speier said to the Associated Press. “I had a long talk with my wife and I just decided to relax and have some fun.”

Riles had been acquired by the Giants a month earlier in a trade that sent outfielder Jeffrey Leonard to the Brewers. Riles, who entered the game in the sixth inning as a replacement for shortstop Jose Uribe, hit a three-run home run in the seventh. It was the 10,000th home run in Giants history and the first for Riles as a Giant.

The ball hit off the facing of the upper deck and caromed back onto the field. Disgusted, Cardinals right fielder Tom Brunansky picked up the historic ball and heaved into the stands. After the game, Brunansky sought a closed-door meeting with Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

“This was pathetic,” Brunansky told the Post-Dispatch. “I was embarrassed.”

Shortstop Ozzie Smith said, “Anybody who is proud of this shouldn’t be here.”

Cardinals starting pitcher John Tudor entered the game with a 1.72 ERA. The Giants knocked him out with five runs in two innings.

“You don’t figure to lose a game by that much with John Tudor pitching,” Herzog said. “His location was bad, but even then it shouldn’t have been that bad.”

Relievers Bob Forsch and Steve Peters each gave up eight runs.

“It was ugly,” Forsch told the Post-Dispatch. “Ugly for me.”

Said Peters: “It’s the worst embarrassment I ever had.”

The Giants ended up with 20 hits and six walks.

Herzog, keeping a sense of humor, told the Associated Press, “I wish we were playing a doubleheader today. We would have had them (the Giants) tired out for the second game.” Boxscore

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How Bob Tewksbury outfoxed Mark McGwire

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on June 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

In a season when Mark McGwire pummeled pitchers with his home run power, Bob Tewksbury used lollipop pitches to keep the Cardinals slugger from hitting the ball out of the infield.

bob_tewksburyIn 1998, Tewksbury, the former Cardinal, was with the Twins in what would be the last of his 13 major-league seasons. McGwire was in his first full year with the Cardinals and headed toward a record-breaking season in which he would hit 70 home runs.

On June 28, 1998, Tewksbury got the start against the Cardinals at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

McGwire entered the game with 36 home runs and a .313 batting average.

When McGwire came to bat in the first inning, Tewksbury lobbed a pitch toward the plate. McGwire watched it float out of the strike zone for ball one. Tewksbury followed with another lob, a pitch accurately described by Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a lollipop. Rather than give it a lick, McGwire swung and dribbled a grounder to first base.

As he headed toward the dugout, McGwire shared a laugh with first-base coach Dave McKay, the Associated Press reported.

“It was all of 44 (mph),” Tewksbury told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “… My son (Griffin) calls it The Dominator. (Manager) Tom Kelly calls it The Entertainment Pitch. The hitters probably call it some other things.”

Said McGwire: “It was awesome. I loved it. I tell you what, I’ll swing at it every time if it’s in the strike zone.”

When McGwire came to bat again, in the fourth, Tewksbury got two quick strikes on the slugger before he floated the lob pitch. McGwire swung and popped out near first base.

“The first time it was funny,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “He kept getting outs with it _ and then it wasn’t funny.”

Said Tewksbury: “I can’t throw the ball by him, but I can throw it slower. I was excited to face McGwire. I couldn’t wait to face him. It was a thrill. He’s one of the best ever to play the game.”

In the sixth, McGwire singled off a Tewksbury curve. “I didn’t want to get crazy with it,” Tewksbury said about why he didn’t try the lob to McGwire again. “He’d hit it in the upper deck.”

When Ray Lankford came up in the same inning, Tewksbury delivered two lobs. Lankford watched one and grounded out on the other, ending the inning.

In 6.1 innings, Tewksbury yielded two runs on seven hits, walked none and struck out two. He threw five lobs _ three to McGwire and two to Lankford _ and recorded three outs with those floaters. The Twins won, 3-2. Boxscore

“From the variance of slowest pitch to fastest in the league, I can probably go farther than anybody,” Tewksbury said. “I can throw 44 (mph) and I can throw 83 (mph).”

Previously: Think Lance Lynn is a surprise? Check out Luis Arroyo

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The night Bob Gibson couldn’t protect a 6-0 lead

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on June 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Bob Gibson once squandered a 6-0 first-inning lead and was lifted before he could get three outs.

bob_gibson14The night of April 16, 1962, was cold and windy at Philadelphia. Game time temperature was 36 degrees. Only 3,895 came to see the Cardinals play the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium that Monday night.

The pitching pairings were Gibson, making his first start of the season, against Cal McLish, making his first appearance for the Phillies after being acquired from the White Sox.

The first five Cardinals batters reached base, four on walks from McLish. The fourth walk was issued to Ken Boyer with the bases loaded. Bill White produced a run-scoring double and Doug Clemens hit a three-run double before McLish was replaced by Dallas Green. Gibson singled, driving in the sixth run of the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Phillies leadoff batter Tony Taylor walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Johnny Callison also walked.

After Tony Gonzalez struck out and Wes Covington flied out, Billy Klaus singled, scoring Taylor, and Frank Torre walked, loading the bases. Clay Dalrymple knocked in two more with a single, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 6-3. After a walk to Ruben Amaro loaded the bases, Cardinals manager Johnny Keane replaced Gibson with Ernie Broglio.

Roy Sievers, batting for Green, walked, scoring Torre with the Phillies’ fourth run. Taylor singled, driving in two and tying the score at 6-6. All six runs were charged to Gibson.

When Callison made the third out, on a pop-up to the catcher, it ended a first inning that included nine walks and took 54 shivering minutes to play.

Gibson’s pitching line: 0.2 innings, two hits, six runs, four walks, one strikeout.

In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I was roughed up for six runs in the first inning. After that our pitching coach, Howie Pollet, made me throw more pitches and simulate game conditions in the bullpen (before starts), which seemed to help.”

The Phillies wouldn’t score again that night. Broglio pitched 8.1 innings in relief and scattered five hits and four walks.

In the third, Cardinals catcher Gene Oliver broke the 6-6 tie with a home run off Don Ferrarese, who, two weeks later, would be traded to St. Louis.

The Cardinals won, 12-6. Broglio’s win was his first in relief since 1960. Boxscore

“We’ve been going slow with him (Broglio) because of his bad arm last year,” Keane said. “He and (Ray) Sadecki were behind in training and we were using them in long relief.”

In his next start, April 22, 1962, at Chicago, Gibson gave up four runs in eight innings and took the loss in a 5-1 Chicago victory, but limited the Cubs to four hits and struck out nine. Boxscore He finished the 1962 season with a 15-13 record and 2.85 ERA.

Previously: Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax: a grand game for Charlie James

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The 19-year-old who struck out 12 Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on June 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Only one teenager has struck out 10 or more Cardinals in a game. Gary Nolan, a Reds rookie, was 19 when he struck out 12 Cardinals in seven innings on July 19, 1967, at Cincinnati.

gary_nolan“Every major-league club probably has a kid in the minors with as much ability as Nolan has, but what the other kids don’t have is Nolan’s makeup _ heart _ or whatever you want to call it,” Phillies manager Gene Mauch told The Sporting News.

Nolan had an 8-2 record and 2.29 ERA entering his start against the Cardinals.

Through seven innings, Nolan held the Cardinals scoreless and limited them to four singles, walking none.

His 12 strikeouts came in the first six innings. Five Cardinals _ Roger Maris, Tim McCarver, Mike Shannon, Dal Maxvill and Larry Jaster _ each struck out twice. Lou Brock and Orlando Cepeda struck out once apiece.

The Reds led, 2-0, as Maxvill opened the Cardinals’ eighth against Nolan. Maxvill, who entered the game with a .210 batting average, doubled to right. According to the Associated Press, Nolan told Reds manager Dave Bristol the bicep in his right arm had tightened.

“The pitch Maxvill hit was up and you could tell Gary didn’t have much on it,” Bristol said.

Bristol lifted Nolan, citing the arm problem, and the umpires allowed reliever Ted Abernathy to take as many warmup pitches as he needed. (Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst told the Associated Press he wasn’t convinced Nolan’s arm had tightened and implied the Reds had used the injury as an excuse to give Abernathy extra time to loosen.)

“I just didn’t want to take any chances,” Bristol said. “It was a muscle in his arm and he was tired.”

Said Nolan: “I wasn’t tired, but my arm tightened up.”

Nolan’s departure benefitted the Cardinals. Alex Johnson, the first batter Abernathy faced, doubled to center, scoring Maxvill. Two outs later, Maris singled, driving in the tying run.

The Cardinals won, 3-2, in 12 innings when Gerry Arrigo walked Bobby Tolan with the bases loaded. Boxscore

The victory sparked a run of 10 wins in 13 games for the Cardinals and vaulted them 4.5 games ahead of the second-place Cubs.

Six days after facing the Cardinals, Nolan made his next start against the Braves and held them to a run in eight innings. Nolan finished the 1967 season with a 14-8 record and 2.58 ERA, striking out 206 in 226.2 innings.

Previously: Cardinals vs. Reds: rich tradition of July 4 showdowns

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How Rene Arocha turned Marlins fans into Cards fans

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on June 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

In 1993, when the Cardinals made their first regular-season visit to Miami, several fans of the expansion Marlins switched their allegiance to St. Louis for one game.

rene_arocha2Cardinals pitcher Rene Arocha, a Cuban defector who settled in Miami, had the support of the South Florida Cuban community when he started against the Marlins on June 23, 1993.

Arocha was a Cardinals rookie in 1993. Two years earlier, on July 10, 1991, while with the Cuban national baseball team, Arocha defected to the United States. He walked out of Miami International Airport and into a waiting car, becoming the first member of Cuban president Fidel Castro’s baseball team to defect, the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale reported.

Miami became Arocha’s adopted hometown. The Cardinals won a lottery among major-league teams for the right to sign the Havana native.

A right-hander, Arocha was 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA as he prepared to face the Marlins. He had been on the 15-day disabled list in April after breaking a finger on his glove hand. “If he doesn’t get hurt (again), he’ll win 15,” Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon told the Sun-Sentinel. “If he’s lucky, he’ll win 20.”

Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that Arocha’s start at Miami was “one of the major happenings of the expansion Florida Marlins’ first season.”

Said Cardinals infielder Jose Oquendo: “The Cubans think that Miami is Cuba.”

Arocha partnered with a Miami radio station and Nike to buy 500 general admission tickets, the New York Times reported. “The Cubans here want to see me pitch,” Arocha told Hummel. “They would be disappointed if I didn’t … The fans, and probably myself, want to win here more than someplace else.”

As anticipation built toward game time at Joe Robbie Stadium, so did Arocha’s anxiety and adrenalin. Cardinals manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Joe Coleman tried to calm him.

“They just told me to concentrate on the job I had to do in the game,” Arocha said. “When I got to the mound, I felt very emotional. I was trying to throw the ball harder than normal.”

Arocha yielded singles to three of the first four batters he faced. “He was pumped up,” Torre said. “He did get a little out of whack trying to throw the ball too hard a few times.”

The Marlins led, 1-0, after an inning. Arocha changed the momentum in the second in a most unexpected way. After the Cardinals scored a run to tie, they had the bases loaded with one out and Arocha at the plate. Arocha, hitless in his first 19 major-league at-bats, drilled a two-run single to center off starter Ryan Bowen, giving St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

“I couldn’t believe it when the ball went into the outfield,” Arocha said of his first big-league hit. “This means more than my first major-league win. I knew what it felt like to win, but I didn’t know what it would feel like to have a base hit.”

Arocha pitched 5.1 innings, yielding six hits and three runs, walking two and striking out two. As he departed, he received a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,936.

“That was a very warm feeling,” Arocha said. “I got a great response from the people that I know were behind me.”

Said Cardinals catcher Erik Pappas: “I was surprised how loud the crowd was. It sounded like they were more for him than they were for the Marlins.”

The Cardinals received 3.2 innings of scoreless relief from Paul Kilgus, Rob Murphy, Mike Perez and Lee Smith, winning, 4-3, and boosting Arocha’s record to 6-2. Boxscore He would finish the season 11-8.

Marlins first baseman and Cuba native Orestes Destrade said of Arocha: “He’s surprised a few of his critics who said he couldn’t pitch at the major-league level.”

Previously: First Rockies lineup had prominent Cardinals connection

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