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Archive for the ‘Prospects’ Category

How Dal Maxvill developed into Cardinals shortstop

Posted in Games, Prospects on September 24, 2012| 16 Comments »

(Updated Sept. 12, 2025)

Dal Maxvill persevered to become a top-caliber Cardinals shortstop.

Maxvill debuted with St. Louis in 1962 as a reserve infielder and filled in admirably at second base for the injured Julian Javier in the 1964 World Series. After trading starting shortstop Dick Groat to the Phillies in October 1965, the Cardinals chose Jerry Buchek to be their everyday shortstop in 1966 because he was a better hitter than Maxvill.

Buchek couldn’t field as well as Maxvill, though, and the Cardinals, who needed better defense, made Maxvill their starting shortstop in June 1966. Maxvill remained the starter for seven years. In that period, he helped the Cardinals win two pennants and a World Series title, received a Gold Glove Award (1968) and led National League shortstops in fielding percentage (1970).

Before the start of spring training in 1966, Maxvill had considered quitting baseball and focusing fulltime on his off-season job as an electrical engineer for a St. Louis company, The Sporting News reported.

(Maxvill and catcher Tim McCarver were road roommates. In the book “Few and Chosen,” McCarver said, “He would talk to me ad nauseam about engineering. I never had any idea what he was talking about. Many a night he put me to sleep trying to explain the difference between fuses and circuit breakers.”)

After Maxvill reconsidered and reported to camp at St. Petersburg, Fla., Buchek hit well, Maxvill didn’t and Buchek was named the 1966 Opening Day shortstop. “Buchek certainly won the job,” Maxvill said.

Maxvill didn’t get many chances to play early in the 1966 season. When he did get a start at shortstop on April 24 against the Pirates, Maxvill made three errors and was caught off first base after rounding the bag too far on a single. Boxscore

Two months into the season, though, the Cardinals became disenchanted with Buchek’s inconsistent hitting and shortcomings on defense. On June 8, 1966, manager Red Schoendienst installed Maxvill as the starting shortstop.

The Cardinals won 14 of the first 24 games with Maxvill at shortstop. He solidified the defense, making St. Louis pitchers happier. On June 29, 1966, the Cardinals beat the Giants and Juan Marichal, 2-1. The Cardinals turned five double plays, three involving Maxvill, who contributed nine assists. Boxscore

In their next game, July 1, 1966, the Cardinals defeated the Dodgers and Sandy Koufax, 2-0, turning three double plays, including one involving Maxvill. Boxscore

Reported The Sporting News: “In some phases of play, fellows like Marty Marion and Dick Groat have rated Maxie No. 1 in the league.”

Bob Gibson told Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I do the pitching and he takes care of the fielding.”

Maxvill also was contributing with his bat. He hit safely in 11 of 13 games soon after becoming the everyday shortstop.

On June 23, 1966, in a game at Houston, Maxvill drew an intentional walk from Dave Giusti. When he reached first, coach Dick Sisler said to Maxvill, “You get a couple of hits and now they’re afraid of you.” Boxscore

Schoendienst said Maxvill “has been avoiding the strikeouts and making contact. He’s been moving the runners around and avoiding the double play. In other words, we’ve been able to play baseball with Maxie _ hit-and-run and all that. We can’t afford to leave those men on third base, even second base.”

Said Maxvill: “I hope that in October I can finally say I just had my first fully satisfying year in the major leagues.”

On July 14, 1966, Maxvill had his first four-RBI game in the big leagues, a 9-7 Cardinals victory over the Reds in the second game of a doubleheader. Boxscore

By September, the Cardinals had faded from the pennant race but Maxvill firmly had secured his role as the everyday shortstop. Schoendienst said Maxvill and catcher Tim McCarver “have been our most consistent men.”

In the book “Few and Chosen,” McCarver said, “Maxie had grit and determination beyond compare. He’s a little guy, but he was as physically tough as any player I’ve ever known. He didn’t back down from anybody.”

 

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Cardinals groomed Pedro Borbon for bullpen success

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Prospects on June 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Pedro Borbon was best-known as a Reds pitcher, but he began and ended his professional playing career with the Cardinals.

Borbon was a reliable reliever for the Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s. In 12 big-league seasons (1969-80), Borbon was 69-39 with 80 saves. He pitched in the World Series for the Reds in 1972, 1975 and 1976. He won 11 and saved 14 for Cincinnati in 1973 and was 10-5 with 18 saves for the 1977 Reds.

What’s not as well-known is Borbon became a professional baseball player on one of the most magical days in Cardinals history. He was signed as a non-drafted free agent by St. Louis on Oct. 15, 1964, the day the Cardinals won Game 7 of the World Series against the Yankees.

Borbon was a success in his three seasons in the St. Louis system. He was 6-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 38 games for Class A Cedar Rapids in 1966 and 5-4 with a 2.29 ERA in 36 games for Class A St. Petersburg in 1967. Both clubs were managed by Ron Plaza.

In 1968, Borbon, 21, caught the attention of several big-league organizations with his performance for the Cardinals’ Class A Modesto club of the California League.

He established a league record by appearing in 18 consecutive games without allowing an earned run. In a May 15 game against Fresno, with the score 4-4, Modesto manager Joe Cunningham brought  in Borbon in the ninth inning with a runner on first, one out and a 3-and-0 count on batter Chris Arnold. Borbon struck out Arnold on three pitches and catcher Ted Simmons, 18, threw out the runner attempting to steal second. Modesto scored in the bottom of the ninth, giving Borbon the win.

Borbon finished 8-5 with a 2.34 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 100 innings for Modesto in 1968. In December, the two-time defending National League champion Cardinals failed to protect Borbon on their major-league roster and he was chosen by the Angels as the fourth pick in the first round of the Rule 5 draft.

The Angels were one of at least five big-league clubs that rated Borbon as the best available player in the draft, according to The Sporting News.

“He might be a real catch,” Angels manager Bill Rigney said. “Everyone was high on him.”

Borbon made the Angels’ roster in 1969. He got the win in his major-league debut on April 9 against the Seattle Pilots. Boxscore He finished 2-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 22 games for the 1969 Angels. In November, the Angels dealt Borbon and pitchers Jim McGlothlin and Vern Geishert to the Reds for outfielder Alex Johnson and infielder Chico Ruiz. Bob Howsam, the Reds’ general manager, had been the Cardinals’ general manager when Borbon signed with St. Louis.

Eleven years later, Borbon, 33, was looking for work after being released by the Giants in April 1980. The Cardinals gave him a job as their batting practice pitcher. After two weeks, they determined Borbon was better than some of the pitchers in their bullpen. St. Louis relievers had a collective 7.46 ERA. Desperate for help, general manager John Claiborne acquired Jim Kaat, 41, from the Yankees and signed Borbon. A headline in The Sporting News blared, “Redbirds Turn to Greybeards to Liven Up Their Bullpen.”

Borbon provided immediate results. He pitched three scoreless relief innings against the Astros in his Cardinals debut on May 3, 1980. Boxscore

In his second Cardinals appearance, Borbon earned a save _ and got revenge against the team that released him _ with 2.2 scoreless relief innings against the Giants. Boxscore

Borbon’s third appearance resulted in his first Cardinals win _ and last of his career in the majors _ in a 15-7 St. Louis victory over the Dodgers. Boxscore

But Borbon’s effectiveness soon waned. He yielded a home run in each of his final three appearances. The last two came in consecutive games _ a three-run homer by Padres catcher Gene Tenace on May 24 Boxscore and a grand slam by Padres third baseman Barry Evans (his second and last home run of a five-year big-league career) on May 25. Boxscore

Four weeks after they had added him to the roster, the Cardinals released Borbon. His St. Louis record: 1-0 with one save and a 3.79 ERA in 10 games. With that, Borbon’s big-league career was finished.

His son, a left-handed pitcher also named Pedro Borbon, had a nine-year career in the majors with the Braves, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Astros and Cardinals. Like his father, he finished as a Cardinal, pitching seven games for St. Louis in 2003 and posting an 0-1 record and 20.25 ERA.

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The story of how Ted Simmons became a Cardinal

Posted in Hitters, Prospects on February 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated Feb. 21, 2022)

Big-league scouts touted catcher Ted Simmons as a can’t-miss prospect. The Cardinals chose him in the first round of the 1967 amateur draft and were rewarded. In 13 seasons with the Cardinals, Simmons hit .298, compiled 2,626 total bases and had an on-base percentage of .366.

In June 1967, Simmons, 17, was a highly regarded athlete at Southfield High School in Michigan. According to Sport magazine, Simmons, a fullback, was offered football scholarships to schools such as Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue.

“The pressure my senior year was intense,” Simmons told Sport. “Everyone around me was always speculating about my prospects and options as if I were a hot stock. They were all whispering in my ear and trying to pull me this way and that.”

In an article for The Sporting News, writer Jack Lang polled major-league scouts for their choices on the nation’s top 12 baseball draft prospects and Simmons ranked ninth.

Simmons told Sport, “I knew what was happening to me by around 14, 15 years old. By that time, I was already working out with the Tigers and hitting balls into the upper deck at Tiger Stadium.”

With the 10th overall choice in the first round, the Cardinals caught a break when two teams selecting ahead of them took catchers but bypassed Simmons.

The Senators, with the fifth overall selection, took Johnny Jones, a high school catcher from Tennessee. The Angels, just ahead of the Cardinals with the ninth overall pick, seemed certain to choose Simmons, but instead took Mike Nunn, a high school catcher from North Carolina.

Simmons, two months shy of his 18th birthday, had hoped to be chosen by his home state Tigers, who had the 14th pick of the first round.

After the Cardinals chose him, Simmons said, “The contract will have to be big enough to make it worthwhile for me to pass up college. I’d have to say I’d want about $50,000, although some people have told me it should be $75,000 and some say $100,000.”

Simmons ended up with the best of both. The Cardinals scout who recommended him, Mo Mozzali, signed Simmons for $50,000 and Simmons enrolled at the University of Michigan as a physical education and speech major, beginning classes in the fall of 1967.

In a 2013 interview with Cardinals Gameday Magazine, Simmons recalled, “I got first-round money, which was a ton of money then, and got my school paid for. I bought a Dodge Charger, brand-spanking new. For a poor kid from Detroit, (the money) was huge _ I mean huge _ for me and my family.”

After signing, Simmons reported to the Cardinals’ Gulf Coast League team, managed by George Kissell, in Sarasota, Fla.

On Simmons’ first day there, Kissell met with a group of players and diagrammed a relay play on a chalkboard. According to Cardinals Gameday Magazine, Kissell asked, “Does anyone know what to do or where to go here?”

When no one responded, Kissell said, “I bet Mr. Simmons knows. Mr. Simmons, why don’t you come up here and diagram the play for all of us?”

Simmons looked at the chalkboard and said, “I don’t know.”

“OK, Mr. Simmons, you can sit back down then,” Kissell said. “I’ll tell everyone where to go.”

Years later, Simmons told Cardinals Gameday Magazine, “Yes, I was the No. 1 pick, everyone knew that and I got more money, but I didn’t know anything more than anyone else in that group and George thought it was important to point that out to everyone, especially to me.”

In his debut game as a professional on July 1, 1967, Simmons, playing the outfield, hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning, lifting Sarasota to a 4-2 victory. The Sporting News reported the feat in a story headlined, “Simmons Sock Star In Opener Of Gulf Coast.”

In six games for Sarasota, Simmons batted .350 (7-for-20) with two home runs and eight RBI. That earned him a promotion to Cedar Rapids, where he hit .269 (46-for-171) before reporting to the University of Michigan.

In the book “The Ted Simmons Story,” author Jim Brosnan said a report Cedar Rapids manager Jack Krol sent to the Cardinals on Simmons suggested “wherever he plays, he’ll hit. He’s a natural. From both sides of the plate.”

Three years later, on Memorial Day weekend in 1970, Simmons took over for Joe Torre as the Cardinals’ everyday catcher. Simmons stayed in that starting role for the next decade.

 

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The story of how Bob Forsch converted to pitching

Posted in Pitchers, Prospects on November 9, 2011| 2 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 2, 2019)

The Cardinals planned for Bob Forsch to be a third baseman, not a pitcher.

Forsch was chosen by the Cardinals in the 26th round of the 1968 amateur draft and sent to their Gulf Coast League team in Sarasota. Forsch, 18, played third base and some outfield. His instructors included George Kissell and Joe Medwick. Forsch displayed a strong arm but batted .224 in 44 games.

In the book “Tales From The Cardinals Dugout,” Forsch described his first day as a pro player:

“I had sort of thought I was going to Florida on a vacation to play baseball. And so I went to the minor-league complex and they gave me a uniform. It was wool. And it had patches in the seat from where other guys had ripped it up while they were sliding. They didn’t have enough caps, because there were too many players. So I got a batting helmet and put that on.”

In 1969, Forsch continued to play third base but hit .203 for Lewiston of the Northwest League and .235 for Modesto of the California League.

At age 20, his playing career was in jeopardy after he opened the 1970 season by hitting .149 in 20 games for Modesto, striking out 21 times in 47 at-bats. Forsch was moved to Cedar Rapids of the Midwest League and did even worse, hitting .088 through 19 games.

Short of pitchers, manager Roy Majtyka used Forsch as a reliever against Clinton. Forsch had pitched batting practice for Cedar Rapids and had a 9-1 mark as a high school pitcher his senior year in Sacramento.

The first Clinton batter Forsch faced was Bob Hansen, who would become a first baseman with the Brewers. Forsch’s first pitch sailed over Hansen’s head.

“Mick Kelleher, our shortstop, came over to me and said, ‘Come on, Bob, you can throw it by him,’ ” Forsch told The Sporting News in 1974. “Hansen hit the next pitch for the longest home run I’ve ever seen, even though I threw the ball as hard as I could.”

Forsch worked three innings and gave up six hits and four runs, but his career as a pitcher had begun. The Cardinals sent him to Lewiston and instructed manager Fred Hatfield to use Forsch as a pitcher. In seven games, five as a starter, Forsch was 2-3 with a 4.94 ERA.

When Forsch reported to spring training in 1971, he didn’t know whether the Cardinals planned to employ him as a pitcher or as a third baseman because the Cardinals had a shortage of third basemen in their farm system.

Bob Kennedy, a former big-league player and manager, was the Cardinals’ director of player development and he made the decision Forsch would be converted exclusively to pitching.

Forsch was 11-7 with a 3.13 ERA for Cedar Rapids in 1971 and 8-10, including a no-hitter, for Arkansas in 1972. After the 1972 season, he posted a 7-1 record in the Florida Instructional League while working with instructor Bob Milliken.

Forsch was 12-12, including another no-hitter, for Tulsa in 1973.

Playing for manager Ken Boyer at Tulsa in 1974, Forsch was 8-5 with a 3.67 ERA in 15 games when the Cardinals, on the recommendation of Kennedy, called him to the major leagues in July. “He threw hardest and had an excellent curve,” Kennedy explained.

Said Forsch: “I didn’t even know how to throw a curve until Bob Milliken showed me how at the Florida Instructional League.”

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How Chase Riddle got Steve Carlton for Cardinals

Posted in Hitters, Pitchers, Prospects on June 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Chase Riddle never played a game for the Cardinals, but he had a major impact on the makeup of their teams.

Riddle was the scout who signed pitcher Steve Carlton for the Cardinals and who opened the talent pipeline for the club in Latin America.

Riddle was a Cardinals minor-league manager from 1955-62 before he became a scout, with responsibilities primarily for the Caribbean region and southeastern United States.

In 1963, John Buik, an American Legion coach in North Miami, Fla., contacted Riddle, tipping him off to a gangly left-handed pitcher on the team named Steve Carlton.

“Chase Riddle was a nice guy,” Buik said in a 1996 interview with Baseball Digest magazine. “He was a good scout and a good worker.”

Riddle liked what he saw of Carlton. Other teams, especially the Pirates, also had been scouting Carlton, so Riddle felt a sense of urgency to act.

“Chase convinced me there would be a good opportunity for advancement with the Cardinals,” Carlton told The Sporting News in June 1972.

Riddle arranged for Carlton to participate in a tryout for Cardinals personnel in St. Louis in September 1963.

“I threw as hard as I could and as well as I could, but I don’t think I threw fast enough for them,” Carlton recalled in a May 1967 interview with The Sporting News. “They were looking mostly for that hummer.”

Besides Riddle, the only other observer that day impressed by Carlton was Cardinals pitching coach Howie Pollet. “I liked Steve’s sneaky fastball and I felt his curve was good enough to make him worth a $5,000 gamble,” Pollet said. “I figured he could improve a lot more with experience than the other kids.”

With Pollet’s significant support, Riddle signed Carlton for $5,000.

By April 1965, Carlton, 20, made his big-league debut with the Cardinals. He helped them to two National League pennants and a World Series title before he got into a contract dispute and was traded to the Phillies before the 1972 season.

Carlton is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with 329 wins and 4,136 strikeouts in a 24-year big-league career.

Meanwhile, Riddle used his connections in the Caribbean to sign players such as outfielder Jose Cruz for the Cardinals.

In separate articles in February 1970, The Sporting News noted, “George Silvey, (Cardinals) director of player procurement, had just returned from the Caribbean area, which he toured with Chase Riddle, the scout who has had a big hand in the Redbirds’ emphasis on signing Latin Americans in recent years.

“No fewer than 24 Latin Americans grace the rolls of the Cardinals’ organization. Scouts like Chase Riddle, Tony Martinez and (Carlos) Negron have been chiefly responsible for the recent emphasis on signing Latins.”

In 1978, Riddle left the Cardinals to become manager of the Troy University baseball team in Alabama. His Troy teams won NCAA Division II national titles in 1986 and 1987. Riddle remained Troy’s manager until 1990, compiling more than 430 wins.

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How Bill Bergesch got Bob Gibson to Cardinals

Posted in Pitchers, Prospects on May 17, 2011| 6 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 24, 2024)

Bill Bergesch, a longtime baseball executive who worked for difficult team owners such as Charlie Finley, George Steinbrenner and Marge Schott, is the man most responsible for Bob Gibson becoming a Cardinal.

Bergesch, a St. Louis native, joined the Cardinals organization in 1947 as a minor-league administrator. He was general manager or business manager of Cardinals farm clubs in Albany, Ga., Winston-Salem, N.C., Columbus, Ga., and Omaha, Neb.

As general manager at Omaha, Bergesch donated used equipment to recreation-center baseball teams organized by Josh Gibson, older brother of Bob Gibson.

“I got to know Bob’s brother Josh well,” Bergesch told Baseball Digest in 1962. “We let his kid teams come to our games. We gave his teams some of our spare equipment and sold them our old uniforms cheap.”

Josh Gibson believed his brother Bob was a professional prospect. Years later, Bob Gibson told The Sporting News he could throw a baseball hard as far back as he could remember.

Bob Gibson had been scouted by big-league organizations, including the Yankees and Dodgers, but the only scout who made an offer after he graduated from high school was Runt Marr of the Cardinals.

Instead, Bob Gibson accepted a scholarship to play basketball at Creighton University. He played baseball when the basketball season ended.

In his autobiography, “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “Baseball was, at best, my second sport, and I really didn’t have a niche in it. At various times in my college career, I played catcher, third base, outfield and occasionally pitcher, demonstrating a no-table wildness in the latter capacity.”

As a favor, Josh Gibson asked Bergesch to watch his brother play for Creighton in the spring of 1957.

David Halberstam, in his book “October 1964,” said Bergesch attended two Creighton games but Gibson didn’t pitch in either. He played outfield in the first and was the catcher in the second. Bergesch could see Gibson was a talented athlete with a powerful arm.

Bergesch told Omaha manager Johnny Keane that Gibson was a prospect and suggested arranging a tryout. When Keane saw Gibson throw, he was impressed.

“At the tryout, Gibson was awesome,” Halberstam wrote. “First, he took batting practice and showed exceptional power … Then Bergesch had him throw to the (Omaha) Cardinals’ regular catcher. Neither Bergesch nor Keane had ever seen a kid throw like that … Years later, Bergesch estimated that he must have thrown at about 95 mph. In addition, his fastball already had movement.”

In his book “From Ghetto to Glory,” Gibson said Bergesch told him, “Nobody’s going to give you a big bonus. If they give you more than $4,000, the rules say they have to carry you on the major-league roster for two seasons and you just don’t have enough experience for any club to take a chance on you like that.”

When basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters offered Gibson a $1,000-a-month contract, Gibson said, “I … called Bill Bergesch. He had impressed me by being so forthright. I told him I was ready to sign with the Cardinals.”

Gibson signed for $4,000, spurning an aggressive offer from the Reds.

“I would sign with the Cardinals for a bonus of a thousand dollars, play out the (1957) season for another $3,000, then join the Globetrotters at $1,000 a month for four months of the baseball off-season,” Gibson said. “The total was $8,000, but the real value of the deal was that it kept me alive in both sports. I still wasn’t ready to pick one.”

In a 2018 interview with Stan McNeal of Cardinals Yearbook, Gibson recalled, “I played for the Globetrotters from November (1957) until early February (1958). I must have played 120 games with them because sometimes we’d play two games in a day … I loved playing basketball, but I don’t think I could have played too long for the Globetrotters. The parts of the games when there wasn’t all the clowning around were fine; the other parts really weren’t my thing.”

Gibson eventually chose baseball. A good hitter as well as a talented pitcher, Gibson was a switch-hitter until his first season at Omaha, The Sporting News reported. His right elbow bothered him, so he began batting exclusively from the right side.

Two years after he accepted Bergesch’s contract offer, Gibson made his big-league debut with the 1959 Cardinals. When Keane replaced Solly Hemus as Cardinals manager in 1961, Gibson blossomed under the care of his former Omaha mentor and built a career that landed him in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After the 1959 season, the Cardinals dumped Omaha from their farm system, leaving Bergesch out of a job. The Cardinals made him their minor-league field coordinator in 1960. A year later, Finley hired Bergesch to be assistant general manager of the Athletics.

Bergesch went on to become a Yankees executive under Steinbrenner and general manager of the Reds under Schott.

He had many achievements, but his most memorable was signing Bob Gibson.

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