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How J.D. Drew found a home with Cardinals

Posted in Hitters, Prospects on May 31, 2018| 4 Comments »

Confident in their ability to get a deal done, the Cardinals made a bold decision to pursue outfielder J.D. Drew.

On June 2, 1998, the Cardinals, with the fifth overall pick, chose Drew in the first round of baseball’s draft.

Drew was a top talent but his hardball contract demands made him a risky selection. The Phillies drafted him in 1997 with the second overall pick of the first round, but were unable to sign him.

The Cardinals, though, made him their prime draft target in 1998.

“He may be the best player to come out of the last two drafts,” Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He has a chance to be a franchise player.”

Phooey on Philly

While at Florida State in 1997, Drew won the Golden Spikes Award given to the nation’s best amateur baseball player. Drew became the third NCAA Division I player all-time to produce 100 hits, 100 RBI and 100 runs in a season.

After the Tigers chose pitcher Matt Anderson with the first pick of the 1997 June draft, the Phillies took Drew. Represented by agent Scott Boras, Drew wanted $10 million to sign. The Phillies offered $2.6 million. When the sides couldn’t reach a compromise, Drew signed with the St. Paul Saints, an independent team. Drew batted .341 in 44 games for St. Paul in 1997.

Drew’s rejection of the Phillies “made him about as popular locally as road construction on I-95,” wrote Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News.

In 1998, Drew returned to St. Paul. Because he hadn’t played for a team affiliated with organized baseball, Drew was able to re-enter the June draft. Giving no indication he’d concede on his contract demands, most teams determined using a high pick on Drew was a gamble.

The first four picks of the 1998 draft were outfielder Pat Burrell to the Phillies, pitcher Mark Mulder to the Athletics, outfielder Corey Patterson to the Cubs and pitcher Jeff Austin to the Royals.

Go for it

The Cardinals were delighted Drew was available when it became their turn to pick. Scouting director Ed Creech watched Drew play for St. Paul and recommended the Cardinals sign him.

“Drew was the No. 1 guy on our draft board,” Jocketty said. “We know he might be tough to sign, but we feel we’ve got a lot to sell here in St. Louis.”

Said manager Tony La Russa: “It’s an aggressive call.”

Unimpressed, Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote, “If the Cardinals don’t sign No. 1 draft choice J.D. Drew, that’s their problem, and their fault, and I’ll have no sympathy. The Cardinals know Drew’s holdout history. They know Drew’s financial demands. They know his agent, Scott Boras. Let the buyer beware.”

Boras was an infielder in the Cardinals’ minor-league system in the 1970s before becoming an agent for players. Among his clients was Rick Ankiel. In 1997, Ankiel was considered the best left-handed high school pitcher in the draft, but he wasn’t chosen in the first round because it was believed he wanted between $5 million and $10 million to sign. The Cardinals snatched him in the second round and negotiated with Boras on a deal Ankiel signed for $2.5 million.

The Cardinals and Boras had setbacks as well. In February 1998, Andy Benes, who wanted to stay in St. Louis, was declared a free agent and went to the Diamondbacks after Jocketty and Boras failed to reach a timely contract agreement for the pitcher.

Risk rewarded

On July 3, a month after he was drafted, Drew, 22, signed a four-year contract with the Cardinals for a guaranteed $7 million. The deal included incentive clauses that positioned Drew to net an additional $2 million.

“I believe this organization has unique insight on talent,” Boras said. “The decisions they make are not conventional, but you win in this game by being unconventional.”

Said Jocketty: “We take risks because we have a high regard for talent.”

In Philadelphia, Drew’s signing was mocked and criticized. “This signing is going to have a negative effect on the industry,” Phillies general manager Ed Wade said to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Labeling Boras as the “sports world’s top-ranked terrorist,” Inquirer columnist Jayson Stark snarked, “So, the great J.D. Drew got his money. Yippee for him.”

Looking ahead to when the Cardinals and Phillies would play in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Daily News declared, “Here’s an idea for the Phillies’ promotions department: Boo Drew Night.”

Said Drew: “I hope once everyone gets to know me as a person and as a player, they will accept me for what I am.”

Hot start

The Cardinals assigned Drew to their Class AA club in Arkansas. In his first game, he singled and doubled. In his second game, he hit two home runs.

After batting .328 in 19 games for Arkansas, Drew was promoted to Class AAA Memphis and hit .316 in 26 games.

In September 1998, the Cardinals called up Drew to the big leagues and he batted .417 (15-for-36) with five home runs.

The dazzling start heightened expectations to dizzying heights and Drew strained to deliver. Albert Pujols, not Drew, developed into the Cardinals’ franchise player.

In six seasons with St. Louis, Drew batted .282 and had an on-base percentage of .377. His best year for the Cardinals was 2001 when he hit .323 with 27 home runs in 109 games.

On Dec. 13, 2003, the Cardinals dealt Drew to the Braves for pitchers Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis and Ray King.

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Why Cardinals made big investment in Ray Sadecki

Posted in Pitchers, Prospects on May 25, 2018| 17 Comments »

(Updated Dec. 24, 2018)

At 17, Ray Sadecki threw with as much velocity as anyone on the Cardinals’ major-league pitching staff.

An amateur free agent, Sadecki was pursued by most big-league teams. Cardinals scout Runt Marr, who followed Sadecki for two years, recommended the club invest in the left-handed pitcher from Kansas City, Kansas.

On June 1, 1958, Sadecki signed with the Cardinals for a bonus of $50,000 and a three-year contract totaling another $18,000.

High interest

Sadecki was an exceptional prospect. At 16, he pitched four no-hitters, two in high school and two in summer league games. In his senior year at Ward High School, Sadecki was 9-0 and pitched another no-hitter. Marr said Sadecki averaged two strikeouts per inning over two high school seasons and twice struck out 21 batters in seven-inning games.

At the state high school baseball tournament at Eldorado, Kansas, in 1958, 12 of the 16 major-league teams sent scouts to watch Sadecki. Marr was joined by Cardinals minor-league director Walter Shannon. They saw Sadecki win the state championship game, capping a 17-0 season for Ward High School.

After graduating, Sadecki met with representatives from the Athletics, Pirates and Yankees. He worked out for the Orioles in Kansas City and went to Cleveland to throw for the Indians, who offered a $50,000 bonus. Sadecki returned home briefly before heading to St. Louis for a workout with the Cardinals.

Frank Sadecki, Ray’s father, asked bidders for a “$55,000 trust fund or insurance type deal that would provide a salary for life,” United Press International reported.

Hard thrower

The Cardinals announced Sadecki’s signing while he was pitching on the sidelines in a workout at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

In his book “October 1964,” author David Halberstam wrote, “Frank Sadecki, an immigrant’s son who had not been permitted to play baseball by his father, took the $10,000 check for the first part of the bonus and showed it to his own father. The old man looked at it and broke into tears of both pleasure and anguish; the boy, he said, is making that much money just for playing a game, while he had had to work so hard all his life for so much less.”

Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson, who pitched 10 years in the big leagues, compared Sadecki with Cardinals ace Sam Jones, who led the National League in strikeouts in 1958.

“He’s very smooth,” Hutchinson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We won’t have to do a thing with his delivery. We’ll have to develop a curveball. He throws as hard as Sam Jones does.”

In The Sporting News, Bob Broeg wrote Sadecki “has the potential of developing into one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the game.”

After receiving mentoring from Cardinals pitching coach Al Hollingsworth in St. Louis, Sadecki was assigned to their farm club in Winnipeg.

Wild thing

Sadecki “felt some resentment from career minor-league players because he’d made so much money before he’d even thrown his first pitch,” Halberstam wrote.

On June 19, 1958, Sadecki made his pro debut, pitching a four-hitter in a win against St. Cloud. He struck out 11, walked 10 and hit a two-run home run.

Games with high totals of strikeouts and walks were commonplace for Sadecki in 1958. On July 21, he pitched a three-hitter in a win over Duluth-Superior, striking out 14 and walking 11. Facing Minot on July 29, Sadecki won a four-hitter, striking out 13 and walking nine.

Sadecki finished the 1958 season with a 9-7 record, 3.34 ERA and 11 complete games for Winnipeg. In 132 innings, he struck out 174 and walked 129.

Though he’d pitched a full schedule of high school and minor-league baseball that year, the Cardinals sent Sadecki to their Florida Instructional League for more work in October 1958.

On Oct. 15, in his debut for the Florida Instructional League Cardinals, Sadecki combined with teammates Roland Passaro and Jerry Lock on a no-hitter against the Athletics.

A month later, Cardinals pitching instructor Johnny Grodzicki said Sadecki “could be one of the game’s great left-handers. Control is his only problem.”

The Post-Dispatch called Sadecki “one of the best prospects, but he also is one of the wildest.”

VIPs impressed

On Dec. 6, with Cardinals general manager Bing Devine, manager Solly Hemus and talent evaluator Eddie Stanky in attendance, Sadecki pitched a no-hitter against the Florida Instructional League Yankees at St. Petersburg. Sadecki struck out 12, walked nine and hit a batter in a 3-0 victory.

“We won’t rush him no matter how good he looks … but we do believe that Sadecki, with his unusual speed and fine curve, can make it a quick trip to the majors,” Devine said.

Hemus, who had replaced Hutchinson as Cardinals manager, said Sadecki “throws hard and gets a lot of stuff on the ball for a boy of his age.”

Sadecki finished the Florida Instructional League season with a 5-3 record and 2.50 ERA. In 72 innings, he struck out 89, yielded 36 hits and averaged seven walks per game.

Soon after Sadecki turned 18 on Dec. 26, 1958, the Cardinals invited him to their 1959 major-league spring training camp.

Fast track

Cardinals pitching coach Howie Pollet liked what he saw from Sadecki at spring training. “We won’t try to change Sadecki’s delivery in any way,” Pollet said. “Whoever taught the boy taught him well. He has one of the finest basic, or fundamental, styles of pitching I’ve ever seen … Wherever Sadecki pitches the coming season, we’ll impress on his manager never to try to change the boy’s style. Just concentrate on having the boy practice spot control.”

In four innings pitched in Cardinals spring training games, Sadecki yielded no earned runs, two hits, two walks and struck out four.

Hemus said Sadecki “has the equipment to be a great pitcher.”

On March 26, 1959, the Cardinals sent Sadecki to their minor-league training camp at Daytona Beach, Fla., and he was assigned to Class AAA Omaha.

Sadecki was 13-9 with a 4.06 ERA for Omaha in 1959. He had 175 strikeouts and 145 walks in 193 innings.

In May 1960, Sadecki, 19, made his major-league debut with the Cardinals. He went on to earn 135 wins in 18 big-league seasons, including eight (1960-66 and 1975) with the Cardinals.

Sadecki was 68-64 for St. Louis and his best year was 1964 when he led the Cardinals in wins (20) during their run to a National League pennant. He also earned a win in Game 1 of the World Series against the Yankees.

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Dick LeMay: Consistent winner in Cardinals’ system

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects, Trades on April 9, 2018| 4 Comments »

Dick LeMay was a pitcher who impressed Carl Hubbell, earned a complete-game win in his first major-league start against Bob Gibson and was the ace on Cardinals minor-league teams managed by Warren Spahn.

Unlike Hubbell, Gibson and Spahn, who were Hall of Fame pitchers, LeMay was a journeyman. Though he pitched in the big leagues for the Giants and Cubs, LeMay spent a significant portion of his playing career in the Cardinals’ system.

LeMay pitched for Cardinals Class AAA clubs during a five-year period (1964-68) when the major-league team won three National League pennants.

Screwball specialist

A Cincinnati native, LeMay, 19, received an offer to begin his professional career with the Reds, but chose to sign with the Giants as an amateur free agent in 1958 because they offered the most money, a $12,000 signing bonus.

LeMay was toiling in the Giants’ system when, in 1961, Hubbell, the organization’s director of player development, scouted him and filed a favorable report. Like Hubbell, who had been a Giants ace in the 1930s, LeMay was left-handed and threw an effective screwball.

“When I looked at LeMay, I discovered he had a good forkball and screwball, wasn’t too fast, but could consistently get his breaking ball over,” Hubbell told The Sporting News.

Backed by Hubbell’s endorsement, LeMay was promoted to the Giants and he made his major-league debut for them on June 13, 1961, with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief against the Dodgers. After two more scoreless relief stints, LeMay got his first big-league start on June 24, 1961, versus the Cardinals at St. Louis.

The game matched LeMay against Gibson, who was in his third big-league season and starting to emerge as a consistent winner.

LeMay shut out the Cardinals until the ninth, when he yielded a run-scoring single to Carl Warwick. Powered by home runs from Orlando Cepeda (a three-run shot off Gibson) and Willie McCovey, the Giants prevailed, 6-1. LeMay got the complete-game win. Gibson went five innings and gave up five runs. Boxscore

Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported LeMay threw “soft breaking stuff with a big motion, using a screwball and forkball more than he did a fast one.”

Appearing with Cardinals broadcaster Harry Caray on a post-game radio show, LeMay said he hoped Giants manager Al Dark “lets me get back in the bullpen. You get in more games that way.”

Ups and downs

After LeMay was shelled for seven runs in 5.2 innings in a start against the Cardinals on July 8, he returned to the bullpen. He got a win against the Cardinals on July 20, with 3.1 innings in relief of starter Sam Jones. LeMay gave up a bases-loaded double to Bill White in the sixth (two of the runs were charged to Jones), but shut out the Cardinals over the last three innings. With the score tied at 6-6 in the eighth, LeMay sparked a four-run rally against Lindy McDaniel by drawing a walk on five pitches. Boxscore

LeMay posted a 3-6 record with three saves and a 3.56 ERA for the 1961 Giants.

He made nine relief appearances for the 1962 Giants and was 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA. The loss came against the Cardinals on Sept. 20 when LeMay was unable to protect a 4-3 lead in the ninth. Boxscore

Upset by the loss, Dark “knocked a box containing three dozen hardboiled eggs off a table and scattered them about the clubhouse,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

After the 1962 season, the Giants traded LeMay to the Colt .45s. Toward the end of spring training in 1963, the Colt .45s (who later became the Astros) dealt LeMay to the Cubs. The Cubs loaned LeMay to the Atlanta Crackers, a Class AAA affiliate of the Cardinals, and he was 3-3 with a 2.22 ERA for that club before being called up by the Cubs. LeMay made nine appearances, three versus the Cardinals, for the 1963 Cubs and was 0-1 with a 5.28 ERA.

Stuck in minors

The Cubs cut loose LeMay and he signed with the Cardinals, who invited him to their 1964 major-league spring training camp as a non-roster player. When the season began, LeMay was assigned to the Class AAA Jacksonville Suns and he did well for them (12-7 record, 2.81 ERA). The Cardinals rewarded LeMay by placing him on their 40-man big-league winter roster, putting him in the mix to earn a relief job in 1965.

Before the start of spring training in 1965, The Sporting News said of the defending World Series champion Cardinals, “The bullpen shapes up pretty well, with Barney Schultz and Ron Taylor as the bellwethers and such men as Bob Humphreys, Mike Cuellar, Fritz Ackley and Dick LeMay available.”

The Cardinals, however, returned LeMay to Jacksonville for the 1965 season and he again did well (17-11, 3.19) for the Suns.

Though he was excelling at the highest level of their farm system, LeMay wasn’t prominent in the Cardinals’ plans. Left-handers such as Steve Carlton and Larry Jaster surpassed LeMay as premier prospects. LeMay, who turned 28 in 1966, spent that season with the Tulsa Oilers, a Cardinals Class AAA club, and was 14-13 with a 4.35 ERA.

In 1967, Spahn, who retired as the all-time leader in wins among left-handed pitchers, became manager of the Oilers. LeMay was Spahn’s most durable starter in 1967 (13-18, 3.48) and 1968 (16-10, 3.29).

After that, LeMay went back to the Cubs organization, pitched two more seasons at the Class AAA level, retired from playing and managed the Class A Quincy (Ill.) Cubs of the Midwest League in 1971 and 1972.

LeMay pitched in 45 major-league games, nine versus the Cardinals. He was 2-1 with a 5.13 ERA against St. Louis. His overall career mark in the big leagues is 3-8 with a 4.17 ERA.

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Cardinals gave Jack Hamilton his start as a pro

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects on March 4, 2018| 3 Comments »

(Updated Sept. 12, 2024)

Jack Hamilton was a hard-throwing Cardinals pitching prospect who left the organization after four seasons and went on to experience his best major-league moments against them.

Hamilton is most remembered as the pitcher who in 1967 beaned Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro, fracturing his cheekbone, dislocating his jaw and severely damaging his left eye.

Though wildness plagued him throughout his professional baseball career, Hamilton was capable of dominating a game. With the Mets in 1966, he pitched a one-hitter against the Cardinals. A year later, he surprised the Cardinals with his bat, hitting a grand slam.

Wild Thing

Hamilton, 18, attended a Cardinals tryout camp at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in 1957 and impressed. “There were a lot of kids there, but I believe only two of us signed contracts,” Hamilton said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals gave Hamilton a $4,000 bonus and assigned him to Wytheville, Va., a Class D club in the Appalachian League. Hamilton posted a 7-0 record for Wytheville and pitched a no-hitter in a game scheduled for seven innings.

After that, though, he was erratic in pitching for other Cardinals farm clubs. Hamilton was 12-16 for Keokuk, Iowa, in 1958 and 6-10 for York, Pa., in 1959.

Assigned to Class AA Memphis in 1960, Hamilton was chosen by manager Joe Schultz to be the Opening Day starter against Nashville. “He shut them out for four innings and then he went wild,” Schultz said. “He kept hitting the backstop and a couple of balls almost hit my catcher, Tim McCarver, on the head.”

The Cardinals demoted Hamilton to the Class B Winston-Salem Red Birds and he was 6-9 with a 4.33 ERA. Despite an exceptional fastball _ “He could throw a ball through a brick wall,” said Cardinals icon Red Schoendienst _ Hamilton wasn’t protected on the St. Louis roster and he was chosen by the Phillies in the November 1960 minor-league draft.

“Jack always could throw hard, but he was too wild,” Schultz said.

Beware the bunt

Hamilton, a right-hander, got to the majors with the Phillies in 1962 and the rookie led the National League that season in walks (107) and wild pitches (22).

After stints with the Phillies (1962-63) and Tigers (1964-65), Hamilton landed with the Mets in 1966. “Spitball Jack, a card shark,” Mets first baseman Ed Kranepool told Dave Anderson of the New York Times. “He liked poker. He beat all of us young guys.”

On May 4, 1966, Hamilton started for the Mets against the Cardinals at St. Louis and was opposed by Ray Sadecki. Hamilton and Sadecki became friends when both were in the Cardinals’ minor-league system.

Hamilton held the Cardinals to one hit over nine innings in an 8-0 Mets triumph. The lone St. Louis hit was a bunt single by Sadecki with two outs in the third.

With the count at 1-and-1, Sadecki pushed a bunt toward the third-base side of the infield. “A bunt was the furthest thing from my mind in the third inning,” said Mets third baseman Ken Boyer, the former Cardinal.

Hamilton told The Sporting News, “He (Sadecki) caught me flat-footed.”

After the game, Sadecki came into the Mets’ clubhouse and congratulated Hamilton. “Ray and I … were old buddies,” Hamilton said. “He told me he was sorry he got the hit. I ribbed him about that, telling him how much money he cost me by preventing me from pitching a no-hitter.” Boxscore

Hard to believe

A year later, on May 20, 1967, Hamilton, a .107 career hitter in the big leagues, hit his only home run, a grand slam off the Cardinals’ Al Jackson in the second inning. Hamilton, however, yielded four runs in three innings and the Cardinals came back for an 11-9 victory over the Mets at New York. Boxscore

“We get the Cardinals games clear on radio from St. Louis to our home in Burlington, Iowa,” Hamilton said, “and my wife said right after I hit the home run she must have got 10 phone calls asking if it was really true.”

A month later, the Mets traded Hamilton to the Angels. He was 9-6 with a 3.24 ERA for the 1967 Angels, but his peformance was marred by the beaning of Conigliaro in August that year.

Hamilton, often accused of throwing a spitball, finished his major league career in 1969 with the Indians and White Sox. His big-league totals include a 32-40 record, 20 saves and almost as many walks (348) as strikeouts (357).

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How Don Choate helped Cardinals acquire Bill White

Posted in Pitchers, Prospects, Trades on February 15, 2018| 6 Comments »

Along with Bob Gibson and Ray Sadecki, Don Choate was a prized pitching prospect who was projected to be in the Cardinals’ plans entering the decade of the 1960s, but he never got the chance to play for them in the regular season.

Instead, Choate went to the Giants in the trade that brought Bill White to the Cardinals.

Choate, a right-hander, reached the major leagues with the Giants in 1960.

A native of Potosi, Mo., Choate grew up in East St. Louis, Ill. He signed with the Cardinals in 1956, the year he turned 18, and made his pro debut that season with their minor-league club in Peoria, Ill. In February 1957, Cardinals general manager Frank Lane cited Choate as one of the “talented kids from the St. Louis area in the Cardinals organization,” The Sporting News reported.

Assigned to the Billings, Mont., team in the Cardinals’ farm system, Choate had a breakout season in 1957, posting a 19-8 record. At 19, he pitched 20 complete games and 240 innings. On successive days, Aug. 30-31, Choate pitched shutouts against Salt Lake City. He pitched a one-hitter in a 5-0 victory cut to five innings because of rain, and came back the next night with a three-hitter in another 5-0 triumph in the seven-inning opener of a doubleheader.

Choate pitched in spring training exhibition games for the Cardinals in 1958 and was touted by The Sporting News as an “impressive” prospect. He split the 1958 season between Cardinals farm clubs in Omaha and Houston. When Choate retired 19 consecutive batters in a game against Denver, The Sporting News reported he “scintillated on the mound.”

After producing a combined record of 12-11 in 34 games for Omaha and Houston in 1958, Choate played winter ball for the Licey team in the Dominican Republic. He won his first six decisions and had a 1.54 ERA. Choate “has developed into the Dominican loop’s leading hurler,” The Sporting News reported. Cardinals assistant farm director George Silvey said Choate “is sneaky fast and his curve has been improving. He’s a pitcher, not a thrower. A definite big-league prospect.”

Cardinals manager Solly Hemus and farm director Walter Shannon went to the Dominican Republic to see the top players. Hemus filed a favorable report on Choate. As the Cardinals prepared for spring training in 1959, Choate seemed a likely candidate to earn a spot on the big-league team.

While in the Dominican Republic, Hemus and Shannon also saw Bill White, who was in the Giants’ organization, and were impressed by his power, run production and versatility at first base and in the outfield. Eddie Stanky, a Cardinals scout who managed White in the minor leagues, also recommended him.

On March 25, 1959, the Cardinals traded Choate and a starting pitcher, Sam Jones, to the Giants for White and utility player Ray Jablonski. Most analysts said the deal favored the Giants. Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch predicted Choate “eventually might make the grade” as a major-league pitcher.

“There’s no doubt in my mind we’ve improved our pennant chances tremendously with Jones coming to our team,” Giants manager Bill Rigney told United Press International. Rigney added, “It was the most important pitching deal we’ve made since I’ve been manager.”

Said Bing Devine, who replaced Lane as Cardinals general manager, “We believe White will solve our outfield problem and give us the added power at the plate we have been looking for.”

White became one of the Cardinals’ best players and a premier first baseman in the National League.

Choate was assigned to the Giants’ farm club at Phoenix in 1959 and was 4-7 in 22 appearances.

In 1960, after posting a 10-15 record for Tacoma, Choate was called up to the Giants in September. He made four relief appearances, including a one-inning scoreless stint against the Cardinals at St. Louis on Sept. 17, and had a 0-0 record and 2.25 ERA.

Choate pitched one more season, 1961, with Tacoma, hurt his arm and was finished as a pro player at 23. He had a second career as a firefighter.

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Patience paid for Cardinals with pitcher Gerry Staley

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Prospects on November 19, 2017| 4 Comments »

Though knowing Gerry Staley was committed to a stint in the Army during World War II, the Cardinals went ahead and acquired him anyway. The investment paid a significant dividend when Staley emerged as the ace of the Cardinals’ staff in the early 1950s.

In 1942, Staley was in his second season as a pitcher for the Boise (Idaho) Pilots of the Class C Pioneer League. Boise wasn’t affiliated with any major-league organization.

In September 1942, Staley, 22, was inducted into the Army. Two months later, on Nov. 24, the Cardinals selected Staley in the minor-league draft and assigned him to their Columbus (Ga.) farm club in the Class B South Atlantic League.

By then, Staley was deep into military service. He would spend three years in the Army. Most of that time, he was stationed in the South Pacific.

The Cardinals, though, didn’t forget him.

Military veteran

A native of Brush Prairie, Wash., Staley was working in an aluminum plant and playing sandlot baseball when he was signed by Boise in 1941, according to a biography by the Society for American Baseball Research.

A right-handed pitcher, Staley quickly developed into a standout for Boise. He was 22-8 with a 2.79 ERA in 1941 and 20-10 with a 2.73 ERA in 1942.

St. Louis had a farm club, the Pocatello (Idaho) Cardinals, in the Pioneer League. Pocatello and Boise were matched in the league championship series in 1942. Staley won Game 2 of the series just before reporting to the Army. He impressed the Cardinals with his ability.

When the minor-league draft was held, the Cardinals chose Staley and assigned him to Columbus for the 1943 season, The Sporting News reported.

Staley never got to pitch for Columbus. Still in the Army as a sergeant with an evacuation hospital on Bougainville Island of New Guinea, the Cardinals assigned him to their Class AAA Sacramento Solons farm club in the Pacific Coast League in 1944, according to The Sporting News.

Staley continued his active duty in the military in 1945. When the war ended and he was discharged, Staley, 25, reported to Sacramento for the 1946 season.

Impressive return

By then, Sacramento no longer was a Cardinals affiliate. Local owners had purchased the franchise. Though independent of any big-league affiliation, Sacramento maintained a working agreement with the Cardinals.

Staley got off to a strong start in the 1946 season. On April 18, he pitched a three-hitter and singled in the winning run in Sacramento’s 2-1 triumph over Oakland. His best performance occurred on May 28 at Portland, Ore., just across the Columbia River from his home in Vancouver, Wash. Staley pitched all 14 innings and limited Portland to four hits in Sacramento’s 1-0 victory.

Under terms of the working agreement, the Cardinals had the right to purchase the contract of one of Sacramento’s returning servicemen for $5,000.

On Aug. 22, 1946, the Cardinals selected Staley (13-12 with a 2.94 ERA) and invited him to their spring training camp in 1947.

Making the grade

The Cardinals went to spring training in 1947 as the defending World Series champions. Staley, 26, wasn’t intimidated. He earned a spot on the Opening Day roster and made his major-league debut on April 20, 1947, with two innings of scoreless relief against the Cubs. Boxscore

Used exclusively in relief, Staley slumped during the summer and had a 5.54 ERA when the Cardinals sent him to their Class AAA Columbus (Ohio) Red Birds club in the American Association in late July.

Staley was 6-1 for Columbus and was called back to the Cardinals in September.

On Sept. 25, 1947, in the second game of a doubleheader at Pittsburgh, Staley got his first major-league start. He pitched a complete game and earned the win in the Cardinals’ 3-1 victory over the Pirates. Boxscore

Staley finished his rookie season with a 1-0 record and 2.76 ERA in 18 appearances for St. Louis. He was on his way to becoming a prominent member of the Cardinals’ staff.

Big winner

Staley pitched eight seasons (1947-54) for the Cardinals and was 89-76. He twice was all-star with the Cardinals (1952 and 1953).

In 1949, Staley ranked second in the National League in ERA at 2.73. He led the Cardinals in wins in 1951 (19) and 1952 (17) and was second in 1953 (18).

After a 1954 season when his wins total fell to seven, the Cardinals traded Staley, 34, and third baseman Ray Jablonski to the Reds for pitcher Frank Smith.

Staley eventually became a top relief pitcher. In 1959, he helped the White Sox to an American League pennant, with eight wins, 15 saves and a 2.24 ERA in a league-leading 67 appearances.

He earned a save in Game 1 of the 1959 World Series against the Dodgers, but was the losing pitcher in Game 4 when he gave up a game-winning home run to Gil Hodges in the eighth inning.

Staley pitched 15 seasons in the major leagues for six clubs _ Cardinals, Reds, Yankees, White Sox, Athletics and Tigers. He has a career record of 134-111 with 61 saves and a 3.70 ERA.

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