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Behind the scenes: How Jerry Walker helped Cardinals

Posted in Executives, Games, Pitchers, Prospects on July 23, 2024| 5 Comments »

A right-handed pitcher and protege of Cardinals ace Harry Brecheen, Jerry Walker became the right-hand man to Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty.

Walker was involved with professional baseball most of his adult life. At 18, he went from high school to the majors with the Orioles and was nurtured by Brecheen, the pitching coach who’d been a World Series standout with the 1946 Cardinals.

At 20, Walker became the youngest pitcher to start in an All-Star Game. He played eight seasons in the American League with the Orioles (1957-60), Athletics (1961-62) and Indians (1963-64).

After his playing days, Walker managed in the minors, then returned to the big leagues as a scout and went on to become a coach and general manager. For 13 years (1995-2007), he was an executive in the Cardinals’ front office, advising Jocketty on player personnel.

Mighty leap

Born and raised in Ada, Okla., Walker was a high school baseball phenom, posting a varsity pitching record of 52-1 and leading his club to state titles in 1956 and 1957. He hit .529 as a junior and .526 his senior season.

Most big-league teams tried to sign him, including the Red Sox, who projected Walker as a third baseman, but he chose the Orioles, in large part, because of Brecheen, an Ada resident. “Brecheen had a great deal to do with Walker’s decision,” the Baltimore Sun noted.

Brecheen told the newspaper, “I’ve known the boy and his family for a long time … I thought when I saw him in high school that he had the best curve of any kid I’d ever seen.”

After signing with the Orioles on June 28, 1957, Walker joined a pitching staff with the likes of former Negro League fastballer Connie Johnson, World War II combat veteran Hal Brown and ex-Dodgers standout Billy Loes.

A week later, Walker made a jittery big-league debut at Boston’s Fenway Park. With the Red Sox ahead, 6-2, Orioles manager Paul Richards sent Walker to pitch the seventh. He issued walks to the first two batters _ two-time American League batting champion Mickey Vernon and Jackie Jensen (past and future AL RBI leader) _ and went to a 2-and-0 count on Frank Malzone before being relieved by Art Ceccarelli, a winless left-hander. Malzone mashed a pitch that soared over the the head of right fielder Tito Francona for a triple. Boxscore

After three relief appearances, Walker made his first start, facing the hapless Athletics at Kansas City. Nervous and overanxious, he didn’t last an inning. Boxscore

Breakout game

A month later, after a few relief stints, none longer than two innings, Walker got his second start, this time at home, against the Senators. Though destined to finish in the basement, the Senators had Roy Sievers, the slugger from St. Louis who would lead the American League in home runs (42) and RBI (114) that year.

Pitching with the poise and stamina, Walker shut out the Senators for 10 innings and got the win, 1-0. He allowed four singles and a walk, totaling 111 pitches.

“Here is a kid who had never pitched nine innings in his life,” Paul Richards said to the Baltimore Sun. “The high schools where Jerry played limit their games to seven innings.”

Brecheen told the newspaper, “We knew he had a lot of ability, and he’s got a lot of heart.”

Walker dressed quickly after the game and dashed out of the clubhouse. As the Sun explained, “With a pocketful of hot change, the quiet-spoken, crew-cut kid was busting out all over in his (eagerness) to reach the nearest coin telephone to place a long-distance call to (his parents in) Oklahoma.” Boxscore

Seeing stars

After a tune-up season in the minors at Knoxville (18-4, 2.61 ERA) in 1958, Walker was one of three 20-year-old pitchers (Jack Fisher and Milt Pappas being the others) who contributed to the Orioles in 1959.

Walker sizzled early, winning his first four decisions, including a five-hitter against the Yankees. He struck out Mickey Mantle three times. Boxscore

In a rematch in July, Walker again beat the Yankees, fanning Mantle three more times and totaling 10 strikeouts for the game. “For 20 years old, you’d have to say the young man was amazing the way he struck my men out,” Yankees manager Casey Stengel said to the Sun. Boxscore

(Though he whiffed 12 times versus Walker in his career, Mantle had an on-base percentage of .500 _ 13 hits and 11 walks _ against him and slugged four home runs. Of Walker’s four career wins versus the Yankees, three came in 1959.)

A month later, Stengel, the American League manager, chose Walker to start in the All-Star Game at Los Angeles. Walker got the win, allowing one run in three innings. He twice retired the Cardinals’ Ken Boyer, struck out Eddie Mathews and got Willie Mays and Ernie Banks to ground out. Boxscore

Working overtime

On Sept. 11, 1959, the first-place White Sox, headed for an American League pennant, were at Baltimore for a Friday doubleheader on Westinghouse Night. As the Sun noted, “The air was electric with tension.”

Jack Fisher shut out the White Sox in the opener, 3-0, limiting them to three hits. Boxscore

Walker started Game 2 against a lineup headed by future Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox. He gave up two singles in the first but the White Sox never advanced another runner as far as third the rest of the night.

White Sox pitchers Barry Latman (9.1 innings) and Gerry Staley, the ex-Cardinal, were superb, too, but Walker was better. He pitched 16 scoreless innings and the Orioles prevailed, 1-0, when Brooks Robinson’s two-out single versus Staley, 39, drove in Al Pilarcik from third.

“That two 20-year-olds should pitch 25 scoreless innings in one night against the league leaders, even the light-hitting White Sox, borders on the unbelievable,” wrote Ed Brandt of the Sun.

His colleague, Lou Hatter, offered, “Walker’s performance was extra-special, incredible and then some.”

Walker told United Press International, “I could have pitched another couple of innings.” Boxscore

He finished the year 11-10 with a 2.92 ERA, but never had another winning season in the majors.

On the move

In 1960, Walker suffered from allergies “that sapped his strength,” the Sun reported, and posted a 3-4 season record. “From what they told me, I guess I was allergic to just about everything,” Walker told the Kansas City Times. “They gave me some shots and also some pills to take regularly. The shots are a long-range treatment and the doctors seem to think they should clear up the trouble completely in two or three years.”

Traded to the Athletics in April 1961, he spent two years with them, went 16-23 and got dealt again, to Cleveland, where he played his final two seasons in the majors. A highlight came on July 13, 1963, when Walker pitched four scoreless innings of relief, helping Cleveland teammate Early Wynn, 43, get career win No. 300. Boxscore

In May 1964, Walker was loaned by Cleveland to the Cardinals’ Class AAA farm club, the Jacksonville Suns, managed by Harry Walker (no relation). His teammates included pitchers Mike Cuellar, Bob Humphreys, Gordon Richardson and Barney Schultz, who went on to help the Cardinals win a pennant and World Series championship that season.

Walker was 10-9 with Jacksonville, including a one-hitter in a 1-0 victory versus Richmond in 10 innings. Called up to Cleveland in September, he pitched his final big-league games that month.

Still in the game

Walker was a manager in the Yankees’ farm system for six seasons (1968-73) and his pitchers included a pair of future American League Cy Young Award winners _ Ron Guidry and LaMarr Hoyt. Walker was a Yankees scout from 1974 to 1981, then became their pitching coach for parts of the 1981 and 1982 seasons.

From 1983-85, Walker was Astros pitching coach. His staff ace was Nolan Ryan.

After a stint from 1986-91 as special assignment scout for the Tigers, Walker was promoted to general manager by club president Bo Schembechler and tasked with rebuilding the roster. As Gene Guidi of the Detroit Free Press noted, “Walker stepped into a tough spot in Detroit. He wants to make the Tigers a better team but he has few marketable players to trade and a limited spending budget to pursue free agents.”

In Walker’s first season as general manager, the Tigers were 75-87. They improved to 85-77 in 1993, but the franchise underwent an ownership change, and Walker was fired in January 1994.

Cardinals influencer

In November 1994, Walt Jocketty, who replaced Dal Maxvill as Cardinals general manager, hired Walker to be the club’s director of major league player personnel. “He was the first guy I hired in St. Louis,” Jocketty told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“Walker’s duties will feature special assignment scouting and recommendations to Jocketty,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Three years later, in February 1997, Walker was promoted, with the title of vice president of player personnel. The Post-Dispatch referred to him as Jocketty’s “right-hand man.”

According to the Cardinals 1997 media guide, Walker “assists Jocketty in personnel matters with the major league club and he is also responsible for overseeing the Cardinals player development and scouting activities.”

One of the up-and-coming Cardinals staffers in 1997 was a scouting assistant, John Mozeliak. According to the Post-Dispatch, Walker was a mentor to Mozeliak.

During Walker’s 13 years with the Cardinals, they won two National League pennants (2004 and 2006) and a World Series title (2006).

In October 2007, Jocketty was fired and replaced by Mozeliak. “One of Walt’s strong points was how he used his people,” Walker told the Post-Dispatch. “He allowed Mo (Mozeliak) to be involved, to increase his responsibilities.”

When the Reds then hired Jocketty to be team president and general manager, he brought in Walker to serve as his special assistant for player personnel.

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Dave Williams started out on right track with Cardinals

Posted in Football, Games, Prospects, Trades on July 15, 2024| 6 Comments »

A hurdler in track, Dave Williams used those skills on the football field to spring above defenders and catch passes in a crowd.

The NFL St. Louis Cardinals projected him to be the deep threat who would replace longtime standout Sonny Randle.

Williams came through for St. Louis in his first three seasons, but couldn’t sustain the success. 

Athletic ability

Though born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Williams grew up in Tacoma, Wash., and went to Lincoln High School, where he excelled in football and track. He won a state championship for Lincoln in the hurdles in 1963.

Williams then competed in both sports at the University of Washington. According to Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Washington head football coach Jim Owens said, “He’s the finest natural athlete I ever coached.”

Williams was a collegiate all-America in four different events in track and field _ broad jump, 120-yard hurdles, 440-yard hurdles and 440-yard relay. He qualified to compete in the 1964 Olympic trials in the decathlon.

His football career at Washington was not as consistent. As Tacoma News Tribune sports editor Earl Luebker noted, “Much of his time was spent in frustration.”

In his first varsity season as a sophomore in 1964, Williams made a mere three catches. “He started his sophomore season as one of the most widely heralded pass receivers,” the News Tribune reported, “yet, before the year had progressed too far, he found himself working as a third-stringer in the defensive secondary.”

Williams’ breakout season came as a junior in 1965 when he made 38 catches, including 10 for touchdowns. The 6-foot-2 receiver had 10 catches, including one for a touchdown, against Stanford and another 10 catches, for 257 yards and three touchdowns, versus UCLA.

“We couldn’t cover that fellow Williams,” UCLA head coach Tommy Prothro told the Los Angeles Times. “We tried to play him loose, but it was no go … Williams, who sort of reminds me of (the Green Bay Packers’) Don Hutson, has such deceptive speed. Looks like he’s running slow with that easy gait.”

As a senior in 1966, Williams “was used largely as a decoy,” the Tacoma News Tribune reported, and had no touchdowns among his 21 catches.

Promising rookie

Williams caught the attention of the Cardinals with his play in college all-star games after his senior season. In the East-West Shrine Bowl, he snared a 48-yard touchdown toss from Stanford’s Dave Lewis. Then, in the Hula Bowl, Purdue’s Bob Griese connected with Williams on touchdown throws of 43 and 40 yards.

The Cardinals picked Williams in the first round of the 1967 NFL draft. He was the second wide receiver taken. The first was Michigan State’s Gene Washington by the Minnesota Vikings.

“Williams was the surest bet to help us,” Cardinals head coach Charley Winner said to the Post-Dispatch. “He has ideal size. In addition to speed, he’s big enough to crack back as a blocker and he definitely can catch the ball in a crowd.”

Cardinals receivers coach Fran Polsfoot told the newspaper, “He excels at catching the hard passes. He’ll go up and fight for the ball with a good spring in his legs and intense desire.”

At training camp with the 1967 Cardinals, Williams was accepted by veteran receivers Bobby Joe Conrad and Sonny Randle, and quarterback Charley Johnson.

“I’ve been really surprised by the help I’ve got from the other receivers,” Williams told the Post-Dispatch. “Bobby Joe Conrad showed me how to break on my pass patterns. Sonny Randle helped me in learning to make certain alignments. Charley Johnson has helped in telling me how to read defenses and be in the right place.”

Randle said to the newspaper, “He has all the tools. As soon as he knows the right places to be, he’ll be a good one.”

Williams did so well in exhibition games that the Cardinals traded Randle to the San Francisco 49ers for a draft choice three days before the 1967 season opener.

On Monday night, Oct. 30, 1967, the reigning NFL champion Green Bay Packers played at St. Louis. Matched against Herb Adderley, destined for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Williams caught touchdown passes of 49 and 48 yards from Jim Hart. On a halfback option play, Johnny Roland also completed a pass to Williams in the end zone but it was nullified by an offsides penalty on a lineman. Described by the Green Bay Press-Gazette as “jet-like” and “explosive,” Williams made six catches for 147 yards in the game.

“The kid’s good,” Adderley told the Post-Dispatch. “I predict a great future for him. He’s not like most of these rookies who go out and see how fast they can run. Williams makes moves. I backed off and played him loose the second half. He could have those short ones, but no more bombs.” Game stats and Video

Williams completed his rookie season with 28 catches and five touchdowns.

Hard to cover

Convinced Williams was headed for stardom, the Cardinals traded Billy Gambrell to the Detroit Lions for a draft choice just before the start of the 1968 season, making Williams and Bobby Joe Conrad the starting wide receivers.

Williams had 43 catches, including a team-high six for touchdowns, in 12 starts for the 1968 Cardinals before an injury to his left knee sidelined him for the final two games.

One of his season highlights was a 71-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Hart against the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I was supposed to cut him off short and (safety) Clendon Thomas was supposed to take him long,” Steelers cornerback Marv Woodson told the Post-Dispatch, “but Williams just outran Thomas, and Jim Hart threw a perfect pass. No cornerback can stop a good receiver from catching a perfect pass, no matter how well he covers his man.” Game stats

(Of Williams’ 22 touchdown receptions in his five seasons with St. Louis, 12 were of more than 30 yards.)

In 1969, Williams led the Cardinals in receptions (56). His seven touchdown catches came in two games.

On Nov. 2, 1969, Williams scored four touchdowns on passes from Charley Johnson, but the Saints beat the Cardinals, 51-42. “Here I am with my greatest day statistically, but the luster is taken off,” Williams said to the Post-Dispatch. “You come away with an empty feeling because you lost the ballgame.” Game stats

A month later, Jim Hart connected with Williams on three touchdown passes against the Steelers. Game stats

Unhappy days

Based on his first three seasons, the Cardinals had high hopes for Williams in 1970. At training camp, Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch observed that Williams “gives promise of leadership because he’s sharp, articulate and the kind of performer who can inspire.”

Broeg added, “Williams’ forte is the incredible leaping ability and possessiveness that permits him to get higher than backfield defenders and to out-grapple them for the ball.”

The season, though, was a bust. Williams clashed with head coach Charley Winner and told the Post-Dispatch, “Most of the players didn’t respect him.”

Williams had 23 receptions in 1970 (33 fewer than the year before) and, according to the Post-Dispatch, Jim Hart lost confidence in him. “Dave Williams was a dejected, withdrawn football player, dressing quickly and leaving the locker room before his teammates, and intentionally ostracizing himself from the club,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Charley Winner was fired after the season and became an assistant on the staff of Washington Redskins head coach George Allen. The Cardinals offered to trade Williams to Washington for a second-round draft pick, but Winner recommended to Allen that he decline the proposal, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Bob Hollway was the Cardinals’ head coach in 1971 but Williams regressed, losing his starting job to rookie Mel Gray and finishing with 12 catches.

On Feb. 1, 1972, after the Cardinals made Oregon wide receiver Bobby Moore (who later became Ahmad Rashad) their first pick in the draft, they traded Williams to the San Diego Chargers for wide receiver Walker Gillette. (Like Williams, Moore went to high school in Tacoma.)

“Williams had been a big disappointment to the Cardinals,” the Post-Dispatch exclaimed. “His teammates often accused him of not running correct patterns, and this alienated him from the squad.”

Never a dull moment

After a season and a half with the Chargers (21 total catches, three touchdowns), Williams was placed on waivers and acquired by the Steelers in October 1973. He played in one game for them and joined the Southern California Sun of the World Football League in 1974.

Playing for head coach Tom Fears, Williams spent two seasons with the Sun and revived his career _ 59 catches, 11 touchdowns in 1974, and 21 catches, nine touchdowns in 1975. “Williams runs like a deer, is sure-handed and runs exemplary pass patterns,” the Los Angeles Times noted.

In November 1975, Williams, 30, became the first player to sign with the Seattle Seahawks, an NFL expansion team slated to begin its inaugural season in 1976. Part of his contract required Williams to make promotional appearances to generate interest in the fledgling franchise.

Williams entered a professional indoor track meet in Seattle in the spring of 1976 after receiving approval from the Seahawks. While running an obstacle course, his spikes caught in the boards and he tore cartilage in his left knee.

Meanwhile, in June 1976, Williams filed a damage lawsuit against Dr. Arnold Mandell, a former team psychiatrist for the Chargers, who wrote a book, “The Nightmare Season,” about his experiences with the team. In his lawsuit, Williams said Mandell falsely accused him of “defects of character.”

Two months later, in August 1976, the Seahawks put Williams on waivers because he failed a physical. Williams threatened to sue the Seahawks, claiming they were responsible for the knee injury he suffered in the track meet.

In December 1976, Williams told the Tacoma News Tribune that he and the Seahawks reached an out-of-court settlement. “We sat down and resolved the matter in about 20 minutes,” Williams said to the newspaper.

With his playing career done, Williams eventually became a spokesman for the Pro Football Retired Players Association.

In May 1979, a San Diego County Superior Court jury awarded Williams $300,000 in his libel trial against the former Chargers psychiatrist.

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Cards prospect Bill Plummer got stuck in catcher pipeline

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Prospects on May 29, 2024| 9 Comments »

During the 10 years he was a catcher in the big leagues, Bill Plummer may have been the most patient man in baseball. For most of that time, he sat and watched, waiting to get called into a game.

Plummer had hoped to play for the Cardinals, the club that signed him to his first professional contract, but it didn’t happen. Instead, he was mostly with the Reds, whose starting catcher, Johnny Bench, performed at a level that earned him election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Being Bench’s backup kept Plummer on the bench. On the rare times Plummer did get on the field, the team he often did the best against was the Cardinals.

In the genes

Plummer came from a baseball family. His father, also named Bill, was a pitcher in the minor leagues for five seasons in the 1920s. An uncle, Red Baldwin, was a longtime minor-league catcher. Plummer’s father and uncle were teammates on the 1924-25 Seattle Indians.

Playing baseball at Shasta College in Redding, Calif., in April 1965, Plummer caught the attention of the reigning World Series champion Cardinals. Scout Bill Sayles offered him $10,000 and said the club also would finance the remainder of Plummer’s college education. “I came from a small country town (Anderson, Calif.), so I jumped at the offer,” Plummer recalled to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

According to the Redding Record Searchlight, “The Cardinals were interested in Plummer because of his hitting, ability as a catcher and rifle arm.”

Plummer, 18, joined the Cardinals’ 1965 Florida Rookie League team in Sarasota managed by George Kissell.

Behind the plate, Plummer looked terrific. He was “reputed to have one of the best arms in the Cardinals organization,” the Modesto Bee reported. Standing at the plate, he looked helpless. With Class A Eugene (Ore.) in 1966, Plummer batted .144 and had more strikeouts (33) than hits (18).

Catching on

Assigned to Class A Modesto in 1967, Plummer was managed by Sparky Anderson. The relationship did not begin well.

“I was using Sonny Ruberto for most of the catching early in the season and Plummer didn’t like it,” Anderson told the Post-Dispatch. “He gave me a mean stare one day as he entered the shower. I told him that stare would only get him back to Eugene if he kept it up. He played better after that.”

Plummer said to the Dayton Daily News, “I was young and had temper problems. I was frustrated and depressed because baseball was my career and I was floundering in the minors. I used to get so depressed I’d hide somewhere, and have a few cocktails where nobody talked baseball.”

Anderson eventually moved Ruberto to the infield and made Plummer the everyday catcher. Though he struggled to make contact (100 strikeouts, 93 hits), his catching skills were impressive. Modesto won a league championship.

The Cardinals organization had an abundance of talent in 1967. The big-league club became World Series champions that year. One of its core players was the catcher, Tim McCarver. The Cardinals’ first-round pick in the amateur draft that year was McCarver’s heir apparent, Ted Simmons.

Plummer’s hopes of becoming a Cardinal went down the drain when they left him off the 40-man big-league winter roster after the 1967 season. The Cubs claimed him in the November 1967 Rule 5 draft.

Forgotten man

By drafting him, the Cubs were required to keep Plummer, 21, on their big-league roster the entire 1968 season or else offer him back to the Cardinals, but manager Leo Durocher wasn’t inclined to use a catcher who hadn’t played above the Class A level.

As the Chicago Tribune noted, Plummer “appears doomed to little work if Randy Hundley stays healthy behind the plate.”

Hundley caught nearly every game for the 1968 Cubs. Plummer was mostly ignored. He got into two games all season. In his debut, April 19, 1968, at St. Louis, he batted for pitcher Chuck Hartenstein and was struck out by Cardinals rookie reliever Hal Gilson. Boxscore

Plummer’s only other appearance came on May 12 during a Mets rout of the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Wrigley Field. Plummer caught two innings as a replacement for Hundley and was retired on a fly to right. Boxscore

“It was so bad that when we played an exhibition game in the middle of the year against the White Sox they called a catcher from the minors up to catch the game,” Plummer told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “They didn’t even use me then.”

Spending most of his time in the bullpen located along the outfield sideline at Wrigley Field, Plummer was similar to a spectator in the stands. Mike Murphy, a founder of the ballpark’s Bleacher Bums, told McClatchy News Service, “He was like one of us. He sat on a bench, just like we did. He’d wave and smile at us. He hit lots of home runs in batting practice. All the girls noticed him.”

Though popular, the season of inactivity “set me back a couple of years,” Plummer said to the Associated Press.

Reserve duty

Plummer hoped to get drafted by one of the four expansion teams (Expos, Padres, Pilots, Royals) that entered the majors in 1969, or go to any other club needing to play a catcher, but instead the Cubs sent him to the Reds in January 1969 for reliever Ted Abernathy.

Johnny Bench, who in 1968 won National League Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove awards, had a lock on the Reds starting catching job and his backup was the former Cardinals veteran, Pat Corrales.

According to the Redding Record Searchlight, “there was some talk of converting Plummer into a pitcher,” but the Reds reconsidered. 

Plummer spent most of the next three seasons (1969-71) in the minors before emerging as Bench’s backup in 1972. According to the Modesto Bee, Sparky Anderson, who became Reds manager in 1970, said Plummer “already has an arm better than two-thirds of the catchers up here.”

Asked to describe the catching strengths he and Bench possessed, Plummer said to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “John had the excellent release, great foot movement and super hands. He was excellent at receiving throws from the outfield and making tags. I was the kind of guy who stayed in and blocked the plate and crunched people. Those were my skills.”

The Enquirer added, “Plummer was adept defensively. He was a fine handler of pitchers and had a strong arm. He could make all the plays behind the plate.”

Reds pitcher Jack Billingham said to the newspaper, “He couldn’t carry Bench’s bat, but, defensively, you didn’t lose much at all when Plummer was in there.”

In 797 career at-bats for the Reds, Plummer hit .186, but there were some highlights, especially against the Cardinals and one of their former pitchers.

Magic moments

On June 8, 1974, facing Steve Carlton at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, Plummer slugged two home runs and Bench, playing third, hit another, but the Phillies prevailed, 6-5. In 16 career plate appearances versus Carlton, Plummer batted .429 and had a .500 on-base mark. Boxscore

Plummer’s most productive game came almost exactly two years later, June 6, 1976, a Sunday afternoon at St. Louis. Filling in for Bench, who was experiencing muscle spasms, Plummer had seven RBI in the Reds’ 13-2 triumph at Busch Memorial Stadium.

Plummer had a RBI-single against Pete Falcone in the second, a three-run triple that knocked Falcone out of the game in the third, and a three-run home run versus Danny Frisella in the sixth.

“I actually felt chills when I circled the bases after hitting that homer,” Plummer told The Cincinnati Post. “Seven RBI. That’s almost a full season’s work for me.”

Plummer’s home run would have been a grand slam if George Foster hadn’t been picked off second on the previous play with the bases loaded.

As for Plummer’s bases-clearing triple, it came about when his liner took a high hop on the AstroTurf, went over the head of right fielder Willie Crawford and rolled to the wall. It was Plummer’s only big-league triple. Boxscore

A week later, playing the Cardinals at Cincinnati, Plummer had three hits, a walk, two RBI and scored twice, but the Cardinals won, 12-9. Two of Plummer’s hits _ a single and a home run _ came against Bob Forsch. Boxscore

Plummer had three three-hit games in the majors and two of those were against the Cardinals.

Of Plummer’s 19 RBI for the Reds in 1976, 10 came against the Cardinals. For the season, he hit .248 overall but .381 versus St. Louis.

Baseball teacher

During his time with Cincinnati, the Reds played in four World Series but Plummer never appeared in any of those games.

Released by the Reds in 1978, he played a final season with the Mariners.

Plummer managed in the minors for 20 years, primarily in the farm systems of the Mariners, Tigers and Diamondbacks. He also coached in the majors with the Mariners (1982-83 and 1988-91) and Rockies (1993-94).

Plummer got one chance to manage in the majors. That was with the Mariners in 1992. Though the team had future Hall of Famers Edgar Martinez (the American League batting champion that year), Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson, the 1992 Mariners finished with the worst record in the league (64-98). Plummer was fired and replaced by Lou Piniella.

A grandson of Plummer, Conner Menez, pitched in the majors for the Giants (2019-21) and Cubs (2022).

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Soldier’s story: How Eddie Kazak became Cardinals all-star

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects on May 10, 2024| 9 Comments »

In late July 1944, Allied troops were on the outskirts of Brest, a strategic seaport town in northwest France that the Germans occupied during World War II and turned into a submarine base. The Allies were determined to drive out the Nazis, and hoped to make the harbor a supply hub.

Among the infantry advancing on Brest was a U.S. Army private, Eddie Kazak, a St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect. In the combat that ensued, Kazak had a bayonet driven through his left arm and had his right elbow crushed during an artillery attack. It took more than a year for him to recover. Discharged in December 1945, doctors warned him against playing baseball again.

Four years later, Kazak was the Cardinals’ rookie third baseman and the starter for the National League in the 1949 All-Star Game.

Dangerous work

A son of Polish immigrants, Edward “Eddie” Tkaczuk was born in Steubenville, Ohio, and raised in Muse, Pa., 20 miles south of Pittsburgh. His father, Joseph Tkaczuk, was a coal miner, working “down deep where the sun and fresh air are withheld by earthen barriers as formidable as prison bars,” Bob Broeg wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

After Eddie graduated from high school, he joined his dad as a coal digger. “To blink his way into the daylight and up to the cashier’s cage above ground for $50 checks every two weeks, he had to load 130 or more tons,” Broeg reported. 

One day, a coal car, swinging around a bend too fast, jumped a rail, overturned and pinned Eddie against a tunnel wall, cracking several ribs.

When he recovered, Eddie, 19, resumed playing amateur baseball, including on Sundays for the coal mine team. He got an offer to turn pro with the Valdosta (Ga.) Trojans, a Class D minor-league club with no big-league affiliation.

Eddie wanted to sign but sought approval from his father because it meant giving up the steadier income he shared with the family from mining. “Papa Tkaczuk was eager for his son to have an opportunity to spend his life above ground at an easier task,” Bob Broeg wrote. “The boy was given parental blessing.”

Purple heart

A second baseman who hit for average, Eddie played for Valdosta in 1940 and impressed Joe Cusick, manager of the Cardinals’ Albany (Ga.) farm team. On Cusick’s recommendation, the Cardinals bought Eddie’s contract for $1,000 and brought him into their system. He batted .378 with 221 hits for Albany in 1941.

While with the Houston Buffaloes in 1942, Eddie met Thelma Bee Gregg and they became a couple. After the season, Eddie, 22, enlisted for military duty and went into the Army. That’s how he ended up in France in the summer of 1944.

The Germans fortified their defenses at Brest and the fighting was intense. In hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier, Eddie was knocked to the ground. He rolled over as the attacker rushed forward and thrust a bayonet through Eddie’s left arm, just missing an artery. “I think I shot him then because suddenly I was free,” Eddie said to Bob Broeg.

The wound required 19 stitches and left a huge scar.

Two weeks later, during an advancement, Eddie came under heavy fire. Shell fragments rained all around, striking Eddie and bringing down a structure he was near. He was buried in bricks and his right elbow, the one he used for throwing a baseball, was shattered.

Eddie spent the next year and a half in military hospitals. Doctors wanted to amputate the arm but he was against it. “For nearly a year of that time, his right arm was shaped like a capital ‘L’ and he couldn’t move the first three fingers of his right hand,” Broeg reported. “Then there was a delicate operation. Pieces of crushed bone were removed and plastic was used to repair the shattered elbow.”

Movement returned to the fingers, but when he was cleared to return to civilian life, Eddie, 25, had to weigh the advice of doctors against his desire to resume his baseball career. “I was warned to give up baseball because throwing might dislocate the synthetic elbow,” he told the Associated Press. “The doctors also said that, if the elbow should lock, there was nothing they could do about it.”

Eddie thought it over and chose baseball.

Lots of changes

In 1946, Eddie married Thelma Bee Gregg and they settled in her hometown of Austin, Texas. He took an off-season job as a postman, delivering mail. “I like the walking, the exercise,” he told Broeg. He also chose a simplified spelling of his last name, changing Tkaczuk to Kazak. As broadcaster Harry Caray might say, Kazak spelled backwards is still Kazak.

Kazak came to 1946 spring training to play second base in the Cardinals’ system but almost quit. He told the Newspaper Enterprise Association, “I couldn’t throw or swing properly. The pain killed me.”

He did daily exercises to strengthen his right arm and gradually made enough progress to perform. He also changed his batting style to compensate for the damaged arm, moving his hands up the handle and using a choked grip. Broeg described him as a good wrist hitter, “meaning Kazak can delay his swing until the last second and then snap into a pitch, buggy-whipping the ball.”

As the Newspaper Enterprise Association noted, “His powerful wrists make him an extraordinary line drive hitter. He gets the bat around so quickly that he gives the impression of jerking the ball out of the catcher’s glove, pulling it into left field.”

Kazak’s hitting kept him in the game. He made 47 errors at second with Columbus (Ga.) in 1946, but batted .326 with 88 RBI in 93 games for Omaha in 1947.

Promoted to Class AAA Rochester in 1948, Kazak was moved to third base by manager Cedric Durst. “I hate to have to pivot and make those snap throws (at second),” Kazak told the Associated Press. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted, “The throw from third is longer but it is easier for Eddie to make.”

After hitting .309 with 85 RBI for Rochester in 1948, Kazak, 28, got called up to the big leagues in September and made his debut with the Cardinals. He got six hits, including three doubles, in six games.

Opportunity knocks

After Cardinals third baseman Whitey Kurowski had bone chips removed from his right elbow late in the 1948 season, he came to training camp the following spring and was unable to throw, opening the door for Kazak to make the team.

The 1949 Cardinals began the season with rookie Tommy Glaviano as the third baseman and Kazak as backup. When Glaviano struggled to hit, Kazak became the starter in the fifth game of the season. Kazak hit .385 in April and .359 in May.

On May 5, Cardinals second baseman Red Schoendienst was injured and Kazak replaced him, starting five games at second. It didn’t hurt his hitting. On May 9, he slugged his first big-league home run, a grand slam versus the Dodgers’ Joe Hatten at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field. Boxscore

Two months later, Kazak was back in Ebbets Field as the National League starting third baseman for the All-Star Game. Kazak was selected ahead of the Giants’ Sid Gordon and the Braves’ Bob Elliott in fan balloting. “It’s the greatest thrill I’ve ever had,” Kazak told The Sporting News.

(The National League all-star catcher was the Phillies’ Andy Seminick, who, like Kazak, grew up in Muse, Pa.)

Kazak went 2-for-2 in the game _ a single against Mel Parnell in the second and a RBI-single in the third versus Virgil Trucks.

He also was involved in a fielding controversy in the first. After scooping up a George Kell grounder, Kazak made a low throw to first baseman Johnny Mize, who dropped the ball. According to umpire Cal Hubbard, Kell would have been out if Mize had held onto the ball. Official scorer Roscoe McGowen charged Kazak with the error, but later reversed his ruling, giving Mize the error instead. Boxscore

Painful slide

Two weeks later, the Cardinals (52-36) were in Brooklyn to play the first-place Dodgers (53-34). Facing Joe Hatten again in the second inning, Kazak drove a ball to deep center. It smacked against the wall and caromed directly to center fielder Duke Snider.

Kazak, not expecting the ball to get to Snider so quickly, initially thought he had a stand-up double. “I realized all of a sudden I had to slide,” he recalled to the Austin American-Statesman. “I was too close to the bag for a normal slide and I plowed right on through the cushion, breaking the strap and separating the bag from the iron pin.”

Kazak writhed in pain and was carried on a stretcher to the clubhouse. “I was scared to death because it hurt way up into my hip,” Kazak told the Austin newspaper. Boxscore

He suffered chipped bones in his right ankle, jamming it where it fits the socket, and was unable to play the remainder of July and all of August.

On Labor Day, Sept. 5, 1949, the Pirates led the Cardinals in the seventh inning at St. Louis when Kazak made a surprise appearance, hobbling to the plate to bat for pitcher Ted Wilks. The holiday crowd responded with a thunderous ovation. In a game for the first time since injuring his ankle, Kazak swung at the first pitch from Bill Werle and whacked it into the bleachers in left for a home run.

“As he limped slowly around the bases, the roar of the crowd increased in appreciation,” The Sporting News reported. Boxscore

Kazak made four more pinch-hit appearances that month. For the season, he batted .304 (including .312 versus the Dodgers) and had an on-base percentage of .362. The Cardinals (96-58) finished a game behind the National League champion Dodgers (97-57). “We’d have won it with Kazak in the lineup all season,” Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer said to the Austin American-Statesman.

In October, Kazak had an ankle operation. He was the 1950 Cardinals’ Opening Day third baseman. He started again the next night, made three errors and didn’t start again until June.

After beginning the 1951 season with the Cardinals, Kazak was demoted to the minors in May. A year later, he was dealt to the Reds. He appeared in 13 games for them and spent the rest of his playing days in the minors.

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Cardinals gave Tom Qualters quite an initiation to majors

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects on March 6, 2024| 6 Comments »

The number stands out from the stats line like a wart, ugly and embarrassing: 162.00. That’s the earned run average Tom Qualters had in his rookie season with the Phillies.

The Cardinals were responsible for giving him that statistical shiner. Qualters, 18, made his big-league debut against them. He faced seven Cardinals and retired one. Six scored. His line: 0.1 innings, six runs, 162.00 ERA in his lone appearance of the 1953 regular season.

To his credit, Qualters recovered from that clobbering. He eventually went to the minors and became a teammate of Satchel Paige and Whitey Herzog. Then he returned to the majors and pitched for an American League pennant contender, retiring the likes of Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.

Bonus baby

A standout amateur athlete in McKeesport, Pa., near Pittsburgh, Qualters developed into a dominating right-handed pitcher. He struck out 22 in a no-hitter against Donora (hometown of Stan Musial). In 1951, at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, Qualters started for a team of American Legion all-stars managed by Hall of Famer Pie Traynor.

After he graduated from high school in June 1953, Qualters was offered a signing bonus of at least $25,000 by Pirates general manager Branch Rickey, according to The Pittsburgh Press, but instead accepted a $40,000 offer from the Phillies. Qualters “had his heart set on joining the Phillies from the time he was in knee pants,” The Sporting News reported.

Major League Baseball had a rule then that any amateur who got a signing bonus of more than $4,000 had to stay with the big-league club for two full years. (It was intended to keep the wealthiest clubs from signing scores of prospects and stockpiling them in the minors.) That meant Qualters, who signed on June 16, 1953, had to remain in the majors with the Phillies until at least June 16, 1955.

“I might have been better off going to the minors for experience and a chance to pitch regularly, but I just couldn’t pass up that money,” Qualters said to The Pittsburgh Press. “I used most of it to fix up our home in McKeesport and also pay for an operation on my mother.”

(More than 30 years later, in a 1987 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Qualters said baseball’s bonus rule “was devastating to me” because “I had no business being there” in the majors.)

Learning curve

When he joined the Phillies, “I was really scared,” Qualters said to The Pittsburgh Press. “It was the first time I ever had been away from home and I didn’t know what kind of a reception I’d receive … Being a bonus player, I thought they’d give me the cold shoulder, but they treated me like one of the boys and were always giving me advice. I spent a lot of time with Jim Konstanty in the bullpen and he went out of his way to be nice. Robin Roberts, too.”

(Decades later, Qualters gave conflicting versions of how his Phillies teammates received him. In 1984, Qualters said to the Philadelphia Daily News, “Guys like Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, Richie Ashburn _ they were great. They made the ride a little smoother, and they certainly didn’t have to.” Three years later, Qualters told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “The players and the manager (Steve O’Neill) were from the old school and didn’t accept me. You can imagine the resentment. As a result, I was off by myself most of the time.”)

The Phillies’ plan was for Qualters to learn by observing rather than pitching. Though he was occupying a roster spot, there was no desire to put him into a regular-season game. “I was a batting practice pitcher, a high-priced batting practice pitcher,” Qualters told the Philadelphia Daily News.

On June 29, 1953, in an exhibition between the Phillies and Athletics for the benefit of the Junior Baseball Federation of Philadelphia, Qualters started before a crowd of 15,293 at Shibe Park. The jittery teen got through the first inning, but gave up six runs in the second before he was lifted.

Two weeks later, Qualters pitched in another exhibition game for the Phillies against the minor-league Baltimore Orioles and yielded five runs in three innings.

Though those exhibition performances did nothing to entice manager Steve O’Neill to pitch Qualters when the Phillies played for keeps, he told the Philadelphia Bulletin, “The boy has everything he needs, a fastball and a terrific curve. If he isn’t a real pitching prospect, then I’ve never seen one.”

Rough stuff

On Sept. 13, 1953, a Sunday at St. Louis, the Cardinals led the Phillies, 11-1, entering the bottom of the eighth. With the outcome not much in doubt, O’Neill waved a proverbial white flag, choosing to let Qualters make his official debut. The Cardinals, though, were all business.

The first batter Qualters faced, hulking slugger Steve Bilko, slammed a home run. The next to come up was Bilko’s physical opposite, Peanuts Lowrey. He drew a walk, then scooted to second on a Qualters wild pitch.

Qualters hit the next batter, Rip Repulski, with a pitch. Harvey Haddix, the Cardinals’ pitcher, followed with a single, loading the bases. Solly Hemus also singled, scoring Lowrey, and reloading the bases.

The first out Qualters recorded came when a future Hall of Famer, Red Schoendienst, grounded to first. Hemus was forced out at second, but Repulski scored from third on the play.

Next up was Stan Musial.

“I was told never to give him the same pitch twice, and this stuck with me like a nursery rhyme,” Qualters said to The Pittsburgh Press. “Our catcher (Stan Lopata) called for a slow curve and Musial swung and missed. I felt pretty good. Then the catcher decided to call for the same pitch and I shuddered. I knew what the boys in the bullpen told me, but who was I to shake off the catcher? So I threw the slow curve again and Musial hit it against the wall.”

Musial’s two-run double knocked Qualters out of the game. Jim Konstanty relieved and gave up a single to Enos Slaughter, driving in Musial and making the score 17-1. Boxscore

It would be four years before Qualters pitched in another regular-season game in the majors.

Starting over

Qualters spent the entire 1954 season with the Phillies and, though healthy, never played in a regular-season game. 

In 1955, as mandated by the bonus rule, the Phillies began the season with Qualters on their roster but he again didn’t get into a regular-season game. The Sporting News referred to him as “Money Bags” because he was being paid without having to perform.

When Qualters completed his two-year stint on the big-league roster in June 1955, he was sent to a Class B farm club in Reidsville, N.C. “I just want to pitch in games, somewhere, anywhere,” Qualters said to the Associated Press.

Years later, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “When I went to Reidsville, I found I had lost my velocity. I didn’t have my riding fastball anymore.”

With the Class AAA Miami Marlins in 1956, Qualters, 21, was a teammate of Satchel Paige, 50. Paige was 11-4 with a 1.86 ERA. Qualters had his first good season as a pro _ 5-5 with a 3.38 ERA.

Paige and Qualters were back with Miami in 1957. Joining them was an outfielder, Whitey Herzog, 25, who hit .272. Qualters led the pitching staff in appearances (46) and innings pitched (186) and won 11. Paige had 10 wins and a 2.42 ERA.

Qualters admired the glove Paige used, an aged Mort Cooper model. “It looks like it belongs in the museum at Cooperstown but I like the way it handles,” Qualters told the Miami News. Qualters swapped Paige a new glove for his relic.

The Phillies called up Qualters in September 1957 and he made six relief appearances for them. In one, against the Cardinals, he gave up two runs in 0.2 innings. Boxscore

Qualters began the 1958 season with the Phillies, pitched in one game, got waived and was claimed by the White Sox.

A highlight came on May 25, 1958, in a game against the Red Sox. Qualters relieved starter Dick Donovan with the bases loaded and got Ted Williams to fly out to center. Boxscore

Two months later, at Yankee Stadium, Qualters pitched two scoreless innings and retired Mickey Mantle on a pop-up to second. Boxscore

Qualters made 26 relief appearance for the 1958 White Sox, who finished second behind the American League champion Yankees.

The White Sox had Qualters in their plans for 1959 until he injured his pitching elbow in spring training. Assigned to Class AAA Indianapolis, managed by Mort Cooper’s brother, Walker Cooper, Qualters developed nerve problems in his pitching hand and never got back to the majors. The 1959 White Sox won the American League pennant. “I was all set to be on that pitching staff (until getting injured),” Qualters said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That really hurt.”

Qualters became a regional supervisor for the Pennsylvania Fish Commission and was responsible for overseeing enforcement for 10 counties, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He was in charge of 15 field officers and 80 deputies.

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An interview with author of Charlie Peete biography

Posted in Hitters, Prospects on March 1, 2024| 16 Comments »

If not for a tragic twist of fate, baseball fans today might be recalling Charlie Peete much like they do Lou Brock or Curt Flood as being an integral part of Cardinals championship clubs.

An outfielder and minor league batting champion in the Cardinals system, Peete was on the cusp of becoming a prominent player in the majors.

On Nov. 27, 1956, four months after he made his major-league debut with the Cardinals, Peete, 27, was killed in an airplane crash in Venezuela. His wife and three children died with him.

Author Danny Spewak has written a biography of Peete. It’s a compelling page turner. If you appreciate good writing, original research and a gripping yarn, this book is for you. It’s “Cardinal Dreams: The Legacy of Charlie Peete and a Life Cut Short.” Order a copy on Amazon by clicking on this link.

Here is an email interview I did with Danny Spewak in February 2024:

Q: Congratulations on the book, Danny. As Jack Buck used to say, it’s a winner. What prompted you to choose Charlie Peete as the subject?

A: “Thank you so much, Mark. I’m a St. Louis native, lifelong Cardinals fan and avid reader of your site. Charlie Peete’s name first came on my radar after the tragic death of Oscar Taveras in 2014. The circumstances surrounding the loss of Taveras, a promising young Cardinals outfielder, shared many similarities with Peete’s passing in a 1956 commercial plane crash. More recently, when I began researching topics for my second nonfiction book, I revisited Peete’s story and discovered an incredible legacy worth sharing. Peete is not widely known to Cardinals fans, but he’s one of the franchise’s greatest ‘what-if?’ stories, the kind of player who could have developed into a real star if not for his premature death. More importantly, Peete played a key role in the integration of the Cardinals in the 1950s and, as the book argues, laid the foundation for the groundbreaking World Series teams of the next decade.”

Q: What qualities made Charlie Peete a top prospect?

A: “The Cardinals viewed Peete as a classic five-tool prospect and were thrilled by his performance in the minor leagues after drafting him in late 1954. Bing Devine, who eventually became the Cardinals general manager, singled out Peete as an example of how an organization could build a winning franchise through the draft process. At Class AAA stops in Rochester and Omaha, Peete displayed an impressive ability to hit for both power and average, and his outfield range and throwing arm were among the best in the organization.”

Q: Charlie Peete’s manager at Omaha in 1955 and 1956 was Johnny Keane. Keane later was an influential mentor for Bob Gibson. Was Keane a similar mentor to Peete?

A. “Absolutely. In a questionnaire he completed in 1956, Peete specifically listed Johnny Keane as one of his top influences in baseball and he flourished tremendously under Keane’s tutelage in 1955-56. Keane, who once compared Peete to Hack Wilson, worked closely with him on his batting stance and helped him to greatly improve his power numbers.”

Q: Tom Alston, the first black to play for the Cardinals, was a teammate of Charlie Peete at Omaha. Any insights on how they got along?

A: “Peete and Alston seemed to have a strong relationship with each other, and as two of the trailblazing players in the Cardinals minor-league system, their careers were wholly intertwined in the mid-1950s. At Omaha, they were the first two black players to break the professional baseball color barrier in that city, which at the time still had many segregated institutions such as the municipal fire department. Although they never did play together in St. Louis, Peete and Alston both helped to change public perceptions at a time when the American civil rights movement was quickly accelerating.”

Q: Jackie Robinson’s last season in the majors was Charlie Peete’s first and only season in the majors. The Cardinals played the Dodgers in St. Louis soon after Peete got called up in July 1956 and again a month later. Any indication of interaction between Robinson and Peete?

A: “Peete and Robinson appeared briefly on the same field at Busch Stadium on July 22, 1956, when an aging Robinson pinch-hit for the Dodgers while Peete played center field as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth. It was a remarkable moment for Peete, who in 1949 had tried out unsuccessfully for the Dodgers organization in his home state of Virginia and undoubtedly drew inspiration from Robinson’s entrance into the majors in 1947. Although it is not known whether Peete met Robinson on that day in 1956, he certainly drew Robinson’s attention by recording two outfield assists, including a double play he completed with Stan Musial at first base.”

Q: The Cardinals were late to integrate. Do you think Charlie Peete was comfortable being with the franchise? How was he treated?

A: “It’s difficult to say. Publicly, Peete said he valued his time with the big-league club in St. Louis, and the organization had nothing but praise for him as a player. His teammates also recalled very fond memories of him. However, the experience for Peete must have been extremely isolating, given that he was one of only a handful of black players in the organization at the time and the only black player on the major-league squad during that portion of the 1956 season. That was a hard time for any black player anywhere in baseball. When Peete played in Omaha, he could not even bring his family to live with him because the housing market was so deeply segregated. Also, as you mentioned, the Cardinals had resisted integration in the late 1940s and early 1950s and drew significant criticism from civil rights leaders in St. Louis because of that decision. That all changed when Anheuser-Busch and Gussie Busch took ownership of the franchise in 1953 and immediately took steps to integrate the organization. Despite Busch’s more tolerant and forward-thinking stance, it still took some time for the Cardinals to shake their negative perception _ which certainly impacted Peete. For example, after Peete’s demotion from St. Louis in August 1956, one of the city’s leading African American newspapers, the Argus, questioned why he had been sent back to the minors so quickly and felt the Cardinals were still applying unfair and unrealistic standards to black players.”

Q. What kind of teammate was Stan Musial to Charlie Peete?

A. “Peete adored Musial. When asked, ‘Who is the greatest player you have ever seen?’ Peete listed Musial because he ‘was a real ballplayer all around.’ “

Q. In 1957, following Charlie Peete’s death, the Cardinals shifted third baseman Ken Boyer to center field. Do you think if he had lived that Peete would have been the center fielder for the 1957 Cardinals?

A. “Although there are no guarantees, I do believe Peete would have started in center field for the Cardinals in 1957. In the months after his death, the Cardinals struggled to find another candidate for the job and ended up making the emergency decision to shift Boyer to center _ something I don’t think they would have needed to do if they still had Peete. I think Peete had clearly shown during his 23-game trial in 1956 that he could play defense at an elite major-league level, given his perfect fielding percentage and several dazzling plays in the outfield. Peete’s .192 batting average with the Cardinals in 1956 was not good, but as the reigning Class AAA batting champion there wasn’t much doubt in the organization that he would hit eventually.”

Q. Do the Cardinals still trade for Curt Flood in December 1957 if Charlie Peete was on the team?

A. “This is a fascinating question. Bing Devine’s first trade as general manager was the one that brought Flood over from Cincinnati at the winter meetings that year. I can see a scenario where Devine, satisfied with Peete as his center fielder, opts not to trade for Flood. In that scenario, does Peete become the center fielder for the World Series teams of the sixties? Does Flood, having never been traded to St. Louis in the first place, ever challenge the reserve clause and take his case to the Supreme Court? The whole history of major-league labor relations might have been impacted. However, I still think it’s possible Devine might have traded for Flood anyway in December 1957, even if he had Peete on the roster. Flood had played infield during his brief time in the majors with Cincinnati and Devine seemed to like his overall skillset as a position player, not solely as a center fielder. (It was manager Fred Hutchinson who came up with the idea of putting Flood in the outfield.) It’s possible Peete and Flood could have co-existed together for the next decade.”

Q. Anything else you’d like to tell our readers about the book and why they should buy it?

A. “Despite the tragic ending, I hope readers will walk away from the book with a better appreciation for Charlie Peete’s remarkable life and accomplishments. This was someone who grew up in segregated Virginia and began his professional career in the Negro Leagues, at a time when opportunities for black baseball players were still extremely limited. Over the course of the 1950s, Peete played an important role in the integration of both the minor leagues and the major leagues, and he bridged a gap in Cardinals history that laid the groundwork for some truly historic teams of the 1960s. Charlie Peete is a name that Cardinals fans should know and remember.”

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