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Why the Cardinals took a chance on Jason Heyward

November 11, 2024 by retrosimba

Seeking a right fielder to complete a lineup counted on to contend for a championship, the Cardinals made a bold move and acquired a good one.

On Nov. 17, 2014, the Cardinals obtained outfielder Jason Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden from the Braves for pitchers Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. The Cardinals needed a right fielder to replace Oscar Taveras, who died in an auto accident three weeks earlier on Oct. 26.

As St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz presciently noted when the deal was made, Heyward was “an elite defender, the best right fielder in baseball (and) should do an effective job of getting on base and energizing the Cardinals’ speed on the bases.”

Nurturing talent

Heyward moved from New Jersey to suburban Atlanta with his family when he was 2. His parents, Eugene and Laura, graduated from Dartmouth. Eugene became an electrical engineer for ITT Technologies, designing electronic warfare systems for Robins Air Force Base, and Laura was an insurance underwriter for Life of Georgia before joining Georgia Power, according to the Atlanta Constitution.

Laura helped Jason develop a love of writing. “He did a writing project on the Negro baseball league in high school,” Laura told the Atlanta newspaper, “and I could see he really had a talent for writing. I thought maybe he could be a sports writer, because you never know if it’s going to work out with baseball. I wanted him to be well-rounded.”

Though his father played basketball at Dartmouth, baseball became Jason’s favorite sport. He began playing the game when he was 5.

Two decades later, when asked by Bernie Miklasz why he preferred baseball to other sports, Heyward said, “It’s the tradition that it holds. It’s the history. It’s timeless … For me growing up, it was just easy to fall in love with it. There’s all the thought that goes into it. The strategy, the cat and mouse games. It’s also a humbling game, because you will fail more times than you succeed and then it becomes all about how you handle it going forward.”

Heyward became a fan of the Braves, who won five National League pennants and a World Series title in the 1990s when he was a youth. After a stellar high school playing career, the Braves made Heyward the first outfielder taken in the opening round of the 2007 amateur draft.

Dazzling debut

A left-handed batter, Heyward was 6-foot-5, 240 pounds and had all the tools. After three seasons in the minors, Baseball America magazine named him the best prospect in the game.

He had a storybook start to his major-league career.

On April 5, 2010, the Braves opened against the Cubs at Atlanta. Heyward was tabbed by manager Bobby Cox to debut in right field and bat seventh.

Braves icon Hank Aaron was there to throw the ceremonial first pitch and Heyward was given the honor of catching the toss.

After delivering the pitch, Aaron offered advice to the rookie. “He said, ‘Have fun. You’re ready to do this,’ ” Heyward told the Atlanta Constitution.

In the opening inning, with the score tied at 3-3, the Braves had two runners on base against Carlos Zambrano, an imposing right-hander.

Zambrano’s first two deliveries to Heyward missed the strike zone and Heyward didn’t bite at either. On the 2-and-0 pitch, Zambrano threw a sinking fastball toward the inner part of the plate. Heyward sent a drive deep into the right-field stands for a three-run home run. Boxscore and Video

Heyward, 20, became the youngest player to hit a homer in his first big-league plate appearance since Ted Tappe, 19, of the Reds did it in 1950. Boxscore

Heyward followed the Opening Day drama with a strong season (.393 on-base percentage and 83 runs scored) and placed second to Giants catcher Buster Posey, whom he competed against in high school, in National League Rookie of the Year Award balloting.

Good as gold

In his first plate appearance on Opening Day in 2011, Heyward again slammed a home run. He joined Kaz Matsui of the (2004-05) Mets as the only other player to hit a homer on Opening Day in his first at-bat in each of his first two seasons. Boxscore

The next year, Heyward slugged 27 homers for the 2012 Braves, scored 93 runs and earned the first of five Gold Glove awards. In a playoff game, he made a leaping grab above the wall in right to deprive the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina. Video and Boxscore

In 2013, Heyward suffered a fractured jaw after being struck by a pitch from Mets left-hander Jon Niese. The next year, Heyward batted .169 versus left-handers and later admitted he wasn’t swinging aggressively against them. His fielding remained spectacular, though. Heyward had the highest number of total chances (375) among National League right fielders and committed one error.

Mix and match

Like Heyward had been for the Braves, the Cardinals had their own highly touted right field prospect, Oscar Taveras, who debuted with them in 2014 and helped bring a division title. Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Taveras, 22, would have been the right fielder in 2015. Taveras’ death in an alcohol-related car crash in the Dominican Republic changed that plan.

With Heyward eligible to become a free agent after the 2015 season, the Braves were willing to trade him, and when the Cardinals offered to part with Shelby Miller, 24, who had 15 wins for them in 2013 and 10 in 2014, the deal was made.

Though there was a risk Heyward could leave the Cardinals after one season, Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch, “We had to look at a way to add an impact player to our club … We’ve said all along we’re focused on 2015.”

Knowing Heyward wore uniform No. 22 with the Braves, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, who also wore that number, gave it to his new right fielder. When he’d debuted with the Braves, Heyward chose No. 22 in memory of a former high school teammate, Andrew Wilmot, who was killed in a car accident.

Switching sides

On Opening Day for the 2015 Cardinals, Heyward produced three hits, including two doubles, in a win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Boxscore

After a slow April (.217 batting mark), he produced consistently well, achieving career highs in hits (160), doubles (33), stolen bases (23) and batting average (.293) and winning a Gold Glove Award. He was successful on 88 percent of his steal attempts (23 of 26). Video

As Heyward’s 2015 season neared its end, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “He’s the best defensive right fielder in the majors … He’s exceptional with his glove, precise with fundamentals and takes extra bases.”

The 2015 Cardinals finished with the best record (100-62) in the majors. Their reward: a matchup in the fall tournament with the third-place finisher in their division _ the Cubs. Heyward batted .357 in the series, but the Cubs prevailed. Then they stung the Cardinals again, signing Heyward to an eight-year $184 million contract.

In explaining why he went to the Cubs, even though the Cardinals’ offer was greater in guaranteed value and more overall money, Heyward said he saw Chicago as more of the up-and-coming franchise.

“You have to look at age, you have to look at how fast the (Cardinals) team is changing and how soon those changes may come about,” Heyward told the Chicago Tribune. “You have Yadier (Molina), who is going to be done in two years, maybe. You have Matt Holliday, who is probably going to be done soon … (Adam) Wainwright is probably going to be done in three or four years … I felt like if I was to look up in three years and see a completely different (Cardinals) team, that would kind of be difficult. Chicago really offers an opportunity to come into the culture and be introduced to the culture by a young group of guys.”

The Cubs further strengthened themselves, while weakening the Cardinals, by signing free-agent pitcher John Lackey, who won 13 for St. Louis in 2015. Reacting to the defections of two prominent Cardinals to the Cubs, Tribune columnist David Haugh wrote, “What’s next, a Mike Shannon Grill in Wrigleyville?”

Heyward was correct about the Cubs being on the rise. In 2016, his first season with them, the Cubs became World Series champions for the first time since 1908.

Heyward won another Gold Glove Award with the 2016 Cubs but he batted .230 with a mere seven home runs. In the World Series versus Cleveland, he had no RBI, scored no runs and batted .150.

In seven seasons with Chicago, Heyward batted .245. The Cubs released him in November 2022. According to the Tribune, the Cubs were on the hook to pay him $22 million for 2023, the final year of the eight-year contract. Heyward also was to get four $5 million installments from 2024 through 2027 as part of his initial signing bonus with Chicago.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades | 9 Comments »

How Fred Hutchinson saved the day for Joey Jay

November 5, 2024 by retrosimba

The Milwaukee Braves looked at Joey Jay and saw a problem pitcher. Fred Hutchinson looked at him and saw an ace.

A right-hander, Jay became the first former Little League player to reach the majors when he joined the Braves out of high school at 17 in 1953.

At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, Jay looked like a man but acted like a boy. He was immature, got labeled a spoiled kid and the Braves were reluctant to pitch him.

Fred Hutchinson, when he managed the Cardinals, got a look at what Jay was capable of accomplishing. In 1958, Jay, who had seven wins that year as a fill-in starter, was 3-1 with an 0.86 ERA versus the Cardinals.

Two years later, when Hutchinson was Cincinnati manager, the Reds acquired Jay at Hutchinson’s urging and he prospered, achieving consecutive 21-win seasons and helping the club become 1961 National League champions.

Not ready for prime time

As a Little Leaguer in Connecticut, Jay played first base. He was a pitcher in high school. Multiple pro teams were interested, including the Pirates. Jay met with their general manager, Branch Rickey, but accepted a $40,000 bonus from the Braves, in part, because his summer league coach was a Milwaukee scout, according to Sports Illustrated.

Because of the bonus amount, Jay was required under baseball rules then to be on the Braves’ roster for two full years before he could be sent to the minors.

The teen didn’t receive much of a welcome when he joined the Braves in June 1953. He rarely pitched and manager Charlie Grimm “never said two words to me,” Jay told The Sporting News.

According to Sports Illustrated’s Walter Bingham, “Jay quickly won himself a reputation as an eater and sleeper of championship caliber. He seldom was seen awake without a candy bar or a soft drink, often with both. He would eat in the bullpen during games. At one point, he weighed 245 pounds, which, even at his height, made him look fat.

“On his first trip with the Braves, he overslept one day and arrived at the park 20 minutes before game time. Some of the older players, who resented bonus players anyway, didn’t let Jay forget it. Another time, Jay fell asleep on the bus coming back from Ebbets Field. When the bus arrived at the hotel, all the players tiptoed off and the bus driver drove away still carrying Jay, fast asleep.” 

Jay pitched 10 innings for the 1953 Braves and didn’t allow a run, but he was unhappy. “I felt I was a burden on the club,” he told The Sporting News. “My dad finally talked me out of quitting.”

The following year, he totaled 18 innings for the 1954 Braves and then 19 innings for the 1955 club before being sent to Toledo. Jay was in the minors in 1956 and for most of 1957.

“He hadn’t grown up,” Ben Geraghty, who managed Jay with Wichita in 1957, told Sports Illustrated. “He had an awful temper.”

One day, Jay got mad during a game, sulked and began lobbing pitches. Afterward, Geraghty said to him during a team meeting “that if he didn’t have the guts to act like a man, he could clear out,” Sports Illustrated reported.

Jolted, Jay went on to post a 17-10 record for Wichita.

Looking good

Jay, 22, began the 1958 season in the Braves’ bullpen, struggled (9.00 ERA in four appearances) and was “the lowest-ranking” of the club’s relievers, according to The Sporting News.

When starter Bob Buhl went on the disabled list in May because of elbow pain, Gene Conley replaced him but disappointed.

In desperation, manager Fred Haney started Jay on June 13 at St. Louis. He held the Cardinals scoreless and got the win in a game shortened to six innings because of rain.

“Stan Musial (0-for-2 with a walk) praised Jay” for showing the ability “to get over his good fastball, curve, changeup and slider,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Boxscore

Nine days later, matched against Sal Maglie, Jay was a hard-luck loser in a 2-1 Cardinals triumph, but his impressive pitching in two starts versus St. Louis convinced Haney to keep him in the rotation. Boxscore

“He has the confidence to throw his best curve at two balls and no strikes,” Braves catcher Del Crandall told Sports Illustrated.

In seven July starts for the 1958 Braves, Jay was 5-2 with a 1.39 ERA. Two of those wins came against the Cardinals _ a four-hitter to beat Maglie at St. Louis on July 15, and a two-hit shutout at Milwaukee a week later. Boxscore and Boxscore

“There isn’t a better pitcher in our league right now,” Braves coach Whit Wyatt said to The Sporting News.

The good vibes didn’t last long, though. Jay pulled a tendon in his right elbow and was limited to 11 innings in August. Then, in his lone September appearance, a relief stint against the Cardinals, he fractured his left ring finger when he knocked down a hard grounder from Irv Noren. Boxscore

Milwaukee won the pennant but didn’t include Jay (7-5, 2.14 ERA) on the World Series roster.

Change of scenery

Jay regressed in 1959 (6-11, 4.09 ERA).  “He just won’t do anything in pregame drills,” Haney complained to Sports Illustrated. “He’s fat and he’s too lazy to get in shape.” In 1960, he was 9-8.

Fred Hutchinson, fired by the Cardinals near the end of the 1958 season, became Reds manager in July 1959 and needed pitchers. The Reds allowed the most runs in the National League in 1959 and the second-most in 1960.

Hutchinson and Braves pitcher Lew Burdette had homes on Anna Maria Island in Florida and attended cookouts together. Hutchinson asked Burdette about Jay and Burdette recommended him, Jay told the Cincinnati Enquirer.

In December 1960, the Reds dealt shortstop Roy McMillan to the Braves for Jay and Juan Pizarro. (Pizzaro was flipped to the White Sox for third baseman Gene Freese, who played for Hutchinson with the Cardinals.)

Jay got off to a shaky start in his Reds debut at St. Louis. In the first inning, after he gave up two runs, he walked a batter to load the bases with two outs. Jay expected to be lifted when Hutchinson came to the mound. Instead, the manager challenged him: “Don’t walk yourself out of there. Make them knock you out.”

As author Doug Wilson noted in a book about Hutchinson, “Jay, surprised and grateful, pitched his way out of the jam. Jay lost his first three decisions in 1961 but his manager stuck with him. Jay responded to this confidence by turning into one of the best pitchers in the league.” Boxscore

“That’s all I did for him: Let him pitch,” Hutchinson told The Sporting News.

Joining a rotation with Jim O’Toole and Bob Purkey, Jay helped transform the Reds’ pitching staff from one of the worst in the league to the best.

In his book “Pennant Race,” reliever Jim Brosnan recalled how during a clubhouse meeting at Pittsburgh a confident Jay held a scorecard in one hand and a cigar in the other while going over the Pirates’ batters. After the game, which Jay won, he sat next to Brosnan on the bus ride to the airport and puffed on a pipe.

“You always smoke a pipe when you win?” Brosnan asked him. “Usually you got a cigar in your mouth.”

“Pipe relaxes me,” Jay replied. “You should try one.”

Jay still packed on the pounds _ “I’m about 12 jelly rolls and 15 cream puffs too heavy,” he told Brosnan. “I buy them for the kids, then eat them myself” _ but was fattening up on wins, too. He led the league in wins (21) and shutouts (four) as the 1961 Reds (93-61) won a pennant for the first time in 21 years.

In the World Series against the Yankees, Jay got the Reds’ only win _ a four-hitter in Game 2. Video and Boxscore

Ups and downs

Jay won 21 again in 1962, though he was 0-3 versus the Cardinals. The 1962 Reds (98-64) totaled five more wins than they did in their championship season, but finished in third place.

On the final day of the 1963 season, Stan Musial played his last game for the Cardinals and exited after getting a pair of singles against Jim Maloney. The Cardinals won in the 14th on Dal Maxvill’s RBI-double versus Jay. He lost 18 that season, including all four decisions against the Cardinals. Boxscore

Jay was involved in another noteworthy game on the last day of the 1964 season. The Cardinals and Reds entered the day tied for first place.

At Cincinnati, Jay relieved in the fifth with one out, two on and the Phillies ahead, 4-0, and got Tony Taylor to ground into a double play. In the sixth, however, Jay gave up a two-run single to Tony Gonzalez and a three-run homer to Dick Allen. The Phillies won, 10-0, enabling the Cardinals to secure the pennant when they beat the Mets. Boxscore

In spring 1966, Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam agreed to trade Nelson Briles, Steve Carlton, Phil Gagliano and Mike Shannon to the Reds for Leo Cardenas, Gordy Coleman and Jay, but the deal was blocked by Cardinals upper management, The Sporting News reported.

Soon after, in June 1966, Jay was dealt to the Atlanta Braves and he completed his career with them that season.

Jay was 99-91 in the majors. Willie Mays batted .200 (8-for-40) against him and Stan Musial was at .208 (10-for-48).

In his autobiography, Musial said of Jay, “Fred Hutchinson gave him confidence and a good talking-to. At Milwaukee, Jay struck me as having pretty good stuff … but he threw a lot of slow curves and wasted his fastball. When the Reds got him, Hutchinson … made him throw that good fastball for strikes.”

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects | 11 Comments »

Why Cardinals had Rudy May on their shopping list

November 1, 2024 by retrosimba

Rudy May pitched 16 years in the majors. He never appeared in an All-Star Game, and he lost more than he won, but at times he nearly was unhittable, performing on a par with teammates such as Nolan Ryan, Catfish Hunter and Jim Palmer.

One of May’s nicknames was The Dude. He got it, the Baltimore Sun noted, because of “his funky wardrobe” and “unflappable optimism.”

He was an interesting dude for more reasons than that though. His boyhood friend was Joe Morgan, the future Hall of Fame second baseman. May’s first marriage was to a rhythm and blues singer. When he wasn’t playing baseball, May worked as a licensed commercial scuba diver.

Though he spent most of his baseball career in the American League, the Cardinals saw plenty of him during a stint with the Montreal Expos and sought to sign him when he became a free agent.

Early journeys

Though born in Kansas, May was raised in Oakland. That’s where he and Joe Morgan became friends. They’d go to Arroyo Viejo Park near their homes and “we’d pitch and catch for hours,” May recalled to the Montreal Gazette. May and Morgan also were baseball teammates at Castlemont High School.

A left-hander, May was with four organizations in his first three seasons as a pro. He was 18 when the Twins signed him in November 1962. They sent him to Bismarck, N.D., and, though he won 11 and struck out 173 in 168 innings there, he also walked 120 and threw 25 wild pitches.

After a season (1964) in the White Sox system, May was traded to the Phillies, who flipped him to the Angels for Bo Belinsky.

May, 20, made the 1965 Angels’ Opening Day roster as a starter. “We never had any question about Rudy’s stuff being major league,” Angels pitching coach Marv Grissom told the Oakland Tribune. “The only question is his control.”

In his big-league debut, May was matched against Detroit’s Denny McLain. The rookie held the Tigers hitless until Jake Wood doubled with one out in the eighth. May completed nine innings, striking out 10 and allowing the one hit, but the Tigers won in the 13th. Boxscore

In his next appearance, a start versus the Yankees and Mel Stottlemyre, May gave up his first home run, a Mickey Mantle solo shot, and lost, 1-0. Boxscore

Treasure hunts

During that 1965 season, outfielder Leon Wagner introduced May to Eleanor Green, a singer with the group The Superbs.

“She was only 18 and she was singing at this club in L.A. and I thought when I saw her that, ‘whoo-eee _ this was some kind of chick,’ ” May said to the Los Angeles Times. “She’d had these two hit records that year _ ‘Baby, Baby All The Time,’ and ‘Baby’s Gone Away‘ … I really came on strong. She showed me who the real pro was. She put me off good.

“Later that year, I was peddling my threads _ you know, just walking around, cooling it _ in Hollywood when I stopped at this club and saw this same girl. I sent a note backstage and she came out to met me. It was different this time, man … Three weeks later, we flew to Las Vegas and got married.”

While his personal life was on the upswing, May’s pitching career hit a sour note. He hurt his shoulder, developed arm problems and was demoted to the minors.

Limited to 35 innings pitched in 1966 and 84 in 1967, May “admits he thought about saying goodbye to baseball” until his wife convinced him to continue, the Los Angeles Times reported.

May wanted a backup plan, though. A recreational scuba diver since his teens, May took commercial diving courses in 1967, earned a license and began spending winters “working on salvage and construction projects beneath the sea,” United Press International reported.

Asked about his most dangerous dive, May told the wire service that while working on a salvage project about 400 feet under the surface, “I got the bends and blacked out. I was in a coma in a depression chamber for about six hours.”

On the road again

May spent a third consecutive season in the minors in 1968. Pitching for El Paso, May was 2-7, then performed his own salvage operation, closing with six consecutive wins. The Angels brought him back to stay in 1969.

May’s highest win total for the Angels was 12 in 1972. In a game against the Twins that year, he struck out 16. Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew each fanned twice. Boxscore

The wins, though, didn’t come often enough. In seven seasons with the Angels, May was 51-76. In June 1974, they shipped him to the Yankees. He won 14 for them in 1975, got traded to the Orioles in 1976 and won 15 that year.

May did even better in 1977, winning 18 for the Orioles and leading the staff in shutouts (four), but after the season he was on the move again, getting traded to the Expos.

His first win in the National League came against the Cardinals. Boxscore

Expected to be a big winner, as he had been with the Orioles, May was mediocre with Montreal. In one stretch, he lost three in a row to the Cardinals, including two in three days. Removed from the rotation by manager Dick Williams, May broke an ankle in July. Given a start against the Cardinals when he returned two months later, May crafted a gem, pitching a three-hitter for the win. Boxscore

He finished the 1978 season with an 8-10 mark, including 3-3 versus St. Louis.

Back in the groove

May was deep in Dick Williams’ doghouse as the 1979 season got underway. As the Montreal Gazette noted, “May was not only out of the rotation, but he wasn’t even called when the Expos needed fifth and sixth starters. If that wasn’t bad enough, he wasn’t used in important relief assignments.”

He asked to be traded but the Expos didn’t oblige. It turned out well for them. Needing relief help in July, Williams called on May and he delivered.

Then, on July 31, May got his first start of the season and came through with a three-hit shutout against the Cardinals.

“There wasn’t any team in the world that could have hit him tonight,” Cardinals manager Ken Boyer told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cleanup hitter Ted Simmons, unable to get a ball out of the infield, said to the Montreal Gazette, “May has an exceptional curveball and, when he gets it over like he did tonight, he’s virtually unbeatable.”

After watching May blank the Cardinals, scout and former Yankees pitcher Eddie Lopat told the Gazette, “I’ve never seen him pitch better. He’s right back where he was when he won those 18 games with Baltimore. Tonight he had command of all his pitches _ fastball, slider and curve. When he has control of his breaking ball, he’s almost impossible to beat.” Boxscore

For the month of July, May was 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA in 25 innings pitched.

Moved into the rotation in September, May contributed a 10-3 record and 2.31 ERA for the 1979 Expos.

In demand

Seeking left-handed pitching, the Cardinals pursued May and a couple of their former players, John Curtis and Al Hrabosky, in the free agent market.

General manager John Claiborne “expressed serious interest in May and Hrabosky,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

However, May took a three-year deal totaling $1 million from the Yankees. “Our offer was not in the ballpark,” Claiborne confessed to the Post-Dispatch.

After Hrabosky signed with the Braves and Curtis went to the Padres, the Cardinals shifted gears. To fill their left-handed pitching spots, they got free agent Don Hood in March 1980 and acquired Jim Kaat from the Yankees a month later.

Kaat turned out well for the Cardinals, helping them become World Series champions in 1982, and May turned out well for the Yankees. He was 15-5 for them in 1980 and had the best ERA (2.46) in the American League.

May credited Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford, a Yankees spring training instructor, with helping his approach.

“Ford told me I should learn to pitch when I didn’t have it all going for me,” May said to the Montreal Gazette. “I had it in my head that the only way to get guys out was to strike them out. Ford taught me the mechanics of pitching. He showed me how to mix up my fastballs. I’ve always had a good curve, but he showed me how to take something off my curve as well.”

In 1981, May pitched in three World Series games for the Yankees. The next season, when he turned 38, he appeared in 41 games and his ERA was 2.89.

He pitched for the final time in 1983 and completed his career with a 152-156 mark. Jim Rice, who batted .706 (12-for-17) against May, was sorry to see him go. George Brett, a career .174 hitter (4-for-23) versus May, felt differently.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 5 Comments »

Pitching guru: Joe Becker brought out best in the best

October 28, 2024 by retrosimba

For a club with Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton, the Cardinals hired a coach who caught Bob Feller and aided the development of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

In October 1964, Joe Becker joined the Cardinals as pitching coach on the staff of newly appointed manager Red Schoendienst.

Becker, a St. Louisan, came to the Cardinals from the Dodgers after serving 10 seasons (1955-64) as their pitching coach. During that time, the Dodgers won three World Series titles (1955, 1959, 1963) and four National League pennants (1955, 1956, 1959, 1963). Becker coached three Cy Young Award winners: Don Newcombe (1956), Don Drysdale (1962) and Sandy Koufax (1963).

A catcher who played in the Cardinals farm system, Becker reached the majors with Cleveland the same year another rookie, Bob Feller, joined the club.

Learning the ropes

Becker grew up on the south side of St. Louis and attended Cardinals games as a Knothole Gang member. His favorite player was catcher Bob O’Farrell.

In 1930, the year he turned 22, Becker signed with Des Moines, an independent minor league team. “I started at $200 a month in the middle of the Depression and I was the richest kid on the block,” Becker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals purchased his contract during the 1930 season on the recommendation of scout Charley Barrett. Becker played four seasons (1930-33) in the Cardinals’ farm system, then was declared a free agent by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. After sitting out a year, Becker signed with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1935 and became a teammate of their 20-year-old center fielder, Joe DiMaggio.

The Seals sold his contract to the Cleveland Indians and that’s how Becker reached the majors as a backup catcher in 1936. His first big-league hit was a home run at Boston’s Fenway Park against winning pitcher Jim Henry. Boxscore

Most of the time, though, Becker, 28, was catching warmup throws of Cleveland pitchers, including those of 17-year-old fellow rookie Bob Feller.

“Feller was just a kid … but he had the liveliest fastball I ever saw,” Becker said to Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch in 1965. “Afterward, he developed not only one good curve, but three or four different sizes and speeds.”

Though Feller’s fastball was a rocket, the ball came in “alive and light” rather than heavy and didn’t sting the catcher’s hand, Becker told the Los Angeles Times.

After a second season with Cleveland in 1937, Becker returned to the minors. At 36, he joined the Navy and served for two years (1944-45) as a chief gunner’s mate on the USS Wake Island, a converted Casablanca-class escort carrier in the Pacific during World War II.

Discharged in February 1946, Becker went to play for a Giants farm team but tore cartilage in a knee early in the season. Discouraged, “I just wanted to go home and forget baseball,” Becker told the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal.

Giants farm director Carl Hubbell convinced Becker to try managing instead. Becker took over a club in Seaford, Del., in 1946 and went on to manage in the minors for nine years in the Giants, Browns and White Sox systems.

Special project

After his first season as Dodgers manager in 1954, Walter Alston replaced pitching coach Ted Lyons with Becker, who had impressed Alston when they managed against one another in the minors.

Becker was put in charge of a pitching staff that included Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Johnny Podres and a 19-year-old rookie, Sandy Koufax.

When he first saw Koufax, the left-hander “had a world of stuff,” Becker told the Chicago Tribune, but “was so damn wild he couldn’t throw the ball through an open barn door.”

At spring training in Vero Beach, Fla., “we had a half-dozen mounds and home plates so that several pitchers could work at the same time,” Becker said to Bill Bryson of the Des Moines Register. “They were spaced far enough so there wasn’t any danger from wild pitches _ until Koufax came along.”

Becker moved Koufax to a secluded area of the training site. “Sandy was a sensitive boy and he was getting awfully self-conscious about his wildness,” Becker told Bryson. “The guys were laughing at him and he was losing what little confidence he had. So we had the groundkeepers build us a mound over behind the barracks where nobody could see us.”

Though it took six years to get the desired results _ “Many kids would have given up,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch _ he and Koufax put in the effort to improve the pitcher’s poise, control and confidence. “I’d made up my mind that what the boy needed most was kindness and encouragement _ and work,” Becker said to the Des Moines newspaper. “I never had a pitcher who worked harder.”

Koufax told Bill Bryson, “Becker taught me the curve and just about everything else about pitching. I don’t know whether I ever would have mastered control if Joe hadn’t been so patient with me in those early years.”

(Don Drysdale, a more polished rookie, joined the Dodgers a year after Koufax did, in 1956. Though Becker helped him, too, such as on location of pitches and footwork, the approach was sometimes different. “Becker will bawl me out and chew me out and even tell me I’m lousy, but I like that,” Drysdale told the Los Angeles Mirror. “He does it face to face.”)

Change of scenery

In 1964, the Cardinals won the pennant, dethroning the Dodgers, who finished 80-82, even though Becker’s pitching staff had the best ERA (2.95) in the National League. Management reacted by overhauling Alston’s entire coaching staff. Becker was banished to the minors to manage Spokane. “I’d spent too many years in the minors to go back,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch.

After the Cardinals beat the Yankees for the World Series title, manager Johnny Keane resigned (in part, because club owner Gussie Busch clumsily schemed during the season to hire Dodgers coach Leo Durocher as manager) and joined the Yankees. Red Schoendienst, who replaced Keane, told the Post-Dispatch he talked with pitching coach Howie Pollet about staying but Pollet indicated he wanted to spend more time on his insurance business in Houston.

Schoendienst and the Cardinals then reached out to Becker, who agreed to replace Pollet as pitching coach. (A week after Becker was hired, Pollet was named pitching coach of the Astros.)

“I had talked with some of the Dodgers pitchers abut Joe,” Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch. “They all said Joe helped them quite a bit, especially with control.”

Though the Cardinals were champions in 1964, their pitching staff allowed more runs than all but three National League teams. Becker said to the Los Angeles Times, “It’s quite a challenge to see if I can improve the Cardinals’ staff and make it easier for the club to win the pennant again.”

Good stuff

Bob Gibson was the ace of the Cardinals’ staff. He earned 19 wins in 1964, including the pennant-clinching season finale, and also won Games 5 and 7 of the World Series.

“Of 100 pitchers in the National League, not more than five or six can throw high strikes,” Becker said to the Toronto Star. “By that, I mean throwing strikes to a batter’s strength _ up where he can hit them. Koufax and Drysdale can do it. So can Bob Veale and Jim Maloney. Gibson is on that list, too.”

Becker said to the Post-Dispatch, “With what Gibson has going for him, there’s no reason in the world why he can’t become the best pitcher in the league.”

Gibson was averaging 140 to 145 pitches per game, according to Becker. He worked with Gibson to cut that to 120 to 125 by getting ahead in more counts.

The results were impressive: Gibson won 20 in a season for the first time with the 1965 Cardinals and struck out 270 batters.

(At spring training in 1965, Becker also took notice of a 20-year-old Steve Carlton. “He can be a good one in the future,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch.)

Moving on

A year later, with a mix of established starters (Gibson, Al Jackson and Ray Washburn) and emerging prospects (Carlton, Larry Jaster and Nelson Briles), Becker’s pitching staff ranked second in the National League in ERA.

Gibson won 21 in 1966 and his 78 walks were quite an improvement from the 119 he totaled five years earlier when he joined the starting rotation.

“The big thing about Gibson is that he’s continuing to cut down on his pitches and he’s not just trying to overpower the hitters,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch. “No doubt it, Gibson has been much more a pitcher than a thrower. His concentration is so much better. He’s (pitching) to spots much better.”

Despite the strides he made, Becker resigned after the 1966 season because he objected to “interference from the front office,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the newspaper, “It is no secret that Becker has resented numerous suggestions and memorandums from general manager Bob Howsam regarding the pitching staff.”

Red Schoendienst tried to get Becker to reconsider but was unsuccessful. “My relationship with Schoendienst has been happy,” Becker told the Post-Dispatch. “Red has done a real good job under the circumstances. I’ve enjoyed working with the Cardinals players, especially the pitchers.”

A couple of weeks later, at the urging of manager Leo Durocher, the Cubs hired Becker to be their pitching coach. He completed the conversion of Ferguson Jenkins from reliever to starter and worked with another emerging left-hander, Ken Holtzman.

Becker wanted to retire after the 1969 season but the Cubs convinced him to come back for another year. In August 1970, Becker, 62, suffered a heart seizure and collapsed in the clubhouse. He recovered but his coaching days were finished.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers | 14 Comments »

Gaylen Pitts was mentor to bevy of Cardinals prospects

October 21, 2024 by retrosimba

Though the minor leagues were where Gaylen Pitts spent most of his long and accomplished baseball career, he twice reached the majors _ and both times with the help of Dal Maxvill.

Pitts was a player, manager, coach and instructor in the minors, primarily with the Cardinals.

An infielder, he played 13 years in the farm systems of the Cardinals, Athletics and Cubs. He managed in the minors for 19 years for the Cardinals, A’s and Yankees.

Pitts got to the big leagues with the A’s for the first time in 1974 as an infield replacement for Maxvill, who got injured. Then, after the 1990 season, it was Maxvill, the Cardinals’ general manager, who recommended Pitts for the role of bench coach on the staff of manager Joe Torre.

Down on the farm

Pitts moved with his family from Wichita, Kan., to Mountain Home, Ark., when he was a boy. He listened to Cardinals games on the radio, played baseball in high school and caught the attention of scout Fred Hawn, who arranged for a tryout in St. Louis. Pitts was 18 when the Cardinals signed him for $8,000 in 1964. “I bought a car; a good one,” he recalled to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Early in the 1966 season, Pitts was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam. He returned to baseball in 1968. Two years later, Pitts, a utility infielder candidate, got invited to the Cardinals’ big-league spring training camp for the only time. He didn’t make the club, but he did become pals with the Cardinals’ shortstop, Dal Maxvill, Pitts recalled to the Society for American Baseball Research.

“When I was with the Cardinals, they wanted only veteran players,” Pitts told the Wichita Beacon. “If something went wrong with the big club, they’d go out and trade or buy a veteran. When they started their youth movement, I was traded.”

During the 1971 season, his seventh in the Cardinals’ farm system, Pitts was dealt to the A’s for Dennis Higgins, and sent to Class AAA Iowa, where he took the place of another veteran infielder, Tony La Russa, who got called up to Oakland.

Pitts never hit .300 in the minors. His single-season career highs in home runs (12) and RBI (58) were not robust. His hope for reaching the majors came from his ability to play multiple infield positions (second, short and third).

In May 1974, 10 years after he started out in the minors, Pitts got the call. With A’s second baseman Dick Green and third baseman Sal Bando sidelined because of injuries, Maxvill, their reserve infielder, got hurt. Needing someone who could fill in at multiple spots, the A’s promoted Pitts.

That’s a winner

When Pitts arrived in Oakland, Maxvill’s name was marked above the locker he was given, indicating the club didn’t expect the 27-year-old rookie to be around long. Nonetheless, his teammates “treated me great, from Catfish Hunter to Reggie Jackson,” Pitts recalled to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

A highlight came on May 14, 1974, at Oakland against the Royals when Pitts drove in both runs with doubles in a 2-1 victory for the A’s.

Facing Lindy McDaniel, the 38-year-old former Cardinal _ “I used to follow him when I was a kid,” Pitts told the Oakland Tribune _ Pitts drove in Angel Mangual from second with a double in the fifth.

With the score tied at 1-1 in the 10th, Ted Kubiak was on first, one out, when Pitts lined a McDaniel slider over the head of left fielder Jim Wohlford. Kubiak slid around catcher Fran Healy to score just ahead of the relay throw and give the A’s a walkoff win.

Ron Bergman of the Oakland Tribune wrote of Pitts’ game-winning double, “He put some cream in his major league cup of coffee.”

Pitts told the newspaper, “I’ll remember this no matter what happens.” Boxscore

A month later, Pitts was back in the minors. He returned to the A’s in September 1975 and got three at-bats, his last as a big leaguer.

Follow the leader

After playing his final season in the minors in 1977, Pitts was named manager of an A’s farm club at Modesto, Calif. On a salary of $8,000, he couldn’t afford a car, so he rode a bicycle back and forth from his residence to the ballpark.

Recalling that first season as manager, Pitts told the Modesto Bee, “They say you learn from your mistakes, and I want to tell you, I did a lot of learning.”

After two years with Modesto, Pitts rejoined the Cardinals and spent 16 seasons managing their farm clubs. In other years with them, he was special assistant for player development, minor league field coordinator and a coach on the staff of Louisville manager Jim Fregosi.

“I’ve picked up a little from every manager I’ve ever played for or worked with,” Pitts told the Louisville Courier-Journal, “but I probably learned the most with Fregosi, not just on the field, but off the field, too.”

(According to the Courier-Journal, in 1990, when Pitts was Louisville manager, the team was waiting in the Denver airport for a flight when he struck up a conversation with a woman. They hit it off and eventually married.)

Among the Cardinals prospects Pitts managed were Rick Ankiel, Allen Craig, Daniel Descalso, J.D. Drew, Bernard Gilkey, Jon Jay, Ray Lankford, Joe McEwing, Adam Ottovino, Placido Polanco and Todd Zeile. Pitts also managed Andy Van Slyke and later Andy’s son, A.J. Van Slyke.

Future big-league managers who were managed by Pitts included Terry Francona, Oliver Marmol and Jim Riggleman.

“I’m really impressed with the job that Gaylen does,” Tony La Russa, the Cardinals’ manager, said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 2000.

In describing Pitts as a manager who stressed fundamentals, Don Wade of the Memphis Commercial Appeal noted, “Pitts was old school before old school was retro. He’s brick foundation old school, not prefab.”

Regarding his managing style, Pitts told the Courier-Journal, “You’ve got to know when to bark and when not to. It’s just mutual respect. There’s a fine line there.”

Pitts briefly left the Cardinals’ organization. In 2003, he was the hitting coach on the staff of manager Cecil Cooper at Indianapolis, a Brewers farm team. Noting that Cooper had 2,192 big-league hits and Pitts had 11, the Post-Dispatch suggested the roles should be reversed. Pitts said with a laugh, “Cecil told me he would help me with the hitting stuff if I would help him with the managing.”

In 2006, Pitts managed a Yankees farm club, Staten Island, to the championship of the New York-Pennsylvania League.

Cardinals candidate

After Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog quit the team in July 1990, general manager Dal Maxvill interviewed seven candidates for the job: Don Baylor, Pat Corrales, Mike Jorgensen, Hal Lanier, Gene Tenace, Joe Torre and Pitts, according to the Post-Dispatch. (Ted Simmons removed himself from consideration.)

Noting that Pitts “has done a good job developing talent for the Cardinals,” columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote that Pitts would be “in over his head” as Cardinals manager because he “doesn’t have any experience working with major league players.” Miklasz suggested Pitts “needs to become a major league coach first to receive the needed exposure.”

Maxvill hired Torre in August 1990. After the season, Torre chose Pitts for his coaching staff on the suggestion of Maxvill, Pitts told researcher Gregory H. Wolf.

Pitts was Torre’s bench coach from 1991-94 and third-base coach in 1995.

When Torre was fired in June 1995 by Maxvill’s replacement, Walt Jocketty, Pitts and fellow coach Chris Chambliss were considered for the role of interim manager, but the job went to the club’s director of player development, Mike Jorgensen.

According to the Post-Dispatch, Jocketty said Pitts and Chambliss “were very qualified to manage, but I wanted to bring in someone who could change the dynamics a little … someone familiar with the situation, yet who was not there on the front line every day.”

Though he never got the chance to manage in the majors, Pitts told the Baxter (Ark.) Bulletin in 2004, “For a country boy from Arkansas who had never been out of Mountain Home much before I got out of high school, I’ve had a great ride.”

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers | 13 Comments »

Little big man: NFL’s Pat Fischer played like King Kong

October 16, 2024 by retrosimba

By NFL standards, St. Louis Cardinals cornerback Pat Fischer was small. Not jockey size, but not as big as the team’s placekicker, Jim Bakken, who was two inches taller and 30 pounds heavier. Even another noted Fischer, 6-foot-1 chess grandmaster Bobby, towered over Pat.

Listed at 5 feet 9 and 170 pounds _ “Anyone who ever saw him in person knew even those measurements were somewhat exaggerated,” the Washington Post noted _ Fischer shed the blocks of Goliath-like guards and tackles, took down steamrolling fullbacks, and stymied rangy receivers during a 17-year NFL career with the Cardinals (1961-67) and Washington Redskins (1968-77). 

The signature play of Fischer’s NFL tenure came on Sept. 20, 1964, for the Cardinals against the Cleveland Browns. Jim Brown, the punishing fullback who regularly ran over defenders or carried them on his back, took a pitch, swept to the outside and roared into the clear like a bull entering the ring. Fischer, 62 pounds lighter than Brown, came up from his cornerback spot, lowered his shoulder and met the fullback head-on.

Making “a picture-book tackle,” Fischer “actually lifted the running back into the air and tossed him backward,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Joe Pollack of the Post-Dispatch, a longtime NFL observer, called it “the greatest individual play I’ve ever seen,” adding that Brown was “the best back I ever saw,” and Fischer was “maybe the best player, pound for pound, in NFL history.”

Noting that Fischer brought down Brown singlehandedly, the Post-Dispatch offered, “It isn’t often anybody does much singlehandedly against Brown, so the memory of that play will last a long time.”

In that same game, the feisty Fischer was involved in an incident that cost the Browns their halfback, Ernie Green, who was ejected in the second quarter for throwing a punch at Fischer, the Associated Press reported.

“Fischer had grabbed my face guard first and I was just backing up, trying to push him away,” Green told the Dayton Journal Herald, “but the official didn’t see that, just me pushing him off.”

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the officials ruled Green struck Fischer after the whistle, prompting the ejection. Game stats

A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Fischer intercepted 56 passes, including four for touchdowns, in his NFL career.

Big man on campus

After high school in Omaha, Fischer, like three of his brothers before him, played football at the University of Nebraska.

In his varsity debut as a sophomore in 1958, Fischer, listed as a 163-pound halfback and cornerback, returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown in Nebraska’s 14-7 upset of Penn State. As a junior in 1959, Fischer ran back a punt 61 yards to the 3-yard line, setting up Nebraska’s winning touchdown against Oklahoma. The 25-21 victory snapped Oklahoma’s 74-game Big Eight Conference win streak.

Fischer became Nebraska’s starting quarterback as a senior in 1960. In the season opener, at Texas, he led the Cornhuskers to a 14-13 upset victory. Fischer returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown and scored another on a two-yard scamper. As the holder on the extra-point try, Fischer pulled off a fake, firing a pass to Bill “Thunder” Thornton for the winning two-point conversion. (Thornton also was Fischer’s teammate on the Cardinals.) Video

Inhaling oxygen from a hissing tank in the locker room afterward, Fischer told the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, “My head hurts and I’m tired, but I’d play another half if that’s what it took to beat Texas.”

(Like Fischer, two of his 1960 Nebraska teammates had long NFL playing careers. Defensive end Ron “The Dancing Bear” McDole played 18 seasons, including his rookie year with the Cardinals, and center Mick Tingelhoff played 17 years with the Minnesota Vikings and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)

Fitting in

Drafted in the 17th round by the Cardinals, the pint-sized Fischer (listed at 166 pounds) arrived at 1961 training camp “and spent his first few practices in shorts and a T-shirt as the team tried to find equipment that would fit him,” according to the Washington Post.

In recalling his first exhibition game with the Cardinals, Fischer told the Post, “My game pants fell down below my knees. I had to tape them up. I had to tape my pads on to make sure they wouldn’t fall off.”

The Cardinals’ coaching staff wasn’t quite sure what to do with him. “Coaches all have a predetermined idea of what a cornerback is supposed to look like,” Fischer said to the Post. “I never did fit the description.”

He made the team, returning punts and kickoffs, and filling in as a backup receiver. In a December 1961 game versus Washington, Fischer returned two kickoffs, including one for 53 yards. He also lined up as a flanker. In the third quarter, with the Cardinals facing third-and-11 at their 45, Sam Etcheverry passed over the middle to Fischer. The throw was high and behind the rookie, but he leaped, twisted and made a 22-yard catch for the first down, keeping alive a drive that led to a field goal. Game stats

Fischer made four starts at cornerback in 1962 before he tore a hamstring. He came back in 1963, intercepted eight passes in 14 games and became “a big favorite with the fans” for his mighty-mite grit, the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the Washington Post, Fischer was “one of the earliest defensive backs to employ the bump and run technique. He would initiate contact at the line of scrimmage, throwing a receiver off balance and disrupting his path toward his normal pass route.”

As for his ability to take on blockers at least 70 pounds heavier and half a foot taller, Fischer explained to United Press International, “Football really is a game of angles or leverage, and that works to my advantage. I’m usually attacking a guard or tackle at a pivotal point. If I can just get underneath him a little bit and raise up at the same moment, I can knock him off balance much easier than he can me because he doesn’t have good balance when he comes out of the line.”

Rough boys

It all came together for Fischer in 1964. Cardinals defensive coordinator Chuck Drulis told the Post-Dispatch, “Pat is the best cornerback in the league right now. He seldom has been beaten this season.”

According to Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch, only one receiver, Washington’s Bobby Mitchell, caught a touchdown pass against Fischer in 1964.

“Mitchell is the toughest receiver I’ve ever tried to cover,” Fischer said to Broeg. “Playing a corner, you line up about seven yards from the flanker. If you backpedal, you ordinarily can afford to let the receiver close the gap to three yards before you’re forced to turn your back and start to run. If you let Mitchell get that close, he’s gone and so are you. You’ll never match him stride for stride when he turns on the juice.”

Though often matched against gifted pass catchers such as Mitchell, Boyd Dowler, Tommy McDonald and Jimmy Orr, Fischer had 10 interceptions in 14 games for the 1964 Cardinals. He returned two of those for touchdowns (both on passes thrown by Sonny Jurgensen) and also turned a fumble recovery into a score. Video

Another top receiver, the Browns’ Gary Collins, told the Associated Press, “Pat Fischer stayed so close to me that I thought I’d wake up in the morning and find him next to me in bed.”

Though he seemed to be the underdog because of his size, Fischer was a rough and rugged player who used intimidation to his advantage. “When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I growl,” he said to the Post-Dispatch.

“If he hits you, he’ll knock your socks off,” Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas told the Washington Post.

Chicago Bears head coach George Halas accused Fischer of gouging the eyes of receiver Johnny Morris on consecutive plays. “On our ballclub, we don’t mind a little punch in the puss,” Halas said to the Chicago Tribune, “but sticking your finger in somebody’s eye is another matter. That’s not the name of the game.”

Job well done

Fischer played out his option, became a free agent after the 1967 season, and signed with Washington. (NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle compensated the Cardinals, awarding them Washington’s No. 2 draft pick in 1969 and a No. 3 choice in 1970.)

During his Washington stint, Fischer played in a Super Bowl (against the undefeated Miami Dolphins) and had a series of fascinating duels covering Harold Carmichael, the 6-foot-8 Philadelphia Eagles receiver who would earn election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Fischer never lost his edge. In 1976, when he was 36, Fischer found himself in a situation similar to the one with Jim Brown 12 years earlier. This time, the bruising fullback was the 237-pound Larry Csonka, then with the New York Giants.

Bracing himself and using leverage, Fischer upended Csonka, who landed upside down. According to the Washington Post, in a gesture of respect from one top pro to another, Csonka got up and patted the diminutive cornerback on the back.

Posted in Football, Games | 16 Comments »

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