RetroSimba

In 1988, the defending National League champion Cardinals staggered into the all-star break after experiencing a humiliating loss during a series that exposed multiple flaws and severely tested their resolve.

The 1988 Cardinals ended their first half of the season with three games at San Francisco. Mike LaCoss pitched a four-hitter in the opener, a 1-0 Giants win. Terry Mulholland pitched a five-hitter in the finale and the Giants won, 2-1.

It was the middle game of the set that sent the Cardinals reeling.

The Giants beat them, 21-2, on Saturday afternoon, July 9, 1988, at Candlestick Park.

Summarizing the Cardinals’ performance, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “Their defense was less than airtight and their hitting was poor, but, most strikingly, their pitching was colossally bad.”

The 21 runs allowed were the most a Cardinals team had surrendered in 63 years, according to the Post-Dispatch. The Pirates defeated the Cardinals, 24-6, on June 22, 1925, at St. Louis. Boxscore

The 21 runs also were the most scored by the Giants since they moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958. The previous high was 19.

Two unlikely Giants standouts in the blowout win were infielders Chris Speier and Ernest Riles.

Speier, 38, filling in at second base for ailing all-star Robby Thompson, hit for the cycle and had five RBI. He had two doubles, a triple, a home run and a single. It was the only five-hit game in Speier’s 19-year major-league career.

The oldest big-league player to hit for the cycle was Cy Williams, 39, of the 1927 Phillies, the Post-Dispatch reported. Like Speier, Honus Wagner of the 1912 Pirates was 38 when he hit for the cycle.

Speier entered the game with a .191 batting average. “I hadn’t been doing much the last month and a half,” Speier said to the Associated Press. “I had a long talk with my wife and I just decided to relax and have some fun.”

Riles had been acquired by the Giants a month earlier in a trade that sent outfielder Jeffrey Leonard to the Brewers. Riles, who entered the game in the sixth inning as a replacement for shortstop Jose Uribe, hit a three-run home run in the seventh. It was the 10,000th home run in Giants history and the first for Riles as a Giant.

The ball hit off the facing of the upper deck and caromed back onto the field. Disgusted, Cardinals right fielder Tom Brunansky picked up the historic ball and heaved into the stands. After the game, Brunansky sought a closed-door meeting with Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

“This was pathetic,” Brunansky told the Post-Dispatch. “I was embarrassed.”

Shortstop Ozzie Smith said, “Anybody who is proud of this shouldn’t be here.”

Cardinals starting pitcher John Tudor entered the game with a 1.72 ERA. The Giants knocked him out with five runs in two innings.

“You don’t figure to lose a game by that much with John Tudor pitching,” Herzog said. “His location was bad, but even then it shouldn’t have been that bad.”

Relievers Bob Forsch and Steve Peters each gave up eight runs.

“It was ugly,” Forsch told the Post-Dispatch. “Ugly for me.”

Said Peters: “It’s the worst embarrassment I ever had.”

The Giants ended up with 20 hits and six walks.

Herzog, keeping a sense of humor, told the Associated Press, “I wish we were playing a doubleheader today. We would have had them (the Giants) tired out for the second game.” Boxscore

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In a season when Mark McGwire pummeled pitchers with his home run power, Bob Tewksbury used lollipop pitches to keep the Cardinals slugger from hitting the ball out of the infield.

In 1998, Tewksbury, the former Cardinal, was with the Twins in what would be the last of his 13 major-league seasons. McGwire was in his first full year with the Cardinals and headed toward a record-breaking season in which he would hit 70 home runs.

On June 28, 1998, Tewksbury got the start against the Cardinals at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

McGwire entered the game with 36 home runs and a .313 batting average.

When McGwire came to bat in the first inning, Tewksbury lobbed a pitch toward the plate. McGwire watched it float out of the strike zone for ball one. Tewksbury followed with another lob, a pitch accurately described by Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a lollipop. Rather than give it a lick, McGwire swung and dribbled a grounder to first base.

As he headed toward the dugout, McGwire shared a laugh with first-base coach Dave McKay, the Associated Press reported.

“It was all of 44 (mph),” Tewksbury told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “… My son (Griffin) calls it The Dominator. (Manager) Tom Kelly calls it The Entertainment Pitch. The hitters probably call it some other things.”

Said McGwire: “It was awesome. I loved it. I tell you what, I’ll swing at it every time if it’s in the strike zone.”

When McGwire came to bat again, in the fourth, Tewksbury got two quick strikes on the slugger before he floated the lob pitch. McGwire swung and popped out near first base.

“The first time it was funny,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “He kept getting outs with it _ and then it wasn’t funny.”

Said Tewksbury: “I can’t throw the ball by him, but I can throw it slower. I was excited to face McGwire. I couldn’t wait to face him. It was a thrill. He’s one of the best ever to play the game.”

In the sixth, McGwire singled off a Tewksbury curve. “I didn’t want to get crazy with it,” Tewksbury said about why he didn’t try the lob to McGwire again. “He’d hit it in the upper deck.”

When Ray Lankford came up in the same inning, Tewksbury delivered two lobs. Lankford watched one and grounded out on the other, ending the inning.

In 6.1 innings, Tewksbury yielded two runs on seven hits, walked none and struck out two. He threw five lobs _ three to McGwire and two to Lankford _ and recorded three outs with those floaters. The Twins won, 3-2. Boxscore

“From the variance of slowest pitch to fastest in the league, I can probably go farther than anybody,” Tewksbury said. “I can throw 44 (mph) and I can throw 83 (mph).”

Previously: Think Lance Lynn is a surprise? Check out Luis Arroyo

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