RetroSimba

Entering the 2003 season, some were concerned Woody Williams no longer was effective. The Cardinals pitcher was 36, his spring training ERA was 14.54 and he had been limited to 17 starts in 2002 because of two stints on the disabled list.

In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Joe Strauss asked whether an aging, fragile Williams would be treated by the Cardinals like “a pricey piece of red-and-white pitching porcelain.”

Instead, Williams opened 2003 like a staff pillar, posting three wins without allowing a run in his first three starts.

Here’s what Williams achieved:

_ Cardinals 7, Brewers 0, April 2, 2003, at St. Louis: Williams held Milwaukee to two hits in 6.2 innings. The Brewers were hitless until Eric Young tripled with two outs in the sixth. Milwaukee’s only other hit off Williams was a single by Jeffrey Hammonds in the seventh.

“I picture doing that every game,” Williams said. “That’s what I strive to do _ not a no-hitter, but every inning I pitch I want to get a zero.”

Mike Matheny backed Williams’ effort with a three-hit, two-RBI performance. Boxscore

_ Cardinals 3, Astros 0, April 12, 2003, at Houston: After skipping his second scheduled start at Colorado because of neck stiffness, Williams showed no signs of a problem against the Astros, pitching six scoreless innings and extending his streak to 12.2.

A Houston native, Williams improved his career record versus the Astros to 6-2. “I worked ahead and threw good pitches when I needed to,” Williams said.

In the first inning, Houston threatened when Geoff Blum singled and Jeff Bagwell doubled. Lance Berkman followed with a groundball to first baseman Tino Martinez, who threw to the plate to nail Blum. “That’s a veteran Gold Glove play to come up with that throw,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

“The play Tino made was huge,” said Williams. “It stopped the momentum.”

_ Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 3, April 18, 2003, at St. Louis: Williams yielded three hits in seven scoreless innings. Arizona was hitless until Lyle Overbay singled with one out in the fifth. The Diamondbacks scored their runs in the ninth off Russ Springer.

Williams’ scoreless innings streak was at 19.2. “If he ever comes out there and doesn’t have real good stuff and real good location, we’re all going to pass out,” La Russa said. Boxscore

_ Braves 4, Cardinals 3, April 24, 2003, at Atlanta: Williams kept the Braves scoreless for 5.1 innings before the streak ended at 25 when Julio Franco scored from third on a Johnny Estrada single. Boxscore

Williams rewarded the 2003 Cardinals by producing 18 wins in 220.2 innings, both single-season career highs for him.

Previously: Deal for Woody Williams sparked 2001 Cardinals

Read Full Post »

Ted Wilks was a right-handed pitcher who suffered from ulcers and had trouble controling his weight.

He also had an amazing knack for winning games for the Cardinals.

When Kyle Lohse built a 14-2 record for the 2012 Cardinals, he established the second-best mark in team history to begin a season. Only Wilks did better, according to the Cardinals.

A 28-year-old rookie, Wilks was 14-1 and eventually 15-2 in 1944. He split his final four decisions, finishing the regular season at 17-4 with a 2.64 ERA.

Manager Billy Southworth used Wilks, 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds, as a spot starter and reliever for the first part of the 1944 season. When George Munger went into the Army after posting an 11-3 record and 1.34 ERA, Wilks replaced him in the Cardinals’ rotation as the season entered July.

From July 2 through Aug. 29, Wilks won 11 consecutive decisions. During that stretch, he survived getting struck in the head by a line drive hit so hard that Southworth feared for Wilks’ life. The smash by Reds third baseman Steve Mesner during an Aug. 6 game at Cincinnati bounced high off Wilks’ skull and knocked out the pitcher. Boxscore

“Ted got out of that quite luckily,” Southworth told The Sporting News. “In my long experience in baseball, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

After striking Wilks, Southworth said, “the ball went about 40 feet into the air before (Whitey) Kurowski caught it at his regular third-base position. Wilks was knocked out and I’ll admit we were all pretty scared … Hit an inch lower, that drive could have been fatal.”

Said Wilks: “That ball came at me so fast I didn’t have time to duck.”

He recovered to pitch complete-game three-hitters in consecutive starts _ a 2-1 victory over the Cubs on Aug. 24 Boxscore and a 3-0 victory over the Reds on Aug. 29 that boosted Wilks’ record to 14-1. Boxscore

The son of a Polish immigrant who changed the family named from Wilzcek to Wilks when naturalized, Ted Wilks was born in Fulton, N.Y., about 20 miles from Syracuse. He joined the Cardinals’ organization as an amateur free agent in 1938 and spent six seasons in their minor-league system.

Because of ulcers, Wilks was classified 4-F and didn’t serve in the military during World War II. He was prone to gain weight, and headline writers poked fun at his waistline even while praising his pitching. Some examples from The Sporting News:

_ “Wilks Fills Out as Cardinals’ Fill-In”

_ “Chunky Ted Proves Winner”

_ “Chubby Righthander Rates Best of Majors’ Rookie Crop”

Frederick G. Lieb, a veteran baseball reporter, wrote: Ted is a husky young gent and needs to exercise to keep down to his best pitching weight of 175 pounds.

Regardless, Wilks was an effective pitcher. In 36 games (21 starts) for the 1944 Cardinals, Wilks had 16 complete games and four shutouts, helping them win the National League pennant.

In the 1944 World Series, Wilks started Game 3 but yielded four runs in 2.2 innings and got the loss in the Browns’ 6-2 victory. It was suspected that ulcers hampered Wilks in that start. Boxscore

Three games later, Wilks got another chance _ and delivered one of the greatest relief stints in Cardinals history.

In Game 6, Wilks relieved starter Max Lanier with one out and two on in the sixth. He retired all 11 batters he faced and preserved the Cardinals’ Series-clinching 3-1 victory. Boxscore

Converted to a reliever in 1946, Wilks thrived. He was 8-0 for the pennant-winning 1946 Cardinals, 4-0 for the 1947 Cardinals and 2-0 for the 1950 Cardinals.

In a 10-year major-league career with the Cardinals, Pirates and Indians, Wilks was 59-30.

Previously: Cardinals were victims of historic homers by Gil Hodges

Read Full Post »