RetroSimba

Enduring record: Stan Musial and his 5 home runs in a day

May 2, 2014 by retrosimba

Ever since Stan Musial became the first big-league player to hit five home runs in a doubleheader, only one other has matched the feat and no one has surpassed it.

On May 2, 1954, Musial hit three home runs in the Cardinals’ 10-6 victory in Game 1 and clubbed two more in Game 2, a 9-7 victory for the Giants at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Eighteen years later, on Aug. 1, 1972, Padres first baseman Nate Colbert, a St. Louis native who began his pro career in the Cardinals’ farm system, hit five home runs off five different pitchers in a doubleheader against the Braves at Atlanta.

Musial is the only left-handed batter to achieve the feat in the majors. Colbert is the only right-handed batter to do the same.

Although sluggers such as Roger Maris, Hank Aaron, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds have broken single-season and career home run records in the years since Musial hit five home runs in a doubleheader, the record likely will continue to endure because of the degree of difficulty and because the number of doubleheaders played each season has decreased significantly.

For instance, in 2001, when he hit a single-season record 73 home runs for the Giants, Bonds didn’t play in both games of any doubleheader.

Move over, Babe

Maris came close to matching Musial’s feat.

In 1961, when he surpassed Babe Ruth by hitting 61 home runs for the Yankees, Maris played in both games of 23 doubleheaders. On July 25 that season, he hit four home runs in a doubleheader against the White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Maris hit two homers in Game 1 and two in Game 2. In his last at-bat of Game 2, with a chance to match Musial’s record, Maris grounded out to second base.

When Ruth hit 60 home runs for the 1927 Yankees, the most he had in a doubleheader were three against the Red Sox at Boston on Sept. 6. Ruth played in both games of a doubleheader 18 times that season. He also hit three home runs in a doubleheader, all in Game 1, on May 21, 1930, versus the Athletics at Philadelphia.

Jolting the Giants

In 1954, Musial hit more home runs (12) and had more RBI (27) versus the Giants than he did against any other team. He batted .338 against them that year.

Musial’s five home runs in the May 2, 1954, doubleheader came off three pitchers: left-hander Johnny Antonelli and right-handers Jim Hearn and Hoyt Wilhelm (who, like Musial, would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame).

Musial hit well against all three throughout his career. Here’s a look:

_ vs. Antonelli, 11 home runs, .302 batting average.

_ vs. Hearn, 4 home runs, .326 batting average.

_ vs. Wilhelm, 4 home runs, .333 batting average.

5 for No. 6

In Game 1, Musial hit two home runs off Antonelli, with the bases empty in the third and one on in the fifth, and a three-run shot off Hearn in the eighth, breaking a 6-6 tie. Here is how The Sporting News described each:

_ Home run #1: “Swinging like a golfer with arms close to his body, Stan lifted a low pitch inside the strike zone onto the right field roof at Busch Stadium.”

_ Home run #2: Musial “socked a slow curve to the top of the 40-foot pavilion.”

_ Home run #3: Musial hit “a slider and the ball … reached the roof.”

It was the first time Musial hit three home runs in a big-league game. Boxscore

In Game 2, Musial hit both home runs off Wilhelm, with one on in the fifth and none on in the seventh. The Sporting News report:

_ Home run #4: Musial “hammered a slow curve clear out of the park onto Grand Boulevard.”

_ Home run #5: Musial “whacked a knuckler out on the streetcar tracks, this one farther toward right-center.”

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said of that fifth home run, “I’m especially proud that it was hit off a knuckleball. Not just any old knuckleball _ and they’re all pretty tough _ but a great knuckler’s, Wilhelm’s.”

Musial almost had a sixth home run that Sunday afternoon. In the third inning of Game 2, he “sent a tremendous drive to dead center, where it was caught by Willie Mays some 410 feet away and just 15 feet from the bleacher wall,” The Sporting News wrote.

In his book, Musial wrote of that long fly out, “The wind that day blew toward left field. If it had blown toward right, I believe I would have had two three-homer games the same afternoon.”

In his last at-bat of Game 2, facing right-hander Larry Jansen, a pitcher he hit .289 against in his career with four home runs, Musial admitted he was swinging for a home run. Instead, he popped out to first base. “It was high, inside _ a bad pitch,” Musial said to The Sporting News. Boxscore

Musial, batting third and playing right field in both games, was 4-for-4 with six RBI, three runs scored and a walk in the opener. He was 2-for-4 with three RBI, three runs scored and a walk in the second game.

Musial’s totals for the doubleheader: 6-for-8, five home runs, nine RBI, six runs scored, two walks.

“In the clubhouse afterward,” Musial said, “manager Eddie Stanky, who had been coaching third base, told reporters I not only had smiled, but actually had laughed as I trotted around the bases after that fifth homer. You know, I just couldn’t believe I’d hit five homers in one day _ and that no one else had.”

Previously: How Stan Musial got his fourth 5-hit game in one season

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Home runs vs. Cardinals put Hank Aaron on road to record

April 23, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated April 28, 2025)

In a 1954 series against the Cardinals, Hank Aaron hit his first and second home runs in the big leagues, solidifying his status with the Braves and launching him on a path toward breaking Babe Ruth’s most storied record.

Aaron was 18 when he played his first season in the Braves’ system as a shortstop for Eau Claire (Wis.) in 1952. Braves scout Billy Southworth, the former Cardinals and Braves manager, filed a glowing account on the prospect. According to the book “Baseball’s Greatest Players,” Southworth wrote in his report, “For a baby-faced kid of 18, his playing ability is outstanding.”

Two years later, Aaron, 20, was on the Opening Day roster of the 1954 Braves. Six games into the season, the rookie outfielder was struggling, batting .217 with no home runs and no RBI.

As the Braves entered a three-game series against the Cardinals at St. Louis, speculation was Aaron might be benched whenever outfielder Bill Bruton recovered from a viral infection and returned to the lineup.

Aaron ended that talk with a strong series at St. Louis, hitting .500 (8-for-16) with a pair of home runs and three RBI. He went on to have a solid rookie season (.280 batting average, 27 doubles, 13 home runs and 69 RBI.).

Victim No. 1

In the opener of the Braves-Cardinals series on April 23, 1954, Aaron, batting sixth and playing right field, was 3-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBI in Milwaukee’s 7-5 victory in 14 innings.

In the sixth, with the Cardinals ahead, 4-2, Aaron hit the first of his 755 career home runs, a solo shot off starter Vic Raschi. A week earlier, Aaron got his first hit, a double, also against Raschi. In his autobiography, “I Had a Hammer,” Aaron said, “I was fortunate to be facing him near the end of his career.”

The Braves tied the score in the ninth and each team scored in the 13th.

In the 14th, with Cot Deal pitching for St. Louis, Andy Pafko singled with one out and Aaron also singled, moving Pafko to second. Joe Presko relieved and the first batter he faced, Johnny Logan, reached on an error by shortstop Solly Hemus, loading the bases. Jim Pendleton, batting for pitcher Dave Jolly, singled, scoring Pafko and Aaron. Boxscore

Two days later, on April 25, 1954, in the fifth inning against starter Stu Miller, Aaron hit his second career home run, tying the score at 1-1. Aaron was 5-for-6 in a game won by the Cardinals, 7-6, in 12 innings. Cardinals right fielder Stan Musial was 4-for-6 with a home run. Boxscore

Powerful wrists

Aaron and Musial eventually developed a mutual admiration.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said Aaron was “one of the best hitters I ever saw … He has tremendous wrist action.”

In choosing his all-time National League outfield, Musial put Aaron in right, Willie Mays in center and Duke Snider in left. The one weakness Musial noticed in Aaron was “the slider bothered him enough to cause him to lose patience and often swing more wildly than he probably intended.”

Aaron said in his autobiography, “Stan Musial was one of my favorite ballplayers because he treated everybody the same _ black or white, superstar or scrub _ and he genuinely loved the game … When he and I were part of a group of players who toured Vietnam, Musial became the first white man I ever roomed with.

“We had been good friends for quite a while,” Aaron said. “Whenever the Braves played the Cardinals, he and I would always manage to meet up at the batting cage and talk about hitting … Basically, his method was to study the pitchers and swing the bat, and that was the way I felt about it … I concentrated on the pitcher. I didn’t stay up nights worrying about my weight distribution, or the location of my hands, or the turn of my hips.”

Big hits

On Sept. 23, 1957, at Milwaukee, Aaron hit a walkoff home run against the Cardinals’ Billy Muffett in the 11th inning, clinching the National League pennant for the Braves.

“I came up with Johnny Logan on first, looking for a pitch I could drive hard enough to bring Logan around,” Aaron said in his autobiography. “I got the breaking ball I was waiting for.” Boxscore

Aaron hit 91 career home runs against the Cardinals. Only the Reds (97) and Dodgers (95) yielded more home runs to him.

The Cardinals pitcher who gave up the most home runs to Aaron was a fellow Hall of Famer, Bob Gibson. Aaron hit eight home runs against Gibson, but batted .215 (35-for-163) versus the Cardinals ace. Aaron had more strikeouts (32) than RBI (26) versus Gibson.

In an interview with Joe Schuster for the 2018 Cardinals Yearbook, Aaron said, “Facing Bob Gibson was kind of like going to the dentist to get a tooth pulled. You know the doctor will give you a shot of Novocaine _ but it ain’t going to be enough. So you just hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”

Aaron’s first home run off Gibson on July 3, 1962, was No. 272 of his career Boxscore and his last home run off Gibson on June 14, 1974, was No. 724. Boxscore

In the book “Sixty Feet, Six Inches,” Gibson said of Aaron, “The man did not miss a fastball … The worst pitch in baseball is the changeup slider, but I’d throw Aaron that changeup slider and he’d be out on that front foot and hit rockets, two hops to the shortstop. All of our shortstops took balls in the chest off the bat of Aaron. They’d go, ‘Damn, Gibby.’ I’d say, ‘Hey, this is the way I get him out. He’s going to knock you over, so be ready for it.’ “

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Hal Smith: Cardinals all-star catcher made pitchers better

April 20, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated Sept. 10, 2025)

When 17-year-old Tim McCarver made his big-league debut with the Cardinals in September 1959, the catcher he hoped to replace someday was an all-star with a powerful arm and a reputation for handling a pitching staff well.

Hal Smith was regarded as one of the best catchers in the National League when he played for the Cardinals.

In the 2003 book “Few and Chosen,” McCarver said, “Behind the plate, Hal was as good as they come. He could catch. He could really catch, with soft, pliable hands, and he could throw lasers. He was a lot like Jerry Grote of the Mets, who was the best defensive catcher I ever saw. Hal Smith was on a par with Grote, and the pitchers loved to pitch to him … All pitchers loved Hal Smith.”

In the 1950s and 1960s, there were two players named Hal Smith in the major leagues and both were catchers.

Harold Wayne Smith, known as Hal, played for the Orioles, Athletics, Pirates, Colt .45s and Reds from 1955-64 and hit a three-run home run for Pittsburgh against the Yankees in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.

Harold Raymond Smith, also known as Hal, played for the Cardinals from 1956-61 and briefly for the Pirates in 1965.

In the book “We Played the Game,” Cardinals pitcher Tom Cheney said, “I liked when Hal Smith caught me. He was one of the best catchers in baseball. We were in synch … Vets like Smith really knew the hitters and you could depend on them.”

Taught by the best

After six seasons (1949-55) in the Cardinals’ minor-league system, including two at Omaha under manager George Kissell, Smith debuted with St. Louis in 1956. He established himself as an all-star in his second season, 1957, by hitting .279, ranking fourth in assists among National League catchers and committing just five errors in 795 innings. (Smith did lead the league in passed balls, primarily because the Cardinals had knuckleball specialist Hoyt Wilhelm.)

On May 8, 1957, Smith was 3-for-5 with six RBI, including a two-run home run, in the Cardinals’ 13-4 victory over the Giants at New York. Boxscore

However, Smith fell into disfavor with Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson in 1958 for being overweight and having a sore arm, The Sporting News reported.

When Solly Hemus replaced Hutchinson for the 1959 season, he had Smith and Gene Green compete in spring training for the starting job. Smith won the role and earned the respect of his manager.

“You just can’t give enough credit to Hal Smith for the pitching improvement (of the Cardinals),” Hemus told The Sporting News in April 1959. “He takes charge out there and quickly gains the confidence of his pitchers.

“Defensively, I’ll rate Smitty right up with Del Crandall of Milwaukee. With that strong, accurate arm of his, Smitty isn’t going to let many runners steal on him this season. He can hit .220 or .230 and be my regular catcher.”

Smith hit .270 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI for the 1959 Cardinals and earned all-star status.

Slugging for Sharon

On May 9, 1959, Smith hit two home runs _ a three-run shot off Glen Hobbie and a two-run shot off Joe Schaffernoth _ in the Cardinals’ 11-1 victory over the Cubs at St. Louis. Boxscore

According to The Sporting News, Smith hadn’t been expected to start the game because he and his wife earlier rushed daughter Sharon to DePaul Hospital.

It was feared Sharon had a kidney ailment that would require surgery. When it was discovered the girl had a minor kidney infection and no surgery was required, Smith told Hemus he was ready to play and Hemus inserted Smith into the lineup. Relieved to learn of his daughter’s improved health, Smith responded with the only two-homer game of his big-league career.

Smith led National League catchers in highest percentage of runners caught attempting to steal in both 1959 and 1960. He threw out 32 of 76 attempted base stealers (42 percent) in 1959 and 34 of 66 (52 percent) in 1960.

A heart condition shortened Smith’s playing career with St. Louis. In 1962, Smith became a coach on the staff of Cardinals manager Johnny Keane. The next year, McCarver, 21, replaced Gene Oliver as the Cardinals’ catcher and helped them to three pennants and two World Series championships.

Cardinals connections helped Smith continue his coaching career. He coached for the 1965-67 Pirates staff of manager Harry Walker, who was a former Cardinals player and coach.

In 1968 and 1969, Smith coached on the staff of Reds manager Dave Bristol. The Reds were run by former Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam. Smith mentored Reds catcher Johnny Bench. In the Baseball Hall of Fame magazine “Memories and Dreams,” Bench said, “Hal always had the gentlest manner, even with the younger players. He told me, ‘I don’t have to work with you a lot, kid.’ I can never say enough about Hal.”

Smith returned to the Cardinals as a scout, coached on the 1976-77 Brewers staff of manager Alex Grammas, his former Cardinals teammate, and went back to the Cardinals to scout again.

Posted in Games, Hitters | 4 Comments »

The strange, short Cardinals career of Memo Luna

April 17, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated June 26, 2020)

The Cardinals paid $75,000 and gave up a trio of players for a pitcher who netted them two outs.

Guillermo Romero “Memo” Luna pitched in one game for the Cardinals in 1954, failed to complete an inning and never played in the majors again.

A left-hander, Luna was the first Mexican-born player to appear in a game for the Cardinals.

On April 20, 1954, he got the start in his Cardinals debut against the Reds at St. Louis, even though his arm was hurting. In the clubhouse before the game, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported, “Luna smiled his usual pleasant fashion and said his arm felt fine and indicated by widening the grin and slapping his glove that he was ready to go out and do a little pitching.”

The confidence gave way to a shelling.

In the first inning, Luna yielded two runs on two doubles, two walks and a sacrifice fly. He was lifted with two outs. One of the outs came on a fly ball caught by Stan Musial with his back against the wall. Boxscore

“He was pounded so hard … that manager Eddie Stanky would hardly be justified in another such risky trial,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch observed.

The Globe-Democrat declared Luna had “a hard time throwing a nickel’s worth” of the price the club paid to acquire him.

A few days later, the Cardinals sent Luna to their farm club in Rochester, N.Y.

Though he continued to pitch in the minor leagues and in Mexico until 1961, Memo Luna never returned to the majors.

His big-league career totals: 0-1 record, 27.00 ERA, 0.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 6 batters faced.

Super southpaw

In 1951, after he was 26-13 for Tijuana of the Southwest International League, Luna was pursued by the St. Louis Browns, but the San Diego club in the Pacific Coast League had a working agreement with Tijuana and acquired him. In addition to his pitching, Luna was a sketch artist. Asked what he sketched, Luna told the Globe-Democrat, “Everything in life.”

On Sept. 23, 1953, the Cardinals acquired Luna from San Diego for $75,000 and players to be named. They eventually sent pitchers Cliff Chambers and John Romonosky and outfielder Harry Elliott to San Diego, completing the deal.

At the time, Luna, 23, seemed worth the price. He had a 17-12 record and a league-best 2.67 ERA with 16 complete games for San Diego in 1953. Jack Bliss, a catcher for the 1908-1912 Cardinals, watched Luna at San Diego and told Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky, “He’s got exceptional control and a good curve.”

Cardinals scout Joe Mathes checked him out and was impressed. Luna is “a great control pitcher with other skills,” Mathes told the Post-Dispatch. “His knuckleball and curve are very good, he has tremendous poise on the mound and is outstanding in fielding his position and holding runners on base.”

That fall, Luna pitched in the Cuban League for Almendares and manager Bobby Bragan. The Cardinals granted permission with the understanding Luna would quit around Dec. 1, The Sporting News reported.

Luna posted a 4-1 record in his first five decisions for Almendares. The Sporting News wrote Luna “has shown remarkable poise and control, plus a fine knuckler.”

After Luna lost his next two decisions as the Dec. 1 deadline loomed, the Cardinals suggested he leave Cuba and rest his arm before reporting to spring training in February. Luna obliged and went to St. Louis, where he passed a physical examination.

While in St. Louis, Luna told the Cardinals that a day in his honor was being planned in Mexico City and he was being asked to pitch, the Globe-Democrat reported. The Cardinals misunderstood, thinking the game was in December, not February, and agreed to let Luna pitch, the Globe-Democrat reported.

Luna went home to Mexico, believing he had the Cardinals’ approval to pitch on Memo Luna Day.

Worn down

On Feb. 19, 1954, pitching for the Mexico City Reds against Aztecas, Luna struck out a batter in the third inning and grabbed his left elbow in pain.

According to The Sporting News, Luna stayed in the game until its completion, yielding five runs and nine hits in nine innings, and “was throwing with only half speed after the injury.” It was the second farewell game he pitched since returning to Mexico. The Cardinals’ front office had approved him to pitch only one, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Luna reported late to Cardinals spring training camp in Florida, complaining of a sore arm.

“We asked Luna to quit pitching Dec. 1, but we have no way of controlling what a man does back in his home country,” said Stanky.

In spring training, Luna failed to impress. He gave up three runs in two innings to the Phillies and surrendered a two-run, game-winning home run to the Reds’ Gus Bell. The Post-Dispatch described his exhibition game efforts as “a sorry spring.”

Having paid a high price for him, the Cardinals put Luna on the Opening Day roster. He got the start in the Cardinals’ sixth game of the season _ and never got another chance with them again.

“Luna, in Spanish, means moon, but only the English version, outfielder Wally Moon, has resembled a star in the making,” the Post-Dispatch concluded.

After Luna’s demotion to Rochester, Bob Burnes of the Globe-Democrat wrote, “Whether he hurt his arm before he started for spring training or whether it was something else, like maybe getting and feeling a little lost in the hustle and bustle of major league work, no one can say except Luna and he apparently can’t explain it himself. If he regains his control and confidence, both of which he must have to win, the Cardinals probably will accommodate him with a second look. If he doesn’t, they’ll probably leave him at Rochester.”

In late June 1954, when asked whether Luna would be a candidate to return to the Cardinals, Rochester manager Harry Walker told the Post-Dispatch, “Frankly, I’d have to consider him doubtful.”

Luna told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, “Could I pitch for the Cardinals? Without the fastball, no. If my arm was not hurt anymore, I can pitch for the Cardinals.”

Said Walker: “His changeup and his curveball are his strong points, but his control has to be sharp or he’s in trouble.”

Luna was 9-11 with a 3.50 ERA for Rochester in 1954.

Used primarily in relief, Luna pitched for manager Johnny Keane with the Cardinals’ farm club in Omaha in 1955 and was 4-4 with a 5.43 ERA. Luna spent a season in the Orioles’ farm system and played the rest of his career in Mexico.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 2 Comments »

The story of how Tom Alston integrated Cardinals

April 14, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated April 5, 2026)

Two years after his professional baseball debut at the Class C level of the minor leagues, Tom Alston was the Opening Day first baseman for the Cardinals. Making that leap in such a short time would be a challenge for any prospect. Alston had the additional pressure of being the player who integrated the Cardinals.

On April 13, 1954, Thomas Edison Alston was the first African-American to play in a regular-season game for the Cardinals, batting sixth and playing first base against the Cubs at St. Louis.

Seven seasons after Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers, the Cardinals were the 10th of the 16 big-league teams to integrate.

Alston, 28, was the 14th African-American player in the Cardinals’ organization, but the only one on the big-league roster. (Among the other blacks in the Cardinals’ system in 1954 were pitchers Bill Greason, Brooks Lawrence and John Wyatt. All eventually pitched in the big leagues.)

Rapid rise

Alston and Jackie Robinson were born on the same date, Jan. 31. Robinson’s birth year was 1919 and Alston’s was 1926.

Alston’s rise from baseball novice to Cardinals pioneer was fast and unexpected. After serving in the Navy from 1945-47, Alston enrolled at North Carolina A&T in his hometown of Greensboro and earned a degree in physical education and social sciences. College was where Alston first played organized baseball.

In 1952, he entered professional baseball with Porterville, Calif., of the Class C Southwest International League, hit .353 in 54 games and caught the attention of the San Diego club of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.

Alston joined San Diego midway through the 1952 season and hit .244.

In 1953 for San Diego, Alston had 207 hits in 180 games, with 101 runs scored, 23 home runs, 101 RBI and a .297 batting average. Cardinals scouts recommended him.

On Jan. 26, 1954, the Cardinals sent first baseman Dick Sisler, pitcher Eddie Erautt and $100,000 to San Diego for Alston. San Diego manager Lefty O’Doul called Alston “a great prospect who can field as good as any first baseman in the big leagues.”

He “looks like he’s going to be a great hitter, too,” O’Doul told The Sporting News.

Said Cardinals owner Gussie Busch: “When we purchased the Cardinals, I promised there would be no racial discrimination. However, Alston was not purchased because of his race. Our scouts and manager Eddie Stanky believe he is a great prospect. While he may need more experience, we didn’t want him to slip away from us.”

Bill Starr, president of the San Diego club, offered to cut the cash portion of the deal to $75,000 if the Cardinals would wait until 1955 to take Alston, according to the Los Angeles Daily Mirror, but the Cardinals wanted Alston for 1954. The incumbent at first base was Steve Bilko, who hit 21 home runs for the 1953 Cardinals but also led the National League in striking out (125 times). The Cardinals used spring training in 1954 as a competition between Alston and Bilko for the first base job.

“I think we have a real ballplayer in this colored boy,” Stanky said to The Sporting News in March 1954.

Said Alston: “They treat me here just the same as any other ballplayer and that’s how I want to be treated.”

Major leaguer

Stanky said he’d platoon Alston (a left-handed batter) and Bilko (right-handed), but Alston got the Opening Day start against Cubs left-hander Paul Minner.

“I guess I’ve come a long way in a short time,” Alston said. “I guess I came up like a real rocket.”

Alston went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and committed an error in his debut game. Boxscore

In his next game, April 17, 1954, at Chicago, Alston went hitless in his first four at-bats. In the eighth, he led off with a home run, his first big-league hit, against Cubs reliever Jim Brosnan. Boxscore

The next day, April 18, Alston got his second hit, a pinch-hit, three-run homer off left-hander Jim Davis, lifting the Cardinals to a 6-4 triumph. Boxscore

On April 30, in an endorsement of Alston, the Cardinals sent Bilko to the Cubs.

In a doubleheader against the Giants on May 2, Alston was 5-for-6 with five RBI, an inside-the-park home run and three walks. His performance was overshadowed by teammate Stan Musial, who hit five home runs with nine RBI. Game 1 boxscore Game 2 boxscore

In The Sporting News, Bob Broeg wrote of Alston’s inside-the-park home run: “His speed enabled him to circle the bases easily after Willie Mays misjudged his long wind-blown drive to left-center.”

Slowed by slump

Alston hit .301 (37-for-123) in May and was at .285 overall on May 30, but he slumped in June, enduring a 2-for-27 stretch and batting .181 (15-for-83) for the month. He had seven RBI in his last 42 games.

Alston complained that a mysterious physical ailment was causing him to feel weak. Medical exams turned up nothing. Eventually, Cardinals trainer Bob Bauman determined Alston was suffering from neurasthenia. A psychiatrist confirmed the diagnosis. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “The complicated emotional disorder somehow manifests itself in physical symptoms such as unexplained fatigue, sweating, vertigo and inability to sleep or concentrate.”

In June 1954, the Cardinals called up a black pitcher, Brooks Lawrence, from the minors and arranged with Lawrence and Alston to stay with a black family. As Lawrence recalled to Wendy Conlin of the Post-Dispatch, Alston would pray out loud at night in bed. “I would lie there and hear him praying, ‘I can hit, I can hit, I can hit.’ He made it kind of difficult to sleep sometimes,” Lawrence said.

On June 30, the Cardinals sent Alston to Class AAA Rochester and called up another rookie, Joe Cunningham, to replace him at first base. Alston’s overall numbers for the 1954 Cardinals: 60 hits in 66 games, 14 doubles, four home runs, 34 RBI and a .246 batting average. He made 62 starts at first base.

Said Cardinals general manager Dick Meyer: “Alston wasn’t ready … Eddie (Stanky) and I still have a very high regard for Alston as a prospect.”

Cunningham hit .284 with 11 home runs in 85 games for the 1954 Cardinals. The next season, the Cardinals moved Musial from the outfield to first base.

Alston made brief appearances with the Cardinals in 1955, 1956 and 1957. According to the Associated Press, when Gussie Busch asked Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson why he didn’t play Alston, Hutchinson coldly replied, “If you want a clown to play first base, why don’t you hire (circus performer) Emmett Kelly?”

In 91 big-league games, all with St. Louis, Alston had 66 hits and batted .244.

In the 1990 book “Redbirds Revisited,” Alston told authors David Craft and Tom Owens, “I got a fair shake. It was just my physical condition that kept me from playing ball the way I knew I could play, the way the Cardinals expected me to play. My teammates treated me fairly. I don’t think they thought I was that good a hitter, though, and I guess I didn’t show them much while I was there.”

Ten years after Alston’s big-league debut, the Cardinals became World Series champions, building a reputation as a franchise that embraced diversity with players such as Bob Gibson, Bill White, Curt Flood, Lou Brock and Julian Javier.

Tom Alston took the first steps toward making that possible.

Troubled times

In 1958, Alston was arrested on arson charges after he admitted setting fire to a North Carolina church, the St. Louis Argus reported.

Police inspector M.L. Riley told the Argus that when he asked Alston why he set the church afire, Alston replied, “I had a fight with my sister and I just wanted to show her something.”

Alston spent from 1959 to 1969 in two state institutions in North Carolina, the Post-Dispatch reported.

In 1990, the Cardinals invited Alston to throw the ceremonial first pitch before a game against the Cubs at St. Louis. “I had more fun that visit than I ever had when I was playing,” Alston told Wendy Conlin of the Post-Dispatch.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects | 6 Comments »

Trade caused Enos Slaughter, Stan Musial to burst into tears

April 11, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated April 11, 2020)

Uncertain whether outfielder Enos Slaughter could adjust to being a role player, the Cardinals decided to trade him.

Caught off-guard, Slaughter and teammate Stan Musial broke into tears.

On April 11, 1954, the Cardinals sent Slaughter to the Yankees for three prospects: outfielders Bill Virdon and Emil Tellinger and pitcher Mel Wright.

The trade occurred two weeks before Slaughter turned 38. He was the Cardinals team captain, a 10-time all-star who held the team record for games played (1,820) and RBI (1,148). Slaughter joined the Cardinals in 1938 and helped them to a World Series championship in 1942. After three years in the service, he returned to the Cardinals in 1946 and led them to another World Series title, scoring the winning run with his mad dash from first to home in Game 7.

In 13 seasons with the Cardinals, Slaughter batted .305 with 2,064 hits and an on-base percentage of .384. Known for his all-out hustle, he twice led the National League in triples (17 in 1942 and 13 in 1949). In 1942, he was the league leader in hits (188) and total bases (292). He also led the league in RBI (130) in 1946 and doubles (52) in 1939.

Slaughter showed no signs of slowing. In 143 games for the 1953 Cardinals, he produced 143 hits, 34 doubles, 89 RBI, a .291 batting average and .395 on-base percentage as the right fielder.

Youth movement

Slaughter went to spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1954 expecting to be a regular again in an outfield with Musial and Rip Repulski. He was surprised when, late in spring training, Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky told The Sporting News, “I’ll be satisfied if we can get 75 to 90 games out of the captain.”

Slaughter groused about the possibility of becoming a role player. Whether that was the normal grumbling of a proud veteran who didn’t want to concede playing time, or a tone of dark dissent that threatened to divide the team isn’t certain.

The Cardinals weren’t taking any chances. They wanted rookie Wally Moon to be the starting center fielder, moving Musial from left to right and Repulski from center to left.

Moon “is the best young prospect I’ve seen here in three years outside of Repulski,” Stanky told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Informed of the trade by general manager Dick Meyer and Stanky after an exhibition game, Slaughter sobbed.

Slaughter called the trade “the greatest shock I ever had in my life.”

“You give everything you’ve got for an organization and then you get stepped on,” Slaughter said to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

Crying game

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “In the clubhouse, when the rest of us got the word, we were stunned. Dressing even more slowly than usual, I was the last one out. At the lot where I parked my car … I found Slaughter, still wiping his eyes. We looked at each other _ and both burst into tears.”

In justifying the trade, Stanky said, “A player like Slaughter just can’t stand sitting on a bench.”

“We are building this club with young talent,” Stanky said, “I’m sold on the way Wally Moon performed for us. If we kept Slaughter, it would mean Moon would go back to the minors.”

Said Slaughter: “I’ll be around when a lot of these guys are gone. I’m not finished. I’ll prove it to them.”

According to newspaper reports, the trade was the most unpopular with Cardinals fans since the club dealt Rogers Hornsby to the Giants after winning the 1926 World Series championship.

St. Louis writers reflected the mood of their readers. Among the tributes to Slaughter:

_ Bob Broeg in The Sporting News: “There never was a more determined competitor or hustler than the last of the old Gashouse Gang _ a hard runner, brilliant outfielder, clutch hitter.”

_ Bob Burnes in the Globe-Democrat: “Slaughter was more than a ballplayer, as any Cardinals fan could tell you. He was an institution _ not only among the fans but among the players as well.”

_ J. Roy Stockton in the Post-Dispatch: “Enos was the best competitor the club had. He still was a standout for batting skill and hustle.”

Desperate move?

The Yankees, who had an outfield of Gene Woodling in left, Mickey Mantle in center and Hank Bauer in right, were delighted with the deal for Slaughter. “We gave up practically nothing for him, so why not take him?” Yankees co-owner Del Webb said.

Other baseball executives saw Slaughter as a fading talent. The Sporting News polled the seven National League general managers besides Meyer and each said he wasn’t interested in pursuing a deal with the Cardinals for Slaughter.

Buzzy Bavasi of the Dodgers, who were planning to put rookie Sandy Amoros into an outfield with Duke Snider and Carl Furillo, said, “Personally, I wouldn’t take Slaughter over Amoros, would you?”

In response to the Yankees, Frank Lane, general manager of the American League White Sox, scoffed, “You can’t pack Old Man Time on your back and still be a great ballplayer … It was a desperate move by them.”

Actually, it was a good move for the Cardinals and Yankees.

Moon hit a home run in his first at-bat for the Cardinals on Opening Day and went on to win the 1954 National League Rookie of the Year Award, generating 193 hits, 106 runs, 18 steals, a .304 batting average and a .371 on-base percentage.

The next year, Virdon came up to the Cardinals and won the 1955 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Slaughter adjusted well to being a role player with the Yankees. He hit .355 with 12 walks as a pinch-hitter for the 1954 Yankees. He played in the major leagues until 1959, appeared in three World Series (1956, 1957 and 1958) for the Yankees and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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