RetroSimba

How Pete Richert, Bing Devine bonded in Vietnam

December 5, 2023 by retrosimba

For pitcher Pete Richert, fatigues became as much a part of his wardrobe as a baseball uniform in 1968.

In April, he served with the National Guard, trying to quell riots in Washington, D.C. In the fall, he went to Vietnam, looking to boost the spirits of U.S. troops. In between, he pitched in relief for the Baltimore Orioles.

Among those who accompanied Richert to Vietnam was Cardinals general manager Bing Devine. Five years later, on Dec. 5, 1973, Devine acquired Richert for the Cardinals in a trade with the Dodgers.

A left-hander, Richert was a two-time American League all-star and pitched on Orioles teams that won three pennants and a World Series title. His stint with the Cardinals, though, didn’t go the way either he or the team had hoped it would.

Blazing heat

Richert was from Floral Park, N.Y., a village on Long Island. He went to Sewanhaka High School. (The name translates to “island of shells.”) Its alumni also include actor Telly Savalas and Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde.

In August 1957, Richert, 17, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the day before the club declared it was moving to Los Angeles after the season.

Richert steadily worked his way through the Dodgers’ farm system as a starting pitcher. In 1960, for the Class AA Atlanta Crackers managed by Rube Walker, Richert had 19 wins and struck out 251 batters in 225 innings. The Atlanta Journal called him “the Cracker with the golden arm” and described his best pitch as a “miracle whip fastball.”

He was 22 when he made a spectacular big-league debut with the Dodgers on April 12, 1962. Relieving Stan Williams, Richert struck out the first six batters he faced _ Vada Pinson, Frank Robinson, Gordy Coleman (who advanced to first on a passed ball by John Roseboro), Wally Post, Johnny Edwards and Tommy Harper. Boxscore

(Until then, the only pitcher to strike out six consecutive batters in his debut in the majors was the Dodgers’ Karl Spooner against the Giants in 1954. Boxscore)

“I always say a little prayer when I’m nervous and excited, and I was tonight as I started walking to the mound,” Richert told the Los Angeles Times. “My father, who always wanted me to be a baseball player, died when I was 15. When I decided to try baseball, my brother told me that when I was nervous or excited to always say a prayer and dad would help me. As soon as I threw a pitch to Pinson, the nervousness left me.”

Called upon three days later, Richert struck out five, including Joe Torre twice, in two innings against the Braves. Boxscore

Setback in St. Louis

Richert’s robust rookie season got derailed on May 12, 1962, at St. Louis. Relieving in the 11th, he allowed no runs or hits to the Cardinals in 2.2 innings. Then, as Richert pitched to Bill White with two outs in the 13th, “the ball bounced to the plate, his glove sailed 15 feet away and he grabbed his left elbow in obvious agony,” The Sporting News reported.

Taken to a hospital, it was discovered Richert had tore ligaments in the elbow. Boxscore

He came off the disabled list two months later and was sent to the Dodgers’ Omaha farm team. Worried about reinjuring his arm, Richert resisted throwing hard. According to the New York Times, Omaha manager Danny Ozark said to Richert, “Pete, you’re scared to throw the ball. If you’re going to be a pitcher, you’ve got to make up your mind. It’s the difference between spending the rest of your life in the minors or going back to the big time.”

Richert responded, got brought back to the Dodgers in August and was put into their starting rotation.

He split each of the next two seasons (1963-64) between the Dodgers and their Spokane farm team (managed by Danny Ozark).

On Sept. 16, 1963, the first-place Dodgers went to St. Louis for a three-game showdown series with the Cardinals, who were a game behind them. Dodgers manager Walt Alston opted to start three left-handers. After Johnny Podres and Sandy Koufax prevailed in the first two games, Richert started the finale. He was knocked out in the third inning but the Dodgers got brilliant relief from another left-hander, Ron Perranoski, and completed the sweep. Boxscore

Capital gains

In December 1964, the Dodgers sent Richert to the Washington Senators. The trade reunited him with his former Atlanta manager, Rube Walker, who was a coach on the staff of Senators manager Gil Hodges.

Richert led the 1965 Senators in wins (15), ERA (2.60), innings pitched (194) and strikeouts (161). He also pitched two scoreless innings for the American League in the All-Star Game, striking out Willie Mays and Willie Stargell. Boxscore

He was the Opening Day starter for Washington in 1966 when Emmett Ashford became the first black umpire in the majors. Boxscore

On April 24, 1966, Richert struck out seven consecutive Tigers batters _ Don Demeter, Ray Oyler, Orlando McFarlane, Bill Monbouquette, Dick Tracewski, Don Wert and Norm Cash. Boxscore

Named again to the all-star team, Richert pitched in the 1966 game at St. Louis and gave up the game-winning hit to former teammate Maury Wills. Boxscore

Richert led the 1966 Senators in wins (14), innings pitched (245.2) and strikeouts (195). He was the first Washington Senators pitcher to strike out 195 in a season since Walter Johnson (228) in 1916.

War zones

Sent by the Senators to the Orioles in May 1967, Richert was moved to the bullpen in 1968 and never went back to starting.

Richert was a reservist with a National Guard unit in Washington, D.C. When rioting broke out there after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, Richert left the Orioles to join his outfit. His two weeks of emergency riot-control duty “consisted of street patrol with D.C. police, guarding the Washington jail and protecting firefighters,” the Baltimore Sun reported.

“I saw some things you couldn’t believe,” Richert said to the Sun. “The city and its destruction, burning, looting, violence … Two entire streets of 15 blocks and another 22-block street were leveled … Firemen would be fighting fires and there were arsonists throwing Molotov cocktails at the fire trucks.”

After the 1968 baseball season, in a trip arranged by the United Service Organizations (USO) and the baseball commissioner’s office, Richert went to Vietnam with Bing Devine, players Ernie Banks of the Cubs, Larry Jackson of the Phillies and Ron Swoboda of the Mets, and St. Louis publicist Al Fleishman.

“We’d fly by helicopter to a firebase (artillery post), spend a couple hours chatting with the men, then take off and fly to another post nearby,” Fleishman told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We hit five or six small bases a day that way for 17 days.”

In his memoirs, Devine recalled, “One time, we were in a whaleboat going up this canal … They gave me a grenade launcher” in case of an ambush.

Devine told the soldiers, “I don’t know how to shoot a gun. If I need it, we’re hopeless.”

Richert said to the Baltimore Sun, “We visited 57 hospitals and they figured the six of us came in contact with better than 10,000 troops.”

According to the Post-Dispatch, Richert and Devine bonded during the Vietnam trip and exchanged Christmas cards each year after that.

Fall classics

Richert’s first World Series appearance came in 1969. With the score tied in Game 4, the Mets had runners on first and second, none out, in the bottom of the 10th when Richert relieved Dick Hall. His first pitch to J.C. Martin was bunted along the first-base line. Richert got to it but his throw hit Martin in the wrist and the ball rolled away, enabling Rod Gaspar to score from second with the winning run. Photos showed Martin interfered by running inside the base line and should have been called out, the Baltimore Sun reported. Boxscore Video

Richert had a better experience in Game 1 of the 1970 World Series. In the bottom of the ninth, with Pete Rose on first and two outs, Richert relieved Jim Palmer, looking to protect a 4-3 lead. His first pitch jammed Bobby Tolan, who hit a soft liner to shortstop Mark Belanger for the final out. Boxscore

On the move

In December 1971, Richert was reunited with the Dodgers when they acquired him from the Orioles.

Two years later, when the Dodgers dealt for closer Mike Marshall, they deemed Richert expendable and traded him to the Cardinals for Tommie Agee.

Richert, 34, joined Al Hrabosky and Rich Folkers as left-handers in the bullpen for the 1974 Cardinals, but he lacked command of his fastball, walking 11 in 11.1 innings. The highlight was the save he earned when he retired the Pirates’ Al Oliver with the potential tying runs on base. Boxscore

Placed on waivers in June 1974, Richert was claimed by the Phillies at the urging of their manager, Danny Ozark.

In 21 appearances for the 1974 Phillies, Richert was 2-1 (the loss was to the Cardinals) with a 2.21 ERA. In September, it was discovered he had a blood clot in his left arm and needed surgery, bringing an end to his pitching days.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades | 10 Comments »

Wild thing: Cardinals paved way for Johnny Klippstein

November 30, 2023 by retrosimba

Johnny Klippstein was 16 when he pitched his first season of professional baseball in the Cardinals’ system. When he got to the big leagues at 22, it was with the Cubs, not the Cardinals.

A right-hander who converted from starter to reliever, Klippstein spent 18 years in the majors and pitched in two World Series _ one for the Dodgers and the other against them.

The Cardinals tried to reacquire him, along with a rangy first baseman who would become the star of a hit television series, but it didn’t work out.

Young and restless

Born at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Klippstein was raised in suburban Silver Spring, Md. His father, who immigrated to America from Germany as a boy in 1894, served 30 years in the U.S. Army and retired as a master sergeant, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

A lanky kid with a strong arm, Johnny Klippstein learned to pitch in his one season playing American Legion baseball. In the summer of 1943, when he was 15, Klippstein and his mother took a bus to visit relatives in Appleton, Wis. By coincidence, the Cardinals were holding a tryout camp there and Klippstein went.

In the book “We Played the Game,” he recalled, “I arrived with a softball glove and softball hat and looked like a dope.”

Nonetheless, he impressed the Cardinals, who told him he would hear from them the following spring after he turned 16. With many young men in military service during World War II, ballclubs were reaching into the prep ranks to fill the talent pipeline. When Klippstein completed his junior year of high school, the Cardinals signed him and he was sent to their farm club in Allentown, Pa., in June 1944.

“All the guys were between 18 and 21 and I felt they were old enough to be my father,” Klippstein said to author Danny Peary. “The first time I went to the mound, I was so scared that my knees shook.”

Playing for manager Ollie Vanek (who a few years earlier gave a tryout to an amateur left-hander named Stan Musial and recommended him to the Cardinals), Klippstein pitched in six games for Allentown before spending the rest of the summer at a farm club in Lima, Ohio.

Afterward, Klippstein went back home to attend his senior year of high school. When he graduated in June 1945, Klippstein was so eager to return for a second season in the Cardinals’ system, “I didn’t even wait for my diploma. I told them to mail it to me,” he recalled to the Philadelphia Daily News.

Johnny on the spot

Klippstein, 17, was with Winston-Salem, N.C., for most of the summer of 1945. He posted an 8-7 record and led the team in ERA (2.48) but he also threw 19 wild pitches and hit batters with pitches eight times.

“He was rated (by the Cardinals) as a real prospect from the start, but he was young, didn’t even have his full growth,” the Winston-Salem Sentinel noted. “He was temperamental. He had a lot of stuff on the ball, but he was wilder than the usual rookie.”

Klippstein spent all of 1946 in the Army, returned to baseball the next year and pitched in the minors through 1948. After four years in the Cardinals’ system, Klippstein’s progress seemed to have stalled. As the Winston-Salem Sentinel noted, “The Cardinals did not want to let him go because they knew he had the stuff. They didn’t want to send him up because he was so wild.”

In the “We Played the Game” book, Klippstein said, “I was getting discouraged because I felt I was failing … The Cardinals didn’t have me in their plans.”

In November 1948, the Dodgers selected Klippstein in the minor-league draft. Sent to their farm club at Mobile, Ala., in 1949, he won 15 and had a 2.95 ERA.

The Cardinals wanted to get Klippstein back. In October 1949, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh met with Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey in Brooklyn and talked trade. The Cardinals offered pitcher Red Munger, a 15-game winner in 1949, for outfielder Gene Hermanski, first baseman Chuck Connors and Klippstein, the Associated Press reported.

(Connors, 28, made his big-league debut with the 1949 Dodgers, hitting into a double play in his lone at-bat. He later did better as an actor, playing the lead role of Lucas McCain in the TV Western series “The Rifleman.”)

Regarding the proposed trade, Rickey told the Associated Press, “Our greatest need is one more pitcher. I am willing to trade one of my outfielders for a good front-line pitcher. There is a chance to make that deal.”

Ultimately, the Dodgers decided to fill their need from within (Carl Erskine moved into the rotation in 1950) and the trade wasn’t made.

The Dodgers projected Klippstein for a spot with their Montreal affiliate, but the pitching-poor Chicago Cubs, who gave up the most runs in the National League in 1949, claimed him in the November Rule 5 draft.

In the big leagues

At spring training in 1950, Cubs manager Frankie Frisch said Klippstein would be part of the club’s pitching staff on Opening Day. “All he needs is confidence,” Frisch told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “He seems to have everything else.”

Klippstein had mixed results with the 1950 Cubs. He was bad as a starter (1-8, 7.99 ERA) and good as a reliever (2.98 ERA in 22 appearances) and as a hitter (.333 in 33 at-bats).

After the season, the Cubs acquired Chuck Connors from the Dodgers. He and Klippstein were teammates with the 1951 Cubs.

Klippstein did not have a winning record in any of his five seasons with the Cubs. He was sent to the Reds in October 1954 and had his most success as a starter with them.

On Sept. 11, 1955, Klippstein pitched a one-hit shutout against the Dodgers, who were on their way to becoming World Series champions that year. As Dick Young noted in the New York Daily News, “This was no humpty dumpty lineup. It had all the big sticks available.” Included were five future Hall of Famers: Roy Campanella, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider.

The Dodgers’ hit came with one out in the ninth when Reese blooped a single to right-center. According to Dick Young, when the inning ended, Reese crossed paths with Klippstein, patted him on the rump and said, “Tough luck, John. It’s just one of those things.”

Klippstein just smiled at him. Boxscore

On the move

In 1956, his seventh year in the majors, Klippstein had his first winning season, finishing 12-11 for the Reds. On May 26, he held the Braves hitless for seven innings before manager Birdie Tebbetts lifted him for a pinch-hitter, with the Reds trailing, 1-0. (The Braves scored on a Frank Torre sacrifice fly after Klippstein loaded the bases by hitting Hank Aaron with a pitch and walking two.) Boxscore

“I don’t blame Birdie for taking me out,” Klippstein told the Chicago Tribune. “We were a run behind, had a man in scoring position, and only one more turn at bat.”

After a good spring training with the Reds in 1957, Klippstein was their Opening Day starter against the Cardinals. He got shelled, giving up five doubles (including two to Stan Musial). Boxscore

He ended the season much better than he started it. On Sept. 28, 1957, Klippstein pitched a one-hit shutout against the Braves, who were headed to a World Series title. The Braves’ hit was a Bob Hazle single with two outs in the eighth. Boxscore

Traded by the Reds to the Dodgers for Don Newcombe in June 1958, Klippstein was used mostly in relief the rest of his career.

In Game 1 of the 1959 World Series versus the White Sox, he pitched two scoreless innings for the Dodgers. Boxscore The Cleveland Indians obtained him in 1960 and he had an American League-leading 14 saves for them.

He went on to pitch for the Senators (1961), Reds (1962), Phillies (1963-64), Twins (1964-66) and Tigers (1967).

On Aug. 6, 1962, at Houston, Klippstein pitched three scoreless innings and walloped a Don McMahon slider for a home run, breaking a 0-0 tie with two outs in the 13th. Boxscore (Klippstein hit five home runs in the majors, but was hitless in 37 career at-bats against the Cardinals.)

He had a 1.93 ERA for the 1963 Phillies and was 9-3 with five saves and a 2.24 ERA for the 1965 Twins, who became American League champions. Klippstein pitched in Games 3 and 7 of the 1965 World Series against the Dodgers and didn’t allow a run. Boxscore and Boxscore and Video

For his big-league career, Klippstein was 101-118 with 65 saves.

After his playing days, he was a Cubs season ticket holder. In October 2003, Klippstein was listening at his bedside to a Cubs game (a 5-4 win over the Marlins) when he died. His son John told the Chicago Tribune, “He passed away just after the Cubs scored that fifth run” in the 11th.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Prospects | 10 Comments »

How Cardinals fan Dennis Higgins became their pitcher

November 26, 2023 by retrosimba

When Dennis Higgins first got to pitch for the Cardinals, it seemed like a dream come true. They’d been his favorite team when he was a youth in his hometown of Jefferson City, Mo.

Recalling boyhood summers pitching in amateur leagues in central Missouri, Huggins told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’d have signed with the Cardinals and played for nothing.”

By the time Higgins became a Cardinal in 1971, he was near the end of his pro playing career, a journey that began 14 years earlier in the White Sox system.

His stint with the Cardinals was no fairytale. He had ups and downs, got sent to the minors, returned and got traded, a move that prompted him to quit the game.

A tall (6-foot-3), lanky, right-handed reliever, Higgins had a record of 22-23 with 46 saves in seven seasons with the White Sox (1966-67), Senators (1968-69), Indians (1970) and Cardinals (1971-72).

Perseverance pays

Jefferson City, about midway between St. Louis and Kansas City, is the capital of Missouri. The town was laid out by Daniel Morgan Boone, son of the famous frontiersman, and was named for President Thomas Jefferson. In the 1950s, Omar Higgins, a Jefferson City police captain, took his son to Cardinals games in St. Louis “to watch Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter every chance he could,” Dennis Higgins told the Post-Dispatch.

According to the Jefferson City Daily Capital News, Higgins, 18, signed with the White Sox in the fall of 1957. He spent eight years in the minors before he earned a spot with the 1966 White Sox. He made his big-league debut on April 12, Opening Day, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings against the Angels in Chicago. Boxscore

The White Sox won that Tuesday afternoon game in 14 innings. After it ended, Higgins rushed to O’Hare Airport for a flight to Jefferson City, where he was married the following afternoon, April 13, to Ruth Ann Schnieders, whose brother, Paul, pitched in the Cubs system for eight years. The next afternoon, Higgins was back in uniform for the White Sox’s April 14 game at Chicago.

Relying on a sinking fastball, Higgins pitched in 42 games for the 1966 White Sox and was 1-0 with five saves and a 2.52 ERA. Batters hit a mere .202 against him.

An eye for an eye

At White Sox spring training in 1967, Higgins’ left eye bothered him. He consulted a doctor, but kept pitching, The Sporting News reported.

In May, during a game at Kansas City against the Athletics, Catfish Hunter threw a pitch close to White Sox batter Don Buford, who hit the dirt to get out of the way. In the bottom half of the inning, Higgins relieved starter Tommy John. The first pitch Higgins threw hit Danny Cater in the top of the batting helmet. His next pitch sailed over the head of Dick Green. Umpire crew chief Hank Soar warned Higgins he’d be ejected if he threw another one too close to a batter. Higgins walked Green on three more pitches.

Sal Bando came up next. Higgins’ first pitch hit him in the hip, and home plate umpire Jim Odom ejected Higgins and manager Eddie Stanky. “I wasn’t throwing at anybody,” Higgins told The Sporting News. Umpire Ed Runge said, “All we know is that Higgins faced three men, hit two and knocked the other down.”

(Years later, Higgins recalled that Stanky ordered him to hit the three batters in succession, the Post-Dispatch reported.) Boxscore

Two weeks after the incident, Higgins learned he had a detached retina in his left eye. He underwent surgery a week later and missed the remainder of the season.

Another capital city

In February 1968, Higgins was traded to the Senators and became their closer, leading the club in saves (13) and appearances (59). “The hitters are just plain stupid,” Higgins told the Daily Capital News. “Less than 30 percent of them are long ball hitters, yet they all go up there swinging for the fence.”

Ted Williams replaced Jim Lemon as Senators manager in 1969. When the Senators went to Boston for the first time with Williams as manager, the return of the Red Sox icon created a hullaballoo. The Senators won and Higgins got the save with three scoreless innings. “I wish we had more like him,” Williams told The Sporting News. Boxscore

Williams called on Higgins often. He used him in 11 games in April and 11 in May, twice pitching him in both games of doubleheaders. “I overworked him early in the year because I had to,” Williams told the Akron Beacon Journal.

Higgins had 10 wins for the 1969 Senators and led them in saves (16) and appearances (55). He also threw 15 wild pitches. In his book, “Kiss it Goodbye,” Senators broadcaster Shelby Whitfield noted, “Ted’s critics said he ruined the arm of Dennis Higgins by pitching him too frequently in 1969.”

Paul Lindblad, who pitched for Williams in 1971 and 1972, told The Sporting News, “Ted ruined pitchers his first year out. He burned out Higgins and wore out (Darold) Knowles to next to nothing.”

Traded to the Cleveland Indians, Higgins was their team leader in saves (11) and appearances (58) in 1970. Unhappy with the contract offer he got for 1971, he held out for more and was shipped to Wichita at the end of spring training. In July, Higgins got sent to the Athletics, who then flipped him to the Cardinals for infielder Gaylen Pitts.

Opportunity knocks

Assigned to Tulsa, Higgins pitched in 17 games for the Cardinals’ affiliate. His combined record for Wichita and Tulsa was 2-11, so when he got called up to the Cardinals in September 1971, “Higgins said he found it hard to believe,” the Daily Capital News reported.

He got into three games for the 1971 Cardinals and was 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. The win came in the Cardinals’ home finale when he pitched 3.2 scoreless innings against the Expos. Boxscore

The Cardinals put Higgins, 32, on their 40-man winter roster. Manager Red Schoendienst “was reasonably impressed enough to want to see more of Higgins in the spring,” Cardinals general manager Bing Devine told the Daily Capital News.

At 1972 spring training, Higgins pitched well and beat out another veteran, Stan Williams, for a spot on the Opening Day roster, the Post-Dispatch reported.

It was a different story after the season began. Higgins had a 6.75 ERA in April and 4.05 in May. He was 0-2 with 14 walks in 13 innings when the Cardinals demoted him to Tulsa in May 1972. “He has a good arm, a good fastball and a good curve,” Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch. “All he has to do is throw strikes and challenge the hitters.”

Higgins considered quitting, then changed his mind. “The pay is the same, and that’s the only reason I’m going to Tulsa,” he said to the Post-Dispatch.

Tulsa manager Jack Krol put Higgins in the starting rotation and he thrived. He was 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 11 starts. Two of the wins were shutouts. Higgins figured that was enough to earn a midseason return to the Cardinals. When they didn’t call, he went home to Jefferson City.

“Bing Devine called and asked me what my intentions were,” Higgins explained to the Jefferson City Sunday News and Tribune. “I told him I wasn’t going to pitch in the minors with a record like mine. He said they would see what they could do.”

On July 26, 1972, the Cardinals released pitcher Tony Cloninger and replaced him with Higgins. Given a start against the Cubs on July 30, he was lifted in the third inning. Boxscore

Moved to the bullpen, Higgins made five August relief appearances for the 1972 Cardinals and was 1-0 with a save and a 1.35 ERA. The win came in a scoreless stint against the Mets. Boxscore

In late August, Higgins felt pain in his right elbow and received a cortisone shot, the Post-Dispatch reported. On Aug. 31, his contract was sold to the Padres, “a move regarded as a forerunner of further activity with the Cardinals, who have interest in Padres shortstop Enzo Hernandez,” The Sporting News reported.

Higgins, 33, had other ideas. “I was home on an off day when Devine called to tell me I had been traded to San Diego,” Higgins recalled to the Jefferson City Sunday newspaper. “I wasn’t going, and that was the end of my career.”

He returned to Jefferson City and went into the sporting goods business.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 12 Comments »

An interview with author of book on 1982 Cardinals

November 20, 2023 by retrosimba

The 1982 Cardinals had no player hit 20 home runs. One of their best relievers was 43 and had been in the majors since the 1950s. Only one of their pitchers struck out as many as 90 batters.

Yet, the 1982 Cardinals may be the franchise’s greatest team since baseball went to a divisional alignment. Since 1969, the only Cardinals club to finish a regular season with the best record in the National League and win a World Series title was the 1982 team.

A new book, “Runnin’ Redbirds: The World Champion 1982 St. Louis Cardinals,” provides insights into why that team was so special.

Written by Eric Vickrey, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, the book is available on Amazon and direct through the publisher, McFarland Books. Until Nov. 27, there is a 40 percent discount (the discount code is HOLIDAY23) for those who order direct from McFarland.

Here is an email interview I did with the author in November 2023:

Q: Hi, Eric. What prompted you to do a book on the 1982 Cardinals?

A: “Growing up in Alton, Illinois, during the 1980s, I fell in love with baseball watching the Cardinals sprint around the bases and play amazing defense. Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Vince Coleman and Tommy Herr were my heroes as a kid. Fast-forward to 2020. During the early days of the pandemic, when I was stuck inside and there was no baseball to watch, I started writing player bios for the Society for American Baseball Research. I enjoyed the research and writing process as well as the nostalgia of revisiting the roots of my baseball fandom. I miss the Cardinals’ style of play in the 1980s, which was so different than the game today. I thought it would be interesting to really dig into one season as a longer narrative project. I chose 1982 because it included the arc of Whitey Herzog’s rebuild and the pinnacle of a championship.”

Q: What makes your book different from other books, such as those from Whitey Herzog or Keith Hernandez, about the 1982 Cardinals?

A: “Herzog’s memoir, White Rat, was incredibly insightful, particularly in regard to his roster reconstruction in 1980 and 1981. In typical Whitey fashion, he pulled no punches. Ozzie, Hernandez, Bob Forsch and Darrell Porter also authored books that touched on their experiences in 1982. But there had not been a book that focused primarily on the Cardinals’ 1982 season. In addition to delving into the on-field highlights of that year, Runnin’ Redbirds examines the team in the context of baseball history with some modern analytics sprinkled in. It is also very much a human-interest story. The Cardinals were an eclectic group, and I tell a bit of each player’s story.”

Q: Could you provide an example or anecdote about a 1982 Cardinal who was the most fun or enjoyable for you to interview?

A: “I interviewed Dane Iorg, who was one of the stars of the World Series for St. Louis. In his 17 at-bats against Milwaukee, he recorded nine hits, five of which went for extra bases. If there is such a thing as a clutch player, he was it. I’m sure he has been asked about the 1982 World Series a million times, but to hear the pure joy in his voice while describing the thrill of a championship more than 40 years ago was really cool.”

Q: Since baseball went to a divisional format in 1969, 1982 is the only year in which the Cardinals finished with the best record in the National League and won the World Series title. Do you think then the case can be made that the 1982 group is the last great Cardinals team?

A: “I think that depends on how you define greatness. I’d consider the 1985, 2004 and 2005 Cardinals great teams even though they fell short of a championship. Anything can happen once you get to the postseason and sometimes a bit of luck swings things in favor of one team. The 1982 Cardinals, for example, benefitted from a rainout in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series when they were trailing the Braves in the fifth inning. Then there was Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, but let’s not go there.”

Q: Who do you think is the most under-appreciated member of the 1982 Cardinals, and why so?

A: “That’s a really tough question because the Cards received contributions from so many players during the course of the season. Unheralded guys like Mike Ramsey, Doug Bair, Ken Oberkfell and Glenn Brummer all made key contributions. But perhaps the most under-appreciated player, relative to his production, is Lonnie Smith. He led the league in runs scored and led the Cardinals in hits, extra-base hits, stolen bases and Wins Above Replacement _ an MVP-level season.”

Q: Could you provide an example of something surprising you learned about the 1982 Cardinals in doing your research and interviewing?

A: “The 1982 Cardinals are most remembered for their speed and defense, and rightly so. But until I dug into the numbers, I never realized how historically dominant the Cardinals’ pitching staff was during the playoff push. They had a stretch in September in which they allowed two earned runs or less in 11 straight games. Only three pitching staffs in the live-ball era have longer streaks, and two of those occurred during the pitching-dominant season of 1968.”

Q: In the postseason, the 1982 team came face to face with prominent Cardinals of the past. In the National League Championship Series, the Braves were managed by Joe Torre and coached by Bob Gibson and Dal Maxvill. In the World Series, the Brewers had players Ted Simmons and Pete Vuckovich. Did that create any drama?

A: “It certainly made things more intriguing. Torre and Gibson were still beloved in St. Louis and got enormous ovations at the start of the NLCS, but Cardinal fans wanted to see them lose. Gibson, on the other hand, said before the series he wanted the Braves to ‘beat the blazes’ out of the Cards. Simmons was another St. Louis icon, and there were many fans who wished he could have been a part of the 1982 team. Now if Garry Templeton had been in the opposing dugout, that may have created some drama.”

Q: Thanks, Eric. To wrap it up, I’m going to list five names from the 1982 Cardinals and ask you to respond, in a sentence or two, with the first thing that comes to mind for you on each. First up: Lonnie Smith?

A: “Lonnie could not seem to crack the Phillies lineup, but Herzog shrewdly traded for him before the 1982 season and what a steal that was. The guy was a winner. He played in five World Series.”

Q: Joaquin Andujar?

A: “Andujar is probably more remembered for his off-the-wall quotes and blowup in the 1985 World Series, but the 1982 team probably doesn’t win it all without him. He was nearly unhittable down the stretch.”

Q: George Hendrick?

A: “Silent George was a solid all-around player and accounted for nearly a third of the Cardinals’ home runs in 1982. One of my favorite anecdotes from Game 7 is that after the last out, Hendrick headed straight for his car and listened to the postgame celebration on his drive home.”

Q: Jim Kaat?

A: “Kitty pitched to Ted Williams during the Eisenhower administration and to Ryne Sandberg during the Reagan administration. He kept reinventing himself and was the quintessential crafty lefty.”

Q: Whitey Herzog?

A: “Pure baseball genius who was not afraid to take risks. An excellent communicator. Every player I talked to who played for him raved about the way he communicated with his players.”

Posted in Bloggers, Hitters, Managers, Pitchers | 22 Comments »

Cardinals got early look at tower of power Frank Howard

November 15, 2023 by retrosimba

The first time Frank Howard came to the plate against the Cardinals he did what came naturally to him. He hit a home run. Not just any home run. A tape-measure clout, befitting a giant who stood 6-foot-7 and weighed more than 250 pounds.

As Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times noted, “He’s Gulliver in a baseball suit.”

A right-handed batter capable of launching balls into distant places, Howard ht 382 home runs in 16 years with the Dodgers (1958-64), Senators (1965-71), Rangers (1972) and Tigers (1972-73). He spent another 20 years as a big-league coach and managed the Padres (1981) and Mets (1983).

Hoops hot shot

In Columbus, Ohio, Frank Howard was “kind of a scrawny-looking, mangy-looking kid,” he told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. A son of a railroad machinist, he did construction work during high school and college summers. “I ran a jackhammer on asphalt crews,” Howard told the Press-Gazette, “and I was a hod carrier’s helper (carrying supplies to bricklayers). You work like that, and you’re going to have a strong body.”

When he enrolled at Ohio State, he was 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds. Basketball and baseball were the sports he played. “A lot of people thought I was better at basketball,” Howard said to the Press-Gazette.

In 1955-56, his first varsity basketball season as a sophomore, Howard averaged 15.1 points per game and led the Big Ten Conference in rebounding (12.9).

As a junior in 1956-57, Howard averaged 20.1 points and again was the Big Ten’s top rebounder (15.3). He snared 32 rebounds in a game against Brigham Young at New York’s Madison Square Garden. In Ohio State’s 74-54 home win versus the St. Louis University Billikens, Howard contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds.

In Howard’s senior year, Ohio State came to St. Louis’ Kiel Auditorium and he dazzled with 27 points and 10 rebounds, but the Billikens won, 88-77. Howard averaged 16.9 points as a senior and scouts for the NBA St. Louis Hawks “rated him as an outstanding pro basketball prospect,” The Sporting News reported.

New home

Howard played varsity baseball his sophomore and junior seasons at Ohio State and was “coveted by all 16 major-league clubs” because of his extraordinary power, the Los Angeles Times reported. According to The Sporting News, Dodgers scouts rated Howard higher than Dave Nicholson, the teenage slugger from St. Louis who signed with the Orioles for more than $100,000.

On March 5, 1958, the Dodgers signed Howard for $108,000. When he stepped into the batting cage for the first time at the Dodgers’ training camp in Vero Beach, Fla., Howard “was scared to death” and “actually was shaking,” according to the Los Angeles Times. On his third swing, he hit the ball 400 feet.

Teammates watched in wonder one morning when Howard consumed eight eggs, 24 strips of bacon, two bowls of cereal with sliced bananas, four glasses of orange juice and 10 slices of toast, The Sporting News noted.

The next month, the Philadelphia Warriors took Howard in the third round of the 1958 NBA draft, but by then he was on his way to the Dodgers’ farm club in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Playing for manager Pete Reiser, the St. Louis native and former Dodgers outfielder, Howard hit 37 home runs. “He’s simply fabulous,” Reiser told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He could do for baseball what Babe Ruth did. He hits many a ball completely out of sight in every park.”

Green Bay became important to Howard for reasons other than baseball. He met Carol Johanski, who worked in the circulation department of the Press-Gazette. She recalled to the newspaper, “We met in a pizza place in 1958. I was out with girlfriends and Frank and some fellows came over to our table and introduced themselves. We didn’t believe them when they said they were baseball players.”

Howard asked Carol for a date and they married a year later. Green Bay became Howard’s off-season residence. He spent several winters doing sales and promotional work for a Green Bay paper products company.

Big bopper

After his big season with Green Bay, Howard got called up to the Dodgers in September 1958. In his first game, he hit a home run against a future Hall of Famer, Robin Roberts of the Phillies. Howard’s blast landed atop the left field roof at Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium. Boxscore

In the book “We Played the Game,” Dodgers reliever Johnny Klippstein recalled, “He was frightening looking and the strongest guy I ever saw in baseball, but he was mild and meek and called everybody Mister.”

Howard spent most of 1959 in the minors before a September promotion to the Dodgers, who were headed to becoming World Series champions.

The first time he faced the Cardinals was Sept. 22, 1959, at St. Louis. Batting for reliever Danny McDevitt, Howard drove a pitch from Lindy McDaniel 400 feet to left-center for a three-run home run. The Cardinals “couldn’t recall a ball that was hit as hard” as Howard’s line drive, the Post-Dispatch reported. Boxscore

Howard stuck with the Dodgers in 1960 after his recall from the minors in May, slugged 23 home runs and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. On July 10, 1960, against the Cardinals at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Howard had his first 5-RBI game in the majors. Boxscore

In a five-year stretch (1960-64), Howard led the Dodgers in home runs four times. He slugged 31 for them in 1962 and 28 the next year when they became World Series champions.

Howard hit .354 versus the Cardinals in 1961 and .340 in 1964. His home run against Craig Anderson in the 11th inning at St. Louis on July 22, 1961, struck the scoreboard in left, more than 400 feet from home plate. Boxscore

All was not well, though, for Howard with the Dodgers. Manager Walter Alston platooned him in right field and wanted Howard to change his batting stance in order to reach curveballs low and away.

Howard threatened to retire in 1964 and made it known he’d welcome a trade. The Dodgers accommodated him, sending Howard, Ken McMullen, Phil Ortega, Pete Richert and Dick Nen to the Washington Senators for Claude Osteen and John Kennedy on Dec. 4, 1964.

Washington monument

As the Senators’ everyday left fielder, Howard became “the most frightening home run hitter in baseball,” the New York Times noted. On a last-place team in 1968, he led the American League in total bases (330), home runs (44), extra-base hits (75) and slugging percentage (.552).

Ted Williams became the Senators’ manager in 1969 and Howard again was the league leader in total bases (340).

“That son of a gun is the biggest and strongest hitter who ever played this game,” Williams told the New York Times, “and that includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg _ all of them. Nobody ever hit the ball harder and further, nobody.

“There was only one thing I talked to him about this spring,” Williams said. “He always used to swing at the first pitch that was anywhere near the plate. That’s just like swinging as if you had two strikes on you every time up. Wait. Wait for the pitch you want to hit.”

Howard, who never had more than 60 walks in a season, had 102 walks and 175 hits in 1969 _ an on-base percentage of .402. He was even better in 1970 (.416 on-base mark with 132 walks and 160 hits) and led the league that season in home runs (44) and RBI (126) in addition to walks. Video

Asked about Williams’ influence, Howard said to the New York Times, “He convinced me. I used to be swinging from the time I left the bench. Now I’m not afraid to give them a strike to be more selective … He’s made me more aware of what I’m doing as a hitter, and it has helped.”

Staying busy

After ending his big-league playing career with the 1973 Tigers, Howard returned to baseball as manager of a Brewers farm club in 1976. The next year, Howard became a coach on the staff of Brewers manager Alex Grammas. When Grammas was fired after the 1977 season, general manager Harry Dalton replaced him with George Bamberger. Howard told the Press-Gazette he was disappointed he was bypassed for the job, but Bamberger retained him as a coach.

Howard spent the ensuing winters in Green Bay operating a tavern. He described “Frank Howard’s Lounge” to the Press-Gazette as “intimate, the Fenway Park of saloons.” Howard tended bar and made it a point to talk with customers. As the Press-Gazette noted on a visit, “There he was, pulling on the beer taps, measuring shots of brandy, trying to stab olives and pouring delicate glasses of wine.”

In 1980, Howard’s fourth season as Brewers coach, George Bamberger took a leave of absence because of a heart condition. Howard wanted the job, but Harry Dalton gave it to another coach, Buck Rodgers. “It is tough to live with when you know you can do the job and no one else seems to know it,” Howard told the Associated Press.

After coaching for the 1980 Brewers, Howard was hired to be manager of the Padres, inheriting a last-place team. Howard’s 1981 Padres had Ozzie Smith at shortstop and a former Cardinal, Terry Kennedy, at catcher but not much else. Howard was fired after one strike-shortened season.

George Bamberger, who had replaced Joe Torre as Mets manager, hired Howard for a coaching job in 1982. The next year, Bamberger resigned in June and Howard replaced him. General manager Frank Cashen told Howard the job was only for the remainder of the season.

“He didn’t want to do it under those conditions,” Cashen told the New York Times, “but he finally acceded for the good of the organization … Nobody symbolizes professionalism more than Frank Howard did.”

Howard took over a last-place club. His shortstop was Jose Oquendo and a couple of weeks later the Mets got Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals to play first base.

Davey Johnson became Mets manager in 1984 and Howard was on his coaching staff. Howard went on to coach for the Mariners, Yankees and Rays as well as the Brewers and Mets again.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 12 Comments »

How Cardinals made a pitch to acquire Jerry Koosman

November 10, 2023 by retrosimba

After trading Steve Carlton and Jerry Reuss, the Cardinals went two seasons without a prominent left-hander in their starting rotation. General manager Bing Devine sought to help fill the void by trying to acquire Jerry Koosman.

In October 1973, Devine offered first baseman Joe Torre to the Mets for Koosman. A Brooklyn native who won a National League Most Valuable Player Award with the Cardinals, Torre appealed to the Mets, who in 1973 ranked last in the league in total bases and next-to-last in runs scored. Koosman, a left-hander who pitched in two World Series for the Mets, appealed to the Cardinals in their quest for depth and balance in the starting rotation.

Published reports indicated the proposed swap was a done deal, but when the Mets tried to substitute others for Koosman, the Cardinals lost interest.

Talent drain

In a period from December 1971 to April 1972, the Mets and Cardinals made three ill-fated trades. The Mets sent pitcher Nolan Ryan (and three others) to the Angels for infielder Jim Fregosi in December 1971. Soon after, the Cardinals’ petulant owner, Gussie Busch, got miffed with pitchers Steve Carlton (because of his salary request) and Jerry Reuss (because he grew a moustache) and ordered Bing Devine to trade both. Devine sent Carlton to the Phillies in February 1972 and Reuss to the Astros two months later.

Carlton (329 wins) and Ryan (324 wins) became Hall of Famers. Reuss won 220.

The Mets reached the World Series in 1973 because of a rotation that had Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack and because of a misconceived playoff format that rewarded mediocrity. The 79 losses of the 1973 Mets are the most ever for a pennant winner, just one more than the 78 of the 2006 Cardinals and 2023 Diamondbacks.

After trading Carlton and Reuss, the 1972 Cardinals (75-81) had all right-handers in their starting rotation _ Bob Gibson, Rick Wise, Reggie Cleveland, Al Santorini and Scipio Spinks. The only left-handers to make starts for the 1972 Cardinals were Lance Clemons and John Cumberland. Each made one.

It was a similar story the next year. The top five starters for the 1973 Cardinals (81-81) were right-handers Gibson, Wise, Cleveland, Alan Foster and Tom Murphy. The only left-hander to make a start was Rich Folkers, primarily a reliever.

Bing Devine, who once helped the Mets keep Jerry Koosman, now wanted to take him away from them.

Show me the money

In 1964, Koosman was in the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas, when Mets scout Red Murff (who also discovered Nolan Ryan) saw him pitch and recommended him. “I wanted a $20,000 signing bonus,” Koosman told the Philadelphia Daily News.

The Mets’ offer was for a fraction of that. Each time Koosman said no, the Mets offered less. According to Newsday, he finally said OK to $1,200. “The way things were going, I thought I’d better sign before I owed them money,” Koosman said to the Philadelphia newspaper.

Koosman signed in August 1964, about the time a panicky Gussie Busch fired the Cardinals’ general manager, Bing Devine. Two months later, Devine was hired by the Mets to be special assistant to team president George Weiss.

In 1965, his first season in the Mets’ farm system, Koosman was 5-13. At spring training in 1966, George Weiss wanted to release Koosman, Devine recalled in his book “The Memoirs of Bing Devine.”

According to Devine, he and minor-league executive Joe McDonald “thought it was a mistake to give up on Koosman.”

Devine said Koosman had borrowed about $500 from the Mets, and the parsimonious Weiss “really hated to get rid of players who owed the club money.” (Whitey Herzog, then a Mets coach, told the Philadelphia Daily News it was $50.)

According to Devine, Joe McDonald proposed suggesting to Weiss that the Mets keep Koosman at least until the club could begin deducting the money owed them from his first couple of regular-season paychecks.

Koosman began the 1966 season with a farm club in Auburn (N.Y.) and pitched so well (1.38 ERA in 170 innings) that the Mets kept him.

The next year, with Devine having replaced Weiss, Koosman earned a spot on the 1967 Mets Opening Day roster. He made five relief appearances for them, got sent to the minors and returned to the Mets in September, making three starts.

With the Mets’ Florida Instructional League team, managed by Whitey Herzog in the fall of 1967, Koosman had a 1.64 ERA in 55 innings. Devine then left to replace Stan Musial as Cardinals general manager in 1968, but Koosman was on his way to establishing himself as a Mets starter.

No deal

With the foundation built by Bing Devine, the Mets became World Series champions in 1969. Koosman contributed 17 wins and a 2.28 ERA. He also won Games 2 and 5 of the World Series. Boxscore and Boxscore

In 1973, Koosman had 14 wins and a 2.84 ERA. He won Game 5 of the World Series, beating Vida Blue and the Athletics. Boxscore

During that World Series, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that a trade of Joe Torre for Jerry Koosman “already has been agreed to.”

According to Newsday, “There have been reports for the last several weeks that Torre would be traded to the Mets for Jerry Koosman.”

The trade seemed such a lock that when Torre attended the 1973 World Series in New York he said “he was being congratulated by many persons for being traded to the Mets,” The Sporting News reported.

The sure bet then hit a snag.

According to Tulsa World sports editor Bill Connors, “The Mets thought they were close to getting Torre at World Series time, but backed out when the Cardinals would not settle for less than Jerry Koosman.”

Dick Young of the New York Daily News reported it was Mets manager Yogi Berra who would not agree to let Koosman go. Berra told The Sporting News, “I could have made a deal for Joe Torre if I was willing to give the Cardinals Koosman or a center fielder. We won’t give up Koosman for Torre and we don’t have a center fielder to give them.”

Newsday noted that the Mets, stung by having dealt Nolan Ryan, were “reluctant to part with another front-line pitcher.”

Mets general manager Bob Scheffing told the New York Daily News, “We might be interested in trading Koosman if somebody comes along and knocks us over with a deal.” He said he wasn’t “knocked over” by the proposal of Torre for Koosman.

Timing is everything

The Mets made a counter-proposal, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported. According to The Sporting News, the Mets offered to swap pitchers George Stone (a left-hander) and Jim McAndrew, plus infielder Ted Martinez, for Torre.

Devine, however, would not lower his demand for Koosman.

Torre suggested to Jersey Journal correspondent Jack Lang that if the Mets would offer a proposal that included another left-hander, former Cardinal Ray Sadecki, Devine might reconsider.

“I know they (the Cardinals) want a starting pitcher,” Torre told Lang. “They’d also like Ray Sadecki, that I know. They think of Sadecki the same way the Mets do _ someone who can start, relieve and pitch middle innings. He can be used in so many ways and they like him. If they (the Mets) can put together a package, they might be able to get both (outfielder Luis) Melendez and myself.”

(Instead, the Cardinals acquired John Curtis from the Red Sox to be a left-handed starter in 1974.)

Like the Mets did with Koosman, the Cardinals kept Torre in 1974. He batted .282 and produced a .371 on-base percentage. Koosman won 15 for the 1974 Mets, but Torre hit .526 (10-for-19) against him.

After the season, Joe McDonald replaced Bob Scheffing as Mets general manager. McDonald’s first trade was to send Ray Sadecki and pitcher Tommy Moore to the Cardinals for Torre. “The Torre deal could not have been made without Sadecki’s inclusion,” McDonald told The Sporting News.

Three years later, on May 31, 1977, Torre became the Mets’ manager. In his first start with Torre as manager, Koosman beat the Expos, but his season unraveled after that. Boxscore

Pitching for last-place teams, Koosman was 8-20 in 1977 and 3-15 in 1978. Born and raised on a farm in Minnesota, he asked to be traded to the Twins. Joe McDonald granted his request, dealing Koosman to Minnesota in December 1978 for a pair of pitching prospects, Jesse Orosco and Greg Field.

“I still think he has a great arm,” McDonald told The Sporting News, “and, in spite of his (1978) record, he can still pitch.”

McDonald eventually joined the Cardinals and was their general manager when they became World Series champions in 1982.

Torre eventually became Cardinals manager, got fired, went to the Yankees, won four World Series titles and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 19 years in the majors with the Mets (1967-78), Twins (1979-81), White Sox (1981-83) and Phillies (1984-85), Koosman was 222-209. In 74 plate appearances versus Koosman, Torre had a .446 on-base percentage and a .388 batting average.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 6 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »