RetroSimba

Sparky Anderson taught Sonny Ruberto the Cardinal Way

April 2, 2014 by retrosimba

Their given names were John and George.

Their baseball names were Sonny and Sparky.

sonny_ruberto Together, they contributed to a standard of teaching that became a hallmark of the Cardinals.

Sonny Ruberto, mentored by Sparky Anderson in the Cardinals’ system, influenced St. Louis players and prospects from 1977-81 as a big-league coach and minor-league manager.

Two of his pupils in the Cardinals system, Jim Riggleman and John Stuper, carried on with reputations as first-rate instructors. Riggleman managed five big-league teams. Stuper, who started and won Game 6 of the 1982 World Series for the Cardinals, coached the Yale University baseball team.

George “Sparky” Anderson, who built a Hall of Fame career as manager of the Reds and Tigers, was 30 when he began his managerial career with Class AAA Toronto in 1964. A year later, he became a manager in the Cardinals system.

John “Sonny” Ruberto was 24 when he began his managerial career with the Padres’ Class A Lodi club in 1970. At 31, he became the youngest coach in the major leagues when he joined the staff of first-year Cardinals manager Vern Rapp in 1977.

Cardinals prospect

A standout catcher at Curtis High School in Staten Island, N.Y., where he played with other future major leaguers such as Terry Crowley and Frank Fernandez, Ruberto signed with the Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1964. Two years later, he was on a Class A St. Petersburg team managed by Anderson.

In a 1966 game that began on June 14 and ended at 2:30 a.m. on June 15, the visiting Miami Marlins beat St. Petersburg, 4-3, in 29 innings. “It was the darndest thing I’ve ever seen,” Anderson told The Sporting News.

Ruberto played all 29 innings _ the first nine as catcher and the last 20 at shortstop. He had two hits in 10 at-bats and scored a run.

Ruberto hit .283 in 88 games for St. Petersburg. The next year, he played for the Cardinals’ Class A Modesto club, managed by Anderson.

On May 22, 1969, the Cardinals traded Ruberto and second baseman John Sipin to the Padres for infielder Jerry DaVanon and first baseman Bill Davis. Ruberto made his big-league debut as a player with the Padres that month.

Big Red Machine

After a season managing Lodi, Ruberto in 1971 joined the Reds organization, where he was reunited with two key figures from his Cardinals days: Anderson (the Reds’ manager) and Bob Howsam, the former Cardinals general manager who took over the same role with Cincinnati.

Ruberto resumed his playing career and was sent to Class AAA Indianapolis. His manager there for the next five years, 1971 through 1975, was Rapp. As catcher, Ruberto was credited with helping the progress of several Reds pitching prospects, including Joaquin Andujar, Ross Grimsley, Tom Hume, Milt Wilcox and Pat Zachry.

“I feel I had something to do with their development,” Ruberto told The Sporting News.

When Rapp was named Cardinals manager, replacing Red Schoendienst, for the 1977 season, he selected Ruberto to be the first-base coach.

Wrote The Sporting News: “Like Rapp, Ruberto had been a career Triple-A catcher highly regarded for his ability to handle pitchers. Ruberto even has some ideas on helping Ted Simmons improve his backstopping duties.”

Rapp was brought to the Cardinals to instill discipline. At spring training in 1977, The Sporting News reported, “Rapp sized up his charges to make sure that the regulation baseball uniforms were worn properly. He had coach Sonny Ruberto demonstrate how he wanted the uniforms worn.”

At the helm

Rapp was fired in April 1978 and replaced by Ken Boyer. After the season, two of the coaches Boyer had inherited, Ruberto and Mo Mazzali, were replaced by Schoendienst and Dal Maxvill.

The Cardinals, though, kept Ruberto in the organization, naming him manager of the 1979 St. Petersburg club, succeeding Hal Lanier, who was promoted to Class AAA Springfield.

“What kind of manager will I be?” Ruberto said in response to a question from the St. Petersburg Times. “Well, a little of Vern Rapp, a little of Sparky Anderson, a little of Billy Martin and a lot of Sonny Ruberto.”

St. Petersburg finished 64-71, but the Cardinals were pleased with how their prospects, such as Stuper and fellow starting pitcher Andy Rincon, developed under Ruberto.

In 1980, Ruberto managed the Cardinals’ Class AA Arkansas team to an 81-55 record and a Texas League championship. Stuper had a 7-2 record for Arkansas. Riggleman, a third baseman, hit .295 with 21 home runs and 90 RBI in 127 games.

Ruberto managed the Cardinals’ Class A Erie team to a 44-30 record in 1981.

He operated a photography business in St. Louis and resided there with his family for 26 years.

Posted in Managers, Prospects, Trades | 9 Comments »

Cardinals home opener linked Jerry Reuss, Willie Mays

March 26, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated April 5, 2022)

St. Louis native Jerry Reuss was 21 when he started a Cardinals home opener.

Reuss faced the Giants on April 10, 1971, in the Cardinals’ first home game of the season, but he got derailed that Saturday afternoon by a baseball legend nearly twice his age.

Willie Mays, less than a month shy of his 40th birthday, hit a two-run home run off Reuss, sparking the Giants to a 6-4 victory. It was Mays’ fourth home run in as many games and boosted his career total to 632, 82 behind the all-time leader at that time, Babe Ruth.

Reuss, a left-hander, had debuted with the Cardinals in September 1969. He made 20 starts for St. Louis in 1970, producing a 7-8 record, two shutouts, five complete games and a 4.10 ERA.

After the 1971 Cardinals opened at Chicago by splitting a pair of games against the Cubs _ Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton were the St. Louis starters _ they played their home opener on the day before Easter in front of 26,841 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Reuss was paired against Frank Reberger, 26, a right-hander who had started his big-league career as a reliever.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, it was the first time Reuss had started an opener of any kind, home or away, since he was in high school.

The first time through the Giants batting order went well for Reuss. He struck out Mays looking to end the first. He struck out Willie McCovey to begin the second.

In the third, the game was scoreless when Chris Speier walked with two outs, bringing up Mays. Reuss got ahead on the count, 0-and-2. His third pitch was a fastball. Mays turned on it and sent the ball soaring into the left field bleachers.

“I’m just happy to play,” Mays said to Pat Frizzell of the Oakland Tribune. “Not many guys my age can go out there every day. I hit the pitch hard.”

Reuss told the Post-Dispatch, “He’s hit home runs off better pitchers than I am.”

Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons said Mays struck out on an inside fastball in the first inning. When Mays batted in the third, “Reuss put the fastball on the inside corner of the plate, but it came in chin high,” Simmons said to the Post-Dispatch.

In the fourth, Ken Henderson singled and Dick Dietz belted a two-run home run, increasing the San Francisco lead to 4-0.

“It was a real fastball,” Dietz said of the pitch he hammered off Reuss. “He supplied the power.”

After the next batter, Al Gallagher, singled, manager Red Schoendienst lifted Reuss for right-hander Chuck Taylor.

Reuss’ line: 3 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts. Boxscore

The Giants went on to win the National League West championship that season. The Cardinals finished as runner-up to the Pirates in the East. Reuss made 35 starts for the 1971 Cardinals. He was 14-14 with seven complete games, two shutouts and a 4.78 ERA. He issued a team-high 109 walks in 211 innings.

In April 1972, two months after the Cardinals traded Carlton to the Phillies, Reuss was dealt to the Astros for pitchers Scipio Spinks and Lance Clemons.

Cardinals general manager Bing Devine said team owner Gussie Busch ordered the trade.

In the book “The Spirit of St. Louis,” Devine told author Peter Golenbock, “This was a deal I had to make because Mr. Busch said, ‘Jerry Reuss is growing facial hair,’ and he didn’t like facial hair on ballplayers, or executives either.”

Reuss told me in a 2014 interview, “When you look back about how that was the thinking in baseball in the early 1970s and then just two or three years later baseball began to change with the times. Guys were coming in with long hair and beards. And you just wonder: What was the stink all about?”

Also, Reuss had been offered a $3,000 raise to $20,000, but hadn’t signed. He asked for $25,000, The Sporting News reported.

“Reuss didn’t appear to be happy with us, couldn’t come to terms and we were still far apart,” Devine told The Sporting News.

Said Reuss: “I think Mr. Busch is putting his principle ahead of the whole ballclub.”

In a 22-year major-league career, primarily with the Dodgers and Pirates, Reuss compiled a record of 220-191. He was 14-18 versus the Cardinals.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 4 Comments »

How Ken Oberkfell became infield starter for Cardinals

March 24, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated June 9, 2024)

Ken Oberkfell got called up to the Cardinals in the second half of 1978, didn’t hit, began pressing and never did achieve his potential in his brief trial that year. The next season, Oberkfell, relaxed but aggressive, became the Cardinals’ starting second baseman and enjoyed a successful rookie year.

Oberkfell, a left-handed batter, hit .120 for the season after being promoted to the Cardinals in July 1978.

He was one of the Cardinals’ top hitters in 1979 spring training games, hitting better than .300. Still, Oberkfell didn’t have the starting second base job when the 1979 season opened. That belonged to veteran Mike Tyson.

Oberkfell impressed manager Ken Boyer by going 4-for-4 (three singles and a triple) in an April 22, 1979, game against the Reds. Boxscore

“I had one four-hit day in the minors, but it wasn’t nearly as big a thrill as this,” Oberkfell said to The Sporting News.

In May 1979, Boyer began platooning Oberkfell with Tyson, a right-handed batter. Fighting to remain a starter, Tyson tried switch-hitting in June, but Boyer allowed Tyson to hit left-handed only when the Cardinals were ahead, or when the score was tied, in games Tyson started as a right-handed batter. Oberkfell got the starts versus right-handed pitching. “I don’t think (Tyson) is as good a hitter left-handed as Oberkfell yet,” Boyer said.

Oberkfell “has fielded almost flawlessly,” wrote Rick Hummel in The Sporting News. When Tyson stretched ligaments in his left knee, Oberkfell was the fulltime starter for the last third of the season.

“I’ve always had the attitude that I’d be the Cardinals second baseman some day,” Oberkfell told Hummel. “It’s a great feeling playing for the Cardinals … The key to me this year (1979) is being more aggressive and more relaxed.”

Oberkfell led National League second basemen in fielding percentage (.985) in 1979. He made eight errors in 875.1 innings at second base and turned 65 double plays. Hummel cited Oberkfell for “standing in strongly on the double play.”

Oberkfell also batted .301 in 135 games in 1979. His .396 on-base percentage was the best of his 16 years in the majors. He hit .305 against right-handers and .287 versus left-handers.

Tyson was traded to the Cubs for reliever Donnie Moore after the 1979 season and Oberkfell remained the Cardinals’ everyday second baseman in 1980.

In 1981, the Cardinals made Tommy Herr the starter at second base and moved Oberkfell to third base, where he replaced Ken Reitz, who was traded to the Cubs in the deal that brought closer Bruce Sutter to St. Louis.

“Oberkfell could play third base,” manager Whitey Herzog told Cardinals Magazine. “He never made a bad throw to first in his life. If he could get to something, he could get it over to first perfect.”

Oberkfell led National League third basemen in fielding percentage in 1982 (.972) and 1983 (.960). He and Herr and Sutter were key players in the Cardinals’ 1982 World Series championship season.

Previously: From Les Bell to David Freese: Cardinals 3rd base champions

Posted in Games, Hitters | Leave a Comment »

Spring fling: How Tony Womack sparked 2004 Cardinals

March 17, 2014 by retrosimba

A minor move for a one-time heartbreaker paid off in a major way for the 2004 Cardinals.

Desperate for a second baseman late in spring training, the Cardinals acquired Tony Womack from the Red Sox for reliever Matt Duff on March 21, 2004.

The Cardinals weren’t sure Womack was even healthy enough to play.

He turned out to be the catalyst for a club that won the National League pennant.

Womack, 34, had undergone ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in October 2003.

The Cardinals, unwilling to enter the 2004 season with either Marlon Anderson or Bo Hart as their everyday second baseman, took a chance on Womack, even though they were told he still was a month away from being able to field and throw.

After Womack reported to the Cardinals’ spring training camp in Jupiter, Fla., pulling into the players’ parking lot in a purple Lamborghini, he declared, “I’m ready to go now. I’ve been ready for a while,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The Cardinals immediately put him into minor-league games on the back fields of the training complex and, sure enough, Womack proved fit. His elbow had healed far ahead of schedule.

An impressed and grateful Cardinals management team, seeking a replacement for departed free-agent second baseman Fernando Vina, quickly made plans to get him into the starting lineup and atop the batting order in big-league games.

Forgive us our trespasses

Three years earlier, Womack was a Cardinals nemesis. Playing shortstop for the Diamondbacks, Womack delivered the game-winning hit that eliminated the Cardinals in the fifth and deciding game of the National League Division Series.

On Oct. 14, 2001, at Phoenix, Womack came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5 against reliever Steve Kline with the score tied at 1-1, two outs and a runner at second. Womack’s single to left drove in pinch-runner Danny Bautista, giving the Diamondbacks a 2-1 victory and enabling them to advance on the path toward their first World Series championship. Boxscore

Reminded of that hit after he joined the Cardinals, Womack told Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break their hearts, but better their heart than mine.”

In response, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, chuckling, told Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch, “I’ve forgiven (Womack). I haven’t forgiven Kline. I’ve got to make sure Kline doesn’t throw batting practice to Womack.”

Said Kline of Womack: “I like the guy. Now he doesn’t have to get a hit off me.”

Spark plug

After Womack singled twice and stole two bases against Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez in his first Cardinals spring training game, La Russa gushed, “He looked like what I thought he’d be, a guy with a lot of energy who can be very disruptive. Impressive.”

Two weeks after he was acquired, Womack was the 2004 Cardinals’ Opening Day second baseman. Batting leadoff against the Brewers at St. Louis, Womack was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Boxscore

He had a strong April (.351 batting average with seven steals and a .415 on-base percentage) and, except for a slump in May, was consistently productive all season.

Womack hit especially well against some of St. Louis’ Central Division foes: . 382 (26-for-68) vs. the Reds; .373 (25-for-67) vs. the Cubs; .357 (25-for-70) vs. the Pirates; and .333 (15-for-45) vs. the Brewers.

In 145 regular-season games for the 2004 Cardinals, Womack had 170 hits, scored 91 runs and had 26 stolen bases. He batted .307 and had an on-base percentage of .349. Both figures were far better than his career marks in those categories. (In 13 major-league seasons, Womack had a .273 batting average and .317 on-base percentage.) He fielded adequately, with 15 errors in 1,113 innings at second base for St. Louis.

In the 2004 World Series, Womack batted .182, 2-for-11, in the four games against the Red Sox, but fielded flawlessly. He then became a free agent and signed with the Yankees. He eventually bounced to the Reds and the Cubs. Two years after leaving the Cardinals, his playing career was finished.

In 2005, the Cardinals replaced Womack with another free agent, Mark Grudzielanek.

Previously: Tino Martinez, Mike Matheny and the Cardinals’ Easter brawl

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades | Leave a Comment »

John Mozeliak outfoxed Billy Beane on Brett Wallace deal

March 14, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated July 14, 2019)

In dealing Brett Wallace, the Cardinals acquired one of the cornerstones of their batting order, left fielder Matt Holliday, and cleared the way for David Freese to become their third baseman.

Holliday and Freese became key players for Cardinals teams that won a World Series championship and two National League pennants.

Heavy hitter

Wallace, a left-handed batter, was chosen by the Cardinals with the 13th pick in the first round of the June 2008 amateur draft. At Arizona State University, he twice led the Pacific-10 Conference in batting average, home runs and RBI.

Though the Cardinals hoped Wallace could handle third base, scout Chuck Fick said, “His position is hitting.”

“It’s too difficult to walk away from a guy who has this kind of chance to hit … He’s a dangerous hitter,” Fick said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Said Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals’ vice-president of player development: “He knows, as do we, his value is what he does at the plate.”

Wallace was listed at 6 feet 1 and between 230 and 245 pounds. The Cardinals’ other 2008 first-round pick, awarded for the loss of free-agent reliever Troy Percival, was pitcher Lance Lynn.

Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch wrote, “Lynn, like Wallace, has a bulky frame and the Cardinals acknowledge both players will have to watch their weight to reach the potential that got them drafted.”

After receiving an estimated bonus of $1.8 million from the Cardinals, Wallace reported to the minor leagues in July 2008. In 54 games combined for Class A Quad Cities and Class AA Springfield, Wallace had 68 hits and a .337 batting average.

Big deal

Wallace was playing third base and batting .293 (65 hits in 62 games) for Class AAA Memphis in 2009 when he was traded on July 24 to the Athletics with two other prospects, pitcher Clayton Mortensen and outfielder Shane Peterson, for Holliday.

Wallace was the “keystone of the deal,” said Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak, who added that his counterpart, Billy Beane of the Athletics, insisted on Wallace being involved in any trade talks.

“He’s a guy we’ve always sort of longed for,” Beane told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Cardinals were bullish on Wallace’s offense _ Mozeliak said Wallace “is not the type of hitter you’re going to replace easily” _ but didn’t see him fitting a position. With Albert Pujols at first base, the Cardinals saw third base as the best option for Wallace.

“There was debate within the Cardinals’ front office whether he could be an everyday third baseman in the majors,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “Uncertainty about that made him available in the right trade.”

Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz endorsed the trade: “Wallace represents tomorrow, but you don’t worry about tomorrow when Albert Pujols is batting third in your lineup today. Make the most of it.”

Steal for St. Louis

Freese, who was at Springfield, replaced Wallace as Memphis’ third baseman. He became the Cardinals’ starter the next year and was a World Series hero in 2011.

Holliday immediately boosted the 2009 Cardinals’ production. He batted .353 (83 hits in 63 games) with 55 RBI, helping the Cardinals win the Central Division title.

Wallace never played in a big-league game for the Athletics. He was traded to the Blue Jays and was stuck in their minor-league system until he joined the Astros, where he eventually was reunited with Luhnow, who became their general manager in December 2011.

In six major-league seasons with the Astros (2010-13) and Padres (2015-16), primarily as a first baseman, Wallace batted .238 and had more strikeouts (432) than hits (305).

Previously: Fernando Salas: Cool Hand Luke of 2011 Cardinals

Posted in Hitters, Prospects, Trades | 4 Comments »

Rick Ankiel and a last, boozy hurrah as a winning starter

March 10, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated Jan. 8, 2019)

The last win for Rick Ankiel as a big-league starter was an unexpected gem. Years later, he revealed he did it while drinking vodka before and during the game.

After an erratic spring training performance (19 walks, 12 strikeouts in 9.1 exhibition innings), Ankiel was paired in his first start of the 2001 season against Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson on April 8 at Phoenix.

“Naturally, I have a little apprehension,” Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before the game.

In his 2017 book “The Phenom,” Ankiel said, “I was scared to death.”

Ankiel had a terrific rookie season (11 wins, 194 strikeouts in 175 innings) as a starter for the 2000 Cardinals followed by a meltdown (9 wild pitches, 11 walks in four innings) in the postseason against the Braves and Mets.

He entered the 2001 season with the same anxiety issues that plagued him in the 2000 postseason.

Missile launches

Duncan had a secret plan. Rather than have Ankiel warm up in the bullpen that day, he instructed the skittish left-hander to throw in an indoor hitting tunnel at Bank One Ballpark. “I wanted him to get ready in as secluded an atmosphere as possible,” Duncan told Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch.

An hour before Ankiel had to go onto the field, he asked teammate Darryl Kile to bring him a bottle of vodka, Ankiel said in his book.

According to Ankiel, Kile brought him the vodka and said, “Do what you got to do, kid. I understand.”

While his teammates were doing warmups on the field, Ankiel said he took “a few long pulls” from the vodka bottle while in the clubhouse. He said he poured the remainder of the booze into a water bottle and carried it into the dugout.

Ankiel warmed up on sloped carpeting rather than on a mound. “He was throwing missiles to me,” said Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny. “He was throwing 100 mph fastballs and hitting the target. You could tell he was locked in, ready to go.”

The game had the potential to be a mismatch. Johnson was the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. The Diamondbacks had a potent lineup. St. Louis was without two of its top players, ailing Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds, and had utilitymen Eli Marrero at first base and Craig Paquette in left field.

Resurrected Rick

The game began ominously for Ankiel and the Cardinals.

In the first inning, Matt Williams connected for a two-run home run off a low fastball from Ankiel. In the second, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with one out. Two of those runners reached on walks.

Ankiel escaped the jam when he struck out Tony Womack and Reggie Sanders.

“I was like a nervous father,” said Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty. “I was living and dying on every pitch.”

Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Mikalsz wrote, “Ankiel settled in and became the golden child again.”

When he got to the dugout, Ankiel said, he grabbed the water bottle and took “a few squirts of vodka, then a few more.”

“I laughed at the absurdity of it and, while locked in a battle for my nerves, managed to have a good time playing baseball,” Ankiel said in his book.

After the Cardinals scored four off Johnson in the third, Ankiel protected the lead by retiring the next nine batters in a row.

Pure poetry

When Ankiel walked Luis Gonzalez, the leadoff batter in the sixth, with his 100th pitch, manager Tony La Russa lifted him for Gene Stechschulte, with St. Louis ahead, 9-2. “Electric stuff,” La Russa said of Ankiel’s pitches.

The Cardinals cruised to a 9-4 victory. The line for Ankiel: 5 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts, 0 wild pitches. Boxscore

Wrote Miklasz: “Ankiel defeated Johnson, but mostly conquered himself, rediscovering the form that had scouts writing sonnets about him.”

It was Ankiel’s last major-league win as a starter. He made five more starts for the 2001 Cardinals and mostly reverted to his wild and ineffective form of the 2000 postseason. Ankiel finished 1-2 with a 7.50 ERA for the 2001 Cardinals.

His last pitching performances were five relief appearances, with a win, for the 2004 Cardinals before he converted to outfielder.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 2 Comments »

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