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Archive for the ‘Pitchers’ Category

How Cardinals got Grover Cleveland Alexander

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on June 16, 2016| 4 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 29, 2024)

The Cubs unwittingly did the Cardinals a favor and helped them achieve their first championship season.

grover_alexanderOn June 22, 1926, the Cubs, at the urging of manager Joe McCarthy, placed pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander on waivers.

Alexander, 39 and on the back end of a Hall of Fame career, still was effective, but McCarthy had become fed up with the pitcher’s drinking.

Claimed for the waiver price of $4,000, Alexander landed with the Cardinals and played a prominent role in stabilizing their pitching staff and lifting them to their first National League pennant and World Series championship.

Bottoms up

In June 1926, the Cubs were in Philadelphia when Alexander “appeared at the Phillies’ park apparently the worse for wear,” The Sporting News reported.

Said McCarthy: “This isn’t the first time. This is the sixth time in the last 10 days … I absolutely refuse to allow him to disrupt our team and will not have him around in that condition.”

Alexander, who had a 3-3 record and 3.46 ERA in seven starts for the 1926 Cubs, was suspended by McCarthy and sent back to Chicago.

“It’s all right to drink while you can win, but it’s not for losers,” McCarthy said.

When the Cubs placed Alexander on waivers, he was claimed by the Cardinals, Pirates and Reds. The Reds were in first place and the Pirates in second in the National League. The Cardinals, in third place, got Alexander because they were lowest in the standings among the three teams that made claims.

“This must be the Cardinals’ year,” J. Roy Stockton of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote. “Everything is breaking for them.”

Cubs fans were stunned and disappointed by the move because Alexander “has become almost an institution in Chicago,” according to International News Service.

In the Donald Honig book “The Man in the Dugout,” McCarthy said, “He didn’t obey orders. Wouldn’t go along with me.”

Old pals

In joining the Cardinals, Alexander was reunited with his friend, Bill Killefer, a coach on the staff of manager Rogers Hornsby. Killefer was Alexander’s catcher with the Phillies from 1911-17. In December 1917, the Phillies traded Alexander and Killefer to the Cubs. Killefer was the Cubs’ manager from 1921-25.

The Sporting News described Alexander and Killefer as “a couple of Peter Pans who never have taken life very seriously.”

“I’m glad to go to St. Louis,” Alexander told the Chicago Tribune. “Hornsby and Killefer are both great fellows and I think the Cards have a good chance to finish up in the money this season.”

According to the Post-Dispatch, when the Cardinals got Alexander, he called Killefer on the phone and said, “I’m in condition and ready to pitch right now. I hope I can do something to help you boys win a pennant.”

Alexander enhanced a Cardinals rotation that included Flint Rhem, Bill Sherdel and Jesse Haines.

Harry Nelly of the Chicago American wrote, “Before Alexander went to the Cardinals, that team was shy of pitchers. It is a run-making outfit, but often found itself without a proper person to prevent the other side from scoring frequently.”

In The Sporting News, columnist John Sheridan suggested Alexander still had much to offer: “He can lose nine-tenths of his skills and still be a greater pitcher than most of the ice-cream kids that come along in these degenerate days.”

Slyly referring to his drinking problems, the St. Louis Star-Times declared, “There is a great temptation to say Alexander, even out of condition, is a greater pitcher than most other hurlers in the pink.”

Dazzler of a debut

On June 27, 1926, Alexander made his Cardinals debut in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cubs at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. A crowd of 37,196 squeezed into the ballpark that seated about 34,000.

“It was the greatest throng that had ever paid to witness a baseball attraction in this city,” The Sporting News reported.

Alexander pitched a four-hitter and got the win in a 3-2 Cardinals triumph in 10 innings. “He had his old half-sidearm delivery. He had a fast-breaking curve and he had a fast one,” The Sporting News reported.

Said Alexander: “Don’t let anybody tell you that this arm hasn’t a few more good ones left in it. I’m tickled to be with the team and Hornsby and Killefer. All Rog has to do is nod his head and I’ll jump through a hoop for him.” Boxscore

Title run

Alexander won nine of his first 14 decisions with the Cardinals before losing his last two. In 23 appearances for the 1926 Cardinals, Alexander was 9-7 with a 2.91 ERA. He pitched 11 complete games and two shutouts.

In the 1926 World Series against the Yankees, Alexander started and won Game 2 and Game 6. He relieved in Game 7, struck out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in the seventh and earned the save by pitching 2.1 hitless innings.

In the book “My Kind of Baseball,” Hornsby explained why he brought in Alexander to face Lazzeri:

“I figured Alex was our best bet. I left my position at second base and walked out to meet him. I wanted to get a close look at him, to see what shape he was in. I also wanted to tell him what the situation was, in case he’d been dozing … He was wide awake when I met him, and his eyes were clear.”

Hornsby said Alexander struck out Lazzeri on a low curve outside. In “Babe Ruth’s Own Book of Baseball,” Ruth said, “The ball that Tony fanned on wasn’t a curve at all. It wasn’t even a fast one. It was a half-speed ball that cut the corner of the plate within a half inch of the spot (catcher) Bob O’Farrell called for … The thing that fanned Lazzeri that day and cost the Yankees a championship was Alexander’s canny control. He was putting that ball right where he wanted it, on every pitch.”

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Adam Wainwright and his magical first at-bat

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on June 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »

(Updated May 24, 2020)

Adam Wainwright turned a special at-bat into a special feat.

On May 24, 2006, Wainwright swung at the first pitch in his first major-league plate appearance and hit a home run for the Cardinals against the Giants at San Francisco.

adam_wainwright9Leading off the fifth inning, with the Giants ahead, 4-2, Wainwright hit a Noah Lowry pitch over the left field wall.

Wainwright, 24, had appeared in three games for the 2005 Cardinals and 14 games for the 2006 Cardinals before getting his first plate appearance. He hadn’t taken any batting practice since spring training.

Asked by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch what he was thinking once he realized he had hit a home run, Wainwright said, “I wasn’t thinking anything until I hit third (base). I was wandering around the bases, making sure I was going the right way. I hit third (base) and I said, ‘Oh, my goodness. I just hit a home run in my first at-bat.’ It was crazy.”

A win and a blast

Chris Carpenter had been scheduled to start for the Cardinals, but he developed bursitis under his right shoulder and was scratched.

Brad Thompson got the start and pitched two innings. After Tyler Johnson pitched the third inning, Wainwright relieved.

With the score tied at 2-2, Wainwright yielded two runs in the fourth.

Before Wainwright went to bat in the fifth, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa approached him.

“Tony told me to have a good at-bat, so I made sure I swung at the first pitch,” Wainwright told the San Jose Mercury News.

Lowry, a left-hander, threw a fastball. “One of the few fastballs Noah threw for strike one,” Giants manager Felipe Alou said to the Alameda Times-Star. Video of home run

After Wainwright pitched a scoreless fifth, the Cardinals scored twice in the sixth, taking a 5-4 lead. Wainwright held the Giants scoreless again in the sixth.

For his three innings of relief, Wainwright earned the win in the Cardinals’ 10-4 triumph. Boxscore

Wainwright was one of three Cardinals pitchers to get an extra-base hit in the game. Jason Marquis tripled and Braden Looper doubled. “They almost hit for the cycle, the pitchers,” Alou said to the San Francisco Examiner. “They surprised everybody.”

Sweet swings

Wainwright is one of 10 Cardinals to hit a home run in his first plate appearance in the major leagues.

The 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.

 

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Sammy Ellis and his adventures vs. Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers on May 29, 2016| 1 Comment »

In 1964, Sammy Ellis almost derailed the Cardinals’ pennant run with his nearly flawless relief pitching for the Reds. A year later, the Cardinals briefly derailed Ellis, who was on his way to a standout season as one of the National League’s premier starters.

sammy_ellisEllis pitched in the major leagues during the 1960s for seven years: five with the Reds and one season each with the Angels and White Sox. He posted a career record of 63-58 with a 4.15 ERA.

The Reds put Ellis, 23, in their starting rotation in May 1964. He was 3-2 with a 4.62 ERA in five starts, including a loss to the Cardinals on May 30 at St. Louis. Boxscore

To Ellis’ disappointment, the Reds moved him to the bullpen, but it was the right choice. Ellis thrived, becoming the 1964 Reds’ best right-handed reliever.

Ellis had an 0.78 ERA in 11 August relief appearances, yielding two earned runs and striking out 22 in 23 innings.

In September, he was even better.

Scoreless relief

On Saturday, Sept. 19, 1964, the Cardinals opened a three-game series with the Reds at Cincinnati. The Cardinals began the day in second place, six games behind the Phillies and a game ahead of the Reds.

In the first game of a doubleheader, the Reds overcame a 5-4 Cardinals lead when Frank Robinson hit a three-run home run off Bob Gibson in the bottom of the ninth. Ellis got the win, pitching two innings of scoreless relief in the 7-5 Reds victory. Boxscore

The Cardinals recovered and won the second game, 2-0. Ellis pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Billy McCool. Boxscore

In the series finale on Sunday, Sept. 20, the Reds snapped a 6-6 tie with three unearned runs in the eighth off Cardinals closer Barney Schultz and prevailed, 9-6. Ellis, appearing in his fifth game in five days, got the win with two scoreless relief innings and improved his record to 10-3. Boxscore

“I was a bit tired today and I didn’t have as much on the ball as I wanted,” Ellis said to the Associated Press. “After all, I’ve had a pretty busy week, working in the last five games we’ve played.”

In the three games against the Cardinals, Ellis was 2-0 with six strikeouts in five scoreless innings.

By winning two of three in the series, the Reds were tied with the Cardinals for second place, 6.5 games behind the Phillies.

Cincinnati closer

Ellis made 13 relief appearances in September 1964, yielding no earned runs in 22.1 innings and striking out 26.

He kept the Reds in the pennant race until the season’s final day when the Cardinals clinched with a victory over the Mets.

Ellis completed the 1964 season with a 10-3 record and 2.57 ERA. He was 7-1 with a 1.62 ERA in 47 relief stints.

“I’m enjoying the relief pitching this year, but I hope the club doesn’t have the same plans for me next year,” Ellis said to The Sporting News.

Redbirds rally

Ellis, 24, joined the Reds’ starting rotation in 1965 and he was a success. He took a 15-7 record and 3.39 ERA into his Aug. 15, 1965, start against the Cardinals at St. Louis.

After retiring the first five batters, Ellis was rocked for four runs in the second inning. He gave up a solo home run to Bob Skinner and a three-run home run to Gibson. In chasing Gibson’s blast, Robinson crashed into the left field wall, suffered a badly bruised left hip and had to leave the game.

Though the Cardinals got hits off Ellis in each of the next five innings, they couldn’t score and the Reds led, 7-4, entering the bottom half of the eighth before St. Louis rallied.

Bill White led off the inning with a home run against Ellis. After Ken Boyer singled, Ellis was lifted by Reds manager Dick Sisler. The Cardinals roughed up relievers John Tsitouris and McCool, scoring eight in the eighth and earning a 12-7 victory. Boxscore

The final line for Ellis: 7 innings, 12 hits, 6 runs. The hits were the most Ellis yielded in a game in his major-league career.

Asked about taking out Ellis with a 7-5 lead, Sisler said, “What’s a guy going to do? You can’t expect a guy to go nine innings when it’s 98 degrees or more out there on the mound. When we needed help, I put in two guys whose past performances indicated they could do the job for me.”

Big winner

Ellis rebounded and finished the 1965 season with a 22-10 record and 3.79 ERA. Sandy Koufax (26), Tony Cloninger (24) and Don Drysdale (23) were the only NL pitchers with more wins than Ellis in 1965.

The next year, Ellis lost 19.

His career mark vs. the Cardinals: 6-5 with a 5.50 ERA in 21 appearances, including 10 starts.

Ellis spent 12 years in the big leagues as a coach with the Yankees, White Sox, Cubs, Mariners, Red Sox and Orioles.

Previously: Bob Gibson and his mighty home run seasons

Previously: Bob Gibson vs. Billy Williams: a classic duel

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Cardinals rolled out welcome mat for Orlando Cepeda

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades on May 11, 2016| 2 Comments »

(Updated Dec. 26, 2024)

Feeling rejected and unappreciated by the Giants, Orlando Cepeda was traded to the Cardinals, who saw him as an asset rather than an outcast.

orlando_cepedaCepeda responded by providing the run production the Cardinals needed.

On May 8, 1966, the Giants sent Cepeda, 28, a first baseman recovering from knee surgery, to the Cardinals for Ray Sadecki, 25, a left-handed starting pitcher.

Cepeda was informed of the deal immediately after contributing two RBI to the Giants’ 10-5 victory over the Cardinals in the final game played at the original Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

In his book “Baby Bull,” Cepeda said, “In the clubhouse after the final game, I was as pleased as I could be. I was in the groove. That’s when I saw (Giants manager) Herman Franks walking toward me. I thought he was going to congratulate me … Instead, he told me I was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Just like that. No explanation … It came as a total shock.

“Initially, I was crushed,” Cepeda said. “So were my wife and my mother. At times, I had hoped a trade might happen, but it still hurt … The day I was traded I sat by my locker alone and cried. Jim Davenport (a third baseman) was the only non-Latin player to bid me goodbye and wish me well.”

After gathering his belongings, Cepeda went into the Cardinals clubhouse. He was welcomed warmly, describing his new teammates as “an incredible group of guys.”

“Stan Musial (team vice president) came down to see me and to tell me how happy he was to have me with the club,” Cepeda said. “Bob Bauman, the Cardinals’ trainer, made his position clear as well. ‘I’ll take care of your leg,’ he said. ‘You take care of the hits.’ ”

Cepeda called Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver “a special guy,” adding, “Tim never turned his back on me. He showed a strength of character and an unwavering friendship that I have not forgotten.”

On the morning after the trade, Cepeda had breakfast with manager Red Schoendienst and was presented with a contract that increased his yearly salary from $40,000 to $53,000. “Red told me I was going to play first base and hit cleanup,” Cepeda said.

Fitting the needs

The deal had been speculated for a week. The Cardinals needed a first baseman who could hit with power. Rookie George Kernek, who took over at first base in 1966 after Bill White was traded, struggled, with no home runs and three RBI in 20 games. The Giants wanted a left-hander for a rotation with right-handers Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry.

Cepeda and Sadecki fit the needs.

Sadecki earned 20 wins for the 1964 Cardinals and was the winning pitcher in Game 1 of the World Series that year. He slumped to a 6-15 record and 5.21 ERA in 1965. He was 2-1 with a 2.22 ERA for the 1966 Cardinals.

Cepeda won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1958 and followed that with a string of successful seasons, including 1961 when he led the NL in home runs (46) and RBI (142) and 1962 when he produced 35 home runs and 114 RBI for the pennant-winning Giants. After undergoing surgery to remove cartilage from a knee in December 1964, Cepeda was limited to 34 at-bats in 1965, hitting .176. He batted .286 with 15 RBI in 19 games for the 1966 Giants.

A three-game series between the Cardinals and Giants at San Francisco in April 1966 heightened interest in a trade.

In the series opener April 29, Sadecki impressed the Giants, pitching a five-hitter against them in a 5-1 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

The Giants won the next two games, 6-1 and 2-0, highlighting the Cardinals’ lack of punch.

On May 1, 1966, the Oakland Tribune reported a deal of Cepeda-for-Sadecki was in the works.

Seeing is believing

Five days later, the Giants were in St. Louis for a three-game series. The Giants won the opener, 4-2. In the second game, Cepeda hit a grand slam off Art Mahaffey in a 15-2 Giants triumph. According to The Sporting News, Bauman and Cardinals surgeon Dr. I.C. Middleman checked Cepeda’s surgically repaired right knee that night. Middleman determined Cepeda’s knee was in good condition.

In the 1998 book “The Original San Francisco Giants,” Cepeda claimed he tricked Middleman. “The Cardinals team doctor checked my knee,” Cepeda told author Steve Bitker. “The funny thing is I gave him the left knee … Instead of giving him the bad knee, I gave him the good knee. He said, ‘You’re in great shape, man.’ ”

The next day, May 8, Cepeda hit a two-run double off Cardinals starter Larry Jaster in the first inning.

Convinced Cepeda was healthy and productive, Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam huddled with his counterpart, Chub Feeney of the Giants. In the fifth inning, Howsam and Feeney “completed the deal on the old Busch Stadium roof next to the press box,” the Oakland Tribune reported.

“Seeing the Baby Bull circle the bases must have convinced the Cardinals bosses that the Giants weren’t trying to unload a broken-down player,” wrote Tribune columnist Ed Levitt.

The deal was announced after the game.

Sadecki still was in the Cardinals locker room, talking with reporters about the trade, when pitcher Bob Gibson approached and, alluding to a league crackdown on fraternizing, said to him, “Get out of our clubhouse or they’ll fine us $25 for talking to you.”

Opinions vary

Cepeda’s presence was expected to take pressure off Cardinals batters.

Stan Musial told the San Francisco Examiner, “Cepeda is a great power hitter … You’ve got to be an aggressive hitter to be outstanding, and that’s what he is. I don’t know anybody outside of (Willie) Mays with the sheer power Cepeda has.”

Said Cardinals pitcher Hal Woodeshick: “He (Cepeda) ought to drive in 100 runs hitting behind (Curt) Flood and (Lou) Brock.”

As for Sadecki, Bob Stevens of The Sporting News wrote the deal “could mean a pennant to the Giants. Ray was what they needed and wanted.”

Schoendienst told United Press International that Sadecki “should win 20 games this season with all the Giants’ hitting power.”

Ed Levitt of the Oakland Tribune, though, expressed doubt, writing, “It grieves us to see (the Giants) turn loose a consistent slugger for an inconsistent pitcher … We question the value given for the value received.”

NL MVP

The deal worked out better for the Cardinals than it did the Giants.

Sadecki was 3-7 with a 5.40 ERA for the 1966 Giants. He twice had 12-win seasons for the Giants: 1967 and 1968. The Giants placed second to the champion Cardinals in both seasons.

Cepeda hit .303 with 17 home runs, 24 doubles and 58 RBI in 123 games for the 1966 Cardinals.

In 1967, Cepeda won the NL Most Valuable Player Award and helped the Cardinals to a World Series championship. He hit .325 with 25 home runs, 37 doubles and a NL-best 111 RBI.

Looking back on the deal, Howsam told The Sporting News in 1967, “I didn’t want to give up Sadecki, but we needed to rebuild and Cepeda was a pretty good start.”

Though the Cardinals repeated as NL champions in 1968, Cepeda faltered, hitting .248 with 16 home runs, 26 doubles and 73 RBI. In March 1969, he was traded by the Cardinals to the Braves for Joe Torre.

 

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How Ray Burris made like Jack Clark with Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers, Records on May 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

One month after being released and having to return to the minor leagues to prove his worth as a pitcher, Ray Burris joined the Cardinals and showed them his bat was as valuable as his arm.

ray_burrisIn May 1986, Burris joined Dizzy Dean of the 1936 Cardinals as Redbirds pitchers to produce three RBI or more in consecutive games.

In 2016, Adam Wainwright matched the feats of Dean and Burris. Wainwright had three RBI for the Cardinals in their 11-4 victory over the Diamondbacks on April 27, 2016. Boxscore In the next game in which he batted, May 2, 2016, against the Phillies, Wainwright again had three RBI in a 10-3 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

Eighty years earlier, Dean drove in three runs for the Cardinals in their 8-5 victory over the Braves on July 26, 1936. Boxscore In the next game in which he batted, July 31, 1936, against the Dodgers, Dean again had three RBI in an 8-6 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

Like Bob Gibson and Bob Forsch, Dean and Wainwright are considered to be among the best-hitting Cardinals pitchers.

Burris didn’t have that kind of reputation. His performance was most unexpected.

Just hacking

Burris, 35, was released by the Brewers on April 1, 1986. The Cardinals signed him 10 days later and assigned him to Class AAA Louisville. He last had pitched in the minor leagues in 1974.

After producing a 1-1 record and 2.41 ERA in four starts for Louisville, Burris was called up to the Cardinals. “We got him because he can throw strikes,” St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog said to United Press International.

Burris, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound right-hander, was the starting pitcher in his Cardinals debut against the Giants on May 10, 1986, at St. Louis.

In the second inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Burris, facing Giants starter Roger Mason, swung at the first pitch, a ball down and in, and pulled it along the left-field line for a three-run double.

“Because I was having control troubles, I thought he’d be taking,” Mason said to the Sacramento Bee. “I was wrong.”

Burris: “I swing if the ball is in the vicinity of the plate … I guess it’s just hacking.”

Herzog: “I might bat Burris cleanup. It was nice to see that double.”

Burris pitched seven innings, departing to a standing ovation from the Saturday night crowd of 44,795, and got the win in a 6-3 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

“He’s just a crafty guy,” said Giants catcher Bob Brenly. “He takes off a little on a pitch, then puts it back on.”

Dream performance

The next game in which Burris batted was in a start on May 24, 1986, against the Braves at St. Louis.

Just like in his Cardinals debut, Burris batted in the second inning with the bases loaded. Again, he doubled along the left-field line, sending a shot past third baseman Ken Oberkfell for a three-run double off starter David Palmer.

“What I could have done was gotten ahead of him and made him hit my pitch,” Palmer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Instead, I got behind him and had to come in with one. He hit it where he should have hit it.”

Burris: “It was a flashback. It’s all a dream and I’m glad it’s happening … How can you explain it? I’m no Jack Clark.”

Herzog: “I think my pitchers are leading the team in RBI. Burris is doing the job at the plate.”

In the fifth, Burris produced his fourth RBI of the game, a run-scoring single off Duane Ward.

“The ball just keeps hitting my bat,” Burris said.

Burris pitched six innings and got the win in a 9-5 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

Fading out

After winning his first two decisions for the Cardinals, Burris lost five of his next seven.

He was 4-5 with a 5.60 ERA in 23 appearances, including 10 starts, when the Cardinals released him on Aug. 27, 1986.

Burris produced a .148 batting mark (4-for-27) for the Cardinals, with three doubles and seven RBI.

Previously: Dizzy Dean’s dazzling RBI season for Cardinals

Previously: How Dizzy Dean did his David Freese impersonation

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How Lynn McGlothen sparked battle with Mets

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on April 29, 2016| 4 Comments »

(Updated April 20, 2020)

Tired of Del Unser pounding his pitches, Lynn McGlothen decided to pound Unser with a pitch.

lynn_mcglothenOn April 20, 1976, the Mets hit three two-run home runs off McGlothen in the first two innings at St. Louis and led 6-0.

Felix Millan and Unser hit home runs in the first inning and John Milner hit one in the second. Unser’s home run upset McGlothen the most.

Unser wasn’t a slugger, but against McGlothen he swung like Babe Ruth. The year before, Unser hit two home runs against McGlothen.

When Unser came up again in the third inning, McGlothen nailed him in the elbow with a pitch.

Enough is enough

“There are game situations where a pitcher goes out to hit a batter. This was one,” McGlothen said to the Associated Press. “He hit two home runs off me last year … I didn’t want to see it happen again.”

Said Unser: “If he’s upset because I hit a hanging curve, that’s his problem.”

McGlothen said a pitcher “has a right to try to contain the hitters. If a pitcher feels like he’s been intimidated, he has to do something.”

“I felt like I had a right to retaliate,” McGlothen told United Press International. “I threw that baseball to hit Unser. Let me make that perfectly clear.”

In response, Mets pitcher Tom Seaver told the New York Daily News, “He’s dumb if that’s his level of intelligence. If he couldn’t get the guy out, he should have walked off the mound.’

Storm the field

When McGlothen batted in the Cardinals’ half of the third, Mets starter Jon Matlack threw a brushback pitch. In the fourth, McGlothen threw two pitches near Matlack. The third struck Matlack in the hip.

Dave Kingman, the Mets’ 6-foot-6 right fielder, charged out of the dugout and rushed toward McGlothen, who “stepped off the mound, threw off his glove and struck a fighting pose,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Players from both dugouts stormed onto the field and fights erupted. “There was no bloodshed, but there were some bruises,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

Before Kingman could reach McGlothen, he was tackled by Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez, who told the Post-Dispatch, “He tried to bowl me over, and he did, but I tried to tackle him and I delayed him enough.”

In his book “I’m Keith Hernandez,” Hernandez said facing Kingman was “like a freshman defensive back in high school taking on an all-state fullback.”

“I barely had time to brace myself,” Hernandez said. “I remember being lifted off the ground from the initial shock of the attack, crashing onto the turf on my backside, and desperately trying to hang on to the V-neck of (Kingman’s) jersey as he literally crab-walked over me to get to Lynn.”

Charlie Galati, who charted pitches for the Cardinals, told the Post-Dispatch: “It looked like Mel Gray trying to block Otis Sistrunk.”

(Gray was a receiver for the St. Louis football Cardinals and Sistrunk was an imposing defensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders.)

Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons, who chased after Kingman, said, “Kingman ducked under me, and I flew over, hooking my knee.”

McGlothen told The Sporting News he was punched from behind by his former Cardinals teammate, Mets first baseman Joe Torre.

Outfielder Lou Brock said several Cardinals connected with shots to Kingman.

McGlothen and Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst were ejected. So was Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson.

No respect

About McGlothen, Matlack said, “I really think I have no respect for the man.”

Said McGlothen: “I don’t think either one of us was trying to hurt anyone. I was throwing below the waist. If you want to mark a guy, you throw from the ribs up.”

Defending his pitcher, Schoendienst said, “(McGlothen) was wild all night. I’m surprised he hit anybody if he was trying.”

Regarding Unser, Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch, “I always said that when a batter digs in, he’s digging his own hole and inviting the pitcher to come after him … When a batter goes into the ball like Unser, he stands a pretty good chance of being hit.”

The Mets won, 8-0. McGlothen was fined $300 and given a five-day suspension by National League president Chub Feeney. Boxscore

Five months later, on Sept. 19, 1976, Unser, who’d been traded by the Mets to the Expos in July, faced McGlothen in Montreal and hit a solo home run. Boxscore

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