RetroSimba

(Updated July 28, 2020)

As a player, Stan Musial rose to the challenge of converting from a pitcher to an outfielder. The move saved his career and launched him on a path to becoming the all-time greatest Cardinal. As an executive, Musial continued to take on challenges. He joined the Cardinals’ front office as a vice president in 1963 and four years later accepted another role.

Musial, 46, surprised many when he became Cardinals general manager on Jan. 23, 1967. Musial took the job a day after it was announced Bob Howsam, the Cardinals’ general manager since August 1964, had resigned to become executive vice president and general manager of the Reds.

At the time, Musial had many business and civic ventures. He owned a restaurant, hotel and sports equipment company, and he was an ambassador in promoting physical fitness for President Lyndon Johnson.

“The main reason I took the job is that I found myself with nothing to do,” Musial said to columnist Dick Young in The Sporting News. “I’d go into the restaurant, spend an hour or so there, and then have a lot of time on my hands for the rest of the day. All my other interests are pretty much running themselves … I needed something to do.”

Lillian Musial, Stan’s wife, explained her husband’s decision was driven by a desire “to be closer to baseball again.”

Ready or not

When Howsam informed the Cardinals in January 1967 he was departing, club owner Gussie Busch said it took 15 minutes to decide Musial should become general manager. “We called a meeting of the executive committee and we decided right away,” Busch told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Musial, whose first full season in the big leagues was 1942, said, “It’s taken me 25 years to reach this station and, you know, I kind of think I deserve it.”

As vice president, Musial developed “an increasingly larger voice in the direction of the club, especially in regard to making trades.” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Musial indicated he could have had the general manager job much earlier.”

Said Busch: “He has become familiar with front office operations. He has served an apprenticeship as few men have in baseball.”

Stan and friends

Musial agreed to work with no contract _ “I might say that Mr. Busch’s word is better than a contract,” Musial said _ and for a salary of about $35,000.

As general manager, Musial’s first move was to hire Bob Stewart as executive assistant. Stewart, a former athletic director at St. Louis University, earned Musial’s trust and respect as administrator of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Stewart’s role was key, because Musial “will concentrate on the playing personnel instead of devoting considerable time to routine administrative phases of the club’s operation,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Musial had another trusted ally in Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst. They were longtime friends and had been road roommates as players.

Schoendienst entered the 1967 season, his third as Cardinals manager, with a one-year contract. The club hadn’t contended since he replaced Johnny Keane.

“It is only fair to say that both Stan and Red fully understand that record _ and not personal friendship _ will be the judge of the future,” Busch said.

Unfazed, Musial said, “Red has had a couple of years under his belt in rebuilding the ballclub and I’m sure we’ll work together well and be together a long time.”

Said Schoendienst: “I know Stan well and he knows me well. He just might make me work harder.”

Tough enough

Media reaction to Musial’s hiring was supportive but cautious.

Bob Broeg, Post-Dispatch sports editor, wrote, “For Musial, stepping in to run a ballclub rather than into the batter’s box, is a risk for which The Man must be prepared. … It’ll be no easy job.”

The Sporting News suggested, “Musial is risking his hero toga in moving behind the GM desk for the club to which he contributed so much on the field.”

Asked whether his nice guy reputation might conflict with being a general manager, Musial told Young, “I can be as tough as I have to be, but that’s overdone. You don’t have to be tough at trade talks. I’ve sat in on enough of them to know. The hardest part is cutting some player’s pay.”

Broeg revealed a comment Musial made when they had worked together on his autobiography: “Most friends … think I don’t want to be a manager because I’d find it too hard not to be easy on the players,” Musial confided. “I’m afraid I’d be too demanding.”

That’s a winner

In Musial’s lone season in the dual role of vice president and general manager, the Cardinals won the 1967 National League pennant and World Series title. Though the roster largely was built by his predecessors _ Bing Devine and Howsam _ Musial did more as general manager than he usually gets credited for doing.

Musial created an atmosphere of confidence and professionalism that enabled players and staff to perform at their best. It was quite a contrast to Howsam, who hounded players with memos on how to dress, stand and sit. Howsam made it known he had a friend, minor-league manager Charlie Metro, waiting in the wings to take over for Schoendienst.

In a rebuke of Howsam, Broeg said, “Musial became general manager in an atmosphere of ridiculous distrust and mistrust, foolish front-office nitpicking and rising player dissatisfaction over contract terms and methods of salary negotiations.”

Howsam was the executive who acquired right fielder Roger Maris for the 1967 Cardinals, but it was Musial who closed the deal. Maris was considering retiring when the Yankees traded him to St. Louis. After Howsam departed, Musial listened to Maris’ concerns without pressuring him, made him feel appreciated and convinced the skittish slugger to report to spring training.

Said Maris: “It should be good working with men like Musial and Schoendienst because they know all about the game.”

A skilled administrator unafraid to make bold trades involving prominent players, Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam also was unpopular with many on the club and was second-guessed by bosses who restricted his authority and threatened his job security.

Jumping at an offer for a higher salary, a multi-year contract and the opportunity to be fully in charge of baseball operations, Howsam left the Cardinals on Jan. 22, 1967, and joined the Reds as executive vice president and general manager.

The club Howsam left behind won the 1967 National League pennant and World Series title. Two players acquired by Howsam, first baseman Orlando Cepeda and right fielder Roger Maris, were important contributors to that Cardinals championship squad.

With Cincinnati, Howsam enjoyed his greatest success, building the Big Red Machine teams that won four pennants (1970, 1972, 1975 and 1976) and two World Series crowns (1975 and 1976).

Not welcome

A minor-league executive in Denver, Howsam replaced ousted Cardinals general manager Bing Devine in August 1964. Branch Rickey, a Cardinals consultant and former general manager, had recommended Howsam to club owner Gussie Busch.

Devine, who had acquired for the Cardinals key players such as outfielders Lou Brock and Curt Flood and infielders Bill White, Julian Javier and Dick Groat, was well-liked by club employees and media. After Devine departed, the Cardinals won 31 of 45 regular-season games, clinched the pennant and defeated the Yankees in the World Series.

Cardinals manager Johnny Keane and most players were upset Howsam, not Devine, was the general manager celebrating the championship. Howsam contributed only “three cheers” to the title run and his relationship with Keane was so sour their conversations consisted of two kinds: “little and none,” sports editor Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Howsam angered many when he attempted to take some credit for the 1964 success. According to the Post-Dispatch, Howsam said, “My personal feeling is Devine’s firing led us to the pennant and world championship. It fired up everybody _ the manager, the players and the entire Cardinals staff. They got to thinking about contracts for the next season and they simply produced.”

St. Louis shakeup

In 1965, Howsam’s first full season as general manager, the Cardinals finished in seventh place at 80-81. After the season, Howsam created an uproar when he traded three-fourths of the Cardinals’ infield: White, Groat and Ken Boyer. Most of the players St. Louis received in return were busts.

“He had nerve, if not judgment,” Broeg wrote.

Howsam worsened matters when he tried to defend the trade of White by claiming the first baseman was older than he was. In my 2011 interview with White, he said Howsam’s remarks upset him and he challenged the general manager.

The Post-Dispatch reported White “denounced Howsam and said he no longer could have any respect for him.”

Cardinals vice president Stan Musial had been “brought late into trade talks,” and “said he felt badly about the Bill White deal because he felt that he and others had been misled by Howsam’s approach to the deal,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Hot seat

Howsam created ill will with players who “resented efforts to trim salaries in times of plenty,” Broeg reported, and were upset to receive notes from Howsam “telling them how to dress on the field, for instance, and how to sit in the bullpen.”

Howsam was successful in helping the Cardinals open a stadium in 1966 and with developing promotions to attract women and children to games.

However, when the Cardinals floundered early in the 1966 season _ they lost 14 of their first 22 games _ Howsam was “close to being fired,” Broeg reported.

What saved him was the trade he made on May 8, 1966, when the Cardinals got Cepeda from the Giants for pitcher Ray Sadecki. With Cepeda providing run production, the Cardinals improved, finishing with an 83-79 record, though in sixth place.

Ties that bind

Busch and the Cardinals’ hierarchy, including executive vice president Dick Meyer, lost confidence in Howsam and blocked two major trades he tried to make.

Before trading for Cepeda, Howsam tried to deal pitchers Steve Carlton and Nelson Briles, outfielder Mike Shannon and infielder Phil Gagliano to the Reds for shortstop Leo Cardenas, first baseman Gordy Coleman and pitcher Joey Jay, but the Cardinals’ “high command” vetoed the trade, The Sporting News reported.

After the 1966 season, Howsam wanted to trade Carlton, Briles and outfielders Bobby Tolan and Alex Johnson to the Cubs for outfielder Billy Williams, but again was stopped. “The price in promising young talent was too high, ownership concluded,” Broeg wrote.

The consolation prize was Maris, whom Howsam acquired from the Yankees for third baseman Charlie Smith.

Reds to rescue

For its Jan. 1, 1967, edition, the Post-Dispatch asked Howsam to respond to a story that listed him as the top candidate to become Reds general manager. “It’s news to me,” Howsam replied, adding he’d had no contact with the Reds.

Bill DeWitt Sr., a St. Louisan, had been owner of the Reds until selling the club to a syndicate led by Cincinnati Enquirer publisher Francis Dale in December 1966. DeWitt Sr. suggested the new owners pursue Howsam, calling him “one of the 10 best baseball men around.”

The Reds contacted Busch, who gave permission for them to approach Howsam. On Jan. 11, 1967, Howsam was interviewed by a Reds committee.

Soon after, the Reds offered Howsam a three-year contract at $50,000 per year. Howsam, working without a contract and receiving a $35,000 Cardinals salary, gave Busch a chance to match the offer, but he was uninterested.

“I wish him the best of luck except when his team plays ours,” Busch said.

A day after Howsam was hired by the Reds, Musial was named general manager of the Cardinals.