RetroSimba

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 »

Why Mickey Mantle walked away from Yankees

February 25, 2019 by retrosimba

Five years after he faced the Cardinals in his 12th World Series with the Yankees, Mickey Mantle knew he wouldn’t play in another.

On March 1, 1969, Mantle, 37, announced his retirement, bringing an end to the career of one of baseball’s most exciting and popular players.

Hampered by leg injuries and other ailments, Mantle’s performance declined steadily in the years after he hit .333 with three home runs in the 1964 World Series against the Cardinals.

On the day Mantle made his retirement announcement at the Yankees’ spring training base in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., his friend and former teammate, Roger Maris, was visiting the Cardinals’ camp across the state in St. Petersburg. Maris, who retired after playing in a second consecutive World Series for the Cardinals in October 1968, said he wasn’t surprised by Mantle’s decision and “seemed relieved his former teammate had hung up his uniform,” according to Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mick and The Man

Mantle was born in Oklahoma and his boyhood baseball idol was the Cardinals’ Stan Musial. In 1946, when he was 14, Mantle and his father went to St. Louis to see a Cardinals game and were in a hotel elevator when Musial got on, according to author Jane Leavy in the book “The Last Boy.” Mantle’s dad wouldn’t allow him to ask Musial for an autograph. “A glimpse of a hero was enough,” Leavy wrote.

On the day he signed with the Yankees in 1949, Mantle told them Musial was his favorite player, but general manager George Weiss instructed him to tell the media Joe DiMaggio was his baseball hero, according to the Leavy book.

Mantle, a switch-hitting outfielder, had astonishing power and speed, but eventually became hampered by injuries, most significantly to his knees.

Mantle led the American League in home runs four times and earned the Triple Crown in 1956 when he topped the AL in batting average (.353), home runs (52) and RBI (130). He won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award three times and slugged 18 World Series home runs.

In 1964, Mantle had his last big season, batting .303 with 35 home runs, 111 RBI, and led the league in on-base percentage at .423. In Game 3 of the World Series versus the Cardinals, his home run against Barney Schultz leading off the bottom of the ninth gave the Yankees a 2-1 walkoff win. Boxscore He also hit a home run off Curt Simmons in Game 6 and another against Bob Gibson in Game 7.

In each of the next four seasons, Mantle failed to hit .300 or produce 60 RBI, but his on-base percentage remained high, ranging between .379 and .391.

After hitting .237 in his final year, 1968, Mantle decided he was finished, but the Yankees and the players’ union asked him to delay an announcement until spring training, according to the Leavy book. The Yankees wanted to use his popularity to sell tickets and the union wanted to use his clout in labor negotiations.

In the Nov. 17, 1968, New York Daily News, columnist Dick Young broke the story of Mantle’s intention to retire and reported, “Official announcement will be withheld until Mickey joins the Yankees at their training camp in March.”

Time to go

When Mantle arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 28, 1969, he still was on the Yankees’ active roster. He spoke privately that night with Yankees manager Ralph Houk and informed him he wanted to retire. The next morning, Mantle had breakfast with team president Michael Burke and gave him the same news.

Burke, like Houk, told Mantle he could keep playing for the Yankees, but Mantle’s mind was made up.

The Yankees hastily arranged an afternoon news conference and Mantle made his decision public.

“I can’t play anymore,” Mantle said to the Associated Press. “I don’t hit the ball when I need to. I can’t steal when I need to. I can’t score from second when I need to.”

Mantle said “my right knee is what they call a 100 percent disability _ there’s nothing left to fix.”

“I was actually dreading playing another season,” Mantle said, adding, “I figured it would be best for the team if I stop now.”

After 18 Yankees seasons (1951-68), Mantle finished with a .298 batting average, 536 home runs, 1,509 RBI, 2,415 hits and a .421 on-base percentage. It bothered him he didn’t hit .300 for his career, a goal he would have achieved if he had quit a season sooner. “If I kept playing, I would only keep lowering my average,” he said. “I have known for two years that I couldn’t hit anymore, but I kept trying.”

He told The Sporting News, “It has become embarrassing to have young kids throw the ball past me.”

Yankees royalty

Reactions to Mantle’s decision brought a flood of tributes.

_ Musial told the Post-Dispatch, “If he’d been completely sound physically, I think he would have been the best ballplayer any of us ever saw.”

_ DiMaggio said to The Sporting News, “I know exactly how Mickey feels. They all told me I had a couple of years left when I quit, but I couldn’t bounce back anymore.”

_ In an editorial, The Sporting News declared, “This last of the Yankees superstars captured the public fancy as did few players before him and certainly none since. A Mantle arrives about as frequently as the birth of quintuplets.”

_ Broeg wrote in the Post-Dispatch, “For the first time in the nearly half-century since New York acquired Babe Ruth, the Yankees are a bunch of nondescript guys named Charlie Smith. Retirement of Mickey Mantle did more than take from baseball the bat of a big-name player, for it also deprived the Yankees of their last vestige of playing field glamour.”

_ Dick Young wrote in the New York Daily News, “There is much more than muscle in Mickey Mantle. There is class and guts, and his own special kind of dignity, and there is enough pride for 10 men. I suppose it was the pride, after all, that made him decide he’d had it.”

Posted in Hitters, Opponents | 4 Comments »

Tall order: Dodgers were tough on little Joe Presko

February 22, 2019 by retrosimba

Joe Presko pitched for the Cardinals at a time when the Dodgers dominated the National League.

Presko was with the Cardinals from 1951-54, a period when the Dodgers won two National League pennants and twice finished in second.

Those Dodgers teams were immortalized in the Roger Kahn book “The Boys of Summer” and featured players such as Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider.

Presko was 24-36 with a 4.70 ERA in his four seasons with St. Louis, but those numbers look better when excluding his performances against the Dodgers. Presko was 2-11 with a 6.33 ERA versus the Dodgers and 22-25 against the rest of the National League.

Big talent

Presko, a 5-foot-9 right-hander with a boyish appearance, didn’t play organized baseball until his senior year in high school in Kansas City, Mo., according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Because he threw hard, he got the attention of Yankees scout Bill Essick, who concluded Presko was too small to play professional baseball.

After graduating high school, Presko was playing for a drug store team in Kansas City when the Cardinals got a tip to give him a look, The Sporting News reported. Scout Runt Marr liked what he saw and signed him.

Presko rapidly rose through the Cardinals’ minor-league system, producing win totals of 16 in 1948, 14 in 1949 and 16 again in 1950.

Cardinals manager Marty Marion kept him with the big-league club after spring training in 1951. “He has a fastball that breezes right by you if you guess it’s a curve,” said Marion. “He throws everything with the same motion, seemingly the same speed.”

On May 3, 1951, Presko got a win in his major-league debut with four innings of one-hit relief against the defending National League champion Phillies. Presko yielded a solo home run to the second batter he faced, Eddie Pellagrini, and retired the next 11 in a row. Boxscore

Referring to him as Little Joe, the Post-Dispatch reported Presko “won the admiration of his teammates.”

In his second Cardinals appearance, Presko got a save with two scoreless innings against the Dodgers. Boxscore

Hot streak

Marion moved Presko into the starting rotation and after losses to the Giants and Reds on the road he made his first appearance before the home crowd in St. Louis on May 17, 1951, in a start against the Phillies.

Described by Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch as looking “more like a bat boy than a major-league pitcher,” Presko outdueled Phillies ace Robin Roberts and pitched a complete game in a 2-1 Cardinals victory.

“He throws as hard as any little man I ever saw _ and just by flicking his wrist,” said Cardinals pitcher Harry Brecheen.

Said Cardinals catcher Del Rice: “It was a pleasure catching him. His fastball is sneaky because he throws with such an easy motion. He’s got good control and he works with you as you move your target, hitting your glove outside or inside, high or low, and comes side-armed whenever you give him the sign.” Boxscore

Presko won five consecutive decisions between May 17 and June 8 for the 1951 Cardinals. Broeg, who began referring to the baby-faced rookie as “Baby Joe,” declared him “the nicest gift from the Cardinals’ farm system since Red Schoendienst came up six years ago.”

Presko’s winning streak ended on June 14, 1951, when Hodges hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth, lifting the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory. Boxscore

Hodges would remain a nemesis, hitting four home runs against Presko in his career.

Arm ailment

In late June 1951, Presko developed a sore arm and a month later it was discovered he’d torn tendons in the right shoulder. He sat out the last two months, finishing the season at 7-4 with a 3.45 ERA.

Presko returned to the Cardinals in 1952 and achieved one of his career highlights on June 10 when he pitched a 10-inning shutout against the Dodgers at St. Louis.

After Presko retired the Dodgers in the top of the 10th, he felt a twinge in his right shoulder and was told by player-manager Eddie Stanky he was done for the night. When Stanky batted for Presko to lead off the bottom of the 10th, he was booed.

“Everyone knows there’s nothing I like better than winning, but I just couldn’t take a chance of hurting Joe Presko,” Stanky said. “I took him out because of his shoulder. He’s had his arm hurt once before and I don’t want it to happen again.”

After Stanky grounded out, Solly Hemus was hit by a pitch from Chris Van Cuyk and Schoendienst followed with a game-winning triple, enabling Presko to earn the win. Boxscore

Presko lost six of his last seven decisions in 1952 and finished at 7-10 with a 4.05 ERA. He was 6-13 in 1953 and 4-9 in 1954. One of the highlights of his final St. Louis season in 1954 was a win versus the Dodgers with a scoreless inning of relief on April 28. Boxscore

After spending 1955 with the Cardinals’ farm club at Omaha, Presko was taken by the Tigers in the Rule 5 draft of unprotected players. He pitched briefly for the Tigers in 1957 and 1958.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 2 Comments »

How Will McEnaney returned to majors with Cardinals

February 19, 2019 by retrosimba

After endangering his life and his baseball career, reliever Will McEnaney sought to make a comeback with the Cardinals.

On Feb. 19, 1979, the Cardinals signed McEnaney to a minor-league contract and invited him to their spring training camp.

His fall from World Series hero with the Reds to major-league castoff was both rapid and stunning.

Reds manager Sparky Anderson twice entrusted McEnaney with clinching a World Series championship and both times he delivered. McEnaney got the save in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series against the Red Sox and did it again in Game 4 of the 1976 World Series sweep of the Yankees.

From those dizzying heights, McEnaney’s partying lifestyle spun out of control until he crashed his car into a house on a winter night.

Championship performances

McEnaney was born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, near Dayton, and caught the attention of a Reds scout while pitching in an amateur summer league.

A left-handed pitcher, he was chosen by the Reds in the eighth round of the 1970 draft and made his major-league debut with them in 1974.

In 1975, McEnaney, 23, had his best season, posting a 5-2 record with 15 saves and a 2.47 ERA for the National League champion Reds. In the seven-game World Series, he made five appearances totaling 6.2 innings and had a 2.70 ERA.

In Game 7, with the Reds ahead, 4-3, in the ninth, McEnaney came in and retired three consecutive batters _ Juan Beniquez, Bob Montgomery and Carl Yastrzemski _ to seal the win and clinch the Reds’ first World Series title since 1940. Boxscore

McEnaney was 2-6 with seven saves and 4.85 ERA in 1976, but the Reds returned to the World Series and he again was stellar on the big stage. He pitched 4.2 scoreless innings over two appearances against the Yankees and earned saves in Game 3 and the decisive Game 4. Boxscore

After playing a prominent role in the success of the Big Red Machine, McEnaney was surprised and disheartened when two months later, on Dec. 16, 1976, he and slugger Tony Perez were traded to the Expos for pitchers Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray.

One reason the Reds dealt McEnaney is “they didn’t care for his lifestyle,” Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News reported.

Troubled times

Facing an array of personal problems and demons, McEnaney was 3-5 with three saves and a 3.95 ERA for the 1977 Expos.

In March 1978, he was traded to the Pirates and was demoted to the minors two months later. When the Pirates told him they didn’t intend to put him on their major-league roster in 1979, McEnaney requested and received his release, forfeiting the last year of a guaranteed $90,000 contract.

“Will carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and seemed about to crack up,” Burick wrote in his Dayton Daily News column.

In the predawn hours of Dec. 7, 1978, two months after the Pirates released him, McEnaney was injured in a one-car crash in Springfield, Ohio. The Ohio Highway Patrol said McEnaney’s Mercedes went out of control on a curve and slammed into a house, the Dayton Daily News reported. McEnaney was cited for reckless driving.

He sliced a tear duct gland in the accident and underwent eye surgery.

“I almost lost my sight, or my life,” McEnaney said to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News. “I was going 50 mph when I slid into that house. Right then I had a direct conversation with God and He said He would give me one more chance. It was time to straighten up my act, quit fooling around and take baseball seriously.”

Regarding a carousing lifestyle, McEnaney said, “I had a problem … a deep problem.”

Feeling groovy

Cardinals general manager John Claiborne was willing to give McEnaney, 27, a chance to rebuild his career.

When he reported to spring training at St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1979, McEnaney told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he was committed to changing his ways. “I haven’t been a disciplined person,” McEnaney said. “It’s a heck of a thing to admit to yourself you’ve got a problem.”

McEnaney pitched well in spring training but the Cardinals sent him to their farm club in Springfield, Ill. He had a 2.08 ERA in seven appearances for Springfield when he was called up to the Cardinals in May 1979.

Rejuvenated, McEnaney posted an 0.90 ERA in 11 appearances in June 1979. “I’m in a groove,” he said. “I’d forgotten what it felt like to be in that kind of groove.”

In late June, a man on trial on aggravated murder charges in Hamilton, Ohio, testified in court he sold cocaine to McEnaney, the Dayton Daily News reported. McEnaney told the Post-Dispatch the allegation was “totally false” and Claiborne said, “After talking to Will, I am satisfied he was not involved.”

McEnaney had a 6.60 ERA in 12 appearances in July 1979 and gave up a grand slam to Ray Knight of the Reds on July 19.

A highlight of McEnaney’s season was his performance against the Pirates. He had an 0.93 ERA in five appearances against the 1979 National League champions.

His best outing was on Sept. 6, 1979, when he pitched four scoreless innings to earn a save in an 8-6 Cardinals victory over the Pirates at St. Louis. Eight of the 12 outs McEnaney recorded were groundouts. Boxscore

“I felt confident nobody was going to hit one out of the ballpark because I had excellent location on my pitches,” McEnaney said.

After Willie Stargell made the last out, Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons went to the mound and embraced McEnaney, who also got congratulations from infielders Ken Reitz, Garry Templeton, Ken Oberkfell and Keith Hernandez. Reitz said to McEnaney, “Way to pick us up.”

McEnaney finished with an 0-3 record, two saves and a 2.95 ERA in 45 appearances for the Cardinals in 1979.

In February 1980, McEnaney filed for salary arbitration. After being paid $40,000 in 1979, he wanted $125,000 in 1980. The Cardinals offered $65,000 and an arbitrator ruled in their favor.

A month later, on March 31, 1980, the Cardinals released McEnaney. Hernandez called it “the surprise of the spring.” Outfielder Dane Iorg said, “I thought he had the club made.”

By cutting McEnaney before April 1, the Cardinals had to pay him one-sixth of his salary, about $11,000, rather than the full amount.

“I don’t think I was cut for a lack of ability,” McEnaney said to United Press International. “I think it was guaranteed contracts that sent me on my way.”

McEnaney pitched in the farm systems of the Yankees and Rangers, and in Mexico, but never got back to the big leagues.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 4 Comments »

Stan Musial was familiar foe to Bob Friend

February 16, 2019 by retrosimba

In 1960, while pursuing a pennant with the Pirates, pitcher Bob Friend twice surrendered game-winning home runs to Stan Musial in a two-week span in the heat of the National League title chase.

Friend was a durable, dependable right-hander for 16 big-league seasons, 15 with the Pirates.

Friend led the National League in ERA (2.83) in 1955, tied for the league lead in wins (22) in 1958 and twice pitched the most innings (314.1 in 1956 and 277 in 1957).

When the Pirates won their first pennant in 33 years in 1960, Friend was 18-12 with a 3.00 ERA and led the staff in starts (37), shutouts (four), innings pitched (275.2) and strikeouts (183).

He might have won 20 if not for the home run heroics of Musial.

Power stroke

On Aug. 11, 1960, the Cardinals opened a five-game series against the Pirates at Pittsburgh. The second-place Cardinals, who were five games behind the Pirates, started Ernie Broglio against Friend in Game 1.

The Pirates scored a run in the fifth, the Cardinals tied the score at 1-1 in the eighth and both starting pitchers still were in the game as it entered the 12th.

Bill White opened the inning with a single. After Ken Boyer flied out, Musial, who had doubled twice in the game, came to the plate.

Friend’s first pitch to him was a fastball and Musial hit it into the upper deck in right for a two-run home run, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.

The Pirates scored a run in the bottom half of the 12th, but Broglio struck out Dick Stuart with the potential tying run at second, securing a 3-2 victory and moving the Cardinals within four games of the Pirates. Boxscore

When Friend got into the clubhouse, he “disgustedly tossed his glove toward his locker,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

“I can’t pitch any better,” Friend said to The Pittsburgh Press. “I tried to get Musial to hit to center field and pitched him over the outside of the plate, but he went right with me. The fastball was on the outside of the plate and yet he pulled it into the seats.”

Friend told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I thought I had as much stuff as I ever had and threw as hard as I did any time this season.”

Musial, typically modest, said, “Bob is a good pitcher, real fast and cagey. I guess I was kind of lucky to tag him the way I did.”

Told the home run was the 424th of his major-league career, Musial replied, “That’s quite a few for a singles hitter.”

Musial visited his hometown of Donora, Pa., during the series and took heat for beating the Pirates. He told the Post-Dispatch, “My old friends kept asking me, ‘What did you have to do that for?’ ”

Behind the pitching of Bob Gibson, the Cardinals won the second game of the series, getting within three of first place, but the Pirates won the last three, pushing their lead to six.

Oldie but goodie

Two weeks later, the first-place Pirates came to St. Louis for a three-game series. The Cardinals were in third place, 8.5 games behind the leaders.

In the series opener, on Aug. 26, 1960, Friend again was matched against Broglio.

In the seventh inning, with the scored tied at 1-1, Musial, hitless in three at-bats, came up with a runner on first and one out.

Friend got ahead on the count, 1-and-2, and tried to jam Musial on the fists with a fastball. The pitch was inside, but low, and Musial hit it to the pavilion roof in right for a two-run home run.

“It was the only ball I hit good during the game,” Musial said.

Said Friend: “Pretty soon I’ll be talking to myself.”

Broglio retired the Pirates in order over the last two innings and Musial’s home run proved the difference in a 3-1 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

“Like I always say, there’s room in this game for old men who can hit,” said Musial, 39.

For his career, Musial hit .277 with five home runs against Friend.

The Cardinals went on to sweep the series and get within 5.5 games of first place, but the Pirates didn’t falter. Friend played a prominent role down the stretch, winning four of his last five decisions.

Friend, who pitched for the Yankees and Mets in his final season (1966), posted a 197-230 career mark. Versus the Cardinals, he was 19-28 with seven shutouts.

On Aug. 15, 1951, in his rookie season, Friend, 20, pitched his first big-league shutout with a two-hitter against the Cardinals at Pittsburgh. The Cardinals’ two hits came in the second inning on singles by Nippy Jones and Bob Scheffing. Boxscore

Using a sinker and curve, Friend recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in a win versus the Cardinals on Aug. 20, 1959, at Pittsburgh. Boxscore

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

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