RetroSimba

Eye injury ended the career of Juan Encarnacion

August 28, 2017 by retrosimba

Juan Encarnacion was where he was supposed to be, but it was the wrong place at the wrong time.

In the on-deck circle at Busch Stadium, waiting to enter the game as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Randy Flores, Encarnacion was struck in the left eye by a foul ball lined off the bat of Cardinals teammate Aaron Miles.

Encarnacion had no time to react. The ball hit him with full force, shattering his eye socket and injuring the eye.

“If he was looking elsewhere and not paying attention, he might have gotten killed,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The accident happened on Aug. 31, 2007, in a game between the Reds and Cardinals at St. Louis.

Encarnacion never would play baseball again.

Fear factor

Encarnacion entered the big leagues with the 1997 Tigers and went on to play for the Reds, Marlins and Dodgers. In January 2006, Encarnacion, a free agent, signed with the Cardinals. He became their starting right fielder and batted .278 with 19 home runs and 79 RBI for the 2006 World Series champions.

In 2007, Encarnacion hit .283 with nine home runs and 47 RBI. In August, the Cardinals called up Rick Ankiel from the minors and the former pitcher shared time with Encarnacion in right field.

Ankiel got the start in right for the Cardinals’ game versus the Reds on Aug. 31.

The Reds led, 4-3, when Miles led off the bottom half of the sixth. Batting from the right side, Miles swung at an outside pitch from left-hander Jon Coutlangus and lined it foul. The ball sliced over the first-base line and directly toward the on-deck circle.

When the ball struck Encarnacion, he collapsed onto the ground. La Russa was one of the first to reach him. “I’ve seen guys smoked in the dome (head), but not dead center,” La Russa told the Associated Press.

A stretcher was brought onto the field, but Encarnacion, who remained conscious, preferred to stand and was helped off the field by trainers and teammates.

“It’s about as bad as it gets as far as what you can see on a baseball field,” said Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds. “I think it’s everybody’s biggest fear.”

When the game resumed, Miles struck out. So Taguchi batted for Flores and the Reds replaced Coutlangus with Gary Majewski. Taguchi doubled, Brendan Ryan got an infield single and David Eckstein was hit by a pitch. Eddie Guardado relieved and the first batter he faced, Ankiel, hit a grand slam, giving the Cardinals a 7-4 lead. Boxscore

Thinking of others

Encarnacion was taken to a hospital. In addition to the shattered eye socket and eye injury _ it was thought damage had been done to the optic nerve _ Encarnacion suffered a concussion.

Said Dr. George Paletta, the Cardinals’ medical supervisor: “This is the worst trauma I’ve seen.”

After the game, several Cardinals players and personnel visited Encarnacion at the hospital. Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Joel Pineiro and Miles kept watch over Encarnacion that night.

“We’re all pulling for him,” Miles said. “Hoping for the best.”

Pujols told Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz that Encarnacion was alert and responsive. “He was trying to make us feel better,” Pujols said. “He was making jokes. He was worn out, but he talked and was in pretty good spirits. He didn’t want anyone to feel sad.”

The next day, members of Encarnacion’s family arrived at the hospital from the Dominican Republic.

The Cardinals moved the on-deck circle to a spot a few feet farther from the dugout.

On Sept. 4, Encarnacion was released from the hospital. Two weeks later, he was driven to Boston to see an eye specialist. Surgery was scheduled to repair the eye socket fractures. A month later, it was determined Encarnacion had 20/400 vision in his left eye.

At 31, his playing days were done.

Previously: Why Cardinals were impressed by Juan Encarnacion

Posted in Games, Hitters | 4 Comments »

How Cardinals, Royals launched regular-season rivalry

August 25, 2017 by retrosimba

Twelve years after the Cardinals and Royals opposed one another in the World Series, the teams were matched for the first time in the regular season. Two constants linked those events: Willie McGee played and tempers flared.

In the seven-game 1985 World Series, McGee fielded flawlessly in center field for the Cardinals and produced seven hits, including two doubles and a home run.

When the Cardinals and Royals met for the first time in the regular season, on Aug. 29, 1997, at Kansas City, McGee was the only player in either lineup who had participated in the 1985 World Series.

Playing as the designated hitter in 1997, McGee hit a three-run triple, breaking a 6-6 tie and carrying the Cardinals to victory.

The next night, Aug. 30, in the second game of the regular-season series, players and coaches brawled on the field after Cardinals pitcher Mark Petkovsek plunked Johnny Damon with a pitch. Petkovsek and Damon were ejected.

The skirmish brought back memories of Game 7 of the 1985 World Series when Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog and pitcher Joaquin Andujar were ejected for arguing with umpire Don Denkinger.

Oldie but goodie

Major League Baseball began interleague play in the regular season in 1997. The Cardinals and Royals had met in exhibition games and the World Series, but not in the regular season since Kansas City joined the American League as an expansion franchise in 1969.

A crowd of 36,006 filled Kauffman Stadium for the series opener.

The Royals led, 6-5, through seven innings.

In the eighth, with reliever Hector Carrasco pitching for the Royals, Tom Lampkin singled. After Phil Plantier flied out, Delino DeShields tripled, driving in Lampkin and tying the score.

Gregg Olson relieved and struck out Royce Clayton.

Mark McGwire was up next. The Royals opted to walk him intentionally and take their chances with Ray Lankford.

The strategy backfired. Lankford worked a walk, loading the bases.

That brought McGee to the plate. A switch-hitter, McGee batted from the left side against Olson. He got a curve and slashed it down the first-base line. All three runners scored, putting the Cardinals ahead, 9-6, and McGee raced to third with a triple.

“He’s better than ever,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of McGee, 38. “He just gets a little bit achier.”

Asked about the 1985 World Series, when the Royals won Game 6 after Denkinger’s botched call at first base and then routed the Cardinals in Game 7, McGee told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’ll never forget it. I was heartbroken.”

Closer Dennis Eckersley yielded a run in the ninth, but the Cardinals held on to win the first regular-season showdown versus the Royals, 9-7. Boxscore

Frustration shows

The Royals quickly took control of Game 2 of the series. They led 6-1 after three. In the fourth, the Royals scored eight runs against Petkovsek, who had relieved starter Manny Aybar, and went ahead, 14-1. Jermaine Dye capped the outburst with a grand slam.

Petkovsek’s first pitch to the next batter, Damon, hit him on the right ankle. Damon charged the mound. Petkovsek threw one punch _ and it clipped his catcher, Tom Pagnozzi, who had chased after Damon. Both benches and bullpens emptied.

Coaches Dave Duncan of the Cardinals and Jamie Quirk of the Royals wrestled on the ground. “We were talking about pitching rotations,” Quirk quipped to the Post-Dispatch.

Royals pitcher Tim Belcher had his uniform jersey shredded. He blamed Cardinals counterpart Andy Benes, whom he called “Sasquatch.”

“His hands are like feet,” Belcher said.

Macho men

Petkvosek said he didn’t intend to hit Damon with a pitch and La Russa added, “I don’t know what Petkovsek was doing except trying to get the ball down.”

In the sixth inning, Belcher hit Plantier with a pitch. “The pitch got away from me,” Belcher said.

The Royals won, 16-5. Boxscore

Asked his thoughts on the action-packed start to the rivalry, Royals catcher Mike Macfarlane said, “These are two of the funnest games I’ve ever played in.”

Previously: Cardinals were Royals’ first opponent in Kansas City

Posted in Games, Opponents | 1 Comment »

Dodgers dealt aces in Cardinals’ farewell to Brooklyn

August 22, 2017 by retrosimba

(Updated Jan. 4, 2025)

In the last game the Cardinals played in Brooklyn, they faced a pair of 21-year-old emerging aces: Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.

Drysdale was effective; Koufax was not. They were two of six future Hall of Famers who played against the Cardinals on Aug. 25, 1957, at Ebbets Field. The others were Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider.

Stan Musial, who a decade earlier got his nickname, “The Man,” from Dodgers fans, was injured and didn’t play for the Cardinals in their Ebbets Field finale. In the book “We Would Have Played For Nothing,” Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca said of Musial, “Those fans in Brooklyn … used to give him a standing ovation. He got more cheers than the Dodgers because they respected his ability.”

Musial, who batted .359 with 223 hits in 163 career games in Brooklyn, hurt his left shoulder on Aug. 22 at Philadelphia. X-rays revealed a chip fracture in his shoulder blade.

“We’re a different ballclub, not nearly as dangerous, without Stan Musial in there,” Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Sentimental journey

Though a move to Los Angeles for the 1958 season wasn’t official, it was widely known the Dodgers intended to leave Brooklyn, barring an 11th-hour deal for a new ballpark. The Dodgers planned to follow the Giants, who had announced their plans to depart New York for San Francisco after the season.

Ebbets Field had been the site of epic Cardinals-Dodgers games, especially in the 1940s when the two franchises accounted for seven National League pennants in a nine-year span from 1941-49.

The 1957 Cardinals were in the middle of a 22-game road trip that began Aug. 13 and would take them to Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Chicago again and Cincinnati before ending Sept. 3.

A crowd of 10,883 turned out for the Cardinals’ farewell appearance at Brooklyn. A mist fell and wind whipped through Ebbets Field, bringing a raw feel to an atypical summer Sunday.

The game matched Drysdale against Sam Jones.

After retiring the first two batters, Drysdale walked Joe Cunningham and Wally Moon and plunked Ken Boyer with a pitch, loading the bases. He escaped unscathed by striking out Del Ennis.

Drysdale held the Cardinals hitless until Moon led off the fourth with a double.

Comeback bid

In the eighth, Moon drove in a run with a single, making the score 6-3 and knocking out Drysdale. Ed Roebuck relieved.

In the ninth, the Cardinals got within two, 6-4, on a Don Blasingame double that scored Bobby Smith and moved Dick Schofield to third.

With one out, Al Dark came to the plate, looking to drive in the runners from second and third and tie the score. Instead, Dark grounded out to Roebuck and the runners held. Disgusted, Dark flung his batting helmet into the dugout.

Plate umpire Augie Donatelli, thinking the player was upset with him, ejected Dark. “I resent Donatelli’s mind-reading act,” Dark said.

With Cunningham due next, Dodgers manager Walter Alston wanted a left-handed pitcher, so he removed Roebuck and brought in Koufax.

Hutchinson countered, sending Hal Smith, a right-handed batter, to face Koufax.

Old pro

Koufax walked Smith, loading the bases. The next batter, Moon, also walked, forcing in a run and making the score 6-5.

With the bases still loaded, Alston pulled Koufax and replaced him with a starter, Sal Maglie. Making his first relief appearance since May, Maglie, 40, was brought in to face Ken Boyer. Mixing guile with skill, Maglie struck out Boyer on three pitches, clinching the victory. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | Leave a Comment »

Cardinals helped Don Baylor in his quest to be a manager

August 19, 2017 by retrosimba

When Don Baylor became Cardinals hitting coach, he emphasized the importance of preparation and focus as much as he did mechanics.

Working with a core group of 25- to 27-year-olds on the cusp of their prime _ Bernard Gilkey, Brian Jordan, Felix Jose, Ray Lankford and Todd Zeile _ Baylor urged taking a professional approach to each at-bat.

In his one season with the Cardinals, 1992, Baylor had several successes. Lankford and Gilkey blossomed, Andres Galarraga, 31, regained his stroke and the team increased its batting average and hits total from the previous season.

There were setbacks, too. Under Baylor, the Cardinals’ run production decreased and they drew fewer walks while striking out more often.

Overall, the Cardinals benefitted from Baylor’s coaching and he benefitted from being on the staff of manager Joe Torre.

Torre shared with Baylor insights on being a manager. The mentoring helped prepare Baylor to become the first manager of the Rockies.

Mutual respect

An outfielder and designated hitter, Baylor played 19 years with six American League clubs: Orioles, Athletics, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox and Twins. He produced 2,135 hits, including 338 home runs, and 1,276 RBI.

From 1986 to 1988, Baylor played in three consecutive World Series. He batted .385 for the Twins against the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series and hit a home run off John Tudor in Game 6.

In 1990, Baylor, the Brewers’ hitting coach, was a candidate to replace Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog, who quit in midseason.

Baylor interviewed with Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill and it went well. Fred Kuhlmann, president and chief executive officer, and Mark Sauer, executive vice president and chief operating officer, went to Milwaukee for a follow-up meeting with Baylor.

“That’s how much we thought of him,” Maxvill said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Torre, the leading candidate, got the job, but Baylor and the Cardinals made a connection.

“The Cardinals were up front with me from Day One and I’ve always appreciated that,” Baylor said. “Dal Maxvill couldn’t have been better. The whole process was that way. They weren’t just going through the motions.”

Nothing to fear

After the 1991 season, the Cardinals were seeking a hitting coach and Baylor was seeking a job. Torre and bench coach Red Schoendienst had tutored Cardinals hitters in 1991, but wanted a hitting coach in 1992. Baylor was available because the Brewers had changed managers _ firing Tom Trebelhorn, bypassing Baylor and hiring Phil Garner.

Torre approached Baylor and asked him to be the St. Louis hitting coach.

“I was interested right away,” Baylor said. “It renewed my admiration for (Torre) that he would ask that when, not long ago, we were both interviewing for the manager’s job. He had no fear of me.”

The Cardinals announced Baylor’s hiring on Nov. 15, 1991. Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote, “He’ll have a major impact, assisting manager Joe Torre in a clubhouse that still needs leadership.”

Maxvill said, “He’s just a fine man. A good, quality person and a tremendous role model for our young players.”

Have a plan

In February 1992, Baylor arrived at Cardinals spring training camp with a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish.

“What I try to do is get guys mentally prepared, get them to have a toughness, get them to not give away at-bats,” Baylor said.

“One thing I don’t like is hitters giving away at-bats. When you’re down 8-0, or when you’re leading 8-0, you just can’t give away at-bats. You have to be aggressive.”

Baylor shared with the Post-Dispatch his assessment of the Cardinals’ top batters at camp:

_ On Gilkey: “I like him. He hits the ball up the middle a lot, uses the middle of the field.”

_ On Jose: “He has to be ready to hit on the first pitch … If he just realizes and understands what he’s trying to do, he’s going to be that much more of an effective hitter.”

_ On Lankford: “Lankford has untapped abilities … You have to eliminate some of the strikeouts by getting some walks.”

_ On Zeile: “He doesn’t trust his hands enough. He has quick hands.”

Hitting for average

Players, for the most part, took well to Baylor’s instruction.

“He’s got me driving the ball by having me finish up my swing,” Lankford said. “I was cutting my swing short.”

Baylor worked with Galarraga on hand placement. When Galarraga lowered his hands below face level, he tended to hit under the ball and loft pop-ups rather than hit drives.

Gilkey and Lankford responded best during the season.

Gilkey, who batted .216 in 1991, hit .302 in 1992. Lankford, who batted .251 in 1991, batted .293 in 1992. Galarraga, who was injured early in the 1992 season, slumped when he returned but had a strong second half, batting .300 in July and .333 in September.

Zeile appeared to regress. After batting .280 in 1991, he hit .257 in 1992. His on-base percentage, though, remained a strength: .352 in 1992 after .353 in 1991.

As a team, the Cardinals increased their hits total (from 1,366 in 1991 to 1,464 in 1992) and batting average (from .255 in 1991 to .262 in 1992). However, they scored 20 fewer runs (631) in 1992 than they did in 1991 (651), struck out more (996 in 1992 compared with 857 in 1991) and walked less (495 in 1992 after 532 in 1991).

After the season, Baylor became manager of the expansion Rockies. “Joe Torre gave me an opportunity all year to talk to him about his approach,” Baylor said. “That’s why I appreciate him so much.”

Previously: Don Baylor played key role in Ray Lankford’s career

Posted in Hitters | 2 Comments »

How Roger Freed stunned Dodgers, rewarded Mom

August 16, 2017 by retrosimba

Capping a Cardinals rally, Roger Freed burned the team he cheered for as a boy.

Freed, a Los Angeles native reared in suburban Baldwin Park, Calif., hit a walkoff three-run home run, enabling the Cardinals to overcome a five-run deficit in the ninth inning and defeat the Dodgers.

Freed was batting for pitcher Al Hrabosky when he hit his game-winning home run against knuckleball specialist Charlie Hough.

At a time before cable television and the Internet, the game was showcased nationally as ABC’s “Monday Night Baseball” telecast.

“I knew my mother was watching (in Baldwin Park),” Freed said to the Los Angeles Times. “I kept telling myself I was going to hit one for Mom. She never gives up until the game is over. She’s been a baseball rooter ever since I was in Little League.”

No surrender

The Dodgers were comfortably in first place in the National League West, 9.5 games ahead of the Reds, entering their Aug. 22, 1977, game against the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Sparked by a Steve Yeager grand slam against John Denny, the Dodgers led, 6-1. Jerry Mumphrey opened the Cardinals’ ninth with a single and scored on Garry Templeton’s triple, cutting the deficit to 6-2. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda lifted starter Burt Hooton and replaced him with a rookie, Lance Rautzhan.

Ted Simmons singled, scoring Templeton and getting the Cardinals within three at 6-3. Keith Hernandez followed with a double just inside the first-base line. When the throw from right fielder Reggie Smith eluded cutoff man Bill Russell, Simmons continued home, making the score 6-4, and Hernandez went to third.

Hough, the Dodgers’ closer, relieved Rautzhan.

Dodgers dandy

With Mike Anderson at the plate, Hough unleashed a knuckler that got past Yeager. Hernandez scored and the Cardinals were within a run, 6-5.

After Anderson struck out for the first out of the inning, Ken Reitz singled and Rick Bosetti ran for him. Mike Tyson singled _ the Cardinals’ sixth hit of the inning _ and Bosetti moved to second.

With Hrabosky due up next, Cardinals manager Vern Rapp called on Freed to bat. Freed, acquired by the Cardinals from the Expos in the December minor-league draft, was batting .345 overall and .438 as a pinch hitter for St. Louis.

Hough went to work against him with his signature knuckler and got ahead on the count 1-and-2.

“The knuckler was dancing all over the place,” Freed said. “Hough has a dandy.”

Low liner

Then Hough threw Freed a knuckler that was at the bottom of the strike zone. “A good knuckler,” Hough said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Said Cardinals general manager Bing Devine: “It was low and away.”

Freed took a big swing and connected.

“I knew I hit it hard, but the pitch had been so low that I thought it might be right at the shortstop,” Freed said.

The line drive rose and carried over the left-field wall for a home run, giving the Cardinals an 8-6 victory. “I didn’t know it was gone until I looked up,” Freed said. Boxscore

Freed, a reserve first baseman and right fielder, finished the 1977 season with a .398 batting average (33-for-83). He hit .545 (6-for-11) with two outs and a runner in scoring position.

Freed batted .239 for the 1978 Cardinals and .258 for the 1979 Cardinals before he was released in April 1980.

Previously: Carl Taylor, Roger Freed experienced the ultimate

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Polo Grounds was a haven for Stan Musial

August 13, 2017 by retrosimba

In the last game the Cardinals played against the Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York, Stan Musial delivered a performance worthy of Broadway.

On Aug. 21, 1957, Musial bid a dramatic farewell to the Giants at one of his favorite ballparks, hitting a home run in the first inning against former teammate Stu Miller at the Polo Grounds.

In two subsequent plate appearances that Wednesday afternoon, Musial also produced an infield single and a sacrifice fly before being removed from the game by Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson.

Though Musial and the Cardinals never would play the Giants again at the Polo Grounds, they would return to the ballpark five years later, in 1962, when the Mets joined the National League as an expansion club.

Musial and the Cardinals would face the Mets at the Polo Grounds in 1962 and 1963. After the 1963 season, Musial retired, the Mets moved to Shea Stadium and the Polo Grounds was demolished.

In August 1957, however, there was no inkling that major-league baseball would be played at the Polo Grounds after that season.

Go west

In May 1957, National League club owners gave permission to the Giants to move from New York to San Francisco and for the Dodgers to transfer from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Three months later, on Aug. 19, the Giants’ board of directors, by an 8-to-1 vote, approved the proposal to relocate the franchise to San Francisco for the 1958 season. The Giants had been in New York for 74 years.

On Aug. 20, the day after the board made its decision, the Cardinals played a doubleheader against the Giants at the Polo Grounds. The Cardinals won both games before a crowd of 13,198.

The next day, Aug. 21, the Cardinals and Giants played for the final time at the Polo Grounds. The game drew 5,296 spectators to the ballpark along Eighth Avenue and West 159th Street between Coogan’s Bluff and the Harlem River in upper Manhattan.

NL’s best

The starting pitchers were Lindy McDaniel for St. Louis and Stu Miller, a former Cardinal, for the Giants.

Batting third in the orders were two of the all-time best _ Musial for the Cardinals and Willie Mays for the Giants.

The Polo Grounds had unusual dimensions. The distance from home plate to the deepest part of center field was about 480 feet. Down the lines, it was 258 feet from the plate to the right field foul pole and 279 feet from the plate to the left field foul pole.

In the first inning, Musial hit a home run into the upper deck in right.

In the Giants’ half of the first, Mays hit a home run over the left-field roof.

Facing 18-year-old rookie reliever Mike McCormick, Musial got an infield single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

With the Giants ahead, 11-3, Hutchinson opted to give Musial a rest and removed him from the game in the sixth.

Musial, 36, was leading the National League in batting average (.342) and RBI (97) and had 29 home runs.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s the most valuable player in the National League this year and it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” Cardinals general manager Frank Lane said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Big Apple fan

In 11 games at the Polo Grounds in 1957, Musial batted .439 (18-for-41) with six home runs and 14 RBI.

Asked by New York writers whether he would miss the Polo Grounds, Musial replied, “Yes. The Polo Grounds makes a hero or a bum out of you. It can throw you into a terrible batting slump if you try to pull too much. It can give you the toughest out on the longest drives anywhere and the cheapest home runs. I’ve had my good years here and others not so good, but overall I’ve been fortunate. I’ll miss the park and the fans and the city’s legitimate theater, too.”

Musial and the Cardinals returned to the Polo Grounds to play the Mets on April 18, 1962. Musial had two hits and two RBI.

Three months later, on July 8, 1962, Musial, 41, hit three home runs against the Mets at the Polo Grounds. He’s the oldest player to hit three home runs in a big-league game.

Musial, 42, appeared at the Polo Grounds for the final time on Aug. 8, 1963, against the Mets. Pinch-hitting in the ninth, he drew a walk.

In 171 games at the Polo Grounds against the Giants and Mets, Musial batted .343 with 216 hits, including 49 home runs. He hit more home runs at the Polo Grounds than he did at any other ballpark outside St. Louis.

Previously: How Stan Musial made me a Cardinals fan

Previously: Stan Musial still oldest to belt 3 home runs in game

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | Leave a Comment »

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