Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Pitchers’ Category

How Jack Buck became broadcaster for Cardinals

Posted in Broadcasters, Games, Pitchers on June 17, 2012| 4 Comments »

In February 1954, Jack Buck was hired to join Harry Caray on the Cardinals broadcast team.

Caray was entering his 10th season as play-by-play voice of the Cardinals when Buck was chosen to join him after calling minor-league games for Rochester in 1953. Buck replaced former catcher Gus Mancuso as Caray’s broadcast partner.

Buck had been given a tryout in 1953, broadcasting a Cardinals-Giants regular-season game from New York. In his book, “That’s a Winner,” Buck said, “What stood out to me that day was how helpful some people were, like the Giants’ announcer, Russ Hodges. He gave me all the information I needed and offered a lot of encouragement.”

In April 1954, two months after Buck got the offer to join Caray on the broadcast team, Milo Hamilton, who had done television work in the St. Louis area for WTVI of Belleville, Ill., was hired “to handle commercials and color on road broadcasts,” meaning Buck’s work in the booth initially was limited to home games.

“(Hamilton) and I split time on the air,” Buck said. “Milo went on the road with Caray for the first half of the season. I did the scoring updates and commercials from the studio. We switched at the all-star break, and I went on the road, but didn’t have a lot to do because the broadcasts definitely were Harry’s. I did a couple of innings a game, and that was it.”

Caray didn’t get along with Buck and Hamilton. “It didn’t take me long to realize that Harry and I not only had different styles of announcing, we had different personalities and lifestyles,” Buck said. “Our relationship got off badly because he didn’t want me to get the job in the first place. He wanted the Cardinals to hire Chick Hearn, who at the time was a broadcaster in Peoria, Illinois (and eventually would become the voice of the NBA Lakers.)

“Harry didn’t get along with Milo any better than he got along with me at the time,” Buck said, “and we knew he wanted to get somebody else on the broadcast with whom he was more friendly. The man he wanted _ and got _ was Joe Garagiola.” (Hamilton was fired after the 1954 season and replaced by Garagiola.)

All three members of the Cardinals’ 1954 broadcast team would receive the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame for their career achievements. (Buck won the award in 1987; Caray in 1989; and Hamilton, 1992.)

Buck’s first regular-season Cardinals broadcast as an official member of the team was the 1954 season opener on April 13 at St. Louis. The Cubs beat the Cardinals, 13-4, behind the hitting of Clyde McCullough (4-for-5, two RBI) and Randy Jackson (three RBI). Paul Minner earned a complete-game win for Chicago. Among the Cardinals’ few highlights were solo home runs by Wally Moon and Stan Musial. Boxscore

“The most memorable event of my first season in St. Louis came on a Sunday afternoon, May 2, 1954, in a rain-delayed doubleheader against the Giants,” said Buck. “Stan Musial hit five home runs, three in the first game, two in the second, and might have had another with the longest ball he hit all day, but it was to straightaway center and was caught by Willie Mays. Caray was on the air for all five homers, and it was just as well. It used to bother him when he wasn’t on the air when something really big happened.” Game 1 and Game 2

Read Full Post »

Bob Forsch had disputed no-hitter against Phillies

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

(Updated May 26, 2020)

An official scorer’s ruling created a controversy when Bob Forsch pitched his first big-league no-hitter for the Cardinals.

Forsch’s gem in the Cardinals’ 5-0 victory over the Phillies on April 16, 1978, at St. Louis stirred an array of emotions. Boxscore

Garry Maddox opened the eighth against Forsch with a grounder to the left of third baseman Ken Reitz, who was playing in front of the bag. “I thought he might bunt,” Reitz told the Philadelphia Inquirer. The ball bounced into the outfield after Reitz appeared to tip it with his glove. Video at 8:36 mark

Official scorer Neal Russo, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, ruled it an error. The next batter, Bob Boone, grounded into a double play and Forsch retired the final four batters without incident for the first of his two big-league no-hitters. Video

It was the first Cardinals no-hitter in St. Louis since Jesse Haines achieved the feat against the Braves, also by a 5-0 score, on July 17, 1924. Boxscore

Varying opinions

The Phillies were unsparing in their criticism of Russo’s call.

“Base hit all the way,” Phillies manager Danny Ozark told Russo. “Reitz didn’t even touch the ball.”

Said Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt: “Forsch pitched a dazzling one-hitter.”

Bake McBride, the Phillies’ right fielder and a former Cardinal, said, “We almost all fell off the bench when the call was made.”

Russo, who had 15 years of experience scoring National League games, never wavered. “I thought Reitz should have had it,” Russo told the Associated Press. “I called it immediately. It was an ordinary play, maybe a step to Reitz’s left. The ball wasn’t hit that hard. There was no doubt in my mind.”

Responding to the criticism, Russo said, “Of course, the Phillies, to a man, argued. That’s human nature.”

The Cardinals were just as adamant in their support of the call. Broadcaster Mike Shannon, the former Cardinals third baseman, told Russo, “It was an error, but it’s going to be controversial. Reitz had a chance to make the play and he didn’t.”

Catcher Ted Simmons told the Post-Dispatch, “It hit off his glove. If it wasn’t an error, I’d say so.”

Explained Reitz: “I thought the ball was hit a lot harder than it was. When I went for the ball, I double-pumped and when I came up with the glove the second time, the ball hit the webbing and went by me. I make that play 99 out of 100 times. This was the 100th time. It was an error all the way.”

Good luck

Somewhat lost amid the hubbub was the pitching of Forsch, who used mostly fastballs, curves and changeups to stop the Phillies. “He had full command of everything he threw,” Simmons said.

In a 2020 interview with Stan McNeal of Cardinals Gameday Magazine, Simmons recalled, “Forsch threw a profound power sinker,” and he used it to try to get the Phillies to hit grounders.

Said Forsch: “When I was warming up, I didn’t think I had real good stuff. So I just tried to keep the ball down in the first three innings and mixed up my pitches.”

Forsch’s biggest threat to the no-hitter was Schmidt, who hit three drives to the warning track. All were caught by center fielder Tony Scott. “1,200 feet of outs,” the Philadelphia Inquirer declared.

On a day when the temperature was 41 degrees, the wind was blowing in “and the ball carried like a shotput through the heavy river air,” wrote Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News.

“The ball Schmidt hit in the first inning I thought was going to hit the Stadium Club,” Forsch said candidly to the Philadelphia Daily News. “I think that’s a home run easy on a normal day here.”

Forsch concluded, “You’ve got to be lucky to pitch a no-hitter, and I was lucky, but I made some good pitches and any time I got into trouble I got right out of it.”

It was the first Cardinals no-hitter since Bob Gibson’s masterpiece against the Pirates in an 11-0 victory at Pittsburgh on Aug. 14, 1971. Simmons also was the catcher in that game. Boxscore

An appreciative Cardinals manager Vern Rapp said of Forsch, “He’s a complete pitcher now. He was a master out there this time. An artist.”

It would be the last win of Rapp’s tenure as St. Louis manager. After the Cardinals lost their next five in a row, Rapp was fired.

Previously: The story of how Bob Forsch converted to pitching

Read Full Post »

Cardinals groomed Pedro Borbon for bullpen success

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Prospects on June 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Pedro Borbon was best-known as a Reds pitcher, but he began and ended his professional playing career with the Cardinals.

Borbon was a reliable reliever for the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s. In 12 big-league seasons (1969-80), Borbon was 69-39 with 80 saves. He pitched in the World Series for the Reds in 1972, 1975 and 1976. He won 11 and saved 14 for Cincinnati in 1973 and was 10-5 with 18 saves for the 1977 Reds.

What’s not as well-known is Borbon became a professional baseball player on one of the most magical days in Cardinals history. He was signed as a non-drafted free agent by St. Louis on Oct. 15, 1964, the day the Cardinals won Game 7 of the World Series against the Yankees.

Borbon was a success in his three seasons in the St. Louis system. He was 6-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 38 games for Class A Cedar Rapids in 1966 and 5-4 with a 2.29 ERA in 36 games for Class A St. Petersburg in 1967. Both clubs were managed by Ron Plaza.

In 1968, Borbon, 21, caught the attention of several big-league organizations with his performance for the Cardinals’ Class A Modesto club of the California League.

He established a league record by appearing in 18 consecutive games without allowing an earned run. In a May 15 game against Fresno, with the score 4-4, Modesto manager Joe Cunningham brought  in Borbon in the ninth inning with a runner on first, one out and a 3-and-0 count on batter Chris Arnold. Borbon struck out Arnold on three pitches and catcher Ted Simmons, 18, threw out the runner attempting to steal second. Modesto scored in the bottom of the ninth, giving Borbon the win.

Borbon finished 8-5 with a 2.34 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 100 innings for Modesto in 1968. In December, the two-time defending National League champion Cardinals failed to protect Borbon on their major-league roster and he was chosen by the Angels as the fourth pick in the first round of the Rule 5 draft.

The Angels were one of at least five big-league clubs that rated Borbon as the best available player in the draft, according to The Sporting News.

“He might be a real catch,” Angels manager Bill Rigney said. “Everyone was high on him.”

Borbon made the Angels’ roster in 1969. He got the win in his major-league debut on April 9 against the Seattle Pilots. Boxscore He finished 2-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 22 games for the 1969 Angels. In November, the Angels dealt Borbon and pitchers Jim McGlothlin and Vern Geishert to the Reds for outfielder Alex Johnson and infielder Chico Ruiz. Bob Howsam, the Reds’ general manager, had been the Cardinals’ general manager when Borbon signed with St. Louis.

Eleven years later, Borbon, 33, was looking for work after being released by the Giants in April 1980. The Cardinals gave him a job as their batting practice pitcher. After two weeks, they determined Borbon was better than some of the pitchers in their bullpen. St. Louis relievers had a collective 7.46 ERA. Desperate for help, general manager John Claiborne acquired Jim Kaat, 41, from the Yankees and signed Borbon. A headline in The Sporting News blared, “Redbirds Turn to Greybeards to Liven Up Their Bullpen.”

Borbon provided immediate results. He pitched three scoreless relief innings against the Astros in his Cardinals debut on May 3, 1980. Boxscore

In his second Cardinals appearance, Borbon earned a save _ and got revenge against the team that released him _ with 2.2 scoreless relief innings against the Giants. Boxscore

Borbon’s third appearance resulted in his first Cardinals win _ and last of his career in the majors _ in a 15-7 St. Louis victory over the Dodgers. Boxscore

But Borbon’s effectiveness soon waned. He yielded a home run in each of his final three appearances. The last two came in consecutive games _ a three-run homer by Padres catcher Gene Tenace on May 24 Boxscore and a grand slam by Padres third baseman Barry Evans (his second and last home run of a five-year big-league career) on May 25. Boxscore

Four weeks after they had added him to the roster, the Cardinals released Borbon. His St. Louis record: 1-0 with one save and a 3.79 ERA in 10 games. With that, Borbon’s big-league career was finished.

His son, a left-handed pitcher also named Pedro Borbon, had a nine-year career in the majors with the Braves, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Astros and Cardinals. Like his father, he finished as a Cardinal, pitching seven games for St. Louis in 2003 and posting an 0-1 record and 20.25 ERA.

Read Full Post »

Bob Gibson, Bob Boozer: mutual champs of Omaha

Posted in Pitchers on May 23, 2012| 2 Comments »

In the mid-1950s, two world-class athletes were produced from the same neighborhood in Omaha, Neb.

Bob Gibson, who would become the greatest pitcher in St. Louis Cardinals history, and Bob Boozer, a standout basketball forward who would become a NCAA all-American, an Olympian and a NBA champion, were friends and teammates.

Both were coached by Bob Gibson’s older brother, Josh, on a YMCA-sponsored baseball team, the Monarchs. Both were teammates on a YMCA-sponsored basketball team, the Travelers. Both were teammates for a year on the Omaha Tech High School varsity basketball team. Both became business partners as radio station owners.

“He and Bob Gibson showed people that minority players could come out of Omaha and play professional football or baseball or whatever it may be,” Gale Sayers, running back for the Chicago Bears, told the Omaha World-Herald.

Sayers and two other football standouts, Marlin Briscoe (first black quarterback in the American Football League and later a wide receiver for the undefeated 1972 Dolphins) and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Rodgers, were raised in the same Omaha neighborhood as Gibson and Boozer, following in their paths.

“I used to sit in the stands at Burdette Field (in Omaha) and watch Gibby pitch,” Boozer said to Leo Adam Biga, who wrote a series on standout black athletes from Omaha. “As good a baseball player as he was, he was a finer basketball player. He could play. He could get up and hang.”

A positive influence on both was Josh Gibson. “He was my mentor,” Bob Gibson said in a 2009 interview with Matt Crossman of The Sporting News. “Not just mine, but he coached guys like Bob Boozer, the basketball player, and Gale Sayers. He was really influential on the kids in Omaha at the time.”

In his book, “From Ghetto to Glory,” Bob Gibson said, “At a dinner in Omaha, Bob Boozer made a speech and said he probably would not be where he is now if it had not been for Josh. Another athlete who came under Josh’s influence is Gale Sayers.”

Bob Gibson, 17 months older than Boozer, went to Creighton, played for the Harlem Globetrotters and eventually gave up basketball to pursue a Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals.

Boozer, 6 feet 8 and 215 pounds, went to Kansas State and averaged 21.9 points per game in three varsity seasons and twice was named all-American. As a junior, he led Kansas State to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.

In 1959, Gibson’s rookie season with the Cardinals, Boozer was chosen as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals, but Boozer declined to join the NBA that year, preferring to keep his amateur status so he could play for the United States in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Boozer helped the U.S. win the gold medal, then embarked on a NBA career.

Boozer played in the NBA for 11 seasons (1960-71) and averaged 14.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game for his career. He played for the Royals (1960-63), Knicks (1963-65), Lakers (1965-66), Bulls (1966-69), SuperSonics (1969-70) and Bucks (1970-71). With teammates Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, he helped the Bucks win the 1971 NBA championship.

That same year, Starr Broadcasting sold Nebraska radio stations KOWH and KOZN to an ownership group led by Gibson and including Boozer.

“I don’t think I understood the full meaning of the word bigotry until I tried to sell advertising time for KOWH,” Gibson said in the book “Stranger to the Game.” “Almost none of the established businesses would buy from us and they searched hard for reasons not to.”

Gibson and his partners sold the stations to RadiOmaha in 1978.

“As the principal investor in KOWH, I had been operating at a personal liability that was eventually too much to handle,” Gibson said.

Boozer worked 27 years as a community affairs executive and federal lobbyist for a communications company, Northwestern Bell-US West.

In 2005, the Omaha World-Herald ranked the top 100 Nebraska athletes of all-time. The top five, in order: Gibson, Sayers, pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, Boozer and Rodgers.

“There are other neighborhoods in America that have produced impressive lists of athletes and maybe some have been more prolific than the north side of Omaha,” Gibson said in “Stranger to the Game.” “… But I have a hard time believing that any community as small and isolated as the Logan Fontenelle housing projects can match us for quantity and quality and diversity of athletes.”

Previously: How Bill Bergesch got Bob Gibson to the Cardinals

Read Full Post »

Cardinals swept series in initial visit to Dodger Stadium

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on May 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

When the Cardinals played in Dodger Stadium for the first time the weekend of May 18-20, 1962, they felt right at home. The Cardinals swept the three-game series, receiving complete-game wins from each of their starting pitchers, and Stan Musial stroked a single, surpassing Honus Wagner to become the National League all-time hits leader.

Moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, the Dodgers played four years at the Coliseum while Dodger Stadium was being built. On April 10, 1962, in the first regular-season game at Dodger Stadium, the Reds defeated the Dodgers, 6-3. Boxscore

As the Cardinals-Dodgers series opened May 18, the Dodgers were in second place, three games behind the Giants, at 23-12. The Dodgers had won four in a row and eight of their last nine. The Cardinals were in third place at 18-13 and had lost five of their last seven.

The Cardinals’ arrival brought out the entertainment crowd. While the Cardinals were warming up before the first game, comedian Milton Berle, seated near the dugout, performed card tricks for Musial, Red Schoendienst and Ernie Broglio, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The opener matched Johnny Podres against Larry Jackson. In the first inning, Ken Boyer smashed a drive that struck Podres in the left forearm. Podres threw three pitches out of the strike zone to the next batter, Gene Oliver, and walked off the field, unable to pitch. X-rays revealed a severe bruise, no fracture.

Bill White drove in three runs, Charlie James scored three runs and knocked in two, and Jackson went the distance as the Cardinals won, 8-3, before 38,951. Boxscore

“I had a pretty good curve and fastball,” Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The story the next night, May 19, normally would have been the pitching of Cardinals left-hander Ray Sadecki. The Dodgers had defeated six consecutive left-handers and Sadecki was 0-3 in his career against them, but Sadecki changed the script, pitching his first complete game of the season and got the win in the Cardinals’ 8-1 triumph before 44,559. Boxscore

The headlines, however, went to Musial, the 41-year-old left fielder. His single to right field in the ninth inning off a curve from Ron Perranoski gave Musial his 3,431st hit and moved him ahead of Wagner for No. 1 on the NL career list, breaking a mark that had been held for 45 years. Dodgers first baseman Wally Moon, a former Cardinals teammate, fielded the throw from right fielder Frank Howard and handed the ball to Musial, who received a standing ovation.

“Stan hit a good curveball,” Perranoski told The Sporting News.

Said Musial: “I never worked so hard for two hits.”

(Musial had hit the record-tying single off Juan Marichal in San Francisco on May 16, ending a string of 15 hitless at-bats. He went hitless in nine more after that until he connected on the 0-and-1 pitch from Perranoski.)

“At least I got it in a beautiful new park and against the Dodgers, who have been good to me over the years,” Musial said.

Only Ty Cobb (4,191) and Tris Speaker (3,515) had more career hits than Musial at that time.

After the game, Musial and teammates Boyer and Schoendienst went to the Stadium Club at the ballpark. Musial enjoyed a steak sandwich and French fries. As Neal Russo reported in The Sporting News, few tables had a trio with more hits _ a total surpassing 7,000.

Exhausted by the strain to break the record, “I just about wilted when I got to first base with the record hit,” Musial said.

While Musial sat out the series finale on Sunday afternoon, May 20, Schoendienst, 39, started at second base for the fifth consecutive game. He was filling in for Julian Javier, who was sidelined because of a torn fingernail on his right index finger.

Curt Simmons yielded three runs, none earned, and got the complete-game win in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory before 38,474. Boxscore

The Cardinals had swept a series in Los Angeles for the first time since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. They moved into a second-place tie with the Dodgers and got within 4.5 games of the Giants.

Previously: How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

Read Full Post »

Luis Arroyo was a pleasant surprise for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers on May 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Luis Arroyo was the most unlikely of Cardinals pitchers to open a season with wins in each of his first six starts.

Arroyo, a rookie left-hander who barely made the 1955 Opening Day roster and nearly got knocked out in the first inning of his first start, posted a 6-0 record and 1.56 ERA through eight appearances (including two relief stints) and earned a spot on the National League all-star team.

Arroyo, a native of Puerto Rico, signed a professional contract in 1948 and joined the Cardinals’ organization in 1950. He hurt his left arm and sat out the 1952 and 1953 seasons. He re-emerged in 1954 as a prospect, posting an 8-6 record and 2.49 ERA for Class A Columbus (Ga.) and an 8-3 record and 2.35 ERA for Class AA Houston.

Arroyo, who credited Cardinals scout and retired catcher Gus Mancuso with teaching him an improved curve, pitched a no-hitter for Houston and had strikeout totals of 17 in one game and 15 in another. His combined record for Columbus and Houston in 1954 was 16-9 with a 2.42 ERA.

Invited to join the 1955 Cardinals in spring training, Arroyo pitched poorly, yielding 14 earned runs in 18 innings. However, the Cardinals, managed by Eddie Stanky, were desperate for left-handed pitching and placed Arroyo, 28, on the season-opening roster.

His big-league debut occurred on April 20, 1955, with a start against the Reds at Cincinnati. It almost ended soon after it began.

In the Reds’ half of the first, Johnny Temple led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wally Post walked. When Arroyo ran the count to 3-and-0 against the next batter, Gus Bell, Stanky sent coach Dixie Walker to confer with the pitcher.

Arroyo, reported The Sporting News, “came within one pitch of being yanked and sent to the minors.”

Walker told Arroyo, “You’ve been pitching scared all spring. There’s no use being nervous out there. You either do or you don’t _ that’s all there is to it. Get the ball over and get ’em out.”

Arroyo struck out Bell. On the third strike, Temple was thrown out attempting to steal third base. Ted Kluszewski grounded out to second, ending the inning.

In the third, Arroyo got another break. Temple was on second when Kluszewski singled, but Temple was thrown out trying to score.

Gaining confidence, Arroyo shut out the Reds for 7.2 innings before being relieved. He earned the win in the Cardinals’ 3-0 victory. Boxscore

Unimpressed, Reds manager Birdie Tebbetts told reporters he’d be surprised if Arroyo still was in the major leagues in July.

After two relief appearances, Arroyo returned to the rotation and won each of his next five starts. Two of those wins were against the Pirates, one came against the Phillies and two more were against the Reds.

After Arroyo beat Cincinnati for the third time, Tebbetts said, “He’s looking like one of the league’s better left-handers, who, I am sorry to say, will be around all year, at least.”

Arroyo’s six-game winning streak was snapped on June 6 at Brooklyn. Arroyo took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but Gil Hodges walked and Jackie Robinson followed with a home run for a 5-4 Dodgers victory. Boxscore

Arroyo accounted for eight of the Cardinals’ first 26 victories. After getting the win in the Cardinals’ 5-3 triumph over the Giants at St. Louis on June 25, Arroyo’s record was 9-2 with a 2.02 ERA.

In The Sporting News, Bob Broeg wrote of Arroyo, “He’s got a lively fastball, a pitch that moves away from right-handed hitters, causing them to pop up, and he’s got a good enough curve, change and control, too.”

Selected to the all-star team, Arroyo was the only one of seven NL pitchers not used by manager Leo Durocher in a game Stan Musial decided with a 12th-inning home run off Boston’s Frank Sullivan.

Arroyo’s second half of the 1955 season wasn’t as successful as his first half. He lost his final four decisions, and five of the last six. He finished at 11-8 with a 4.19 ERA in 35 games (24 starts). Arroyo and Harvey Haddix were Cardinals co-leaders in complete games (nine apiece) and only Haddix (12) had more wins for St. Louis.

In 1956, with Fred Hutchinson as manager, the Cardinals restructured their rotation. Arroyo was sent to Class AAA Omaha after spring training. He was 1-0 in five games for Omaha before the Cardinals traded him to the Pirates for pitcher Max Surkont.

Unable to repeat the success of his rookie season, Arroyo bounced from the Pirates to the Reds. He was in the Reds’ minor-league system when the Yankees purchased his contract in July 1960.

The move revived his career. Arroyo helped the 1960 Yankees win the American League pennant, posting a 5-1 record with seven saves and a 2.88 ERA in 29 games. A year later, Arroyo enjoyed his best big-league season. He was named AL Fireman of the Year by The Sporting News, with a 15-5 record, 29 saves and a 2.19 ERA in 65 games for the league-champion Yankees. Arroyo also was the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1961 World Series against the Reds.

Arroyo had one other claim to fame. According to Baseball Digest, he was the first major-league reliever to ride to the mound from the bullpen on a motorized cart. The bullpen cart was introduced at a Yankees-Red Sox game shortly before the 1961 All-Star Game at Fenway Park.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »