Phil Regan was the premier relief pitcher in the National League with the Dodgers and Cubs in the late 1960s. He twice led the league in saves, with 21 in 1966 and 25 in 1968.
Regan’s best season was 1966, his first in the NL after the Dodgers acquired him from the Tigers. Closing games in support of a starting rotation that featured Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton and Claude Osteen, Regan posted a 14-1 record and 1.62 ERA, helping the Dodgers win the pennant.
After his 13-year career as a big-league pitcher ended in 1972 with the White Sox, Regan built a commendable reputation as an instructor. He has been a pitching coach with the Mariners, Indians and Cubs. In 1995, he managed the Orioles.
In 2015, Regan, 78, was pitching coach of the Class A minor-league St. Lucie Mets. He mentored most of the pitchers on the staff of the 2015 NL champion New York Mets.
On Oct. 28, 2015, I interviewed Regan near the Mets’ training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Richard Stone, who organizes a sports card show in Sebastian, Fla., helped arrange the interview.
After Regan shared details about his career and his role instructing Mets pitchers, I asked him if he’d answer questions about his recollections of Cardinals. Regan generously agreed and thoughtfully provided his insights.
Here is a segment of that interview:
Q.: From 1963 through 1968, the Dodgers and Cardinals were the only clubs to win NL pennants. The Dodgers won in 1963, 1965 and 1966. The Cardinals won in 1964, 1967 and 1968. What was that rivalry like from your perspective with the Dodgers?
Regan: “It was like two organizations that were almost the same. Both of them were speed, pitching, good defense and playing the fundamentals very well.”
Q.: How did the Dodgers try to beat the Cardinals?
Regan: “We always felt that if we could get to Bob Gibson early _ get him in the first inning, because we didn’t get any runs off him after that _ we could hold on and win with our pitching.”
Q.: The 1967 and ’68 champion Cardinals had Lou Brock. Was he the batter in that lineup that pitchers needed to focus on?
Regan: “He was one of them … When I was with the Cubs, he would bunt on (first baseman) Ernie Banks. Ernie wasn’t very fast. Ernie couldn’t field the bunts. Brock would beat it out every time.”
Q.: Who else in that Cardinals lineup?
Regan: “Another guy who helped them was Roger Maris.”
Q.: Maris batted .077 (2-for-26) with no home runs against you in his career. How did you do it?
Regan: “I’ll tell you why. When I was with Detroit, I roomed with (pitcher) Frank Lary. And Lary would tell me, ‘Maris has his swing grooved. Anything inside, he’ll hit.’
“So, I threw him nothing but sinkers down and away and let him try to pull the ball. And I got him out.
“I threw him one slider inside in Detroit and he hit it foul, a bullet, and I said I’m going to stay with sinkers away. He was geared to pull everything. He geared his swing to hit home runs, but it took away the outer part of the plate, which is where I pitched him.”
Q.: What else do you recall about those 1967 and ’68 Cardinals?
Regan: “I came in to pitch at St. Louis (on Aug. 9, 1967) and loaded the bases with no outs. Wes Parker was playing first base and Jimmy Campanis was catching.
“I’m thinking, ‘How can I get out of this situation?’ The next hitter (Eddie Bressoud) pops up to first base, to Wes Parker, a great fielder, near the bag.
“(Mike Shannon) is on third base and he fakes like he’s going home after the catch. Wes Parker takes the ball and lobs it toward home plate. I’m backing up the play, near the fence.
“The ball hits in front of Campanis and scoots under his leg and goes halfway between the catcher and me _ and (Shannon) scores the winning run.”
(Here is the boxscore from that game. Shannon told the Associated Press, “I hesitated when I saw the ball roll away. I couldn’t tell how far it was going … but it just kept rolling, so I went.”)
Q.: As a successful instructor, you’re like the Mets’ version of the Cardinals’ George Kissell. Did you have any interaction with Kissell?
Regan: “I got a lot of his notes. He’s got a little book out, a handbook for managers on all phases of the game. Throughout it are his sayings.
“He told pitchers they should try to strike out 13 hitters a game. Now, that’s a lot. He’d say, ‘You strike out the first hitter of every inning _ that’s nine times _ and the pitcher four times.’
“Really, what he was saying was that the most important man in the inning to get out is that first hitter. Be ready to pitch to him. If you get him out, it stops everything.
“I use it all the time. If you get the first hitter out, you can load the bases and get out of the inning with one pitch. If you don’t get the first hitter out, he’ll score 80 percent of the time. I follow a lot of his stuff.”
Q.: A George Kissell disciple who came up through the Cardinals system was Jim Riggleman. In 1997 and ’98, Riggleman managed the Cubs and you were their pitching coach. How was that?
Regan: “I love Jim Riggleman. He was one of the best young managers. In 1997, we weren’t a very good club (68-94 and last place in the NL Central). In 1998, the general manager called us in and said, ‘I’m going to have to hold you guys responsible if you don’t turn it around.’ We went on to win a one-game playoff with the Giants and got into the postseason (with a 90-73 record).”
Q.: In 1994, when you were pitching coach for the Indians, one of the pitchers on your staff was Derek Lilliquist. Today, he’s the Cardinals’ pitching coach. Did you see then his potential to become an instructor?
Regan: “I didn’t know he would become the pitching coach that he is today. He loved the game. He was quite a jokester. A lot of times, I’d back up the pitcher when we were taking batting practice. One day, in Toronto, we noticed none of the balls were coming in from the outfield. He was the ringleader of this. I said, ‘Where are the balls?’ All of a sudden, they threw about 100 balls at me at the same time.
“He had fun playing the game. That’s one of the things that makes you a good coach. You can laugh and have a good time and yet they know when you’re serious, too.”
Q.: Any other Cardinals recollection to share?
Regan: “(In 1982), I got a call from an agent (Jack Childers) in Chicago, who said, ‘Phil, I remember when you played here with the Cubs. You had a good sinker. I have a player who has lost his fastball. I represent him. I need him to learn a sinker. Would you be willing to work with him?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I will. Who is it?’ He said, ‘Al Hrabosky, the Mad Hungarian.’ (Hrabosky had been released by the Braves.)
“I said, ‘We’re in our fall program at Grand Valley State (where Regan was head baseball coach). If he wants to come up here, I’ll work with him.’ So he came up and spent four days with us and worked on a sinker. He had lost his fastball. When he left, he said, ‘I’m going to Venezuela (winter league) to work on this sinker. Would you mind calling some people (in the big leagues) and telling them where I am and what I’m working on?’
“I called Jim Campbell with the Tigers and Roland Hemond with the White Sox. Then I read an article that said Seattle was looking for a left-handed reliever. I didn’t know anybody there. So, I called and got hold of the general manager, Dan O’Brien.”
O’Brien gave Regan a job as Mariners advance scout, returning him to the big leagues for the first time since his pitching career ended. Hemond invited Hrabosky to spring training for a tryout with White Sox manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan.
Previously: Denny McLain on Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, ’68 Cards
Previously: Al Hrabosky’s last stand tested Dave Duncan, Tony La Russa
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