RetroSimba

How Giants beat John Tudor, Cardinals, 21-2

July 6, 2013 by retrosimba

In 1988, the defending National League champion Cardinals staggered into the all-star break after experiencing a humiliating loss during a series that exposed multiple flaws and severely tested their resolve.

The 1988 Cardinals ended their first half of the season with three games at San Francisco. Mike LaCoss pitched a four-hitter in the opener, a 1-0 Giants win. Terry Mulholland pitched a five-hitter in the finale and the Giants won, 2-1.

It was the middle game of the set that sent the Cardinals reeling.

The Giants beat them, 21-2, on Saturday afternoon, July 9, 1988, at Candlestick Park.

Summarizing the Cardinals’ performance, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote, “Their defense was less than airtight and their hitting was poor, but, most strikingly, their pitching was colossally bad.”

The 21 runs allowed were the most a Cardinals team had surrendered in 63 years, according to the Post-Dispatch. The Pirates defeated the Cardinals, 24-6, on June 22, 1925, at St. Louis. Boxscore

The 21 runs also were the most scored by the Giants since they moved to San Francisco from New York in 1958. The previous high was 19.

Two unlikely Giants standouts in the blowout win were infielders Chris Speier and Ernest Riles.

Speier, 38, filling in at second base for ailing all-star Robby Thompson, hit for the cycle and had five RBI. He had two doubles, a triple, a home run and a single. It was the only five-hit game in Speier’s 19-year major-league career.

The oldest big-league player to hit for the cycle was Cy Williams, 39, of the 1927 Phillies, the Post-Dispatch reported. Like Speier, Honus Wagner of the 1912 Pirates was 38 when he hit for the cycle.

Speier entered the game with a .191 batting average. “I hadn’t been doing much the last month and a half,” Speier said to the Associated Press. “I had a long talk with my wife and I just decided to relax and have some fun.”

Riles had been acquired by the Giants a month earlier in a trade that sent outfielder Jeffrey Leonard to the Brewers. Riles, who entered the game in the sixth inning as a replacement for shortstop Jose Uribe, hit a three-run home run in the seventh. It was the 10,000th home run in Giants history and the first for Riles as a Giant.

The ball hit off the facing of the upper deck and caromed back onto the field. Disgusted, Cardinals right fielder Tom Brunansky picked up the historic ball and heaved into the stands. After the game, Brunansky sought a closed-door meeting with Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

“This was pathetic,” Brunansky told the Post-Dispatch. “I was embarrassed.”

Shortstop Ozzie Smith said, “Anybody who is proud of this shouldn’t be here.”

Cardinals starting pitcher John Tudor entered the game with a 1.72 ERA. The Giants knocked him out with five runs in two innings.

“You don’t figure to lose a game by that much with John Tudor pitching,” Herzog said. “His location was bad, but even then it shouldn’t have been that bad.”

Relievers Bob Forsch and Steve Peters each gave up eight runs.

“It was ugly,” Forsch told the Post-Dispatch. “Ugly for me.”

Said Peters: “It’s the worst embarrassment I ever had.”

The Giants ended up with 20 hits and six walks.

Herzog, keeping a sense of humor, told the Associated Press, “I wish we were playing a doubleheader today. We would have had them (the Giants) tired out for the second game.” Boxscore

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | 2 Comments »

1963 NL all-stars started all-Cardinals infield

July 3, 2013 by retrosimba

(Updated Jan. 12, 2022)

The 1963 Cardinals infield established an all-star standard that went unmatched for 53 years.

For the first time in major-league history, the National League’s All-Star Game starting infield was composed of players from the same team. They were the Cardinals unit of first baseman Bill White, second baseman Julian Javier, shortstop Dick Groat and third baseman Ken Boyer.

The Giants’ Alvin Dark, who managed the 1963 National League all-star team, told The Sporting News, “When you’ve got an infield that starts with Bill White at first base and runs through Julian Javier, Dick Groat and Ken Boyer, you’ve got power and class.”

In 2016, fans selected an all-Cubs starting NL all-star infield of first baseman Anthony Rizzo, second baseman Ben Zobrist, shortstop Addison Russell and third baseman Kris Bryant.

Fans have voted for the all-star starters each year since 1970. In 1963, the starters were selected in voting by players, managers and coaches in each league.

White, Groat, Boyer and Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski were voted the starters for the 1963 NL team, but Mazeroski withdrew after he pulled a muscle in his right leg.

Cubs second baseman Ken Hubbs had finished second to Mazeroski in the voting, but Dark picked Javier to replace Mazeroski as the starting second baseman.

United Press International wrote, “Usually, all-star managers in picking reserves for their squad stick mighty close to the way the players themselves voted earlier in choosing the starting lineup.”

Said Dark to the Associated Press: “I feel this is the strongest squad we have.”

Javier “doesn’t have any shortcomings,” Groat told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He runs well, has good range, fine hands and pivots well.”

Here were the top two vote-getters for each NL infield position:

First base: Bill White, 220 votes; Orlando Cepeda, Giants, 38 votes.

Second base: Bill Mazeroski, 227 votes; Ken Hubbs, 14 votes.

Shortstop: Dick Groat, 238 votes; Maury Wills, Dodgers, 25 votes.

Third base: Ken Boyer, 186 votes; Ron Santo, Cubs, 52 votes.

The other starting position players for the 1963 NL all-stars were Giants catcher Ed Bailey and outfielders Hank Aaron of the Braves, Willie Mays of the Giants and Tommy Davis of the Dodgers.

The Cardinals’ Stan Musial, 42, was chosen by Dark as an outfield reserve. It would be a record 24th and final All-Star Game for Musial, who retired after the season.

Best Cardinals infield

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “That infield was the strength of the 1963 Cardinals, all right … Marty Marion said the Cardinals’ 1946 infield was a bit better. I’m not so sure, though we did have a good one in ’46. I played first base then, Red Schoendienst second, Marion short and George Kurowski third. That far back, Red hadn’t yet come into his own as a hitter.”

In a 2011 interview, I asked White if the 1963 Cardinals infield was the best he’d seen. White’s response:

“It was a good infield. It probably was not the best. Ken Boyer might have been the best third baseman I’d seen or played with. Groat had mobility problems. He understood how to play the hitters, but he had very little range and he didn’t have that real good arm. Javier was a pretty good second baseman. He made a great double play and he could go way out to center field for pop-ups because Curt Flood played a deep center field.

“It was a good infield, the best infield that I was on, but I’m not sure it was the best ever. It might have been the best Cardinals infield.”

Branch Rickey said the 1963 Cardinals infield was comparable to the 1952 Dodgers infield of first baseman Gil Hodges, second baseman Jackie Robinson, shortstop Pee Wee Reese and third baseman Billy Cox. “I’d still give that Brooklyn infield the edge defensively,” Rickey told The Sporting News in June 1963, “but this Cardinals infield has more offensively and might even get to be better.”

White, Groat aid NL win

White and Groat contributed significantly to the NL’s 5-3 victory over the American League on July 9, 1963, at Cleveland. They and Javier played the entire game. Santo replaced Boyer in the sixth.

In the second, Groat’s single off starter Ken McBride of the Angels drove in Mays from second, giving the NL a 1-0 lead.

With the NL ahead 4-3 in the eighth, White led off against imposing Red Sox reliever Dick Radatz, nicknamed “The Monster,” and singled to center.

Taking his lead off first base, White watched Radatz pitch to Mays and detected a flaw in the pitcher’s motion, he told The Sporting News. As Mays struck out, White swiped second. White ran on his own, Dark said.

Radatz “came set and started his left leg forward a couple of pitches in a way that showed just when he definitely was going to the plate, not to first base,” White told the Post-Dispatch.

Santo singled to center, scoring White and boosting the NL’s advantage to 5-3.

With Dodgers ace Don Drysdale pitching the ninth, the Orioles’ Brooks Robinson singled with one out. The next batter, Bobby Richardson of the Yankees, hit a grounder to White. The Cardinals’ first baseman threw to Groat covering second and Groat’s return throw to White nipped Richardson for a game-ending first-to-short-to-first double play. Boxscore

The NL turned three double plays. White took part in all three and Groat helped turn two. White and Groat each went 1-for-4; Javier and Boyer each was hitless.

(Musial, pinch-hitting for Bailey in the fifth, faced Jim Bunning and lined out to Al Kaline in right field. “I got out in front of the pitch just a fraction or I’d have hit it out of there,” Musial said.)

Groat and Boyer both were elected starters again in 1964, but White and Javier were replaced by Cepeda and the Mets’ Ron Hunt.

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Curt Flood errorless streak ended in controversy

June 28, 2013 by retrosimba

(Updated Sept. 20, 2023)

On the misplay that cost him his perfect fielding streak, Curt Flood gave errors to teammate Lou Brock and the official scorer, but his opinions didn’t count.

Instead, it was Flood who was deemed to have erred on a routine play that ended a stretch of record-setting perfection.

From September 1965 to June 1967, Flood, the Cardinals’ center fielder, flawlessly handled 555 chances and established a National League record for successive errorless games at 226.

“I think Curt was second only to Willie Mays playing the outfield,” pitcher Bob Gibson said to Cardinals Magazine. “Curt didn’t have a really strong arm, so second baseman Julian Javier used to go halfway out to the outfield for the relay, but as far as going and getting the ball, there weren’t too many guys better than Curt.”

On June 4, 1967, Flood’s streak was intact when the Cubs faced the Cardinals at St. Louis.

In the fifth inning, with the score tied at 2-2, Cubs pitcher Rich Nye led off and hit a routine fly to left-center field. According to The Sporting News, “Brock got under the ball and was virtually stationary when Flood moved over.”

Brock, the left fielder, and Flood both called for the ball. As the ball descended, both outfielders again called out, informing the other he would make the catch, the Associated Press reported.

Neither outfielder yielded. As Brock and Flood both reached for the ball, they bumped elbows and shoulders. The ball “bounced in and out of Brock’s glove” and fell to the ground, The Sporting News reported.

Nye reached second base safely on the misplay, moved to third on Don Kessinger’s sacrifice bunt and scored on a Glenn Beckert sacrifice fly, giving Chicago a 3-2 lead.

The official scorer, Neal Russo of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, charged Flood with an error because “Brock easily would have caught the ball if Flood had not bumped him,” The Sporting News reported.

Flood, described by the Associated Press as “upset and disappointed” at being charged with the error, said Brock should have backed away. Flood implied Russo should have given the error to Brock.

“The center fielder is supposed to go after every ball he can get to,” Flood said to the Associated Press. “If he calls, the other player is supposed to leave it.”

Flood told The Sporting News, “The center fielder is the captain of the outfield and is supposed to get every ball (he calls).”

Russo said it was “difficult to see the streak end short of an out-and-out error of physical commission,” but, he told The Sporting News, “based on many similar plays that I have scored and seen scored, the error belonged to Flood.”

(The error was the first for Flood since Sept. 2, 1965, when the Cubs’ Harvey Kuenn singled and advanced to second after Flood mishandled the ball.)

Flood and Brock used their bats in helping the Cardinals rally from the deficit created by their misplay.

In the sixth, Julian Javier singled, moved to third on Flood’s single and scored the tying run on Orlando Cepeda’s sacrifice fly. The Cardinals broke the tie in the eighth. Brock’s single scored Dave Ricketts from second base and St. Louis won, 4-3. Boxscore

In 2013, another Cardinals center fielder, Jon Jay, broke Flood’s mark. Jay’s errorless streak reached 245 games before he made an error on July 30, 2013, against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Fielding a single, Jay fumbled the ball, allowing the runner to advance to second. Before that, his last error was Aug. 24, 2011.

Posted in Games, Records | 2 Comments »

Why Tom Henke was a nearly perfect Cardinal

June 26, 2013 by retrosimba

(Updated June 28, 2022)

Tom Henke was a consistently dominant closer for the 1995 Cardinals, converting his first 22 save chances.

Signed by the Cardinals on Dec. 12, 1994, after 13 years with the Rangers and Blue Jays, Henke, 37, was a model of effectiveness amid the chaos of a 1995 season in which the Cardinals traded popular first baseman Todd Zeile to the rival Cubs, fired manager Joe Torre and finished 62-81, 22.5 games behind the division-leading Reds.

“Henke has dominated with a mix of fastballs and forkballs,” Mike Eisenbath noted in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “As the hitters have begun waiting for that forkball, he has adjusted with an occasional sidearm delivery.”

A right-hander, Henke converted his 22nd consecutive save chance on July 22 in a 5-4 Cardinals victory over the Phillies at Philadelphia. Henke worked a perfect 11th, retiring Mickey Morandini, Jim Eisenreich and Lenny Dykstra on fly outs to left, center and right. Boxscore

Henke’s streak ended in his next appearance, July 25, against the Mets at St. Louis. Brought in to protect a 7-6 Cardinals lead in the ninth, Henke blew the save chance when he yielded a two-out, RBI-single to Carl Everett. The Cardinals won, 8-7, in 11. Boxscore

“I’ll start it over tomorrow,” Henke said to St. Louis writer Rick Hummel of the streak. “If somebody had told me at the beginning of the year I’d save 22 in a row before I’d blow my first one, I’d take that in a heartbeat.”

It was a rare misstep for Henke. He converted 36 of 38 save opportunities for the 1995 Cardinals. Henke had a 0.96 ERA in the 36 games he saved, yielding four runs in 37.1 innings.

Overall, Henke struck out 48 in 54.1 innings in 1995 and finished with a 1.82 ERA. Opponents batted .153 (9-for-59) against him with runners in scoring position. Henke yielded only two home runs (hit by Howard Johnson of the Mets and Jason Bates of the Rockies).

Soon after the season, Henke decided to retire. “I’ve always admired guys who have gone out at the top of their game,” Henke said to Hummel. “Sometimes you have to look at what’s the most important thing in life. I’d like to see my kids grow up.”

Previously: Braves fans’ behavior recalls Dodgers’ forfeit to Cardinals

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Records | 3 Comments »

How Bob Tewksbury outfoxed Mark McGwire

June 21, 2013 by retrosimba

In a season when Mark McGwire pummeled pitchers with his home run power, Bob Tewksbury used lollipop pitches to keep the Cardinals slugger from hitting the ball out of the infield.

In 1998, Tewksbury, the former Cardinal, was with the Twins in what would be the last of his 13 major-league seasons. McGwire was in his first full year with the Cardinals and headed toward a record-breaking season in which he would hit 70 home runs.

On June 28, 1998, Tewksbury got the start against the Cardinals at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

McGwire entered the game with 36 home runs and a .313 batting average.

When McGwire came to bat in the first inning, Tewksbury lobbed a pitch toward the plate. McGwire watched it float out of the strike zone for ball one. Tewksbury followed with another lob, a pitch accurately described by Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune as a lollipop. Rather than give it a lick, McGwire swung and dribbled a grounder to first base.

As he headed toward the dugout, McGwire shared a laugh with first-base coach Dave McKay, the Associated Press reported.

“It was all of 44 (mph),” Tewksbury told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “… My son (Griffin) calls it The Dominator. (Manager) Tom Kelly calls it The Entertainment Pitch. The hitters probably call it some other things.”

Said McGwire: “It was awesome. I loved it. I tell you what, I’ll swing at it every time if it’s in the strike zone.”

When McGwire came to bat again, in the fourth, Tewksbury got two quick strikes on the slugger before he floated the lob pitch. McGwire swung and popped out near first base.

“The first time it was funny,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “He kept getting outs with it _ and then it wasn’t funny.”

Said Tewksbury: “I can’t throw the ball by him, but I can throw it slower. I was excited to face McGwire. I couldn’t wait to face him. It was a thrill. He’s one of the best ever to play the game.”

In the sixth, McGwire singled off a Tewksbury curve. “I didn’t want to get crazy with it,” Tewksbury said about why he didn’t try the lob to McGwire again. “He’d hit it in the upper deck.”

When Ray Lankford came up in the same inning, Tewksbury delivered two lobs. Lankford watched one and grounded out on the other, ending the inning.

In 6.1 innings, Tewksbury yielded two runs on seven hits, walked none and struck out two. He threw five lobs _ three to McGwire and two to Lankford _ and recorded three outs with those floaters. The Twins won, 3-2. Boxscore

“From the variance of slowest pitch to fastest in the league, I can probably go farther than anybody,” Tewksbury said. “I can throw 44 (mph) and I can throw 83 (mph).”

Previously: Think Lance Lynn is a surprise? Check out Luis Arroyo

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The night Bob Gibson couldn’t protect a 6-0 lead

June 19, 2013 by retrosimba

Bob Gibson once squandered a 6-0 first-inning lead and was lifted before he could get three outs.

The night of April 16, 1962, was cold and windy at Philadelphia. Game time temperature was 36 degrees. Only 3,895 came to see the Cardinals play the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium that Monday night.

The pitching pairings were Gibson, making his first start of the season, against Cal McLish, making his first appearance for the Phillies after being acquired from the White Sox.

The first five Cardinals batters reached base, four on walks from McLish. The fourth walk was issued to Ken Boyer with the bases loaded. Bill White produced a run-scoring double and Doug Clemens hit a three-run double before McLish was replaced by Dallas Green. Gibson singled, driving in the sixth run of the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Phillies leadoff batter Tony Taylor walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Johnny Callison also walked.

After Tony Gonzalez struck out and Wes Covington flied out, Billy Klaus singled, scoring Taylor, and Frank Torre walked, loading the bases. Clay Dalrymple knocked in two more with a single, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 6-3. After a walk to Ruben Amaro loaded the bases, Cardinals manager Johnny Keane replaced Gibson with Ernie Broglio.

Roy Sievers, batting for Green, walked, scoring Torre with the Phillies’ fourth run. Taylor singled, driving in two and tying the score at 6-6. All six runs were charged to Gibson.

When Callison made the third out, on a pop-up to the catcher, it ended a first inning that included nine walks and took 54 shivering minutes to play.

Gibson’s pitching line: 0.2 innings, two hits, six runs, four walks, one strikeout.

In his book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I was roughed up for six runs in the first inning. After that our pitching coach, Howie Pollet, made me throw more pitches and simulate game conditions in the bullpen (before starts), which seemed to help.”

The Phillies wouldn’t score again that night. Broglio pitched 8.1 innings in relief and scattered five hits and four walks.

In the third, Cardinals catcher Gene Oliver broke the 6-6 tie with a home run off Don Ferrarese, who, two weeks later, would be traded to St. Louis.

The Cardinals won, 12-6. Broglio’s win was his first in relief since 1960. Boxscore

“We’ve been going slow with him (Broglio) because of his bad arm last year,” Keane said. “He and (Ray) Sadecki were behind in training and we were using them in long relief.”

In his next start, April 22, 1962, at Chicago, Gibson gave up four runs in eight innings and took the loss in a 5-1 Chicago victory, but limited the Cubs to four hits and struck out nine. Boxscore He finished the 1962 season with a 15-13 record and 2.85 ERA.

Previously: Bob Gibson vs. Sandy Koufax: a grand game for Charlie James

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