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Fair or foul? On and off the field with Bud Zipfel

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects on October 23, 2026| 2 Comments »

Just as a renter seeking a good apartment wants a fair chance from a landlord, a baseball prospect looking to play regularly wants a fair chance from a manager.

Bud Zipfel was a ballplayer, then a landlord.

A left-handed power hitter who had a stint in the Cardinals’ system after two years in the American League, Zipfel’s baseball career stalled, in part, because he wasn’t in the everyday lineup.

His time as a landlord was marred by allegations of discriminatory housing practices.

Zippity-do-dah

Marion Sylvester Zipfel was from Belleville, Ill., near St. Louis. He was called Bud at home and Zip on the ballfield.

In June 1956, the Yankees signed Zipfel, 17, on the recommendation of scout Lou Maguolo. Yankees assistant general manager Bill DeWitt Sr. made four trips to the Zipfel family home to seal the deal, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

Zipfel was an outfielder his first three seasons (1956-58) in the Yankees’ system, but his throwing arm lacked zip and he was moved to first base in 1959.

Hitting was what Zipfel did best. He produced 104 RBI in 123 games with Fargo in 1959; 28 home runs and 107 RBI with Binghamton in 1960. A pull hitter, his swing was tailored to take advantage of the short (296 feet) distance from home plate along the right field line to the outfield stands at Yankee Stadium.

“If he plays his cards right, there may be no jackpot too big for Zipfel,” John W. Fox of the Binghamton Press noted.

Some pegged Zipfel as heir apparent to Yankees first baseman Moose Skowron, but Zipfel ended up with an American League expansion team, the 1961 Washington Senators. “I’m sorry we lost him,” Yankees manager Ralph Houk told the Washington Evening Star. “… We were gambling we could sneak him through the (expansion) draft. Somebody on the Washington club had good information.”

Zinging the ball

With the Senators at 1961 spring training in Pompano Beach, Zipfel, 22, “impressed camp followers with his classic batting swing, which can be described only as gorgeous,” Morris Siegel of the Washington Daily News observed.

Among those impressed was Senators manager Mickey Vernon, a two-time American League batting champion who, like Zipfel, batted left and played first base. “I like the way he swings a bat … He has a good stroke,” Vernon told the Washington Evening Star.

Another who took interest in Zipfel at 1961 spring training was White Sox scout Bucky Harris, who had managed two World Series champions (1924 Senators and 1947 Yankees). “I like his stroke … Washington was lucky to come up with Zipfel,” Harris told the Washington Evening Star.

Though Zipfel hit .391 in spring training exhibition games, he’d never played above the Class A level during the regular season, so the Senators decided he should spend 1961 with Class AAA Houston.

While Zipfel slugged for Houston (21 homers in 378 at-bats), Senators first baseman Dale Long struggled (hitting .182 with runners in scoring position).

In late July 1961, Zipfel was called up to Washington and Mickey Vernon put the rookie in the starting lineup. Zipfel zapped his first home run, against Phil Regan in the 11th inning, halfway into the upper deck in right-center at Tiger Stadium, propelling the Senators to victory. He had two hits, two walks and three RBI in a rout of the Yankees, and two triples and four RBI at Baltimore versus the Orioles. Boxscore, Boxscore, Boxscore

Senators owner Pete Quesada, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general and former head of the Federal Aviation Administration, gushed to the Washington Evening Star in August 1961, “We paid $75,000 (in the expansion draft) for Bud Zipfel. People asked, ‘Who is Zipfel?’ I wouldn’t sell him now for $200,000.”

On their way to a last-place finish, the Senators sought any chance to create enthusiasm, but their zealousness for Zipfel was premature. He batted .200 for the 1961 Senators, with more strikeouts (49) than hits (34).

Ups and downs

After the 1961 season, Zipfel served six months with a U.S. Marines reserve unit and missed most of 1962 spring training. He was sent to the minors to get playing time, then brought back to Washington in late June 1962.

Zipfel slammed a Dean Stone pitch into the upper deck at Comiskey Park in Chicago for a home run and had a walkoff RBI-double to beat the Red Sox. Boxscore

His last big-league home run was a highlight. On Sept. 12, 1962, the Senators’ Tom Cheney, a former Cardinal, struck out 21 Orioles at Baltimore. Zipfel’s homer versus Dick Hall in the 16th inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave Cheney and the Senators the win. Cheney, who threw 228 pitches, told the Baltimore Sun, “When Zipfel homered, I was about ready for it.” Boxscore

Overall, though, Zipfel’s 1962 performance for the Senators was unexceptional. Platooning at first base and left field, he batted .239 with six homers. “If you’re playing in the little or big leagues, you are naturally going to play better when you play every day,” Zipfel told the Belleville News-Democrat.

The Senators assigned Zipfel to their fall Florida Instructional League team after the season but in the nine weeks there he showed “absolutely nothing,” coach George Case told the Washington Evening Star.

That prompted the Senators to sell Zipfel’s contract in December 1962 to the Reds, who put him in the minors.

In August 1965, the Reds shipped Zipfel, 26, to the Cardinals’ Jacksonville farm team, completing the December 1964 trade that sent Roger Craig and Charlie James from St. Louis to Cincinnati for Bob Purkey and a player to be named. The Reds first offered shortstop Francisco Obregon, but the Cardinals said no. Perhaps on the recommendation of Mickey Vernon, a Cardinals coach in 1965, Zipfel was the player St. Louis accepted.

The 1966 season was Zipfel’s last. He began the year with Arkansas, a Cardinals’ Class AA affiliate, and ended it with a Class A Phillies farm team.

Fair housing

Zipfel returned home to Belleville and operated an insurance agency and a real estate company that specialized in apartment rentals.

In 2001, Crystal Hill, 19, sought a Belleville apartment for her and a 5-month-old son. She contacted Zipfel, who told Hill he wouldn’t rent her a one-bedroom apartment because she had a child, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to consider race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or family status in rental sales, lending, or homeowner’s insurance decisions.

“It’s aggravating when you’re a single mom and you’re trying to get out of a certain situation, and you’re stuck, and they (landlords) don’t want to make it easier on you,” Hill told Mike Fitzgerald of the Belleville News-Democrat. “You just need to give people a chance.”

Hill sought help from the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council, a private nonprofit fair housing enforcement and education organization founded to combat illegal housing discrimination.

During a three-month investigation, the housing council’s Jamie McFarland, a fair housing specialist, sent testers posing as renters to build a discrimination case against Zipfel. According to the Post-Dispatch, Zipfel gave housing council testers posing as renters different information about the availability of apartments depending on their race and whether they had children, McFarland said.

The housing council investigation “concluded that Zipfel had discriminated against (Crystal) Hill and also had unfairly denied housing to black (testers) posing as prospective renters,” the Post-Dispatch reported. McFarland said Bud Zipfel Enterprises “offered to show apartments to white people while telling black people and single parents to look elsewhere,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

“To me, it’s clear that this is race discrimination,” McFarland told William Lamb of the Post-Dispatch. “Everyone deserves equal access to all housing.”

Zipfel and the housing council reached an out-of-court settlement. He paid $5,000 to Crystal Hill and $45,000 to the housing council, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Followup test

In 2004, two years after the settlement, the housing council sent nine testers posing as renters to Zipfel’s business, housing council executive director Will Jordan told the Belleville News-Democrat. Jordan told the newspaper that white testers were shown apartments but some black testers either were not shown an apartment or “they were shown something less than desirable.”

Housing tester R.J. Tanner reported that Zipfel said he kept the number of blacks in his apartments to about 20 percent, the Belleville newspaper reported.

In his report, Tanner said Zipfel told him “lately, since the blacks were coming up from East St. Louis like a wet sieve, problems have gotten worse.”

Zipfel told George Pawlaczyk of the Belleville newspaper, “He (Tanner) said I don’t want any bad blacks. That’s right. I don’t want bad blacks, and I don’t want bad whites … We’re careful of who we rent to _ black or white.”

In his report, Tanner concluded, “I felt that he believed he was the protector of the city … by unilaterally making these decisions.”

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I shot the Sheriff: The startling saga of Marshall Bridges

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects, Trades on October 11, 2026| 8 Comments »

It was easy to see why, for some, Fort Lauderdale in February 1963 was like paradise. Sunshine and scents of citrus blossoms carried by gentle sea breezes were abundant in the Florida coastal town.

Bolstered by the hit 1960 film “Where the Boys Are,” thousands of college students frolicked in the Atlantic Ocean surf and in hangouts like the Elbo Room.

The Yankees, reigning World Series champions, were headquartered for spring training in the oceanfront Yankee Clipper Hotel. Designed to model a luxury ocean liner, the hotel featured The Wreck Bar, where patrons could sip rum runners while seated along portholes that gave enticing views of mermaid shows being performed in the swimming pool. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra or even the Yankee Clipper himself, Joe DiMaggio, then a spring training batting instructor, might show up to see their favorite mermaids.

A significant benefit of staying at the Yankee Clipper Hotel in 1963 was that it didn’t discriminate against people because of skin color. Before 1962, the Yankees (like the Cardinals) trained in St. Petersburg, and their hotel headquarters, The Soreno, refused to admit blacks.

Fort Lauderdale, too, was resistant to ending segregation. A 1927 ordinance restricted black residents and businesses to the northwest sector of the city. Fort Lauderdale’s beaches weren’t desegregated until 1962. Segregation wasn’t fully dissolved in the town until the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.

A prominent social spot for blacks in Fort Lauderdale was a two-story building patrons called “The Elks Rest,” formally known as the Pride of Fort Lauderdale Elks Lodge No. 652. (Newspapers referred to it as the Negro Elks Club.)

“Back in the day, especially during the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s, anybody black and of high regard and considered ‘classy’ would most likely visit the Elks during their visit to Fort Lauderdale,” James Dallas II, son of a civic leader, recalled to Fort Lauderdale Magazine. “It was not just for these out-of-town visitors but also for everyday people looking for a cozy watering hole where they could have a few drinks and some good conversation.”

One of those finding his way there one night in February 1963 was Marshall Bridges. A left-handed pitcher, Bridges reached the majors with the 1959 Cardinals and was the top reliever for the 1962 champion Yankees.

Bridges was having a drink at the bar when he tried to strike up a conversation with a woman. She wasn’t interested, but Bridges persisted. So she reached into her purse, pulled out a gun and shot him.

Building bridges

Marshall Bridges was from Jackson, Mississippi. He quit school in ninth grade and at 14 got a job as a porter, or custodian, at the state capitol building in 1945, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

(Throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s, Bridges worked as a porter at the state capitol building during the fall and winter after baseball season. With salary and tips, he earned $50 a week, United Press International reported in 1961. “This is not a bad job as temporary jobs go,” Bridges told the wire service.)

In 1947, Jackson had a minor league team, an affiliate of the Boston Braves. Bridges, 16, became a groundskeeper’s assistant and then a clubhouse attendant. He was paid $28 a week, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“I used to throw during my lunch hour and every other chance I got when I was the clubhouse boy and the bat boy,” Bridges recalled to reporter Neal Russo. “I used to run errands and do all kinds of things for the ballplayers. They got to like me and gave me all the bats, balls and gloves I could use _ new ones, too.”

The Jackson manager, Willis Hudlin, totaled 157 wins as a Cleveland Indians pitcher. When he noticed Bridges tossing balls, he gave the youngster advice on how to pitch. Bridges joined a local semipro team in 1948 and played on weekends. He had talent and “was one of the players developed through the Delta Baseball School,” the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.

The school was operated by Homer “Goose” Curry, manager of the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League. Curry brought Bridges to Memphis in 1950 to pitch and play outfield.

After the 1952 season, Bridges was part of a Negro American League all-star squad that played against a barnstorming team of major leaguers led by Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella. “As a result of his brilliant work in that series,” Bridges’ contract was purchased for $10,000 by the New York Giants, who outbid Brooklyn and Cleveland, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.

Baseball odyssey

At the Giants’ 1953 minor-league spring training camp, Bridges impressed more with the bat than with his pitching. Giants officials deemed him a first baseman and assigned him to the Sioux City (Iowa) Soos. “His fielding at the start of the season was, to say the least, on the crude side,” the Sioux City Journal noted.

Bridges made errors, didn’t hit enough and was back with the Negro American League Memphis club as a pitcher in June 1954. Given the chance to start regularly, he regained his form.

Bridges pitched mostly for unaffiliated teams in the minors for the next four seasons and did well as a starter, including 15-1 with Amarillo in 1955.

Developing a curve to mix with a fastball, Bridges won 16 and struck out 205 with Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League in 1958. Scout Joe Mathes recommended Bridges to the Cardinals, who purchased his contract in October 1958.

After opening the 1959 season with Rochester, Bridges, 28, got the call he’d dreamed about. The former minor-league clubhouse attendant was going to the big leagues to pitch for the Cardinals.

Badge of honor

Bridges was assigned to room on the road with first baseman George Crowe. According to John Stamm of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, when Bridges introduced himself by his first name, Marshall, Crowe immediately thought of a deputy marshal, like Wyatt Earp, from an old Western. Crowe nicknamed him “Sheriff” and soon all the Cardinals were calling Bridges that.

Cardinals manager Solly Hemus viewed Bridges as a reliever. “He fits into our pattern of need; that is, he can throw exceptionally hard in a jam,” Hemus told the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

In his big-league debut, Bridges pitched 5.1 innings in relief of Larry Jackson and got the win against the Phillies. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Hemus gave Bridges a start versus the Reds at Cincinnati. In the first inning, Bridges clouted a two-run home run against Orlando Pena. Boxscore

(Though he never homered again in the majors and batted .119 overall, Bridges fancied himself a hitter. In 1965, after Bridges stroked a two-run triple against Dean Chance, the 1964 Cy Young Award winner, he told Steve Jacobson of Newsday, “Three greatest hitters _ Williams, Bridges, Musial.”)

In his second Cardinals start, the Sheriff prevailed in a duel with Sandy Koufax, striking out nine Dodgers and earning the win. With St. Louis, Bridges totaled three wins versus the Dodgers and Koufax was the starter in each game. Boxscore

Bridges was one of six pitchers who made their big-league debuts with the 1959 Cardinals and started games for them. The others: Gary Blaylock, Ernie Broglio, Bob Gibson, Tom Hughes and Dick Ricketts.

(In recalling the 1959 season in his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said Solly Hemus “kept calling me Bridges, confusing me with Marshall Bridges, who was several years older than me, skinnier and pitched left-handed. But he was black. Solly got that much right.”)

Used primarily as a reliever the rest of the season, Bridges was 6-3 with a save in 27 appearances for the 1959 Cardinals, striking out 76 in 76 innings.

With the 1960 Cardinals, Bridges was 2-2 with a save and a 3.45 ERA in 20 games, but he landed in Hemus’ doghouse. “Hemus complained that Bridges’ performance was erratic,” the Globe-Democrat reported.

Bridges told Joe Trimble of the New York Daily News, “The manager (Hemus) decided I wasn’t good enough to be a starter or thought he had better men. Anyway, I was put in the bullpen. I told him I wanted to start.”

Selected off waivers by the Reds on Aug. 2, 1960, Bridges was 4-0 with two saves (including one against St. Louis) and a 1.07 ERA for Cincinnati that season.

That’s all, folks

Bridges was popular with teammates because of his infectious humor and entertaining tall tales. As catcher Elston Howard told the Jersey Journal, “He’ll try to get you to believe everything. We talk about table tennis, he says he was the national champion. Talk about fishing, you can bet he caught a 300-pounder.”

Many of his yarns were about rabbit hunting. He told Newsday he saw a rabbit run so fast that it turned blue. In the bullpen one night, Bridges said to pitcher Jim Brosnan, “One time I borrowed an old shotgun. It’s a mess. Wires held it together. So I spy a rabbit. The rabbit sees me. He stops. I shoot. Bam! The barrel goes one way. The handle goes the other way. But the rabbit drops. So I walk over, pick him up. Not a mark on him. Now believe me, that rabbit had a heart attack!”

Though Bridges’ nickname remained Sheriff, Brosnan called him Fox apparently because of Bridges’ boasts about his popularity with so-called foxy ladies. In his book “Pennant Race,” Brosnan quotes Bridges telling teammates, “So I says to this cute lil ol’ fox _ this is before I was married, you understand _ I says, ‘Honey, let’s me and you make a little happiness.’ She just smiles.”

With the 1961 Reds, Bridges entered a game against the Cardinals with Cincinnati ahead, 3-2, in the eighth. Stan Musial walked and Ray Sadecki ran for him. Daryl Spencer walked, moving Sadecki to second. Then Sadecki was picked off. Joe Cunningham lined a hanging curve to center, but Vada Pinson caught it and doubled Spencer off first to retire the side. According to Brosnan, Bridges strolled into the dugout and said, “When you’re wild, you got to use them trick plays.” Boxscore

Reds manager Fred Hutchinson wasn’t amused. He wasn’t laughing either when Bridges’ ERA ballooned to 7.84.

The Reds demoted him to Jersey City in June. After the Reds won the National League pennant, they brought Bridges back to pitch batting practice during the 1961 World Series against the Yankees.

Pride of the Yankees

Yankees scouts had seen Bridges strike out 15 for Jersey City in a game against their Richmond farm team and figured he might help them.

On Dec. 14, 1961, the Yankees traded catcher Jesse Gonder to the Reds for Bridges. It was a brilliant move. The Yankees’ closer, another former Cardinals left-hander, Luis Arroyo, developed an arm ailment in 1962 and Bridges replaced him. Bridges, 31, was 8-4 with 18 saves for the 1962 Yankees, who won the American League pennant.

Danger zone

On Feb. 13, 1963, Bridges participated in a Yankees spring training workout. That evening he went to the Elks Lodge and took a seat at the bar. Another customer, Carrie Lee Raysor, 21, arrived and sat next to Bridges.

Raysor said Bridges asked several times whether he could take her home. She said she told him no several times, United Press International reported.

According to the Fort Lauderdale News, Raysor told police Bridges “put his arm around me and pulled me over, and I didn’t like this kind of mugging.”

Bartender Cora Davis told police Bridges “was trying to kiss the woman.”

Bridges, married with three children, said to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, “I’ve been a happily married man for 11 years and I don’t have any girlfriends. I just went into this place to eat and I started talking to this woman … Suddenly, for no reason at all, she pulled a gun and shot me.”

The bullet, fired from a .25-caliber automatic revolver, entered Bridges’ left leg just below the knee and remained lodged in his calf, the New York Times reported.

Another bar patron, Erskine Hepburn, said to the Associated Press, “I heard a shot, looked around and saw Bridges fall to the floor. I helped him to my car and drove him to the hospital.”

Examination at Broward General Hospital disclosed a fractured fibula and torn muscle. The bullet burrowed deep and it was decided to leave the slug in his leg.

Raysor, a Fort Lauderdale resident, was taken to the city jail and charged with aggravated assault.

The next day, Bridges’ wife came to Fort Lauderdale. As George Vecsey of Newsday noted, “Being shot was hardly the worst part of Bridges’ experience. The lowest time of all was having to explain the incident to his wife.”

Hard times

After recuperating at home, Bridges returned to the Yankees in late March 1963. According to Newsday, when he entered the clubhouse, Mickey Mantle burst out of a side room, carrying a toy pistol. “Bang, bang, bang,” Mantle shouted. “It scared the stuffing out of me,” Bridges told George Vecsey.

Bridges pitched in 23 games for the 1963 Yankees and was 2-0 with a save. After the season he told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, “The leg bothered me up until about a month ago. That’s the one I push off the rubber with.”

Though Bridges had been reluctant to press charges against Carrie Lee Raysor, prosecutors were insistent she stand trial. After several delays, all charges against Raysor were dropped in May 1964 when Bridges didn’t appear in court to testify. An assistant county solicitor determined that without Bridges’ testimony the state couldn’t prosecute, the Fort Lauderdale News reported.

The Yankees sold Bridges’ contract to the Washington Senators and he pitched his last big-league game for them in 1965.

Life after baseball was difficult for Bridges. A business venture went bad. His wife left him. He tried carpentry, but a power saw sliced off the little, ring and middle fingers of his left hand. “Only three stumps remained on what had been his pitching hand,” Butch John reported in the Jackson newspaper.

He thought drinking could solve his problems. “I’d go get two or three fifths a day and lock myself in the house,” Bridges told the Clarion-Ledger.

Ralph Houk, Bridges’ manager with the Yankees, asked the club to invite Bridges to the annual Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium. According to the Jackson newspaper, when Dizzy Dean, the former Cardinals ace, heard about it, he contributed money for a suit of clothes for Bridges to wear at the event.

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No place like home for Cardinals farmhand Tony Freitas

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects, Trades on August 17, 2026| 12 Comments »

The Cardinals had a pitcher in their system who collected wins the way neighborhood kids flocked to an ice-cream truck _ in bunches.

A left-handed lilliputian who relied on control and off-speed pitches, Tony Freitas achieved 20 or more wins for six seasons in a row (1937-42) with Sacramento. The Cardinals offered to bring him to the majors, but Freitas said no. Sacramento was his home and that’s where he preferred to stay.

Besides, Freitas had been in the big leagues _ with the Athletics and Reds _ before the Cardinals acquired him, and though he had multiple highlights, including 10 wins in a row as a rookie and an epic 17-inning duel with Dizzy Dean, the overall experience wasn’t satisfying.

So, being in the minors, where he won a lot, felt appreciated and got to remain in his home state of California, was all right with him.

Freitas went on to pitch until he was 45. He is the career leader in minor-league wins for a left-hander (342). Only right-handers Bill Thomas (383), Joe Martina (349) and George Payne (348) have more career wins in the minors than Freitas.

In the fast lane

Antonio Freitas was the son of immigrants from the Azores, a cluster of Portuguese islands. Freitas and Eve Arden were born a week apart in Mill Valley, a town near San Francisco. Arden became an actress in movies (“Mildred Pierce”) and television (“Our Miss Brooks”). Freitas chose baseball.

A cabdriver who’d seen Freitas pitch semipro ball in Mill Valley recommended him to Sacramento manager Buddy Ryan, who arranged for Freitas, 20, to start a pro career with Class D Phoenix in 1928. In his first pro game he pitched a one-hitter, according to the Sacramento Union. A year later, Ryan put him on the pitching staff of the Pacific Coast League’s Sacramento Senators.

Freitas had consecutive 19-win seasons for Sacramento in 1930-31. He listed his height as 5-foot-7. His weight during the season usually dropped below 160 pounds. Freitas lacked velocity on his pitches, so he depended on an assortment of curves and changeups with pinpoint control.

He made up for his dearth of speed on the mound when he got behind the wheel of a car. Freitas drove like a demon, paying no attention to speed limits, and was arrested multiple times. When the leadfoot got cited yet again in August 1931, Marin County Justice Thomas Rudolff sentenced him to serve five days in jail.

A Brooklyn Dodgers scout had come to San Francisco to see Freitas pitch the next night. Sacramento club owner Lewis Moreing told the San Francisco News he pleaded with Marin County authorities to free Freitas just long enough to pitch in the game. The nation was in the grip of the Great Depression and it was important to Moreing for Freitas to be showcased in the hope a big-league club would make a lucrative offer to purchase his contract.

Freitas was released and escorted to the San Francisco ballpark by a deputy sheriff, who kept a close watch over the prisoner during the game. Freitas got the win, going the distance in a snappy one hour, 40 minutes, and was back behind bars by 11 p.m., the San Francisco Call-Bulletin reported.

The scout was impressed, the San Francisco News noted, but the Dodgers wouldn’t agree to Moreing’s purchase price, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.

In the groove

Back with Sacramento in 1932, Freitas pitched a no-hitter versus Oakland on May 5, his 24th birthday. Two weeks later, he was in the majors, dealt to the Athletics for a pitcher (Jimmie DeShong) and $25,000.

Managed by Connie Mack, the A’s were the three-time defending American League champions and featured a roster with the likes of Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove and Al Simmons. “I was a green kid, shy as the devil,” Freitas recalled to the Sacramento Bee. “I didn’t have enough guts to go up to somebody and ask them something. I was scared. I was in awe of the big names.”

Mack put the rookie in the starting rotation. In his debut, at home against the Washington Senators, Freitas pitched well. He retired 12 batters in a row, 11 of them on ground outs.

With the A’s ahead, 3-2, one out, in the ninth, Joe Cronin was at the plate for Washington. Catcher Mickey Cochrane told Freitas not to give Cronin a low pitch, but he did, and Cronin walloped it over the wall for a home run, tying the score. Freitas departed after 10 innings and Washington won in the 12th against George Earnshaw, but Freitas “made an impression with the crowd with his brainy and steady pitching,” the Philadelphia Inquirer noted. Boxscore

Freitas’ second start was against the Yankees. He walked the first two batters, then struck out Babe Ruth on a changeup. If the strikeout caused Freitas to have his head in the clouds, the Yankees brought him quickly back to earth. Lou Gehrig (single), Ben Chapman (triple), Bill Dickey (double) and Tony Lazzeri (single) followed with consecutive hits, giving New York a 5-0 lead on the way to a win. Boxscore

Freitas lost again, to Cleveland, then won 10 in a row. Nine of those wins were complete games, including a shutout of the White Sox. Boxscore

During that streak, Freitas turned a rare unassisted double play against the Browns. With one out in the fifth, the Browns had runners on second (George Blaeholder) and third (Jim Levey). Fred Schulte hit a high bouncer toward the mound. Freitas snared it, ran toward Levey, who had stopped between third and home, and tagged him before he could return to the bag. Then Freitas saw Blaeholder frozen between second and third. With Freitas in pursuit, Blaeholder retreated toward second. Freitas caught up to the runner, tagged him to complete the double play, but lost his balance. In the tangle, Freitas was spiked across the right instep and had to depart. Boxscore

Freitas completed his rookie season with a 12-5 record and earned the admiration of Connie Mack, who told the Sacramento Bee, “Freitas is a great pitcher because he has a wonderful change of pace, deadly control and the knack of putting the ball any place he wants.”

Duel with Dean

Imagine Freitas’ surprise when the A’s sent him a 1933 contract calling for a $1,400 pay cut. Mack blamed the economy. Freitas wouldn’t accept the offer and finally signed for the same amount he got in 1932 _ $1,000 a month for seven months, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

He pitched three scoreless innings against the Cardinals in a 1933 spring training game, but the success from his rookie year didn’t carry over to his sophomore season. Freitas got hit often and was sent to the minors that summer. The Reds rescued him, bringing Freitas to the National League in May 1934.

On July 1, at Cincinnati, Freitas was matched against Dizzy Dean, who was on his way to 30 wins for the Cardinals that season. Freitas and Dean each pitched 17 innings, and Freitas stroked three hits versus the St. Louis ace. The Cardinals won in the 18th with two runs against Paul Derringer. Jim Lindsey (traded by the Reds for Freitas) got the save for the Cardinals. Boxscore

Freitas was 6-12 for the Reds in 1934 and 5-10 in 1935, when he beat the Cardinals twice. The wins came against the Dean brothers _ Dizzy and Paul. Boxscore and Boxscore

Home sweet home

In 1936, a lump formed on Freitas’ left elbow. For a month he “could not even comb his hair or butter his toast with his left hand,” the Sacramento Bee reported.

The swelling eventually faded but the Reds no longer wanted him. The Cardinals, though, were willing to take a chance. They bought his contract and sent him to their Columbus (Ohio) farm team.

Freitas earned 10 wins for Columbus in 1936. Afterward, he asked Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey to move him to Sacramento. The Sacramento Solons became a Cardinals affiliate in 1936, four years after Freitas had settled in the California capital city with his wife.

Rickey granted the request.

Comfortable at home, Freitas posted records of 23-12 for Sacramento in 1937 and 24-11 in 1938.

Rickey offered to reward Freitas, 30, with a promotion to the majors. “I said, ‘Mr. Rickey, I never felt good back there (in the majors) and I feel great out here … and I don’t care about going back up.’ ” Freitas told the Sacramento Bee.

In an interview with reporter Marco Smolich, Freitas explained, “I’ve had a shot in the American League and in the National League. Frankly, I think I got a raw deal each time. Why ask for more? The main thing is, though, that I’d just as soon pitch in my own backyard. I’m happy in Sacramento.”

Freitas’ next four seasons with the Cardinals’ farm club produced marks of 21-18 (1939), 20-19 (1940), 21-15 (1941) and 24-13 (1942).

Gene Lillard, who played with and against Freitas in the Pacific Coast League, told the Sacramento Bee, “He was about as smart as any pitcher in the league … He threw at different speeds … That made it difficult to time. Hitting is mostly timing.”

Henry Oana, who played for the San Francisco Seals, said to the Associated Press, “He’s got five different speeds. I can’t figure him out. When I get set for number one, he feeds me number four. Just when I’m ready for number five, he gives me number two. I wish he’d get out of the league.”

On the final day of the 1942 season, Sacramento, managed by Pepper Martin, needed to sweep a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels to win its first pennant. Freitas earned a save in the opener, then pitched a four-hitter for the win in the finale.

Man of many skills

Freitas spent the next three years (1943-45) as an aircraft mechanic in the Army Air Corps during World War II.

He pitched for Sacramento (1946-49), Modesto (1950-51), Stockton (1952-53) and did some managing, too. After that, Freitas worked from 1956-70 as a mechanic at Aerojet, a rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer.

In retirement, Freitas enjoyed fishing in the Sacramento River and tending to his garden, which included a small orchard of apple, lemon, orange and peach trees.

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Adios: Hector Espino gave quick hello, goodbye to Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects on August 10, 2026| 12 Comments »

Just as Yankee Stadium was the House That Babe Ruth Built, perhaps Busch Memorial Stadium, which opened in downtown St. Louis in 1966, could have been the House That Hector Espino Built.

Known as Bambino Mexicano, or the Babe Ruth of Mexico, Espino was invited by the reigning World Series champion Cardinals to their big-league spring training camp in 1965.

A right-handed power hitter who played first base (his best position) and the outfield, Espino joined the Cardinals’ Class AAA Jacksonville Suns farm club in August 1964 and helped them win the International League pennant.

The Cardinals purchased his contract after they prevailed against the Yankees in the 1964 World Series. They were intrigued by Espino’s home run swing as they prepared to move from the former Sportsman’s Park to the new stadium in 1966.

Mentioned with the likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Harmon Killebrew, Espino was considered a sure bet to hit in the big leagues, but it didn’t work out.

Mexican marvel

A truck driver’s son from Chihuahua, Mexico, Hector Espino was 5-foot-10, 190 pounds “with a thick, muscular upper body and large, thick wrists,” according to Scott Ostler of the Los Angeles Times.

Taking a short stride, Espino hit with power to all fields while playing summers in the Mexican League and winters in the Mexican Pacific League. “No one can hit a ball farther and higher than Espino,” Joe Reichler of the Associated Press observed. “He has been known to have hit some drives 500 feet.”

Espino clouted more than 700 home runs in his pro career. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, he hit 453 in the Mexican League; 299 in the Mexican Pacific League. Espino also hit 28 homers in the Mexican minors and three more with the Cardinals’ Jacksonville club, MLB.com reported.

The Arizona Daily Star called him “Bambino Mexicano.” Espino’s Jacksonville teammate Joe Morgan (the future Red Sox manager, not the future Hall of Fame second baseman) recalled to Rob Terranova of MLB.com, “I remember them telling us we were getting the Babe Ruth of Mexico.”

In 1989, the New York Times rated Espino as “Mexico’s greatest homegrown (baseball) talent.” Rafael Dominguez of the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame described him as “the maximum expression of Mexican baseball.”

As Encyclopedia Britannica put it, “Although virtually unknown in the United States, Espino is considered by many in Mexico to be the greatest native-born hitter of all time and is a national hero in that country.”

Cleveland calling

Playing for the Monterrey Sultans as a rookie in the Mexican League in 1962, Espino, 23, made an immediate impact: .358 batting average, .457 on-base percentage, .613 slugging mark. In June 1962, The Sporting News reported that Espino “already was attracting major-league scouts, and (team) owner Anuar Canavati of the Sultans predicted the husky hitter would bring the club a fancy return on the open market in the near future.”

The Sultans and Cleveland Indians formed a working agreement for 1963. Espino and his Monterrey teammate, pitcher Mike Cuellar, were invited to 1963 spring training in Arizona and assigned to Jacksonville, a Cleveland farm club that year.

Ben Geraghty, who 10 years earlier managed Hank Aaron at Jacksonville, gave Espino a chance to play regularly in exhibition games and he hit well, including a game-winning home run against Tacoma on March 31. The next day, Espino was a no-show at Jacksonville’s workout.

In a story headlined “Suns wonder: Where did Hector go?,” Cuellar told the Jacksonville Journal, “I saw him in the morning and I told him where he was supposed to report. He said he understood but I haven’t seen him since.”

According to the Florida Times-Union, Espino “left camp without saying a word.”

Feeling homesick, he was located at Chihuahua, where he was visiting his parents, The Sporting News reported.

Espino opted to stay in Mexico and play for Monterrey.

Pennant push

The Monterrey club shifted Espino from the outfield to first base in 1964. Comfortable with the move, he responded with a big season at the plate: 46 homers and a league-leading .371 batting mark.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Suns became a Cardinals farm club in 1964. Managed by Harry Walker, the Suns were competing for the International League pennant. To help their chances, Suns general manager Bobby Maduro used his close ties to Monterrey management to arrange for three Sultans players to join Jacksonville after completion of the Mexican League season in early August.

The trio consisted of former Washington Senators pitcher Evelio Hernandez, shortstop Rigo Mena and Espino, who was expected to provide the right-handed power Jacksonville lost when Mike Shannon was called up to the Cardinals. “There were great hopes (Espino) would be the difference in the International League pennant race,” Jacksonville journalist Jack Hairston wrote.

The transition to a new team late in the summer and in a town that was deeply segregated and filled with racial tension was challenging. Intensely shy and introverted, Espino “spoke no English, had difficulty adjusting to the alien culture and, like many Latin players who come to the United States, he was homesick,” Leo W. Banks of the Arizona Daily Star noted.

Pat Corrales, then a catcher in the Phillies’ system, recalled years later to Newsday, “He had no way to communicate, and this Mexican superstar was treated like a rank amateur … What an insult.”

Jacksonville teammate Joe Morgan said to MLB.com, “I’m just not sure he ever got comfortable here … You definitely got the feeling he was homesick.”

Adding to Espino’s discomfort was the position he was required to play. The Suns put him in the outfield after he thrived at first base in the Mexican League.

A low point came during a doubleheader at Buffalo on Aug. 18. The Cardinals sent their 82-year-old consultant, Branch Rickey, to watch Espino play and assess whether the parent club should purchase his contract. What Rickey saw was a player who shouldn’t be in the outfield.

As Bill Kastelz observed in the Florida Times-Union, “His defensive play in right field was enough to make you turn your head away as he committed three errors in two games and failed to get two or three fly balls which were more or less routine, losing one because his cap fell down over his face.”

It dawned on the Suns that Espino might be better playing first base. Moved there, he began to feel at ease and his overall performance improved.

On Sept. 8, Espino crushed a home run (his 49th of the year) in a win that clinched the pennant. Through interpreter and teammate Coco Laboy, Espino told Wayne Minshew of the Jacksonville Journal, “I’ll take that one over all the rest of my homers.” In 32 games for Jacksonville, Espino hit .300 with 15 RBI, 15 runs scored and three homers.

Deal or no deal

According to the Jacksonville Journal, Harry Walker said Espino showed much potential as a hitter. The Cardinals purchased his contract for $25,000 and invited him to their 1965 big-league spring training camp at St. Petersburg. “Not since Bobby Avila teamed with Lou Boudreau in Cleveland’s pennant-winning years have the Mexican people had a baseball hero to compare with Hector Espino, Mickey Mantle’s counterpart south of the border,” the Associated Press declared.

Plans went awry, however, as the opening of training camp neared. Espino’s father became ill and the first baseman was given permission to report late, but then the Cardinals received no communication from him, the Jacksonville Journal reported.

A few weeks later, Espino’s luggage arrived without him in Florida. He’d taken a flight from Monterrey to Dallas, changed his mind about going to spring training and went back to Mexico. By then his checked baggage was on its way to Florida.

Espino never did report to the Cardinals. He wanted a share of the purchase price Monterrey Sultans owner Anuar Canavati received from the Cardinals for him, but Canavati refused. “When the (spring training) invitation came in 1964, I looked forward to going and wanted to continue with the Cardinals in 1965, but it was Canavati who stopped me,” Espino told the Arizona Daily Star.

He also said to the Los Angeles Times, “If they had given me the money, I’m pretty sure I’d have been there (with the Cardinals) a long time.”

Asked in 1985 whether he had regrets, Espino replied to journalist Leo W. Banks, “I would do the same thing over again.”

The Cardinals kept the door open. In August 1965, St. Louis general manager Bob Howsam told Larry Lee of the Columbus (Ind.) Republic that Espino didn’t want to play in the United States but added, “We’re keeping track of him just in case.”

Safe at home

Espino had one more flirtation with a major league franchise. In 1967, he agreed to report to Angels spring training at Holtville, a California agricultural town of about 3,000 residents and home to the annual Carrot Festival.

Holtville was 15 miles from Mexicali, a bustling Mexican city with the cantinas and strip clubs Holtville lacked. Before camp opened, Angels manager Bill Rigney issued a stern warning to his players about journeying to Mexicali at night. “I realize we are not at war with Mexico, but I would prefer my guys stay on this side of the border,” Rigney told Ross Newhan of the Long Beach Independent.

Espino notified the Angels he would remain in Mexico.

“He was some hitter, but he didn’t care about leaving Mexico,” catcher Elrod Hendricks, a former Cardinals prospect who played three years (1964-66) in the Mexican League before going to the majors, said to the Associated Press.

Testimonials to Espino’s talents from the archives of the Los Angeles Times and Arizona Daily Star included:

_ Maury Wills, who managed the Hermosillo Orange Growers to a Mexican Pacific League title in 1971 with Espino at first base: “Espino is about as fine a hitter as I ever saw. He should have been in the big leagues five or six years ago.”

_ Frank Lane, ex-Cardinals general manager: “He was one of the great hitters … In the major leagues, he would have been a .320 to .340 hitter, with power.”

_ George Brunet, who played 10 seasons in the Mexican League after pitching for the 1971 Cardinals: “If he got a chance in America … he would have been just like Harmon Killebrew.”

_ Eddie Leon, an American League infielder and Espino’s Mexican League teammate: “I saw Hector when he was 36 and even at that age I thought he was as good a hitter as I’d ever seen or played against, and I played with Dick Allen on the White Sox the year after he won the MVP. Hector couldn’t do as many things as Dick Allen, but he was as good a hitter.”

Looking back on his pro career, Espino said to journalist Leo W. Banks, “Hitting a home run is a great satisfaction, but it is momentary … The satisfying thing, the thing I am most proud of, is that I’ve played 24 years.”

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John Sipin went from Cardinals prospect to Japanese star

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects, Records, Trades on August 3, 2026| 14 Comments »

John Sipin was taken late in the earliest amateur baseball draft, a 55th-round pick of the Cardinals in 1965.

From that humble beginning, the slender, slugging infielder had some notable experiences during his baseball career, including:

_ Being groomed by Sparky Anderson. Sipin was on two Cardinals farm teams Anderson managed and reached the majors with a Padres club Anderson coached.

_ Sharing a National League record with Willie McCovey. Sipin and McCovey are the only National League players to hit two triples in their big-league debuts.

_ Forming a potent power duo with Sadaharu Oh. Sipin played nine seasons in Japan. In 1979, Oh (with 33) and Sipin (with 27) were the top two home run hitters for the Yomiuri Giants.

Down on the farm

John Sipin was from Watsonville, a California agricultural center in the Pajaro Valley near Monterey Bay. Watsonville, a sanctuary city, is the company headquarters of Monterey Mushrooms, Driscoll’s (a prominent producer of berries) and Martinelli’s (a leading maker of sparkling apple cider and apple juice).

A wave of Filipino migrant farmworkers came to the area in the 1920s and 1930s. Sipin’s father, Johnny Imperial Sipin, immigrated from the Philippines, married Ethel White (whose family moved to California from Arkansas) and got a job managing farmworker camps. Johnny stood 5-foot-4. His son grew to 6-foot-2 and became a standout in baseball, basketball and golf.

After graduating from Watsonville High School in 1964, John Sipin attended Cabrillo College. On the recommendation of scout Bill Sayles, the Cardinals chose the strong-armed shortstop in the first amateur baseball draft, in June 1965, and he reported to their minor-league spring training camp in 1966.

Assigned to St. Petersburg, managed by Sparky Anderson, Sipin became the shortstop and helped the club win 19 in a row. “A key hitter during the streak was John Sipin,” The Sporting News noted. Anderson told the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “I never saw an infielder with a better arm.”

After 31 games at St. Petersburg, Sipin was promoted to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and continued to impress. Cardinals minor-league hitting instructor Joe Medwick told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that Sipin showed signs of being a power hitter and had one of the “quickest bats” he’d seen among prospects.

Though lanky, Sipin had strong wrists that enabled him to generate bat speed.

The Cardinals liked his bat (14 home runs, 63 RBI) and arm, and put him on their 40-man big-league winter roster after the 1966 season.

Position change

Sipin was the shortstop for Sparky Anderson again in 1967, with Modesto. Though he clouted 19 home runs, he made 51 errors in 123 games.

When Sipin reported to Arkansas in 1968, manager Vern Rapp shifted him to second base. “I feel more suited to second base,” Sipin said to The Sporting News.

Sipin led Texas League second basemen in putouts, assists and double plays, and was named an all-star.

With the National League adding franchises in Montreal and San Diego for 1969, Sipin hoped to be taken in the October 1968 expansion draft, preferably by the Padres, and given the chance to play in the majors for a team in his home state. “I thought they were going to take me,” he said to The Sporting News.

Instead, the Padres passed on Sipin and took another Cardinals infield prospect, Jerry DaVanon, who played high school and college baseball in San Diego.

Dazzling debut

While Sipin began the 1969 season as the second baseman for Warren Spahn’s Tulsa farm team, the Padres opened their inaugural season with Roberto Pena, a former Cubs and Phillies shortstop, as their second baseman.

Padres manager Preston Gomez and coach Sparky Anderson, a former Phillies second baseman, determined the expansion club needed an upgrade at second. Anderson advocated for Sipin.

On May 22, 1969, the Padres dealt Jerry DaVanon and Bill Davis to St. Louis for Sipin, 22, and Sonny Ruberto. “Sipin comes highly recommended,” Gomez told The Sporting News. “He can make the double play, and that’s what we need … The kid has a great arm. We’re working with him to improve his range.”

Two days later, in a game against the Cubs at San Diego, Sipin debuted as the Padres’ second baseman. Batting second, he faced Ken Holtzman in the first inning and tripled. His next time up, in the fourth, Sipin tripled again versus Holtzman. Boxscore

Sipin joined Willie McCovey as the only National League players to triple twice in their big-league debuts. McCovey did it for the Giants against Robin Roberts of the Phillies on July 30, 1959, at San Francisco. Boxscore

(Two American League players also tripled twice in their first games in the majors: Bill Irwin of the 1912 Tigers and Roy Weatherly of Cleveland in 1936. Boxscore and Boxscore)

Sipin was one of the first players of Filipino descent to reach the majors. The first was Bobby Balcena. Born in California to Filipino parents, he had two at-bats for the 1956 Reds. The only Philippines native to play in the majors was Bobby Chouinard. Born in Manila, he pitched for four big-league clubs from 1996-2001.

Sipin followed his two-triple game with a three-hit performance against the Cubs. Boxscore

On May 30, Sipin’s first home run, in the 10th inning against Dan McGinn, gave the Padres a 3-2 win at Montreal. He hit another homer versus the Dodgers’ Don Sutton. On July 30, Sipin had a double and a single against Bob Gibson at St. Louis. Boxscore, Boxscore, Boxscore

Sipin remained the Padres’ second baseman until August when a back ailment required hospital treatment and he was shut down for the season. Sipin made 54 starts for the 1969 Padres, committed just seven errors in 477 innings but batted .223 and had no triples after his first game.

Lion Maru

Sipin had stellar minor-league seasons in 1970 and 1971, but the Padres never brought him back to the majors.

Learning to handle breaking pitches and hit to the opposite field, Sipin batted .301 for Salt Lake City in 1970 and led manager Don Zimmer’s club in total bases (237), slugging (.510), runs (74), doubles (31), homers (20) and RBI (80).

After spring training in 1971, Sipin was with the Padres on Opening Day, but, when he got to the ballpark, management informed him he was being sent to Hawaii. Sipin batted .318 for Hawaii and was the team leader in total bases (262), hits (174) and doubles (26).

Sipin found his comfort zone at his next stop: Japan. He signed with the Taiyo Whales of the Japan Central League in 1972 and became one of the country’s most popular players. Like Ted Simmons, who was nicknamed “Simba” with the Cardinals, Sipin let his hair grow long and was called “Lion Maru,” because he resembled a Japanese TV action hero who was able to transform from a ninja swordsman into a lion-headed warrior.

His play on the field helped earn him fan support, too. As Taiyo’s second baseman in 1972, Sipin, 25, became the first foreign player to win a Japanese Gold Glove Award. He also slugged three grand slams.

Grateful to be playing where he was appreciated, Sipin learned to speak fluent Japanese. “I’m content to stay over there,” he told the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

After six successful seasons (1972-77) as Taiyo’s second baseman, Sipin was traded to the Yomiuri Giants, cut his hair and became Sadaharu Oh’s teammate. Oh and Sipin often batted back-to-back.

In 1979, the Associated Press called Sipin “the most consistent American to play in Japan.” He retired after the 1980 season. In 1,036 career games in Japan, Sipin produced 1,124 hits, including 218 home runs, and batted .297. He three times clouted 30 or more homers in a season.

Sipin went on to have a second career in real estate in Japan and California.

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Elusive quest: Aaron Herr and his bid to reach the majors

Posted in Hitters, Prospects on June 9, 2026| 10 Comments »

Aaron Herr had reason to think his baseball story would have a fabled climax.

After his playing career stalled in the Braves’ system, Herr, 24, went to a Cardinals farm club in 2005 and experienced a revival. Wearing a uniform jersey with the organization’s iconic birds on the bat seemed to conjure something magical in his game. He hit for average and with power. Talent evaluators took notice.

A former Cardinals batboy, Aaron was a second baseman, same position his father, Tommy Herr, played for 1980s Cardinals clubs that won three National League pennants and a World Series title.

Now, it seemed, Aaron Herr was following in those footsteps, firmly on a path toward reaching the major leagues as a second baseman for St. Louis.

It turned out the plot line was too good to be true.

High hopes

A standout high school shortstop in Lancaster, Pa., Aaron Herr was a supplemental pick of the Braves in the first round of the 2000 amateur draft. Another first-round pick of the Braves that year was pitcher Adam Wainwright.

Receiving an $850,000 signing bonus, Herr entered the Braves’ farm system as a second baseman. He underwent reconstructive right knee surgery in 2001 and had two follow-up arthroscopic procedures. After five seasons, Herr had advanced no higher than Class AA.

In December 2004, the Mariners selected him in the minor-league draft. After seeing Herr at 2005 spring training, the Mariners informed him he’d be a utility infielder at Class AA. Stunned to be relegated to a reserve role, Herr asked for and was granted his release.

“I lay in bed every night and I just wonder,” Herr said to Jason Guarente of Lancaster Newspapers. “I think about if things could have been different.”

Herr planned to play for an independent minor-league team, the Lancaster (Pa.) Barnstormers, managed by his father, but on the eve of the 2005 season opener the Cardinals offered a one-year contract to play in their farm system.

“We thought he’d definitely be an upgrade from what we had in double-A,” Cardinals director of player development Bruce Manno told Lancaster Newspapers.

Fresh start

Assigned to Springfield (Mo.), Herr was given uniform No. 38. (His father wore No. 28 with the Cardinals.) Though the word “Springfield” was on the front of the jersey, the rest of the uniform looked similar to the one worn by the big-league Cardinals. “This is the happiest I’ve been in professional baseball … I feel like a kid again, back in Little League,” Herr told the Springfield News-Leader. “I’ve always wanted to be able to put on a Cardinals uniform, so I’m doing everything possible to impress the right people.”

A right-handed batter, Herr (whose father was a switch-hitter) struggled at the plate his first few games with Springfield. “His swing was absolutely ugly,” hitting coach Dallas Williams told Springfield reporter Kary Booher.

Williams corrected a hitch in Herr’s swing and it made a positive difference. Herr led Springfield in home runs (21), batted .298 and produced 81 RBI. It was the most successful of his six seasons in the minors. “The job he did there was very impressive,” Bruce Manno told Lancaster Newspapers.

There were things, though, the Cardinals didn’t like. Herr struck out 108 times and had a mere 15 walks. He also made 22 errors at second base. “There are times when Herr just takes too much time getting to ground balls and tries to backhand them, then ends up in trouble,” the Springfield newspaper noted.

Bruce Manno told Harold Zeigler of Lancaster Newspapers, “Defensively, I think he needs to continue to work and improve. We talked to him about what he needs to do in the offseason to try to improve his defensive skills. If he can improve defensively, he’s got a chance to play at a higher level.”

Unfazed, Herr said to his hometown paper, “Hitting is going to get you to the big leagues … My defense will be good enough. That’s something I’ll work on. I know I can play second base.”

Moving on

After his season at Springfield, Herr became a free agent and said he wanted to re-sign with the Cardinals. “I love putting on that Cardinals jersey … I think that was one of the reasons I had such a good season,” Herr told Lancaster Newspapers. “I felt more at home with them than I ever had with any other team. I was in a comfort zone. I went to the field every day happy.”

However, Herr said he wanted a promise he’d be invited to the big-league training camp in February and given a chance to show manager Tony La Russa what he could do. “That’s a must,” Herr said. “My ultimate goal is to make the big leagues, and I’d prefer the Cardinals, but, with the kind of year I had, somebody’s going to give me what I want.”

The Cardinals didn’t accept Herr’s terms. In November 2005, he signed with the Reds, who invited him to their big-league training camp. “They’re not afraid to bring young guys up and give them a chance,” Herr told reporter Jason Guarente.

Reds director of player development Tim Naehring told Lancaster Newspapers, “Aaron has some outstanding power numbers. He has been seen by multiple people in our organization who feel at some point in his career he’ll be an everyday major-league player … We don’t have anybody with comparable production in our middle infield.”

Hit and miss

Herr went to big-league spring training with the 2006 Reds, but didn’t make the team. Instead, he was assigned to Class AA Chattanooga, shifted to third base and hit .287. He was promoted to Class AAA Louisville in July but injured a wrist. When he played, there were nights manager Rick Sweet “wondered if Herr was so determined to hit that he forgot that baseball players carried gloves as well as bats,” Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier-Journal noted.

Sweet, a former big-league catcher, got through to Herr. In 2007, when Herr returned to Louisville, he often took extra practice at third base. To help Herr enhance his potential value to a big-league club, Sweet used him at both second and third throughout the season.

Herr, 26, had a terrific 2007 season for Louisville. He and first baseman Joey Votto tied for the team lead in total bases (each with 237). Herr produced 31 doubles, 19 home runs, 83 RBI, and did well enough in the field to impress Sweet.

“Aaron is the best all-around hitter on this team, if you’re talking about hitting for average, for power or controlling the strike zone,” Sweet told the Courier-Journal. “He’s also the most improved player on this team. That’s the thing that makes me the happiest for Aaron Herr. He’s becoming a good all-around baseball player, including his defense.”

However, the Reds promoted Mark Bellhorn from Louisville instead of Herr to fill a backup infield spot late in the season. The Reds said they considered calling up Herr but opted for Bellhorn, 33, because he had big-league experience.

After eight seasons in the minors, Herr was left to wonder what it would take for him to reach the big leagues. His father told Mike Gross of Lancaster Newspapers, “He had a great year … Did everything that was asked of him … He needs somebody to vouch for him.”

Bitter end

The 2008 season was Herr’s last with a farm club affiliated with a major-league franchise. From 2009-11 he played for the independent Lancaster Barnstormers. (Aaron’s brother, Jordan Herr, also spent a season with Lancaster in 2008.)

In 2010, when Tommy Herr was Lancaster’s manager, Aaron Herr played third base and hit .321 with 35 doubles, 23 homers and 103 RBI. (The team’s center fielder was Joe Gaetti, son of former Cardinals third baseman Gary Gaetti.)

Herr’s 12th and final minor-league season was with Lancaster in 2011. The manager was Butch Hobson, the former Red Sox third baseman and manager. Herr played right field.

Before the start of the Atlantic League playoffs in September 2011, Hobson cut Herr, 30, from the team, citing insufficient fielding skills. “He’s a hitter, that’s what he is, and I didn’t see him fitting in with my team for what I wanted to do for the playoffs,” Hobson told Lancaster Newspapers.

Herr said to the newspaper, “I try not to have bitter feelings but I do. I can’t get myself not to … I really felt like I got smacked in the face.”

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