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Don Drysdale vs. Stan Musial and the NL RBI record

Posted in Games, Hitters, Records on August 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

(Updated July 25, 2020)

Mel Ott, the left-handed Giants slugger who five times led the National League in home runs during the 1930s, was one of the boyhood favorites of Stan Musial.

Musial, in turn, was one of the boyhood idols of Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale.

When Musial surpassed Ott as the NL career leader in RBI by hitting a two-run home run against Drysdale on July 25, 1962, at St. Louis, it was a feat with special meaning for the Cardinals standout.

Musial broke Ott’s NL RBI record of 1,860.

In 2020, Hank Aaron is the major-league career leader in RBI at 2,297. Aaron also is the all-time NL leader at 2,202. Barry Bonds rates second in career NL RBI (1,996), 45 ahead of Musial (1,951).

Musial, 41, had a splendid season for the Cardinals in 1962. He was batting .351 entering the game against Drysdale and the Dodgers at Busch Stadium. “Small wonder that the Polish boy from Donora, Pa., earns more than most bank presidents,” the Los Angeles Times noted.

A winner of his last seven decisions, Drysdale entered the game with a 17-4 record and 2.90 ERA.

In the sixth inning, the Dodgers led, 2-0, when Musial faced Drysdale with Bill White on first. Drysdale’s first pitch to Musial was a fastball, low and away. Musial swung and launched a drive that bounced off the right-field light tower, about 85 feet above the playing field, the Associated Press reported. The ball ricocheted back onto the field and was retrieved by umpire Ed Vargo, who gave it to Cardinals trainer Bob Bauman for safekeeping. Boxscore

“Not many balls have been hit harder off me,” Drysdale told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “If the light tower hadn’t stopped the ball, they’d have a tough time measuring the distance. The ball would have gone right through Hurricane Esther.”

The two RBI gave Musial 1,862, moving him ahead of Ott (who had driven in his last run in 1946) for the all-time NL lead.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Ottie, one of my early idols, was a class guy as well as a great player and I’m glad I had the chance to play against him. I liked his mannerisms and his manners.”

Drysdale congratulated Musial in the Cardinals clubhouse and told reporters Musial was his boyhood idol. Drysdale was 5 years old when Musial got his first major-league RBI in his debut game on Sept. 17, 1941.

“We didn’t have big-league baseball in California when I was growing up,” Drysdale said to the Post-Dispatch. “So I’d pick up the paper and look at the box scores. If Stan didn’t get at least one hit, I was unhappy.”

Replied Musial: “I’m glad I broke the record against a tough pitcher.”

Musial said Drysdale “has a real good sinker, his control is all right and he can strike out a man when he has to.”

Drysdale, like Musial, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Musial batted .324 (22-for-68) against Drysdale, but the hit that gave him the career NL RBI lead was his lone career home run off the dominating Dodger.

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Lessons learned from Cardinals’ 19-0 loss to Pirates

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on August 10, 2012| 4 Comments »

Be careful not to tip your pitches and don’t let a blowout loss keep you down.

Those were among the lessons learned by the 1961 Cardinals after a humiliating loss to the Pirates.

The Pirates beat the Cardinals, 19-0, on Aug. 3, 1961, at St. Louis. It’s the most lopsided shutout loss in Cardinals history. Until then, the only other National League game decided by a 19-0 score was the Cubs’ victory over the Giants on June 7, 1906, according to The Sporting News.

Pittsburgh had 24 hits against three Cardinals right-handers: Al Cicotte, Bob Miller and Lindy McDaniel. Each of the nine Pirates in the starting lineup, including pitcher Harvey Haddix, had at least one hit.

“Some of our pitchers were tipping their pitches,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said to the Associated Press. “We were watching them closely after (the Pirates) got a big lead and we could call almost every pitch. Maybe the Pirates could, too.”

Cicotte, making the last start of a five-year big-league career, yielded eight runs in two innings. Miller gave up nine runs in three innings. McDaniel surrendered two runs, but shut out the Pirates over the last three innings.

Among the most notable Pittsburgh hitting achievements that Thursday night at Busch Stadium:

_ Roberto Clemente had hits in each of his first five at-bats. He finished 5-for-6, improving his league-leading batting average to .366, 24 points higher than the next-best hitter, Frank Robinson of the Reds.

“This is just one of those years when the balls are falling in for hits,” Clemente said. “I’m less tense this season than ever before. I can relax better at the plate.”

_ Smoky Burgess had two home runs (both off Cicotte) and six RBI. The homers were the first by Burgess since June 22.

“This is the first time in almost six weeks I’ve been able to pull the ball,” Burgess said. “I know now I tried to play too soon after I hurt my finger late in June. Everything is fine now.”

_ Dick Stuart hit a grand slam off Miller and finished with five RBI.

_ Bill Mazeroski, the eighth-place batter, had four hits.

_ Three Pirates, Don Hoak, Bill Virdon and Bob Skinner, each had three hits. All of Skinner’s hits were doubles.

Pittsburgh, the defending World Series champion, broke a five-game losing streak with the victory. Boxscore

“I can’t help thinking we’d be in the first division if you could spread those runs around a little,” Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh said.

The loss dropped the Cardinals to 48-53.

In a classic example of the power of perserverance, the Cardinals followed the blowout loss with an eight-game winning streak, turning around their season. The Cardinals were 20-9 in August and finished the season at 80-74.

Among the wins in that streak: a shutout of Pittsburgh. On Aug. 9, six days after the Pirates scored 19, Curt Simmons and Ed Bauta combined for a seven-hitter in St. Louis’ 4-0 victory.

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Cardinals rode avalanche of fans to 13 doubles in game

Posted in Games, Hitters, Records on August 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The Cardinals collected a club-record 13 doubles in a game against the Cubs, but were aided by unusual circumstances.

On July 12, 1931, the first-place Cardinals played the Cubs in a Sunday doubleheader at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. The Cubs’ player-manager was former Cardinals standout Rogers Hornsby.

“The park, with fewer than 35,000 seats, was inadequate to accommodate all who wanted to see the struggle,” The Sporting News reported, “and shortly after daybreak the eager customers began to arrive at the park. The gates were opened at 9 o’clock and long before noon every unreserved seat in the park was occupied and the spectators were standing in the aisles.”

With insufficient security to manage the growing wave of arrivals, ballpark and team officials lost control of the situation and spectators pressed toward the outfield gates in confusion.

“When the gates in the bleacher and pavilion walls were opened, the customers avalanched out into the field like invading hordes,” The Sporting News reported. “There were no police or guards to herd them into position and they spilled all over the field. An attempt was made to herd the fans back to the walls, but it was hopeless.”

According to the Associated Press, “Umpires appealed to the crowd to move back. Finally, a police detail arrived and aided in the work.”

The opener of the doubleheader began with thousands of people standing in the outfield. The overflow, according to The Sporting News, was deepest in right field “about 70 feet beyond first base and extending through center field, not more than 150 feet back of second base and across over (to) the left foul line, perhaps 100 feet beyond third base.”

Official attendance was 45,715. That exceeded by 7,419 the previous regular-season record crowd for a Cardinals home date (against the Giants on May 20, 1928).

The doubleheader was played, The Sporting News opined, “under unspeakable conditions.”

Uncatchable balls hit into the outfield crowd were declared ground-rule doubles.

The Cubs won the opener, 7-5, overcoming a 3-2 Cardinals lead by scoring five runs in the seventh, three on Hack Wilson’s home run off Bill Hallahan. The Cubs hit five doubles; the Cardinals, four.

“Conditions for that first game were bad enough, but they were excellent compared to those that prevailed during the second contest,” The Sporting News reported.

The Cardinals and Cubs combined for 23 doubles in the second game, and the Cardinals won, 17-13.

All of the doubles were official, though most were tainted.

“Pop flies that good infielders could have caught dropped in the crowd for doubles and the two games were more like county fair exhibitions than major league contests,” The Sporting News reported. “In the two games, there were 32 doubles and perhaps six of the two-baggers were legitimate.”

Seven players accounted for the Cardinals’ 13 doubles in Game 2. Rip Collins and Gus Mancuso hit three apiece. Chick Hafey and Frankie Frisch each hit two. George Watkins, Andy High and Ernie Orsatti contributed one each.

The Cubs got doubles from Woody English and Gabby Hartnett (each with three), Footsie Blair (two) and Rogers Hornsby and Les Bell (one apiece). Boxscore

The 1931 Cardinals finished as the major-league leaders in doubles, with 353. The Cubs were second at 340.

Previously: Rip Collins was one-of-a-kind hitter for Cardinals

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Double disaster for Cards and ‘Wild Elk of the Wasatch’

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on August 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A record-setting hitting performance by the Braves knocked the 1936 Cardinals out of first place. Seventy-six years later, the 2012 Cardinals matched the Braves’ feat of hitting seven doubles in an inning.

On July 21, 2012, six Cardinals collected seven doubles in a 12-run seventh inning of a 12-0 victory over the Cubs at St. Louis. Allen Craig, who appeared as a pinch-hitter in the inning, hit a pair of doubles. Carlos Beltran, Jon Jay, David Freese, Skip Schumaker and Matt Holliday hit one double apiece. The seven doubles were hit against three Cubs relievers, James Russell, Manny Corpas and Rafael Dolis. Boxscore

The 1936 Braves were unlikely candidates to establish the standard of seven doubles in an inning. They would finish the season with the lowest batting average in the National League and would rank last among the eight teams in doubles.

On the morning of Aug. 25, 1936, the Cardinals and Giants were tied for first place in the NL, each with a 72-46 record. The Cardinals had a doubleheader against the Braves that Tuesday afternoon at St. Louis. The Giants were facing the Reds.

In the opener, the Cardinals started Si Johnson, who had been acquired from the Reds on Aug. 6. The Braves pounded Johnson for eight runs, seven hits and a walk in the first inning. He recorded only two outs before being lifted for Ed Heusser, the Cardinals’ top reliever in 1936.

Three Braves _ Gene Moore, Buck Jordan and Tony Cuccinello _ hit two doubles apiece in the first inning. Shortstop Rabbit Warstler accounted for the other.

With Boston ahead 11-0 after a half inning, Cardinals manager Frankie Frisch decided to stay with Heusser. Nicknamed “The Wild Elk of the Wasatch” for the mountain range in his native Utah, Heusser gave up 12 runs on 18 hits and four walks in 8.1 innings. Moore and Jordan each had five hits and five RBI in the Braves’ 20-3 victory. Boxscore

In the second game, St. Louis, behind ace Dizzy Dean, led 4-1 through five innings, but the Braves rallied and tied the score. In the ninth, Si Johnson, the Game 1 starter, relieved Dean. He yielded a RBI-single to Jordan and the Braves won, 5-4. Johnson was the losing pitcher in both games.

Coupled with the Giants’ 13th win in a row, a 6-5 victory over the Reds, St. Louis fell 1.5 games behind New York. The Giants went on to win the pennant, finishing five games ahead of the Cardinals and Cubs, who tied for second place.

Johnson and Heusser both recovered from their thumpings by the Braves.

Four days after losing both games of the doubleheader, Johnson pitched a complete-game shutout against the Phillies. Boxscore He finished 5-3 with a 4.38 ERA for the 1936 Cardinals.

Heusser was 7-3 with a 5.43 ERA in 42 appearances for the 1936 Cardinals. Eight years later, as a starter for the Reds, his 2.38 ERA led the NL.

Previously: Baseball and romance: Cardinals’ Cuban adventures

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Carlos Beltran challenged 78-year-old Cardinals record

Posted in Hitters, Records on June 13, 2012| 2 Comments »

(Updated Nov. 13, 2017)

Carlos Beltran had a chance in 2012 to break one of the longest-lasting records in Cardinals history.

Beltran was a threat to top the Cardinals’ single-season record for home runs by a switch-hitter, a mark established by Rip Collins, with 35, for the 1934 World Series championship team.

Beltran finished the 2012 season with 32 home runs, three shy of tying Collins’ mark.

Cardinal with clout

James “Rip” Collins, a 5-foot-9 first baseman, played for the Cardinals from 1931-36 before being traded to the Cubs. He hit better than .300 in four of his nine big-league seasons and played in three World Series (for the Cardinals in 1931 and 1934 and for the Cubs in 1938.)

Collins was the first switch-hitter to top the 30-homer mark in the big leagues. His 35 home runs in 1934 tied him with Mel Ott of the Giants for the National League lead. Collins remains the only Cardinals switch-hitter to lead the NL in homers in a season.

After Collins, no other NL switch-hitter achieved a 30-homer season until the Dodgers’ Reggie Smith hit 32 in 1977. It took 53 years for a NL switch-hitter to break Collins’ league record of 35 homers in a season. Howard Johnson of the Mets did it with 36 homers in 1987. (Johnson also hit 36 in 1989 and 38 in 1991 for the Mets.)

The home run barrage was part of a career year for Collins in 1934. His 128 RBI were second in the NL to Ott’s 135. His .333 batting average tied for fourth in the NL. Collins led the league in both slugging percentage (.615) and total bases (369.) He collected 200 hits, including 40 doubles and 12 triples.

Collins was described by Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a “choked-grip longball batter (who) hit for more distance left-handed but he stroked the ball better and for higher average right-handed.”

Batting left-handed, Collins hit 30 of his 35 homers in 1934 against right-handers.

One of three starters on the 1934 Cardinals who switch-hit (second baseman Frank Frisch and right fielder Jack Rothrock were the others,) Collins primarily batted fifth in the order (behind cleanup batter and left fielder Joe Medwick.)

Included in his top performances that year:

_ On June 2, 1934, in the first game of a doubleheader at Pittsburgh, Collins had a triple, two home runs and seven RBI in the Cardinals’ 13-4 victory over the Pirates. Boxscore

_ Collins went 5-for-5 against the Giants on July 23, 1934, in the Cardinals’ 6-5 victory at New York. Boxscore

_ In the 1934 World Series, Collins hit .367 (11-for-30) in helping the Cardinals defeat the Tigers in seven games.

Merry prankster

Clever, with a devilish sense of humor, Collins fit in well with the Gashouse Gang Cardinals of the 1930s. A 1975 article in Baseball Digest detailed one incident:

“A carefree refugee from the Pennsylvania coal mines, Rip Collins was reportedly the instigator of one unforgettable prank pulled off by the Cardinals at a hotel in Philadelphia where the club stayed.

“The Ripper had noticed ladders, paint buckets, white overalls and other paraphernalia of painters in a corner of the service area of the hotel. He rounded up Dizzy Dean, Heinie Schuble and Billy DeLancey. They donned the overalls, took the equipment into a busy dining room and began painting the walls and ceiling, splattering paint on the customers, shouting instructions to one another ala the Marx brothers and promoting general chaos.

“It took all of general manager Branch Rickey’s persuasive powers to prevent the hotel management from evicting the entire ballclub immediately.”

Collins said, “It was great until the cops showed up.”

 

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Cardinals swept series in initial visit to Dodger Stadium

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers, Records on May 18, 2012| 2 Comments »

When the Cardinals played in Dodger Stadium for the first time the weekend of May 18-20, 1962, they felt right at home. The Cardinals swept the three-game series, receiving complete-game wins from each of their starting pitchers, and Stan Musial stroked a single, surpassing Honus Wagner to become the National League all-time hits leader.

Moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, the Dodgers played four years at the Coliseum while Dodger Stadium was being built. On April 10, 1962, in the first regular-season game at Dodger Stadium, the Reds defeated the Dodgers, 6-3. Boxscore

As the Cardinals-Dodgers series opened May 18, the Dodgers were in second place, three games behind the Giants, at 23-12. The Dodgers had won four in a row and eight of their last nine. The Cardinals were in third place at 18-13 and had lost five of their last seven.

The Cardinals’ arrival brought out the entertainment crowd. While the Cardinals were warming up before the first game, comedian Milton Berle, seated near the dugout, performed card tricks for Musial, Red Schoendienst and Ernie Broglio, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The opener matched Johnny Podres against Larry Jackson. In the first inning, Ken Boyer smashed a drive that struck Podres in the left forearm. Podres threw three pitches out of the strike zone to the next batter, Gene Oliver, and walked off the field, unable to pitch. X-rays revealed a severe bruise, no fracture.

Bill White drove in three runs, Charlie James scored three runs and knocked in two, and Jackson went the distance as the Cardinals won, 8-3, before 38,951. Boxscore

“I had a pretty good curve and fastball,” Jackson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The story the next night, May 19, normally would have been the pitching of Cardinals left-hander Ray Sadecki. The Dodgers had defeated six consecutive left-handers and Sadecki was 0-3 in his career against them, but Sadecki changed the script, pitching his first complete game of the season and got the win in the Cardinals’ 8-1 triumph before 44,559. Boxscore

The headlines, however, went to Musial, the 41-year-old left fielder. His single to right field in the ninth inning off a curve from Ron Perranoski gave Musial his 3,431st hit and moved him ahead of Wagner for No. 1 on the NL career list, breaking a mark that had been held for 45 years. Dodgers first baseman Wally Moon, a former Cardinals teammate, fielded the throw from right fielder Frank Howard and handed the ball to Musial, who received a standing ovation.

“Stan hit a good curveball,” Perranoski told The Sporting News.

Said Musial: “I never worked so hard for two hits.”

(Musial had hit the record-tying single off Juan Marichal in San Francisco on May 16, ending a string of 15 hitless at-bats. He went hitless in nine more after that until he connected on the 0-and-1 pitch from Perranoski.)

“At least I got it in a beautiful new park and against the Dodgers, who have been good to me over the years,” Musial said.

Only Ty Cobb (4,191) and Tris Speaker (3,515) had more career hits than Musial at that time.

After the game, Musial and teammates Boyer and Schoendienst went to the Stadium Club at the ballpark. Musial enjoyed a steak sandwich and French fries. As Neal Russo reported in The Sporting News, few tables had a trio with more hits _ a total surpassing 7,000.

Exhausted by the strain to break the record, “I just about wilted when I got to first base with the record hit,” Musial said.

While Musial sat out the series finale on Sunday afternoon, May 20, Schoendienst, 39, started at second base for the fifth consecutive game. He was filling in for Julian Javier, who was sidelined because of a torn fingernail on his right index finger.

Curt Simmons yielded three runs, none earned, and got the complete-game win in the Cardinals’ 4-3 victory before 38,474. Boxscore

The Cardinals had swept a series in Los Angeles for the first time since the Dodgers left Brooklyn. They moved into a second-place tie with the Dodgers and got within 4.5 games of the Giants.

Previously: How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

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