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How Art Howe took a final bow as player with Cardinals

March 20, 2024 by retrosimba

After nine consecutive seasons (1975-83) with Keith Hernandez as their Opening Day first baseman, the Cardinals had a most unlikely successor: Art Howe.

Though he’d been a productive infielder, mostly at second base and third for the Astros, Howe was unemployed at the start of 1984. He sat out the 1983 season because of elbow and ankle surgeries, then became a free agent and, at 37, hoped to show he still could play.

The 1984 White Sox, managed by Tony La Russa, brought him to spring training to compete for a utility role as an unsigned player, but a rookie, Tim Hulett, won the job.

The Cardinals, seeking a pinch-hitter, threw Howe a lifeline, signing him on March 21, 1984. Two weeks later, Howe was in the Cardinals’ Opening Day lineup as the first baseman, batting fifth, against the Dodgers when the player who was supposed to start, David Green, strained his shoulder.

Howe’s longshot leap from unemployment to Opening Day starter was not the first time he defied the odds. He’d been doing that his entire playing career.

Better late than never

Growing up near Pittsburgh, Howe was a Pirates fan. “He used to stand in front of the TV when the Pirates were on and pretend he was playing,” Howe’s father, Art Sr., recalled to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He’d have his hat on and be holding a bat. He’d tell us that someday he’d play for the Pirates.”

The prediction came true, but the route Howe took hardly was routine.

A standout high school athlete, Howe accepted a football scholarship from the University of Wyoming because he’d also be allowed to play baseball. A quarterback, he hurt his back his freshman year and gave up football but stuck with baseball. Howe injured his thigh his senior season, underwent surgery and got no interest from big-league scouts.

He graduated from Wyoming with a degree in business administration in 1969, returned to Pittsburgh and became a computer programmer for Westinghouse.

“I worked with what we called the wire book,” Howe said to Dave Anderson of the New York Times. “We had to close all the books _ the money in, the money out. If anything was wrong, they’d call you in to stay until it proved. Stay all night if you had to. It was always the system analyst’s fault, never the input.”

Howe also had a disc operation for his ailing back in 1969. The next year, he played semipro baseball in the Greater Pittsburgh Federation League in his spare time. A friend arranged for him to attend a Pirates tryout camp. “I felt like a grandfather coming down there with all those 16- and 17-year-olds,” Howe recalled to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pirates scout Merrill Hess, who ran the tryout, said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “He had some impressive credentials. The problem was he was considered too old and too slow to be a major-league prospect.”

The Pirates still offered him a contract. Howe, 24, married, and a father, gave up the $1,500-a-month job at Westinghouse for $500 a month to play for a Class A farm club in Salem, Va., in 1971.

“I just didn’t want to be one of those ex-jocks who sit around with his grandson on his knee and wonder if I could have played major league baseball,” Howe said to the Post-Gazette. “I had the chance to find out, and I wanted to take it.”

No quit

Howe was 27 when he got called up to the Pirates in July 1974 as a backup to third baseman Richie Hebner. Howe’s first two home runs in the majors came against the Phillies’ Steve Carlton and the Mets’ Tom Seaver.

(For his career, Howe batted .389 versus Seaver, with 14 hits, including three home runs. He also hit three homers against Vida Blue. His .618 on-base percentage versus Blue included 15 hits and six walks.)

After the 1975 season, the Pirates sent Howe to the Astros, completing a trade for infielder Tommy Helms.

Howe hoped to replace Doug Rader, who’d been traded to the Padres, as the 1976 Astros third baseman, but Enos Cabell won the job. Two months into the season, Howe, 29, was demoted to the minors. With his career at a crossroads, Howe hit .355 for the Memphis Blues and was brought back to the Astros in September.

For the next six seasons, Howe was an Astros regular at second (1977-79), first (1980) and third (1981-82).

In May 1980, a pitch from the Expos’ Scott Sanderson struck Howe in the face, fracturing his jaw. He was sidelined less than a week, playing with a wired jaw and a special protective helmet. Five months later, in a one-game playoff against the Dodgers to determine the 1980 West Division champion, Howe had four RBI in the Astros’ 7-1 victory.

He batted .296 in 1981 and produced a 23-game hitting streak.

During the winters, Howe managed teams in Puerto Rico, hoping the experience would prepare him for a baseball job after his playing days.

Howe’s playing career was in jeopardy when he had to miss the 1983 season. “I started to get a stabbing pain in my (right) elbow the middle of the 1982 season,” Howe told the Chicago Tribune. “The elbow got weaker and weaker, and I had surgery in December of that year.”

A second elbow operation was performed in May 1983. In both surgeries, nerve transfers were performed, the Tribune reported. Howe also had surgery on his left ankle in 1983 for a problem with the tendon sheath.

Cardinals come calling

Howe attended the 1983 baseball winter meetings, looking for a job. The Astros and Giants made offers, but he chose to try out at spring training with the 1984 White Sox because he figured he could compete for a role as backup to third baseman Vance Law and viewed the club as a title contender.

Though manager Tony La Russa was impressed with what he saw from Howe, telling the Chicago Sun-Times, “He has made every throw he has had to make and showed a willingness to do whatever we ask,” Howe was informed he wouldn’t make the team.

That’s when the Cardinals stepped in. Their scout, Joe Frazier, tracked Howe in spring training and noted he moved and threw well, the Post-Dispatch reported.

The Cardinals had been talking to the Angels about acquiring Ron Jackson, who batted right-handed and played first and third. According to the Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals considered two proposals _ a straight swap of Bob Forsch for Jackson, and a three-way exchange in which St. Louis would send two prospects to the Dodgers for Burt Hooton, then flip Hooton to the Angels for Jackson.

Instead, when Howe became available, the Cardinals took him. Manager Whitey Herzog told the Post-Dispatch that Howe would be the club’s top pinch-hitter versus left-handers. “Howe is going to be better off the bench than (departed free agent) Gene Tenace was,” Cardinals pitcher Dave LaPoint told the newspaper.

When David Green’s ailing right shoulder made him unavailable to start at first base in the season opener against Dodgers left-hander Fernando Valenzuela, Howe replaced him.

Batting between George Hendrick and Willie McGee, Howe was not much of a factor in the Cardinals’ 11-7 victory. He grounded out in the second and hit into a double play in the third. When right-hander Pat Zachry replaced Valenzuela in the fourth, Dane Iorg batted for Howe and delivered a two-run single. Boxscore

Follow the leader

After that, Howe settled into the role Herzog had envisioned for him. He appeared in 89 games for the 1984 Cardinals, making 28 starts at third and three at first, and played all four infield positions.

Howe hit .318 as a pinch-hitter but .216 overall in 1984. A highlight came on July 14 when he had three RBI in the Cardinals’ 7-6 victory versus the Padres. Boxscore

After the season, the Cardinals signed Ron Jackson, who’d been released, but Howe beat him out for the utility infield job at 1985 spring training.

Then, three days before the season opener, the Cardinals acquired reserve infielder Ivan DeJesus from the Phillies. DeJesus could play third as well as short.

Howe, 38 and experiencing back problems, got three at-bats for the 1985 Cardinals, went hitless and was released on April 22. “Art kind of expected it,” Herzog said to the Post-Dispatch. “We hope to get him in our organization, maybe as a minor-league manager.”

Howe told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “The Cardinals have offered me a job as a minor-league hitting instructor.”

A better offer came from Bobby Valentine, who replaced Doug Rader as Rangers manager in May 1985. Howe joined the Rangers’ coaching staff. “He came highly recommended by (his ex-Astros teammates) Nolan Ryan and Phil Garner,” Valentine told the Post-Gazette.

Howe went on to manage the Astros (1989-93), Athletics (1996-2002) and Mets (2003-04). He succeeded La Russa with the Athletics and Valentine with the Mets. With Howe, the Athletics had 102 wins in 2001 and 103 in 2002.

Posted in Games, Hitters | 12 Comments »

How Golden Richards found Midas touch against Cardinals

March 15, 2024 by retrosimba

Golden Richards was a NFL glamour boy with a glittery name and the look to match. A blonde mane flowed from beneath his helmet when he streaked down the field. As columnist Jim Murray noted, “He’s so golden from his hair on down that he glows in the daylight. He’s perfect for the part of Sir Galahad.”

Richards could play, too. Few were faster than he was. A Dallas Cowboys receiver, Richards had sure hands, the strength to catch in a crowd and the ability to haul in long passes over the shoulder.

He got both his first NFL reception and first touchdown catch against the St. Louis Cardinals. Later, as an established starter, Richards made a game-winning touchdown grab at St. Louis. For his career, the foe he had the most catches against (19) were the Cardinals.

In his first five seasons with Dallas, Richards took part in nine playoff games, including two Super Bowls. The glory came at a terrible price. Richards suffered injuries, became addicted to prescription painkillers and struggled with alcohol abuse.

Burnishing bright

John Golden Richards was born on Dec. 31, 1950, in Salt Lake City. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, his parents gave him the distinctive middle name because they thought a baby born on New Year’s Eve must be extra special. Everyone called him Golden.

Richards’ specialness came through in athletics. He participated in five sports _ baseball, basketball, football, tennis and track _ at Granite High School in Salt Lake City. As a senior in 1969, Richards ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds and cleared 24 feet in the long jump at the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento.

Colleges recruited him for track, but Richards preferred football. The only football offers he got were from Air Force, Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah, Utah State and Westminster College, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

Richards, a Mormon, planned to bypass BYU and go with Utah because of the football program’s strong passing game. “Next thing, I was called into my bishop’s office, and he told me he wanted me to go to BYU, or else he would call me on (a Latter-day Saints) mission,” Richards said to the Tribune.

Richards did what he was told and found he was right about BYU’s quarterback situation. None could get the ball to him consistently. In his two varsity seasons (1970-71), Richards caught a total of two touchdown passes.

He made up for it with punt and kickoff returns. As a junior in 1971, he was the NCAA’s top punt returner, with 624 yards and four touchdowns.

Richards didn’t put the same kind of effort into his studies. He was declared academically ineligible for his senior season at BYU. “It was my fault,” he told the Deseret News. “The situation arose simply because of my own laziness.”

He transferred to the University of Hawaii for the 1972 season and snared five touchdown passes in five games before he tore ligaments in his right knee.

Seeing stars

Before the injury, Cowboys scout Bob Griffin twice tested Richards in the 40-yard dash and both times he clocked 4.4 seconds. Impressed, the Cowboys took Richards in the second round of the 1973 NFL draft. “We haven’t had anybody this quick on our team since we picked up (two-time Olympic gold medalist) Bobby Hayes,” Cowboys head coach Tom Landry said to the Honolulu Advertiser.

As a teen, the Cowboys were the team Richards dreamed of playing for someday. When he walked into their locker room for the first time at training camp in 1973, “I was standing there next to Bob Lilly, Jethro Pugh and Roger Staubach,” Richards said to the Salt Lake Tribune. “I wanted to get everybody’s autograph.”

(Before a 1975 game against the New York Jets at Shea Stadium, Richards “stuck a pen and paper in his uniform pants and ran over to Joe Namath, begging for his signature right at the 50-yard line. Namath told Richards it was an honor and sent him a signed glossy photo the following the week,” the Tribune reported.)

On Sept. 30, 1973, the Cowboys were routing the Cardinals at Texas Stadium. In the fourth quarter, Landry began putting in his reserves, including the rookie Richards and quarterback Craig Morton. Soon after, Richards caught his first NFL pass, a five-yard toss from Morton. “I just broke out smiling and was just about laughing all the way to the huddle,” Richards said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Two plays later, Morton called for Richards to go deep. “I thought it might be a touchdown pass when it (the play) was called,” Richards told the Star-Telegram. “That’s what the play was designed for _ six points.”

Sure enough, Richards broke free and Morton connected with him on a 53-yard scoring pass. Game stats

Big playmaker

More good times followed. Richards returned a punt 63 yards for a score in a 1973 playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings and caught touchdown passes in playoff wins against the Los Angeles Rams (1976) and Vikings (1978).

Richards averaged 17.5 yards a catch in the NFL. Of his 17 regular-season touchdown receptions, 11 were of 40 yards or more.

On Oct. 9, 1977, Richards made the play that beat the Cardinals.

With 6:53 remaining and St. Louis ahead, 24-23, the Cowboys were at the Cardinals’ 17-yard line. Quarterback Roger Staubach called an audible but Richards couldn’t hear him above the din at Busch Memorial Stadium.

“I was able to read Roger’s lips and pick it up, though,” Richards told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

As Richards dashed to the goal line down the right side, covered by cornerback Lee Nelson, Staubach floated a pass. “It was a little bit underthrown,” Richards said to the Fort Worth newspaper. “So I just kept going like it was coming. Then, at the last second, I stopped and tipped it back to me with one hand. Then I got a hold of it and just went sliding in to score.”

Nelson, filling in for injured Perry Smith, told the Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat, “The guy made a hell of a catch. He caught it with one hand, one arm. I batted one of his arms away.”

The Cowboys won, 30-24. Game stats They would lose only twice all season (to the Cardinals at Dallas and to the Steelers at Pittsburgh) and rolled to the Super Bowl for a matchup against the Denver Broncos.

Richards was one of the game’s stars, catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from fullback Robert Newhouse to highlight a 27-10 Cowboys victory. Game stats and video

Troubled times

Richards was popular. His first wife, Barbara, said at his peak he got 1,000 pieces of fan mail a week. At the Super Bowl in Miami in 1976, Richards was “chased up and down the streets by the females, some handing him their telephone numbers, others just wanting to touch him,” the Associated Press reported. 

Richards told the wire service, “It’s kind of overwhelming. I mean, they walk right up with my wife standing next to me.”

He hobnobbed with celebrities such as Olivia Newton-John and model Jerry Hall. “It was glamorous,” Richards told the Salt Lake Tribune.

The glamour masked a dark side. Richards was hurting. He took a pounding in the games. A hit from the Steelers’ Mel Blount broke five of Richards’ ribs. His back ached all the time and so did his teeth from getting belted under the face mask.

Seven times, dentists did root canals to repair damage from hits to Richards’ face, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was prescribed Percodan. Codeine was another. Richards became addicted and “depended on painkillers to play,” according to the Dallas newspaper.

“I never took drugs to get high,” he told reporter Barry Horn. “I took drugs because I couldn’t stand the pain.”

His craving for painkillers spun out of control. “In the bleakest moments,” Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune reported, “he fished through his own vomit in a toilet for unabsorbed painkillers so he could taken them again.”

Richards told Monson, “There were times when I lived through the darkest dark you can imagine. With the painkillers, you fight and struggle to get up to ground zero, but then you discover you’re still 150 miles below the surface of the earth.”

In April 1978, three months after he scored his Super Bowl touchdown, Richards was rushed to a hospital when it was feared he had overdosed. Five months later, the Cowboys traded him to the Chicago Bears for two draft picks.

Richards spent two seasons with Chicago, got released and was done as a player at 29. His third wife, Amy, told the Salt Lake Tribune, “He got hooked on the narcotics in the NFL. When the NFL was taken away, he no longer had football but he still had the narcotics.”

His problems expanded. Richards turned to booze. “I was living in an alcohol fog,” he said to the Tribune.

He was in and out of treatment centers multiple times.

In December 1992, Richards was arrested on charges he forged his father’s signature on nearly $700 in checks to pay for painkillers. He pleaded guilty.

“This has been a horrible, horrible way of life,” Richards told the Dallas Morning News in January 1993. “Like any addict, I have been deceitful, manipulative and cunning. People who suffer from my kind of addiction can lose everything that means everything to you. I know. I have.”

Richards was sober for the last decade of his life, his brother, Doug, told the Deseret News.

 

Posted in Football, Games, Opponents | 10 Comments »

Lots of great starts, sad endings for Jose DeLeon

March 11, 2024 by retrosimba

Jose DeLeon had the talent, but not the won-loss record, to be an ace. Some of it was bad luck. Some of it was bad teams. Some of it was his own doing.

DeLeon was the first Cardinals pitcher since Bob Gibson to lead the National League in strikeouts. He outdueled Roger Clemens twice in five days. Some of the game’s best hitters were helpless against him. Cal Ripken was hitless in 12 at-bats versus DeLeon. George Brett batted .091 (1-for-11) against him.

“George Brett told me he (DeLeon) was the toughest guy he ever hit against,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1988. “He said his stuff was nasty.”

Yet DeLeon twice had 19 losses in a season and his career record in the majors was 86-119.

A right-hander who threw four pitches (fastball, curve, forkball and slider), DeLeon pitched 13 seasons (1983-95) in the majors with the Pirates, White Sox, Cardinals, Phillies and Expos.

Playing favorites

DeLeon was 11 when he moved with his family from the Dominican Republic to Perth Amboy, N.J., in 1972. He followed baseball and adopted pitcher Mike Torrez as his favorite player. Like DeLeon, Torrez, who began his major-league career with the Cardinals, was a big right-hander.

Though he played only one season of varsity high school baseball, DeLeon, 18, was drafted by the Pirates in 1979 and called up to the majors in July 1983. In his third appearance, a start versus the Mets, he was matched against Mike Torrez.

The result was storybook. As the New York Daily News put it, “Jose DeLeon waged a brilliant pitching war with his longtime idol, Mike Torrez.”

DeLeon, 22, held the Mets hitless until Hubie Brooks lined a single with one out in the ninth. DeLeon totaled nine scoreless innings. Torrez, 36, was even better: 11 scoreless innings. Neither got a decision. The Mets won, 1-0, in the 12th. Boxscore

Torrez said to the Daily News, “I pitched well enough to win. DeLeon pitched well enough to win. Sometimes, this game can drive you batty.”

Told that DeLeon was a fan of his, Torrez replied to the newspaper, “That’s a nice compliment. He showed a lot of poise and showed he’s a big-league pitcher.”

Three weeks later, DeLeon beat the Reds, pitching a two-hit shutout and striking out 13. “He has the best forkball I’ve ever seen,” Reds shortstop Dave Concepcion told the Dayton Daily News. “It looks like a knuckleball.” Boxscore

No-win situations

DeLeon was 7-3 with the 1983 Pirates, but it would be five years before he’d have another winning season in the majors.

“I had success early, then I thought it would be easy,” DeLeon told Mike Eisenbath of the Post-Dispatch. “My arm was ready, but my mind wasn’t.”

With the 1984 Pirates, he finished 7-13, including 0-4 versus the Cardinals. The Pirates were shut out in six of his 13 losses and scored only one run in five others. On Aug. 24, 1984, DeLeon pitched a one-hitter against the Reds _ and lost, 2-0. Boxscore

The next year was worse. His 2-19 record for the 1985 Pirates included an 0-2 mark versus the Cardinals. (DeLeon never beat the Cardinals in his career.) The Pirates were held to two runs or less in 14 of his 19 losses. They averaged 2.3 runs in his 25 starts.

Nonetheless, “His problems are a combination of his being too nice a guy and relying strictly on his arm,” Pirates general manager Syd Thrift told The Pittsburgh Press. “He has to take charge from the first pitch.”

In July 1986, DeLeon was traded to the White Sox for Bobby Bonilla. His first two wins for them came against Roger Clemens, the American League Cy Young Award recipient that year. Boxscore and Boxscore

Though he was 11-12 for the 1987 White Sox, DeLeon won six of his last seven decisions, totaled more than 200 innings (206) for the first time in the big leagues and led the White Sox in strikeouts (153).

“Trying to catch his forkball is like trying to catch Charlie Hough throwing a 90 mph knuckleball,” White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk told The Pittsburgh Press.

The Cardinals saw DeLeon, 27, as a pitcher on the verge of fulfilling his potential. On Feb. 9, 1988, they sent Ricky Horton, Lance Johnson and cash to the White Sox for DeLeon.

That’s a winner

For the next two seasons, DeLeon was a winner and did things no Cardinals pitcher had done since Bob Gibson.

In 1988, DeLeon struck out 208 batters, the most for a Cardinal since Gibson had the same total in 1972. DeLeon averaged 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings. He had a 13-10 record, but the Cardinals were 20-14 in his 34 starts. In DeLeon’s 10 losses, the Cardinals scored a total of 15 runs.

(DeLeon did it all that season. In a 19-inning marathon against the Braves, he played the outfield for four innings while Jose Oquendo pitched.)

On Sept. 6, 1988, DeLeon beat the Expos with a three-hit shutout. He also doubled versus Dennis Martinez and scored the game’s lone run. Boxscore

“His forkball and curveball were really working,” Expos slugger Andres Galarraga told the Post-Dispatch. “You didn’t know what to expect.” (Galarraga, a National League batting champion, hit .061 in 33 career at-bats versus DeLeon.)

Late in the 1988 season, DeLeon pitched in Pittsburgh for the first time since the Pirates traded him. He threw a three-hitter and won. “He looks different and acts different,” The Pittsburgh Press noted. “This was not the confused, defeated, befuddled child of a man the Pirates had traded away. This was a confident, mature adult who stuck it to the Pirates.” Boxscore

The 1989 season was DeLeon’s best. He was 16-12 and had 201 strikeouts, becoming the first Cardinals pitcher since Gibson in 1968 to lead the league in fanning the most batters. DeLeon also joined Gibson as the only Cardinals pitchers then with consecutive seasons of 200 strikeouts.

Batters hit .197 versus DeLeon in 1989. Right-handed batters had the most trouble against him, hitting .146 with more than twice as many strikeouts (115) as hits (54).

“I wish I had what he had,” Scott Sanderson, an 11-game winner with the 1989 Cubs, said to the Post-Dispatch.

On April 21, 1989, DeLeon beat the Expos on a two-hit shutout. Boxscore Four months later, he did even better _ holding the Reds scoreless on one hit (a Luis Quinones broken-bat single) for 11 innings. The Cardinals, though, stranded 16 base runners and the Reds won, 2-0, in the 13th against reliever Todd Worrell. Boxscore

Down and out

DeLeon appeared headed for another good season in 1990, winning four of his first six decisions. One of those wins came against the Reds when DeLeon pitched 7.1 scoreless innings _ “The Reds appeared to be swinging at pebbles” columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote in the Post-Dispatch _  and also tripled and scored versus Tom Browning. The triple occurred when right fielder Paul O’Neill tried unsuccessfully to make a shoestring catch and the ball skipped to the warning track. “DeLeon had no choice but to leg out a slow-motion triple,” Jack Brennan of The Cincinnati Post observed. Boxscore

After beating the Expos on June 17, DeLeon’s record was 6-5. Then he went 1-14 over his last 18 starts, finishing at 7-19.

Cardinals broadcaster Mike Shannon told Bill Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News, “Jose DeLeon defines the word ‘siesta.’ If he could just establish some intensity, there’s no doubt he could be the best pitcher in the game. He’s got the best pure stuff in our league.”

DeLeon pitched a lot better for the Cardinals in 1991 (2.71 ERA in 28 starts) but his record was 5-9. The Cardinals totaled 17 runs in his nine losses. DeLeon had the lowest run support among National League starters (3.5 runs per nine innings). “Bad luck seems to find him,” Cardinals manager Joe Torre said to the Post-Dispatch.

Back-to-back seasons like DeLeon had in 1990 and 1991 might put almost anyone into a funk. Torre and pitching coach Joe Coleman worked to boost his confidence. “I was really down,” DeLeon said to Dan O’Neill of the Post-Dispatch. “In my mind, everything was negative.”

After a strong spring training, DeLeon was named the 1992 Cardinals’ Opening Day starter. He pitched well (one run in seven innings) but the Mets won. Boxscore and video

From there, his season unraveled. In a stretch from May 22 to June 8, DeLeon lost four consecutive starts, dropping his record to 2-6, and was moved to the bullpen. The Cardinals released him on Aug. 31 and he got picked up by the Phillies.

“DeLeon is a swell fellow,” Bernie Miklasz wrote in the Post-Dispatch. “Quiet. Unobtrusive. A gentleman. Doesn’t whine. Doesn’t blame others for his problems. Doesn’t make excuses _ but he doesn’t win as many games as he should.”

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 10 Comments »

Cardinals gave Tom Qualters quite an initiation to majors

March 6, 2024 by retrosimba

The number stands out from the stats line like a wart, ugly and embarrassing: 162.00. That’s the earned run average Tom Qualters had in his rookie season with the Phillies.

The Cardinals were responsible for giving him that statistical shiner. Qualters, 18, made his big-league debut against them. He faced seven Cardinals and retired one. Six scored. His line: 0.1 innings, six runs, 162.00 ERA in his lone appearance of the 1953 regular season.

To his credit, Qualters recovered from that clobbering. He eventually went to the minors and became a teammate of Satchel Paige and Whitey Herzog. Then he returned to the majors and pitched for an American League pennant contender, retiring the likes of Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams.

Bonus baby

A standout amateur athlete in McKeesport, Pa., near Pittsburgh, Qualters developed into a dominating right-handed pitcher. He struck out 22 in a no-hitter against Donora (hometown of Stan Musial). In 1951, at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, Qualters started for a team of American Legion all-stars managed by Hall of Famer Pie Traynor.

After he graduated from high school in June 1953, Qualters was offered a signing bonus of at least $25,000 by Pirates general manager Branch Rickey, according to The Pittsburgh Press, but instead accepted a $40,000 offer from the Phillies. Qualters “had his heart set on joining the Phillies from the time he was in knee pants,” The Sporting News reported.

Major League Baseball had a rule then that any amateur who got a signing bonus of more than $4,000 had to stay with the big-league club for two full years. (It was intended to keep the wealthiest clubs from signing scores of prospects and stockpiling them in the minors.) That meant Qualters, who signed on June 16, 1953, had to remain in the majors with the Phillies until at least June 16, 1955.

“I might have been better off going to the minors for experience and a chance to pitch regularly, but I just couldn’t pass up that money,” Qualters said to The Pittsburgh Press. “I used most of it to fix up our home in McKeesport and also pay for an operation on my mother.”

(More than 30 years later, in a 1987 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Qualters said baseball’s bonus rule “was devastating to me” because “I had no business being there” in the majors.)

Learning curve

When he joined the Phillies, “I was really scared,” Qualters said to The Pittsburgh Press. “It was the first time I ever had been away from home and I didn’t know what kind of a reception I’d receive … Being a bonus player, I thought they’d give me the cold shoulder, but they treated me like one of the boys and were always giving me advice. I spent a lot of time with Jim Konstanty in the bullpen and he went out of his way to be nice. Robin Roberts, too.”

(Decades later, Qualters gave conflicting versions of how his Phillies teammates received him. In 1984, Qualters said to the Philadelphia Daily News, “Guys like Robin Roberts, Curt Simmons, Richie Ashburn _ they were great. They made the ride a little smoother, and they certainly didn’t have to.” Three years later, Qualters told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “The players and the manager (Steve O’Neill) were from the old school and didn’t accept me. You can imagine the resentment. As a result, I was off by myself most of the time.”)

The Phillies’ plan was for Qualters to learn by observing rather than pitching. Though he was occupying a roster spot, there was no desire to put him into a regular-season game. “I was a batting practice pitcher, a high-priced batting practice pitcher,” Qualters told the Philadelphia Daily News.

On June 29, 1953, in an exhibition between the Phillies and Athletics for the benefit of the Junior Baseball Federation of Philadelphia, Qualters started before a crowd of 15,293 at Shibe Park. The jittery teen got through the first inning, but gave up six runs in the second before he was lifted.

Two weeks later, Qualters pitched in another exhibition game for the Phillies against the minor-league Baltimore Orioles and yielded five runs in three innings.

Though those exhibition performances did nothing to entice manager Steve O’Neill to pitch Qualters when the Phillies played for keeps, he told the Philadelphia Bulletin, “The boy has everything he needs, a fastball and a terrific curve. If he isn’t a real pitching prospect, then I’ve never seen one.”

Rough stuff

On Sept. 13, 1953, a Sunday at St. Louis, the Cardinals led the Phillies, 11-1, entering the bottom of the eighth. With the outcome not much in doubt, O’Neill waved a proverbial white flag, choosing to let Qualters make his official debut. The Cardinals, though, were all business.

The first batter Qualters faced, hulking slugger Steve Bilko, slammed a home run. The next to come up was Bilko’s physical opposite, Peanuts Lowrey. He drew a walk, then scooted to second on a Qualters wild pitch.

Qualters hit the next batter, Rip Repulski, with a pitch. Harvey Haddix, the Cardinals’ pitcher, followed with a single, loading the bases. Solly Hemus also singled, scoring Lowrey, and reloading the bases.

The first out Qualters recorded came when a future Hall of Famer, Red Schoendienst, grounded to first. Hemus was forced out at second, but Repulski scored from third on the play.

Next up was Stan Musial.

“I was told never to give him the same pitch twice, and this stuck with me like a nursery rhyme,” Qualters said to The Pittsburgh Press. “Our catcher (Stan Lopata) called for a slow curve and Musial swung and missed. I felt pretty good. Then the catcher decided to call for the same pitch and I shuddered. I knew what the boys in the bullpen told me, but who was I to shake off the catcher? So I threw the slow curve again and Musial hit it against the wall.”

Musial’s two-run double knocked Qualters out of the game. Jim Konstanty relieved and gave up a single to Enos Slaughter, driving in Musial and making the score 17-1. Boxscore

It would be four years before Qualters pitched in another regular-season game in the majors.

Starting over

Qualters spent the entire 1954 season with the Phillies and, though healthy, never played in a regular-season game. 

In 1955, as mandated by the bonus rule, the Phillies began the season with Qualters on their roster but he again didn’t get into a regular-season game. The Sporting News referred to him as “Money Bags” because he was being paid without having to perform.

When Qualters completed his two-year stint on the big-league roster in June 1955, he was sent to a Class B farm club in Reidsville, N.C. “I just want to pitch in games, somewhere, anywhere,” Qualters said to the Associated Press.

Years later, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “When I went to Reidsville, I found I had lost my velocity. I didn’t have my riding fastball anymore.”

With the Class AAA Miami Marlins in 1956, Qualters, 21, was a teammate of Satchel Paige, 50. Paige was 11-4 with a 1.86 ERA. Qualters had his first good season as a pro _ 5-5 with a 3.38 ERA.

Paige and Qualters were back with Miami in 1957. Joining them was an outfielder, Whitey Herzog, 25, who hit .272. Qualters led the pitching staff in appearances (46) and innings pitched (186) and won 11. Paige had 10 wins and a 2.42 ERA.

Qualters admired the glove Paige used, an aged Mort Cooper model. “It looks like it belongs in the museum at Cooperstown but I like the way it handles,” Qualters told the Miami News. Qualters swapped Paige a new glove for his relic.

The Phillies called up Qualters in September 1957 and he made six relief appearances for them. In one, against the Cardinals, he gave up two runs in 0.2 innings. Boxscore

Qualters began the 1958 season with the Phillies, pitched in one game, got waived and was claimed by the White Sox.

A highlight came on May 25, 1958, in a game against the Red Sox. Qualters relieved starter Dick Donovan with the bases loaded and got Ted Williams to fly out to center. Boxscore

Two months later, at Yankee Stadium, Qualters pitched two scoreless innings and retired Mickey Mantle on a pop-up to second. Boxscore

Qualters made 26 relief appearance for the 1958 White Sox, who finished second behind the American League champion Yankees.

The White Sox had Qualters in their plans for 1959 until he injured his pitching elbow in spring training. Assigned to Class AAA Indianapolis, managed by Mort Cooper’s brother, Walker Cooper, Qualters developed nerve problems in his pitching hand and never got back to the majors. The 1959 White Sox won the American League pennant. “I was all set to be on that pitching staff (until getting injured),” Qualters said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That really hurt.”

Qualters became a regional supervisor for the Pennsylvania Fish Commission and was responsible for overseeing enforcement for 10 counties, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He was in charge of 15 field officers and 80 deputies.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects | 6 Comments »

An interview with author of Charlie Peete biography

March 1, 2024 by retrosimba

If not for a tragic twist of fate, baseball fans today might be recalling Charlie Peete much like they do Lou Brock or Curt Flood as being an integral part of Cardinals championship clubs.

An outfielder and minor league batting champion in the Cardinals system, Peete was on the cusp of becoming a prominent player in the majors.

On Nov. 27, 1956, four months after he made his major-league debut with the Cardinals, Peete, 27, was killed in an airplane crash in Venezuela. His wife and three children died with him.

Author Danny Spewak has written a biography of Peete. It’s a compelling page turner. If you appreciate good writing, original research and a gripping yarn, this book is for you. It’s “Cardinal Dreams: The Legacy of Charlie Peete and a Life Cut Short.” Order a copy on Amazon by clicking on this link.

Here is an email interview I did with Danny Spewak in February 2024:

Q: Congratulations on the book, Danny. As Jack Buck used to say, it’s a winner. What prompted you to choose Charlie Peete as the subject?

A: “Thank you so much, Mark. I’m a St. Louis native, lifelong Cardinals fan and avid reader of your site. Charlie Peete’s name first came on my radar after the tragic death of Oscar Taveras in 2014. The circumstances surrounding the loss of Taveras, a promising young Cardinals outfielder, shared many similarities with Peete’s passing in a 1956 commercial plane crash. More recently, when I began researching topics for my second nonfiction book, I revisited Peete’s story and discovered an incredible legacy worth sharing. Peete is not widely known to Cardinals fans, but he’s one of the franchise’s greatest ‘what-if?’ stories, the kind of player who could have developed into a real star if not for his premature death. More importantly, Peete played a key role in the integration of the Cardinals in the 1950s and, as the book argues, laid the foundation for the groundbreaking World Series teams of the next decade.”

Q: What qualities made Charlie Peete a top prospect?

A: “The Cardinals viewed Peete as a classic five-tool prospect and were thrilled by his performance in the minor leagues after drafting him in late 1954. Bing Devine, who eventually became the Cardinals general manager, singled out Peete as an example of how an organization could build a winning franchise through the draft process. At Class AAA stops in Rochester and Omaha, Peete displayed an impressive ability to hit for both power and average, and his outfield range and throwing arm were among the best in the organization.”

Q: Charlie Peete’s manager at Omaha in 1955 and 1956 was Johnny Keane. Keane later was an influential mentor for Bob Gibson. Was Keane a similar mentor to Peete?

A. “Absolutely. In a questionnaire he completed in 1956, Peete specifically listed Johnny Keane as one of his top influences in baseball and he flourished tremendously under Keane’s tutelage in 1955-56. Keane, who once compared Peete to Hack Wilson, worked closely with him on his batting stance and helped him to greatly improve his power numbers.”

Q: Tom Alston, the first black to play for the Cardinals, was a teammate of Charlie Peete at Omaha. Any insights on how they got along?

A: “Peete and Alston seemed to have a strong relationship with each other, and as two of the trailblazing players in the Cardinals minor-league system, their careers were wholly intertwined in the mid-1950s. At Omaha, they were the first two black players to break the professional baseball color barrier in that city, which at the time still had many segregated institutions such as the municipal fire department. Although they never did play together in St. Louis, Peete and Alston both helped to change public perceptions at a time when the American civil rights movement was quickly accelerating.”

Q: Jackie Robinson’s last season in the majors was Charlie Peete’s first and only season in the majors. The Cardinals played the Dodgers in St. Louis soon after Peete got called up in July 1956 and again a month later. Any indication of interaction between Robinson and Peete?

A: “Peete and Robinson appeared briefly on the same field at Busch Stadium on July 22, 1956, when an aging Robinson pinch-hit for the Dodgers while Peete played center field as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth. It was a remarkable moment for Peete, who in 1949 had tried out unsuccessfully for the Dodgers organization in his home state of Virginia and undoubtedly drew inspiration from Robinson’s entrance into the majors in 1947. Although it is not known whether Peete met Robinson on that day in 1956, he certainly drew Robinson’s attention by recording two outfield assists, including a double play he completed with Stan Musial at first base.”

Q: The Cardinals were late to integrate. Do you think Charlie Peete was comfortable being with the franchise? How was he treated?

A: “It’s difficult to say. Publicly, Peete said he valued his time with the big-league club in St. Louis, and the organization had nothing but praise for him as a player. His teammates also recalled very fond memories of him. However, the experience for Peete must have been extremely isolating, given that he was one of only a handful of black players in the organization at the time and the only black player on the major-league squad during that portion of the 1956 season. That was a hard time for any black player anywhere in baseball. When Peete played in Omaha, he could not even bring his family to live with him because the housing market was so deeply segregated. Also, as you mentioned, the Cardinals had resisted integration in the late 1940s and early 1950s and drew significant criticism from civil rights leaders in St. Louis because of that decision. That all changed when Anheuser-Busch and Gussie Busch took ownership of the franchise in 1953 and immediately took steps to integrate the organization. Despite Busch’s more tolerant and forward-thinking stance, it still took some time for the Cardinals to shake their negative perception _ which certainly impacted Peete. For example, after Peete’s demotion from St. Louis in August 1956, one of the city’s leading African American newspapers, the Argus, questioned why he had been sent back to the minors so quickly and felt the Cardinals were still applying unfair and unrealistic standards to black players.”

Q. What kind of teammate was Stan Musial to Charlie Peete?

A. “Peete adored Musial. When asked, ‘Who is the greatest player you have ever seen?’ Peete listed Musial because he ‘was a real ballplayer all around.’ “

Q. In 1957, following Charlie Peete’s death, the Cardinals shifted third baseman Ken Boyer to center field. Do you think if he had lived that Peete would have been the center fielder for the 1957 Cardinals?

A. “Although there are no guarantees, I do believe Peete would have started in center field for the Cardinals in 1957. In the months after his death, the Cardinals struggled to find another candidate for the job and ended up making the emergency decision to shift Boyer to center _ something I don’t think they would have needed to do if they still had Peete. I think Peete had clearly shown during his 23-game trial in 1956 that he could play defense at an elite major-league level, given his perfect fielding percentage and several dazzling plays in the outfield. Peete’s .192 batting average with the Cardinals in 1956 was not good, but as the reigning Class AAA batting champion there wasn’t much doubt in the organization that he would hit eventually.”

Q. Do the Cardinals still trade for Curt Flood in December 1957 if Charlie Peete was on the team?

A. “This is a fascinating question. Bing Devine’s first trade as general manager was the one that brought Flood over from Cincinnati at the winter meetings that year. I can see a scenario where Devine, satisfied with Peete as his center fielder, opts not to trade for Flood. In that scenario, does Peete become the center fielder for the World Series teams of the sixties? Does Flood, having never been traded to St. Louis in the first place, ever challenge the reserve clause and take his case to the Supreme Court? The whole history of major-league labor relations might have been impacted. However, I still think it’s possible Devine might have traded for Flood anyway in December 1957, even if he had Peete on the roster. Flood had played infield during his brief time in the majors with Cincinnati and Devine seemed to like his overall skillset as a position player, not solely as a center fielder. (It was manager Fred Hutchinson who came up with the idea of putting Flood in the outfield.) It’s possible Peete and Flood could have co-existed together for the next decade.”

Q. Anything else you’d like to tell our readers about the book and why they should buy it?

A. “Despite the tragic ending, I hope readers will walk away from the book with a better appreciation for Charlie Peete’s remarkable life and accomplishments. This was someone who grew up in segregated Virginia and began his professional career in the Negro Leagues, at a time when opportunities for black baseball players were still extremely limited. Over the course of the 1950s, Peete played an important role in the integration of both the minor leagues and the major leagues, and he bridged a gap in Cardinals history that laid the groundwork for some truly historic teams of the 1960s. Charlie Peete is a name that Cardinals fans should know and remember.”

Posted in Hitters, Prospects | 16 Comments »

Cincinnati Kid: Don Gullett was ace of diamonds vs. Cards

February 26, 2024 by retrosimba

On a Big Red Machine team of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Tony Perez, the player who consistently confounded the Cardinals was Don Gullett.

A left-handed pitcher, Gullett was 14-3 versus the Cardinals, including 7-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium. He also liked to hit in St. Louis. His batting average there was .281.

Gullett played for six pennant winners in nine seasons in the majors and pitched in five World Series with the Reds and Yankees. His career record was 109-50.

Teen talent

In high school at South Shore, Ky., on the south bank of the Ohio River, Gullett excelled in football (scoring 11 touchdowns and kicking six extra points in one game) and basketball (scoring 47 points in one game) but turned down college scholarship offers because he wanted to become a professional baseball player.

He dazzled scouts when he pitched a seven-inning perfect game in high school, striking out 20 and retiring one batter who bunted.

The Reds selected him in the first round of the June 1969 amateur draft. (The Cardinals also chose a left-handed high school pitcher in that first round, but Charles Minott never advanced above the Class A level of the minors.)

Sent to the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Packers of the Northern League, Gullett, 18, struck out 87 in 78 innings and was 7-2 with a 1.96 ERA.

Invited to Reds spring training in 1970 as a non-roster player, Gullett, 19, impressed first-year manager Sparky Anderson. “For a kid his age, Gullett’s poise is amazing,” Anderson said to The Sporting News. “He just doesn’t scare.”

After striking out against Gullett in spring training, Pirates slugger Willie Stargell told The Sporting News, “Man, that kid throws nothing but wall to wall heat.”

Gullett got a spot on the 1970 Reds Opening Day roster as a reliever.

Rookie sensation

A year after pitching against high schoolers, Gullett made his big-league debut with 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Ray Washburn versus the Giants. Boxscore

In his first win, against the Dodgers, Gullett pitched five scoreless innings in relief of Jim Maloney. “The kid showed them smoke,” catcher Johnny Bench told The Cincinnati Post. “I mean it was real heat.” Gullett also walked, stole a base, tripled and scored twice. Boxscore

A week later, facing the Cardinals for the first time, Gullett got his first save. With the Reds ahead, 3-2, in the ninth, the Cardinals had a runner on first, two outs, and Jim Campbell at the plate when Gullett replaced closer Wayne Granger.

Asked why he brought in the rookie, Sparky Anderson replied to the Dayton Daily News, “If you’ve got a guy with a lot of stuff like Gullett on your staff and you’re afraid to use him just because he’s 19, then you shouldn’t have him on the team.”

Gullett got Campbell to hit a fly to short center. Center fielder Bobby Tolan couldn’t get to the ball _ “It looked like an in-betweener base hit to me,” Gullett said to the Dayton newspaper  _  but shortstop Dave Concepcion made a twisting catch on the run to end the game. Boxscore

Near the end of Gullett’s rookie season, Dodgers manager Walter Alston told The Sporting News, “Gullett comes as close to matching Sandy Koufax’s fastball as anyone I’ve seen.”

(Gullett said he met Koufax at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field early in the 1970 season. “He showed me how he threw his curveball, how he put his fingers on the seams, and all that,” Gullett said to Dick Kaegel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The next year, Sparky Anderson arranged a meeting of Gullett and Koufax in Chicago. Anderson told the Post-Dispatch, “Sandy told him to think not up and down with his pitches. He told him to think in and out.”)

In 44 games for the 1970 Reds, Gullett was 5-2 with six saves and a 2.43 ERA. He also earned two saves and yielded no runs in the National League Championship Series versus the Pirates and one earned run in three World Series games against the Orioles. Video

Hot stuff

Gullett, 20, moved into the Reds’ starting rotation in 1971 and responded with a 16-6 record. He was 3-0 against the Cardinals, shutting them out twice, and would have had a fourth win if he’d protected a ninth-inning lead.

On June 16, 1971, Gullett pitched a four-hitter in a 1-0 Reds victory. The Cardinals threatened in the eighth, getting a runner to third with two outs, but Matty Alou struck out looking. (Alou, a National League batting champion, had one hit in 19 career at-bats versus Gullett.)

“He threw a fastball right on the black part of the plate,” catcher Pat Corrales told the Dayton Daily News. “As hard as he can throw, and with the location of that pitch, there wasn’t anything else for Alou to do but look at it and go sit down.”

Gullett said to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “I had my best fastball of the year” and an effective slider. Corrales told the newspaper that with Gullett’s slider, “You can’t tell when it’s coming. The rotation is just like on his fastball. A right-hander goes to swing at it, and all of a sudden it hits him on the fists.” Boxscore

Two months later, Gullett was matched against Bob Gibson. In their previous starts, Gibson pitched a no-hitter against the Pirates and Gullett limited the Cubs to one hit in eight innings.

The showdown turned out to be no contest. Gullett and the Reds won, 5-0. Joe Torre (the league batting champion that year) and Ted Simmons were a combined 0-for-8.

“Gullett’s got a fastball that rides away from you, plus a slider that comes in on you,” Torre told the Post-Dispatch. “You can’t tell which one’s coming.”

(Torre adjusted impressively. He had 20 career hits versus Gullett, batting .370.)

Asked whether Gullett was equal to American League left-hander Vida Blue, Sparky Anderson said to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “I wouldn’t trade him even up for Blue.” Boxscore

The Cardinals got some satisfaction against Gullett 11 days later. Gullett and the Reds led, 3-2, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Lou Brock tied the score with a home run. The Cardinals went on to win in the 11th when Clay Carroll walked Ted Sizemore with the bases loaded. Boxscore

(Like Torre, Brock had success against Gullett, totaling 19 hits and batting .322.)

Bat man

Gullett also caused trouble for the Cardinals with his bat.

On July 16, 1974, Gullett, who batted right-handed, had three hits, three RBI and was the winning pitcher in a 12-7 Reds triumph against the Cardinals.

Gullett had a two-run double that knocked Bob Forsch from the game in the first inning, and drove in another run with a single versus John Curtis in the second. He added a single against Rich Folkers in the sixth. Boxscore

In 1975, Gullett, 24, was 4-0 with an 0.28 ERA versus the Cardinals. He allowed one run (a Ted Simmons home run) in 32 innings against them. One of those wins beat Gibson, who was trying for his 250th career victory. Boxscore

Gullett experienced an array of health problems and injuries, including hepatitis (1972), chronic back spasms (1974), a fractured left thumb (1975) and a dislocated ankle tendon (1976).

After the Reds repeated as World Series champions in 1976, Gullett became a free agent and signed a six-year contract with the Yankees. “We feel Gullett is a modern Whitey Ford,” Yankees president Gabe Paul told the New York Times.

Late in September 1978, Gullett underwent surgery for a double tear of the rotator cuff in his left shoulder and was done pitching at age 27. “Sometimes, I dream that I come back as a right-handed pitcher,” Gullett said years later to Bill Peterson of The Cincinnati Post.

In 1986, Gullett, 35, had a heart attack. Four years later, he had triple bypass surgery. Gullett recovered and coached for the Reds for 13 seasons (1993-2005).

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 14 Comments »

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