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Archive for the ‘Pitchers’ Category

Don Newcombe used multiple skills to torment Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on March 6, 2019| 4 Comments »

(Updated April 13, 2020)

Don Newcombe was as tough on the Cardinals with a bat as he was with pitches.

Newcombe was a hard-throwing, hard-hitting pitcher who spent his prime years with the Dodgers.

At 6-4, 220 pounds, Newcombe was an imposing figure on the mound, where he threw right-handed, and at the plate, where he hit left-handed.

In 10 years in the major leagues, Newcombe had a 149-90 record and hit .271 with 15 home runs. Against the Cardinals, Newcombe was 23-11 and hit .299 with six home runs.

In 1955, when he was 20-5 for the champion Dodgers, Newcombe “toyed with the Cardinals as though they were a sandlot team,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Newcombe was 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA and batted .524 with seven RBI versus the 1955 Cardinals.

Newcombe “is downright unbelievable these days,” marveled the Post-Dispatch. “The way he’s going, the only question is whether he can throw as hard as he can hit, or hit as hard as he can throw.”

Rookie vs. Redbirds

Newcombe, 22, made his major-league debut for the Dodgers against the Cardinals on May 20, 1949, at St. Louis and it was a hard-luck initiation.

With the Cardinals ahead, 3-2, Newcombe relieved Rex Barney to open the bottom of the seventh inning. The St. Louis Star-Times, getting its first glimpse of the rookie, described him as “bull-shouldered” and a “massive mountain man.”

Newcombe struck out the first batter, Chuck Diering, on three pitches _ two fastballs and a curve _ and Red Schoendienst followed with a lined single to right.

Next up was Stan Musial. Newcombe fooled him with a low, outside pitch, causing Musial to check his swing, but the ball met his bat and was blooped into shallow left for a single, moving Schoendienst to second.

Newcombe overpowered the next batter, Eddie Kazak, who topped the ball to short so weakly Pee Wee Reese had no play.

The infield single loaded the bases for Enos Slaughter, who drove Newcombe’s first pitch deep down the left-field line for a bases-clearing double. Newcombe was relieved by Erv Palica and the Cardinals won, 6-2. Boxscore

“I had good stuff,” Newcombe said to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “My arm felt good and loose, too.”

According to a Saturday Evening Post article reported on in The Sporting News, when Newcombe struck out Diering, “the Negro fans in the right field stands at Sportsman’s Park went wild. White fans resented this _ cheers for the visiting Negro player and hoots for the hometown Cardinals. So when the Cardinals began pounding away at Newcombe, the white fans gave him the business.”

Three months later, on Aug. 24, 1949, in what The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called “quite possibly the most important single game the Dodgers will have this season,” Newcombe pitched a shutout and drove in three runs in a 6-0 victory over the Cardinals at Brooklyn. The win moved the Dodgers within a game of the first-place Cardinals. Boxscore

Newcombe is “the closest thing to a real blow-’em-down pitcher the National League has seen since Mort Cooper was at his best,” declared the Post-Dispatch.

Solved by Stan

The Dodgers won the 1949 pennant, finishing a game ahead of the Cardinals. Newcombe posted a 17-8 record, pitched 244.1 innings and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

In the 1994 book “We Played the Game,” Newcombe said as a rookie, “I had the talent and desire _ and I was cocky. I knew I was good, as good or better than the white guys who were trying to keep me from being there.”

Newcombe led the National League in winning percentage in 1955 (20-5, .800) and 1956 (27-7, .794), and was 4-0 versus the Cardinals in each season.

The Cardinal who hit Newcombe the hardest was Musial. Newcombe gave up more home runs (11) to Musial than to any other batter. Musial hit .349 against him.

In “We Played the Game,” Newcombe said, “I pitched toward batters’ weaknesses. Except for Stan Musial and Hank Aaron, they all had weaknesses, even Willie Mays.”

On June 21, 1956, during a season when Newcombe won both the Cy Young Award and the National League Most Valuable Player trophy, Musial hit a pair of two-run home runs and a single against him, but the Dodgers won, 9-8, with a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth. Boxscore

Newcombe and Carl Erskine were the pitchers when Musial hit for the cycle against the Dodgers on July 24, 1949, at Brooklyn. Musial tripled against Newcombe and had a single, double and home run off Erskine. Boxscore

In his 1964 autobiography, “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Newk had as great control for a hard thrower as any pitcher I ever faced. I hit him good, but he had a good fastball and curve.”

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Tall order: Dodgers were tough on little Joe Presko

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on February 22, 2019| 2 Comments »

Joe Presko pitched for the Cardinals at a time when the Dodgers dominated the National League.

Presko was with the Cardinals from 1951-54, a period when the Dodgers won two National League pennants and twice finished in second.

Those Dodgers teams were immortalized in the Roger Kahn book “The Boys of Summer” and featured players such as Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider.

Presko was 24-36 with a 4.70 ERA in his four seasons with St. Louis, but those numbers look better when excluding his performances against the Dodgers. Presko was 2-11 with a 6.33 ERA versus the Dodgers and 22-25 against the rest of the National League.

Big talent

Presko, a 5-foot-9 right-hander with a boyish appearance, didn’t play organized baseball until his senior year in high school in Kansas City, Mo., according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Because he threw hard, he got the attention of Yankees scout Bill Essick, who concluded Presko was too small to play professional baseball.

After graduating high school, Presko was playing for a drug store team in Kansas City when the Cardinals got a tip to give him a look, The Sporting News reported. Scout Runt Marr liked what he saw and signed him.

Presko rapidly rose through the Cardinals’ minor-league system, producing win totals of 16 in 1948, 14 in 1949 and 16 again in 1950.

Cardinals manager Marty Marion kept him with the big-league club after spring training in 1951. “He has a fastball that breezes right by you if you guess it’s a curve,” said Marion. “He throws everything with the same motion, seemingly the same speed.”

On May 3, 1951, Presko got a win in his major-league debut with four innings of one-hit relief against the defending National League champion Phillies. Presko yielded a solo home run to the second batter he faced, Eddie Pellagrini, and retired the next 11 in a row. Boxscore

Referring to him as Little Joe, the Post-Dispatch reported Presko “won the admiration of his teammates.”

In his second Cardinals appearance, Presko got a save with two scoreless innings against the Dodgers. Boxscore

Hot streak

Marion moved Presko into the starting rotation and after losses to the Giants and Reds on the road he made his first appearance before the home crowd in St. Louis on May 17, 1951, in a start against the Phillies.

Described by Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch as looking “more like a bat boy than a major-league pitcher,” Presko outdueled Phillies ace Robin Roberts and pitched a complete game in a 2-1 Cardinals victory.

“He throws as hard as any little man I ever saw _ and just by flicking his wrist,” said Cardinals pitcher Harry Brecheen.

Said Cardinals catcher Del Rice: “It was a pleasure catching him. His fastball is sneaky because he throws with such an easy motion. He’s got good control and he works with you as you move your target, hitting your glove outside or inside, high or low, and comes side-armed whenever you give him the sign.” Boxscore

Presko won five consecutive decisions between May 17 and June 8 for the 1951 Cardinals. Broeg, who began referring to the baby-faced rookie as “Baby Joe,” declared him “the nicest gift from the Cardinals’ farm system since Red Schoendienst came up six years ago.”

Presko’s winning streak ended on June 14, 1951, when Hodges hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth, lifting the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory. Boxscore

Hodges would remain a nemesis, hitting four home runs against Presko in his career.

Arm ailment

In late June 1951, Presko developed a sore arm and a month later it was discovered he’d torn tendons in the right shoulder. He sat out the last two months, finishing the season at 7-4 with a 3.45 ERA.

Presko returned to the Cardinals in 1952 and achieved one of his career highlights on June 10 when he pitched a 10-inning shutout against the Dodgers at St. Louis.

After Presko retired the Dodgers in the top of the 10th, he felt a twinge in his right shoulder and was told by player-manager Eddie Stanky he was done for the night. When Stanky batted for Presko to lead off the bottom of the 10th, he was booed.

“Everyone knows there’s nothing I like better than winning, but I just couldn’t take a chance of hurting Joe Presko,” Stanky said. “I took him out because of his shoulder. He’s had his arm hurt once before and I don’t want it to happen again.”

After Stanky grounded out, Solly Hemus was hit by a pitch from Chris Van Cuyk and Schoendienst followed with a game-winning triple, enabling Presko to earn the win. Boxscore

Presko lost six of his last seven decisions in 1952 and finished at 7-10 with a 4.05 ERA. He was 6-13 in 1953 and 4-9 in 1954. One of the highlights of his final St. Louis season in 1954 was a win versus the Dodgers with a scoreless inning of relief on April 28. Boxscore

After spending 1955 with the Cardinals’ farm club at Omaha, Presko was taken by the Tigers in the Rule 5 draft of unprotected players. He pitched briefly for the Tigers in 1957 and 1958.

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How Will McEnaney returned to majors with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers on February 19, 2019| 4 Comments »

After endangering his life and his baseball career, reliever Will McEnaney sought to make a comeback with the Cardinals.

On Feb. 19, 1979, the Cardinals signed McEnaney to a minor-league contract and invited him to their spring training camp.

His fall from World Series hero with the Reds to major-league castoff was both rapid and stunning.

Reds manager Sparky Anderson twice entrusted McEnaney with clinching a World Series championship and both times he delivered. McEnaney got the save in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series against the Red Sox and did it again in Game 4 of the 1976 World Series sweep of the Yankees.

From those dizzying heights, McEnaney’s partying lifestyle spun out of control until he crashed his car into a house on a winter night.

Championship performances

McEnaney was born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, near Dayton, and caught the attention of a Reds scout while pitching in an amateur summer league.

A left-handed pitcher, he was chosen by the Reds in the eighth round of the 1970 draft and made his major-league debut with them in 1974.

In 1975, McEnaney, 23, had his best season, posting a 5-2 record with 15 saves and a 2.47 ERA for the National League champion Reds. In the seven-game World Series, he made five appearances totaling 6.2 innings and had a 2.70 ERA.

In Game 7, with the Reds ahead, 4-3, in the ninth, McEnaney came in and retired three consecutive batters _ Juan Beniquez, Bob Montgomery and Carl Yastrzemski _ to seal the win and clinch the Reds’ first World Series title since 1940. Boxscore

McEnaney was 2-6 with seven saves and 4.85 ERA in 1976, but the Reds returned to the World Series and he again was stellar on the big stage. He pitched 4.2 scoreless innings over two appearances against the Yankees and earned saves in Game 3 and the decisive Game 4. Boxscore

After playing a prominent role in the success of the Big Red Machine, McEnaney was surprised and disheartened when two months later, on Dec. 16, 1976, he and slugger Tony Perez were traded to the Expos for pitchers Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray.

One reason the Reds dealt McEnaney is “they didn’t care for his lifestyle,” Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News reported.

Troubled times

Facing an array of personal problems and demons, McEnaney was 3-5 with three saves and a 3.95 ERA for the 1977 Expos.

In March 1978, he was traded to the Pirates and was demoted to the minors two months later. When the Pirates told him they didn’t intend to put him on their major-league roster in 1979, McEnaney requested and received his release, forfeiting the last year of a guaranteed $90,000 contract.

“Will carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and seemed about to crack up,” Burick wrote in his Dayton Daily News column.

In the predawn hours of Dec. 7, 1978, two months after the Pirates released him, McEnaney was injured in a one-car crash in Springfield, Ohio. The Ohio Highway Patrol said McEnaney’s Mercedes went out of control on a curve and slammed into a house, the Dayton Daily News reported. McEnaney was cited for reckless driving.

He sliced a tear duct gland in the accident and underwent eye surgery.

“I almost lost my sight, or my life,” McEnaney said to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News. “I was going 50 mph when I slid into that house. Right then I had a direct conversation with God and He said He would give me one more chance. It was time to straighten up my act, quit fooling around and take baseball seriously.”

Regarding a carousing lifestyle, McEnaney said, “I had a problem … a deep problem.”

Feeling groovy

Cardinals general manager John Claiborne was willing to give McEnaney, 27, a chance to rebuild his career.

When he reported to spring training at St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1979, McEnaney told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was committed to changing his ways. “I haven’t been a disciplined person,” McEnaney said. “It’s a heck of a thing to admit to yourself you’ve got a problem.”

McEnaney pitched well in spring training but the Cardinals sent him to their farm club in Springfield, Ill. He had a 2.08 ERA in seven appearances for Springfield when he was called up to the Cardinals in May 1979.

Rejuvenated, McEnaney posted an 0.90 ERA in 11 appearances in June 1979. “I’m in a groove,” he said. “I’d forgotten what it felt like to be in that kind of groove.”

In late June, a man on trial on aggravated murder charges in Hamilton, Ohio, testified in court he sold cocaine to McEnaney, the Dayton Daily News reported. McEnaney told the Post-Dispatch the allegation was “totally false” and Claiborne said, “After talking to Will, I am satisfied he was not involved.”

McEnaney had a 6.60 ERA in 12 appearances in July 1979 and gave up a grand slam to Ray Knight of the Reds on July 19.

A highlight of McEnaney’s season was his performance against the Pirates. He had an 0.93 ERA in five appearances against the 1979 National League champions.

His best outing was on Sept. 6, 1979, when he pitched four scoreless innings to earn a save in an 8-6 Cardinals victory over the Pirates at St. Louis. Eight of the 12 outs McEnaney recorded were groundouts. Boxscore

“I felt confident nobody was going to hit one out of the ballpark because I had excellent location on my pitches,” McEnaney said.

After Willie Stargell made the last out, Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons went to the mound and embraced McEnaney, who also got congratulations from infielders Ken Reitz, Garry Templeton, Ken Oberkfell and Keith Hernandez. Reitz said to McEnaney, “Way to pick us up.”

McEnaney finished with an 0-3 record, two saves and a 2.95 ERA in 45 appearances for the Cardinals in 1979.

In February 1980, McEnaney filed for salary arbitration. After being paid $40,000 in 1979, he wanted $125,000 in 1980. The Cardinals offered $65,000 and an arbitrator ruled in their favor.

A month later, on March 31, 1980, the Cardinals released McEnaney. Hernandez called it “the surprise of the spring.” Outfielder Dane Iorg said, “I thought he had the club made.”

By cutting McEnaney before April 1, the Cardinals had to pay him one-sixth of his salary, about $11,000, rather than the full amount.

“I don’t think I was cut for a lack of ability,” McEnaney said to United Press International. “I think it was guaranteed contracts that sent me on my way.”

McEnaney pitched in the farm systems of the Yankees and Rangers, and in Mexico, but never got back to the big leagues.

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Stan Musial was familiar foe to Bob Friend

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on February 16, 2019| 4 Comments »

In 1960, while pursuing a pennant with the Pirates, pitcher Bob Friend twice surrendered game-winning home runs to Stan Musial in a two-week span in the heat of the National League title chase.

Friend was a durable, dependable right-hander for 16 big-league seasons, 15 with the Pirates.

Friend led the National League in ERA (2.83) in 1955, tied for the league lead in wins (22) in 1958 and twice pitched the most innings (314.1 in 1956 and 277 in 1957).

When the Pirates won their first pennant in 33 years in 1960, Friend was 18-12 with a 3.00 ERA and led the staff in starts (37), shutouts (four), innings pitched (275.2) and strikeouts (183).

He might have won 20 if not for the home run heroics of Musial.

Power stroke

On Aug. 11, 1960, the Cardinals opened a five-game series against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. The second-place Cardinals, who were five games behind the Pirates, started Ernie Broglio against Friend in Game 1.

The Pirates scored a run in the fifth, the Cardinals tied the score at 1-1 in the eighth and both starting pitchers still were in the game as it entered the 12th.

Bill White opened the inning with a single. After Ken Boyer flied out, Musial, who had doubled twice in the game, came to the plate.

Friend’s first pitch to him was a fastball and Musial hit it into the upper deck in right for a two-run home run, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.

The Pirates scored a run in the bottom half of the 12th, but Broglio struck out Dick Stuart with the potential tying run at second, securing a 3-2 victory and moving the Cardinals within four games of the Pirates. Boxscore

When Friend got into the clubhouse, he “disgustedly tossed his glove toward his locker,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

“I can’t pitch any better,” Friend said to The Pittsburgh Press. “I tried to get Musial to hit to center field and pitched him over the outside of the plate, but he went right with me. The fastball was on the outside of the plate and yet he pulled it into the seats.”

Friend told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I thought I had as much stuff as I ever had and threw as hard as I did any time this season.”

Musial, typically modest, said, “Bob is a good pitcher, real fast and cagey. I guess I was kind of lucky to tag him the way I did.”

Told the home run was the 424th of his major-league career, Musial replied, “That’s quite a few for a singles hitter.”

Musial visited his hometown of Donora, Pa., during the series and took heat for beating the Pirates. He told the Post-Dispatch, “My old friends kept asking me, ‘What did you have to do that for?’ ”

Behind the pitching of Bob Gibson, the Cardinals won the second game of the series, getting within three of first place, but the Pirates won the last three, pushing their lead to six.

Oldie but goodie

Two weeks later, the first-place Pirates came to St. Louis for a three-game series. The Cardinals were in third place, 8.5 games behind the leaders.

In the series opener, on Aug. 26, 1960, Friend again was matched against Broglio.

In the seventh inning, with the scored tied at 1-1, Musial, hitless in three at-bats, came up with a runner on first and one out.

Friend got ahead on the count, 1-and-2, and tried to jam Musial on the fists with a fastball. The pitch was inside, but low, and Musial hit it to the pavilion roof in right for a two-run home run.

“It was the only ball I hit good during the game,” Musial said.

Said Friend: “Pretty soon I’ll be talking to myself.”

Broglio retired the Pirates in order over the last two innings and Musial’s home run proved the difference in a 3-1 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

“Like I always say, there’s room in this game for old men who can hit,” said Musial, 39.

For his career, Musial hit .277 with five home runs against Friend.

The Cardinals went on to sweep the series and get within 5.5 games of first place, but the Pirates didn’t falter. Friend played a prominent role down the stretch, winning four of his last five decisions.

Friend, who pitched for the Yankees and Mets in his final season (1966), posted a 197-230 career mark. Versus the Cardinals, he was 19-28 with seven shutouts.

On Aug. 15, 1951, in his rookie season, Friend, 20, pitched his first big-league shutout with a two-hitter against the Cardinals at Pittsburgh. The Cardinals’ two hits came in the second inning on singles by Nippy Jones and Bob Scheffing. Boxscore

Using a sinker and curve, Friend recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in a win versus the Cardinals on Aug. 20, 1959, at Pittsburgh. Boxscore

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Cardinals nearly put Stan Musial in Murry Dickson deal

Posted in Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades on January 29, 2019| 6 Comments »

The Pirates came close to convincing the Cardinals to send them Stan Musial, but settled instead for Murry Dickson.

On Jan. 29, 1949, the Cardinals sold the contract of Dickson, a starting pitcher, to the Pirates for $125,000.

The Pirates were willing to pay almost three times as much if the Cardinals included Musial in the deal. The purchase price would have been $310,000 _ $250,000 for Musial, the reigning National League batting champion, and $60,000 for Dickson, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

One of the Cardinals’ owners was willing but the other wasn’t, so Musial remained with St. Louis.

Right stuff

Dickson was born in Tracy, Mo., a town along the Platte River in the western part of the state. He was 20 when he signed with the Cardinals in 1936.

A right-hander with a slight build, Dickson began his professional career with Grand Island of the Nebraska State League in 1937 and worked his way through the Cardinals’ system.

After posting a 22-15 record for Houston of the Texas League in 1939, Dickson was rewarded with a promotion to the Cardinals and made his major-league debut on Sept. 30, 1939, with 3.2 scoreless innings of relief against the Cubs at Chicago. Boxscore

Dickson made another September appearance with the Cardinals in 1940 after posting a 17-8 record for Columbus, Ohio. He spent all of 1941 in the minors and stuck with the Cardinals in 1942.

The Cardinals won National League pennants in 1942 and 1943. Dickson was 6-3 in 1942, 8-2 in 1943 and made a relief appearance in the World Series versus the Yankees before entering the Army.

Dickson was assigned to a reconnaissance unit in Europe during World War II, achieved the rank of sergeant and earned four battle stars. General George S. Patton wanted Dickson to be his driver, but Dickson asked to be assigned elsewhere, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

After two years of military service, Dickson returned to the Cardinals in 1946, achieved a record of 15-6 with a 2.88 ERA and helped them win another pennant. In the 1946 World Series against the Red Sox, Dickson started Game 3 and Game 7. He was the losing pitcher in Game 3 and got no decision in Game 7, though the Cardinals won.

Pursuing a deal

In his book, “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said Dickson “liked to experiment with pitches. He had the widest assortment I ever saw _ fastball, curve, slider, knuckler, sinker, screwball _ and a remarkable arm.”

Dickson was 13-16 in 1947 and 12-16 in 1948, when he gave up 39 home runs, but Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer liked him and wanted him in the starting rotation.

The Pirates liked Dickson, too. He was 0-5 against them in 1948, but with a 2.17 ERA, and the Pirates were convinced he’d improve their starting staff.

After the 1948 season, the Pirates began a “relentless pursuit” of Dickson, according to The Pittsburgh Press.

Pirates majority owner and president Frank McKinney was a friend of Cardinals president Robert Hannegan, who co-owned the St. Louis club with Fred Saigh. McKinney and Hannegan were powerful figures in the national Democratic Party and confidantes of President Harry Truman.

While attending the 1948 World Series, McKinney met with Hannegan to discuss a deal for a pitcher. Hannegan offered a choice of four _ Dickson, Red Munger, Howie Pollet and Ted Wilks, The Pittsburgh Press reported.

“Dickson was the pitcher we wanted,” McKinney said.

McKinney said he and Hannegan continued to negotiate, including when they were in Washington, D.C., for Truman’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 1949.

“I worked on this deal for a long time,” McKinney said.

Wait a minute

At some point, the trade talks between McKinney and Hannegan focused on Musial.

In a column headlined “Bucs Almost Had Musial,” Post-Gazette sports editor Al Abrams reported McKinney “had just about convinced Robert Hannegan to sell him Musial and Murry Dickson in one package.”

While at Truman’s inauguration, Hannegan, who suffered from hypertension, said he was advised by his doctor to sell his share of the Cardinals because of the stress the job was causing him. Hannegan planned to sell his share to Saigh.

McKinney’s $310,000 bid for Musial and Dickson was appealing to Hannegan, who “wanted to get back the money he invested in Cardinals stock and get out of baseball because of ill health,” the Post-Gazette reported.

When Saigh was told of the proposed Pirates deal, he objected to Musial being included. “Saigh would have blown his top had such a deal gone through,” the Post-Gazette reported, “and no one could blame him. The move would have wrecked the St. Louis club.”

On Jan. 26, 1949, Hannegan called McKinney, told him Musial wasn’t available and the price for Dickson had gone up to $125,000. “(He) told me to make up my mind within an hour,” McKinney said to The Pittsburgh Press.

McKinney called Pirates manager Billy Meyer, who said, “Get Dickson.”

Hannegan and McKinney made the deal but agreed to keep it quiet because the next day, Jan. 27, 1949, Hannegan announced he sold his shares to Saigh, who gained control of the franchise.

Two days later, it was Saigh who announced Dickson’s contract was sold to the Pirates.

Pinpoint control

Dickson was 12-14 for the 1949 Pirates, but 5-3 versus the Cardinals, who finished a game behind the pennant-winning Dodgers.

Musial said Dickson liked to pitch from behind in the count and get overeager batters to chase pitches. “He had such great control that instead of coming in there with a fat one, he could catch a corner with a pitch that looked good, but wasn’t,” Musial said.

In five seasons with the Pirates, Dickson was 66-85. He went to the Phillies in 1954 and they traded him back to the Cardinals on May 11, 1956, with Herm Wehmeier for Harvey Haddix, Stu Miller and Ben Flowers.

Dickson was 13-8 for the Cardinals in 1956 and 5-3 in 1957 before he hurt his right shoulder and was released.

He pitched for the Athletics and Yankees in 1958, making two relief appearances for New York in the World Series against the Braves, and for the Athletics again in 1959 when he was 43.

Dickson’s career record in the big leagues was 172-181, including 72-54 for the Cardinals.

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How Mel Stottlemyre beat Cardinals in World Series

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on January 24, 2019| 4 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 8, 2024)

As a 22-year-old rookie, Mel Stottlemyre pitched with poise and precision for the Yankees against the Cardinals in the 1964 World Series.

Stottlemyre started three World Series games versus the Cardinals and was matched against Bob Gibson in each. Stottlemyre got a win in Game 2, a no-decision in Game 5 and a loss in Game 7. He had a 3.15 ERA in 20 innings and yielded no home runs to the Cardinals.

Relying primarily on sinkers and sliders, Stottlemyre didn’t possess an overpowering fastball like Gibson did, so he tried to get groundouts rather than strikeouts.

In his victory over the Cardinals, Stottlemyre got 18 of the 27 outs on ground balls, according to The Sporting News. Of the 35 Cardinals batters he faced, nine hit the ball into the air, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Stottlemyre “pitched impressively with a sinker that was so good he needed only three outfield putouts,” Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg noted.

Yankee from Yakima

Stottlemyre was born in Hazleton, Mo., a village along the Big Piney River near Mark Twain National Forest in the southern part of the state. His father was a pipefitter and moved the family to Oregon and South Carolina before settling in Mabton, a town in Yakima Valley in Washington state, in the early 1950s.

Stottlemyre attended Yakima Valley Community College, joined the baseball team and was taught to throw a sinker by coach Chuck Brayton.

“He was a hard worker and a dedicated pitcher from the start,” Brayton told The Sporting News.

The Yankees’ Eddie Taylor, the only scout to make Stottlemyre an offer, said, “What impressed me most was he always pitched winning baseball and had a free-throwing arm. His fastball was really not much, but he had that effortless way of throwing the ball. What kept me interested was his sinker.”

Stottlemyre, who didn’t get a signing bonus, was assigned to the Class D level of the minor leagues in 1961.

In 1964, he was at Class AAA Richmond, Va., and had a record of 13-3 with a 1.42 ERA. Seeking a replacement for Whitey Ford, who had a hip problem, the Yankees called up Stottlemyre in August.

The right-hander made his major-league debut on Aug. 12, 1964, pitched a complete game and got the win in a 7-3 Yankees triumph over the White Sox. Stottlemyre went on to post a 9-3 record and 2.06 ERA for the Yankees, who won the American League pennant by finishing a game ahead of the White Sox.

“He filled a big pitching gap when we needed it,” Yogi Berra, manager of the 1964 Yankees, told Super Sports magazine. “He kept coming through for us in the clutch. Few rookies had as much poise as he had.”

Go low

After Ray Sadecki beat Ford in Game 1 of the World Series, Stottlemyre was matched against Gibson in Game 2 at St. Louis on Oct. 8, 1964.

“I was very nervous,” Stottlemyre recalled to Super Sports magazine in 1969. “People said I didn’t look it, but I was. The whole idea of me pitching in the World Series was too much to believe.”

Stottlemyre dodged trouble in the sixth when struck on the right wrist by a Lou Brock shot. Stottlemyre retrieved the ball, threw out Brock and assured Berra the wrist was all right.

“It was numb for a little bit, but that feeling went away,” Stottlemyre told the New York Daily News.

In the eighth, with the Yankees ahead, 4-1, the Cardinals put runners on second and third with none out. “I thought about taking Stottlemyre out,” Berra said. “One more hit and I would have.”

Relying on the sinker, Stottlemyre got Curt Flood to ground out to third and Brock to ground out to short. Carl Warwick scored from third on Brock’s groundout, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 4-2, but the Cardinals had two outs and a runner, Jerry Buchek, on second. Buchek moved to third on catcher Elston Howard’s passed ball and Bill White walked, bringing cleanup hitter Ken Boyer to the plate.

Stottlemyre’s first pitch to Boyer was a mistake, high and inside, but Boyer swung and missed. Howard went to the mound and reminded Stottlemyre to keep the ball down and away. Boyer grounded out softly to short, ending the inning.

“When Stottlemyre got in the jam, I expected to get a good shot at him, but he didn’t give in,” Boyer said.

Said Howard: “He has more poise than any other young pitcher I’ve ever caught. Base hits don’t rattle him. He keeps coming back.”

The Yankees went on to an 8-3 victory. The first four batters in the Cardinals’ order, Flood, Brock, White and Boyer, were held hitless.

In his book, “Pride and Pinstripes,” Stottlemyre said, “In addition to my sinker, I was able to use my backdoor slider effectively against their left-handed hitters. I dropped it on the outside corner to their lefties to get some key strikes. I’d have to say it was the best game I ever pitched, considering the circumstances.”

Stottlemyre’s line: 9 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks 4 strikeouts.

Gibson’s line: 8 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts.

“We have a pretty good-hitting ballclub, but we couldn’t get much off that kid,” Gibson said. “He’s nothing but good. I’d have had to be awfully good to beat him today.” Boxscore

Dueling aces

Stottlemyre and Gibson both were good in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. The Cardinals prevailed, 5-2, on Tim McCarver’s three-run home run off Pete Mikkelsen in the 10th.

Stottlemyre’s line: 7 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts.

Gibson’s line: 10 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 13 strikeouts. Boxscore

Stottlemyre and Gibson started Game 7 on two days’ rest at St. Louis. They were tired but Gibson was better, going the distance in a 7-5 Cardinals triumph.

Stottlemyre’s line: 4 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.

Gibson’s line: 9 innings, 9 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts. Boxscore

In his book, Stottlemyre said, “What nobody ever really knew about that last game was my shoulder stiffened up after I fell on it reaching for an errant throw as I covered first base.”

In 11 big-league seasons, all with the Yankees, Stottlemyre was 164-139 with a 2.97 ERA.

He served as pitching coach for the Mets (1984-93), Astros (1994-95), Yankees (1996-2005) and Mariners (2008). The 1986 Mets and the Yankees of 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 won World Series championships.

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