RetroSimba

Trade for Jack Clark shook Cardinals from their slumber

January 30, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated June 12, 2024)

In a deal that triggered their transformation into champions, the 1985 Cardinals got a sleeping giant to wake up their offense.

On Feb. 1, 1985, the Cardinals acquired Jack Clark from the Giants for Dave LaPoint, David Green, Jose Uribe and Gary Rajsich.

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog saw Clark as the answer for an offense that lacked consistent power. “I’m getting a sleeping giant who immediately fits right into our picture a lot better,” Herzog said to The Sporting News.

Clark, 29, was a proven run producer, but he missed three months of the 1984 season because of right knee surgery. He also developed a reputation as a malcontent.

Asked about his image, Clark told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I give my best effort on and off the field. I don’t act crazy. I’m a real straight shooter. Some people like that and some people don’t.”

Green, 24, was a prized prospect, but personal problems led to him being admitted to a treatment center in 1984.

“You’re really gambling on his potential,” Herzog said. “Of all the players I’ve had the opportunity to manage, David Green has more ability than anyone as far as hitting, hitting with power, speed and throwing arm. (Garry) Templeton and George Brett are in that category, but Green has more power than either, he runs better than either and he throws better than George (Brett).”

Prime target

After the Cardinals traded their top run producer, George Hendrick, to the Pirates in a December 1984 deal that brought them pitcher John Tudor, Herzog sought a replacement for the heart of the batting order. Clark was a prime target.

“It all happened rather quickly,” Giants general manager Tom Haller said. “The Cardinals instigated talks about Clark and we threw some names at him.”

In his book “The White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said, “I’d always wondered what it would be like to write his name down on my lineup card. We went after Jack Clark hammer and tong in the winter of 1984-85.

“With Hendrick gone, we stepped up the campaign for Clark, the same kind of hitter George had been, only better. We knew he was unhappy in San Francisco, playing in that disgraceful ballpark of theirs (Candlestick Park). The Giants were down on him because he was unhappy there.”

Let’s make a deal

The trade initially called for the Cardinals to receive Clark and minor-league pitcher Colin Ward. Talks hit a snag when it was discovered Clark had several financial incentives in his contract, including a clause stating Clark would be given a $250,000 payment if he joined another team in 1987.

When Giants owner Bob Lurie agreed to compensate the Cardinals with $125,000, Ward was dropped from the deal and the transaction was completed.

“I’ll be playing somewhere I can be more productive and it will be more fun coming to the park every day,” Clark said to columnist Stan Isle. “You don’t develop good work habits at Candlestick Park. You can’t always do what you want to do out there, like trying to hit Nolan Ryan with dust blowing in your eyes.”

Said Herzog to the Associated Press: “Jack Clark puts us in the situation of definite contenders again. Here’s a guy who can win a ballgame with one swing of the bat. He’s the only player in the league besides (Mike) Schmidt who could hit 20 homers a year playing in our park.”

Said Lurie to columnist Art Spander, “Nobody in the organization was anxious to trade Jack Clark … but we need players; we need starting pitchers. We’re supposed to be getting some top prospects.”

Upper hand

The deal was lopsided in favor of the Cardinals.

The Giants, who had finished in last place in the National League West at 66-96 in 1984, did even worse after the trade, finishing last again at 62-100 in 1985.

Green, primarily playing first base, hit .248 with 20 RBI in 106 games in 1985.

Uribe, who had played for the 1984 Cardinals under the name Jose Gonzalez, was the everyday shortstop for the 1985 Giants. He hit .237 and committed 26 errors.

Rajsich hit .165 as a utility player. LaPoint was 7-17 with a 3.57 ERA in 31 starts.

Clark connects

The Cardinals, who had finished in third place in the NL East at 84-78 in 1984, won the division title at 101-61 in 1985. Sparked by the additions of Clark and rookie left fielder Vince Coleman, the Cardinals, who scored 652 runs in 1984, scored a league-leading 747 runs in 1985.

Clark, primarily playing first base, had a .393 on-base percentage and .502 slugging percentage for the 1985 Cardinals. He had 26 doubles, 22 home runs, 83 walks and 87 RBI. Clark hit the game-winning home run that clinched the pennant for St. Louis in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series versus the Dodgers.

In the book “You’re Missin’ a Great Game,” Herzog said, “Jack Clark could pull a bullet … I could be blindfolded and tell when Jack was taking (batting practice). He was the only guy I had who didn’t sound like he was hitting underwater … The man’s power scared people, kept the defenses honest and kept our jackrabbits circling the bases.”

In three seasons with the Cardinals, Clark had a .413 on-base percentage and a .522 slugging percentage, powering St. Louis to two pennants.

Herzog “was the best manager I ever played for, and he was the best manager I ever played against,” Clark told Cardinals Magazine. “Whitey was the X factor that gave his team an opportunity, or the right matchup, and put his players in position to succeed.”

Posted in Hitters, Opponents, Trades | 1 Comment »

Ernie Banks and his greatest hits against Cardinals

January 27, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated April 28, 2025)

Whether facing a journeyman such as Barney Schultz or future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton, Cubs icon Ernie Banks produced some of his best performances against Cardinals pitching.

Banks began his pro career with the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs, who signed him on the recommendation of St. Louis resident and former standout player Cool Papa Bell. The Cubs acquired Banks in September 1953.

In a 19-year playing career with the Cubs, Banks had 512 home runs, 1,636 RBI and 2,583 hits. Against the Cardinals, Banks totaled 326 hits in 324 games, including 64 home runs.

“One thing fans never really knew about Ernie is he talked all the time,” teammate George Altman said in his autobiography. “He talked to opposing hitters when they reached first base. He talked to our infielders. He talked to us on the bench.”

All of that talking became too much for Cardinals ace Bob Gibson.

“Ernie Banks was a good example of a guy whom I probably would have enjoyed quite a bit if he had been on my side _ I don’t doubt that he was as nice a guy as everybody said _ but as it was he talked too damn much,” Gibson said in his book “Stranger to the Game.”

“He was always jabbering at me a day or two before I pitched against the Cubs, trying to get me off my game. One day … he came by during batting practice and said, ‘Hoot, you pitching tomorrow? We’re going to beat you. We’re going to beat your ass tomorrow.’ I said, ‘Ernie, you’d better leave me alone.’ It wasn’t in his nature to do that, though, and the next day I answered him.”

Gibson drilled Banks in the ribs with a pitch. “He didn’t have much to say to me after that,” Gibson said.

That day, July 18, 1962, Gibson struck out Banks three times and held the Cubs to three hits in a 2-1 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

Banks had a career batting mark of .229 (24-for-105) against Gibson with three home runs and 13 RBI.

Some of Banks’ most memorable games versus the Cardinals:

Communication breakdown

Banks hit two home runs on April 16, 1955, but the Cardinals won, 12-11, in 14 innings at St. Louis.

In the second inning, Randy Jackson, Banks and Dee Fondy hit consecutive home runs off Tom Poholsky.

With the score at 9-9 in the 12th, Banks and Fondy connected for back-to-back homers off Schultz. The Cardinals tied the score in the bottom half of the inning on Wally Moon’s two-run homer with two outs off Bubba Church.

A misplay involving Banks ignited the winning rally in the 14th. Bill Sarni lifted a fly to short left. Banks, the shortstop, and left fielder Hank Sauer miscommunicated and the ball dropped in for a double. Moon followed with a single, scoring Sarni. Boxscore

Slugging shortstop

Three months later, on July 8, 1955, Banks again homered twice against the Cardinals, and the Cubs won, 6-4, in 11 innings.

Banks hit a solo home run off Floyd Wooldridge in the first. In the 11th, Banks broke a 4-4 tie with a two-run homer off Gordon Jones. Boxscore

The home runs gave Banks a season total of 23, most for a shortstop in one year since Glenn Wright slugged 22 for the 1930 Dodgers.

In a five-game stretch against St. Louis in July 1955, Banks hit .550 (10-for-18).

Perfect at plate

Banks produced five hits in a game for the only time in his major-league career on Sept. 29, 1957, against the Cardinals. He was 5-for-5 with a career-best three doubles and two singles in an 8-3 Cubs victory in the season finale. Boxscore

Lucky seven

Banks tied a career high with seven RBI against the Cardinals at St. Louis on May 1, 1963. Banks hit a pair of three-run home runs _ in the first inning off Ray Sadecki and in the seventh off Harry Fanok _ and added an RBI-single in the eighth. The Cubs won, 13-8. Boxscore

Fit to be tied

Ten years after his 12th-inning home run off Schultz, Banks hit another dramatic shot against the Cardinals knuckleball pitcher.

On April 12, 1965, in the season opener at Chicago, the Cardinals carried a 9-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and none on, Tracy Stallard walked Ron Santo and Altman followed with a single.

Red Schoendienst, in his debut as manager, replaced Stallard with Schultz. Banks powered a three-run homer “into the teeth of a 20 mph wind,” according to the Associated Press, tying the score at 9-9.

After each team scored in the 11th, the game was ended because of darkness and declared a tie, with all statistics counting. Boxscore

“Stallard pitched like a son of a gun,” said Schoendienst, “but when Altman got that good, solid hit I … decided to take him out. Why not? Schultz was warmed up and nobody has touched him for anything in the spring games.”

Last hurrah

At 39, Banks hit a pair of two-run home runs off Carlton _ the first giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead in the sixth and the second snapping a 4-4 tie in the eighth _ but the Cardinals rallied and won, 8-6, at St. Louis on June 29, 1970.

The home runs were the 506th and 507th of Banks’ career and were the last he would hit against Cardinals pitching. Boxscore

Composer Burt Bacharach, Banks’ self-described No. 1 fan, was in St. Louis for a concert and was greeted by Banks outside the clubhouse after the game.

“You were making beautiful music out there,” Bacharach said to Banks.

Banks played against the Cardinals for the final time on Sept. 10, 1971, when he grounded out as a pinch-hitter against Don Shaw at Wrigley Field. Boxscore

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Why 1940 was year Cardinals saw the light

January 22, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated May 24, 2019)

The first night home game for the Cardinals had two unintended consequences: It prompted the dismissal of their manager and led to a ban on serving beverages in glass bottles.

On Jan. 31, 1940, the National League Cardinals and the American League Browns agreed to share the $150,000 cost to install lights at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

Stupp Brothers Bridge and Iron Company of St. Louis was hired to do the structural work and Westinghouse Electrical Supply Company was given the job of putting in the reflectors and floodlights on eight steel towers.

“It will require electrical energy totaling 1,176,000 watts per hour, not including lighting in the stands, to turn night into day at the historic old Grand Boulevard establishment,” The Sporting News reported. “This, it is said, would be sufficient juice to take care of the lighting needs of a city of 25,000 persons.”

The Browns got the honor of playing the first night game in St. Louis on May 24, 1940, against the Indians. Before 24,827 spectators on a Friday night, Bob Feller pitched a seven-hitter, struck out nine and hit his first big-league home run, leading the Indians to a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

“Baseball under the floodlights has made its bow at Sportsman’s Park and everybody is very happy about it,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. “The barber and the butcher and the man who works in an office or factory are very pleased to know night baseball.”

Most everyone praised the brightness of the lights and the Post-Dispatch noted, “The lights’ reflection in the sky was visible for many blocks from the park and residents as far as four blocks away said it would be an easy matter for them to play cards in their backyards.”

Eleven nights later, the Cardinals got their first chance to play under the lights at home.

Dark times

On June 4, 1940, 23,500 spectators turned out on a Tuesday night to see the Cardinals open a series against the Dodgers. The Cardinals had a 14-22 record and owner Sam Breadon was becoming increasingly impatient with manager Ray Blades.

Seeking a sharp, winning performance before the large crowd in the club’s first night home game, Breadon saw just the opposite. The Dodgers scored five in the first against Mort Cooper.

As the Dodgers continued to add to the lead, “pop bottles thrown from the bleachers littered the outfield,” The Sporting News reported, “partly because the Dodgers rattled long drives off the wall and partly because of (inconsistent) umpiring.”

According to the St. Louis Star-Times, “debris of all kinds filtered from the stands” and “the barrage continued for almost three minutes before a squadron of police detailed to the park appeared and stopped the tossing.”

The grounds crew picked up “several hundred bottles _ 10 bushel baskets full,” the Star-Times reported.

Though Cardinals cleanup batter Joe Medwick went 5-for-5 with three doubles, the Cardinals stranded 14 and the Dodgers won, 10-1, behind Vito Tamulis, who scattered 11 hits. Boxscore

Changing times

Disheartened by the debacle, Breadon made up his mind to fire Blades, The Sporting News reported. The announcement of Blades’ firing came three days later, surprising general manager Branch Rickey, who hadn’t been informed by Breadon of the decision. Billy Southworth, managing the Cardinals’ minor-league club at Rochester, was Breadon’s choice to replace Blades.

Breadon also announced the Cardinals would use paper cups instead of bottles for serving cold drinks in the Sportsman’s Park bleachers.

The 1940 Cardinals played seven home night games, winning three.

Their first home night win occurred on a Tuesday, July 2, 1940, when Bill McGee pitched a seven-hit shutout and contributed a two-run single, beating the Reds, 4-0, before 14,944. Boxscore

A look at the Cardinals’ other five night home games in 1940:

_ Harry Danning had three hits, including two doubles, and a RBI for the Giants in an 8-6, 11-inning victory on Thursday night July 11 before 10,363. Boxscore

_ Hugh Mulcahy pitched a five-hit shutout in a 3-0 Phillies win on Wednesday night July 17 before 7,113. Boxscore

_ Joe Orengo tied the score with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth and the Cardinals got a run in the 11th to beat the Pirates, 7-6, on Wednesday night Aug. 14 before 11,077. Boxscore

_ Al Glossop had two RBI and rookie Nick Strincevich pitched a five-hitter, leading the Braves to a 3-1 triumph on Monday night Aug. 26 before 8,472. Boxscore

_ Johnny Mize and Marty Marion each had two RBI, lifting the Cardinals to a 4-2 win over the Cubs on Wednesday night Sept. 4 before 16,197. Boxscore

Previously: Rift with Branch Rickey led Cards to oust Frankie Frisch

Posted in Executives, Games | Leave a Comment »

How Navy hitch made Stan Musial a better ballplayer

January 19, 2015 by retrosimba

Joining the Navy helped Stan Musial boost his baseball career with the Cardinals.

On Jan. 22, 1945, seven months after passing his Navy physical, Musial, 24, was inducted and sent to the United States Naval Training Center at Bainbridge, Md.

“I was really relieved to go into service when my draft board finally called in January 1945,” Musial said in his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story.”

Musial had helped the Cardinals win three consecutive National League pennants and two World Series championships during the World War II years 1942 through 1944.

In a January 1945 edition, The Sporting News wrote of Musial, “The Cardinals consider themselves lucky that the young clouter was permitted to remain with the club through three war seasons. Sam Breadon (owner of the Cardinals) was reconciled to losing Musial last winter.”

While receiving his naval training at the Bainbridge facility near the banks of the Susquehanna River, Musial also played for its baseball team.

Though he was a two-time National League all-star, a NL batting champion (.357 in 1943) and a NL Most Valuable Player Award winner (1943), Musial learned two important baseball skills at Bainbridge.

Serious about first

Musial had played all three outfield positions for the Cardinals. At Bainbridge, the athletic officer, Lt. Jerry O’Brien, instructed Musial to play first base.

“I was amused,” said Musial. “O’Brien was not.”

Said O’Brien to Musial: “You’re terrible.”

Stung by the criticism, Musial worked on becoming an adept first baseman. The effort paid off for him and the Cardinals. Musial would play 1,016 games at first base for St. Louis, extending his career and helping the club.

Pull with power

The other skill Musial learned at Bainbridge was how to pull pitches with power.

“Service personnel wanted to see the home run,” said Musial. “So to pull more often, to hit the long ball, I altered my batting stance a bit. I moved up closer to the plate. This proved to be an important step in my evolution as a hitter.”

Before joining the Navy, Musial’s single-season high in home runs for the Cardinals was 13 in 1943. In 1948, he hit a career-high 39 home runs, starting a streak of slugging 20 or more for 10 consecutive seasons.

Popular with the other Navy recruits at Bainbridge, Musial “autographed the inside of the white sailor caps of many of his fellow boots, by insistent request,” The Sporting News reported.

No Musial, no title

Musial was one of three regulars from the 1944 World Series championship team who went into military service in 1945. Musial and outfielder Danny Litwhiler missed the entire 1945 season. Catcher Walker Cooper missed all but four games.

Johnny Hopp, the Cardinals’ center fielder in 1944, moved to right field to replace Musial in 1945. The Cardinals reacquired Buster Adams from the Phillies to take over for Hopp in center. Rookie Red Schoendienst, a natural infielder, replaced Litwhiler as left fielder. Backup Ken O’Dea took over the catching for Cooper.

“I still think the Cards have enough pitching to finish first,” Musial said in April 1945. “That’s the big thing that will win it, the pitching _ and that great boy (Marty) Marion at short.”

Pie Traynor, a Pittsburgh radio commentator after a Hall of Fame playing career for the Pirates, predicted the 1945 Cardinals wouldn’t overcome the loss of Musial. “Few realize the real greatness of Stan,” Traynor said. “He is a natural hustler, he is on the bases continually and he is one of the best base runners in the game.”

The 1945 Cardinals earned 95 wins, but finished in second place, three games behind the Cubs, who won eight of their last 10.

Repair work

Musial completed his training at Bainbridge on April 9, 1945, and was assigned to the ship repair unit at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

“I never did learn how to repair ships,” Musial said.

In the fall of 1945, Musial requested a leave to visit his ailing father in Pennsylvania. The request eventually was granted and he got there after Christmas. At the end of his leave, in January 1946, Musial was assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

“I was listed among ship repairmen assigned to dismantle a British destroyer,” Musial said. “The day before I was scheduled to work, I walked over to watch men already at work, wearing goggles and heavy gloves and carrying blow torches. I realized a green pea like me could wind up maiming himself or someone else.”

Musial asked an officer, “Sir, I’m a ship repairman who never has repaired a ship. For my sake and the Navy’s, can’t you please have my orders changed?”

The officer agreed. Two months later, in March 1946, Musial was discharged at Bainbridge. After taking a train to Philadelphia, Musial and two colleagues hitchhiked together to their homes in Pennsylvania. After a week at home in Donora, Musial reported to Cardinals spring training camp and played the entire 1946 season, helping them to their third World Series crown in five years.

Previously: How a B-17 nearly clipped Cardinals in World Series

Posted in Hitters | Leave a Comment »

Gerald Perry and his controversial homer off Pedro Martinez

January 14, 2015 by retrosimba

For Cardinals pinch-hitter Gerald Perry, a controversial feat against a future ace salvaged an afternoon that began with a gaffe.

On April 13, 1993, Perry hit the first big-league home run yielded by Pedro Martinez, then a Dodgers rookie.

Twenty-two years later, on Jan. 6, 2015, Martinez was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. In 18 seasons with the Dodgers, Expos, Red Sox, Mets and Phillies, Martinez produced a 219-100 record and 2.93 ERA with 3,154 strikeouts.

In 1993, Martinez was 21, a relief pitcher in his first full big-league season with the Dodgers.

Perry, 32, was an 11-year big-league veteran, an established professional, but he made a rookie mistake.

Room service, please

Perry thought the Cardinals and Dodgers were playing a night game at Los Angeles. Instead, it was a rare weekday afternoon starting time because the game was the Dodgers’ home opener.

According to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Perry “was resting at the Century Plaza Hotel, having room service and watching a movie (“The Bodyguard”) on television” when he got a call from Cardinals equipment manager Buddy Bates, informing him he was about 90 minutes late.

Perry took a cab to Dodger Stadium and arrived in the clubhouse about 45 minutes before the start of the game. “I was very embarrassed walking in,” Perry said.

The Dodgers led, 7-5, after six innings. Martinez, the Dodgers’ third pitcher of the game, had held St. Louis scoreless in the fifth and sixth. The right-hander was making his second appearance of the season and his fourth overall in the big leagues.

In the seventh, the Cardinals had two runners on base with two outs when manager Joe Torre called on Perry, a left-handed batter, to pinch-hit for reliever Les Lancaster.

Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers’ manager, stuck with Martinez.

Trouble if it’s fair

Perry swung at a high changeup and lined a deep drive down the right-field line.

As the ball carried toward the foul pole, Darryl Strawberry, the 6-foot-6 right fielder, “leaned over the waist-high wall” and reached for the ball, Hummel reported.

On KMOX radio, Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon told his audience, “Swing and a long one down the right-field line. It’s trouble if it stays fair … Well, we can’t tell.”

A fan with a glove caught the ball.

It landed just inside the foul line _ a three-run home run, giving the Cardinals an 8-7 lead.

Strawberry claimed the fan interfered.

“I would have had it,” said Strawberry. “I had it all the way. He just took it away.”

An inning after the home run, ushers escorted the fan from his seat. “Perhaps for his own safety,” Hummel wrote.

Cardinals catcher Hector Villanueva, who was in the bullpen, witnessed the fan being harassed by fellow spectators. “They were throwing stuff at him,” Villanueva said.

After viewing a video replay of Perry’s home run, Cardinals catcher Tom Pagnozzi opined, “There’s no way Strawberry would have caught that ball because the ball was already by him. What’s he whining about?”

Said Perry to the Orange County Register: “I was hoping and praying (Strawberry) wouldn’t catch it. Thanks to the fan, too.”

Martinez was lifted after completing the seventh. In the ninth, Pagnozzi hit a solo home run off Ricky Trlicek, extending the St. Louis lead to 9-7, and Lee Smith shut down the Dodgers in their half of the inning, earning his 358th save, then a major league record. Boxscore

When Perry got back to the clubhouse, he found a sign, created by his teammates, taped over his locker that informed him of the next Cardinals-Dodgers game. It read: “Night game, Rookie.”

Redbirds vs. Pedro

Martinez took the loss. Against the Cardinals in his career, he would finish 4-4 with a 3.62 ERA in 16 regular-season appearances, including 11 starts. He also earned a win against them with seven shutout innings in Game 3 of the 2004 World Series. Boxscore

Martinez gave up 10 career home runs versus the Cardinals. Six of those 10 occurred in three games.

_ John Mabry and Gary Gaetti connected for home runs against Martinez on July 28, 1996, in a 6-4 Cardinals victory over the Expos at St. Louis. Boxscore

_ Mark Grudzielanek and Abraham Nunez homered for the Cardinals against Martinez in a 7-6 St. Louis victory over the Mets on May 14, 2005, at New York. Boxscore

_ Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel hit home runs off Martinez in an 8-7 Cardinals triumph over the Mets at St. Louis on July 2, 2008. Boxscore

Previously: How Joe Girardi became a member of Cardinals’ family

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | 1 Comment »

Cardinals gave John Smoltz a chance to exit on high note

January 12, 2015 by retrosimba

(Updated Aug. 23, 2018)

In a last hurrah to a stellar career, John Smoltz got one win for the Cardinals and it was a gem.

On Jan. 6, 2015, Smoltz was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. The right-hander is the only big-league pitcher with 200 wins and 150 saves. He also earned 15 postseason wins: seven in the National League Division Series, six in the NL Championship Series and two in the World Series.

If not for the opportunity given to him by the Cardinals, Smoltz would have had a sour ending to his career.

Saved by St. Louis

Smoltz pitched for the Braves from 1988 through 2008. He made his last appearance for them on June 2, 2008, before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery.

A free agent, Smoltz signed with the Red Sox in 2009, but he was a flop, posting a 2-5 record and a 8.32 ERA in eight starts.

On Aug. 7, 2009, the Red Sox designated Smoltz for assignment. Ten days later, they released him.

The Cardinals, in first place in the NL Central, were seeking pitching depth. They had tried four pitchers as the fifth starter _ Todd Wellemeyer, Brad Thompson, Mitchell Boggs and P.J. Walters _ and weren’t satisfied with any. They also wanted to bolster the bullpen.

Cardinals third baseman Mark DeRosa, who had played for seven seasons with the Braves, recommended Smoltz to general manager John Mozeliak and manager Tony La Russa, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. DeRosa and Smoltz also were represented by the same agency.

On Aug. 19, 2009, Smoltz, 42, signed with the Cardinals for $100,000. The team planned to give Smoltz two starts to determine whether he would remain in a rotation with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Joel Pineiro and Kyle Lohse, or move to the bullpen in a setup role for closer Ryan Franklin.

“There is no downside to this move,” Carpenter said.

Mozeliak called it “a unique opportunity” and “too inviting not to take a chance on.”

Said Smoltz: “You’re going to get a nasty guy on the mound … I still believe in everything I’m doing to get myself prepared for battle … You’ve got to want it. I still want it.”

To the rescue

Two days after Smoltz signed, Lohse suffered a groin injury running the bases and was placed on the disabled list. The Cardinals saw Smoltz as the replacement for Lohse. The question was whether Smoltz could be effective.

On Aug. 23, 2009, Smoltz provided the answer. In his first Cardinals appearance, Smoltz started against the Padres at San Diego and displayed the form that had made him an eight-time all-star with the Braves.

Smoltz struck out nine, including seven in a row, in five innings and held the Padres scoreless. Using a mix of split-fingered pitches, a slider, curve and fastball, Smoltz struck out the last batter of the second inning and struck out the side in the third and fourth innings.

Departing with a 5-0 lead, Smoltz earned the win _ the 213th and last of his career in the majors _ in a 5-2 Cardinals victory. Boxscore

“I couldn’t ask for a better beginning (with St. Louis),” Smoltz said. “All the pitches that were giving me trouble, I was able to throw.”

Wrote Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell: “No one could have seen this coming. I mean no one.” Video

Postseason finale

Smoltz stayed in the Cardinals rotation, made seven total starts and finished 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA. His ERA was 3.18 before he got shelled for six runs in four innings in his final career start on Sept. 30, 2009, against the Reds at Cincinnati.

The last pitching appearance for Smoltz came in a relief stint for the Cardinals in Game 3 of the 2009 NL Division Series against the Dodgers at St. Louis. Smoltz, pitching the sixth and seventh innings, struck out five in a row _ Ronnie Belliard, Russell Martin and Vicente Padilla to end the sixth and Rafael Furcal and Matt Kemp to start the seventh. Boxscore

“For me personally, this was an incredible opportunity after surgery,” Smoltz said to the Post-Dispatch. “No one thought I could come back … I got a chance and I thank the organization for giving me that chance.’

His final career numbers: 213-155 with 154 saves, 3,084 strikeouts and a 3.33 ERA. In the postseason, Smoltz was 15-4 with a 2.67 ERA and 199 strikeouts in 41 games.

Against the Cardinals, Smoltz was 11-11 with a 4.13 ERA in 40 regular-season appearances, including 29 starts. He was 2-0 with a 1.20 ERA vs. St. Louis in the 1996 NL Championship Series.

Previously: Reaching 3,000 strikeouts was low-key event for Bob Gibson

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 2 Comments »

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