RetroSimba

Dennis Ribant hoped to be the second person _ and first American _ to play in both the National Hockey League and in baseball’s major leagues.

He made a good run at it, playing in the farm systems of baseball’s Milwaukee Braves and hockey’s Detroit Red Wings.

Encouraged by the Braves to focus on baseball, Ribant reluctantly gave up hockey and pitched in the majors with six teams, including one game for the Cardinals.

Cleats and skates

A Detroit native, Ribant was 12 when he worked for tips dusting off seats for fans at Tiger Stadium, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted.

A right-handed pitcher, Ribant got offers from the Tigers and Yankees after he graduated from high school but both were contingent on him quitting hockey, the Detroit Free Press reported. He signed with the Braves for less money because they “didn’t object too strenuously to hockey,” according to the newspaper.

About the same time, Ribant, 19, got assigned to the Detroit Red Wings’ Junior A hockey team in Hamilton, Ontario, for the 1960-61 season. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment in itself for an American kid to make a Junior A team,” Red Wings scout Jimmy Skinner told the Free Press. “It’s really rare.”

In a late-season game, Ribant “was hit blindside by a burly defenseman of the Toronto Marlboros and sent reeling into the boards of Maple Leaf Gardens,” Dick Young reported in the New York Daily News.

Ribant dislocated his left elbow. Soon after, when he showed up for his first spring training with the Braves in 1961, they were surprised to see his left arm in a sling.

(Five years later, Ribant still felt pain in the left elbow when he swung a bat, the Daily News reported in 1966.)

Fortunately for him, Ribant’s pitching arm, the right one, was undamaged. Assigned to Davenport (Iowa), a Class D team in 1961, Ribant was 17-2 and pitched a perfect game. Promoted to Class AA Austin (Texas) late in the season, he was 4-2. His overall ERA for the year was 1.68.

Playing hardball

After his successful pro baseball debut in 1961, Ribant planned to play another junior hockey season in the Red Wings’ system, but the Braves “shudder at the thought of him playing hockey,” the Free Press reported.

Braves general manager John McHale contacted his Red Wings counterpart, Jack Adams, and asked him to help convince Ribant to give up hockey, according to the New York Daily News.

As the Free Press noted, “The Red Wings find themselves in the strange position of discouraging a hockey prospect, especially an American hockey prospect and, taking it a step further, one born and raised in Detroit … Good American boys don’t come along very often, especially one from the club’s own town.”

According to the Daily News, Adams agreed to send scout Jimmy Skinner to talk with Ribant, but told McHale, “He’s a pretty good hockey player … The decision will be up to the boy.”

Ribant told the Daily News that Skinner said, “You’re going to be a big-league ballplayer. You can make a lot of money in baseball.”

Ribant replied, “I can do both, at least for a little while. I can make the National Hockey League, too, can’t I?”

Skinner said, “Maybe. You have a chance. They tell me you have a better chance in baseball. Think it over.”

Ribant decided to make baseball his sole sport.

(In an interview with the Free Press, Skinner said, “If he stayed in hockey, he would need several more years of seasoning, and I don’t think he’d ever make the National (Hockey) League, although he could play in the high minors.”)

A Canadian, Jim Riley, is the only person to play in the NHL and in baseball’s major leagues. An infielder, Riley played four games with the 1921 St. Louis Browns and two games with the 1923 Washington Senators. He also played in the NHL with Chicago and Detroit in 1927.

On the move

Ribant never did pitch for the Braves, In August 1964, during his fourth season in their farm system, the Braves traded him to the last-place Mets, who put him in their starting rotation. His first big-league win, on Aug. 17, 1964, was a four-hit shutout of the Pirates. Boxscore

After spending part of the 1965 season back in the minors, Ribant returned to the Mets’ starting rotation in 1966, finishing 11-9 with a 3.20 ERA. He and Bob Shaw (11-10) became the first Mets starters to complete a season with a winning mark.

After the season, Mets general manager George Weiss retired and was replaced by Bing Devine, the former Cardinals general manager who had become an assistant to Weiss. Devine determined the Mets needed a center fielder and went shopping for a Pirates prospect, Don Bosch. According to the New York Times, Mets scouts rated Bosch’s fielding skills “as good as Willie Mays, Bill Virdon or Curt Flood.”

Devine offered Pirates general manager Joe Brown a choice of a starting pitcher, Bob Shaw or Jack Fisher, for Bosch, but Brown insisted on Ribant, The Pittsburgh Press reported.

On Dec. 6, 1966, the Mets dealt Ribant and outfielder Gary Kolb to the Pirates for Bosch and pitcher Don Cardwell. “I hated to give up Ribant, but you can’t expect something for nothing in this business,” Devine told the New York Daily News.

Bosch flopped, batting .140 for the 1967 Mets and .171 the next year before being banished to the Expos.

Ribant was 9-8, including 2-0 versus the Cardinals, for the 1967 Pirates, and brought a hockey player’s attitude to the diamond. “Ribant doesn’t walk, he strides,” Roy McHugh wrote in The Pittsburgh Press. “He approaches the mound like John L. Sullivan on his way through the double doors of an 1890 saloon, ready to make the announcement that he can lick anyone in the house.”

After Ribant beat the Braves for his first win with the Pirates, Hank Aaron told The Pittsburgh Press, “He battles you … You get Ribant in a tough spot and he pitches his way out.”

Pirates teammate Roberto Clemente said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “I like this Ribant.”

Fast fade

The Pirates traded Ribant to his hometown team, the Tigers, in November 1967. It should have been a dream come true. The Tigers were headed to a World Series championship in 1968, but Ribant didn’t get to partake in the celebration.

Though he was 2-2 with a save and a 2.22 ERA in 14 relief appearances for the 1968 Tigers, they determined they needed a more experienced reliever in the pennant stretch. On July 26, 1968, the Tigers dealt Ribant, 26, to the White Sox for Don McMahon, 38.

An American League expansion team, the Royals, acquired Ribant before the 1969 season but planned to send him to the minors. When Ribant balked, Bing Devine, who had returned to the Cardinals, bought his contract. “I know Ribant,” Devine said to The Sporting News. “I know he likes to work and I’ve never seen him when he wasn’t ready to pitch.”

Ribant was sent to minor-league Tulsa. Its manager, Warren Spahn, was a Braves ace when Ribant joined that organization. Later, Spahn was a pitcher and coach with the Mets when Ribant was there.

“I know I can pitch up there (the majors),” Ribant told the Tulsa World. “I’m young (27), no problems and in good shape. My arm is sound and I’m throwing as good as ever.”

After earning three consecutive wins, including a shutout of Iowa, for Tulsa, Ribant was called up to the Cardinals on June 4, 1969. A day later, he relieved Mike Torrez in a game against the Astros, pitched 1.1 innings and allowed two runs, including a Joe Morgan home run. Boxscore

The Cardinals never gave him another chance. A week later, he was sent to the Reds for pitcher Aurelio Monteagudo.

Ribant made seven relief appearances for the 1969 Reds, posting a 1.08 ERA, and never pitched in the majors again.

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As Tom Murphy felt his pitching career sliding downhill, the Cardinals pulled him back into the big leagues.

On May 8, 1973, the Cardinals rescued Murphy from the Royals’ farm system, acquiring him for pitcher Al Santorini.

A right-hander who had been in the Angels’ starting rotation for four years, Murphy used his season in St. Louis to show he could be effective again in the majors, After that, he transformed into a closer _ but not with the Cardinals.

Baseball cards come to life

Born in Cleveland and raised in nearby Euclid, Ohio, Tom Murphy and his identical twin brother, Roger, became college athletes. Tom was a pitcher for Ohio University and Roger became a wide receiver for Northwestern’s football team.

Tom Murphy had a combined 16-1 record his sophomore and junior seasons at Ohio U. Roger Murphy had 51 catches for Northwestern in 1966 and went on to play in the Canadian Football League.

The Astros (1965) and Giants (1966) drafted Tom Murphy but he preferred to stay in college. When the Angels drafted him in January 1967, one of the reasons he signed was they agreed to let him complete his bachelor of arts degree in English that spring, The Sporting News reported.

Murphy’s first stop in the Angels’ system was with Quad Cities, a Class A club in Iowa managed by Fred Koenig. Murphy was 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in six starts.

The Angels called up Murphy, 22, the next year, in June 1968, and put him in the starting rotation. The Angels’ pitching coach, Bob Lemon, had been Murphy’s favorite boyhood player with the Indians, according to The Sporting News.

In beating the Yankees for his first big-league win, Murphy faced another baseball icon from his childhood, Mickey Mantle. Though Mantle, 36, was playing in his last season on wobbly knees, “I was scared,” Murphy told the Los Angeles Times. “You better believe I did a little trembling. Here was a guy I idolized.”

Murphy managed to twice retire Mantle in key situations. His strategy, he told the Times, was, “I figured I’d challenge him with my best, and let him hit it as far as he could,”

In the third inning, with runners on second and third, one out, Mantle hit “a whistling drive directly at first baseman Chuck Hinton, who threw to shortstop Jim Fregosi at second for a double play,” the Times noted.

Two innings later, Mantle batted with two on and two outs. “Murphy threw two sweeping curveballs and Mantle could do no better than hit foul balls,” the Times reported. “The third pitch was a high fastball. Mantle swung ferociously, but the ball nestled in catcher Tom Satriano’s glove” for strike three. Boxscore

Murphy made 15 starts for the 1968 Angels and had a 2.17 ERA.

California dreaming

Being a rookie in the big leagues in Southern California in 1968 made for heady times for Murphy. Tall (6 feet 3) and angular, Murphy was a bachelor who enjoyed the California beach life. Murph the Surf, they called him.

He wore the mod clothes of the time, including silk brocade Nehru jackets. As the Los Angeles Times observed when he arrived for an interview, “Murphy wears a brown shirt of Edwardian cut. It is complemented by a brown and gold ascot. The pants are hip huggers. They are white with a black stripe and bell-bottomed.”

His road roommate, pitcher Andy Messersmith, told the Times, “I get my kicks walking around with Tom and hearing what people say about his clothes. Like the day in Boston after he had just bought this gold Nehru. We walked around downtown and people thought he was Ken Harrelson (of the Red Sox). They thought he was The Hawk.”

Murphy replied, “Aw, it was because of my nose.”

In 1969, Murphy and Messersmith joined Rudy May and Jim McGlothlin _ the four M’s _ in a mod Angels starting rotation, all 25 or younger.

During spring training, players sneaked Murphy’s twin brother Roger into an Angels uniform and sent him onto the field for calisthenics. Roger lied down in the grass and used first base for a pillow, then got up and told astonished Angels manager Bill Rigney he was retiring. Rigney thought Roger was Tom until he was brought in on the gag, the Times reported.

There wasn’t much funny, though, about Tom Murphy’s season for the 1969 Angels. He had 16 losses, threw 16 wild pitches and hit 21 batters with pitches. “The statistics seem to suggest that Murphy’s pitching was as wild as his wardrobe,” John Wiebusch of the Times reported.

Murphy told the newspaper, “There are smart pitchers and stupid pitchers, and it doesn’t take a genius to classify me.

“I tend to lose my cool too quickly. Things upset me and when that happens I lose my poise.”

Murphy did much better in 1970 (16 wins) but not so well in 1971 (17 losses, but in eight of those the Angels failed to score. He also lost three games by 2-1 scores and another by 3-2.)

K.C. and the Sunshine Band

After the 1971 season, the Angels obtained a pitcher who was 29-38 with the Mets (Nolan Ryan), put him into their starting rotation and traded Murphy to the Royals in May 1972. “I can’t quite picture myself sunbathing in Kansas City,” Murphy quipped to The Sporting News.

Bob Lemon was the Royals’ manager. Murphy’s first start for him was against the Angels. He pitched well (two runs allowed in seven innings) but lost. Boxscore

In July, Murphy (3-2, 4.79 ERA) was demoted to minor-league Omaha. He pitched a no-hitter against Indianapolis and was back with the Royals in September. His highlight was a shutout against a Twins lineup with Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew, beating Bert Blyleven. Boxscore

Murphy had an 0.34 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched for the Royals in September 1972, but when the season opened in 1973 he was back in the minors.

Join the club

The 1973 Cardinals lost 20 of their first 25 games and were looking for any help.  Cardinals director of player development Fred Koenig, Murphy’s first minor-league manager, recommended him and the deal was made with the Royals.

Murphy joined a pitching staff populated with other American League castoffs such as Alan Foster, Orlando Pena and Diego Segui. His first two Cardinals appearances, both in relief, resulted in 4.1 scoreless innings, and he was moved into the starting rotation on June 10.

Though Murphy lost his first three decisions as a Cardinals starter, he pitched well. He allowed one run in a 3-1 loss to the Expos Boxscore and two runs in a 2-0 loss to the Cubs. Boxscore

His breakthrough came on July 4, 1973, with a complete-game win against the Pirates. Murphy also contributed a single and a double, scored a run and drove in another. Boxscore

He won his next start as well, beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Boxscore

The next day, Murphy’s twin brother pulled another prank. He got into the clubhouse, dressed in Tom’s uniform and asked trainer Gene Gieselmann for a rubdown, saying he’d hurt his arm in a surfing accident. Gieselmann went to work, thinking it was Tom.

Murphy also became a source of amusement for Bob Gibson, who delighted in imitating his teammate’s herky-jerky pitching motion. “Murphy has the habit of prefacing his windup by flipping his gloved hand forward, as if shooing flies,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

On July 29, 1973, Murphy had two hits in the Cardinals’ win against the Cubs but didn’t qualify for a decision. Boxscore In his next start, he limited the Expos to two runs. but was the losing pitcher. Balor Moore shut out the Cardinals on four hits. Boxscore

Soon after that, Murphy was moved to the bullpen and was effective. He finished the season 3-7 with a 3.76 ERA. In his six relief appearances totaling 13.1 innings, he was 1-0 with an 0.68 ERA.

Finding a niche

Murphy’s strong relief work for the Cardinals was a sign of good things to come for him. It was the Brewers, though, who benefitted.

On Dec. 8, 1973, the Cardinals sent Murphy to the Brewers for utilityman Bob Heise. Brewers manager Del Crandall made Murphy, 28, the closer. “He’s got heart,” Crandall told The Sporting News. “While other guys get nervous in certain situations, he can go out there and do the job.”

Using a combination of sinkers and sliders, Murphy made 70 relief appearances for the 1974 Brewers and was 10-10 with 20 saves and a 1.90 ERA.

He had 20 saves again for the Brewers the next year but overall wasn’t as dominant, posting a 1-9 record and 4.60 ERA.

Murphy went on to finish his playing career with the Blue Jays. In 12 seasons in the majors, he was 68-101 with 59 saves and a 3.78 ERA.

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As a teen, Alan Foster was a pitching prospect being compared with Sandy Koufax. At 26, he was a pitching project hoping to get another chance to stick in the majors.

In 1973, the Cardinals threw a lifeline to Foster, inviting him to spring training as a non-roster pitcher. He made the most of the opportunity, earning a spot on the Opening Day pitching staff and working his way into the starting rotation.

A right-hander who made his big-league debut in 1967, Foster had his first winning season in the majors with the 1973 Cardinals. He achieved career highs that year in wins (13), innings pitched (203.2) and strikeouts (106).

By design

When Foster was a senior at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, Calif., near Los Angeles, he struck out 188 batters in 99 innings and posted an ERA of 0.39, according to The Sporting News.

“What attracted the scouts was that, besides being able to throw very hard, I was accomplished in other aspects of pitching,” Foster told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I had good control. I could hit the corners. I knew how to pitch, in and out. I was able to make a lot of hitters look ridiculous.”

Foster’s father, a physician, told the scouts his son wanted to study architecture at UCLA and would opt for college unless offered a substantial contract, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On the recommendation of scout Ben Wade, the Dodgers selected Foster, 18, in the second round of the 1965 June amateur draft (ahead of catcher Johnny Bench). Foster signed after his father negotiated a $97,000 contract for him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Orient express

In 1966, playing for manager Bob Kennedy at Albuquerque, Foster was 11-5 with a 2.86 ERA. The Dodgers, 1966 National League champions, brought Foster on their tour of Japan after the World Series. Pitching against Japanese all-star teams, Foster, 19, impressed, earning three wins and posting a 2.53 ERA in 32 innings pitched.

In a story headlined “Rookie Pitcher Steals Show on Dodgers Tour,” the Los Angeles Times described Foster’s pitching as “dazzling.”

“He has an easy motion like Sandy Koufax,” umpire Doug Harvey told the newspaper.

The Sporting News rated Foster’s pitches “as impressive as (a young) Koufax.”

(While in Japan, Foster met Cristina Rodriguez. Born and raised there, she was the daughter of a film distributor, according to the Post-Dispatch. Alan and Cristina married three years later.)

High expectations

Foster, 20, opened the 1967 season with the Dodgers. making his debut in relief against the Braves, The first batter he faced: Hank Aaron.

“I was going to try to show him I was not just another wild kid,” Foster said to Sports Illustrated. “Well, the first pitch went right over his head and the second one wasn’t much better. Now I’m two balls behind to Henry Aaron.”

Foster made another bad pitch, but Aaron swung and bounced out to shortstop Gene Michael. Foster pitched two scoreless innings. “I wasn’t nervous,” he told the Los Angeles Times, “but I sure was excited.” Boxscore

(For his career, Aaron batted .366 with 15 hits, including two home runs, against Foster.)

After another relief appearance, Foster was sent to Spokane to get starts. He pitched two no-hitters against the Angels’ Seattle farm team, winning both by 1-0 scores, and a two-hitter, striking out 15, versus the Cardinals’ Tulsa affiliate.

At Dodgers spring training in 1968, Foster was a center of attention. Under the headline, “Best Rookies of 1968,” Foster appeared on the cover of the March 11 Sports Illustrated, along with the Reds’ Johnny Bench, the Cardinals’ Mike Torrez, the Tigers’ Don Pepper (father of golf pro Dottie Pepper) and Cisco Carlos of the White Sox.

“Alan Foster is the man (Dodgers owner) Walter O’Malley hopes can help his team back into contention,” Sports Illustrated exclaimed. “When the Dodgers get high on a pitcher, the National League had best look out.”

At the annual Dodgers spring training party hosted by O’Malley and his wife Kay, pitcher Mudcat Grant sang to the accompaniment of teammates Foster and Tommy Hutton on guitars, The Sporting News noted.

It was a surprise when the Dodgers sent Foster back to Spokane.

Coming up short

Foster stuck with the Dodgers in 1969 but finished 3-9 with a 4.38 ERA.

One of his best performances that season came in a losing effort against the Cardinals. Foster held them to a run and three hits in eight innings, but Steve Carlton pitched a five-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory. Boxscore

“I guess I’m not very lucky,” Foster said to the Los Angeles Times. “That’s the best I’ve ever pitched in the major leagues … I can’t pitch any better than that.”

Three months later, the Pirates’ Willie Stargell launched a Foster curve more than 500 feet over the roof of the right field pavilion and into the parking lot, becoming the first batter to hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium. Describing the blast in the Los Angeles Times, Ross Newhan wrote, “It appeared to be Apollo 12.” Boxscore

After a 10-13 record and 4.26 ERA for the 1970 Dodgers, Foster was traded to the Cleveland Indians.

Humbling tumble

Before joining the Indians, Foster said he hurt his arm playing winter baseball in Mexico, the Post-Dispatch reported. Then, on the first road trip of the 1971 season, he damaged his right elbow lugging his luggage. “I had to nurse that along without telling anybody,” he said to the newspaper.

Traded to the Angels after finishing 8-12 for the 1971 Indians, Foster spent most of 1972 in the minors. “It humbled me,” Foster told The Sporting News. “It taught me not to take anything for granted. I matured then.”

Called up to the Angels in September 1972, Foster made three relief appearances. Cardinals player personnel director Bob Kennedy, who’d managed Foster at Albuquerque six years earlier, scouted him and liked what he saw. “He has a lot of desire now,” Kennedy told the Post-Dispatch.

Kennedy and Cardinals player development director Fred Koenig recommended Foster to general manager Bing Devine. The Cardinals purchased Foster’s contract in February 1973 and put him on a minor-league roster.

On the rise

At Cardinals spring training, Foster, 26, emerged as a force, posting a 1.61 ERA in 28 innings. “I couldn’t have done any better,” Foster told The Sporting News, “and if I had done a little worse, I probably wouldn’t have stayed with this club.”

After six relief appearances to start the 1973 season, Foster joined a starting rotation with Bob Gibson, Rick Wise and Reggie Cleveland.

In Foster’s first Cardinals start, at Dodger Stadium, Al Downing beat him, pitching a two-hit shutout. Foster got one of the hits. Boxscore

In his next start, Foster shut out the Expos on a four-hitter. He also singled twice, scored twice and had a sacrifice bunt. Boxscore

Foster finished 13-9 overall (13-7 as a starter) for the 1973 Cardinals. He had six complete games and two shutouts.

“This year, I finally began to have full command of my pitches,” Foster told The Sporting News. “I’ve cut down on the number of pitches and I’ve been ahead of most of the hitters. That’s the only way to pitch. When you get behind, a .300 hitter becomes a .600 hitter.”

Winding down

Foster had an inconsistent 1974 season for the Cardinals. He shut out the Giants and pitched a three-hitter against the Mets. Boxscore and Boxscore

He also twice produced three hits in a game. Boxscore and Boxscore

However, Foster lost five of his first six decisions. In June 1974, the Cardinals offered Foster, Mike Garman and Mike Tyson to the Cubs for shortstop Don Kessinger, but were turned down, The Sporting News reported. (The Cardinals acquired Kessinger for Garman in October 1975.)

Foster got his record to 7-7, then lost three in a row and was removed from the rotation in September 1974. Two months later, he was traded to the Padres.

In 10 seasons in the majors, Foster was 48-63 overall, 20-19 with the Cardinals.

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