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How Pete Richert, Bing Devine bonded in Vietnam

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades on December 5, 2023| 10 Comments »

For pitcher Pete Richert, fatigues became as much a part of his wardrobe as a baseball uniform in 1968.

In April, he served with the National Guard, trying to quell riots in Washington, D.C. In the fall, he went to Vietnam, looking to boost the spirits of U.S. troops. In between, he pitched in relief for the Baltimore Orioles.

Among those who accompanied Richert to Vietnam was Cardinals general manager Bing Devine. Five years later, on Dec. 5, 1973, Devine acquired Richert for the Cardinals in a trade with the Dodgers.

A left-hander, Richert was a two-time American League all-star and pitched on Orioles teams that won three pennants and a World Series title. His stint with the Cardinals, though, didn’t go the way either he or the team had hoped it would.

Blazing heat

Richert was from Floral Park, N.Y., a village on Long Island. He went to Sewanhaka High School. (The name translates to “island of shells.”) Its alumni also include actor Telly Savalas and Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde.

In August 1957, Richert, 17, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the day before the club declared it was moving to Los Angeles after the season.

Richert steadily worked his way through the Dodgers’ farm system as a starting pitcher. In 1960, for the Class AA Atlanta Crackers managed by Rube Walker, Richert had 19 wins and struck out 251 batters in 225 innings. The Atlanta Journal called him “the Cracker with the golden arm” and described his best pitch as a “miracle whip fastball.”

He was 22 when he made a spectacular big-league debut with the Dodgers on April 12, 1962. Relieving Stan Williams, Richert struck out the first six batters he faced _ Vada Pinson, Frank Robinson, Gordy Coleman (who advanced to first on a passed ball by John Roseboro), Wally Post, Johnny Edwards and Tommy Harper. Boxscore

(Until then, the only pitcher to strike out six consecutive batters in his debut in the majors was the Dodgers’ Karl Spooner against the Giants in 1954. Boxscore)

“I always say a little prayer when I’m nervous and excited, and I was tonight as I started walking to the mound,” Richert told the Los Angeles Times. “My father, who always wanted me to be a baseball player, died when I was 15. When I decided to try baseball, my brother told me that when I was nervous or excited to always say a prayer and dad would help me. As soon as I threw a pitch to Pinson, the nervousness left me.”

Called upon three days later, Richert struck out five, including Joe Torre twice, in two innings against the Braves. Boxscore

Setback in St. Louis

Richert’s robust rookie season got derailed on May 12, 1962, at St. Louis. Relieving in the 11th, he allowed no runs or hits to the Cardinals in 2.2 innings. Then, as Richert pitched to Bill White with two outs in the 13th, “the ball bounced to the plate, his glove sailed 15 feet away and he grabbed his left elbow in obvious agony,” The Sporting News reported.

Taken to a hospital, it was discovered Richert had tore ligaments in the elbow. Boxscore

He came off the disabled list two months later and was sent to the Dodgers’ Omaha farm team. Worried about reinjuring his arm, Richert resisted throwing hard. According to the New York Times, Omaha manager Danny Ozark said to Richert, “Pete, you’re scared to throw the ball. If you’re going to be a pitcher, you’ve got to make up your mind. It’s the difference between spending the rest of your life in the minors or going back to the big time.”

Richert responded, got brought back to the Dodgers in August and was put into their starting rotation.

He split each of the next two seasons (1963-64) between the Dodgers and their Spokane farm team (managed by Danny Ozark).

On Sept. 16, 1963, the first-place Dodgers went to St. Louis for a three-game showdown series with the Cardinals, who were a game behind them. Dodgers manager Walt Alston opted to start three left-handers. After Johnny Podres and Sandy Koufax prevailed in the first two games, Richert started the finale. He was knocked out in the third inning but the Dodgers got brilliant relief from another left-hander, Ron Perranoski, and completed the sweep. Boxscore

Capital gains

In December 1964, the Dodgers sent Richert to the Washington Senators. The trade reunited him with his former Atlanta manager, Rube Walker, who was a coach on the staff of Senators manager Gil Hodges.

Richert led the 1965 Senators in wins (15), ERA (2.60), innings pitched (194) and strikeouts (161). He also pitched two scoreless innings for the American League in the All-Star Game, striking out Willie Mays and Willie Stargell. Boxscore

He was the Opening Day starter for Washington in 1966 when Emmett Ashford became the first black umpire in the majors. Boxscore

On April 24, 1966, Richert struck out seven consecutive Tigers batters _ Don Demeter, Ray Oyler, Orlando McFarlane, Bill Monbouquette, Dick Tracewski, Don Wert and Norm Cash. Boxscore

Named again to the all-star team, Richert pitched in the 1966 game at St. Louis and gave up the game-winning hit to former teammate Maury Wills. Boxscore

Richert led the 1966 Senators in wins (14), innings pitched (245.2) and strikeouts (195). He was the first Washington Senators pitcher to strike out 195 in a season since Walter Johnson (228) in 1916.

War zones

Sent by the Senators to the Orioles in May 1967, Richert was moved to the bullpen in 1968 and never went back to starting.

Richert was a reservist with a National Guard unit in Washington, D.C. When rioting broke out there after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, Richert left the Orioles to join his outfit. His two weeks of emergency riot-control duty “consisted of street patrol with D.C. police, guarding the Washington jail and protecting firefighters,” the Baltimore Sun reported.

“I saw some things you couldn’t believe,” Richert said to the Sun. “The city and its destruction, burning, looting, violence … Two entire streets of 15 blocks and another 22-block street were leveled … Firemen would be fighting fires and there were arsonists throwing Molotov cocktails at the fire trucks.”

After the 1968 baseball season, in a trip arranged by the United Service Organizations (USO) and the baseball commissioner’s office, Richert went to Vietnam with Bing Devine, players Ernie Banks of the Cubs, Larry Jackson of the Phillies and Ron Swoboda of the Mets, and St. Louis publicist Al Fleishman.

“We’d fly by helicopter to a firebase (artillery post), spend a couple hours chatting with the men, then take off and fly to another post nearby,” Fleishman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We hit five or six small bases a day that way for 17 days.”

In his memoirs, Devine recalled, “One time, we were in a whaleboat going up this canal … They gave me a grenade launcher” in case of an ambush.

Devine told the soldiers, “I don’t know how to shoot a gun. If I need it, we’re hopeless.”

Richert said to the Baltimore Sun, “We visited 57 hospitals and they figured the six of us came in contact with better than 10,000 troops.”

According to the Post-Dispatch, Richert and Devine bonded during the Vietnam trip and exchanged Christmas cards each year after that.

Fall classics

Richert’s first World Series appearance came in 1969. With the score tied in Game 4, the Mets had runners on first and second, none out, in the bottom of the 10th when Richert relieved Dick Hall. His first pitch to J.C. Martin was bunted along the first-base line. Richert got to it but his throw hit Martin in the wrist and the ball rolled away, enabling Rod Gaspar to score from second with the winning run. Photos showed Martin interfered by running inside the base line and should have been called out, the Baltimore Sun reported. Boxscore Video

Richert had a better experience in Game 1 of the 1970 World Series. In the bottom of the ninth, with Pete Rose on first and two outs, Richert relieved Jim Palmer, looking to protect a 4-3 lead. His first pitch jammed Bobby Tolan, who hit a soft liner to shortstop Mark Belanger for the final out. Boxscore

On the move

In December 1971, Richert was reunited with the Dodgers when they acquired him from the Orioles.

Two years later, when the Dodgers dealt for closer Mike Marshall, they deemed Richert expendable and traded him to the Cardinals for Tommie Agee.

Richert, 34, joined Al Hrabosky and Rich Folkers as left-handers in the bullpen for the 1974 Cardinals, but he lacked command of his fastball, walking 11 in 11.1 innings. The highlight was the save he earned when he retired the Pirates’ Al Oliver with the potential tying runs on base. Boxscore

Placed on waivers in June 1974, Richert was claimed by the Phillies at the urging of their manager, Danny Ozark.

In 21 appearances for the 1974 Phillies, Richert was 2-1 (the loss was to the Cardinals) with a 2.21 ERA. In September, it was discovered he had a blood clot in his left arm and needed surgery, bringing an end to his pitching days.

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How Cardinals fan Dennis Higgins became their pitcher

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades on November 26, 2023| 12 Comments »

When Dennis Higgins first got to pitch for the Cardinals, it seemed like a dream come true. They’d been his favorite team when he was a youth in his hometown of Jefferson City, Mo.

Recalling boyhood summers pitching in amateur leagues in central Missouri, Huggins told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’d have signed with the Cardinals and played for nothing.”

By the time Higgins became a Cardinal in 1971, he was near the end of his pro playing career, a journey that began 14 years earlier in the White Sox system.

His stint with the Cardinals was no fairytale. He had ups and downs, got sent to the minors, returned and got traded, a move that prompted him to quit the game.

A tall (6-foot-3), lanky, right-handed reliever, Higgins had a record of 22-23 with 46 saves in seven seasons with the White Sox (1966-67), Senators (1968-69), Indians (1970) and Cardinals (1971-72).

Perseverance pays

Jefferson City, about midway between St. Louis and Kansas City, is the capital of Missouri. The town was laid out by Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the famous frontiersman, and was named for President Thomas Jefferson. In the 1950s, Omar Higgins, a Jefferson City police captain, took his son to Cardinals games in St. Louis “to watch Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter every chance he could,” Dennis Higgins told the Post-Dispatch.

According to the Jefferson City Daily Capital News, Higgins, 18, signed with the White Sox in the fall of 1957. He spent eight years in the minors before he earned a spot with the 1966 White Sox. He made his big-league debut on April 12, Opening Day, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings against the Angels in Chicago. Boxscore

The White Sox won that Tuesday afternoon game in 14 innings. After it ended, Higgins rushed to O’Hare Airport for a flight to Jefferson City, where he was married the following afternoon, April 13, to Ruth Ann Schnieders, whose brother, Paul, pitched in the Cubs system for eight years. The next afternoon, Higgins was back in uniform for the White Sox’s April 14 game at Chicago.

Relying on a sinking fastball, Higgins pitched in 42 games for the 1966 White Sox and was 1-0 with five saves and a 2.52 ERA. Batters hit a mere .202 against him.

An eye for an eye

At White Sox spring training in 1967, Higgins’ left eye bothered him. He consulted a doctor, but kept pitching, The Sporting News reported.

In May, during a game at Kansas City against the Athletics, Catfish Hunter threw a pitch close to White Sox batter Don Buford, who hit the dirt to get out of the way. In the bottom half of the inning, Higgins relieved starter Tommy John. The first pitch Higgins threw hit Danny Cater in the top of the batting helmet. His next pitch sailed over the head of Dick Green. Umpire crew chief Hank Soar warned Higgins he’d be ejected if he threw another one too close to a batter. Higgins walked Green on three more pitches.

Sal Bando came up next. Higgins’ first pitch hit him in the hip, and home plate umpire Jim Odom ejected Higgins and manager Eddie Stanky. “I wasn’t throwing at anybody,” Higgins told The Sporting News. Umpire Ed Runge said, “All we know is that Higgins faced three men, hit two and knocked the other down.”

(Years later, Higgins recalled that Stanky ordered him to hit the three batters in succession, the Post-Dispatch reported.) Boxscore

Two weeks after the incident, Higgins learned he had a detached retina in his left eye. He underwent surgery a week later and missed the remainder of the season.

Another capital city

In February 1968, Higgins was traded to the Senators and became their closer, leading the club in saves (13) and appearances (59). “The hitters are just plain stupid,” Higgins told the Daily Capital News. “Less than 30 percent of them are long ball hitters, yet they all go up there swinging for the fence.”

Ted Williams replaced Jim Lemon as Senators manager in 1969. When the Senators went to Boston for the first time with Williams as manager, the return of the Red Sox icon created a hullaballoo. The Senators won and Higgins got the save with three scoreless innings. “I wish we had more like him,” Williams told The Sporting News. Boxscore

Williams called on Higgins often. He used him in 11 games in April and 11 in May, twice pitching him in both games of doubleheaders. “I overworked him early in the year because I had to,” Williams told the Akron Beacon Journal.

Higgins had 10 wins for the 1969 Senators and led them in saves (16) and appearances (55). He also threw 15 wild pitches. In his book, “Kiss it Goodbye,” Senators broadcaster Shelby Whitfield noted, “Ted’s critics said he ruined the arm of Dennis Higgins by pitching him too frequently in 1969.”

Paul Lindblad, who pitched for Williams in 1971 and 1972, told The Sporting News, “Ted ruined pitchers his first year out. He burned out Higgins and wore out (Darold) Knowles to next to nothing.”

Traded to the Cleveland Indians, Higgins was their team leader in saves (11) and appearances (58) in 1970. Unhappy with the contract offer he got for 1971, he held out for more and was shipped to Wichita at the end of spring training. In July, Higgins got sent to the Athletics, who then flipped him to the Cardinals for infielder Gaylen Pitts.

Opportunity knocks

Assigned to Tulsa, Higgins pitched in 17 games for the Cardinals’ affiliate. His combined record for Wichita and Tulsa was 2-11, so when he got called up to the Cardinals in September 1971, “Higgins said he found it hard to believe,” the Daily Capital News reported.

He got into three games for the 1971 Cardinals and was 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. The win came in the Cardinals’ home finale when he pitched 3.2 scoreless innings against the Expos. Boxscore

The Cardinals put Higgins, 32, on their 40-man winter roster. Manager Red Schoendienst “was reasonably impressed enough to want to see more of Higgins in the spring,” Cardinals general manager Bing Devine told the Daily Capital News.

At 1972 spring training, Higgins pitched well and beat out another veteran, Stan Williams, for a spot on the Opening Day roster, the Post-Dispatch reported.

It was a different story after the season began. Higgins had a 6.75 ERA in April and 4.05 in May. He was 0-2 with 14 walks in 13 innings when the Cardinals demoted him to Tulsa in May 1972. “He has a good arm, a good fastball and a good curve,” Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch. “All he has to do is throw strikes and challenge the hitters.”

Higgins considered quitting, then changed his mind. “The pay is the same, and that’s the only reason I’m going to Tulsa,” he said to the Post-Dispatch.

Tulsa manager Jack Krol put Higgins in the starting rotation and he thrived. He was 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 11 starts. Two of the wins were shutouts. Higgins figured that was enough to earn a midseason return to the Cardinals. When they didn’t call, he went home to Jefferson City.

“Bing Devine called and asked me what my intentions were,” Higgins explained to the Jefferson City Sunday News and Tribune. “I told him I wasn’t going to pitch in the minors with a record like mine. He said they would see what they could do.”

On July 26, 1972, the Cardinals released pitcher Tony Cloninger and replaced him with Higgins. Given a start against the Cubs on July 30, he was lifted in the third inning. Boxscore

Moved to the bullpen, Higgins made five August relief appearances for the 1972 Cardinals and was 1-0 with a save and a 1.35 ERA. The win came in a scoreless stint against the Mets. Boxscore

In late August, Higgins felt pain in his right elbow and received a cortisone shot, the Post-Dispatch reported. On Aug. 31, his contract was sold to the Padres, “a move regarded as a forerunner of further activity with the Cardinals, who have interest in Padres shortstop Enzo Hernandez,” The Sporting News reported.

Higgins, 33, had other ideas. “I was home on an off day when Devine called to tell me I had been traded to San Diego,” Higgins recalled to the Jefferson City Sunday newspaper. “I wasn’t going, and that was the end of my career.”

He returned to Jefferson City and went into the sporting goods business.

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How Spud Davis mashed National League pitching

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades on November 6, 2023| 9 Comments »

For a time, the battery of pitcher Dizzy Dean and catcher Spud Davis formed a dynamic duo for the Cardinals. Dizzy and Spud. Comic strip names. Gashouse Gang characters.

On Nov. 15, 1933, the Cardinals got Davis and infielder Eddie Delker from the Phillies for catcher Jimmie Wilson. The trade was a reverse of one made five years earlier when the Cardinals sent Davis to the Phillies for Wilson.

A right-handed batter, Davis was a consistent .300 hitter. His return to the Cardinals helped them become World Series champions in 1934, a year when Dean became the last National League pitcher to achieve 30 wins in a season.

The hard-throwing Dean and the hard-hitting Davis seemed right for one another, but then their relationship splintered.

Tater time

Virgil Lawrence Davis was born and raised in Birmingham, Ala. He got the nickname Spud at an early age from a cousin who noted his fondness for potatoes, according to the Birmingham Post-Herald.

Sent to a military academy in Mississippi, Davis was a standout in baseball and football. According to the Post-Herald, he was offered college football scholarships, but opted for professional baseball, joining the Gulfport (Miss.) Tarpons of the Class D Cotton States League in 1926.

On the recommendation of their scout, Bob Gilks, the Yankees signed Davis in September 1926. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle rated him “the best-looking catcher in the minors.”

Placed on the big-league spring training roster, Davis was given a chance to make the leap from Class D to the 1927 Yankees. In a March 8 intrasquad game, he was the catcher on a team managed by Babe Ruth. The New York Daily News described Davis as “garrulous, a bundle of energy.”

Three weeks later, the Yankees sent Davis to a farm club, the Reading (Pa.) Keystones, managed by Fred Merkle, whose baserunning blunder prevented the 1908 Giants from winning the National League pennant.

Davis hit .308 for Reading in 1927. A rival manager, Burt Shotton of the Cardinals’ Syracuse club, was impressed. Afterward, when baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis declared Davis eligible for the minor-league draft, the Cardinals chose him on Shotton’s recommendation, the Post-Herald reported.

Contact hitter

Davis, 23, made the Opening Day roster of the 1928 Cardinals and played in two April games for them. In May, he was dealt as part of a package to the Phillies, who had hired Burt Shotton as their manager. The key player the Cardinals got in return was a shrewd, experienced catcher, Jimmie Wilson.

With Wilson as their catcher, the Cardinals won three National League pennants (1928, 1930, 1931) and a World Series title (1931).

Davis, meanwhile, developed into a fearsome hitter with the Phillies. He hit better than .300 for them in each of five consecutive seasons (1929-33). The Sporting News declared Davis “the best-hitting catcher in the National League.”

Davis ranked second in the league in both batting (.349) and on-base percentage (.395) in 1933. The league leader in both categories was his Phillies teammate Chuck Klein, who hit .368 and had a .422 on-base percentage.

Against the Cardinals in 1933, Davis hit .425 (31-for-73).

The Cardinals wanted to get Davis back because of his bat and because Jimmie Wilson was not getting along with Frankie Frisch, who had replaced Gabby Street as manager during the 1933 season, the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

So, the Wilson-for-Davis deal was made. Frisch got the catcher he wanted. The Phillies got both a catcher and a leader. Wilson became their player-manager, replacing Burt Shotton.

Time share

Davis began the 1934 season with a bang. He hit .395 in April. In consecutive games against the Reds in July, Davis totaled eight hits, seven RBI. Boxscore and Boxscore

The Cardinals’ pitching was led by the Dean brothers, Dizzy and Paul. Davis told the Post-Herald, “Paul was the fastest pitcher I ever caught. The difference between him and Diz was Dizzy had everything else _ a good curve, control, change of pace and lots of heart.”

(Davis also told the Birmingham newspaper that the Cardinals’ Bill Hallahan “was the best money pitcher I ever saw. If there was one game you needed, I’d take Hallahan.”)

As the 1934 season unfolded, backup catcher Bill DeLancey impressed when given chances to start. The Cardinals, in third place in the National League at the end of July, surged in August (19-11) and September (21-7) and won the pennant. DeLancey contributed, hitting .345 in August and .311 in September.

In the meantime, friction developed between Davis and Dizzy Dean. According to Dean biographer Robert Gregory in his book “Diz,” Dizzy was complaining in the clubhouse late in the season about how hard it was to keep winning without enough support from his teammates. “I ought to whip the whole bunch of you _ at the same time,” Dean ranted. Davis looked up and said, “Shut the fuck up.”

Davis hit .300 (.375 with runners in scoring position) and had an on-base percentage of .366 for the 1934 Cardinals, but Frankie Frisch decided to start DeLancey (.316 batting mark, .414 on-base percentage) at catcher in the World Series against the Tigers. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, when Frisch, who was fond of Davis, told him about the decision, Davis replied, “The hell with how I or anybody else may feel. Bill (DeLancey) has been hot. He’s winning for us. Keep him in there. The pitchers have confidence in him.”

DeLancey started all seven World Series games and the Cardinals prevailed. Davis made two pinch-hit appearances and singled both times, driving in a run. After his first hit, Davis was replaced by a pinch-runner, Dizzy Dean. On attempting to move from first to second on a grounder, Dean got conked in the right temple by a throw from shortstop Billy Rogell. “The first thing I knew, a thousand little stars and big stars was jumping around before my eyes, but I never did see no tigers,” Dean told the Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Dissed by Dizzy

Davis and DeLancey split catching duties with the 1935 Cardinals. Davis hit .317 (.398 with runners in scoring position) and had a .386 on-base percentage. DeLancey hit .279 with an on-base mark of .369.

To Dizzy Dean, though, the choice was clear: He wanted DeLancey to be his catcher. With Dizzy on the mound, Davis dropped a pop fly in Cincinnati and called for a pitch in Brooklyn that was drilled for a home run. Dean told the Cardinals he lost faith in Davis after that. “Having confidence in a catcher, no matter how good a pitcher a fellow is, means an awful lot,” Dean wrote in a letter to Cardinals executive Branch Rickey.

(In defending Davis, Frisch told the Post-Dispatch, “Diz didn’t know Spud wasn’t calling the pitches. I was.”

Dean went public with his criticism of Davis after the 1935 season. According to his biographer, Dean said, “I ain’t pitching no more with him back there.”

Rickey wrote to Dean, “I was utterly amazed that you would think about Davis as you do about him.”

Frisch and the team captain, shortstop Leo Durocher, rallied around Davis. Frisch called Dean’s criticism of Davis “unfair and uncalled for” and described Davis as “a great catcher,” the Star-Times reported.

Durocher told the newspaper, “Spud Davis is probably the most popular man on our ballclub. He’s the smartest catcher in the big leagues today and Dizzy overlooks all those games that Spud won for him with his hitting. Davis can catch for my money every day in the week.”

J. Roy Stockton of the Post-Dispatch noted, “The men in the dugout know that Davis is valuable. They know his stout heart.”

When Dean got to spring training, he and Davis shook hands, and, in a statement prepared for him by Rickey, Dizzy said, “Give me a ball and glove and put Davis behind the plate.”

Davis hit .273 for the 1936 Cardinals, ending a streak of seven straight seasons of .300 or better. He was sent to the Reds after the season.

Davis caught more of Dean’s games (68) than any other catcher, according to baseball-reference.com. Dean’s ERA in games with Davis as catcher was 2.87 _ better than his overall career mark of 3.02.

Hitting the best

Frankie Frisch and Spud Davis stuck together. When Frisch managed the Pirates in the 1940s, Davis was his catcher and then a coach. Davis also was a coach on Frisch’s staff when he later managed the Cubs.

In his 16 seasons as a big-league player, Davis batted .308 and produced 1,312 hits. His on-base percentage was .369. In 459 career at-bats versus the Cardinals, Davis hit .305. He batted .333 (11-for-33) against Dizzy Dean and .406 (13-for-22) against another future Hall of Famer from the Cardinals, Jesse Haines.

Asked by the Post-Herald to name the best right-handed pitcher he played with or against, Davis chose Dizzy Dean. His pick for best left-hander was Carl Hubbell of the Giants.

Davis hit .301 (41-for-133) versus Hubbell, who told the Newspaper Enterprise Association, “He’s hard to outguess. I try to make each pitch something unexpected but somehow Spud anticipates a fair number of my offerings.”

Davis explained to the Post-Herald, “I could hit a low ball well and Hubbell’s best pitch (a screwball) was low.”

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Homeward bound: Sonny Siebert, Cardinals connect at last

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades on October 6, 2023| 12 Comments »

As a youth in south St. Louis County, Sonny Siebert was a fan of second baseman Red Schoendienst and the hometown baseball teams, Cardinals and Browns. Years later, Siebert played for Schoendienst when he managed the Cardinals.

A right-hander with the skill to pitch a no-hitter or belt a home run, Siebert was acquired by the Cardinals from the Rangers on Oct. 26, 1973, when he was at the back end of his playing career.

After achieving double-digit win totals in eight of his 10 seasons in the American League, Siebert was up to the challenge of switching to the National League. He pitched a shutout in his Cardinals debut and punctuated his 1974 season with a win in an epic marathon during the September title chase.

At home on the hardwood

Named after his father, a foreman at a lead company, Wilfred Siebert (better known as Sonny) was an infielder for the Bayless High School baseball team in St. Louis and a high jumper for the track squad, but he got the most attention for his basketball abilities. Described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in February 1953 as a “sprout who is the pride of the Bayless fans,” Siebert got selected to the South County League all-star basketball team his sophomore season.

When Siebert was 15, he attended a Cardinals tryout camp. “They put me at shortstop,” he said to the Post-Dispatch. “Four balls were hit to me and I fielded all of them perfectly and flipped perfectly underhand to first base. I was quite proud. Red Schoendienst had been my idol and I copied his underhanded flip.”

The Cardinals told him to stay home. “They said I didn’t throw hard enough and I ought to forget about baseball,” Siebert said to the Post-Dispatch.

Experiencing a growth spurt, Siebert was 6-foot-2 when he reported for his junior basketball season in high school. (He eventually grew another inch.) He was a prolific scorer, popping jump shots from all ranges. Siebert topped 1,000 points for his varsity career early in his senior year. On Jan. 14, 1955, his 18th birthday, Siebert scored 43 points against Eureka.

“I don’t think there is a shot in the book that Sonny didn’t make that night,” Bayless coach Clyde Ficklin told the Post-Dispatch. “Jump shots, hook shots, drive-ins, layups, fall-away shots _ you name ’em.”

The Post-Dispatch noted, “Wilfred Siebert is an unobtrusive, retiring sort of high school boy who does average-well in class and seldom makes himself noticed. There is almost nothing out of the ordinary about him except when he puts on a basketball uniform for the Bayless High team. Then Wilfred becomes Sonny Siebert, a running, shooting demon who drives opponents batty.”

A two-time Class B all-state selection, Siebert accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of Missouri in June 1955. As a sophomore in his first varsity season, Siebert averaged 13.4 points a game. His 308 total points broke the Missouri sophomore record held by Norm Stewart (256).

Playing in a conference dominated by Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas and Bob Boozer of Kansas State, Siebert averaged a team-high 16.7 points for Missouri as a junior. He scored 27 in an upset victory against Indiana and his free throw with four seconds left gave Missouri a one-point triumph versus Marquette.

Missouri coach Sparky Stalcup called Siebert the “league’s best shot,” United Press reported. The wire service also observed that Siebert “is troubled by myopia, an eye condition making distant objects blurry.” Siebert was taking “pupil dilation treatment” for his eyes.

Change in plans

Siebert didn’t play baseball at Missouri as a sophomore but he did his junior year. A first baseman, he hit .368 with eight home runs in the regular season. Missouri reached the championship game of the 1958 College World Series before losing to University of Southern California, 8-7, in 12 innings on June 19. Two days later, Siebert, 21, got married.

Receiving interest from professional baseball teams, Siebert decided to skip his senior year at Missouri. The Cleveland Indians brought him to their ballpark for workouts that summer under the supervision of talent evaluators Hoot Evers and Bob Kennedy.

“(Outfielder) Rocky Colavito was there then and he worked with me every day, teaching me how to make the throw from the outfield,” Siebert recalled to The Sporting News. “Evers and Kennedy seemed to like the way I threw the ball, so they decided to make an outfielder out of me.”

Siebert signed with the Indians on July 16, 1958, and received a $48,000 bonus, the Post-Dispatch reported. He was one of three St. Louis athletes who left University of Missouri early for pro baseball deals in 1958. The others, football players Charlie James and Mike Shannon, signed with the Cardinals.

Sent to a Class B farm club in Burlington, N.C., Siebert struggled in the outfield, didn’t hit (.147) and was dropped to Class D Batavia, N.Y. “On the last day of the season, we didn’t have any pitchers left, so I pitched two innings of relief and I did all right,” Siebert told The Sporting News. “I think the batters were afraid to stand in there against me. It was the first time I was ever on the mound.”

Still an outfielder in 1959 with the Class C Minot (N.D.) Mallards, Siebert broke an ankle and was limited to 185 at-bats. After the season, he went to the Indians’ Florida Instructional League team. Asked to pitch batting practice, Siebert impressed coach Spud Chandler, the former Yankees pitcher, who urged him to stick with pitching.

(Siebert then accepted an invitation to try out for the NBA St. Louis Hawks. He participated in their training camp before the 1959-60 season but didn’t make the team.)

An outfielder at spring training in 1960, Siebert got frustrated when instructors tried to change his batting style. According to The Sporting News, he “was ready to quit,” but then, remembering Chandler’s advice, asked to become a pitcher.

On the rise

Success was not immediate but Siebert persevered. He was 27 when he reached the majors with the 1964 Indians.

In 1965, Siebert had 16 wins and a 2.43 ERA for Cleveland. He struck out 15 in shutting out the Washington Senators. Boxscore

The next year, Siebert won 16 again, including a no-hitter versus the Senators. Boxscore

He got to pitch in St. Louis for the first time as a professional, appearing in the 1966 All-Star Game at Busch Memorial Stadium. Siebert retired all six batters he faced _ Jim Ray Hart, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Ron Santo. Boxscore

Experienced pro

In April 1969, Siebert was traded to the Red Sox. He had 15 wins for them in 1970 and 16 in 1971. He also hit .266 with six home runs for the 1971 Red Sox. Two of those homers came in a game versus Pat Dobson of the Orioles, who were shut out by Siebert. Boxscore

“Sonny Siebert has the best stuff on the staff,” Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee said to The Sporting News.

In 1973, Siebert had a falling out with Red Sox manager Eddie Kasko, who banished him to the bullpen. The Rangers, managed by Whitey Herzog, acquired Siebert in May 1973 and he became their ace.

In his Rangers debut, Siebert pitched five scoreless innings to beat Catfish Hunter and the Athletics. Boxscore On June 20, Siebert shut out the Twins and ended Rod Carew’s 18-game hitting streak. Boxscore Five days later, he pitched six scoreless innings in a win versus Ken Holtzman and the A’s. Boxscore

Mike Shropshire of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote, “When Sonny Siebert pitches, the Rangers’ games take on a peculiar air of dignity and sophistication. Instead of the usual orgy of runs, it’s strictly a matter of law and order.”

In July, with his ERA at 2.10 for the Rangers, Siebert suffered a shoulder separation and was sidelined for a month. When he returned, he lost five decisions in a row. Herzog was fired in September and replaced by Billy Martin.

Headed for home

The Cardinals acquired Siebert (for outfielder Tommy Cruz) to join a revamped starting rotation that included two other former Red Sox pitchers, John Curtis and Lynn McGlothen, and holdovers Bob Gibson and Alan Foster.

At 1974 spring training, Siebert, 37, pitched well and Schoendienst declared him the No. 2 starter behind Gibson. “Siebert has been our best pitcher down here,” Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch. “In fact, he might also be our best hitter.”

Making his National League debut in the Cardinals’ second game of the season against a Pirates lineup with Willie Stargell and Dave Parker, Siebert pitched a four-hit shutout and drove in two runs with a single. Boxscore

In May, Siebert made five starts and had a 1.66 ERA for the month. He pitched consecutive shutouts against the Cubs and Padres. Boxscore and Boxscore

After he won his fourth straight decision on June 5 versus the Giants, giving up one unearned run in 8.2 innings, Siebert had a season record of 6-3 with a 1.95 ERA for the Cardinals. Boxscore

The bubble burst when Siebert went on the disabled list on July 4 because of an inflamed tendon in his right elbow. He returned on July 28, went winless in August and was moved to the bullpen in September.

Siebert’s last win for the Cardinals came in a doozy of a game _ a 25-inning endurance test with the Mets. Siebert, the Cardinals’ seventh pitcher, performed a high-wire act for 2.1 scoreless innings.

Relieving Claude Osteen with two on and two outs in the 23rd, Siebert walked Felix Millan to load the bases, then got Cleon Jones to fly out to right.

In the 24th, the Mets had the bases loaded with two outs, but Siebert got Rusty Staub to ground out.

The Cardinals broke the 3-3 tie in the 25th when Bake McBride scored from first on a wild pickoff throw by pitcher Hank Webb. Siebert gave up a single to Brock Pemberton (his first big-league hit) in the bottom half of the inning but then shut down the Mets. Boxscore

In 28 games, including 20 starts, for the 1974 Cardinals, Siebert was 8-8 with a 3.84 ERA. After the season, he was traded to the Padres.

Siebert, 38, finished his career with the 1975 Athletics, winning four times for a team that finished with the best record in the American League (98-64) and secured its fifth consecutive West Division title.

His career record was 140-114 with 16 saves. Of his 114 hits, 12 were home runs.

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Hit or miss: Roric Harrison and the Cardinals

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects, Trades on October 1, 2023| 7 Comments »

Roric Harrison was an intriguing talent with a distinctive name. A right-hander, he possessed power on the mound and at the plate.

After seeing Harrison pitch at spring training in 1973, Phillies ace Steve Carlton told the Philadelphia Daily News, “Just a super, fantastic arm. He could win 20 with that arm just throwing strikes with his fastball.”

Harrison had some special performances, but inconsistent command of his pitches, as well as injuries, hampered him. A pitcher for the Orioles (1972), Braves (1973-75), Indians (1975) and Twins (1978), he had a career mark of 30-35 with 10 saves. He also produced 15 hits _ six were home runs.

During his five seasons in the majors, Harrison earned two wins versus the Cardinals. Both were complete games. He hit a home run in each, including one against Bob Gibson.

Later, Harrison went to spring training with the Cardinals but failed in an attempt to make the club as a reliever.

Top of the morning

Roric Harrison was from Los Angeles but his family roots were in Ireland, which is how he got his name. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1973, “I’m Irish and the first rebel king of Ireland was named Roric. My father liked it.”

(The rebel king in the 1500s was Brian O’Rourke, or O’Ruairc in Irish Gaelic. Handsome, proud, defiant, he got into territorial disputes with the English, who arrested and executed him for his rebelliousness.)

Harrison was a Dodgers fan as a youth. He turned 13 a couple of weeks before they clinched the 1959 World Series title against the White Sox at Chicago. At the Los Angeles airport, Harrison hung on a fence to glimpse the players arriving home. “I had tears in my eyes seeing my heroes get off the plane _ Maury Wills, Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges,” he recalled to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Five years later, when he turned 18, Harrison signed with the Astros. Pitching in their farm system, he threw hard, not accurately. Harrison struck out the first seven batters he faced as a pro, then walked the next five, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. He told the Rochester newspaper, “My fastball was hard to control at times. I was overthrowing.”

In 1969, still in the minors, Harrison tore up his left knee while fielding a bunt and had surgery. (He’d need operations on the knee again in 1971 and 1974.) An American League expansion team, the Seattle Pilots, took a chance on him while he mended. On Aug. 24, 1969, they traded pitcher (and “Ball Four” author) Jim Bouton to the Astros for Harrison and Dooley Womack.

The Pilots moved from Seattle to Milwaukee in 1970 and were renamed the Brewers, but Harrison was not in their immediate plans. He got assigned to the minors for a sixth straight year.

Change of plans

Finally, at spring training with the Brewers in 1971, Harrison had a breakthrough. He pitched well and made the Opening Day roster. Then, the day before the season opener, with the Brewers in need of a left-hander, he got traded to the Orioles for Marcelino Lopez.

“It was the kind of deal you sometimes hate to make because a fine young arm can come back to haunt you,” Brewers general manager Frank Lane told The Sporting News. “Harrison showed a lot of stuff this spring.”

The 1971 Orioles (who would win the American League pennant) were loaded with pitchers, so Harrison was sent again to the minors. He joined a Rochester Red Wings team featuring prospects such as Don Baylor, Bobby Grich and Ron Shelton, who later became director and screenwriter of the 1988 film “Bull Durham.”

Harrison found his groove with Rochester. In June 1971, he pitched a two-hit shutout and slugged a grand slam versus the Toledo Mud Hens. A month later, against Toledo again, he struck out 18, pitched a three-hitter and drove in a run with a triple. Harrison told the Rochester newspaper, “My fastball was really doing its thing. Jumping. Tailing off.”

On Aug. 12, 1971, Harrison pitched a one-hitter against Syracuse. Three days later, he was in the dugout when a foul ball struck him on the right side of the head, damaging an ear drum. “Thank God he turned his head,” Dr. Armand Cincotta told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “If he hadn’t turned his head, the ball would have hit him flush in the face.”

Harrison was treated at a hospital, but two days after the accident he started the first game of a doubleheader versus Syracuse. Despite a ringing sound in his right ear, he pitched a seven-inning one-hitter. “It was a strange feeling,” he told the Rochester newspaper, “because I couldn’t hear the ball hit the catcher’s mitt.”

Harrison finished with a 15-5 record, including five shutouts, and a 2.81 ERA for Rochester in 1971. He struck out 182 in 170 innings. He also hit .273 with four home runs.

At spring training in 1972, Harrison impressed Orioles manager Earl Weaver, who told the Baltimore Evening Sun, “Harrison exceeds my expectations. He throws as hard as anyone we’ve got in this camp except maybe one guy (Jim Palmer).”

With a starting staff of Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson and Dave McNally, Harrison primarily was a reliever with the 1972 Orioles, but, at last, he was in the big leagues for the first time. The rookie led the club in appearances (39) and was second (to Palmer) in ERA (2.30).

When the Orioles made a pitch for Braves slugger Earl Williams after the season, they had to include Harrison (along with Davey Johnson, Pat Dobson and Johnny Oates) to complete the trade. Video

Clashes with Cardinals

After beginning the 1973 season in the bullpen, Harrison became part of the starting rotation for the Braves. His first win for them was on June 10, a 5-2 victory against the Cardinals. His home run against Tom Murphy broke a scoreless tie in the third. Harrison held the Cardinals to one hit (a Ken Reitz triple in the sixth) in eight innings before Danny Frisella relieved in the ninth.

Regarding Harrison, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch, “He’s the best pitcher they got.” Boxscore

Two months later, the Cardinals torched Harrison in a seven-run third inning capped by pitcher Rick Wise’s grand slam, but the Braves (with four RBI from Dusty Baker, three from Hank Aaron and three scoreless innings of relief from Phil Niekro) rallied and won, 11-7. Boxscore

Harrison made 38 appearances, including 22 starts, for the 1973 Braves and finished 11-8 with five saves.

Placed in a Braves starting rotation with Phil Niekro, Ron Reed and Carl Morton, Harrison struggled in 1974. He had ERAs of 5.20 in April and 4.41 in May.

A highlight came on June 14, 1974. Matched against Bob Gibson, Harrison hit a two-run homer and limited the Cardinals to one unearned run for the win. Braves manager Eddie Mathews told the Atlanta Journal, “It might have been the best I’ve seen him look since he got here last year.” Boxscore

A month later, Gibson and Harrison were matched again. Gibson needed three strikeouts to become the first National League pitcher with 3,000. He got two. Harrison gave up a three-run home run to Ted Simmons and departed after six innings, but it was Gibson who took the loss. Boxscore

Out of luck

In June 1975, Harrison was traded to the Indians for Blue Moon Odom and Rob Belloir. Ten months later, in April 1976, the Indians sent him to the Cardinals for Harry Parker.

When Harrison, 29, learned the Cardinals would assign him to the minors, he thought about not reporting, but reconsidered after a talk with general manager Bing Devine. “He assured me that I was obtained with the big-league club in mind,” Harrison said to the Tulsa World.

Harrison’s 1976 season got curtailed in June when he had surgery to remove bone chips from his right elbow. “The surgery made me a sort of bionic man,” he told The Sporting News. “It seemed they put in a new arm.”

The Cardinals put him on their big-league winter roster and he went to spring training with them in 1977 as a candidate for a relief role.

The luck of the Irish was with Harrison on St. Patrick’s Day when he pitched three scoreless innings for the win in a spring training exhibition against the White Sox. “My arms feels as good as it did when I was a rookie with the Orioles,” he told The Sporting News.

His other performances, though, were inconsistent. In four Grapefruit League appearances, his ERA was 4.64.

First-year Cardinals manager Vern Rapp opted to keep nine pitchers on the Opening Day roster _ four starters (Bob Forsch, John Denny, Pete Falcone, Eric Rasmussen), a swingman (John D’Acquisto) and four relievers (Al Hrabosky, Clay Carrol and rookies John Urrea and John Sutton).

Released by the Cardinals, Harrison pitched in the farm systems of the Tigers (1977) and Twins (1978). The Twins called him up in June 1978 and he ended his big-league career with them, making nine relief appearances.

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Cardinals hoped for a playoff melody with Eddie Fisher

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades on August 25, 2023| 12 Comments »

Eddie Fisher made sweet music with a pitch that could dance. That’s why the Cardinals wanted his help in their bid for a division title.

On Aug. 29, 1973, the Cardinals purchased the contract of Fisher, 37, from the White Sox. The right-handed knuckleball specialist was in his 15th and final season in the majors.

On the day Fisher was acquired, the Cardinals (67-64) led a weak National League East Division. They were two games ahead of the second-place Pirates (63-64) and 6.5 in front of the last-place Mets (60-70).

With Diego Segui, Orlando Pena, Al Hrabosky and Rich Folkers, the Cardinals had a reliable bullpen but wanted the insurance of another experienced reliever for the title run. Fisher fit the bill.

Home on the range

Fisher attended grades one through 12 at Friendship School in Altus, Okla. “There were only 16 in my graduating class, nine boys and seven girls, including Betty Hudgens, whom I later married,” Fisher recalled to The Sporting News.

He excelled in baseball and basketball. His Altus American Legion baseball teammate, Lindy McDaniel, also became a big-league pitcher. As a high school senior, Fisher was a principal player in a major upset. He shut out state powerhouse Capitol Hill, ending its 66-game winning streak in 1954.

“I could throw the knuckler then, but I could win with just a fastball and curve, so I never used it in a game,” Fisher said to The Sporting News.

After graduating, Fisher got a job in Oklahoma City reading gas meters. He also pitched for the company baseball team. Its manager, Roy Deal, was the father of Cardinals pitcher Cot Deal. Roy helped Fisher get an athletic scholarship to the University of Oklahoma.

Fisher didn’t throw the knuckleball in college either. “Eddie didn’t need the knuckler to win in college ball,” head coach Jack Baer explained to The Norman Transcript, “and there are very few catchers, let alone college catchers, who can handle a knuckler.”

As a college junior, Fisher got an offer from the Kansas City Athletics but opted to return to Oklahoma for his senior year. When no offers came after Fisher completed his college career, Roy Deal contacted a minor-league team in Corpus Christi, Texas, and helped him get a roster spot there.

Tuning up

Corpus Christi, a farm club of the Giants in 1958, was managed by a former American League catcher, Ray Murray, who encouraged Fisher to add the knuckler to his assortment of pitches.

A year later, in July 1959, Fisher, 23, was called up to the Giants. For Fisher’s debut, a start against the Pirates, manager Bill Rigney used backup catcher Jim Hegan, 38, who was in his 16th season in the majors. Experienced catching the knuckler, Hegan guided the rookie through the game. Fisher pitched seven innings, limiting the Pirates to one run and three hits, and got the win. Boxscore

A popular singer at the time also was named Eddie Fisher. The singer’s marriages to actresses Debbie Reynolds (their daughter is actress Carrie Fisher), Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens added to his fame. Asked about sharing a name with the crooner, baseball’s Eddie Fisher told The Norman Transcript, “I can’t sing, and what’s more, I don’t like to.”

Teammates nicknamed the pitcher Donald Duck “because of the excellent imitation he does” of the Walt Disney character, The Sporting News noted.

Higher education

After the 1961 season, Fisher was sent by the Giants to the White Sox for pitchers Billy Pierce and Don Larsen. Pierce and Larsen helped the Giants win the 1962 pennant. The White Sox helped Fisher find his niche. The turning point came during the 1964 season when his teammate, knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, persuaded him to use the knuckler as his main pitch.

“We’d be out there together in the bullpen and we’d talk shop,” Fisher told The Sporting News. “He kept hammering away at me to throw the knuckler more. He insisted it was my out pitch and he finally convinced me.”

The bullpen combination of Wilhelm and Fisher confounded American League batters. With the 1964 White Sox, Wilhelm was 12-9 with 27 saves and a 1.99 ERA. Fisher was 6-3 with nine saves and a 3.02 ERA. In 1965, Fisher led American League pitchers in appearances (82) and was 15-7 with 24 saves and a 2.40 ERA. Wilhelm was 7-7 with 21 saves and a 1.81 ERA.

Their knucklers baffled White Sox catcher J.C. Martin as well. Martin had 24 passed balls in 1964 and 33 in 1965.

Fisher was effective against all styles of hitters. Contact hitter Bobby Richardson batted .103 in 29 at-bats against him. Slugger Jim Gentile came up empty _ hitless in 15 career at-bats. “If it’s a good knuckleball, it doesn’t just float. It moves,” Gentile told The Oklahoman. “Swing at it, it might dip, might rise.”

American League batters hit .192 versus Fisher in 1964 and .205 in 1965.

That’s a winner

On June 13, 1966, the White Sox traded Fisher to the Orioles for second baseman Jerry Adair. Fisher joined a bullpen with Stu Miller, Moe Drabowsky and Dick Hall.

Fisher made an immediate impact, earning a save or a win in five of his first seven appearances with the Orioles. He pitched in 44 games for them and was 5-3 with 14 saves and a 2.64 ERA. The Orioles (97-63) won the pennant.

Though Fisher led the league in appearances (67 combined for the White Sox and Orioles) for the second year in a row, he didn’t pitch in the 1966 World Series versus the Dodgers. The Orioles swept, getting shutouts from Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally. The only Orioles reliever to appear in that World Series was Drabowsky, who pitched 6.2 scoreless innings and struck out 11 in Game 1.

Fisher never got to play for another World Series participant. He was with the Indians in 1968 and the Angels from 1969-72 before returning to the White Sox.

Final season

At spring training in 1973, Fisher, 36, had a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings pitched in exhibition games. White Sox manager Chuck Tanner and pitching coach Johnny Sain decided to open the season with Fisher as their No. 3 starter behind another knuckleballer, Wilbur Wood, and Stan Bahnsen.

Fisher won four of his first five decisions, but the good times didn’t last. He slumped in June (10.67 ERA in five starts) and was moved back to the bullpen. In 10 relief appearances covering 35.1 innings, he had a 3.57 ERA, prompting the Cardinals to acquire him. Barney Schultz, Cardinals pitching coach in 1973, helped St. Louis win a World Series title in 1964 as a knuckleball reliever who joined the club in August.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst put Fisher to work, pitching him in three consecutive games. In his second appearance, on Sept. 2, 1973, Fisher got the win with a scoreless inning of relief against the Mets. The triumph gave the Cardinals (69-67) sole possession of first place in the division, a game ahead of the Pirates (66-66), and pushed the Mets (63-72) nine games below .500. Boxscore

The next day, the Cardinals played a doubleheader against the Pirates. In the opener, with the score tied at 4-4, Fisher entered in the bottom of the 13th inning. The first batter he faced, Richie Hebner, clobbered a knuckleball to deep right.

“I definitely thought it was gone,” Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons told The Pittsburgh Press. “I was ready to walk off the field.”

Instead, the ball hit the wall and caromed past right fielder Jose Cruz. Center fielder Luis Melendez didn’t back up Cruz as he should. The ball bounced along the artificial surface of the outfield as Hebner steamed around the bases.

Melendez said to The Pittsburgh Press, “I’ve got to be there (backing up the play). If I get there when I was supposed to, it only would have been a double.”

When Melendez finally got to the ball, he reached for it and didn’t come up with it. He reached a second time and again couldn’t grab it. Pirates third-base coach Bill Mazeroski told The Pittsburgh Press that he intended to hold Hebner at third, but when Melendez twice failed to retrieve the ball, “I sent him in. If he picks it up the first or second time, I don’t send him in.”

Hebner scooted to the plate with a walkoff inside-the-park home run, and Fisher was the losing pitcher. Boxscore

Two weeks later, on Sept. 17, Fisher got a win, pitching two scoreless innings and driving in a run with a single against the Expos’ Mike Marshall. Boxscore

By then, though, the Cardinals (74-76) were sliding. The Mets won seven in a row from Sept. 18 to Sept. 25 and finished as the only team in the division with a winning record (82-79).

(The 1973 Cardinals ended 81-81, sixth overall in the National League, a finish that today would have them popping champagne corks and selling postseason merchandise as lame playoff qualifiers.)

Fisher was released by the Cardinals after the season, ending his playing days. He was 2-1 with a 1.29 ERA for them. For his career in the majors, Fisher was 85-70 with 82 saves.

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