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Cardinals beat Pascual Perez on way to 1982 pennant

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on November 8, 2012| 2 Comments »

Pascual Perez played a significant role in the 1982 Cardinals’ bid to win the National League pennant and reach the World Series.

Perez was the losing pitcher for the Braves against the Cardinals in Game 1 of the 1982 NL Championship Series and he pitched in long relief during Game 3 when St. Louis completed a sweep of the best-of-five playoff.

At the time, Perez, 25, was regarded as one of the most promising talents in the major leagues.

Perez was supposed to start Game 2 of the 1982 NL Championship Series. Braves knuckleball specialist Phil Niekro was matched against Joaquin Andujar in Game 1.

Niekro was protecting a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the fifth inning during a light rain at St. Louis. After Niekro retired the leadoff batter and closed within two outs of completing the five innings needed to declare an official game, plate umpire Billy Williams halted play. More than two hours later, the game was postponed. Though most agreed the fifth inning likely could have been completed before the rain worsened, Braves manager Joe Torre supported the umpires’ decision, telling The Sporting News, “I don’t think a team should play 162 games and then lose a playoff game in five innings … We don’t want to come in here and steal a game.”

Niekro offered to pitch again in the rescheduled Game 1 on Oct. 7, but Torre instead chose Perez.

Traded by the Pirates to the Braves on June 30, 1982, Perez posted a 4-4 record in helping Atlanta win the NL West Division championship. He made unwanted headlines when he got lost on I-285 while driving to the Atlanta ballpark and missed a start.

Asked by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch how he could make certain Perez found his way to Busch Memorial Stadium for his postseason start against the Cardinals, Torre said, “We gave him a room at the hotel that faces the ballpark.”

For five innings in rescheduled Game 1, it appeared Torre had made the correct choice. Perez pitched effectively, but his counterpart, Bob Forsch, was better. The Cardinals led 1-0 entering the bottom of the sixth. Lonnie Smith started the inning by hitting a grounder to first baseman Chris Chambliss. Perez hustled off the mound to take the toss from Chambliss, but he fumbled the ball and Smith streaked across the bag, credited with an infield single.

“The ball was tailing away from me,” Perez said to the Atlanta Constitution. “I tried to catch it and tag Smith with the ball in the glove. He is a fast man.”

Singles by Keith Hernandez (on a good sinker) and George Hendrick (on a hanging slider) followed, the latter scoring Smith and knocking Perez from the game. The Cardinals scored five times in the inning and went on to a 7-0 victory behind Forsch’s three-hitter. During the regular season, Forsch had yielded 19 hits and 10 runs in 10.2 innings pitched against the Braves. Video

“We misplayed Smith’s groundball and they got a broken-bat hit (by Hendrick) and I think that just kind of set them off,” Braves catcher Bruce Benedict said to the Associated Press. Boxscore

The Cardinals rallied to win Game 2 in St. Louis (Niekro started, but closer Gene Garber took the loss) and headed to Atlanta for Game 3. The Cardinals struck for four runs off starter Rick Camp. Perez relieved in the second, pitched 3.2 innings (yielding a run and three hits) but couldn’t stop St. Louis from sweeping into the World Series with a 6-2 victory. Boxscore

In an 11-year big-league career, including stints with the Pirates, Braves and Expos, Perez posted a 7-6 record and 2.33 ERA in 16 regular-season starts versus St. Louis.

Previously: September hot streak carried 1982 Cardinals to title

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Big-game losses haunted Mort Cooper of Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers on October 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Mort Cooper, usually outstanding for the 1942 Cardinals, uncharacteristically experienced double disappointments in two of his most high-profile starts that year.

Cooper earned 22 wins and pitched 10 shutouts for the Cardinals in 1942, but he also started and lost both the All-Star Game and Game 1 of the World Series.

Cooper, 29, a right-hander, was 22-7 with a 1.78 ERA and 22 complete games for the 1942 Cardinals. During one stretch, he won nine consecutive decisions, including five by shutouts. Dodgers manager Leo Durocher chose Cooper to start the All-Star Game for the National League on July 6, 1942, at the Polo Grounds in New York.

Cooper and his brother, Cardinals catcher Walker Cooper, formed the first brother battery to start an All-Star Game.

The game was scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. but was delayed more than 30 minutes because of storms. Mort Cooper, who had completed his warmups, told the United Press wire service the delay hurt him and he didn’t find his command until the third inning.

Lou Boudreau, the Indians shortstop and American League leadoff batter, drove Cooper’s second pitch of the game 260 feet into the upper deck in left for a home run. Boudreau said the home run provided “one of the biggest thrills I ever had in baseball.”

The next batter, Yankees right fielder Tommy Henrich, lined a 3-and-2 pitch. The ball landed in a pool of water in the outfield, enabling Henrich to stretch a single into a double.

After Cooper retired the American League’s two marquee players, left fielder Ted Williams of the Red Sox and center fielder Joe DiMaggio of the Yankees, Tigers first baseman Rudy York delivered a key blow. A right-handed batter, York swung late at a high fastball and “the result,” The Sporting News reported, “was something like a slice in golf.”

The ball carried toward the short right-field stands and stayed in fair territory as it landed over the fence for a two-run home run and a 3-0 American League lead. “On most any other big-league field,” The Sporting News reported, “the homer would have sliced foul.”

York swung so late at the 1-and-1 pitch “I thought I already had that one in my glove,” Walker Cooper said.

“I walloped it,” York said. “I thought at first it was going foul, but what a kick I got out of it when I saw the ball plump into the lower-right stands, well inside the foul line.”

Cooper pitched three innings, yielding four hits and three runs. The American League won, 3-1. Boxscore

Behind the pitching of Cooper and rookie Johnny Beazley (a 21-game winner), the 1942 Cardinals won 106 games and finished two ahead of the second-place Dodgers. Cooper was selected by manager Billy Southworth to start Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees on Sept. 30 at St. Louis.

Cooper gave up five runs, 10 hits and three walks in 7.2 innings and took the loss in a 7-4 Yankees victory.

Batting fourth, DiMaggio singled and scored in the fourth, drove in a run in the fifth and singled and scored in the eighth, igniting a three-run inning versus Cooper. Boxscore

“I hadn’t pitched in a week and my control was off,” Cooper said to the Associated Press. “Pitched too high. They didn’t hit my fastball at all. It was my curve.”

Cooper started Game 4 at Yankee Stadium and surrendered five runs in 5.1 innings. Max Lanier got the win in relief in a 9-6 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

Sporting News columnist Dan Daniel called Cooper an “emphatic flop,” who was “too tired to show at his best.”

It ended well, though, for Cooper and the Cardinals. St. Louis won the championship in five games. Cooper won the 1942 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner and he again topped 20 wins in both 1943 and 1944, helping the Cardinals to two more pennants.

Previously: How Mort Cooper pitched two straight 1-hitters for Cardinals

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Danny Cox vs. Mike Aldrete: Duel of 1987 Cards, Giants

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on October 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Mike Aldrete threatened to derail the Cardinals’ pennant push with a knockout smash off the foot of Danny Cox.

Cox was a starting pitcher for the 1987 Cardinals and Aldrete was a lethal hitter for the 1987 Giants.

Aldrete hit .438 (14-for-32) against the Cardinals during the 1987 regular season. His most damaging swing, however, produced a groundout that broke a bone in Cox’s right foot and sidelined him for a month.

Cox got even in the 1987 National League Championship Series. In a Game 7 pennant-clinching triumph, Cox held Aldrete hitless and shut out the Giants.

Riding a seven-game winning streak, the first-place Cardinals opened a series against the Giants at St. Louis on July 9, 1987.

In the seventh inning, Aldrete smacked a low liner and it struck Cox in the right foot. The ball caromed back to catcher Tony Pena, who threw out Aldrete at first base.

Cox remained in the game and completed eight innings before being relieved by Todd Worrell with the score tied 3-3. The Cardinals won, 7-6, scoring four in the 10th after the Giants had scored three in the top of the inning. Boxscore

The next day, it was discovered during an examination by team physician Dr. Stan London that Aldrete’s shot broke a bone in Cox’s foot. Cox, who had an 8-3 record, went on the disabled list and his foot was placed in a cast.

“I was throwing the ball real well and the team was playing real well,” Cox said to the Associated Press. “If anything good came out of it, at least we got (Aldrete) out.”

Aldrete, a Carmel, Calif., native and former standout for Stanford University, was enjoying a productive year for the Giants. He replaced injured right fielder Candy Maldonado in late June and put together an 11-game hitting streak before the all-star break. In his first 21 outfield starts after replacing Maldonado, Aldrete hit .341 with 15 RBI.

“I’ve tried to be a patient, disciplined hitter,” Aldrete said to The Sporting News. “You swing at strikes and let the balls go _ that’s the key to hitting.”

Nick Peters, a Bay Area baseball reporter, wrote of Aldrete, “He has a classic swing and the ability to foul off pitches until he finds something he likes. When he does, it usually becomes a rope.”

Cox returned to the Cardinals’ rotation Aug. 8, 1987. He finished the regular season with 31 starts, 199.1 innings pitched, an 11-9 record and a 3.88 ERA.

Aldrete posted a .325 batting average and a .396 on-base percentage in 126 regular-season games. He hit .419 with runners in scoring position.

As division champions, the Cardinals and Giants advanced to the National League Championship Series. They split six games, setting up a deciding Game 7 at St. Louis.

For the winner-take-all finale, Cox was named the Cardinals’ starting pitcher by manager Whitey Herzog. Aldrete was placed first in the Giants’ batting order by manager Roger Craig.

Cox set the tone early, retiring Aldrete on a groundout to second to begin the game.

In the third, with the Cardinals ahead 4-0, the first two Giants batters of the inning singled, bringing Aldrete to the plate. Cox got him to ground into a double play.

From there, Cox and the Cardinals were in control. Aldrete flied out to left, leading off the sixth, and he ended the eighth with a groundout to third. Cox pitched a shutout and the Cardinals won, 6-0. Boxscore

“He’s a good pitcher, no matter what the score is,” Aldrete said of Cox. “When he gets a lead, it makes him that much tougher.”

Previously: On 25th anniversary, top 10 facts about 1987 Cardinals

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How Mike Matheny mentored Matt Cain with Giants

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on October 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Sept.30, 2017)

As a 20-year-old rookie, Matt Cain was put in the care of a 35-year-old veteran catcher, Mike Matheny.

With Matheny catching six of the right-hander’s seven starts for the 2005 Giants, Cain enjoyed a successful beginning to his major-league career.

Promoted to the Giants after posting a 10-5 record for Class AAA Fresno, Cain made his big-league debut on Aug. 29, 2005, against the Rockies at San Francisco.

With Matheny behind the plate, Cain, the youngest pitcher to start a game for the Giants since 20-year-old Mark Grant in 1984, limited the Rockies to two runs in five innings, but took the loss in a 2-1 Colorado victory. Matt Holliday, the Rockies’ cleanup batter, got two of the three Colorado hits against Cain _ a solo home run and a single. Boxscore

After the game, reporters approached Matheny for his assessment of the rookie.

“He has electric stuff, the kind of stuff you don’t see very often as far as velocity and late life,” Matheny said to the San Jose Mercury News. “His fluid motion makes him very deceptive.”

Matheny told the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s just a shame we have such trouble scoring runs for these guys, especially after a first start like that, and he has to walk away with a loss. It’s a shame we couldn’t pull out a win for him.”

Working well with Matheny, Cain quickly achieved two milestones. He earned his first big-league win in his second start and recorded his first big-league complete game in his third start.

Cain held the Diamondbacks to a run on three hits through seven innings and got the win in the Giants’ 3-2 victory at Phoenix on Sept. 4. Boxscore

Five days later, Cain went the distance in earning the win in the Giants’ 2-1 victory over the Cubs at San Francisco. He gave up two hits and struck out eight. Boxscore

Cain earned 104 regular-season wins in 13 years (2005-17) with the Giants.

Against the Cardinals in his career, Cain was 2-7 with a 6.42 ERA in the regular season and 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA in the postseason. Both postseason appearances against the Cardinals occurred in 2012 when Matheny was in his first year as St. Louis manager.

Cain made his final big-league appearance on Sept. 30, 2017.

Previously: Pitcher for 1964 Cardinals was mentor to Mike Matheny

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Howie Pollet pitched in pain for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers on October 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In 1946, the Cardinals started pitcher Howie Pollet in the postseason, knowing he was injured and in pain.

Pollet lasted one-third of an inning, surrendering a run on three hits, before he was relieved in Game 5 of the 1946 World Series against the Red Sox.

In his return to the Cardinals following two years of military service, Pollet, 25, was St. Louis’ ace in 1946. He led the National League that season in wins (21), ERA (2.10) and innings pitched (266). Pollet pitched in 40 regular-season games, making 32 starts.

Under the heavy workload, Pollet was ailing in September. His back ached and he either had a torn shoulder muscle or a torn side muscle, according to conflicting published reports.

Nonetheless, Pollet kept taking his turn in the rotation. When the Cardinals and Dodgers finished the regular season tied for first place, they went to a best-of-three playoff series to determine the NL champion. Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer selected Pollet to start Game 1.

According to The Sporting News, Pollet agreed to the start despite a torn muscle in his left shoulder. (The publication subsequently reported the injury as a torn muscle in his side.)

Pollet pitched a complete game and the Cardinals won, 4-2. Boxscore

Five days later, Pollet was the starting pitcher in Game 1 of the World Series. Pitching with what the Associated Press described as an aching side, Pollet carried the Cardinals into the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead. He was one strike away from retiring the final batter until Tom McBride poked a single between short and third, scoring pinch-runner Don Gutteridge.

In the 10th, with two outs, Rudy York hit a Pollet curve into the last row of the left-field seats at Sportsman’s Park for a home run, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

Said Pollet: “Yes, my back bothered me a couple of times, but I didn’t think it was affecting my pitching.”

With the World Series even at two wins apiece, Pollet was the Cardinals’ choice to start Game 5 at Boston. After three of the first four batters singled, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead, Al Brazle relieved Pollet. The Red Sox scored five runs off Brazle in 6.2 innings and won, 6-3. Boxscore

Wrote Sam Levy in the Milwaukee Journal: “The biggest surprise to the 35,982 fans … was the rapid exit of Howie Pollet.”

Pollet experienced an “extremely painful back ailment” and “torn side muscle,” the Associated Press reported.

Cardinals team doctor Robert Hyland instructed Pollet not to pitch again until spring training. “Howie figures that if he had taken a full week off in September after he first pulled a muscle in his back he would have been in better condition for the World Series,” The Sporting News reported.

Pollet continued to pitch in the major leagues until 1956. He was a 20-game winner for the 1949 Cardinals. In nine seasons with St. Louis, Pollet was 97-65. Pollet also was a Cardinals coach from 1959-64.

Previously: How Chase Riddle got Steve Carlton for Cardinals

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Hank Gornicki and his one amazing start for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers on October 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated April 18, 2021)

On May 3, 1941, in his first major-league start, Hank Gornicki pitched a one-hit shutout for the Cardinals against the Phillies at Philadelphia.

It was the only start Gornicki ever made for the Cardinals. Less than a month later, he was returned to the minor leagues. Before the season ended, he was shipped to the Cubs.

A right-hander, Gornicki was a 30-year-old rookie with the 1941 Cardinals. He pitched with success in the Cardinals’ farm system for six years, posting double-figure win totals each season, before earning a spot with the big-league club.

At the time, his claim to fame was being dubbed the “wood chopper of the Great Smokies” because he kept fit during the off-seasons by cutting down trees on his father’s property in North Carolina.

After two relief appearances with the 1941 Cardinals, manager Billy Southworth gave Gornicki the start against the Phillies because Southworth decided the rookie should be given the chance, The Sporting News reported.

Before the game, Cardinals coach Mike Gonzalez “told visitors to the St. Louis bench that he didn’t think Gornicki had a good enough fastball to last nine innings,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

According to the St. Louis Star-Times, “Southworth was afraid to use him without keeping a veteran warmed up for emergency duty. Out of the corner of his eye, Gornicki could see Bill McGee toiling in the bullpen through most of the game, but Bill might as well have spent the afternoon at a movie.”

On a chilly Saturday afternoon at Shibe Park, Gornicki held the Phillies hitless until Stan Benjamin lined a single to center with two outs in the sixth.

Gornicki finished with five strikeouts and five walks in pitching the Cardinals to a 6-0 victory. He also contributed a RBI-single in the seventh. Boxscore

“He pumped the ball overhand with fine speed and a very sharp-breaking curve,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gornicki “has a fine curveball, a good fastball and perfect poise on the mound. His only apparent weakness was his tendency to get the count to 3-and-2. With a good-hitting club, this might prove fatal.”

The victory was the eighth in a row for the pitching-rich Cardinals and it improved their record to 13-3.

Though Gornicki dazzled in his start, Southworth returned him to the bullpen because the Cardinals already had quality starters such as Lon Warneke, Ernie White, Mort Cooper, Max Lanier, Harry Gumpert and Howie Krist.

As Fred Lieb of The Sporting News wrote, “Like the old lady in the shoe, Billy Southworth had so many good young pitchers he didn’t know what to do.”

Gornicki didn’t appear in another game for almost two weeks. He pitched less than an inning in relief on May 15 against the Braves. Soon after that, he was sent to Rochester of the International League.

With Rochester, Gornicki was 12-9 with a 2.83 ERA in 26 games. On Sept. 2, the Cardinals sent Gornicki to the Cubs in a cash transaction. He appeared once in relief for the Cubs before baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis voided the deal, saying it had violated the waiver rule. The Reds had claimed Gornicki on waivers before the Cardinals had sent him to the Cubs.

Returned to the Cardinals, Gornicki was in no-man’s land, unwanted and unsure of where he belonged. In December, the Cardinals dealt him to the Pirates.

Gornicki spent three seasons (1942, 1943 and 1946) with the Pirates in a stint that was interrupted by two years of military service during World War II. He posted a big-league career record of 15-19 with a 3.38 ERA in 79 games, including 33 starts.

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