RetroSimba

The story of why Cardinals fired manager Eddie Stanky

May 25, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated June 4, 2020)

An unhappy fan base and an unreliable pitching staff combined to create an unhealthy situation for Eddie Stanky and the 1955 Cardinals.

Unable to overcome those obstacles, Stanky was fired in his fourth season as Cardinals manager on May 28, 1955.

The Cardinals replaced Stanky with Harry Walker, who was managing their farm club at Rochester. Walker was more popular than Stanky but no better able to win with such poor pitching.

From foe to friend

A three-time all-star, Stanky was the second baseman on National League pennant winners with the 1947 Dodgers, 1948 Braves and 1951 Giants. His aggressive play earned him the reputation as a pest and led to him being a frequent target of boos when he played the Cardinals at St. Louis.

When Stanky played for the Dodgers, manager Leo Durocher told New York Sun columnist Frank Graham, “He’ll knock you down to make a play if he has to. That’s the kind of guy I want on my ball club. Look at him. He can’t run, he can’t hit, he can’t throw, he can’t do nothing, but what a ballplayer. I wouldn’t give him for any second baseman in the league.”

Imagine the surprise of Cardinals fans when on Dec. 11, 1951, St. Louis acquired Stanky from the Giants for pitcher Max Lanier and outfielder Chuck Diering. The surprise turned to rancor when Stanky was named player-manager, replacing Marty Marion, who was fired by team owner Fred Saigh. Marion, the popular former shortstop, guided the 1951 Cardinals to an 81-73 record and third-place finish in his lone season as manager.

Good start

In his first St. Louis season, Stanky, 36, led the 1952 Cardinals to an 88-66 record and third place in the NL. The Sporting News named him manager of the year.

In 1953, Saigh sold the Cardinals to Gussie Busch. Stanky, in his last season as a player, managed the 1953 Cardinals to another third-place finish at 83-71.

Stanky’s career took a downturn in 1954. The low point occurred when he used stalling tactics in an attempt to avoid a loss. Umpires forfeited the game to the Phillies and, in a stunning rebuke of Stanky, Cardinals fans cheered the decision. Stanky was suspended. Humbled, he apologized for his actions. With a staff ERA of 4.50, the 1954 Cardinals finished sixth at 72-82.

Heightened expectations

Heading to spring training in 1955, expectations soared because young standouts such as Ken Boyer, Wally Moon and Bill Virdon joined a lineup with Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst.

Bill Walsingham, a club vice president, told The Sporting News the 1955 Cardinals “will run faster and throw better than players on the Cardinals champions of 1942.”

Stanky heightened the hope, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch his everyday lineup “is the best _ the fastest and finest-fielding _ I’ve had. And, unless the kids fail to hit at all, it’s of championship caliber.”

The pitching, though, hadn’t improved.

On May 22, 1955, in the first game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati, the Reds rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth and won, 4-3. Stanky stormed into the clubhouse and smacked at jars of mustard and mayonnaise on a food table, sending glass and goo flying.

Displaying a hand dripping with blood and condiments, Stanky said, “No, it’s not true I was trying to cut my throat.”

Time for a change

Four days later, on May 26, Cardinals general manager Dick Meyer met with Walker in Rochester and told him he would replace Stanky. Meyer instructed Walker to be in St. Louis on May 28 and to keep the news a secret.

Stunned, Walker said to Meyer, “Is this a joke?”

Replied Meyer: “We have been considering the change for some time.”

Walker, 38, played for Cardinals World Series championship clubs in 1942 and 1946. He managed Cardinals farm clubs at Columbus (1951) and Rochester (1952-55).

His brother, Dixie Walker, was a coach on Stanky’s Cardinals staff.

At 8:15 on the morning of May 28, Stanky got a call from Meyer, who informed the manager he was fired. Meyer asked Stanky to attend a 2 p.m. press conference at Busch’s estate at Grant’s Farm and Stanky agreed.

Flanked by Stanky and Walker, Busch said the change had been contemplated for three weeks. The Cardinals’ record was 17-19.

The Sporting News reported “Stanky’s unpopularity had reached a point regarded as alarming to an organization concerned with the goodwill of consumers as well as customers.”

Said Stanky: “Nothing in baseball shocks me any more and there’s no such word as malice in my vocabulary.”

Dixie Walker was named Rochester manager, replacing his brother.

Different styles

Among reactions to the dismissal of Stanky:

_ The Sporting News: “The move perhaps was inevitable because of the disappointing start of the young, highly regarded team and the mounting fan clamor for a change.”

_ J. Roy Stockton, Post-Dispatch: “Eddie showed major-league courage and acumen in the rebuilding of the Redbirds. All the club needs now to make a serious bid for the pennant is good pitching.”

_ Lloyd Larson, Milwaukee Sentinel: “Eddie Stanky undoubtedly knows baseball … So where did he fall down? The answer, I believe, rests in his handling of people _ the key to successful management in many fields.”

New boss, same results

After the press conference announcing his promotion, Walker made his Cardinals managerial debut against the Reds at St. Louis. Jackie Collum, a former Cardinal, spoiled the festivities, pitching a four-hitter in a 5-1 Reds triumph.

The 1955 Cardinals were 51-67 under Walker and finished seventh at 68-86 overall. The staff ERA of 4.56 was the worst in the NL.

After the season, the Cardinals replaced Walker with Fred Hutchinson, former Tigers manager. Walker went back to managing in the Cardinals’ farm system. He would return to the big leagues as manager of the Pirates (1965-67) and Astros (1968-72).

Stanky managed the Giants’ farm club at Minneapolis in 1956. After serving as an Indians coach in 1957 and 1958, Stanky rejoined the Cardinals as player development director and special assistant to general manager Bing Devine. Stanky departed the Cardinals after Devine was fired by Busch in August 1964.

Posted in Executives, Managers | 2 Comments »

Why Cardinals traded pitching ace Mort Cooper

May 22, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated May 23, 2020)

Convinced he had the leverage to demand a more lucrative contract, Cardinals ace Mort Cooper played hardball with Sam Breadon. The club owner responded by trading Cooper rather than negotiating with him.

“In reckoning on his ability to outmaneuver Sam Breadon, Cooper encountered an old master who is familiar with a wide variety of curves,” The Sporting News reported.

On May 23, 1945, the Cardinals traded Cooper, 32, to the Braves for pitcher Red Barrett, 30, and $60,000. Three months later, Cooper had elbow surgery. Barrett earned 21 wins for the 1945 Cardinals.

Show me the money

Cooper was a key reason the Cardinals won three National League pennants and two World Series championships from 1942-44. He was named winner of the NL Most Valuable Player Award in 1942 when he was 22-7 with a 1.78 ERA. He followed that with a 21-8 record and 2.30 ERA in 1943 and a 22-7 record and 2.46 ERA in 1944.

Before the 1945 season, Cooper signed a one-year contract for $12,000. That amount, Breadon told Cooper, was the club ceiling on salaries. In spring training, Cooper learned the Cardinals made an exception for Marty Marion and signed the shortstop for $13,000.

Breadon offered to increase Cooper’s 1945 salary by $1,500, giving him a total of $13,500, but Cooper demanded $15,000, according to the St. Louis daily newspapers. Breadon refused. In protest, Cooper and his brother, catcher Walker Cooper, left the Cardinals’ spring training camp at Cairo, Ill., and threatened to boycott the club’s opening series against the Cubs.

The Cooper brothers eventually gave in and were with the club on Opening Day at Chicago. Soon after, Walker Cooper was inducted into the Navy. Mort Cooper made his first appearance of the season on April 22, pitching in relief against the Reds at St. Louis.

Cooper still was miffed about his contract and he didn’t show when the Cardinals left St. Louis by train for a series at Cincinnati. Instead, he arrived in Cincinnati the next day with his lawyer, Lee Havener, and demanded a salary increase.

Cooper started on April 29 against the Reds and earned the win. He also won his next start, versus the Cubs, on May 6 and got a no-decision in his third start on May 13 against the Giants.

With a 2-0 record and 1.52 ERA, Cooper appeared headed toward another big season. Because of injuries and commitments to military service, the Cardinals had little pitching depth. Sensing he had the upper hand, Cooper decided the time was right to force the issue of a new contract.

Jumping ship

In mid-May, while the Cardinals were in Boston, Cooper called traveling secretary Leo Ward about 3 a.m. at the team hotel and informed him he was leaving without permission and returning to St. Louis. Manager Billy Southworth suspended the pitcher indefinitely and fined him $500.

In St. Louis, Cooper and Havener asked Breadon to discuss a new contract. A meeting was scheduled for May 23 in Breadon’s office.

Secretly, Breadon began talking with clubs to gauge interest in Cooper. The Giants offered cash but no players. The Cubs and Phillies offered a combination of players and cash. The Braves offered the most cash, plus Barrett.

Cooper and Havener arrived at Breadon’s office, expecting to renegotiate a contract. Southworth was there with Breadon. After exchanging pleasantries, Breadon delivered his surprise, informing Cooper he was traded to the Braves.

“You could have floored Cooper and Havener with a feather,” the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cooper “was shocked and crestfallen.”

“This is all a big surprise to me,” Cooper said to the Star-Times.

Deal of the year

“In disposing of Cooper, Breadon took the best course, since there was little chance of an amicable agreement,” The Sporting News opined.

Post-Dispatch columnist John Wray suggested “pitchers like Cooper today are rarer than banana trees in Iceland,” but added, “a disgruntled, malingering Cooper, forced to labor in a vineyard he hated, might have hurt the morale of the other players and done even greater damage.”

United Press called the transaction “the most important baseball deal of 1945” because the departure of a perennial 20-game winner gave hope to NL teams that the three-time defending champion Cardinals could be dethroned.

Cooper “almost overnight transformed (the Braves) into a pennant contender,” wrote The Sporting News.

Braves right fielder Tommy Holmes told the Boston Globe, “Brother, he’s got everything and he knows how to use it. I’m glad to have him on my side.”

Braves general manager John Quinn deemed Cooper “the best pitcher in the league.” The Braves reworked his contract and gave Cooper $15,000 for 1945.

Singing slinger

Barrett nearly was overlooked in most reviews of the trade. He was 2-3 with a 4.74 ERA for the 1945 Braves.

Informed of the trade by Braves manager Bob Coleman, Barrett said, “I didn’t give them a chance to change their minds. I was packed and ready to leave for St. Louis two minutes later. I’d have been ready sooner but I had difficulty in getting my suitcase closed.”

Breadon told the Post-Dispatch, “Barrett is not a star, but he’s an earnest, conscientious pitcher who will strive always for the best interests of his club.”

Barrett was almost as well-known as a singer as he was a pitcher. He sang a role in the opera “Narcissus” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He toured with bands during the off-season. “There is scarcely a big jazz band in the country that I haven’t sung with,” Barrett said. “Sammy Kaye. Tommy Dorsey. Skinny Ennis and the rest of them.”

No one expected Barrett would be the equal of Cooper. His career record in seven seasons with the Reds and Braves was 16-37.

Inserted into the rotation, Barrett produced a 21-9 record and 2.74 ERA for the 1945 Cardinals. Cooper was 7-4 with a 3.35 ERA for the 1945 Braves.

Final years

The 1945 Cardinals finished in second place at 95-59, three games behind the Cubs. The Braves finished sixth in the eight-team league at 67-85, 30 games behind Chicago.

With Breadon’s approval, Southworth left the Cardinals after the 1945 season and accepted an offer to manage the Braves. His replacement, Eddie Dyer, preferred using Barrett in relief and giving him spot starts. Barrett was 3-2 for the 1946 Cardinals. After the season, he was sent back to the Braves and pitched three more years for them.

Under Southworth, Cooper was 13-11 with a 3.12 ERA for the 1946 Braves. It was his last hurrah. In 1947, Cooper was a combined 3-10 with a 5.40 ERA for the Braves and Giants.

Previously: How Mort Cooper pitched 2 straight one-hitters for Cardinals

Posted in Executives, Pitchers, Trades | 2 Comments »

An amazing performance by Dazzy Vance vs. Cardinals

May 20, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated Feb. 4, 2023)

Combining an effective hitting stroke with a strikeout pitch that dazzled a lineup stacked with fellow future Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby, Jim Bottomley and Chick Hafey, Dazzy Vance gave one of the best individual performances all-time against the Cardinals.

On July 20, 1925, Vance, 34, struck out 17 and produced three RBI, including the walkoff hit in the 10th, carrying Brooklyn to a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals at Ebbets Field.

The New York Daily News called it an “epoch-making performance” from a “smokeball artist.”

Ninety years later, on May 13, 2015, Corey Kluber, 29, struck out 18 in eight innings, lifting the Indians to a 2-0 victory over the Cardinals at Cleveland. Boxscore

Kluber’s strikeouts are the most by one pitcher against the Cardinals, topping the mark held by Vance.

Whiff wiz

A right-hander, Vance didn’t get his first big-league win until he was 31 in 1922.

He was named winner of the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1924 when he was 28-6 for Brooklyn and led the league in wins, ERA (2.16), strikeouts (262) and complete games (30).

Mixing a fastball with a curve, Vance led the NL in strikeouts with Brooklyn for seven consecutive years (1922-28). His 17 against St. Louis represented his single-game high in 16 big-league seasons.

Vance struck out every player in the Cardinals lineup that day except shortstop Specs Toporcer, who got his nickname because he wore eyeglasses.

Hornsby and Bottomley each struck out three times, tying career highs. Hafey struck out once.

“The Cardinals “punched yawning gaps in the atmosphere trying to connect with the Dazzler’s fast ones,” the New York Daily News reported.

Unlike Kluber, who held the 2015 Cardinals to one hit, Vance wasn’t untouchable against the 1925 Cardinals. He yielded nine hits and walked six. Vance used his bat as well as his strikeout pitches to put himself in position to win.

Power hitter

After Les Bell reached Vance for a two-run single in the fourth, breaking a scoreless tie, Vance responded with a two-run home run the next inning.

Vance hit .143 in 1925 and .150 for his big-league career. Most of his hits came against off-speed pitches. Known for his wit, Vance explained his approach to hitting in the 1976 book “The Gashouse Gang” by Robert Hood:

“I was a slow-ball hitter,” Vance said. “I found that out years ago when I was a boy on a farm. We were plagued with rats, so we got a ferret and shoved him down a hole. I stood at another hole with a baseball bat. When a rat ran out, I swung and missed. Another came and I swung and missed. I must have missed half a dozen.

“Then out came this fellow nice and slow and I clouted him good. Unfortunately, it was the ferret. From then on, I knew I was a slow-ball hitter.”

Walkoff winner

In the eighth, with Hornsby on first, one out and the score still tied at 2-2, Vance struck out Bottomley and Hafey. Then Vance singled leading off the bottom half of the inning and Brooklyn got the go-ahead run on Milt Stock’s RBI-double.

The Cardinals tied the score at 3-3 in the ninth when Toporcer tripled and Bell singled for his third RBI of the game.

After nine innings, Vance had struck out 15, tying his career high. Rube Waddell of the 1908 Browns had established the big-league record for strikeouts in nine innings with 16 against the Athletics.

In the 10th, Vance struck out Hornsby and Bottomley, giving him his total of 17.

“The great Rogers Hornsby was practically helpless before Dazzy’s speed,” according to the New York Daily News.

In addition to the fastball, Vance “had a sharp-breaking curve that was amazing,” the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported. “The funny thing was that Vance was reported to have an arm which was still blue from the rupturing of a blood vessel in his four disastrous innings against Pittsburgh last Thursday. On Sunday his arm was still red and angry-looking from the use of secrets from Doc Hart’s medicine chest.”

After catcher Hank DeBerry led off the bottom of the 10th with a double and was lifted for pinch-runner Johnny Mitchell, Vance followed with a single, scoring Mitchell with the winning run. Boxscore

Vance finished the 1925 season with a 22-9 record and 221 strikeouts in 265.1 innings.

He pitched for the Cardinals in 1933 and 1934, giving St. Louis a tandem of Dazzy and Dizzy (Dean). Vance appeared in his lone World Series in 1934 for St. Louis against the Tigers. His career record is 197-140 (190 wins for Brooklyn and seven for St. Louis) with 2,045 strikeouts.

He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.

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Why Cardinals traded Lonnie Smith for John Morris

May 17, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated June 12, 2024)

With Vince Coleman offering a younger, less expensive and more productive alternative as a left fielder, the Cardinals deemed Lonnie Smith expendable.

On May 17, 1985, the Cardinals dealt Smith to the Royals for John Morris, a minor-league outfielder.

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog told a Kansas City reporter seeking a comment about the trade, “You’ve just won the damn pennant.”

Five months later, Smith played an integral role in the Royals defeating the Cardinals in seven games in the 1985 World Series.

St. Louis sparkplug

In four seasons with the Cardinals, Smith hit .292 with 173 steals and a .371 on-base percentage.

In 1982, his first season with the Cardinals, Smith ignited the offense, hitting .307, scoring 120 runs and stealing 68 bases. In the 1982 World Series, Smith hit .321 with six runs scored, helping the Cardinals beat the Brewers in seven games.

Smith underwent rehabilitation for drug abuse in 1983, missing about a month of the season, but hit .321 with 43 steals. In 1984, his batting average was .250.

Smith opened the 1985 season as the Cardinals’ left fielder, joining Willie McGee in center and Andy Van Slyke in right. When McGee was sidelined by an injury in April, the Cardinals promoted Coleman from Class AAA Louisville. The rookie speedster established himself as a force, hitting .300 with 12 steals in his first dozen games. When McGee returned to the lineup, Smith was odd man out.

“If the National League had a designated hitter, he would have died a Cardinal,” Herzog told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Royals come calling

The Royals were among several clubs that expressed interest in Smith, Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill said. According to the Post-Dispatch, Royals general manager John Schuerholz contacted Maxvill, who asked for Morris. “John Morris is the top prospect in their organization,” Maxvill said. “We’ve checked with tons of people to find out about the young man. All reports were excellent.”

Morris, 24, was the first-round choice of the Royals in the 1982 amateur draft. In 1983, he was named winner of the Southern League Most Valuable Player Award, hitting .288 with 23 home runs and 92 RBI for Jacksonville.

On May 13, 1985, four days before the trade was made, the New York Daily News reported a deal was in the works. Morris got a phone call from his mother, who informed him of the newspaper report. Stunned, Morris called Schuerholz and asked him about it.

According to Morris’ book “Bullet Bob Comes to Louisville,” Schuerholz told him, “The news about you being traded is strictly a rumor created by the St. Louis media. You have nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine.”

Hurt feelings

On the day of the trade, Morris was with the Omaha club in Buffalo when he got a call from Schuerholz. According to Morris’ book, the conversation went like this:

Schuerholz: “John, we just made a trade. You’ve been dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for Lonnie Smith. I know we discussed this the other day, but at the time I couldn’t give you any information.”

Morris: “So, you knew all along that I was going to be traded. I think it’s unfortunate that I had to find out from my mom, who just happened to stumble upon it in the newspaper.”

Schuerholz: “You’re going to a first-class organization and we know you will do well with the Cardinals … Whitey Herzog is a great manager who thinks the world of you. He even told me that himself in spring training.”

Smith was upset about being traded and told the Post-Dispatch, “I had thought about quitting very seriously.”

Smith also said to Cardinals Magazine, “I didn’t want to leave St. Louis.”

Some Cardinals said they thought the club should have gotten more in return for Smith. Cardinals pitcher John Tudor said to the Post-Dispatch, “I think the deal stinks. I don’t think it helps the club … Lonnie always had a lot of spark, he was aggressive, he’d run into a wall for you if that was going to win you a game. I’m sorry to see him go.”

Said Van Slyke: “I wonder why we couldn’t get a pitcher in return?”

Maxvill told The Sporting News he expected to be criticized for trading Smith. “People are going to say that it’s a matter of economics, that the Cardinals don’t want to pay the salaries,” Maxvill said.

Coleman, 23, had a $60,000 salary. Smith, 29, was getting $850,000.

Cardinals management said playing time was a factor, too.

“We didn’t plan on Lonnie playing that much … I don’t think he would be satisfied as a utility player,” said Maxvill.

Herzog said, “I would venture to say there’s never been a better defensive outfield than Van Slyke, McGee and Vince.”

Royals benefit

The Cardinals assigned Morris to Class AAA Louisville. Smith became the Royals’ left fielder.

“Lonnie Smith adds the element of speed and run production to our lineup,” said Schuerholz. “When you start your lineup with Willie Wilson, Lonnie Smith and George Brett, it can be very exciting.”

Regarding Smith’s drug history, Royals manager Dick Howser told United Press International, “Our indications are _ and we’ve checked it out _ he’s very good. He’s done what he’s had to do. We feel comfortable with the fact he’s clean.”

Smith told the Post-Dispatch, “My doctor, my counselor and my wife know I’m clean … Knowing that I’m clean, I can deal with my problems a lot easier.”

(In his book “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said of Smith’s drug problem, “I admired him, and still do, for having the guts to ask for help.”)

Smith hit .257 with 40 steals for the 1985 Royals. In the World Series versus the Cardinals, he batted .333 with four runs scored, four RBI and two steals.

Morris played five seasons (1986-90) with the Cardinals, hitting .247.

Posted in Hitters, Trades | 2 Comments »

How Troy Percival revived his career with Cardinals

May 14, 2015 by retrosimba

Earning wins in his first two appearances for the Cardinals, Troy Percival went from being perceived as a risk to being viewed as a valuable reliever.

A closer with the Angels and Tigers, Percival sat out the 2006 season because of persistent arm ailments.

In 2007, Percival, 37, found he was able to throw effectively again. He was in contact with several former Angels teammates who had become Cardinals and they put in a good word for him. Percival threw for the Cardinals during a workout and impressed. The Cardinals signed him on June 8, 2007, and sent him to their minor-league Memphis club to get into game condition.

Percival posted a 1.35 ERA in six appearances for Memphis and was called up by St. Louis before a weekend series against the Reds at Cincinnati.

In his Cardinals debut, on June 29, 2007, Percival earned a win with a flawless inning of relief in the Cardinals’ 4-2 victory over the Reds.

“It’s a dream come true,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said to the Associated Press. “He gets three outs and gets the winning decision. That’s movie material.”

Said Percival: “I didn’t come back for myself. A lot of friends on this team called me and said they needed pitching help. My arm felt good enough to do it.” Boxscore

Two days later, on July 1, Percival made his second Cardinals appearance. With the Cardinals ahead, 8-5, in the fourth, Percival relieved starter Mike Maroth with two runners on base and no outs. Percival got out of the mess by retiring all three batters he faced without allowing either base runner to advance. The Cardinals won, 11-7, and Percival was credited with the win in a scorer’s decision for his successful rescue effort in the fourth. Boxscore

Percival contributed a 3-0 record and 1.80 ERA in 34 appearances for the 2007 Cardinals. Granted free agency after the season, he signed with the Rays and finished his career with them in 2009.

Previously: The story of how the Cardinals acquired Lee Smith

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T.J. Mathews and his last hurrah with Cardinals

May 11, 2015 by retrosimba

Rescued from the minors and given the chance for a final fling with the franchise he rooted for as a boy in Illinois, T.J. Mathews delivered his longest and most impressive big-league performance for the Cardinals.

On Sept. 9, 2001, Mathews pitched 4.1 flawless innings of relief for the Cardinals and got the win in an 8-1 St. Louis victory over the Dodgers at Busch Memorial Stadium. Mathews retired all 13 batters he faced, striking out five.

Baseball pedigree

Mathews, a Belleville, Ill., native, grew up as a Cardinals fan. His father, Nelson Mathews, had been an outfielder with the Cubs and Athletics in the 1960s. In 1992, T.J. Mathews was selected in the 36th round of the amateur draft by the Cardinals.

A right-hander, Mathews debuted with the Cardinals in 1995 and pitched effectively for them in relief. On July 31, 1997, Mathews was one of three players traded by the Cardinals to the Athletics for first baseman Mark McGwire.

Four years later, on June 22, 2001, Mathews, 31, was released by the Athletics. The Cardinals signed him two weeks later. After three appearances for St. Louis, Mathews was sent to Class AAA Memphis. In September, when the minor league seasons ended and big-league rosters expanded, the Cardinals brought him back.

Postseason quest

On Sept. 9, 2001, the Cardinals entered the day tied for second place with the Cubs in the National League Central Division at 77-64, 5.5 games behind the Astros. With 21 games remaining, the Cardinals needed a strong finish to have a chance at earning a postseason berth as either division champion or the wild-card entry.

Matt Morris, seeking his 20th win, was the Cardinals’ starter that Sunday afternoon against the Dodgers. After an inning, the game was halted by rain. The delay lasted two hours and four minutes.

Morris wanted to continue. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, concerned the long delay could hamper Morris’ ability to properly loosen his arm, sent Luther Hackman to pitch the second.

“That was a real tough decision,” La Russa said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Said Morris: “When they make a decision that benefits your future, you can’t really complain.”

Hackman pitched a scoreless second. In the third, with the Cardinals ahead, 2-0, Hackman lost command. With one on and two outs, he walked three consecutive batters, forcing in a run and enabling the Dodgers to get within a run, 2-1.

La Russa lifted Hackman and brought in Mathews to face Adrian Beltre with the bases loaded. Mathews got Beltre to fly out, ending the threat.

Untouchable

Mathews retired the Dodgers in order in the fourth through seventh innings. He was lifted for a pinch hitter with the Cardinals ahead, 7-1. Mike James and Mike Timlin mopped up, pitching an inning apiece. Boxscore

Mathews got the win, the last of his 32 in an eight-year major-league career. The win also was his first since 2000 with the Athletics and his first as a Cardinal since 1997.

“He’s hard (for batters) to pick up,” said Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny. “Even catching him is tough. The ball comes right out of his jersey. His release point is kind of funny.”

Said Mathews: “Somebody had to go out and give us some innings. I thought maybe I’d go three at the most. After that third one, I thought, ‘Aw, what the heck.’

“I haven’t thrown that much since I was in the starting rotation in (Class AAA) Louisville in ’95. I wasn’t tired. When you get outs early, you can stay out there a little bit longer.”

Said La Russa to the Associated Press: “It’s kind of hard to believe he could throw that many pitches and keep his effectiveness.”

The win by Mathews sparked a stretch in which the Cardinals won 16 of their last 21 games, tying the Astros for first place in the NL Central at 93-69 and qualifying for the postseason as the wild-card entry.

Mathews became a free agent after the season and signed with the Astros. His 2002 season with Houston would be his last in the big leagues.

Previously: Deal for Woody Williams sparked 2001 Cardinals

Previously: Matt Morris close to perfect at home in 2001

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