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Feast and famine: 1991 Cardinals experienced extremes

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on May 14, 2021| 5 Comments »

During the Memorial Day weekend in 1991, the Cardinals faced Cy Young Award winners in consecutive games. The results were strikingly different.

In the first game, on Sunday, May 26, 1991, against the Mets’ Dwight Gooden, the Cardinals totaled 23 hits and won 14-1.

In the second game, on Monday, May 27, against the Pirates’ Doug Drabek, the Cardinals totaled one hit and lost 8-0.

Except for the pitcher, the Cardinals used the same starting lineup in each game _ Bernard Gilkey, Ozzie Smith, Ray Lankford, Pedro Guerrero, Felix Jose, Todd Zeile, Tom Pagnozzi and Jose Oquendo.

The contrasting outcomes illustrated baseball’s unpredictability.

Hitting at will

The pitching matchup of Dwight Gooden versus Omar Olivares at New York’s Shea Stadium looked to be lopsided in favor of the Mets. Recalled from the minors, Olivares was making his first major-league start of the season. Gooden was 5-3 with a 2.97 ERA. He was 11-5 versus the Cardinals since entering the majors.

On cue, the Mets took a 4-1 lead into the sixth, but then the Cardinals flipped the script, rallying for 13 runs in the final four innings against Gooden and relievers Alejandro Pena and Pete Schourek.

Gooden gave up five runs in six innings, or half as many as he did in 47 innings against the Cardinals throughout 1985, when he received the National League Cy Young Award.

Eleven of the Cardinals’ hits came against Gooden. Pena gave up five hits and Schourek allowed seven. Seventeen of the 23 hits were singles and the Cardinals hit no home runs.

Gooden literally was knocked out of the game when he was struck near the left wrist by Ozzie Smith’s liner. X-rays revealed a bruise, but no fracture.

Smith had four hits, a walk and scored three runs.

Catcher Tom Pagnozzi also had four hits, including his first triple in the big leagues, and contributed a career-high six RBI.

“The Mets turned Tom Pagnozzi into Yogi Berra,” the New York Daily News proclaimed.

First baseman Pedro Guerrero also had a triple, his first since June 1990. “When Guerrero and I get a triple in the same game, it’s a strange game,” Pagnozzi told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Adding to the strangeness was the sight of former Cardinals second baseman Tommy Herr playing the outfield for the only time in the majors. Herr replaced Mets center fielder Keith Miller, who twisted an ankle.

In another twist, Pagnozzi’s six RBI were the most in a game by a Cardinal since Herr had six against the Mets in 1987. Boxscore

Hitting his spots

The next day, the Cardinals opened a series against the Pirates on Memorial Day afternoon at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Doug Drabek, the 1990 National League Cy Young Award winner, was matched against Bob Tewksbury. Five days earlier, on May 22 at Pittsburgh, Drabek lost to the Cardinals, giving up nine hits and four runs in seven innings and dropping his season record to 2-7.

At St. Louis, the temperature was 94 degrees and the heat helped Drabek to focus. “Hot as it is you better throw strikes, make them hit it,” Drabek said to the Pittsburgh Press. “You don’t want to spend a lot of time out here.”

Mixing fastballs, sliders and curves with pinpoint control, Drabek held the Cardinals hitless until Bernard Gilkey lined a single to center with two outs in the sixth. The ball fell about 10 feet in front of center fielder Andy Van Slyke.

“I told myself that with two outs I should be four or five steps closer, but I didn’t listen to my instincts,” said Van Slyke, the former Cardinal.

Drabek threw a total of 91 pitches. He got 14 outs on ground balls and struck out two.

Hitting better than the entire Cardinals team, Drabek also produced three singles and scored a run. Boxscore

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Red Schoendienst had successful encore with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers, Opponents, Pitchers on April 28, 2021| 3 Comments »

(Updated May 8, 2021)

As managers, Red Schoendienst and Dallas Green led teams to World Series championships. As players, they faced one another with the outcome of a game on the line.

On April 28, 1961, Schoendienst, a pinch-hitter, stroked a two-run double against Green in the 11th inning, lifting the Cardinals to a 10-9 walkoff victory versus the Phillies at St. Louis.

Schoendienst, 38, was in his first season back with the Cardinals after being traded by them in June 1956. Green, 26, was in his second season in the majors and trying to overcome persistent shoulder and arm ailments.

After their playing careers, Schoendienst managed the Cardinals to a World Series title in 1967 and Green did the same for the Phillies in 1980.

Heading home

A second baseman of Hall of Fame caliber with the Cardinals, Giants and Braves, Schoendienst was at a career crossroads in 1961. He sat out most of the 1959 season while recovering from tuberculosis and was released by the Braves in October 1960.

Angels general manager Fred Haney, who managed the Braves to a World Series championship in 1957 when Schoendienst was the second baseman, offered him a contract to play for the American League expansion team in 1961. Schoendienst almost accepted, but opted instead for an invitation to spring training with the Cardinals.

Schoendienst was issued uniform No. 16 because the No. 2 he wore for most of his first stint with the Cardinals belonged to catcher Hal Smith. Smith voluntarily gave No. 2 back to Schoendienst.

“When Red was with the Cardinals the first time, he wore No. 2 and had two children,” Smith told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “When he was with the Braves, he wore No. 4 and had four children. When he came back to the Cardinals, he was given No. 16, so ….”

Schoendienst made the Opening Day roster, accepting a role as pinch-hitter and backup to second baseman Julian Javier.

“Don’t write me off,” Schoendienst said to The Sporting News. “This is too much fun. I’m not ready to throw in the towel.”

Clutch hit

A switch-hitter, Schoendienst had a sizzling start to the 1961 season, hitting .348 in April.

Dallas Green also did well early for the Phillies. A right-hander, he earned a spot in the starting rotation and pitched a shutout against the Giants in his first appearance of the season.

“For the first time in several years, I can throw without pain,” Green told The Sporting News. “You just can’t imagine what a feeling it is to be able to let go again.”

When the Phillies and Cardinals played on April 28, a raw, chilly Friday night at Busch Stadium, the starting pitchers were Robin Roberts and Ernie Broglio. The Cardinals led 6-1 after four innings, but the Phillies rallied. The game went to extra innings and the Phillies went ahead, 9-8, in the 11th.

Green, the Phillies’ seventh pitcher of the game, was working his third inning when the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the 11th.

Sent to bat for pitcher Al Cicotte, Schoendienst lined a double into the right-field corner, scoring Carl Sawatski and Alex Grammas.

“A good pitch, a slider, I think,” Schoendienst said to the Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Getting it done

Three months later, on July 6, when the Cardinals fired manager Solly Hemus and replaced him with coach Johnny Keane, Schoendienst was added to the staff as player-coach.

Schoendienst led by example, becoming “one of the best pinch-hitters in the business,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

For the season, Schoendienst hit .347 as a pinch-hitter and .300 overall. In 54 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, his on-base percentage was .407.

In 133 plate appearances overall in 1961, Schoendienst had six strikeouts, or one out of 22 times. No other Cardinal whiffed so infrequently in 1961, The Sporting News reported. Only once did he hit into a double play during the season.

Schoendienst continued as a player-coach for Keane in 1962, hitting .306 as a pinch-hitter and .301 overall.

He began the 1963 season in the same role, but after going hitless in six plate appearances, the Cardinals opted to remove Schoendienst from the player roster. According to Cardinals Gameday Magazine, general manager Bing Devine informed Schoendienst he could remain with the Cardinals as a coach or make his own deal to sign with another club as a player.

“I’ve talked to five clubs,” Devine told Schoendienst. “They all said they want you.”

Schoendienst chose to stay as a coach, ending his playing days.

For his big-league career, Schoendienst had better numbers as a pinch-hitter (.305 batting average and .371 on-base percentage) than he did overall (.289 batting average and .337 on-base percentage).

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Mickey McDermott went from Cardinals hero to outcast

Posted in Games, Pitchers on April 25, 2021| 2 Comments »

San Francisco was the site of the best and worst days pitcher Mickey McDermott experienced with the Cardinals.

On April 23, 1961, at Candlestick Park, McDermott got a three-run pinch-hit double in the top of the ninth, giving the Cardinals the lead, and stayed in the game to pitch the bottom half of the inning, setting down the Giants in order for the save.

“Certainly few, if any, players have filled both roles in more heroic fashion than McDermott did,” The Sporting News declared.

Three months later, McDermott was humiliated when manager Johnny Keane banished him from the team in front of teammates at a meeting in the Candlestick Park clubhouse.

Pitching phenom

McDermott was taught baseball by his father, who played a season in the minors with Lou Gehrig at Hartford in 1924.

A slender left-hander, McDermott was a standout high school pitcher in Elizabeth, N.J., and was signed by the Red Sox in March 1945, a month before he turned 16. A hard thrower, he pitched a pair of no-hitters in the minors for Scranton.

On April 24, 1948, five days before his 19th birthday, McDermott made his Red Sox debut at Yankee Stadium. The first batter he faced, King Kong Keller, struck out. The next, Joe DiMaggio, flied out. Boxscore

McDermott had the fastball to get out big-league hitters, but not the command. In his third appearance, he walked 11 Indians batters in 6.2 innings. Boxscore

“He could make the ball look very, very small _ when he could get it over the plate,” the Boston Globe noted.

Wild thing

Though he had brilliant performances _ a 16-inning complete-game win against the Indians in 1951 and a one-hit shutout versus the Senators in 1952, for instance _ McDermott’s wildness on and off the field kept him from becoming a big winner in his first five seasons with the Red Sox.

Some teammates thought the club should make McDermott a first baseman or outfielder because of his hitting. The Red Sox used him often as a pinch-hitter.

A sharp dresser who favored zoot suits, McDermott enjoyed the night life and mingling with celebrities. He dated Rosemary Clooney. Frank Sinatra was a friend.

In his memoir, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Cooperstown,” McDermott said carousing kept him from reaching his potential.

“My knees are gone,” McDermott told the Associated Press. “It’s an occupational hazard, falling off barstools.”

McDermott was a natural as a singer as well as a ballplayer. Vocalist Eddie Fisher encouraged him to pursue a singing career, The Sporting News reported.

In October 1952, McDermott got a two-week engagement in the Vienna Room at the popular Boston nightspot, Steuben’s. According to The Sporting News, McDermott displayed “a surprisingly good voice and exceptional stage presence,” and got raves for his rendition of “Ol’ Man River.”

McDermott often poked fun at his singing ability. He told broadcaster Jim Woods he sang in nightclubs “only if I can find an orchestra that plays loud.” He told Knight-Ridder Newspapers he quit singing “when I got sober and heard myself.”

The truth was he loved to sing and was a good crooner.

“He’d rather be singing at Steuben’s than be the best pitcher who ever lived,” Red Sox teammate Walt Dropo told the Boston Globe.

High and low notes

McDermott had his best season in 1953 (18-10 as a starting pitcher and .301 batting average) and was in demand as a singer, but, with his value at its peak, the Red Sox traded him to the Senators. He was 7-15 for the 1954 Senators and soon the nightclub billings ended.

“Max and Joe Schneider owned Steuben’s and I remember one of them saying, ‘At 18-10, you could sing. At 7-15, you can’t sing,’ ” McDermott told writer Bob Ryan.

McDermott was traded to the Yankees in 1956 and one of the players the Senators got in return was Whitey Herzog.

Staying out late and drinking hard, McDermott played for three teams _ Yankees, Athletics and Tigers _ from 1956-58 before being demoted to the minors. He “too often has had nightclub smoke in his eyes rather than on his fastball,” Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch observed.

After the 1960 season, the Tigers released McDermott at his request, making him a free agent. Residing in Miami, he showed up at the Cardinals’ early spring training camp in Homestead, Fla., in 1961 and asked for a tryout. Manager Solly Hemus gave McDermott a look, liked what he saw and invited him to full training camp in St. Petersburg.

McDermott pitched well in Grapefruit League exhibition games and earned a berth on the Cardinals’ 1961 Opening Day roster. He became a teammate of Bob Nieman, who 10 years earlier, in his debut with the Browns, hit home runs against McDermott in his first two at-bats.

Getting it done

On April 17, 1961, McDermott got his first Cardinals save, striking out Wally Moon with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth. Boxscore

A week later at Candlestick Park, with the Giants ahead, 4-3, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. McDermott, batting for pitcher Lindy McDaniel, hit a double to left-center against Jim Duffalo, clearing the bases and giving the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. Red Schoendienst followed with a single, scoring McDermott and putting the Cardinals ahead by three.

McDermott pitched the bottom of the ninth and got the save. Boxscore

“I’m more or less a pitcher now,” McDermott told The Sporting News. “I was a thrower before.”

McDermott had a 1.74 ERA in seven relief appearances in April. He earned a win and a save in June and got another save on July 4.

Two days later, the Cardinals fired manager Solly Hemus and replaced him with coach Johnny Keane.

Made an example

Keane met with the players and told them there would be a 1 a.m. curfew after day games on the road. He warned them he’d enforce the rules. McDermott had been fined $500 for violating regulations the week before Keane took over.

On July 8, the Cardinals played a Saturday day game at Candlestick Park. When Keane made bed checks “long after the 1 a.m. curfew,” the Post-Dispatch reported, the only player absent was McDermott.

When the Cardinals gathered in the Candlestick Park clubhouse on Sunday, Keane confronted McDermott in front of his teammates. He said McDermott hadn’t been in his hotel room for four consecutive nights.

In his book “Oh, Baby, I Love It,” catcher Tim McCarver recalled Keane pointed to McDermott and said, “You came to spring training and were broke. We gave you a job. I will not have guys like you tear down the tradition of this organization.”

According to McCarver, when Keane finished, “the clubhouse was as quiet as an ancient church.” McDermott finally spoke and said, “John, if you feel that way, maybe I ought to take my uniform off.”

Keane responded, “That’s exactly what you’ll do.”

McDermott, 32, was suspended indefinitely and sent home to Miami.

Keane told the St. Louis Globe-Democrat he needed to make an example of McDermott because “if he got away with it, my authority would go out the window and respect of the players for me with it.”

To the Post-Dispatch, Keane said, “Mickey has had a lot of chances in his career and the Cardinals gave him one this year. I’m sorry he didn’t take it.”

In 19 relief appearances for the Cardinals, McDermott was 1-0 with four saves.

Two weeks later, the Athletics acquired McDermott on waivers. He pitched his final four games in the majors for them and finished with a career mark of 69-69.

McDermott’s life turned in 1990 when his wife, Betty, won $5.7 million in the Arizona lottery, the Boston Globe reported. “I feel like I just fanned DiMaggio in the ninth inning with the bases loaded,” McDermott said.

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Cardinals were a hit with prisoners on The Rock

Posted in Hitters, Pitchers on April 22, 2021| 4 Comments »

Redbirds ventured into the place where the Birdman of Alcatraz once was cooped.

In 1960 and 1961, Cardinals players and coaches visited inmates in the federal penitentiary at Alcatraz.

The first group to make the goodwill tour on June 3, 1960, consisted of Cardinals players Ken Boyer, Alex Grammas, Curt Simmons and Hal Smith.

A year later, on April 21, 1961, the visitors were Cardinals players Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst, and coaches Johnny Keane, Howie Pollet and Harry Walker.

The groups went there while the Cardinals were in San Francisco to play the Giants.

Known as The Rock, Alcatraz was where some of the most notorious criminals served their sentences, though when the Cardinals visited, convicted murderer Robert Stroud, known as the Birdman of Alcatraz, no longer was there. He was moved to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Mo., in 1959.

Lawless legend

Alcatraz got its name when Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala sailed into San Francisco Bay in 1775 and called the rocky island “La Isla de los Alcatraces,” the island of seabirds.

The U.S. Army built a fort on Alcatraz Island in the 1850s and the facility later was made into a military prison.

From 1934-63, the island was the site of a federal penitentiary. Prisoners included gangsters Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

Robert Stroud was at Alcatraz for 17 years (1942-59) but didn’t have birds there. He became a bird expert during his 30 years of incarceration (1912-42) at the Leavenworth federal penitentiary in Kansas.

Burt Lancaster got an Academy Award nomination for best actor for his portrayal of Stroud in the 1962 movie “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Also nominated for Oscars from the film were Thelma Ritter for best supporting actress and Telly Savalas for best supporting actor. Film clip

According to the FBI, 36 convicts tried to escape from Alcatraz in the 29 years it was a federal prison. Nearly all were caught or died trying. A handful were declared missing and never found, most notably Frank Morris and brothers John Anglin and Clarence Anglin. In June 1962, the trio escaped through loosened air vents in their cells and left the island on a rubber raft. They never were found and the FBI, which closed the case in December 1979, concluded the three men probably died in the frigid water and dangerous currents of the bay.

Play ball!

Among the activities available to Alcatraz inmates were handball, table games and softball.

According to the National Park Service, inmates were allowed two hours of yard time each Saturday and Sunday. Softball was played on a patch of lawn, and balls, bats and gloves were provided.

Balls hit over the wall were considered outs, not home runs.

The softball games were well-organized. Individual and team statistics were kept and two leagues were formed. The leagues were based on talent level. The most talented players belonged to a league with four teams: Cardinals, Cubs, Giants and Tigers. The other league had four teams named for minor-league baseball clubs: Bees, Oaks, Oilers and Seals.

In 1938, one of the best softball players at Alcatraz was Lorenzo Murrieth, who was serving 40 years for assault and theft. He batted .402 for the 1938 Alcatraz Cardinals. Murrieth and another top player, William Lucas, led the Alcatraz Cardinals to a .778 winning percentage, best in the league in 1938, according to the National Park Service.

Unlike professional baseball at that time, the Alcatraz softball teams were integrated.

Many Alcatraz prisoners were avid baseball fans. According to the National Park Service, radio jacks were installed in cells on Oct. 4, 1955, and inmates listened on headphones to the broadcast of Game 7 of the World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees.

“Baseball allowed inmates to mentally escape their confinement and experience a brief moment of freedom,” the National Park Service noted.

Fan club

On Thursday, June 2, 1960, Ken Boyer hit a home run, helping the Cardinals to a 4-3 victory over the Giants at San Francisco. The next day, Boyer joined teammates Alex Grammas, Curt Simmons and Hal Smith on the visit to Alcatraz.

The players were familiar names to the Alcatraz audience. Twenty-eight inmates were subscribers to The Sporting News, the magazine reported.

“Most of the prisoners are either violently for the Giants or violently against them,” Simmons said.

One inmate complained to Boyer that Giants owner Horace Stoneham “must have had rocks in his head” when he traded Daryl Spencer and Leon Wagner to the Cardinals for Don Blasingame.

Some prisoners told Smith they lost their allotments of three packs of cigarettes a week by betting on the Cardinals, The Sporting News reported.

When an inmate spoke to Grammas in Greek and Grammas responded in kind, a guard ordered them to talk in English and wanted to know what they had said to one another in the foreign language.

The players told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the question they were asked most often by the prisoners was, “Where’s Stan the Man?”

Stepping up

A year later, Musial gave the inmates their wish, joining Red Schoendienst, Johnny Keane, Howie Pollet and Harry Walker for the April 1961 visit the day after the Cardinals arrived in San Francisco for a weekend series.

“One of the inmates comes from East St. Louis and he told me he ate in my restaurant once,” Musial said to the Post-Dispatch.

Keane said, “A lot of them like the Cardinals and they know all about the players, too. They get to hear the Dodgers’ games as well as the Giants through earphones in their cells. No television of any kind.”

In an editorial, The Sporting News saluted the Cardinals for meeting with the prisoners: “This was a simple act of charity and the men involved are to be congratulated for taking the time.”

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Gene Stechschulte: Pitcher with pinch-hit power

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers, Records on April 16, 2021| 2 Comments »

In a game of role reversals, Gene Stechschulte was up to the challenge.

On April 17, 2001, Stechschulte, a Cardinals relief pitcher, made his first plate appearance in the majors. Pinch-hitting against Diamondbacks starter Armando Reynoso, Stechschulte hit a two-run home run at Busch Memorial Stadium.

A reliever pinch-hitting in his first plate appearance wasn’t the only unusual occurrence in the game. Bobby Bonilla, a Cardinals first baseman and outfielder, made his first pitching appearance since high school, working the last inning in the 17-4 rout by the Diamondbacks.

College clouter

Stechschulte was a hitter before he became a pitcher. As a shortstop for Ashland University in Ohio, he set school records for total bases, home runs and RBI, leading the club to a NCAA Division II World Series appearance in 1995.

After Stechschulte graduated first in his class from Ashland’s school of business and economics with summa cum laude honors, he signed with the Cardinals in June 1996 and became a relief pitcher in their farm system.

A 6-foot-5 right-hander, Stechschulte had 33 saves for Peoria in 1998 and 26 for Memphis in 2000.

He only got to bat one time in the minors and when he did he cracked a double for Memphis.

Surprise swat

Stechschulte made his Cardinals debut in 2000 and was 1-0 in 20 relief appearances, shuttling back and forth between St. Louis and Memphis.

In 2001, he opened the season with the Cardinals and allowed only one run in his first five relief appearances.

On April 17, a Tuesday night at St. Louis, the Diamondbacks scored eight runs in three innings against Cardinals starter Dustin Hermanson and seven more versus reliever Chad Hutchinson.

In the sixth inning, with the Diamondbacks ahead, 15-1, the Cardinals had Albert Pujols on first, two outs, and reliever Mike James due to bat.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who had substituted liberally after the Diamondbacks built their lead, wanted a pinch-hitter, but his options were limited. He chose Stechschulte, even though he’d never batted in the big leagues.

Stechschulte swung at the first pitch and hit it over the wall in left-center for a two-run home run.

“One pitch, and whack!” broadcaster Jack Buck said on the air. “What a surprise that was.” Video

Stechschulte said it was his first home run since he was Ashland’s cleanup hitter in 1996.

“Most of the guys back home still think of me as a hitter and not a pitcher,” Stechschulte told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “They’re probably more surprised that I’m pitching.”

In the ninth, La Russa had Bonilla pitch in a big-league game for the first time and he gave up two runs, including a home run to the first batter he faced. Boxscore

Special fraternity

Stechschulte was the fifth Cardinals player to hit a home run in his first big-league plate appearance. Since then, others have done it. The complete list:

_ Eddie Morgan, pinch-hitter, April 14, 1936, vs. Cubs.

_ Wally Moon, center fielder, April 13, 1954, vs. Cubs.

_ Keith McDonald, pinch-hitter, July 4, 2000, vs. Reds.

_ Chris Richard, left fielder, July 17, 2000, vs. Twins.

_ Gene Stechschulte, pinch-hitter, April 17, 2001, vs. Diamondbacks.

_ Hector Luna, second baseman, April 8, 2004, vs. Brewers.

_ Adam Wainwright, pitcher, May 24, 2006, vs. Giants.

_ Mark Worrell, pitcher, June 5, 2008, vs. Nationals.

_ Paul DeJong, pinch-hitter, May 28, 2017, vs. Rockies.

_ Lane Thomas, pinch-hitter, April 19, 2019, vs. Mets.

Stechschulte became the 16th major-league player to hit a home run on the first pitch in his first plate appearance. He also was the 13th big-league player to hit a pinch-hit home run in his first plate appearance.

Paid to pitch

A week later, on April 25, 2001, Stechschulte got his first big-league save, with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief against the Expos at St. Louis. Boxscore

“Getting this save was definitely more exciting than the home run because we won this game,” Stechschulte told the Post-Dispatch. “It feels better to contribute to a victory. Pitching like that is my role on this team. My role is not to hit.”

The next day, though, La Russa again sent Stechschulte to pinch-hit for Mike James. Stechschulte coaxed a walk from Expos pitcher Masato Yoshii. Boxscore

On May 10, Stechschulte pitched two scoreless innings of relief against the Pirates and produced a RBI-single versus Scott Sauerbeck. Boxscore

For the season, Stechschulte was 1-5 with six saves. He had two hits and a walk in four plate appearances.

The next year, 2002, was Stechschulte’s last in the majors. He had a 6-2 record for the Cardinals and was hitless in two at-bats.

Stechschulte became head baseball coach at Ohio Northern University in 2012. His teams set a school record with 79 victories from 2014-2016.

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What a way to open: Ferguson Jenkins vs. Bob Gibson

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on April 4, 2021| 2 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 9, 2024)

Facing Bob Gibson often brought out the best in Ferguson Jenkins.

On April 6, 1971, Jenkins and Gibson pitched into the 10th inning on Opening Day at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Jenkins won when Billy Williams hit a walkoff home run against Gibson for a 2-1 Cubs victory over the Cardinals.

The game, completed in one hour and 58 minutes, was typical of most duels between Jenkins and Gibson: low-scoring, briskly played.

From 1967 to 1972, Jenkins and Gibson started against one another nine times. Jenkins won five, Gibson won three and one resulted in no decision for either.

Jenkins’ three losses to Gibson were by scores of 1-0, 2-1 and 1-0.

The Cardinals scored one run apiece in four of Gibson’s five losses to Jenkins.

In their starts against one another, Jenkins had a 1.78 ERA and Gibson’s was 2.43. The games were completed in an average of two hours and six minutes.

“I always try to get myself up against him,” Jenkins told the Chicago Tribune. “When you have Cy Young out there against you, you always try a little harder.”

Pair of aces

Jenkins and Gibson were right-handers destined for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I had four pitches and I could control them all,” Jenkins told the Tribune. “I thought I threw relatively hard. I had a very easy motion. I used to get angry when I was compared to Gibson. I didn’t want to be compared to anybody. I pitched like Fergie Jenkins.”

They faced one another as starters for the first time on June 3, 1967, at St. Louis. Billy Williams hit a three-run home run in the fifth, knocking Gibson from the game, and Jenkins got the win. Boxscore

A year later, on April 20, 1968, at St. Louis, Williams drove in three runs against Gibson and Jenkins pitched a three-hitter for the win. Boxscore

“I didn’t really know him then,” Gibson said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1995. “Most of the guys I played against I didn’t like when we played.”

Noting that Gibson was paid $125,000 while he got $60,000, Jenkins said in a 1969 interview with Super Sports magazine, “The only difference between me and Bob Gibson right now is the salary bracket. I think I’ve thrown equally as well as Bob Gibson the last two or three years.”

Asked how his fastball compared with Gibson’s, Jenkins told reporter George Langford, “I guess you would say I’m sneaky quick, but my fastball does not have that little extra tail that Gibson’s has. I have a good curve, slider and changeup.”

Among the best

In 1970, Gibson had 23 wins and received his second National League Cy Young Award. The Cardinals rewarded him with a $150,000 salary for 1971.

Jenkins won 22 in 1970, becoming the only pitcher in the big leagues with 20 or more wins in each season from 1967-70. He wanted a $100,000 salary for 1971, but the Cubs balked and he signed for $90,000.

“The front office doesn’t think I rank up with Gibson, Juan Marichal and Tom Seaver, but I’m going to prove I do,” Jenkins told The Sporting News.

The 1971 season opener was a good place to start.

“I like facing the good ones,” Jenkins told the Tribune. “I’ve always done well against Bob Gibson. I’ve had some of my best games against the top pitchers.”

Football weather

It was sunny in Chicago for Opening Day, but a 17 mph wind blew in and the temperature struggled to see 40, “the kind of day more appropriate for bears,” Tribune columnist Robert Markus noted.

Seven future Hall of Famers were in the starting lineups: Gibson, Lou Brock, Ted Simmons and Joe Torre for the Cardinals, and Jenkins, Ron Santo and Billy Williams for the Cubs. Another two were managers Leo Durocher of the Cubs and Red Schoendienst of the Cardinals.

Jenkins retired the first six batters until Simmons led off the third with a single. Gibson didn’t allow a hit the first three innings.

In the fourth, the Cubs reached Gibson for three hits and a run. With runners on first and second, one out, Gibson threw a pitch up and in to Johnny Callison, who blooped it over the head of first baseman Joe Hague. The ball landed barely inside the foul line in short right _ “a sick pigeon” is how author Roger Kahn described it _ for a double, scoring Santo from second.

“You couldn’t have placed the ball better than Callison did, about four inches from the line, if you threw the ball out there,” Cardinals coach George Kissell told the Post-Dispatch.

Multiple Cubs told the Tribune that Gibson pitched better than they’d seen him in two years. “He was just throwing darts,” Santo said.

Glenn Beckert told the Post-Dispatch it seemed “he was throwing from 30 feet.”

Big plays

With two outs and none on in the seventh, Jenkins tried to get a fastball inside to Torre with the count 0-and-2. The pitch moved across the plate and Torre lined it onto the catwalk in left for a home run, tying the score at 1-1. Video

“The ball Torre hit was my mistake,” Jenkins told the Tribune. “I had been getting him out on curves and was just showing him the fastball, but I got it out over the plate and he went out and got it, just muscled it.”

Catcher Ken Rudolph took the blame, telling the Post-Dispatch: “I called for a fastball and when Fergie shook me off I called for it again.”

After Torre’s home run, the Cardinals didn’t get another baserunner. Jenkins retired the next 10 in a row.

Jenkins “in the judgment of a number of players on both sides hurled the best game of his life,” the Tribune reported.

Cubs shortstop Don Kessinger said, “I’ve never seen him throw better.”

Jenkins was helped by a dazzling play by Kessinger in the ninth. With one out, Matty Alou bunted and pushed the ball past Santo at third. Kessinger, charging, scooped the ball with his bare hand and while stumbling and falling made a perfect peg to first baseman Joe Pepitone in time to nab Alou.

Pepitone told the Tribune it was “the best shortstop play I’ve seen in my life.” Durocher, a former Cardinals shortstop, said it was the “greatest play I’ve ever seen by a shortstop.”

Go crazy

In the 10th, shadows covered home plate, making it tough for the batters to see, but Williams was undeterred. When the count got to 1-and-1, Gibson threw a fastball and Williams hit into the bleachers in right. Video

In the book “The Head Game,” Roger Kahn wrote, “Standing on the mound, Gibson twice quietly repeated the same phrase, ‘Oh, fuck.’ Then he squared his shoulders and walked off the field.”

“Sometimes this game will drive a man crazy,” Gibson told the Tribune.

Williams, whose 10 career home runs versus Gibson were the most anyone hit against him, told the Post-Dispatch, “I don’t normally see him make a pitch like that to me, a fastball down the middle.”

Gibson responded: “It was not down the middle.”

The catcher, Simmons, confirmed the pitch “was on the outside corner down around the knees. He just golfed it.” Boxscore

Jenkins said of Williams: “My old fishing buddy took care of everything. He’s got the sweetest swing in baseball.”

For the season, Jenkins made 39 starts, won 24, completed 30 and issued a mere 37 walks in 325 innings. He earned the National League Cy Young Award, the first Cubs pitcher to receive the honor.

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