Pitchers | RetroSimba

Archive for the ‘Pitchers’ Category

Joaquin Andujar skipped All-Star Game to barbecue quail

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents, Pitchers on July 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Joaquin Andujar had a nearly perfect first half of the 1985 season.

The Cardinals’ right-hander produced 15 wins before the all-star break, but that wasn’t enough to get him the starting assignment for the National League.

Andujar was one of 10 all-star pitchers selected by Padres manager Dick Williams. At the time of the selections, Andujar had a 15-3 record. The Padres’ LaMarr Hoyt was 11-4 and won his last nine decisions. Williams said he wanted to see the outcome of the July 12 Padres vs. Cardinals game, matching Andujar against Hoyt, before naming his all-star starter.

“I don’t think I should have to pitch good tonight to be the (all-star) starter,” Andujar said to the Associated Press before the Padres-Cardinals game.

Miffed by what he considered a slight by Williams, Andujar told reporters he would skip the All-Star Game.

Informed of Andujar’s comments, Williams said, “Andujar deserves (the all-star start) as much as anybody. If you go by the numbers, he’s got the best. He’s on a 30-win collision course,” but Williams also noted Hoyt had pitched six years in the American League for the White Sox before joining the Padres and “that’s something to consider because he knows the hitters over there.”

Hoyt wins duel with Andujar

In the matchup against Hoyt, Andujar pitched well; Hoyt was better. Hoyt pitched seven scoreless innings, held the Cardinals to two hits and got the win in the Padres’ 2-0 victory at St. Louis. Andujar yielded two runs and eight hits and took the loss. Boxscore

Hoyt stretched his consecutive wins streak to 10 and improved his record to 12-4. Andujar dropped to 15-4 but still led the major leagues in wins. The Cardinals scored a total of one run in Andujar’s four losses.

With better support, Andujar might have been 19-0 at the break. The scores in his losses were 5-0 to the Giants, 1-0 and 3-1 to the Phillies and 2-0 to the Padres.

“I’ll be there (at the All-Star Game) … I hope Andujar comes, too,” Hoyt told United Press International. “He’s a good pitcher and he deserves to be there.”

Fire up the grill

Approached by reporters after his loss to the Padres, Andujar said, “I wasn’t trying to impress Dick Williams. He’s not a special guy.”

Asked what he would do during the all-star break, Andujar replied, “I’m going to work out every day and barbecue with my family. I’ll barbecue quail or anything.”

Said Williams to the Associated Press: “Now he’s got me a little mad.”

Williams named Hoyt the all-star starter. Andujar skipped the game.

Hoyt pitched three innings, giving up two hits and an unearned run, and got the win in a 6-1 National League victory. Boxscore

Read Full Post »

How Rick Wise became all-star winner for Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers on July 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

(Updated July 24, 2018)

In 1973, Rick Wise was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game. No Cardinals pitcher has won an All-Star Game since.

Dizzy Dean (1936) and Steve Carlton (1969) join Wise as the only Cardinals pitchers with All-Star Game wins.

National League manager Sparky Anderson wanted the Dodgers’ Don Sutton to be his starting pitcher in the 1973 All-Star Game at Kansas City, but after consulting with Walter Alston, the Dodgers’ manager, Anderson determined Sutton wasn’t ready.

“Sutton is the guy I’d like to open with, but he’s been pitching a lot,” Anderson said to the Associated Press.

Wise, 11-5 with a 3.10 ERA for the 1973 Cardinals entering the July 24, 1973, All-Star Game, was Anderson’s backup choice to oppose Catfish Hunter.

“It’s a great honor for me,” Wise said.

Wise had been named an all-star in 1971 while with the Phillies, but didn’t appear in the game. Seven months later, Wise was traded to the Cardinals for Carlton. The Phillies got the best of that deal. Carlton built a career that earned him election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

However, in July 1973, Wise was on the all-star team; Carlton wasn’t.

Wise retired the American League all-stars in order in the first, striking out Bert Campaneris and getting Rod Carew and John Mayberry on ground outs.

In the second, Reggie Jackson led off against Wise with what the Associated Press described as a “booming double off the center field wall.” Amos Otis followed with a single, scoring Jackson and giving the American League a 1-0 lead.

Wise retired the next three batters _ Bobby Murcer, Carlton Fisk and Brooks Robinson _ on fly outs.

Scheduled to lead off the third, Wise was lifted for pinch-hitter Darrell Evans, who walked, sparking a two-run inning against Bert Blyleven, who had relieved Hunter.

Staked to a 2-1 lead, the bullpen of Claude Osteen, Sutton, Wayne Twitchell, Dave Giusti, Tom Seaver and Jim Brewer pitched shutout relief and the National League won, 7-1. Wise’s pitching line: 2 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 walks and 1 strikeout. Boxscore

Wise won just five of his last 12 decisions and finished the 1973 season at 16-12. He was traded to the Red Sox three months after his all-star start and helped them win the 1975 pennant. He never was named to another all-star team.

Since 1973, only two Cardinals pitchers have started All-Star Games. Chris Carpenter had a no-decision in the 2005 game, which was won by the American League, 7-5. Adam Wainwright had a no-decision in the 2014 game, which was won by the American League, 5-3.

Previously: Steve Carlton vs. Nolan Ryan: fateful 1971 finale of aces

Read Full Post »

Cardinals helped Dan Quisenberry overcome the blues

Posted in Games, Managers, Opponents, Pitchers on July 12, 2013| 1 Comment »

After 10 seasons wearing Kansas City Royals blue, Dan Quisenberry was startled when he put on his St. Louis Cardinals jersey, walked by a mirror and glimpsed how he looked in red.

“It’s pretty bright red,” Quisenberry said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “My eyes are going to have to adjust.”

In July 1988, Quisenberry joined the Cardinals 10 days after being released by the Royals.

Departing Kansas City was emotional for Quisenberry, who earned 238 saves for the Royals. Quisenberry, who threw a sinker with a submarine delivery, was the closer on the Royals’ World Series championship team in 1985 and led the American League in saves five times.

In 1986, Quisenberry was signed to what the Royals called a lifetime contract. By 1988, the Royals were phasing out Quisenberry, 35, and grooming younger pitchers such as Steve Farr and Jeff Montgomery for the closer job. When Quisenberry was released on July 4, 1988, his season record was 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA in 20 games.

With tears welling, Quisenberry told Bob Nightengale of the Kansas City Star and Times, “After all of these years, it’s hard not to be emotional … It wasn’t a happy ending and it wasn’t very picturesque.”

Said Royals general manager John Schuerholz to the Associated Press: “The bottom line is effectiveness. It was purely and simply a baseball decision. His effectiveness was just not what it had been.”

Reunited with Whitey

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog was the Royals’ manager in 1979, Quisenberry’s rookie season with Kansas City. Herzog and Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill reached out to Quisenberry and signed him on July 14, 1988.

“A lot of it is being close to my home (in Leawood, Kan.),” Quisenberry told the Post-Dispatch. “One of the other reasons is that Whitey is the manager. I have the utmost respect for Whitey. He’s a real straight shooter.”

Quisenberry also was a friend of Cardinals coach Nick Leyva. They were college baseball teammates at La Verne in California.

Pitching primarily in middle relief, Quisenberry was 2-0 with a 6.16 ERA in 33 games for the 1988 Cardinals. St. Louis brought him back in 1989 and Quisenberry was 3-1 with six saves and a 2.64 ERA in 63 appearances.

Hit man

Because of the designated hitter rule in the American League, Quisenberry never batted in a big-league game with the Royals. He got his lone big-league hit on July 6, 1989, when he delivered a RBI-single against Tim Belcher of the Dodgers at St. Louis. Boxscore

Players in the Cardinals’ dugout “went into hysterics” after Quisenberry reached first base, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Cardinals fans gave Quisenberry a standing ovation as he stood on first.

”That was embarrassing,” Quisenberry said. ”I was hoping they’d stop. The cordial thing is to tip your hat, but I stuttered. It was a stutter tip.”

In the eighth, Quisenberry batted against Ricky Horton and struck out on three breaking pitches.

”I learned I’m a dead-red fastball hitter,” Quisenberry quipped. ”I probably should go back to Triple-A to learn how to hit the curveball.”

Read Full Post »

Great Debate: When Tony La Russa first batted pitcher 8th

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers, Pitchers on July 8, 2013| 1 Comment »

Tony La Russa had lots of time to think about his faltering Cardinals club during the 1998 all-star break. The Cardinals manager used that time off to devise a batting order that surprised players and fans, creating a controversy that lingered throughout La Russa’s tenure in St. Louis.

In July 1998, La Russa chose to bat the pitcher eighth rather than ninth in the order.

In an article for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reporter Rick Hummel referred to the decision as “The Great Experiment.”

Intelligent innovation or egotistical folly? La Russa’s move was labeled both.

Even with an offense powered by the record-setting home run pace of Mark McGwire, the bullpen-poor, error-prone 1998 Cardinals entered the all-star break having lost 10 of their last 12 games.

In their first game after the break, July 9 vs. the Astros at St. Louis, La Russa posted a batting order that had pitcher Todd Stottlemyre batting eighth and rookie second baseman Placido Polanco batting ninth.

Stottlemyre became the first major-league pitcher to bat anywhere but ninth in the order since the Phillies’ Steve Carlton on June 1, 1979, at Cincinnati.

(In that game, Phillies manager Danny Ozark batted Carlton eighth and shortstop Bud Harrelson ninth. Carlton went 0-for-3 and hit into a double play; Harrelson, who entered the game hitless in five at-bats that season, was 1-for-3 with a single. The Reds won, 4-2. Boxscore)

The Phillies had been shut out in their previous three games, so the move of Carlton to the eighth spot was a gimmick. Ozark never tried it again.

La Russa was committed to the strategy. He batted his pitcher eighth in each of the last 77 games of the 1998 season.

In the 1960s, Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson had asked manager Red Schoendienst to bat him eighth and to move shortstop Dal Maxvill to the ninth spot. Schoendienst didn’t do it. “If he had,” Maxvill said to Hummel, “I would have been so ticked off I wouldn’t have talked to him for the rest of my life. I don’t think he would want to show me up.”

La Russa informed Hummel he sought the advice of Schoendienst, then a St. Louis consultant, and Cardinals instructor George Kissell before deciding to bat the pitcher eighth in 1998. “They said it was OK,” La Russa said.

In explaining his decision, La Russa told the Post-Dispatch, “I don’t see how it doesn’t make sense for the ninth-place hitter to be a legitimate hitter. This gives us a better shot to score runs. It’s an extra guy on base in front of Ray (Lankford), Mark (McGwire) and Brian (Jordan). The more guys who are on base, the less they’ll be able to pitch around Mark. I don’t have a problem with it.”

Cardinals’ first game with pitcher batting eighth

Polanco, appearing in his third big-league game, was 0-for-2 from the ninth spot on July 9, 1998, before Willie McGee pinch-hit for him in the seventh. Stottlemyre was 1-for-2. The pitcher led off the third with a single and scored on Royce Clayton’s double. Still, the Cardinals made four errors and grounded into three double plays. Houston won, 5-4. Boxscore

Said Stottlemyre: “I stink whether I hit eighth or ninth. I take my swings. I take my seat. And I get ready to pitch.”

The more La Russa continued to bat the pitcher eighth, the more the criticism grew.

“I think the National League is investigating the Cardinals and Tony,” catcher Tom Pagnozzi said after batting ninth for the first time.

Said La Russa: “It would be nice if it would become a non-issue.”

La Russa legacy?

According to the book “Cardinals Journal” (2006, Emmis Books), the 1998 Cardinals scored 4.98 runs per game with the pitcher batting ninth and 4.96 runs per game with the pitcher batting eighth.

From 1998 to 2011 (his last season as manager), La Russa batted the pitcher eighth 432 times. He batted Cardinals pitchers eighth in the last 56 games of 2007 and in 153 games in 2008.

(Until La Russa, the manager who had batted the pitcher eighth the most times in a season was Lou Boudreau of the 1957 Athletics. He batted the pitcher eighth for the first 56 games that season. Boudreau was fired in August that year.)

La Russa batted Cardinals pitchers eighth 55 times in 2009, 77 times in 2010 and 14 times in 2011.

Previously: Tony La Russa: Proud pupil of mentor Paul Richards

Read Full Post »

How Giants beat John Tudor, Cardinals, 21-2

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on July 6, 2013| 2 Comments »

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

Read Full Post »

Why Tom Henke was a nearly perfect Cardinal

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Records on June 26, 2013| 3 Comments »

(Updated June 28, 2022)

Tom Henke was a consistently dominant closer for the 1995 Cardinals, converting his first 22 save chances.

Signed by the Cardinals on Dec. 12, 1994, after 13 years with the Rangers and Blue Jays, Henke, 37, was a model of effectiveness amid the chaos of a 1995 season in which the Cardinals traded popular first baseman Todd Zeile to the rival Cubs, fired manager Joe Torre and finished 62-81, 22.5 games behind the division-leading Reds.

“Henke has dominated with a mix of fastballs and forkballs,” Mike Eisenbath noted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “As the hitters have begun waiting for that forkball, he has adjusted with an occasional sidearm delivery.”

A right-hander, Henke converted his 22nd consecutive save chance on July 22 in a 5-4 Cardinals victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia. Henke worked a perfect 11th, retiring Mickey Morandini, Jim Eisenreich and Lenny Dykstra on fly outs to left, center and right. Boxscore

Henke’s streak ended in his next appearance, July 25, against the Mets at St. Louis. Brought in to protect a 7-6 Cardinals lead in the ninth, Henke blew the save chance when he yielded a two-out, RBI-single to Carl Everett. The Cardinals won, 8-7, in 11. Boxscore

“I’ll start it over tomorrow,” Henke said to St. Louis writer Rick Hummel of the streak. “If somebody had told me at the beginning of the year I’d save 22 in a row before I’d blow my first one, I’d take that in a heartbeat.”

It was a rare misstep for Henke. He converted 36 of 38 save opportunities for the 1995 Cardinals. Henke had a 0.96 ERA in the 36 games he saved, yielding four runs in 37.1 innings.

Overall, Henke struck out 48 in 54.1 innings in 1995 and finished with a 1.82 ERA. Opponents batted .153 (9-for-59) against him with runners in scoring position. Henke yielded only two home runs (hit by Howard Johnson of the Mets and Jason Bates of the Rockies).

Soon after the season, Henke decided to retire. “I’ve always admired guys who have gone out at the top of their game,” Henke said to Hummel. “Sometimes you have to look at what’s the most important thing in life. I’d like to see my kids grow up.”

Previously: Braves fans’ behavior recalls Dodgers’ forfeit to Cardinals

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »