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Lessons learned from Cardinals’ 19-0 loss to Pirates

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on August 10, 2012| 4 Comments »

Be careful not to tip your pitches and don’t let a blowout loss keep you down.

Those were among the lessons learned by the 1961 Cardinals after a humiliating loss to the Pirates.

The Pirates beat the Cardinals, 19-0, on Aug. 3, 1961, at St. Louis. It’s the most lopsided shutout loss in Cardinals history. Until then, the only other National League game decided by a 19-0 score was the Cubs’ victory over the Giants on June 7, 1906, according to The Sporting News.

Pittsburgh had 24 hits against three Cardinals right-handers: Al Cicotte, Bob Miller and Lindy McDaniel. Each of the nine Pirates in the starting lineup, including pitcher Harvey Haddix, had at least one hit.

“Some of our pitchers were tipping their pitches,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said to the Associated Press. “We were watching them closely after (the Pirates) got a big lead and we could call almost every pitch. Maybe the Pirates could, too.”

Cicotte, making the last start of a five-year big-league career, yielded eight runs in two innings. Miller gave up nine runs in three innings. McDaniel surrendered two runs, but shut out the Pirates over the last three innings.

Among the most notable Pittsburgh hitting achievements that Thursday night at Busch Stadium:

_ Roberto Clemente had hits in each of his first five at-bats. He finished 5-for-6, improving his league-leading batting average to .366, 24 points higher than the next-best hitter, Frank Robinson of the Reds.

“This is just one of those years when the balls are falling in for hits,” Clemente said. “I’m less tense this season than ever before. I can relax better at the plate.”

_ Smoky Burgess had two home runs (both off Cicotte) and six RBI. The homers were the first by Burgess since June 22.

“This is the first time in almost six weeks I’ve been able to pull the ball,” Burgess said. “I know now I tried to play too soon after I hurt my finger late in June. Everything is fine now.”

_ Dick Stuart hit a grand slam off Miller and finished with five RBI.

_ Bill Mazeroski, the eighth-place batter, had four hits.

_ Three Pirates, Don Hoak, Bill Virdon and Bob Skinner, each had three hits. All of Skinner’s hits were doubles.

Pittsburgh, the defending World Series champion, broke a five-game losing streak with the victory. Boxscore

“I can’t help thinking we’d be in the first division if you could spread those runs around a little,” Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh said.

The loss dropped the Cardinals to 48-53.

In a classic example of the power of perserverance, the Cardinals followed the blowout loss with an eight-game winning streak, turning around their season. The Cardinals were 20-9 in August and finished the season at 80-74.

Among the wins in that streak: a shutout of Pittsburgh. On Aug. 9, six days after the Pirates scored 19, Curt Simmons and Ed Bauta combined for a seven-hitter in St. Louis’ 4-0 victory.

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Whiteyball: Willie McGee at short, Ricky Horton in right

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers, Opponents, Pitchers on August 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Aug. 7, 2018)

Imagine a Cardinals lineup of Willie McGee at shortstop, Ricky Horton in right field and Jose Oquendo on the mound.

Manager Whitey Herzog could.

In 1987, during a blowout loss to the Phillies, Herzog made all of those unusual moves. He also batted Oquendo for Jack Clark and used John Tudor as a pinch-hitter with two runners on base.

On Aug. 7, 1987, the Cardinals were in first place in the National League East Division, but on that Friday night at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium the Phillies grabbed control early, scoring seven runs in the first two innings off Joe Magrane.

In the fifth inning, with the Phillies ahead 12-1, St. Louis had runners on first and second, two outs, when Herzog lifted Clark, the Cardinals’ slugging first baseman, for Oquendo.

Oquendo struck out against Phillies starter Shane Rawley and stayed in the game, replacing Ozzie Smith at shortstop.

In the eighth, Philadelphia led 12-4 and St. Louis had runners on first and third with one out. Reliever Bill Dawley was due to bat against Kent Tekulve, the Phillies’ sidearm-throwing right-hander. Herzog instead sent another pitcher, Tudor, a left-handed batter, to face Tekulve.

Tudor, a career .154 hitter, grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, lost his balance as he tried to beat the relay throw and fell. “He runs down the line like a damn nut,” Herzog said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Things got even more strange.

Needing a pitcher to replace Dawley for the bottom of the eighth, Herzog turned to his shortstop. Oquendo already had played every position except pitcher and catcher in 1987.

To replace Oquendo in the infield, Herzog moved his center fielder, Willie McGee, to shortstop. The right fielder, John Morris, moved to center. That left the Cardinals without a right fielder. So Herzog put pitcher Ricky Horton in that spot.

It would be the only times in their big-league careers McGee would play shortstop and Horton would appear in the outfield.

Two balls were hit to right field. Both carried over the head of the harried Horton. The first, by Glenn Wilson, was ruled a double and drove in a run. The second was a single by Lance Parrish that scored Wilson.

“Horton played what must be described as periscope outfield,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “He would take two steps and watch from afar as the ball sailed over his head.”

“Some outfielders shy away from the walls,” Horton said to The Sporting News. “I just happened to shy away 30 yards from it.”

After watching the spectacle from the mound, Oquendo said, “I could have got out of the inning. We need better outfielders.”

Said Horton: “I apologized to Jose, but the good thing is I didn’t get anybody hurt, including myself.”

McGee handled his defensive chores at shortstop skillfully. With a runner on first, Milt Thompson grounded to McGee, who fielded the ball and threw to second for the forceout. Later in the inning, with Parrish at first, Steve Jeltz grounded to first baseman Jim Lindeman, who threw to McGee covering second for the forceout.

Oquendo surrendered three runs on four hits and a walk in his inning of relief work. He also hit a batter, his friend and fellow Puerto Rican Luis Aguayo.

“The best pitch he threw was when he hit the guy,” umpire Joe West said to the Post-Dispatch.

Before facing his first batter, Oquendo told catcher Steve Lake he could throw six different types of pitches. After his outing, Oquendo quipped, “He called the wrong pitches.”

Lake good-naturedly replied, “He says he’s got six pitches. I call fastball and he says, ‘Yeah.’ I call another fastball. ‘Yeah.’ Then I call something else. He says, ‘No.’ ”

(Oquendo would pitch for the Cardinals in two more games, one in 1988 and the other in 1991. He went four innings in 1988 against the Braves and took the loss in a 19-inning game won by Atlanta, 7-5.)

After the debacle in Philadelphia, a 15-5 Phillies win that broke a six-game losing streak, Herzog told the Associated Press, “In 162 games, you’ll have one like this.” Boxscore

Previously: How Andy Van Slyke amazed Jose Oquendo

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Double disaster for Cards and ‘Wild Elk of the Wasatch’

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on August 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A record-setting hitting performance by the Braves knocked the 1936 Cardinals out of first place. Seventy-six years later, the 2012 Cardinals matched the Braves’ feat of hitting seven doubles in an inning.

On July 21, 2012, six Cardinals collected seven doubles in a 12-run seventh inning of a 12-0 victory over the Cubs at St. Louis. Allen Craig, who appeared as a pinch-hitter in the inning, hit a pair of doubles. Carlos Beltran, Jon Jay, David Freese, Skip Schumaker and Matt Holliday hit one double apiece. The seven doubles were hit against three Cubs relievers, James Russell, Manny Corpas and Rafael Dolis. Boxscore

The 1936 Braves were unlikely candidates to establish the standard of seven doubles in an inning. They would finish the season with the lowest batting average in the National League and would rank last among the eight teams in doubles.

On the morning of Aug. 25, 1936, the Cardinals and Giants were tied for first place in the NL, each with a 72-46 record. The Cardinals had a doubleheader against the Braves that Tuesday afternoon at St. Louis. The Giants were facing the Reds.

In the opener, the Cardinals started Si Johnson, who had been acquired from the Reds on Aug. 6. The Braves pounded Johnson for eight runs, seven hits and a walk in the first inning. He recorded only two outs before being lifted for Ed Heusser, the Cardinals’ top reliever in 1936.

Three Braves _ Gene Moore, Buck Jordan and Tony Cuccinello _ hit two doubles apiece in the first inning. Shortstop Rabbit Warstler accounted for the other.

With Boston ahead 11-0 after a half inning, Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch decided to stay with Heusser. Nicknamed “The Wild Elk of the Wasatch” for the mountain range in his native Utah, Heusser gave up 12 runs on 18 hits and four walks in 8.1 innings. Moore and Jordan each had five hits and five RBI in the Braves’ 20-3 victory. Boxscore

In the second game, St. Louis, behind ace Dizzy Dean, led 4-1 through five innings, but the Braves rallied and tied the score. In the ninth, Si Johnson, the Game 1 starter, relieved Dean. He yielded a RBI-single to Jordan and the Braves won, 5-4. Johnson was the losing pitcher in both games.

Coupled with the Giants’ 13th win in a row, a 6-5 victory over the Reds, St. Louis fell 1.5 games behind New York. The Giants went on to win the pennant, finishing five games ahead of the Cardinals and Cubs, who tied for second place.

Johnson and Heusser both recovered from their thumpings by the Braves.

Four days after losing both games of the doubleheader, Johnson pitched a complete-game shutout against the Phillies. Boxscore He finished 5-3 with a 4.38 ERA for the 1936 Cardinals.

Heusser was 7-3 with a 5.43 ERA in 42 appearances for the 1936 Cardinals. Eight years later, as a starter for the Reds, his 2.38 ERA led the NL.

Previously: Baseball and romance: Cardinals’ Cuban adventures

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How Braves rallied from 9 down to beat Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents on July 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Entering the finale of a three-game series with the Cardinals on May 15, 1977, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, the Braves had a 9-24 record and had lost 19 of their last 20.

When the Cardinals built a 10-1 lead through four innings, it appeared the Braves were headed for another loss, but they made an improbable comeback and won, 15-12.

As the Cardinals prepared to leave for the airport after the game, Braves owner Ted Turner, giddy with joy, boarded their bus, waved a straw skimmer and said, “Thanks for that one today. We really needed it.”

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, some of the Cardinals laughed at Turner’s theatrics, but manager Vern Rapp did not.

“We’ve had a lot of team victories this year,” Rapp said. “Today it was a team loss.”

Rally time

Playing before a Jacket Day crowd of 36,693, the Braves’ largest since their home opener, the Cardinals broke a 1-1 tie with nine runs in the fourth against the trio of Phil Niekro, Frank LaCorte and Dave Campbell. The Cardinals collected seven hits and three walks in the inning and also were helped by a pair of Braves errors. Three runs scored on a double by Bake McBride and three more came in on a pair of singles by Dave Rader, who was 5-for-5 in the game.

“When it was 10-1, I was in the bullpen, crossing my legs and getting some sun,” Braves reliever Don Collins said to the Atlanta Constitution. “Then things began to happen.”

The Braves responded with three runs in the fifth (Jeff Burroughs had a two-run home run against starter John Denny) and five runs in the sixth (Gary Matthews hit a grand slam off Buddy Schultz), getting within a run, 10-9.

When McBride and Jerry Mumphrey hit solo home runs in the eighth, stretching the lead to 12-9, the Cardinals were poised to complete the series sweep, but the Braves scored three times against Al Hrabosky in the bottom of the eighth, tying the score at 12-12.

Before the eighth was completed, Rapp replaced Hrabosky with John D’Acquisto. With two outs and Pat Rockett on first, D’Acquisto unleashed a wild pitch, advancing Rockett to second, and walked Jerry Royster and Junior Moore, loading the bases for Barry Bonnell.

“I was nervous. Really, really nervous,” Bonnell said.

Lots of drama

With the count at 3-and-2, the runners took off on D’Acquisto’s next pitch. Bonnell swung at the inside delivery, broke his bat and lofted a single to center. All three runners scored, giving Atlanta a 15-12 lead.

“I just looked for the ball, dug my shoulder into it and swung the bat,” Bonnell said.

In the ninth, Braves manager Dave Bristol brought in Collins, a left-hander seeking his first major-league save, to protect the lead. With one out, Garry Templeton and McBride each singled.

Keith Hernandez, a left-handed batter, was lifted for switch-hitter Ted Simmons, batting right-handed. Simmons drilled a drive to center field. “I thought it was gone,” Bonnell said. Bonnell turned, raced to the 402-foot sign and caught the ball with his back against the fence.

“If Simmons’ ball had gone out, I’d of felt like bombing the place with 37,000 people in it,” said Bristol.

Collins got the next batter, Mumphrey, to hit into a forceout, ending the game. Boxscore

“You’re going to have those games once in a while,” Hrabosky said. “You’re a fool and an idiot if you worry more than two seconds about them.”

A wire service story in The Milwaukee Sentinel reported: “Later, more than a dozen players sat around the clubhouse and watched the six-run eighth again on owner Ted Turner’s television replay equipment.”

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Enos Slaughter prepared Ron Santo for big leagues

Posted in Hitters, Opponents on July 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

On his path to earning induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Cubs third baseman Ron Santo was assisted by a Cardinals legend.

Enos Slaughter, the former Cardinals outfielder who was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1985, was Santo’s manager at Class AAA Houston in 1960 and helped prepare him to enter the major leagues.

Like Slaughter, who was enshrined 26 years after he last played in a big-league game, Santo was elected in 2012 by a special committee. His last big-league season was 1974 and he died in 2010.

In 13 years with the Cardinals, Slaughter played on two World Series championship clubs (1942 and 1946) and batted .305. He missed three prime seasons, 1943-45, while serving in the military.

Slaughter completed his 19-year big-league career in 1959. He had a lifetime batting average of .300, with 1,304 RBI.

Marty Marion, the former shortstop who was a teammate of Slaughter’s with the Cardinals, was part of an ownership group that purchased the Houston Buffs minor-league franchise from the Cardinals and transformed it into a Cubs affiliate. On Nov. 9, 1959, Marion, the team president, hired Slaughter to manage Houston.

“I don’t think any man in baseball has been more successful in hustle, determination and the will to win,” Marion said to The Sporting News. “He’ll be a great manager.”

Said Slaughter: “I look on this as a challenge. I want to find out if I can manage. If I can be a successful manager, it will be an opportunity to stay in baseball.”

At the Cubs’ 1960 spring training camp in Arizona, Santo, 20, made a favorable impression on manager Charlie Grimm. “The kid can really swing the bat,” Grimm said. “He has improved tremendously in the field. Last year, he couldn’t find the first baseman. He was making a lot of bad throws. He really has developed fast.”

During the final days of training camp, the Cubs decided Santo would benefit from playing for Slaughter at Houston before facing the pressure of the big leagues.

Santo opened the 1960 season as Houston’s third baseman. Its left fielder was another future Hall of Famer, Billy Williams. Slaughter, 44, was activated as a player-manager.

In the second game of the season, Slaughter injured a rib in a collision at home plate. Relegated mostly to a pinch-hitting role, he batted .289 (13-for-45) during the season.

Santo collected 73 hits in 71 games for Houston. The Cubs promoted him to the major leagues on June 26, 1960, and Lou Boudreau, who had replaced Grimm as manager, installed him at third base.

“Santo has gained tremendous confidence just since last spring,” Boudreau said. “He can make all the plays at third base and he’s got plenty of power at the plate.”

In his big-league debut in the opener of a doubleheader on June 26, 1960, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Santo batted 2-for-4 with three RBI in a 7-6 Cubs victory. Boxscore In the second game, a 7-5 Cubs victory, Santo was 1-for-3 with two RBI. Boxscore

Santo completed his rookie season with a .251 batting average, nine home runs and 44 RBI in 95 games for Chicago. In a 15-year major-league career, Santo won the Gold Glove Award five times and hit 342 home runs with 1,331 RBI.

Meanwhile, Slaughter led Houston to an 83-71 record and third-place finish in the eight-team American Association. His top player was Williams, who hit .323 with 26 home runs.

After the season, Slaughter parted ways with Houston. In 1961, he managed Raleigh, the Class B Carolina League club of the fledgling New York Mets. Raleigh finished 58-80 _ and Slaughter’s managerial career was done.

Previously: If Ron Santo goes into Hall of Fame, Ken Boyer should, too

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Michigan mentor: Bill Freehan prepared Mike Matheny

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents on June 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated April 22, 2026)

When Mike Matheny played baseball for the University of Michigan, his coach the final two seasons was Bill Freehan, who had been an all-star catcher for the Detroit Tigers.

Freehan foresaw Matheny as a big-league ballplayer and manager. He mentored Matheny with those goals in mind and instilled confidence in the college catcher.

“It was very interesting that he saw that,” Matheny told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com in February 2012. “It wasn’t just some random guy. It was a guy with great credibility.”

Freehan, an 11-time American League all-star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner who played 15 years (1961-76) for the Tigers, encouraged Matheny to take Spanish courses so he could communicate fully with Hispanic players.

“He (Freehan) called me into his office one day and said, ‘If you’re going to be in this game for a long time, even after your playing days, you need to change all your electives to learning Spanish,’ ” Matheny said to Chris Girandola of MLB.com.

Matheny earned his degree in sports management and communication, with a minor in Spanish. He managed the Cardinals from 2012-2018 and led them to a National League pennant in 2013.

A native of the Columbus suburb of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, Matheny was recruited to Michigan by baseball coach Bud Middaugh. After the 1989 season, Matheny’s first with the Michigan varsity, Middaugh resigned amid allegations he had diverted money to baseball players from the sale of football game programs.

Michigan athletic director Bo Schembechler turned to Freehan, who had been an all-America catcher at Michigan in 1961.

“Coach Freehan gave me a master’s course in catching,” Matheny told Steve Kornacki of MGoBlue.com, “and not just with the mechanics, but more so the mentality. He gave me the opportunity to learn how to run a pitching staff. Bud (Middaugh) called every pitch from the dugout my freshman year, like a lot of coaches do, but in our first intrasquad game (in 1990), Bill (Freehan) stopped practice and flat-out screamed at me when I looked into the dugout for his call. He said, ‘You’re the catcher! You’re in charge. You can see what’s going on. You have a brain, you can think. Call this game.’ ”

According to MGoBlue.com, Freehan got his former Tigers teammate, Hall of Famer Al Kaline, to help Matheny with his hitting.

“I’m swinging in the (batting) cages to get loose and I see this gentleman walking toward me,” Matheny recalled. “I just about fell over. It’s Al Kaline. I couldn’t believe it. I wish I could tell you that I wrote down every word in a notebook, but I was so in awe that I had trouble focusing. I’m thinking, ‘How does a superstar player take this much time to come down and work with a no-name, half-talented college guy?’ He stood out as such a top-shelf individual.”

In six seasons (1990-95), Freehan coached Michigan to a 166-167-1 record, including 76-89 in the Big Ten. In 1991, Freehan named Matheny co-captain. A three-year letter winner (1989-91) and academic all-Big Ten (1990), Matheny was named Michigan’s most valuable player in 1991. He also met his wife, Kristin, a varsity field hockey player for Michigan.

Matheny was selected by the Brewers in the eighth round of the 1991 major league draft, extending a tradition of Michigan baseball players who became professionals. Like Matheny, other Michigan standouts who would play for the Cardinals included infielders Dave Campbell, Chris Sabo and Ted Sizemore, and pitcher Lary Sorensen. Branch Rickey, who was Michigan’s baseball coach from 1910-13 while earning a law degree from the school, became manager and chief baseball executive of the Cardinals.

(Ted Simmons is a Michigan graduate. The physical education and speech major earned his degree in 1996, 29 years after enrolling. Simmons, a catcher, never played for Michigan’s baseball program. Instead, he signed with the Cardinals after graduating from high school in 1967.)

Matheny would go on to win four Gold Glove awards (with the Cardinals in 2000, 2003 and 2004, and with the 2005 Giants) and help St. Louis to four postseason appearances and a National League pennant.

Freehan won his Gold Glove awards in consecutive years (1965-69).

Previously: Bill Freehan, Lou Brock and a World Series controversy

Previously: Should Curt Flood have caught Jim Northrup’s drive?

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