RetroSimba

Why Cardinals were offended by talk from Gussie Busch

March 15, 2019 by retrosimba

(Updated April 28, 2020)

In a meeting with Cardinals players after they won two consecutive National League pennants and a World Series title, club owner Gussie Busch warned them about getting fat, greedy and selfish, and scolded them for backing union leadership he considered disrespectful to management.

Players expecting gratitude and support for achieving back-to-back championship seasons, and seeking encouragement in their pursuit of more success, instead were told they needed to do a better job of conforming and representing the organization.

Busch’s speech on March 22, 1969, played well with some of the public, but backfired with some of the players, who were demoralized rather than inspired by his words. His rant was cited as a turning point in transforming the Cardinals from proud champions to dispirited underachievers.

Playing hardball

In the weeks leading to spring training in 1969, Busch became irritated and frustrated when the players’ union threatened to strike in a dispute with owners over the percentage players would get from television revenue.

Busch also was miffed by the salary demands of his players. The player payroll for the 1969 Cardinals was reported to be the highest in baseball at an estimated total of $900,000 to $1 million.

On Feb. 4, 1969, Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson was a guest on NBC’s “The Tonight Show,” appearing with entertainers Vince Edwards, Redd Foxx, Peter Lind Hayes and Tina Louise. Gibson explained to host Flip Wilson, subbing for Johnny Carson, why players were prepared to boycott spring training and defended their stance.

In his 1994 book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said his comments upset Busch. With a 1969 salary of $125,000, Gibson was the highest-paid Cardinals player and joined Stan Musial as only the second to receive $100,000 in a season. In return for such compensation, Busch expected Gibson to be supportive of management.

Though the players’ union called off the proposed spring training boycott after reaching a compromise on percentage of television revenue shared, the amount owners would contribute to the pension fund and the years needed to qualify for a pension, Busch didn’t like what he was seeing and hearing from players and decided to “get it off my chest.”

Busch prepared a speech and previewed it with Cardinals executive vice-president Dick Meyer, senior vice-president Stan Musial, general manager Bing Devine and manager Red Schoendienst.

With those key management people onboard, Busch invited the media to attend his meeting with the players on a Saturday morning in the team clubhouse at the St. Petersburg, Fla., training camp.

Being bossed

“It was unusual for players to meet with the owner and unprecedented, not to mention discomfiting, to do it with reporters in attendance,” Gibson said.

The players gathered in full uniform as Busch took a seat and began speaking.

“Fans no longer are as sure as they were before about their high regard for the game and the players,” Busch said.

“Too many fans are saying our players are getting fat, that they only think of money, and less of the game itself. The fans will be looking at you this year more critically than ever before to watch how you perform and see whether you really are giving everything you have.”

Regarding the players’ union, Busch said, “Baseball’s union representatives made all kinds of derogatory statements about the owners. We suddenly seem to be your greatest enemies. Representatives threw down all sorts of challenges, threats and ultimatums. Personally, I don’t react well to ultimatums.”

When Busch finished his 25-minute talk, players applauded “politely,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Busch invited players to comment or ask a question, but none did.

Meyer spoke next and made remarks tailored to drive a wedge between players and union leader Marvin Miller.

“He works for you,” Meyer said of Miller. “You don’t work for him. You cannot assign your future and the future of your family to someone else. If you do, you’re in trouble.”

Keeping up appearances

Asked by the Post-Dispatch for their reactions, most players stuck to generalities. “It was well said,” offered Tim McCarver. Lou Brock called it “very well put” and Dal Maxvill said “it was first class.” Others, such as Gibson and Curt Flood, declined comment.

In his 1971 book “The Way It Is,” Flood explained, “I feared that if I so much as hinted at the truth about that meeting I would be gone from the team in a week. I was sick with shame and so was everyone else on the Cardinals except Busch and his claque.”

Flood said Busch “depicted us as a rabble of ingrates” and “humiliated us to the best of his ability.”

“Busch was using the occasion not only to revile us but to reassert the uniquely feudal privileges vested to him and other club owners by baseball’s reserve system,” Flood said.

Anheuser-Busch printed 100,000 copies of Busch’s speech and distributed versions to its 21,000 stockholders, about 10,000 employees and anyone else who wanted one, The Sporting News reported.

Changes in attitude

Busch’s remarks made headlines, but “there is no evidence this had any effect” in him getting what he wanted, The Sporting News observed. On the eve of the 1969 season opener, “several key players refused to attend” a civic dinner.

The Cardinals played poorly in the first half of the 1969 season, posting records of 9-12 in April, 12-13 in May and 14-16 in June. After the Cardinals were swept by the Pirates in a three-game series to open the season, coach Dick Sisler said, “If we don’t win one pretty soon, we are going to have the first million-dollar bench.”

In summarizing the 1969 Cardinals, Sports Illustrated wrote, “The Cards threw to the wrong bases on defense and sometimes did not throw at all. Opposing runners stole with impunity and the St. Louis bullpen collapsed almost completely.”

The Cardinals finished at 87-75 and in fourth place in a six-team division. The Cardinals wouldn’t return to the postseason until 1982.

Gibson cited Busch’s speech as “defining a moment as any” in the Cardinals’ decline. “It seems our deterioration as a ballclub traced back to the fact the Cardinals, as an organization, were simply not willing or prepared to keep up with the times,” Gibson said.

Said Flood: “We Cardinals became a morose and touchy team. Our concentration suffered. So did the remarkable spirit of fraternity that had helped us dominate the league for two years in succession.”

Posted in Executives | 6 Comments »

Cardinals were tough on boyhood fan Joe Gibbon

March 12, 2019 by retrosimba

(Updated June 15, 2023)

Joe Gibbon grew up as a Cardinals fan in Mississippi, passed up a career in basketball for baseball and pitched in the major leagues for 13 seasons.

Gibbon spent his big-league career in the National League with the Pirates (1960-65 and 1969-70), Giants (1966-69), Reds (1971-72) and Astros (1972).

A left-hander who threw sidearm and possessed a sinking fastball, Gibbon was used as a starter and reliever. He had a record of 61-65 with 32 saves and a 3.52 ERA in the majors. Gibbon was 38-46 with a 3.98 ERA as a starter and 23-19 with a 2.73 ERA as a reliever.

Against the Cardinals, Gibbon was 3-9 with three saves and a 5.05 ERA, giving up 155 hits in 117.2 innings. Curt Flood batted .531 in 49 at-bats versus Gibbon, but Lou Brock hit .159 in 44 at-bats.

In the book “We Played the Game,” Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver, comparing the pitching motions of National League left-handers, said, “Sandy Koufax came over the top, so he wasn’t as frightening as left-handers like Joe Gibbon and (Pirates teammate) Fred Green.”

In his book, “Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans,” McCarver explained why he thought Gibbon was intimidating for a left-handed batter to face: “On his delivery, he’d drop his arm to first and our rear ends would follow. It was impossible to stay in against him. I said, ‘I’m going to stand away from the plate and I’ll take anything inside,’ but when I moved off the plate, he’d cleverly follow me with his sinker. I still couldn’t extend my arms. I’d lose all sense of where I was in the box.”

Hoops talent

Gibbon was born and raised in Hickory, Mississippi, a town named after President Andrew Jackson, who earned the nickname “Old Hickory” because of his toughness as an Army general.

Gibbon followed the Cardinals as a youth and his favorite player was Stan Musial, according to the Society for American Baseball Research. Gibbon listened on radio to the broadcast of Game 7 of the 1946 World Series when Harry Walker of the Cardinals drove in Enos Slaughter with the winning run against the Red Sox. Walker would become one of Gibbon’s managers in the big leagues.

At 6 feet 4, Gibbon was talented in baseball and basketball, excelling in both sports at the University of Mississippi. In the 1956-57 NCAA Division I basketball season, Gibbon was second in the nation in scoring, averaging 30 points and 14.1 rebounds a game. Grady Wallace of South Carolina averaged 31.2 points and he and Gibbon finished ahead of Seattle’s Elgin Baylor (29.7) and Kansas’ Wilt Chamberlain (29.6).

Gibbon was drafted by the NBA Boston Celtics but signed with the baseball Pirates in 1957. In 1959, his third season in the Pirates’ farm system, Gibbon was 16-9 with a 2.60 ERA for Class AAA Columbus, Ohio, gaining him a spot in the majors with the 1960 Pirates.

Rookie success

After earning two wins in relief in April 1960 for the Pirates, Gibbon’s first win as a big-league starter came against the Cardinals on May 19 at Pittsburgh.

Matched against 19-year-old Ray Sadecki, who was making his major-league debut for the Cardinals, Gibbon pitched six scoreless innings before yielding a run in the seventh and another in the eighth. The second run was scored by Musial, who walked in a pinch-hit appearance the first time he faced Gibbon.

Gibbon pitched 7.1 innings, allowing two runs, striking out seven and getting the win in an 8-3 Pirates triumph over the Cardinals. Boxscore

The Pirates won the 1960 National League pennant and Gibbon contributed with a 4-2 record. In the 1960 World Series against the Yankees, Gibbon made two relief appearances, surrendering a three-run home run to Mickey Mantle in Game 2 Boxscore and pitching a scoreless inning in Game 3. The Pirates won the championship in Game 7.

Birthday blast

In 1961, Gibbon earned 13 wins for the Pirates, but against the Cardinals he was 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA.

On Aug. 9, 1961, the Cardinals’ Julian Javier broke up a scoreless game with a grand slam against Gibbon in the eighth inning at Pittsburgh. Javier, a former Pirates prospect playing on his 25th birthday, hit an outside fastball down the right-field line and over the wall at Forbes Field. Boxscore

Six years later, on June 29, 1967, Gibbon started for the Giants against the Cardinals at St. Louis. The Giants scored 11 runs in the top of the first against Bob Gibson and Nelson Briles, but Gibbon couldn’t take advantage of the gift. He gave up two runs in the bottom half of the inning without getting an out and was lifted for a reliever. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 4 Comments »

Why Cardinals dealt Orlando Cepeda for Joe Torre

March 9, 2019 by retrosimba

(Updated April 13, 2025)

For such a straightforward deal, the trade of Joe Torre to the Cardinals for Orlando Cepeda took some twists and turns involving pitcher Nolan Ryan and center fielder Curt Flood.

On March 17, 1969, the Cardinals sent Cepeda to the Braves for Torre in a swap of first basemen.

The Braves were shopping Torre because he was feuding with general manager Paul Richards and hadn’t signed a contract. Most thought Torre would go to the Mets, who’d been in trade talks with the Braves for several weeks.

The Mets offered pitcher Nolan Ryan, first baseman Ed Kranepool, infielder Bob Heise and a choice of catchers, J.C. Martin or Duffy Dyer, for Torre and third baseman Bob Aspromonte, The Sporting News reported. Torre and Aspromonte were Brooklyn natives.

Ryan, who would become baseball’s all-time leader in strikeouts, impressed the Braves but was a raw talent. Richards rejected the four-for-two proposal because he wanted catcher Jerry Grote or outfielder Amos Otis, but the Mets “labeled them untouchables,” according to Atlanta Constitution sports editor Jesse Outlar.

When the Mets wouldn’t budge, the Braves offered Torre to the Dodgers for catcher Tom Haller, but the Dodgers weren’t interested, the Constitution reported.

Cardinals general manager Bing Devine offered Cepeda and Flood for Torre and outfielder Felipe Alou, according to the Constitution, but Richards wouldn’t trade Alou, so the clubs settled on Cepeda for Torre. Seven months later, when the Cardinals traded Flood to the Phillies, he refused to report, prompting his legal challenge of the reserve clause and opening a path to the creation of free agency.

Cepeda feels chill

The Cardinals were willing to trade Cepeda because his performance declined in 1968 and he miffed management by reporting late to spring training in 1969.

After batting .325 with 111 RBI and winning the National League Most Valuable Player Award with the Cardinals in 1967, Cepeda hit .248 with 73 RBI in 1968.

Cepeda “found himself taken advantage of by well-wishing friends who helped him pile up debts and other problems that didn’t endear him to management … especially when at times he’d duck out of the dugout between innings to conduct personal matters,” Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The Cardinals hoped Cepeda would be more focused in 1969, but he informed Devine by telegram he would report late to spring training.

When Cepeda arrived at camp on March 5, he said he’d been sick, but Devine fined him $250 for reporting 48 hours later than he said he would.

Cepeda said he detected “a coolness” from Devine, and Broeg reported “Cepeda realized there had been a change in attitude toward him.”

“Bing was not terribly friendly and he was all business,” Cepeda said in his 1998 book “Baby Bull.”

In his 2004 book “The Memoirs of Bing Devine,” Devine said, “I thought Cepeda might be on the way down.”

Mother knows best

Torre, meanwhile, was having issues with Braves management because Richards wanted him to take a salary cut. Torre hit .294 in nine seasons (1960-68) as Braves catcher, but he tore ligaments in his ankle in 1967 and suffered a broken cheek and broken nose when hit by a pitch from Chuck Hartenstein of the Cubs in 1968. Limited to 115 games in 1968, Torre batted .271 with 55 RBI.

The Braves planned to move Torre to first base in 1969, but when he refused to report to spring training because of the salary squabble, Richards told him he could “hold out until Thanksgiving” because the club would be OK without him.

The Cardinals were interested because Torre (28) was three years younger than Cepeda (31), had a less expensive salary ($65,000) than Cepeda ($80,000) and could play multiple positions.

“This is all part of our belief that we can’t just sit and ride along with a winner, but must look for changes that make sense,” Devine said.

Devine projected Torre to play first base and back up Tim McCarver at catcher.

When Torre told his mother he’d been traded to the two-time defending National League champions, she replied, “Now go to church and thank God.”

“Mom recognized what going with a championship ballclub like the Cardinals meant,” Torre said.

Looking back on the trade, Torre told Cardinals Yearbook in 2014, “The fact I was traded for Orlando Cepeda surprised the hell out of me. He was so well thought of as a player and a great leader.”

Cepeda, described by pitcher Bob Gibson as the team’s “spiritual leader,” said he was “shocked” by the trade, “but I’m not mad at the Cardinals. They treated me very well.”

Said Richards: “Now we have someone to hit behind Hank Aaron. The opposition can no longer pitch around Aaron.”

Good fit

When Torre joined the Cardinals at training camp, he was greeted by Warren Spahn, a manager in their farm system and a former battery mate. “You’ll love it here,” Spahn told Torre.

Torre wore uniform No. 15 with the Braves, but McCarver had that number with the Cardinals. “I think I’ll ask for No. 6,” Torre said with a smile, knowing it was the retired number of Stan Musial.

Torre was given No. 9, last worn by recently retired Roger Maris. “I thought No. 9 was great, knowing who had worn it the year before,” Torre recalled to Cardinals Yearbook in 2014. “I knew Roger a little bit, and I knew what kind of guy he was, so I was really proud to have it.”

In his 1997 book, “Chasing the Dream,” Torre said, “I felt a lot of pressure trying to replace Cepeda, but found myself surrounded by a great bunch of teammates.”

With Cepeda, the Braves won a division title in 1969 and played in the National League Championship Series against the Mets, who’d acquired Donn Clendenon to play first after they failed to get Torre. The Cardinals placed fourth in their division and Gibson good-naturedly chided Torre, saying, “You know, we used to win before you got here.”

Individually, Torre had a better 1969 season than Cepeda. Torre hit .289 with 101 RBI. Cepeda hit .257 with 88 RBI.

Cepeda played four seasons with the Braves and hit .281. Torre played six seasons with the Cardinals and hit .308. In 1971, Torre was named winner of the National League Most Valuable Player Award when he batted .363 with 137 RBI as Cardinals third baseman.

Years later, Devine said acquiring Torre “was one of my favorite deals on the basis of his long-term success.”

Posted in Hitters, Trades | 13 Comments »

Don Newcombe used multiple skills to torment Cardinals

March 6, 2019 by retrosimba

(Updated April 13, 2020)

Don Newcombe was as tough on the Cardinals with a bat as he was with pitches.

Newcombe was a hard-throwing, hard-hitting pitcher who spent his prime years with the Dodgers.

At 6-4, 220 pounds, Newcombe was an imposing figure on the mound, where he threw right-handed, and at the plate, where he hit left-handed.

In 10 years in the major leagues, Newcombe had a 149-90 record and hit .271 with 15 home runs. Against the Cardinals, Newcombe was 23-11 and hit .299 with six home runs.

In 1955, when he was 20-5 for the champion Dodgers, Newcombe “toyed with the Cardinals as though they were a sandlot team,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Newcombe was 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA and batted .524 with seven RBI versus the 1955 Cardinals.

Newcombe “is downright unbelievable these days,” marveled the Post-Dispatch. “The way he’s going, the only question is whether he can throw as hard as he can hit, or hit as hard as he can throw.”

Rookie vs. Redbirds

Newcombe, 22, made his major-league debut for the Dodgers against the Cardinals on May 20, 1949, at St. Louis and it was a hard-luck initiation.

With the Cardinals ahead, 3-2, Newcombe relieved Rex Barney to open the bottom of the seventh inning. The St. Louis Star-Times, getting its first glimpse of the rookie, described him as “bull-shouldered” and a “massive mountain man.”

Newcombe struck out the first batter, Chuck Diering, on three pitches _ two fastballs and a curve _ and Red Schoendienst followed with a lined single to right.

Next up was Stan Musial. Newcombe fooled him with a low, outside pitch, causing Musial to check his swing, but the ball met his bat and was blooped into shallow left for a single, moving Schoendienst to second.

Newcombe overpowered the next batter, Eddie Kazak, who topped the ball to short so weakly Pee Wee Reese had no play.

The infield single loaded the bases for Enos Slaughter, who drove Newcombe’s first pitch deep down the left-field line for a bases-clearing double. Newcombe was relieved by Erv Palica and the Cardinals won, 6-2. Boxscore

“I had good stuff,” Newcombe said to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “My arm felt good and loose, too.”

According to a Saturday Evening Post article reported on in The Sporting News, when Newcombe struck out Diering, “the Negro fans in the right field stands at Sportsman’s Park went wild. White fans resented this _ cheers for the visiting Negro player and hoots for the hometown Cardinals. So when the Cardinals began pounding away at Newcombe, the white fans gave him the business.”

Three months later, on Aug. 24, 1949, in what The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called “quite possibly the most important single game the Dodgers will have this season,” Newcombe pitched a shutout and drove in three runs in a 6-0 victory over the Cardinals at Brooklyn. The win moved the Dodgers within a game of the first-place Cardinals. Boxscore

Newcombe is “the closest thing to a real blow-’em-down pitcher the National League has seen since Mort Cooper was at his best,” declared the Post-Dispatch.

Solved by Stan

The Dodgers won the 1949 pennant, finishing a game ahead of the Cardinals. Newcombe posted a 17-8 record, pitched 244.1 innings and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

In the 1994 book “We Played the Game,” Newcombe said as a rookie, “I had the talent and desire _ and I was cocky. I knew I was good, as good or better than the white guys who were trying to keep me from being there.”

Newcombe led the National League in winning percentage in 1955 (20-5, .800) and 1956 (27-7, .794), and was 4-0 versus the Cardinals in each season.

The Cardinal who hit Newcombe the hardest was Musial. Newcombe gave up more home runs (11) to Musial than to any other batter. Musial hit .349 against him.

In “We Played the Game,” Newcombe said, “I pitched toward batters’ weaknesses. Except for Stan Musial and Hank Aaron, they all had weaknesses, even Willie Mays.”

On June 21, 1956, during a season when Newcombe won both the Cy Young Award and the National League Most Valuable Player trophy, Musial hit a pair of two-run home runs and a single against him, but the Dodgers won, 9-8, with a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth. Boxscore

Newcombe and Carl Erskine were the pitchers when Musial hit for the cycle against the Dodgers on July 24, 1949, at Brooklyn. Musial tripled against Newcombe and had a single, double and home run off Erskine. Boxscore

In his 1964 autobiography, “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “Newk had as great control for a hard thrower as any pitcher I ever faced. I hit him good, but he had a good fastball and curve.”

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | 4 Comments »

Dazed and confused: Bernie Carbo and his Cardinals encore

March 3, 2019 by retrosimba

The return of Bernie Carbo to the Cardinals after a six-year absence was a minor free-agent signing with major consequences.

In March 1979, the Cardinals signed Carbo to a two-year contract for a guaranteed $115,000 per season.

Carbo was projected to be a backup outfielder and pinch-hitter for the Cardinals in 1979 and 1980.

Years later, Keith Hernandez, the Cardinals first baseman who in 1979 won a National League batting title and was named co-winner of the Most Valuable Player Award, testified in federal court he began using cocaine with Carbo when they were Cardinals teammates.

In retaliation for testifying against him, Carbo said he offered to pay someone to have Hernandez’s arms broken.

From Reds to Redbirds to Red Sox

Carbo had a troubled childhood in Detroit, but he possessed baseball talent and was chosen by the Reds in the first round of the 1965 amateur draft.

He made his major-league debut with the Reds in 1969, became their left fielder in 1970 and helped them win the National League pennant. Carbo batted .310 with 21 home runs and a .454 on-base percentage for the 1970 Reds, but was hitless in the World Series versus the Orioles.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the relationship between Carbo and Reds manager Sparky Anderson deteriorated, and on May 19, 1972, Carbo was dealt to the Cardinals for first baseman Joe Hague.

As the Cardinals’ right fielder, Carbo batted .258 with a .381 on-base percentage in 1972 and .286 with a .397 on-base percentage in 1973.

The Cardinals traded Carbo and pitcher Rick Wise to the Red Sox for outfielder Reggie Smith and pitcher Ken Tatum on Oct. 26, 1973.

Two years later, in the 1975 World Series against the Reds, Carbo joined another former Cardinal, Chuck Essegian of the 1959 Dodgers, as the only players with two pinch-hit home runs in one World Series.

Limited options

In June 1978, the Red Sox sent Carbo to the Indians. After the season, Carbo, 31, became a free agent and “was shocked to find there was hardly any demand for his services,” according to The Sporting News.

The Cardinals were the only club to make him an offer. Carbo said, “I was depressed very, very much” by the lack of interest. “It hurts that nobody wants you.”

The reason the Cardinals took a chance was because of Carbo’s history with general manager John Claiborne, who’d been a Red Sox administrator.

With Lou Brock in left, Tony Scott in center and George Hendrick in right, Carbo was a backup for the 1979 Cardinals. He seldom played and hit .281 in 64 at-bats. In July, he showed up late for a game and got into an argument with manager Ken Boyer. Fined and told to stay out of uniform, Carbo apologized the next day and was reinstated.

In 1980, Carbo again opened the season as a Cardinals reserve, but he hit .182 in 11 at-bats and got released in May.

Demons and drugs

In September 1985, Hernandez was called to testify in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh in the trial of a man accused of dealing drugs. Under oath, Hernandez said Carbo introduced him to cocaine in 1980.

Hernandez testified he used cocaine from 1980 to 1983 and played in one game for the Cardinals while under the influence of the drug. “It was a demon in me, an insatiable urge,” Hernandez said. Hernandez said other cocaine users on the Cardinals were Carbo, Joaquin Andujar, Lary Sorensen and Lonnie Smith, the New York Times reported.

Asked about Hernandez’s testimony, Carbo told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “He’s saying this to save his own career. He wants to put the blame on somebody else … He’s the one with the problem, spending big bucks on stuff like that.”

Twenty-five years later, in a 2010 interview with ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” program, Carbo said he sought to hire someone in 1985 to break the arms of Hernandez.

“I knew some people, and I had $2,000, and I asked them to break his arms,” Carbo said to ESPN.

According to the New York Post, Carbo changed his mind when told he likely would be implicated in any attack on Hernandez.

Carbo told ESPN, “When I went to an individual to have it done, he said, ‘We’ll do it in two or three years if you want it done, but we’re not going to do it today, Bernie. If we went and broke his legs today, or broke his arms, you don’t think they would understand that you are the one that had it done?’ ”

Years later, Carbo told ESPN, he wanted to apologize to Hernandez for getting him started on cocaine. “I would tell Keith Hernandez I’m sorry that I introduced you to the drug and I’m sorry that I was your problem,” Carbo said.

Hernandez told Newsday, “He doesn’t owe me an apology.”

Getting clean

In a 2001 interview with The Sporting News, Carbo said, “I was a drug addict and alcoholic for 28 years.” He said he “did cocaine when I was 22 or 23, and got into crystal meth, Dekedrines, Benzedrines, Darvons, codeine. There wasn’t much that I didn’t do.”

Carbo said to ESPN, “I was addicted to the point where I couldn’t play without the drugs.”

After Carbo was implicated in the drug trial, his mother committed suicide and his father died two months later. Carbo told ESPN, “I felt at that time I was responsible for my mother’s death.”

In 1992, Carbo wanted to take his own life. “I really didn’t have any hope or any reason to live any longer, so I was really contemplating suicide,” he said.

Carbo later wrote a book, “Saving Bernie Carbo,” and said he overcame his addiction to drugs and alcohol with the help of the Baseball Assistance Team (BAT) and with the encouragement of former players Ferguson Jenkins, Bill Lee and Sam McDowell.

In an April 2018 interview with The Detroit News, Carbo speculated clubs knew of his substance abuse problems during his playing days. “I think that’s why I got traded so many times,” he said. “I got traded every two or three years. They were probably aware of my wrongdoings.”

Posted in Hitters | 13 Comments »

Keith Hernandez vs. Darryl Strawberry: Mets maulers

February 28, 2019 by retrosimba

Early in spring training in 1989, Mets teammates Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry provided a snapshot of the season ahead and it wasn’t pretty.

On March 2, 1989, Hernandez and Strawberry got into a scuffle while the Mets gathered for a team photo at training camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Hernandez, the former Cardinal, and Strawberry were two of the Mets’ most prominent players and their fight was visible evidence all was not right with team chemistry.

“It is not without reason the Mets have a psychiatrist on the premises,” New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica observed.

Sticks and stones

In a four-year stretch from 1985-88, the Cardinals and Mets ruled the National League East. The Cardinals won the division title in 1985 and 1987; the Mets did it in 1986 and 1988. Hernandez, the smooth-fielding first baseman acquired from the Cardinals in 1983, and Strawberry, the slugging right fielder, were instrumental in the Mets’ success.

When Strawberry showed up at training camp in 1989, he informed the Mets he wanted to renegotiate a contract which had two years remaining. “I feel I’m not being appreciated for what I’ve done,” Strawberry said to the New York Times.

Mets management was uninterested in reworking the agreement and Hernandez sided with the front office, telling a newspaper Strawberry was “getting bad advice” and “a deal’s a deal.”

At the photo session on a Thursday morning before workouts began, Strawberry said to Hernandez, “Why did you say those things about me?’

Hernandez replied, “I’m tired of your baby stuff.”

Strawberry said, “I’ve been tired of you for years,” and took a swing at Hernandez.

The backhand punch grazed Hernandez on the cheek, according to the Daily News.

Pitchers Dwight Gooden and Bob Ojeda restrained Strawberry, and pitcher Randy Myers grabbed Hernandez and lifted him off the ground to keep him from going after Strawberry, the Daily News reported. Video

“Another day in fantasy land,” said Mets pitcher Ron Darling. “Like Barnum and Bailey and the great traveling show.”

The photo session continued, with Gary Carter and Howard Johnson sitting between Hernandez and Strawberry, the SunSentinel of Fort Lauderdale reported. Strawberry and Hernandez took batting practice on separate fields. Later, they met together with team psychiatrist Dr. Alan Lans and shook hands, the New York Times reported.

“Do not believe anything was resolved beyond a truce,” Lupica wrote in the Daily News. “The two men still do not like each other.”

With management refusing to budge on his demand for a new contract, Strawberry capped the day by skipping an intrasquad game and walking out of camp, saying he wouldn’t return unless the Mets agreed to renegotiate.

“Someday, a Met will go on the disabled list with hurt feelings,” Lupica predicted.

Strawberry smooch

The next day, March 3, Strawberry didn’t show at training camp and was fined by the club.

With the Mets playing the Dodgers in an exhibition game at Port St. Lucie on March 4, the soap opera took a twist when Strawberry returned with a grand entrance.

As a public address announcer called their names in pre-game introductions, Mets players emerged one by one from the dugout and formed a line on the field. After Hernandez came out, Strawberry’s name was called and the prodigal player appeared to a chorus of boos from the home crowd. Strawberry acknowledged the fans by gesturing for more boos, the Daily News reported.

As Strawberry lined up next to Hernandez, they hugged and Strawberry kissed him on the right cheek.

“It took all of three seconds for Darryl Strawberry to offer Keith Hernandez the ultimate olive branch,” the Daily News reported.

Strawberry, claiming the kiss was spontaneous, declared the fight “should have never happened” and said, “We’re friends now.”

“Me and Keith have had a special relationship and I don’t want it to be destroyed by what happened in the past,” Strawberry said.

Hernandez told Gannett News Service, “It should be water under the bridge. We’ll just go forward from here. We’re here to play ball.”

Sad season

Both Hernandez and Strawberry had subpar seasons for the 1989 Mets and their performances were factors in why the team failed to reach the postseason.

Hernandez hit .233 with a paltry 19 RBI. He became a free agent after the season and signed with the Indians.

Strawberry hit .225 with 29 home runs. He played another year for the Mets, fulfilling the contract, became a free agent and joined the Dodgers in 1991.

The 1989 Mets finished at 87-75, six games behind the first-place Cubs and a game ahead of the third-place Cardinals.

Posted in Hitters, Opponents | 2 Comments »

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