RetroSimba

The day Ralph Kiner hit 3 home runs versus Cardinals

February 7, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated Nov. 21, 2024)

Ralph Kiner, the Hall of Fame left fielder who hit 369 home runs in a 10-year major league career, slugged three home runs in a game for the Pirates against the Cardinals.

Throughout his career, Kiner was a Cardinals nemesis, hitting .309 with 50 home runs and 142 RBI against them.

A .279 career hitter with the Pirates, Cubs and Indians, Kiner’s batting mark against the Cardinals was his highest versus any National League team.

Kiner blooms at Greenberg Gardens

In 1947, Kiner, 24, was in his second big-league season with Pittsburgh. The Pirates had acquired Hank Greenberg, 36, the longtime Tigers slugger, to play first base and mentor Kiner.

(In the book “Voices from Cooperstown,” Kiner told author Anthony J. Connor that as a boy he rooted for Greenberg and the 1934 Tigers. “I can still rattle off the whole lineup,” Kiner said. “The funny thing is I never saw them play. I was in southern California then and there was no TV. It just goes to show what an 11-year-old boy can do with a newspaper box score and a good imagination.”)

To capitalize on the right-handed power of Kiner and Greenberg, the Pirates extended the bullpen fence about 30 feet in front of the left field wall at Forbes Field, shortening the distance for a home run from about 360 feet to about 330 feet, and dubbed the area Greenberg Gardens.

Though the 1947 Pirates were an awful team _ they would finish in last place at 62-92 _ they topped one million in home attendance for the first time in franchise history because of the slugging of Kiner (51 home runs) and Greenberg (25).

On Aug. 16, 1947, Kiner had three home runs, five RBI, four runs scored and two walks in the Pirates’ 12-7 victory over the Cardinals at Forbes Field.

The Pirates and Cardinals combined to hit 10 home runs in the game. The Pirates accounted for seven _ three by Kiner and two each by Greenberg and Billy Cox. Whitey Kurowski hit two homers for the Cardinals and Terry Moore hit one. All 10 home runs were hit by right-handed batters.

Kiner’s first home run came with the bases empty in the third off starter Ken Burkhart and landed against the light tower in the bullpen. He hit a three-run shot over the scoreboard in left off Ted Wilks in the fourth before capping his day with another solo homer off Johnny Grodzicki in the eighth. The third home run was the longest and “seemed headed for Carnegie Museum in nearby Shenley Park,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Boxscore

Thanks, Hank

Kiner struggled early in the 1947 season and Pirates manager Billy Herman wanted to send him to the minors but Greenberg convinced the front office to keep Kiner on the club, according to the book “Voices From Cooperstown.”

According to author Anthony J. Connor, when Kiner reached a low point, going hitless in five at-bats against the Cubs, Greenberg said to Kiner, “Stay with it. The fundamentals are there and it is going to work.”

Kiner credited Greenberg with making him into a consistent power hitter. “Right from the start of spring training down in Florida, Hank was at my side constantly,” Kiner told The Sporting News. “He got me to move up a little closer at the plate to protect the outside (corner) and to spread my feet a bit, too.

“Hank gave me confidence and he taught me how to relax. Last year, I was usually tense at the plate. When a pitcher had two strikes on me, I was always afraid I’d be called out on strikes and I’d go after that bad one … I bet I’ve hit most of my home runs this year with two strikes on me.”

Said Greenberg: “Ralph had what it takes all the time. I merely gave him a bit of advice here and there when he asked me … Kiner and Ted Williams are probably the best wrist hitters in the game today.”

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” the seven-time batting champion of the Cardinals said Kiner “was the most consistent home run hitter in the National League. Hank Greenberg helped him and so did Greenberg Gardens at Pittsburgh, but Ralph worked at his game and improved himself as a hitter. He had a good eye and good power, plus a type of swing that sent the ball high with good backspin so that it kept sailing.”

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 1 Comment »

Why Cardinals radio broadcasts went silent

February 5, 2014 by retrosimba

Desperate for revenue and suspicious of new technology, the Cardinals joined the Browns in banning radio broadcasts of their games.

On Feb. 3, 1934, the National League Cardinals and American League Browns declared that radio broadcasts were having a negative impact on attendance at their games at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

In 1933, with America reeling from the Great Depression, the Cardinals drew 256,171 in 77 home games, even though they had a winning record (82-71) and were just two years removed from a World Series championship. It was their lowest home attendance since moving to Sportsman’s Park from Robison Field in 1920.

The 1933 Browns, a last-place finisher at 55-96, attracted 88,113 in 77 home games.

Radio broadcasts of Cardinals and Browns games had been carried since 1926, five years after the first broadcast of a major-league game, the Phillies vs. the Pirates, on Pittsburgh station KDKA in 1921.

Under the headline “St. Louis Clubs Sign Off on Radio,” The Sporting News reported in its Feb. 8, 1934, edition that “this decision was reached with dramatic suddenness by Sam Breadon, president of the Cardinals, and Louis B. von Weise, who holds a similar title with the Browns.”

“There, no doubt, was a time when the microphones did us some good,” Breadon said. “That was in the high times. But now we are at a point where we are willing to experiment a season without the mikes.”

Strong reactions

St. Louis radio executives were stunned and disappointed.

“We feel that it was a service the public appreciated and that radiocasting of the games helps more than it damages attendance,” said Jack Van Valkenburg, president of KMOX.

Added Thomas Patrick Convey of St. Louis station KWK: “Nobody has worked harder than myself to try to get people out to the ballpark.”

In an editorial, The Sporting News supported the right of the St. Louis clubs to choose whether to permit radio broadcasts of games. “Like other sports, baseball long has been in doubt as to the value of broadcasts,” The Sporting News wrote. “… The opinion has been growing stronger within the past two years that, whatever good the radio may have done the game in the past, conditions now have changed and its tendency to cause the fan to sit in front of the loudspeaker instead of in the stands is beginning to outweigh all its advantages.”

Most of the mail Breadon received in reaction to the decision opposed the radio ban.

Business and marketing

Breadon, a native New Yorker, may have been influenced by the decisions of all three New York clubs _ the American League Yankees and the National League Dodgers and Giants _ to ban radio broadcasts of their games.

Teams in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit were continuing game broadcasts. Walgreens paid Chicago radio station WGN $45,000 to sponsor game broadcasts for the 1934 season, The Sporting News reported.

Radio magnate Powel Crosley had purchased the Reds, with the notion of using radio to promote his team and using the broadcasts as an advertising revenue generator for his stations.

Without the broadcasts, home attendance of the Cardinals and Browns increased in 1934. The Cardinals, who won the National League pennant and World Series championship that year, drew 325,056 in 77 home games, an increase of almost 70,000. The Browns, who placed sixth at 67-85 in 1934, attracted 115,305, a spike of 27,000.

In 1935, the broadcasts of Cardinals and Browns games were restored. The business models in Chicago and Cincinnati may have convinced the St. Louis clubs to end the ban.

Capitalizing on their status as reigning World Series champions, Cardinals home attendance jumped to 506,084 in 1935. The Browns, who fell back to seventh place in 1935, drew 80,922 to 76 home games that year, including 300 to a Friday afternoon game on May 10 against the Athletics. Boxscore

Posted in Executives | 2 Comments »

Red Schoendienst: ‘Lover of hot ballgames and cold beers’

January 31, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated Sept. 10, 2025)

On Feb. 28, 1989, the day the veterans committee was to announce its selections to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, coach Red Schoendienst was at Cardinals spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Fla., with his wife, Mary.

“When is the announcement?” Mary asked.

“3 o’clock,” replied Red.

“I’m not going shopping,” Mary said.

In relaying the conversation to the Associated Press, Schoendienst said, “Anytime you can stop a gal from going shopping, that’s pretty big news.”

Schoendienst, the longtime Cardinals second baseman, got the call from Ed Stack, Hall of Fame president, informing him he’d been elected to the Cooperstown shrine, ending a wait of 20 years.

Two days after the veterans committee announcement, Bob Broeg, the St. Louis journalist who covered Schoendienst since his debut with the Cardinals in 1945, wrote, “I don’t think the Cardinals are going to get Schoendienst out of uniform anytime soon, even though he’s 66. He still likes a hot ballgame and a cold beer.”

Schoendienst and umpire Al Barlick each got the necessary 14 votes from a committee of 18 which included Red’s friend and former teammate, Stan Musial.

Joining them in the 1989 Hall of Fame induction class were Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski, each of whom was elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Harry Caray, the former Cardinals broadcaster, also was headed to Cooperstown as 1989 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence.

“A great player and a winner,” Caray said of Schoendienst to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Schoendienst had been on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot for 15 years (1969-83) but failed to receive the necessary 75 percent of the votes for election. His best showing was 42.6 percent in 1980.

When he got the call he’d been elected by the veterans committee (ahead of candidates such as Richie Ashburn and Phil Rizzuto), Schoendienst told Hummel, “I was standing up. Then I had to sit down.”

In 19 seasons (1945-63) with the Cardinals, Giants and Braves, Schoendienst was named an all-star 10 times and collected 2,449 hits. He six times led National League second basemen in fielding percentage, prompting Musial to declare Schoendienst had “the greatest pair of hands I’ve ever seen in baseball.”

In the book “Few and Chosen,” catcher Tim McCarver said, “There’s a saying in baseball that you can tell the guys who were good fielders by the way they shake hands. When you shake Red’s hand, it’s as soft as a pillow, and that’s the way he was as a fielder. Soft, pliable, flexible hands. An infielder is taught to field a ground ball below the hop, to absorb the hop, and Red was a master at that … Another thing about Red, he had a quick bat. Howard Pollet, the fine left-hander, said you couldn’t throw a fastball past Red.”

Schoendienst played 15 seasons for the Cardinals. He managed them for 14 years, achieving 1,041 wins, two league pennants and a World Series title.

Informed by Hummel of his former teammate’s election by the veterans committee, Enos Slaughter, a Hall of Fame outfielder for the Cardinals, said, “It’s long overdue … Red would have to rank with any second baseman, bar none, that I played with.”

Posted in Hitters | 1 Comment »

Bargain pickup: Why Cardinals wanted Rick Sutcliffe

January 29, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated Dec. 1, 2023)

On Jan. 31, 1994, the Cardinals signed free agent Rick Sutcliffe to a minor-league contract and invited the right-hander to spring training with the hope he could earn a spot on their roster and in their starting rotation.

Sutcliffe won the 1979 National League Rookie of the Year Award with the Dodgers and the 1984 Cy Young Award with the Cubs but the Cardinals were getting a pitcher on the back side of his career.

Sutcliffe had injured a knee in 1993 and posted a 5.75 ERA in 29 appearances for the Orioles, but the Cardinals saw him as an inexpensive solution to replace starting pitcher Donovan Osborne, who was sidelined for the 1994 season after having shoulder surgery.

“I have no doubt I can still pitch,” Sutcliffe, 37, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill said to the St. Louis newspaper, “The reports we have are his arm is in good shape and he was throwing the ball well at the end of the (1993) season. I know one thing: He’s won 26 games the last two seasons (16 in 1992 and 10 in 1993). We only have one guy on our staff (Bob Tewksbury) who has more.”

Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz called the signing of Sutcliffe “a good pickup” and added, “He’s a leader revered by young pitchers. If Sutcliffe can help settle down the young staff and win a few games, great.”

Sutcliffe called the Cardinals when he couldn’t reach a deal to stay with the Orioles, the Post-Dispatch reported.

According to the Baltimore Sun, “He entered January (1994) still thinking that he would return for one more season in Baltimore, but chose St. Louis after turning down an Orioles offer that he thought was made only out of a sense of obligation.”

Sutcliffe’s contract with the Cardinals called for him to be paid $250,000 if he made the team, and he could get another $250,000 in appearance incentives.

For the birds

Naturally, Sutcliffe’s first spring training start for the Cardinals came against the Orioles. He gave up three runs in the first inning, but none in the next two. “It took him a while to get comfortable with the idea of pitching against a team that he fully expected to play for this season,” the Baltimore Sun reported.

Sutcliffe told the Baltimore newspaper, “When you want to come inside (with a pitch), it’s tough to have your friends standing there.”

According to the Sun, Orioles manager Johnny Oates had “pushed hard” for the return of Sutcliffe. So had their shortstop, Cal Ripken. Before Sutcliffe signed with St. Louis, Ripken had told The Sporting News, “It is very important that Suttcliffe come back. He’s an experienced pitcher who matches up with some of the top pitchers in the league. He takes the pressure off the rest of the guys. He’s a great teacher and a great leader.”

Sutcliffe had helped with the development of the Orioles’ “young starting rotation and his leadership had contributed to the development of a winning attitude in the clubhouse,” the Sun reported.

At Cardinals spring training, Sutcliffe took on the role of mentor to pitchers such as Rheal Cormier, Tom Urbani and Allen Watson.

“Cormier keeps a thick notebook on his pitching appearances, with many of the entries influenced by Sutcliffe,” the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Watson told the Louisville newspaper, “Last year, I had nobody to talk to. After I met Rick in spring training, he gave me a lot of insight on how to go through the bad times.”

Sutcliffe’s work with the pitchers had the approval of Cardinals manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Joe Coleman.

“I had that role toward the end of my career _ an experienced player that other players could come to,” Torre said to the Post-Dispatch. “They feel funny about going to the manager all the time. It’s like going up to the teacher all the time, like you’re trying to kiss up.”

Coleman told the Courier-Journal, “We knew that Rick had this type of leadership.”

Ups and downs

Though he posted a 5.57 ERA in spring training games, the Cardinals opened the 1994 season with Sutcliffe on their roster.

Sutcliffe won his first start for them, beating the Dodgers at St. Louis. Boxscore

Following that, he got shelled at Atlanta. The Braves got back-to-back-to-back home runs from Ryan Klesko, Fred McGriff and David Justice in the first inning and won, 7-1. Boxscore

In 11 career appearances at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Sutcliffe was 0-5 with a 6.70 ERA.

Soon after, Sutcliffe suffered a severe hamstring injury. After three starts during an injury rehabilitation assignment in the minors, he came back to the Cardinals in late May.

Sutcliffe had a couple of other terrible starts for them _ seven runs in two innings versus the Marlins on June 15 Boxscore and eight runs against the Rockies in 5.1 innings on July 17 Boxscore. He also produced quality wins, with 7.2 scoreless innings versus the Dodgers again on May 31 Boxscore and a stifling of the Cubs (one run in six innings) on June 26. Boxscore

Sutcliffe earned wins in three of his last four decisions.

His last appearance was a win against the Braves on July 22, 1994, but he left in the sixth inning after he threw a wild pitch and felt pain in his arm. Boxscore

An exam revealed he had a torn labrum as well as a major tear in his rotator cuff and problems with his biceps. In looking back at the last pitch he threw, Sutcliffe told the Post-Dispatch, “I guess I’m lucky my arm didn’t go with it. There wasn’t anything else holding it on.”

In 16 appearances (14 starts) during the strike-shortened 1994 season, Sutcliffe gave up 93 hits in 67.2 innings, posting a 6-4 record despite a 6.52 ERA. In his 14 starts, his ERA was 6.78. He walked more batters (32) than he struck out (26).

Sutcliffe’s problems were a reflection of a troubled pitching staff. The pitching standouts for the 1994 Cardinals were relievers Rob Murphy (3.79 ERA) and John Habyan (3.23). The primary starters were Bob Tewksbury (5.32 ERA), Vicente Palacios (4.44), Allen Watson (5.52), Sutcliffe (6.52), Omar Olivares (5.74) and Tom Urbani (5.15).

Overall, the 1994 Cardinals’ staff ERA was 5.15, tied with the Rockies for worst in the National League.

Granted free agency after the 1994 season, Sutcliffe attracted little interest and retired in April 1995. His career record in the majors is 171-139. He went into broadcasting. In March 2008, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with colon cancer. After receiving treatment, he resumed his broadcasting career.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 2 Comments »

How Sparky Anderson, Tony La Russa differed on cap choice

January 27, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated April 4, 2025)

A tip of the cap to Sparky Anderson.

He did what Tony La Russa could not: choose a team logo to display on the cap for his plaque in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

As managers, Anderson and La Russa won World Series titles with teams from both the National League and American League. Anderson was a role model for La Russa and mentored him.

La Russa differed from Anderson on the controversial cap choice.

La Russa, elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2013, said he chose not to have a team logo on the cap for his plaque because he didn’t want to disrespect any of the three teams _ White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals _ he managed.

“They offered one logo or no logo,” La Russa recalled to Cardinals Yearbook in 2014. “I said no logo. That was an easy call for me.”

Because he won two of his three World Series titles with the Cardinals, became the all-time leader in wins (1,408) among Cardinals managers and spent 16 years as a manager with St. Louis, La Russa disappointed many Cardinals loyalists, including club owner Bill DeWitt Jr., with his decision.

“I understood how some people could be upset because the last 16 years (with St. Louis) were special,” La Russa told Cardinals Yearbook, “but I can’t forget the first 16 (with the White Sox and Athletics). ”

Contrast La Russa’s choice with that of Anderson’s:

Anderson, elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, chose to have a Reds logo on the cap for his plaque _ even though he was fired in Cincinnati and spent nearly twice as many years managing the Tigers as he did the Reds.

Cardinals connection

Anderson’s decision had roots from his three years as a minor-league manager in the Cardinals’ system.

Anderson said he chose the Reds cap for his plaque as a tribute to Bob Howsam.

As Reds general manager, Howsam hired Anderson to manage Cincinnati, launching him onto his Hall of Fame career.

As Cardinals general manager, Howsam saved Anderson’s career by hiring him to manage in the St. Louis system.

Anderson was unemployed after being fired as manager of Class AAA Toronto in 1964. In March 1965, Fred Koenig resigned as manager of the Cardinals’ Class A Rock Hill team. With the start of the season near, Howsam was scrambling to find a replacement.

Howsam took a chance on Anderson.

Anderson managed Rock Hill to a 59-63 record.

In 1966, the Cardinals named Anderson manager of Class A St. Petersburg. He led St. Petersburg to a 91-45 record and strengthened his reputation within the Cardinals organization as a first-rate instructor.

Howsam left St. Louis to become general manager of the Reds in January 1967. The Cardinals named Anderson manager of Class A Modesto. He led Modesto to a 79-61 mark and the league championship.

In the fall of 1967, Howsam wooed Anderson into the Reds organization as a minor-league manager at Class AA Asheville. Two years later, Oct. 9, 1969, Howsam introduced Anderson as manager of the Reds.

“He hired a 35-year-old nobody knew and he had the courage and fortitude to do that,” Anderson told the Associated Press in February 2000, explaining why Howsam inspired him to select a Reds cap for the plaque. “Had he not done that, I doubt very much, in all honesty, that I would have managed in the major leagues. And I owe that to him.”

Anderson won two World Series titles and four pennants with the Reds and posted an 863-586 record. Howsam retired after the 1977 season and was replaced by Dick Wagner, who, after one year on the job, fired Anderson in 1978.

The next year, the Tigers hired Anderson. He led them to the 1984 World Series title and earned 1,331 wins with Detroit from 1979-95.

Sparky: Tony isn’t a bozo

When La Russa became a big-league manager in 1979, with the White Sox, he sought advice from many, including Anderson.

“I never saw anyone catch on as fast as he did,” Anderson said of La Russa in the book “Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission” (2009, Triumph). “When you talk to him, you realize he is very intelligent. You’re not talking to a bozo. He learned so fast, you were never going to trick him. He knew what was going on. I always played him straight up, but I never let him play any tricks on me either.”

Roland Hemond, general manager of the 1979 White Sox, said, “Tony was smart enough to pick up the wisdom those guys were willing to pass along. I don’t think Sparky would have spent so much time with him if he thought he was talking to a guy who would not be around very long.”

After the 1995 season, when La Russa was trying to decide whether to leave the Athletics for the Cardinals, Anderson was an influencer in his decision.

“Going to the National League wasn’t something I considered initially,” La Russa said in his book “One Last Strike” (Morrow, 2012). “Several people, including Sparky Anderson, told me that I’d love it, and when the name St. Louis came up, I started to think seriously about it.”

His success with St. Louis sealed La Russa’s election to the Hall of Fame _ even if his cap won’t reflect that.

Posted in Managers | 1 Comment »

How Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin crooned for Stan Musial

January 22, 2014 by retrosimba

(Updated Nov. 10, 2019)

Imagine a gathering of 1960s icons that included Stan Musial, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Those athletes and entertainers were together at a 1964 Friars Club roast.

A black-and-white photo from the event, reproduced here, shows (from left to right) Dodgers publicist Danny Goodman, Musial, Mays, Sinatra, Koufax and Martin (the latter in a classic pose, with cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other).

They were at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills on Nov. 10, 1964, for a testimonial dinner in honor of Musial, the Cardinals standout who had retired as a player a year earlier. Less than a month before the gala, the Cardinals, with Musial in the front office as an executive, clinched the 1964 World Series championship against the Yankees.

The Friars Club, founded in 1904 in New York City, primarily attracted comedians and entertainers as its members and became best known for its bawdy celebrity roasts. A Beverly Hills branch of the club opened in 1947.

The dinner for Musial attracted a stellar group from the baseball and entertainment worlds.

Among the baseball celebrities joining Koufax and Mays in honoring Musial were Don Drysdale, Leo Durocher, Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Vin Scully and Duke Snider.

Sinatra and Martin were joined by personalities such as Gene Autry, Milton Berle, Gene Barry, Arthur Godfrey and master of ceremonies George Jessel.

Following the standard Friars Club format, several of the entertainers took turns on the dais poking fun at the honored guest.

An example of the cutting humor was this line from Godfrey about Musial’s restaurant in St. Louis: “After eating there, I can understand why Stan came all the way to Los Angeles for a meal.”

Comedian Corbett Monica quipped, “He’s such a nice guy. I might even say he’s holy. He reminds me in fact of Saint Joseph, a dull little town in nothern Missouri.”

In rare serious moments, Autry spoke of how his friendship with Musial began when Stan was a Cardinals rookie, and Mays told the audience Musial and Joe DiMaggio were his idols when he began his baseball career, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Stan is the kind of man you want your kids to remember for a long time,” Mays said.

The highlight of the evening came when Sinatra and Martin “ran through a half-dozen song parodies filled with jabs at Musial,” The Sporting News reported. The Rat Pack duo’s special lyrics to popular tunes were so risqué that none “is in danger of ever being published,” wrote Sporting News correspondent Bob Hunter.

Sinatra and Martin ended on a high note with a duet to the tune of the song “The Lady is a Tramp.” Changing the lyrics to salute Stan the Man, Sinatra and Martin made the signature line, “Mr. Musial, you’re a champ.”

The Sporting News observed, “Musial received several standing ovations, the final one lasting for a lengthy period after he had responded to the barbs and roasts with a witty, humble speech of thanks.”

In opening his remarks, Musial said to the celebrity club members, “It’s been a great evening and it’s great to be with such famous and good friends _ even if they don’t know a darn thing about baseball.”

Previously: How Bing Devine helped Stan Musial plan retirement

Posted in Hitters | 3 Comments »

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