A St. Louis homecoming was neither sentimental nor successful for Art Shamsky.
On Oct. 18, 1971, Shamsky was the best-known name among the four players the Cardinals acquired in a trade with the Mets. The Cardinals sent pitchers Harry Parker and Chuck Taylor, first baseman-outfielder Jim Beauchamp and infielder Chip Coulter to the Mets for Shamsky and pitchers Jim Bibby, Rich Folkers and Charlie Hudson.
Bibby would develop into a successful starting pitcher for the Rangers, Indians and Pirates, and Folkers became a reliable reliever for the Cardinals, but at the time of the deal neither was a prominent player. Bibby had no big-league experience and Folkers had spent part of one season in the majors.
Shamsky, born in St. Louis and raised in suburban University City, was an outfielder and first baseman who hit with power from the left side. He helped the Mets become World Series champions in 1969. The Cardinals projected him to be a pinch-hitter and role player for them in 1972, but it didn’t work out.
Cardinals fan
In his book, “The Magnificent Seasons,” Shamsky said of his boyhood in the St. Louis area, “My life was basically two things: Following the St. Louis Cardinals, or playing baseball with my friends.”
Shamsky’s favorite Cardinals player was Stan Musial and he’d ride a streetcar to the original Busch Stadium to see him play.
Starting at age 8, Shamsky played Khoury League youth baseball for the John C. Roberts Shoe Co. team managed by Milton Mandel. “Art was so small when we first got him,” Mandel told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “that we used him as leadoff man in hopes he’d be walked. I never thought he’d sprout the way he did.”
According to the Dayton Daily News, Shamsky “paid his own expenses to the Cardinals’ rookie camp in St. Petersburg when he was still in high school, but he was turned back as a kid who was too skinny and lacked power.”
What the Cardinals didn’t count on, the Dayton newspaper noted, was “the development of his wrists and fast hands.”
Regarding those quick wrists, Shamsky told the Post-Dispatch, “I strengthened them by working out a lot, playing handball and squeezing rubber balls.”
After graduating from University City High School at age 16 in 1958, Shamsky attended the University of Missouri for one year. Though the Cardinals made an offer, the Reds signed him in September 1959. The next season, his first in the minors, Shamsky was a roommate of Pete Rose, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.
Power source
On April 17, 1965, Shamsky, 23, made his big-league debut for the Reds in his hometown. Pinch-hitting at Busch Stadium, he struck out against Cardinals ace Bob Gibson. Boxscore
Two months later, Shamsky beat the Cardinals with a home run to the Busch Stadium pavilion roof versus Gibson. Boxscore
“Shamsky has a smooth, easy stroke,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “He ties into the ball well because of his quick, strong wrists.”
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Shamsky was a hitter “who many say can whip the bat as quick as the great Ted Williams.”
In 1966, Shamsky hit 21 home runs, including four in consecutive plate appearances. The first three came on Aug. 12 at Cincinnati when the lanky slugger entered a game against the Pirates in the eighth inning. Each time Shamsky batted, the Reds were behind. One of his home runs put them ahead and the other two tied the score. Boxscore
“That was the greatest clutch-hitting performance I ever saw,” Pete Rose said to the Dayton Daily News.
The next time Shamsky batted, on Aug. 14 against the Pirates, he hit another home run, giving him four in a row. Boxscore
“His power comes from his wrists rather than his arms or body,” Dayton columnist Si Burick observed. “If he depended on his biceps or any other part of his body, he would be working in an office.”
Aching back
In November 1967, Mets president Bing Devine acquired Shamsky from the Reds. A month later, Devine replaced Stan Musial as Cardinals general manager.
After platooning with Cleon Jones in left field for the Mets in 1968, Shamsky experienced back problems in 1969 and opened the season on the disabled list.
In his book, “After the Miracle,” Shamsky said, “The pain was so bad that I honestly wondered if I was ever going to play again.
“To make matters worse, I would get hooked on Percocet, an opioid analgesic, relying on the pills when I started playing again and taking sleeping pills at night.”
Shamsky batted .300 with 14 home runs in 100 games for the 1969 Mets, who won the World Series championship. He also hit .538 (with seven hits) in the National League Championship Series against the Braves. Video
After hitting .293 in 1970, Shamsky’s back woes intensified and he had a .185 batting mark in 1971.
“I’ve been to so many different doctors, chiropractors and osteopaths for my back pain,” Shamsky said in his book. “I once saw a doctor who stuck cotton swabs of cocaine up my nose to deaden my nerves.
“I desperately wanted to keep playing ball.”
City slicker
Though Devine made the trade to acquire Shamsky for a second time and bring him to the Cardinals, he told the Post-Dispatch, “It’s a major deal only from the standpoint of numbers.” Or, as the New York Daily News noted, it was a trade “more distinguished for the quantity than the quality.”
Shamsky, a New York City resident who partnered with former Yankees infielder Phil Linz in owning two nightclubs there, was described by the New York Times News Service as “thoroughly modern Manhattan.”
Shamsky didn’t attempt to cloak his feelings about the trade. “To be honest,” he said to the Post-Dispatch, “my home is now in New York and I have two businesses there, so I’d rather have stayed in New York.”
The back problems followed Shamsky from New York to Cardinals spring training camp. After hitting .190 in Grapefruit League games, Shamsky was released by the Cardinals before the 1972 season began.
He played briefly in 1972 for the Cubs and Athletics, failed to hit with either, and was finished as a player at age 30.
Shamsky’s career batting average in the majors was the same as his career batting average versus the Cardinals: .253.
He was at his best against right-handers, hitting .417 (10 hits) against Don Drysdale and .350 (14 hits) versus Jim Bunning. Shamsky also hit four home runs, including a grand slam, against the Cardinals’ Nelson Briles.
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