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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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The story of how Stan Musial barely escaped beaning

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on September 21, 2012| 2 Comments »

Johnny Podres nearly put a damaging dent into the armor of baseball’s perfect knight.

Described by former baseball commisioner Ford Frick as “baseball’s perfect knight,” Stan Musial became a Cardinals icon as much for his good-guy demeanor as for his outstanding baseball ability, but he wasn’t immune from wild-armed pitchers and brushback pitches.

Musial was struck by pitches 53 times in a 22-year big-league career. The pitch that did the most damage was delivered by Podres, a Dodgers left-hander who, like Musial, would be inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.

In 1955, Musial was hit by pitches a National League-leading eight times. One of those occurred on Aug. 29, 1955, when the Cardinals played the Dodgers at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. Though the Dodgers were in first place and the Cardinals were in seventh, the competition between these longtime rivals remained fierce.

In the first inning, catcher Roy Campanella hit a two-run home run off Cardinals starter Tom Poholsky. When Campanella batted again in the third, he was buzzed by a pitch.

Musial, playing in his 593rd consecutive game, led off the Cardinals’ fourth. Podres unleashed a fastball that sailed directly toward Musial’s head. Musial instinctively raised his right hand to protect himself _ and it was fortunate he did.

The ball struck the back of his hand. If it hadn’t, the ball would have struck him in the skull, according to multiple news reports.

Musial felt “acute pain” in the hand, the Associated Press reported. The Sporting News described the hand as “painfully bruised.”

In the bottom of the fourth, a pitch from Poholsky went behind the head of Dodgers batter Jackie Robinson. Umpire Jocko Conlon immediately stepped out from behind the plate, raised a finger on each hand, faced each dugout and declared, “All right, that’s one and one. The next one is out (for the manager and pitcher),” The Sporting News reported.

Soon thereafter, Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe, out of the lineup that Monday afternoon, was ejected for using offending language within earshot of spectators while yelling at Cardinals manager Harry Walker.

In the seventh, with the hand throbbing, Musial was removed from the game. Boxscore

“It was feared he’d miss his first game since the 1951 season’s wind-up,” The Sporting News reported.

The next day, Aug. 30, Musial was placed sixth in the batting order against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. He played right field in the bottom of the first. When his turn at-bat came up in the second, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. Boxscore

Musial was listed as the right fielder, batting fifth, the following day at Pittsburgh. When the Cardinals got two on with two out in the top of the first, Musial again was replaced by a pinch-hitter. Though he didn’t appear in the game, the consecutive-game streak officially continued because he was in the starting lineup. Boxscore

Dan Daniel of the New York World-Telegram and Sun wrote, “There is a well-founded suspicion that some of the club owners feel that duster pitching, sparking violent rhubarbs, helps the gate. However, what would have been the popular reaction around the country if Stan Musial had been skulled dangerously by the Johnny Podres pitch which he managed to soften with his hand the other day?”

Seven years later, Podres hit Musial with a pitch again on Sept. 22, 1962. Boxscore

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said of Podres: “If he hadn’t had back trouble, Podres would have been a 20-game winner … Podres has the best changeup since (Howie) Pollet or (Carl) Erskine, good control and a good curve.”

Though Podres twice pelted him with pitches, Musial, as usual, got the last laugh. On Sept. 16, 1963, Musial hit the 475th and last home run of his career. He hit it, of course, off Johnny Podres. Boxscore

Previously: Cardinals drilled Johnny Podres in their L.A. debut

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Like Kyle Lohse, Ted Wilks built big win mark for Cards

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Records on September 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Ted Wilks was a right-handed pitcher who suffered from ulcers and had trouble controling his weight.

He also had an amazing knack for winning games for the Cardinals.

When Kyle Lohse built a 14-2 record for the 2012 Cardinals, he established the second-best mark in team history to begin a season. Only Wilks did better, according to the Cardinals.

A 28-year-old rookie, Wilks was 14-1 and eventually 15-2 in 1944. He split his final four decisions, finishing the regular season at 17-4 with a 2.64 ERA.

Manager Billy Southworth used Wilks, 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, as a spot starter and reliever for the first part of the 1944 season. When George Munger went into the Army after posting an 11-3 record and 1.34 ERA, Wilks replaced him in the Cardinals’ rotation as the season entered July.

From July 2 through Aug. 29, Wilks won 11 consecutive decisions. During that stretch, he survived getting struck in the head by a line drive hit so hard that Southworth feared for Wilks’ life. The smash by Reds third baseman Steve Mesner during an Aug. 6 game at Cincinnati bounced high off Wilks’ skull and knocked out the pitcher. Boxscore

“Ted got out of that quite luckily,” Southworth told The Sporting News. “In my long experience in baseball, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

After striking Wilks, Southworth said, “the ball went about 40 feet into the air before (Whitey) Kurowski caught it at his regular third-base position. Wilks was knocked out and I’ll admit we were all pretty scared … Hit an inch lower, that drive could have been fatal.”

Said Wilks: “That ball came at me so fast I didn’t have time to duck.”

He recovered to pitch complete-game three-hitters in consecutive starts _ a 2-1 victory over the Cubs on Aug. 24 Boxscore and a 3-0 victory over the Reds on Aug. 29 that boosted Wilks’ record to 14-1. Boxscore

The son of a Polish immigrant who changed the family named from Wilzcek to Wilks when naturalized, Ted Wilks was born in Fulton, N.Y., about 20 miles from Syracuse. He joined the Cardinals’ organization as an amateur free agent in 1938 and spent six seasons in their minor-league system.

Because of ulcers, Wilks was classified 4-F and didn’t serve in the military during World War II. He was prone to gain weight, and headline writers poked fun at his waistline even while praising his pitching. Some examples from The Sporting News:

_ “Wilks Fills Out as Cardinals’ Fill-In”

_ “Chunky Ted Proves Winner”

_ “Chubby Righthander Rates Best of Majors’ Rookie Crop”

Frederick G. Lieb, a veteran baseball reporter, wrote: Ted is a husky young gent and needs to exercise to keep down to his best pitching weight of 175 pounds.

Regardless, Wilks was an effective pitcher. In 36 games (21 starts) for the 1944 Cardinals, Wilks had 16 complete games and four shutouts, helping them win the National League pennant.

In the 1944 World Series, Wilks started Game 3 but yielded four runs in 2.2 innings and got the loss in the Browns’ 6-2 victory. It was suspected that ulcers hampered Wilks in that start. Boxscore

Three games later, Wilks got another chance _ and delivered one of the greatest relief stints in Cardinals history.

In Game 6, Wilks relieved starter Max Lanier with one out and two on in the sixth. He retired all 11 batters he faced and preserved the Cardinals’ Series-clinching 3-1 victory. Boxscore

Converted to a reliever in 1946, Wilks thrived. He was 8-0 for the pennant-winning 1946 Cardinals, 4-0 for the 1947 Cardinals and 2-0 for the 1950 Cardinals.

In a 10-year major-league career with the Cardinals, Pirates and Indians, Wilks was 59-30.

Previously: Cardinals were victims of historic homers by Gil Hodges

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No bull: Greg Luzinski pummeled Cards like few others

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on September 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

For the 1977 Cardinals, there was no doubt about who was the most valuable player in the National League that season: Phillies left fielder Greg Luzinski.

Nicknamed “The Bull” because of his size (6-1, 230 pounds) and power, Luzinski produced one of the most destructive seasons ever against a Cardinals team.

Luzinski’s 1977 performance was referenced recently because of how Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez tormented the 2012 Cardinals. With seven home runs and 23 RBI against St. Louis in 2012, Alvarez became the first player to achieve those combinations versus the Cardinals since Luzinski _ and the first Pirates player to do so since left fielder Ralph Kiner in 1950 _ according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

A look at the numbers of that trio against the Cardinals:

PLAYER……………YEAR……..HOMERS……..RBI……..BATTING AVG

Pedro Alvarez……2012……….7…………………..23…….. .397 (23-for-58)

Greg Luzinski……1977……….9…………………..28…….. .351 (20-for-57)

Ralph Kiner………1950………9…………………..23…….. .337 (28-for-83)

In 16 games against the ’77 Cardinals, Luzinski also had seven doubles and nine walks. He posted a .441 on-base percentage and .947 slugging percentage versus St. Louis that year.

Luzinski, 26, did much of his damage against two of the Cardinals’ best pitchers _ Bob Forsch, a 20-game winner in 1977, and Al Hrabosky, St. Louis’ saves leader that year.

Against Forsch, Luzinski hit .467 (7-for-15) with four home runs in 1977. Luzinski was 3-for-4 (.750) with a homer against Hrabosky.

Starter Eric Rasmussen and reliever Butch Metzger were the most effective St. Louis pitchers against Luzinski in 1977. Luzinski was 0-for-10 against Rasmussen and 0-for-5 against Metzger that year. Luzinski was 20-for-42 (.476) against the rest of the 1977 Cardinals staff.

Luzinski had three 5-RBI games against the ’77 Cardinals. The second occurred on July 13 when Luzinski drove in all the Phillies’ runs and hit a pair of homers against Tom Underwood in a 5-2 Philadelphia victory. Underwood had been acquired by the Cardinals from the Phillies a month earlier. Boxscore

“Luzinski is the best two-out hitter in baseball,” Underwood said to the Associated Press. “He never misses a down-and-in pitch. I’m not the first guy he’s going to hit home runs off and certainly not the last. I made two bad pitches and I paid for it.”

Luzinski’s first homer off Underwood went 450 feet to “The Bull Ring,” a section of the left-field stands at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium that seated youngsters who were provided tickets by Luzinski.

Luzinski, who had signed a five-year, $1.5-million contract, bought 126 loge box seats for each of 36 Phillies home games and gave all of the tickets to youngsters from organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Big Brothers Association. Each ticket cost $4.50, so Luzinski paid $20,412, with no discount from the Phillies, both The Sporting News and Associated Press reported.

Luzinski also provided autographed pictures of himself to every youngster in “The Bull Ring” and he donated $100 to the organization in that section any night a Phillies home run landed there.

“There are many children who have never had box seats and I want to give some of them a chance to sit there and see how much fun it can be just to go to a baseball game at the Vet,” Luzinski said to The Sporting News.

In a three-game Phillies sweep of the Cardinals Sept. 9-11, 1977, Luzinski drove in eight runs and hit a home run apiece off Hrabosky, John Urrea and John Sutton. Afterward, the soft-spoken slugger surprised reporters when he told them he deserved to win the NL Most Valuable Player Award for his overall 1977 performance.

“I’ve had a hell of a season,” Luzinski said to the Associated Press. “… I’ve been consistent all year. That’s the key.”

Cardinals manager Vern Rapp agreed Luzinski would be the best choice for NL MVP. “What Luzinski has done proves he is the most valuable … Luzinski has always delivered when it meant something toward the ballclub winning,” Rapp said.

Luzinski finished the season with 39 homers, 130 RBI, a .309 batting average, a .394 on-base percentage and a .594 slugging percentage, leading the Phillies to their second consecutive NL East title.

But another left fielder, George Foster, playing for the second-place Reds of the NL West, was voted the NL MVP Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Foster received 291 total points and 15 first-place votes; Luzinski had 255 total points and 9 first-place votes.

Though the Reds finished 10 games behind the NL West-champion Dodgers, Foster had better statistics than Luzinski: 52 homers, 149 RBI, a .320 batting average, a .382 on-base percentage and a .631 slugging percentage.

“The way I figure it out we couldn’t win without The Bull,” Phillies catcher Tim McCarver said to The Sporting News, in explaining why Luzinski deserved the award. “And I think the Reds could have finished second without George Foster.”

Countered Reds second baseman Joe Morgan, who had won the award in both 1975 and ’76: “There’s really no comparison. If Foster replaced Luzinski in the Phillies lineup, they’d win by 20 games. George has done better in every offensive category and is a far better defensive player than Greg.”

Previously: Cardinals helped Joe Lis look like all-star

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Harry Parker: Best selection of Cardinals’ first draft

Posted in Games, Pitchers on September 3, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Harry Parker seemed a good fit for the Cardinals in their first amateur draft in 1965.

A standout in baseball, basketball and cross country at Collinsville (Ill.) High School near St. Louis, Parker, a right-handed pitcher, was the fourth-round choice of the Cardinals.

He became the most successful big-league player taken by St. Louis in that draft. Most of that success came with the Mets instead of the Cardinals.

Though he wasn’t a star, Parker was successful in the Cardinals’ system, made his big-league debut with St. Louis and pitched in a World Series for the Mets in 1973.

Before 1965, amateurs could sign with any big-league organizations of their choosing. When the major leagues instituted the draft, the Cardinals were selecting as the defending World Series champions.

Their first three selections _ pitcher Joe DiFabio, first baseman Terry Milani and outfielder Billy Wolff _ never made it to the big leagues. The fourth choice was Parker.

Signed by Cardinals scout Joe Monahan, Parker led the Collinsville baseball team in wins in three consecutive seasons and was named the team’s most valuable player his senior year. He and his younger brother, Tom, also played basketball, helping Collinsville to a state championship. Tom went on to a standout basketball career at the University of Kentucky.

Parker pitched well in the Cardinals’ system. He was 12-5 with a 2.80 ERA for a 1967 Class A Modesto team managed by Sparky Anderson. In 1970, Parker was 8-6 with a 3.59 ERA for manager Warren Spahn’s Class AAA Tulsa club.

The Cardinals promoted him to the big leagues in August 1970. On Aug. 8, Parker debuted against the Expos at St. Louis. He walked seven and yielded six runs in 5.1 innings. Boxscore

“If (Parker) was a bit nervous,” The Sporting News reported, “it was understandable. He probably was the first pitcher to make his major-league debut a few hours before his high school class reunion.”

Parker’s hitting may have been more noteworthy than his pitching that day. On the first big-league pitch thrown to him, Parker singled to right off Mike Marshall.

Three days later, Aug. 11, Parker earned the only win of his Cardinals career in a game that became part of franchise lore.

The Padres led 8-6 when Parker relieved in the top of the ninth. With two outs, he yielded a two-run single to third baseman Ed Spiezio, a former Cardinal, extending San Diego’s lead to 10-6.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinals mounted a comeback against relievers Ron Willis (another ex-Cardinal) and Ron Herbel. After scoring a run, St. Louis had the bases loaded with two outs when Carl Taylor, batting for Parker, hit a grand slam off Herbel, handing Parker the win. Boxscore

Parker was 1-1 with a 3.22 ERA in seven games for the 1970 Cardinals. He spent most of the 1971 season at Tulsa (11-12, 3.70 ERA) and appeared in four games (0-0, 7.20 ERA) for St. Louis that year.

In October, a day after the Pirates won the 1971 World Series title, the Cardinals traded Parker, pitcher Chuck Taylor, outfielder Jim Beauchamp and infielder Chip Coulter to the Mets for pitchers Jim Bibby, Rich Folkers and Charlie Hudson and outfielder Art Shamsky.

Parker had his best big-league season for the 1973 National League champion Mets. He was 8-4 with a 3.35 ERA in 38 games.

Parker beat the Cardinals twice in relief that season. Those wins were huge, considering the Cardinals finished 1.5 games behind the Mets in the NL East. Parker got the win with three shutout innings of relief in the Mets’ 10-3 victory over the Cardinals on Aug. 6. Boxscore He beat the Cardinals again with four shutout innings of relief in the Mets’ 5-2 victory on Sept. 23, dropping St. Louis three games behind New York. Boxscore

In the 1973 World Series, Parker pitched in three games against the Athletics and was the losing pitcher in Game 3. In the 11th inning, second baseman Ted Kubiak (a former Cardinal) walked and advanced on catcher Jerry Grote’s passed ball. Shortstop Bert Campaneris singled, scoring Kubiak and giving Oakland a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

Two years later, Aug. 4, 1975, the Cardinals reacquired Parker on waivers from the Mets. “My arm is well again,” Parker told The Sporting News. “I had a shoulder problem that I pitched with all of 1974.”

Parker was 0-1 with a 6.27 ERA in 14 games for the 1975 Cardinals. When it became apparent he hadn’t won a spot in the bullpen the following spring, the Cardinals traded Parker to the Indians for pitcher Roric Harrison on April 7, 1976.

In three seasons with the Cardinals, Parker was 1-2 with a 4.89 ERA in 25 games. In his six years in the majors, Parker had a regular-season mark of 15-21 with a 3.85 ERA.

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