RetroSimba

(Updated Jan. 13, 2025)

A right-hander whose extensive mix of pitches included a spitball, Lew Burdette was supposed to give the Cardinals the edge they needed to win the 1963 National League pennant, but it didn’t work out. Instead, he helped them attain a championship the following year, even though he was gone by June.

On June 15, 1963, the Cardinals obtained Burdette, 36, from the Braves for catcher Gene Oliver and pitcher Bob Sadowski.

The Cardinals expected Burdette could make the difference in a pennant race the way June acquisitions Grover Cleveland Alexander (1926) and Burleigh Grimes (1930) did for them.

Dynamic duo

Selva Lewis Burdette was from Nitro, W.Va., along the Kanawha River near Charleston. The town sprung up during World War I as a center for the manufacturing of gunpowder for the military.

Burdette went by a shortened version of his middle name, Lew or Lou. Asked by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1963 which spelling he preferred, Burdette replied that either way was acceptable. “I always (endorse) the check the way it’s written,” he said.

After reaching the majors in 1950, making two relief appearances with the Yankees, Burdette was traded to the Braves for Johnny Sain in August 1951.

Burdette and Braves teammate Warren Spahn (baseball’s career leader in wins among left-handers) liked palling around together, each bringing out the mischievous side in the other, and became road roommates. Their friendship was “as close as Damon and Pythias,” The Sporting News observed.

Asked why he and Burdette got along so well, Spahn told Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “It’s because we appreciate each other’s sense of humor … No one else can stand us.”

Glory days

Burdette led National League pitchers in ERA (2.70) and shutouts (six) in 1956.

The next year, he was named the most valuable player of the World Series, winning Games 2, 5 and 7 against the Yankees. Burdette went the distance in all three games, allowing a mere two runs in 27 innings for an 0.67 ERA. Video

As the New York Times noted, Burdette relied on “sinkers, screwballs and sliders, his excellent control and his unswerving poise.”

He also mixed in a devastating spitball.

“Burdette has a great sinker, and when he gets into a tight spot, he throws a wet sinker,” Reds outfielder Jerry Lynch told The Sporting News.

With 20 wins in 1958, Burdette helped the Braves repeat as National League champions, but the Yankees prevailed in the World Series, in part because he was 1-2 with a 5.64 ERA.

He remained an ace, leading the National League in wins in 1959 (21), in complete games in 1960 (18) and in innings pitched in 1961 (272.1).

A man for all seasons

Burdette injured an ankle in May 1962 and Braves manager Birdie Tebbetts lost confidence in him. “Burdette makes no secret of the fact that he feels he was mishandled by Tebbetts,” The Sporting News reported.

Though he finished the 1962 season with a 10-9 record, Burdette allowed 172 hits in 143.2 innings (the first time since 1953 he didn’t pitch at least 230 innings) and made no starts after Aug. 16. Afterward, he told The Sporting News, “Last season was the most miserable one I ever spent in baseball. It’s the worst feeling in the world not to be a part of things.”

Bobby Bragan, who replaced Tebbetts, told The Sporting News that Burdette was not in his plans for 1963. After getting a look at him in spring training, Bragan changed his mind and named Burdette the Braves’ Opening Day starter.

“He’s an even better athlete than I had envisioned,” Bragan told The Sporting News. “He can field, he can run, he can hit _ anything.”

Let’s make a deal

When Ray Washburn, who won his first five decisions for the 1963 Cardinals, suffered a shoulder injury, general manager Bing Devine searched for a starter to replace him and to join a rotation with Bob Gibson, Ernie Broglio, Curt Simmons and Ray Sadecki.

Devine’s first choice was Burdette, but the Braves were close to trading him to the Orioles, The Sporting News reported. Devine then tried to deal for Houston’s Ken Johnson, but the Colt .45s took him off the market when Turk Farrell injured a hip, according to the Globe-Democrat.

Next, Devine approached the Mets about Roger Craig. The Mets offered Craig, pitcher Ken MacKenzie and catcher Norm Sherry for Gene Oliver, outfielder Duke Carmel and pitchers Harry Fanok, Bob Sadowski and Ron Taylor, but the Cardinals wouldn’t part with Taylor, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Devine went back to the Braves and convinced them to deal Burdette to him. When they acquired Burdette, the Cardinals (36-26) were tied with the Giants for first place in the 10-team National League. The Sporting News described him as “an ideal pickup for a St. Louis club which felt that one more established pitcher might put it in the World Series.”

Globe-Democrat sports editor Bob Burnes declared, “It’s a good deal for the Cardinals. Eight to 10 victories by Burdette the rest of the season added to what the Cardinals already have potentially on their side could mean the pennant.”

Cardinals debut

Burdette was 6-5 for the 1963 Braves and won his last three decisions, including a shutout of the Mets in his final game with Milwaukee on June 12. Boxscore

His first appearance for the Cardinals was a start against the Mets on June 18 and he pitched a complete game for the win. Burdette held the Mets scoreless until Tim Harkness hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth. Boxscore

“He had the ball really moving, sailing, sliding and sinking,” Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer said to the Post-Dispatch.

Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver, 21, told the newspaper, “I’ve never seen a pitcher who can move the ball around as much as Burdette did.”

In the book “We Would Have Played For Nothing,” Burdette said, “I had an uncanny ability of throwing strikes … If you get the reputation that you don’t walk anybody, you don’t have to throw strikes. They swing at anything.”

Brave new world

On July 11, 1963, Burdette faced the Braves for the first time in a start at St. Louis. After taking a pitch from Burdette for a strike in the third inning, Hank Aaron asked plate umpire Chris Pelekoudas to check the ball to see whether it had a foreign substance. Pelekoudas took a look and kept the ball in play. “Henry has a better sense of humor than people think,” Burdette told the Post-Dispatch.

Two innings later, Aaron snapped a 1-1 tie with an RBI-double against Burdette and the Braves went on to a 5-3 victory. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Burdette made his first appearance in Milwaukee since the trade. The opposing starter was his friend, Warren Spahn.

Burdette held the Braves to a run in nine innings and got the win. Spahn allowed the Cardinals three runs in eight innings. “Spahn didn’t pitch badly for an old man,” Burdette told The Sporting News. He added, “I didn’t feel especially good about pitching against the best friend I ever had in baseball, but I had a job to do, and all I could do was go out and do my best.”

Braves manager Bobby Bragan said to The Sporting News that Burdette “won that game with less (velocity) than anybody I’ve ever seen on a major-league mound.” Boxscore

Burdette beat the Braves again with a complete game at St. Louis on Sept. 15, 1963, helping the Cardinals win their ninth in a row and end the day a game behind the first-place Dodgers. Boxscore

“We got Burdette just for a game like this,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said to the Post-Dispatch. “He gave us what we wanted when we had to have it.”

The Dodgers followed the Braves into St. Louis, swept a three-game series and went on to win the pennant. The Cardinals (93-69) finished in second place.

Burdette was 3-8 with two saves and a 3.77 ERA for the 1963 Cardinals. He had a 4.15 ERA in 14 starts and an 0.77 ERA in seven relief appearances. His losing record for the season was his first since 1952.

Starting over

In November 1963, the Cardinals acquired Roger Craig from the Mets and projected him to fill Burdette’s role. Burdette, 37, was moved to the bullpen in 1964. “I prefer starting,” he told The Sporting News.

Burdette was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in eight relief appearances for the 1964 Cardinals when he was traded to the Cubs on June 2 for pitcher Glen Hobbie.

It turned out that Burdette’s relief win for the Cardinals on April 24, 1964 _ a scoreless 11th inning against the Houston Colt .45s _ was important because the Cardinals (93-69) won the National League pennant that year by a mere one game over the Phillies (92-70) and Reds (92-70). Boxscore

“The Cardinals are a fine organization and I have no complaints with their treatment of me,” Burdette told the Associated Press. “It’s just that I didn’t get the opportunity to pitch. I guess they felt I was too old to be a starter. I’m 37, but I can outdo a majority of the 21-year-olds in most things.”

Burdette was 40 when he pitched his last game in the majors, a relief stint for the Angels versus the Twins in 1967. He faced three batters _ future Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva _ and pitched a scoreless inning. Boxscore

In 18 seasons in the majors, Burdette was 203-144.

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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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