Seeking a return to professional baseball after a stint in a hospital rehabilitation facility to treat his depression, Jimmy Piersall was given a chance to manage a group of players in the Cardinals’ organization.
The man who hired Piersall to manage the 1973 Orangeburg (S.C.) Cardinals didn’t know the former big-league outfielder was being treated for a mental health issue at that time, though Piersall’s history certainly was no secret. In 1952, while playing for the Red Sox, Piersall suffered a nervous breakdown. He wrote a book, “Fear Strikes Out,” about that experience and Hollywood made it into a film, starring Anthony Perkins.
Piersall played 17 years in the major leagues, twice won a Gold Glove Award and was notorious for his on-field antics and feuds with umpires.
He never managed a team until getting the chance with the Cardinals prospects.
It would be his only season as a manager.
Road to recovery
In 1972, Piersall worked for the Athletics in group ticket sales and promotions. The 1972 Athletics won the World Series championship and Piersall earned a ring, but he clashed with club owner Charlie Finley. Piersall also disclosed in his second book, “The Truth Hurts,” he was having marital problems at the time.
“So between my wife and the Finley situation, it really hit me, and I got very depressed, into crying and all that, and I went to see a psychiatrist,” Piersall said.
Piersall was admitted to a rehabilitation center at a hospital in Roanoke, Va., and stayed for about a month. “Finally I got back in shape,” Piersall said. “I felt strong and the attitude was good again.”
As his stay at the treatment center neared its end, Piersall said, he got a call from a friend, Red Dwyer, who was president and general manager of the Orangeburg Cardinals, a fledgling franchise in the Class A Western Carolinas League.
Dwyer, who asked Piersall to manage the club, “didn’t know I was in the rehab center,” Piersall said. “He just thought I was in the hospital for some minor thing.”
Piersall, 43, accepted the offer and on March 13, 1973 _ a month before the season opener _ he was named manager.
Bad behavior
Orangeburg hadn’t had a minor-league team since 1908. The 1973 Orangeburg Cardinals were not officially affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. The club was a co-op, meaning its roster was composed of players from several big-league organizations. St. Louis, though, supplied the majority of players.
“By the time I linked up with the Orangeburg team, spring training was already over,” Piersall said. “When I got a look at the team, I knew I had a bunch of guys who just weren’t good enough to be professional baseball players … Most of them were getting their last shot at the game.”
On the eve of the opener, Piersall told the Orangeburg Times-Democrat, “I know that I’m going to have to conduct myself properly and make the right decisions.”
Naturally, Piersall got involved in several scrapes with umpires. In June, he was suspended for two games by the league after he reportedly pushed umpire Bob Nelson, causing him to fall backwards.
Soon after his return, police were called to escort Piersall from the ballpark when he continued to argue with umpires after a game. “When he gets vehemently loud, he detracts from the concentration of his own players, the guys on the other teams and from the umpires,” said umpire Dave Slickenmyer.
Said Piersall: “What I try to do is fight for my players. I don’t look to get into a show with a hundred people in the stands.”
Handle with care
Piersall took seriously the responsibilities of working with his players and managing games.
“The kids make mistakes _ chiefly in fundamentals _ but they are sharp, have ability and want to learn,” Piersall told the Associated Press.
Piersall said he was learning “how to cope with young people without blowing my top. It’s something I have learned day by day. I keep notes during games to point out to the kids in practice the next day mistakes they have made. With no coaches to help, it’s hard giving instruction.”
The best prospect on the club was 18-year-old outfielder Tito Landrum. “He has all the tools to become a big leaguer,” Piersall said. “He has a lot to learn, but his attitude is good, he has a great arm and speed.”
Landrum told the Times-Democrat how Piersall helped him become a better hitter by having him place more weight on his front foot and less on his back foot.
(Landrum batted .279 in 70 games for Orangeburg. He would be the only member of the Orangeburg Cardinals to play in the major leagues. He spent nine seasons in the majors _ eight with St. Louis _ and played in two World Series. In the book “Whitey’s Boys,” Landrum, whose given first name is Terry, said Latin players on the Orangeburg team called him Tito and the name stuck.)
Three other players of note on the Orangeburg roster:
_ Dave Bialas, who would become a manager in the Cardinals’ farm system.
_ Rob Sievers, son of former big-league slugger Roy Sievers.
_ Randy Poffo, who would become the professional wrestler known as Macho Man Savage.
One and done
National media _ including the Washington Post and Heywood Hale Broun of CBS News _ came to Orangeburg to do stories on Piersall.
In August, Piersall experienced chest pains, was taken to a hospital and was diagnosed with bronchitis, Dwyer said, before returning to the team. (Two years later, Piersall was found to have blocked arteries and underwent heart surgery.)
Orangeburg finished in last place with a 50-72 record.
In 1974, Orangeburg became an affiliate of the Dodgers and Bart Shirley, a former major-league infielder, was named manager. Among the prospects on the 1974 Orangeburg Dodgers were Pedro Guerrero and Jeffrey Leonard.
With no other offers to manage, Piersall contacted his friend, Billy Martin, who’d replaced Whitey Herzog as Rangers manager, and Martin helped Piersall get a job in group ticket sales and promotions with the 1974 Rangers.
Previously: Jimmy Piersall and his NL debut against Cardinals
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