RetroSimba

How Browns used Cardinals as foil in pitching novelty

July 10, 2015 by retrosimba

In an exhibition established to assist the United States’ war effort and help compensate for the cancelation of the All-Star Game, the Cardinals were part of a baseball experiment.

On July 10, 1945, Browns manager Luke Sewell used nine pitchers in an exhibition against the Cardinals at Sportsman’s Park. Sewell wanted to see what would happen if he utilized a different pitcher in each of nine innings.

He increased the intrigue factor by alternating a right-hander and a left-hander each inning.

The result: The Browns shut out the Cardinals on two hits and won, 3-0.

Asked whether he’d consider using a different pitcher an inning in a regular-season game, Sewell told the Associated Press, “I wouldn’t think of it … I don’t think this will ever be more than just a novelty.”

Non-essential game

The All-Star Game was canceled in 1945 under orders from Col. J. Monroe Johnson, chief of the Office of Defense Transportation. With the nation needing resources in World War II, the Office of Defense Transportation had the authority to enforce travel restrictions. It viewed the All-Star Game scheduled for July 10, 1945, at Boston’s Fenway Park to be an unnecessary luxury that would sap travel resources needed for the war effort.

To replace the All-Star Game, Major League Baseball proposed eight interleague exhibition games _ four on July 9 and four on July 10. Proceeds from the exhibitions would be donated to the War Service Relief Fund.

The Office of Defense Transportation approved seven of the exhibitions and rejected a proposed game between the Tigers and Pirates at Pittsburgh because of the distance the Tigers would need to travel from Detroit.

The approved games:

_ New York Yankees vs. New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York.

_ Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

_ Cincinnati Reds vs. Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.

_ Brooklyn Dodgers vs. Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

_ Philadelphia Phillies vs. Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

_ Boston Braves vs. Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston.

_ St. Louis Cardinals vs. St. Louis Browns at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

World Series rematch

The Cardinals-Browns game matched the defending league champions. The Cardinals had defeated the Browns in six games in the 1944 World Series.

A crowd of 24,113 turned out at Sportsman’s Park for the exhibition, producing $36,000 for the War Service Relief Fund.

In order, the nine pitchers who appeared for the Browns:

_ First inning, right-hander Tex Shirley.

_ Second inning, left-hander Sam Zoldak.

_ Third inning, right-hander Pete Appleton.

_ Fourth inning, left-hander Earl Jones.

_ Fifth inning, right-hander George Caster.

_ Sixth inning, left-hander Lefty West.

_ Seventh inning, right-hander Sig Jakucki.

_ Eighth inning, left-hander Al Hollingsworth.

_ Ninth inning, right-hander Bob Muncrief.

The Cardinals’ hits were a double Red Schoendienst against Shirley in the first inning and a single by Ray Sanders versus Zoldak in the second.

Browns outfielder Milt Byrnes hit a solo home run against Cardinals starter Red Barrett in the first.

In the fourth, a triple by Pete Gray, a one-armed outfielder, sparked a two-run inning for the Browns against Al Jurisich.

The seven interleague exhibitions attracted a total attendance of 169,880 and raised $244,778 for the War Service Relief Fund.

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Why 1st All-Star Game in St. Louis was drab event

July 7, 2015 by retrosimba

Except for the high number of outstanding players on the field, the first All-Star Game at St. Louis was a lot like any other Tuesday afternoon game at Sportsman’s Park in 1940.

More an exhibition game than a spectacle celebrating baseball’s best, the drab event played on July 9, 1940, lacked the feel of being a special occasion.

Dan Daniel, columnist for The Sporting News, called the Sportsman’s Park setting “a cold stage” and “depressing,” noting that bunting wasn’t even draped around the ballpark.

“Advance publicity was almost nil,” Daniel wrote. “Hoopla by both leagues was missing woefully before and on the day of battle.”

A band hired to entertain showed up only an hour before game time.

Unmoved, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis said, “These people came out to see a ball game, not a parade.”

Cardinals are hosts

The 1940 All-Star Game was the eighth overall since the concept of a summer classic began in 1933. Because it was the National League’s turn to be the 1940 home team, the Cardinals, not the American League Browns, were the host at Sportsman’s Park.

A crowd of 32,373 attended. Cardinals owner Sam Breadon estimated 60 percent of the spectators came from outside St. Louis. They included celebrities such as Hollywood entertainers Bob Hope and Joe E. Brown and actor George Raft.

Among the American League starters were left fielder Ted Williams, center fielder Joe DiMaggio, first baseman Jimmie Foxx and catcher Bill Dickey.

The NL starters included a pair of Cardinals, first baseman Johnny Mize and center fielder Terry Moore, and a longtime former Cardinal, left fielder Joe Medwick. Traded by the Cardinals to the Dodgers a month earlier, Medwick was booed when he was announced as the left fielder.

Playing a hunch

National League manager Bill McKechnie of the Reds initially had Mel Ott of the Giants starting in right field. An hour before game time, he changed his mind and started Max West of the Braves instead.

McKechnie told the Associated Press he made the change because he wanted Ott available to play the later innings when the sun presented a challenge to fielders in right. McKechnie said Ott had more experience than West in handling a St. Louis sun field.

“It was my hunch that Ott … would be a bit steadier in the sun and that is the only reason for the change,” McKechnie said.

The Sporting News reported a different reason for the switch. Braves manager Casey Stengel, first-base coach for the NL, suggested to McKechnie that West “has a home run in him,” columnist Dick Farrington reported.

McKechnie inserted West into the No. 3 spot in the batting order.

After Paul Derringer of the Reds held the AL scoreless in the first (Williams walked and DiMaggio grounded out), Arky Vaughan and Billy Herman opened the NL half of the inning with back-to-back singles off Red Ruffing of the Yankees.

West, 23, a Dexter, Mo., native, stepped to the plate for his first (and only) at-bat as an all-star. He swung and missed at the first pitch from Ruffing, then launched the second into the seats in right-center for a three-run home run.

Hard fall

A half-inning later, Luke Appling of the White Sox tried to ignite an AL rally with a drive to right. West attempted a leaping catch, fell hard against the wall and crumpled to the ground as Appling reached second with a double.

Stengel was among the first to rush to West’s aid. The right fielder was able to get to his feet and limp back to the dugout with what was reported to be a bruised hip. Bill Nicholson of the Cubs replaced West in right field. (Ott subbed for Nicholson in the sixth.)

NL pitching dominated the remainder of the game. Derringer, Bucky Walters, Whit Wyatt, Larry French and Carl Hubbell held the AL scoreless and the NL won, 4-0, in the first All-Star Game shutout.

Moore was the only NL player to play the entire game. He was 0-for-3 with a walk. Mize and Medwick each was 0-for-2.

The AL managed only three hits _ two by Appling and one by pitcher Bobo Newsom of the Tigers. Boxscore

West never again appeared in an All-Star Game. In a seven-year career with the Braves, Reds and Pirates, West hit .254 with 77 home runs.

St. Louis has been the All-Star Game site five times: 1940, 1948, 1957, 1966 and 2009. Only New York (nine) and Chicago (seven) have hosted the All-Star Game more often.

Previously: Joaquin Andujar skipped All-Star Game to barbecue quail

Previously: How Joe Medwick got traded by Cardinals to Dodgers

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Why Cardinals stopped being a Whitey Herzog team

July 4, 2015 by retrosimba

Unhappy with management’s indifference to re-signing any of the team’s core free agents and unwilling to ask those players to make the kinds of selfless sacrifices that were essential to the success of his Cardinals clubs, manager Whitey Herzog found himself trapped in the middle of an uncomfortable situation.

On July 6, 1990, Herzog, 58, resigned when he concluded he couldn’t be effective with a team uninterested in playing his style of baseball.

“I was totally embarrassed by the way our team played,” Herzog said to the Associated Press. “I just feel very badly for the ball club, the organization and the fans.”

Adios

Herzog said he decided to quit on July 3 while the 1990 Cardinals were in San Francisco. He discussed the decision with his wife on July 4, informed Cardinals management on July 5 and made the announcement on July 6 at a news conference at the team hotel in San Diego.

Three weeks earlier, Herzog had offered to resign, but club president Fred Kuhlmann and general manager Dal Maxvill talked him out of it. “He told us then it could get a lot uglier,” Maxvill said.

When Herzog stepped down, the Cardinals had a 33-47 record and were in last place in the National League East. In 11 years with the Cardinals, Herzog was 822-728, with three NL pennants and a World Series championship. He replaced Ken Boyer as manager in 1980 with the club in the cellar.

“I came here in last place and I leave here in last place,” Herzog told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Red Schoendienst, the Cardinals coach and former manager, was named interim manager. “I had dinner with Whitey (July 5) and we stayed up late discussing the team,” Schoendienst told Hummel. “He never gave me a hint (about resigning).”

Herzog blamed himself rather than the players for the team’s performance. “I don’t think that I have done a good job as a manager this year,” Herzog said. “I just can’t get the guys to play and I think anybody could do a better job than me.”

Invested in self

Outfielders Willie McGee and Vince Coleman, third baseman Terry Pendleton and reliever Ken Dayley were among the ten 1990 Cardinals eligible for free agency after the season. By July, it became apparent management wasn’t interested in re-signing any of those core players.

“I watched Whitey suffer through this year and his hands are almost tied,” Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon said after Herzog resigned. “He can’t get things done right because we don’t really have a Cardinals baseball team here. What we have, in my estimation, is we’ve got so many people … just playing for themselves. They’re just playing for their free agency. Whitey Herzog is not going to be responsible for having a club that’s not a team.”

Herzog told Ross Newhan of the Los Angeles Times, “I felt I couldn’t look them in the eye and ask them to do the little things we always had to do because it might cost them 10 points off their batting averages and that might cost them $3 million as free agents. We had a half season to go and I felt powerless.”

Before the season ended, the Cardinals traded McGee to the Athletics. Coleman, Pendleton and Dayley became free agents after the season and signed with other teams.

In his book “You’re Missin’ a Great Game,” Herzog said, “Fred Kuhlmann decided not even to negotiate with our free-agent players. He wouldn’t even talk to their agents. I said, ‘Man, at least talk to them; let ’em think they might be coming back. That way they have something to play for.’ But they wouldn’t do it.

“Why is that important? For our type of ball club, it was death … If we were going to win, we had to hit to the right side, play team ball and sacrifice personal stats … But if you were up for free agency, and if you knew the club didn’t want you, would you shoot the ball to right?”

Brain drain

The impending free agents weren’t the only players falling short of executing to Herzog’s standards. “I feel kind of responsible,” said first baseman Pedro Guerrero. “I know that I haven’t done the job that I did last year at this point.”

Said Herzog of his players: “The effort is there, but sometimes I don’t know if the minds are there.”

After his news conference, Herzog departed for St. Louis on an Anheuser-Busch corporate jet without saying goodbye to his team.

“We didn’t deserve for him to talk to us,” catcher Tom Pagnozzi told Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch. “We embarrassed him. We all but spit on him with the way we played. He didn’t have to say anything to us. We know why he’s leaving. We drove him out of here.”

Said Pendleton: “It wasn’t his fault that we stunk.”

Faces of hate

Miklasz, a sharp-eyed, pull-no-punches observer, had this chilling opening to his column from the Cardinals clubhouse in San Diego after Herzog departed:

“This was a clubhouse divided, with all the ugly cliques finally exposed,” Miklasz wrote. “Cardinals were squared away in opposite corners, eyeballing each other with looks that could kill. White players, mostly pitchers, on one side. Black players, most notably Ozzie Smith, on the other. Bad vibrations everywhere.

“It’s no wonder Whitey Herzog wanted out of here and escaped on the first corporate jet he could find. Whitey didn’t resign; he evacuated, leaving behind a team so ripped apart and split open that the players didn’t try to conceal the wounds. No one bothered to put on a mask. Nothing could hide these faces of hate.”

Previously: Ted Simmons helped put pal Joe Torre on path to Hall

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Why Cardinals, Reds managers got into a fistfight

July 1, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated July 5, 2019)

During a game at Cincinnati, the managers of the Cardinals and Reds threw punches at one another and wrestled on the ground near home plate. One of them may have taken a bite out of the other.

On July 5, 1955, a fight between managers Harry Walker of the Cardinals and Birdie Tebbetts of the Reds prompted players to rush onto the field and join in the fisticuffs.

Watching from his seat in the Crosley Field stands was National League president Warren Giles. “I never before heard of two major-league managers starting a fight between their teams by being the first to exchange blows,” Giles said to The Sporting News. “To the best of my knowledge, their fight was unprecedented.”

Action inning

The drama began in the ninth.

With the Reds ahead 3-2, Bill Virdon led off the ninth for the Cardinals and hit a home run against former St. Louis pitcher Gerry Staley, tying the score. After a single and a walk, Bob Stephenson gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead with a one-out RBI-single off Joe Black.

In the Reds’ half of the inning, another former Cardinals player, Ray Jablonski, delivered a RBI-single against reliever Paul La Palme, tying the score at 4-4.

After Walker made a pair of defensive changes, sending Ken Boyer to replace Solly Hemus at third base and Pete Whisenant to replace Joe Frazier in right field, Cardinals catcher Bill Sarni went to the mound to visit with La Palme. Tebbetts suspected Sarni was trying to buy time for Boyer and Whisenant to loosen their arms.

Tebbetts protested to plate umpire Jocko Conlan, claiming the rules called for the game to resume as soon as the new fielders took their positions.

The argument ended without a resolution.

Sam Mele, batting with one out and runners on first and second, flied out to Whisenant.

Johnny Temple was the next batter, but before he could take a stance, Sarni again visited the mound. As he did, Whisenant threw more practice tosses.

Temper tantrums

Tebbetts came out to the plate to complain to Conlan. Walker rushed over to defend his team. The managers began yelling at one another, with Conlan between them.

“We called each other names,” Tebbetts said. “We both seemed to get the idea at once that the only way to settle our argument was with our fists. So we started swinging.”

In The Sporting News, Bob Broeg wrote, “Tebbetts suddenly swung _ and missed _ prompting a return blow that landed.”

Tebbetts, 42, and Walker, 38, grabbed one another, wrestled to the ground and rolled around in the dirt.

Players from both benches emptied onto the field, with several piling onto Walker and Tebbetts. Some squared off in individual battles. Pitchers Art Fowler of the Reds and Larry Jackson of the Cardinals tangled. So did Frazier and Reds outfielder Wally Post.

“Fights were going on all over an area of 50 feet to the right of the plate,” according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, which called it “one of the wildest rhubarbs witnessed at Crosley Field in years.”

Others, such as Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst of the Cardinals and Ted Kluszewski of the Reds, played peacemakers.

Bruised and battered

Walker suffered a bruised forehead and said Tebbetts bit him on the left ear.

“A lot of players must have hit me or kicked me,” said Walker. “At one time, while we were down, I yelled at Birdie, ‘You’re trying to bite me.’ ”

Said Tebbetts: “Someone stomped on my back and someone else kicked me in an ear. I saw another foot coming at me and ducked my head against Harry’s face so close he thought I was trying to bite him. I was just trying to protect my own head.”

Tebbetts suffered a nosebleed and cuts on his lip and neck. “I feel like I have been run over by a steam roller,” Tebbetts said.

Reds rally

Conlan ejected Tebbetts, Walker and Sarni.

As the managers left the field, Walker picked up Tebbetts’ cap from the ground and wore it into the Cardinals’ clubhouse, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

When played resumed, Temple singled, scoring Chuck Harmon with the run that gave the Reds a 5-4 victory. Boxscore

Giles fined Tebbetts and Walker $100 each.

“Managers have an obligation to preserve or restore order and not, by their actions, to incite disorder,” Giles said.

Said Tebbetts: “I’ve got nothing against Walker. He was just doing his job even if I didn’t agree as to the manner in which he was trying to do it.”

Previously: The story of why Cardinals fired manager Eddie Stanky

Previously: No backing down: Tony La Russa vs. Lloyd McClendon

Previously: Wrangle at Wrigley: Tony La Russa vs. Dusty Baker

Previously: 1980s macho match: Whitey Herzog vs. Roger Craig

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Losing became a habit for Danny Jackson with Cardinals

June 28, 2015 by retrosimba

In a season fraught with futility, the pitcher who epitomized the plight of the 1995 Cardinals was Danny Jackson. Expected to provide wins and hope, Jackson instead represented losses and despair.

On July 2, 1995, Jackson was the losing pitcher for St. Louis against the Cubs at Chicago, dropping his season record to 0-9.

Jackson became the first Cardinals pitcher to start a season 0-9 since Art Fromme in 1907 and the first Cardinals pitcher to lose nine in a row since Bob Forsch did so from July 5 through Aug. 19 in 1978.

Tough guy

A left-hander, Jackson was signed by the Cardinals as a free agent in December 1994 after posting a 14-6 record and 3.26 ERA for the 1994 Phillies.

Jackson had pitched in three World Series for three different franchises (1985 Royals, 1990 Reds and 1993 Phillies) and had been a 23-game winner with the 1988 Reds.

Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty gave Jackson a three-year contract for a guaranteed $10.8 million.

“Danny Jackson gives us the toughness we’ve lacked in our pitching staff,” Cardinals manager Joe Torre told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Troubled pitcher

Jackson, 33, who underwent thyroid surgery during the off-season, started poorly with the 1995 Cardinals, yielding four runs or more in each of his first four appearances. Jackson had complications with his medications. He also was hampered by an unsteady defense and erratic offense.

Still, Jackson’s ineffectiveness was his own doing. His pitching mechanics were out of synch.

His ERA after his ninth loss was 7.83. Jackson gave up three or more runs in an inning 11 times in his first 11 starts for the Cardinals. He was unable to last longer than five innings in eight of those starts.

“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I know one thing: I’m sick and tired of losing,” Jackson said after his record fell to 0-9. “It doesn’t seem to make any difference what I do. It’s always the same.”

Said Mike Jorgensen, who had replaced Torre as manager: “We’re going to keep sending him out there until we get him smoothed out.” Boxscore

Goodbye gorilla

Five days after his loss to the Cubs, Jackson ended the streak in spectacular fashion, shutting out the Marlins on a four-hitter on July 7, 1995, at St. Louis.

“I feel like I got King Kong off my back,” Jackson said.

Said catcher Tom Pagnozzi: “That was the best he had looked as far as not muscling the ball and throwing fluidly.” Boxscore

Jackson won his next start, beating the Phillies, and then lost three decisions in a row.

Bad numbers

In his last start of the season, Aug. 11 against the Padres, Jackson injured an ankle, was lifted in the second inning and didn’t pitch again in 1995.

His season record: 2-12 with a 5.90 ERA.

In 19 starts, Jackson yielded 120 hits in 100.2 innings and had almost as many walks (48) as strikeouts (52). Batters hit .303 against him.

His failures were a key factor in the Cardinals having a 62-81 record.

Jackson never recovered. In three seasons with the Cardinals, he was 4-15 with a 5.78 ERA.

On June 13, 1997, the Cardinals dealt Jackson, pitcher Rich Batchelor and outfielder Mark Sweeney to the Padres for pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, outfielder Phil Plantier and third baseman Scott Livingstone.

Previously: The day Cardinals fired Joe Torre, traded Todd Zeile

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Fernando Valenzuela and his gem vs. Cardinals

June 25, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated June 29, 2020)

Taking advantage of an unmotivated, jet-lagged team, Fernando Valenzuela pitched a no-hitter against the Cardinals. It was the second no-hitter pitched in the major leagues that night and the first versus the Cardinals in 12 years.

On June 29, 1990, at Los Angeles, Valenzuela pitched the only no-hitter of his career in a 6-0 Dodgers victory over the Cardinals.

Earlier that night, Dave Stewart, Valenzuela’s former Dodgers teammate, pitched a no-hitter for manager Tony La Russa’s Athletics against the Blue Jays. It was the first time no-hitters had been pitched in both the American League and National League on the same day.

Valenzuela, 29, struck out seven and walked three. The Cardinals also had a runner reach on an error.

The left-hander pitched the first no-hitter against the Cardinals since Tom Seaver of the Reds on June 16, 1978.

Control, confidence

After beating the Pirates in a night game at St. Louis on June 28, the Cardinals stayed overnight at home and left the morning of June 29 for that night’s game against the Dodgers. The Cardinals arrived in Los Angeles about 12:30 in the afternoon Pacific Coast time.

The Dodgers watched on the clubhouse TV as Stewart completed his no-hitter at Toronto. Boxscore

Valenzuela turned to his teammates and said, “You’ve seen one on TV. Now come watch one live,” Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Valenzuela’s previous big-league best had been a two-hitter.

From the first pitch, Valenzuela was in command. “Throughout the game, I had excellent control,” he told the Orange County Register. “I had a lot of confidence.”

Timely tip

In the ninth, Vince Coleman led off for the Cardinals. The speedster was carrying a 10-game hitting streak and was the batter Valenzuela feared most in the St. Louis lineup. “Coleman makes a lot of contact and he can bunt,” Valenzuela said.

On a 2-and-1 pitch, Coleman hit a shot down the third-base line, but it was foul. With the count at 2-and-2, Coleman showed bunt, took a pitch outside and was called out on strikes by umpire Jerry Layne.

Referring to Layne’s strike zone, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog told the Los Angeles Times, “I don’t want to take anything away from Fernando, but he had the right guy behind the plate.”

Willie McGee was up next and he walked on four pitches.

That brought to the plate Pedro Guerrero, who had been Valenzuela’s Dodgers teammate from 1980-88. Guerrero was playing on his 34th birthday.

“When Willie got on,” Guerrero told Hummel, “I said, ‘I’m going to be the one that’s going to do it.’ ”

With the count 0-and-2, Guerrero hit a grounder up the middle. As Valenzuela reached for the ball, it tipped his glove and was deflected to second baseman Juan Samuel, who stepped on second for the force on McGee and threw to first for the game-ending double play.

Jubilant Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully told listeners, “If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky.” Video of ninth inning

“Do you think if I don’t touch that ball, it goes through for a single? I think it does,” said Valenzuela. “I think if I don’t touch it, I’m in trouble.”

Said Guerrero: “I hit it pretty good. If he doesn’t get a glove on it, I think it’s through there.” Boxscore

Cardinals crusher

The loss was the fifth in six games for the Cardinals (30-44).

“We’re pathetic,” said Herzog.

Said Guerrero: “We didn’t look too good out there, but I think flying on game day had something to do with it.”

Stewart called the Dodgers clubhouse after the game to congratulate Valenzuela.

The no-hitter evened Valenzuela’s season record at 6-6 and lowered his ERA from 4.09 to 3.73.

Valenzuela was the fourth Dodgers pitcher to achieve a no-hitter since 1958 when the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. The others were Sandy Koufax, Bill Singer and Jerry Reuss.

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