RetroSimba

Bob Forsch, Cards are part of the Champ Summers lore

October 19, 2012 by retrosimba

In 11 big-league seasons, Champ Summers hit only one home run against the Cardinals. Like many of the events involving Champ Summers, it was bigger than life.

The last home run of Summers’ major-league career was a pinch-hit grand slam off the Cardinals’ Bob Forsch, lifting the Padres to a 7-3 victory on April 10, 1984, at San Diego.

It was fitting that Summers’ final home run was struck as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded. His first big-league homer _ hit for the Cubs against the Astros’ Jim York on Aug. 23, 1975, at Chicago _ also was a pinch-hit grand slam. Boxscore

From his colorful nickname to his unusual path to the major leagues, Summers was one of the game’s endearing characters.

In 1984, Summers, 38, was in his last big-league season, primarily employed as a left-handed pinch-hitter for San Diego. In their sixth game of a three-city West Coast trip to open the season, the Cardinals were leading the Padres, 3-1, in the fifth inning when Summers batted for pitcher Andy Hawkins with the bases loaded. He lined Forsch’s second pitch into the right-field seats. Boxscore

Summers rounded the bases so slowly his home run trot “made a wedding march look like a 40-yard dash,” wrote Bud Shaw of the San Diego Evening Tribune.

“I did take some time to watch that one,” Summers said with a smile. “I felt like I won the lottery.”

Summers told Phil Collier of the San Diego Union, “Hitting is like dancing. If you can’t hear the music, you can’t dance. I feel like I could dance all night.”

Under the headline “Performance of Padres’ Champ Worth an Oscar,” Shaw wrote, “For just one day, it would be nice to live the charmed life of Champ Summers. Preferably on a day when the rent is overdue, the unemployment check is lost in transit and your mother-in-law isn’t.”

Asked about his at-bat against Forsch, Summers said, “I don’t know what the pitch was and I don’t know where it was. I never know.”

John Junior Summers was born June 15, 1946, in Bremerton, Wash. He was nicknamed “Champ” at birth.

“My father was a prizefighter in the Navy,” Summers told the Belleville (Ill.) newspaper. “He said when I was born I looked like I went 10 rounds with Joe Louis. It’s a sad story, but true.”

Champ Summers moved with his family to the St. Louis metropolitan area. He was a natural athlete. At 17, while attending Madison (Ill.) High School, Summers was challenged to a tennis match by a local 13-year-old looking to test himself against worthy competition. The phenom was Jimmy Connors.

Summers entered the Army, became a paratrooper and served in Vietnam. When he came back to the U.S., he enrolled at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and played basketball and baseball. He was playing in a men’s softball league when a scout for the Oakland Athletics discovered him and signed him to a free-agent contract in 1971.

When Summers reached the major leagues with Oakland in 1974, the year he turned 28, he was known as John Summers, the name he had used throughout his minor-league career as well.

One day, Summers said, as he was signing autographs before a game at Oakland during his rookie season, teammate Reggie Jackson watched him slowly sign “John J. Summers Jr.” on each item handed him. Reggie asked Summers whether he had a nickname. When Summers replied “Champ,” Jackson told him he’d be a fool not to use it.

When Summers was traded to the Cubs in 1975, he introduced himself as Champ Summers _ and it remained his big-league moniker.

Summers played in the majors, primarily as an outfielder, for six teams (Athletics, Cubs, Reds, Tigers, Giants and Padres) from 1974 through 1984.

A career .255 hitter, he batted .271 against the Cardinals. He was tough versus St. Louis with the Cubs in 1975 (.313) and with the Giants in 1982 (.364).

In 2001, Summers returned to the St. Louis region as the first manager of the Gateway Grizzlies of the Frontier League in Sauget, Ill.

Previously: Rick Horton: Bob Forsch was heart, soul of Cardinals’ staff

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Danny Cox vs. Mike Aldrete: Duel of 1987 Cards, Giants

October 18, 2012 by retrosimba

Mike Aldrete threatened to derail the Cardinals’ pennant push with a knockout smash off the foot of Danny Cox.

Cox was a starting pitcher for the 1987 Cardinals and Aldrete was a lethal hitter for the 1987 Giants.

Aldrete hit .438 (14-for-32) against the Cardinals during the 1987 regular season. His most damaging swing, however, produced a groundout that broke a bone in Cox’s right foot and sidelined him for a month.

Cox got even in the 1987 National League Championship Series. In a Game 7 pennant-clinching triumph, Cox held Aldrete hitless and shut out the Giants.

Riding a seven-game winning streak, the first-place Cardinals opened a series against the Giants at St. Louis on July 9, 1987.

In the seventh inning, Aldrete smacked a low liner and it struck Cox in the right foot. The ball caromed back to catcher Tony Pena, who threw out Aldrete at first base.

Cox remained in the game and completed eight innings before being relieved by Todd Worrell with the score tied 3-3. The Cardinals won, 7-6, scoring four in the 10th after the Giants had scored three in the top of the inning. Boxscore

The next day, it was discovered during an examination by team physician Dr. Stan London that Aldrete’s shot broke a bone in Cox’s foot. Cox, who had an 8-3 record, went on the disabled list and his foot was placed in a cast.

“I was throwing the ball real well and the team was playing real well,” Cox said to the Associated Press. “If anything good came out of it, at least we got (Aldrete) out.”

Aldrete, a Carmel, Calif., native and former standout for Stanford University, was enjoying a productive year for the Giants. He replaced injured right fielder Candy Maldonado in late June and put together an 11-game hitting streak before the all-star break. In his first 21 outfield starts after replacing Maldonado, Aldrete hit .341 with 15 RBI.

“I’ve tried to be a patient, disciplined hitter,” Aldrete said to The Sporting News. “You swing at strikes and let the balls go _ that’s the key to hitting.”

Nick Peters, a Bay Area baseball reporter, wrote of Aldrete, “He has a classic swing and the ability to foul off pitches until he finds something he likes. When he does, it usually becomes a rope.”

Cox returned to the Cardinals’ rotation Aug. 8, 1987. He finished the regular season with 31 starts, 199.1 innings pitched, an 11-9 record and a 3.88 ERA.

Aldrete posted a .325 batting average and a .396 on-base percentage in 126 regular-season games. He hit .419 with runners in scoring position.

As division champions, the Cardinals and Giants advanced to the National League Championship Series. They split six games, setting up a deciding Game 7 at St. Louis.

For the winner-take-all finale, Cox was named the Cardinals’ starting pitcher by manager Whitey Herzog. Aldrete was placed first in the Giants’ batting order by manager Roger Craig.

Cox set the tone early, retiring Aldrete on a groundout to second to begin the game.

In the third, with the Cardinals ahead 4-0, the first two Giants batters of the inning singled, bringing Aldrete to the plate. Cox got him to ground into a double play.

From there, Cox and the Cardinals were in control. Aldrete flied out to left, leading off the sixth, and he ended the eighth with a groundout to third. Cox pitched a shutout and the Cardinals won, 6-0. Boxscore

“He’s a good pitcher, no matter what the score is,” Aldrete said of Cox. “When he gets a lead, it makes him that much tougher.”

Previously: On 25th anniversary, top 10 facts about 1987 Cardinals

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How Mike Matheny mentored Matt Cain with Giants

October 16, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated Sept.30, 2017)

As a 20-year-old rookie, Matt Cain was put in the care of a 35-year-old veteran catcher, Mike Matheny.

With Matheny catching six of the right-hander’s seven starts for the 2005 Giants, Cain enjoyed a successful beginning to his major-league career.

Promoted to the Giants after posting a 10-5 record for Class AAA Fresno, Cain made his big-league debut on Aug. 29, 2005, against the Rockies at San Francisco.

With Matheny behind the plate, Cain, the youngest pitcher to start a game for the Giants since 20-year-old Mark Grant in 1984, limited the Rockies to two runs in five innings, but took the loss in a 2-1 Colorado victory. Matt Holliday, the Rockies’ cleanup batter, got two of the three Colorado hits against Cain _ a solo home run and a single. Boxscore

After the game, reporters approached Matheny for his assessment of the rookie.

“He has electric stuff, the kind of stuff you don’t see very often as far as velocity and late life,” Matheny said to the San Jose Mercury News. “His fluid motion makes him very deceptive.”

Matheny told the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s just a shame we have such trouble scoring runs for these guys, especially after a first start like that, and he has to walk away with a loss. It’s a shame we couldn’t pull out a win for him.”

Working well with Matheny, Cain quickly achieved two milestones. He earned his first big-league win in his second start and recorded his first big-league complete game in his third start.

Cain held the Diamondbacks to a run on three hits through seven innings and got the win in the Giants’ 3-2 victory at Phoenix on Sept. 4. Boxscore

Five days later, Cain went the distance in earning the win in the Giants’ 2-1 victory over the Cubs at San Francisco. He gave up two hits and struck out eight. Boxscore

Cain earned 104 regular-season wins in 13 years (2005-17) with the Giants.

Against the Cardinals in his career, Cain was 2-7 with a 6.42 ERA in the regular season and 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA in the postseason. Both postseason appearances against the Cardinals occurred in 2012 when Matheny was in his first year as St. Louis manager.

Cain made his final big-league appearance on Sept. 30, 2017.

Previously: Pitcher for 1964 Cardinals was mentor to Mike Matheny

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Why Mike Matheny ended his playing career as a Giant

October 15, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated Aug. 19, 2025)

The Giants made Mike Matheny a financial offer he couldn’t refuse.

Though Matheny had said he wanted to remain with the Cardinals, he accepted a free-agent deal from San Francisco in December 2004.

Matheny was the Cardinals’ catcher from 2000 through 2004. He won three Gold Glove awards as a Cardinal and played a major-league record 252 consecutive errorless games over a period from 2003-04. The Cardinals qualified for the postseason in four of the five years Matheny was their catcher.

With Matheny’s three-year $8 million contract ending after the season, the Cardinals approached him during spring training of 2004 and offered a one-year $2 million extension through 2005. Matheny rejected it, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Yadier Molina was a Cardinals rookie in 2004 and management wanted Matheny to mentor Molina through the 2005 season. Matheny would turn 36 in 2006 and the Cardinals planned for Molina to be the everyday catcher by then.

Matheny had other ideas. He played well in 2004. He contributed 50 RBI (his single-season best as a Cardinal) and made one error in 122 games, helping St. Louis win its first National League pennant in 17 years.

In December 2004, Matheny told the Post-Dispatch, “I don’t think I’ve made any secret that I’d prefer to remain with the Cardinals, but there has to be interest on their part as well.”

A few days later, the Cardinals offered Matheny a two-year contract worth about $4 million, the Post-Dispatch reported. The Dodgers, Phillies and Pirates also showed interest in signing Matheny, but it was the Giants who lured him.

On Dec. 15, 2004, Matheny accepted the Giants’ three-year $10 million deal. According to the Post-Dispatch, the pact included a $3 million signing bonus to be paid in annual installments of $500,000, $1 million and $1.5 million over three years. Matheny would be paid a base salary of $1 million in 2005, $2.25 million in 2006 and $2.25 million in 2007. In addition, the Giants held a $4 million option for 2008 that could be bought out for $2 million.

“As soon as the Giants hit the scene, it really opened the eyes of my wife and myself,” Matheny said. “We realized this could be a very special opportunity.”

On July 8, 2005, at San Francisco, the Cardinals faced the Giants for the first time since Matheny departed. During batting practice, Matheny embraced former teammates. At home plate before the game, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, pitching coach Dave Duncan, players and support staff gathered to present Matheny with his 2004 Gold Glove Award.

Matheny had two hits in the game (a double off Mark Mulder and a single off Jason Isringhausen) and nailed David Eckstein attempting to swipe second. The Cardinals won, 3-1. Boxscore

“Those are some of the best friends I’ve ever had in the game,” Matheny said of the Cardinals. “… You don’t come across that all the time in this game. There are tight bonds. It comes with the winning, but it also goes beyond baseball. There are families involved. I see my son over there with them. The guys are excited to see him. It’s a pretty neat thing. It doesn’t happen everywhere that you have those kinds of relationships. They are very, very special to me.”

A month later, Aug. 19, 2005, Matheny played his first game at St. Louis as a Giant. The Cardinals presented him with a National League championship ring before the game.

When Matheny batted for the first time in the game, the crowd of 46,200 gave a prolonged ovation. Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter stepped off the mound to allow the applause to continue.

The Cardinals won, 5-4. Matheny went hitless in three at-bats against Carpenter and drew an intentional walk from Julian Tavarez. Boxscore

Matheny enjoyed a stellar first season with the Giants. He produced 13 home runs and 59 RBI, both career highs. He also won another Gold Glove Award while leading NL catchers in assists (77) and runners caught attempting to steal (39). He posted a .999 fielding percentage (one error in 132 games caught).

In late May 2006, Matheny was struck by several foul balls during a three-game series against the Marlins. On May 31, in the series finale, Matheny was removed from the game in the third inning after getting conked by a foul tip. He was diagnosed with a concussion and never played in another game.

Matheny became manager of the Cardinals when Tony La Russa left after winning the 2011 World Series championship. Matheny managed the Cardinals to a pennant in 2013 and postseason appearances in each of his first four seasons, but was fired in July 2018 as the club headed to a third consecutive year without a postseason bid.

He managed the Royals from 2020 to 2022.

In January 2024, Matheny suffered a life-threatening subarachnoid hemorrhage while doing a routine workout at a gym near his home in Florida. Rushed to a hospital, it was discovered a blood vessel in Matheny’s brain had burst. According to Cardinals Magazine, “Matheny’s life remained in a precarious state for days, a situation so scary that when family members and friends visited, they didn’t know if they were saying their final goodbyes.”

Doctors informed Matheny there was no evidence his history of concussions triggered the hemorrhage.

“It’s hard to disassociate the two, right?” Matheny said to Stan McNeal of Cardinals Magazine. “My career ended (in 2006) because of trauma to the brain, and (now) I get this brain thing that almost kills me.”

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Scout to Cardinals: I know what’s in Pete Kozma’s heart

October 14, 2012 by retrosimba

In 2007, Cardinals scout Steve Gossett pushed hard for the franchise to draft Pete Kozma. Gossett saw more than baseball skills from the Oklahoma high school shortstop. He saw a player whose character and dedication could pay dividends.

Gossett was betting on Kozma’s heart.

The Cardinals followed Gossett’s advice and in 2012 they benefitted from it.

After replacing the injured Rafael Furcal in September as the everyday shortstop, Kozma played a significant role in helping the Cardinals reach the 2012 National League Championship Series against the Giants.

Kozma, 24, hit .333 (24-for-72) in the 2012 regular season for the Cardinals and achieved an on-base percentage of .383. In the postseason, his two-run single in the ninth inning capped the Cardinals’ come-from-behind 9-7 victory over the Nationals in Game 5 of the NL Division Series. Boxscore

Because he often struggled in the minor leagues since being selected as the 18th pick in the first round of the 2007 amateur draft, Kozma’s productive play for the Cardinals was a surprise to most, but Gossett saw Kozma as a standout after coaching him in an Oklahoma summer league while Kozma was in high school.

In 2007, his senior season at Owasso High School in suburban Tulsa, Kozma hit .522 and struck out five times in 113 at-bats. His first-inning home run lifted Owasso to a 1-0 victory in the Oklahoma Class 6A state championship game. The Oklahoman newspaper named Kozma all-state player of the year.

“I would play every day if I could,” Kozma said to The Oklahoman.

Owasso coach Larry Turner told the Associated Press that Kozma was “the best player I’ve ever had.”

Draft forecasters expected the Cardinals to take a college player with their first pick. Gossett advised Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals’ vice president in charge of their draft, to select Kozma.

“I got to know this kid,” Gossett said. “I know what’s in his heart. I know what kind of family he comes from, his work ethic.”

Gossett predicted the Cardinals “are going to love the way (Kozma) attacks the game.”

“The one thing that stuck out in my mind about Pete is you look in his eyes and you see a guy that you really feel is going to play in the big leagues,” Gossett said.

Baseball America magazine had forecast Kozma being selected by the Reds with the 15th choice in the first round. The magazine rated Kozma “the best all-around middle infielder in the draft,” but the Reds chose catcher Devin Mesaraco.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals were prepared to select pitcher Blake Beavan in the first round, but the Rangers, with the pick just ahead of St. Louis, drafted Beavan.

Though pitchers such as Rick Porcello and Jordan Zimmerman were available, the Cardinals took Kozma.

“This is a first-round talent,” Luhnow told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch. “He has the potential to be a real impact in the big leagues at a premium position.”

(In the third round of that 2007 draft, the Cardinals chose infielder Daniel Descalso. In the Cardinals’ four-run ninth inning against Washington in Game 5 of the 2012 NL Division Series, Descalso got the two-run single that tied the score and Kozma followed with the two-run single that produced the winning runs.)

Kozma became the third infielder selected by the Cardinals in the first round since 1997. The others were Adam Kennedy (1997) and Tyler Greene (2005).

Though he had committed to play college baseball at Wichita State, Kozma signed with St. Louis.

He wasn’t a sensation.

In 2009, his third minor-league season, Kozma appeared to be regressing. He hit .231 and had almost as many strikeouts (104) as hits (111). Baseball America did name him the best defensive shortstop in the Texas League, but in 2010 Kozma committed 34 errors at shortstop.

In 2011, Kozma received fielding instruction from coach Jose Oquendo during a brief stay at the big-league spring training camp. It was enough to steady his defensive play. In May 2011, Kozma was called up to the Cardinals from Class AAA Memphis as a replacement for injured utility player Nick Punto. Kozma produced a RBI-double in his first big-league at-bat (against the Astros’ Bud Norris), becoming the first Cardinal to get an extra-base hit in his first at-bat since Hector Luna (a home run) in April 2004. Boxscore

That was the highlight of his initial St. Louis stay. Kozma batted .176 (3-for-17) for the Cardinals and soon was returned to Memphis. There, his struggles continued. He hit .214 for Memphis and finished the 2011 Class AAA season with more strikeouts (91) than hits (85).

Kozma opened 2012, his sixth professional season, at Memphis again. He hit .232. When the Cardinals tabbed him to replace Furcal in September, some wondered whether rookie Ryan Jackson would have been a better choice, but Cardinals manager Mike Matheny liked Kozma’s defense.

“To me, Pete has impressed everybody at every level with his defensive ability,” Matheny said to the Post-Dispatch on Sept. 8. “When we have a need around here … there is no question that takes priority.”

It proved to be the right choice.

Previously: Cardinals would do well to develop another Dal Maxvill

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Howie Pollet pitched in pain for Cardinals

October 12, 2012 by retrosimba

In 1946, the Cardinals started pitcher Howie Pollet in the postseason, knowing he was injured and in pain.

Pollet lasted one-third of an inning, surrendering a run on three hits, before he was relieved in Game 5 of the 1946 World Series against the Red Sox.

In his return to the Cardinals following two years of military service, Pollet, 25, was St. Louis’ ace in 1946. He led the National League that season in wins (21), ERA (2.10) and innings pitched (266). Pollet pitched in 40 regular-season games, making 32 starts.

Under the heavy workload, Pollet was ailing in September. His back ached and he either had a torn shoulder muscle or a torn side muscle, according to conflicting published reports.

Nonetheless, Pollet kept taking his turn in the rotation. When the Cardinals and Dodgers finished the regular season tied for first place, they went to a best-of-three playoff series to determine the NL champion. Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer selected Pollet to start Game 1.

According to The Sporting News, Pollet agreed to the start despite a torn muscle in his left shoulder. (The publication subsequently reported the injury as a torn muscle in his side.)

Pollet pitched a complete game and the Cardinals won, 4-2. Boxscore

Five days later, Pollet was the starting pitcher in Game 1 of the World Series. Pitching with what the Associated Press described as an aching side, Pollet carried the Cardinals into the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead. He was one strike away from retiring the final batter until Tom McBride poked a single between short and third, scoring pinch-runner Don Gutteridge.

In the 10th, with two outs, Rudy York hit a Pollet curve into the last row of the left-field seats at Sportsman’s Park for a home run, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 victory. Boxscore

Said Pollet: “Yes, my back bothered me a couple of times, but I didn’t think it was affecting my pitching.”

With the World Series even at two wins apiece, Pollet was the Cardinals’ choice to start Game 5 at Boston. After three of the first four batters singled, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead, Al Brazle relieved Pollet. The Red Sox scored five runs off Brazle in 6.2 innings and won, 6-3. Boxscore

Wrote Sam Levy in the Milwaukee Journal: “The biggest surprise to the 35,982 fans … was the rapid exit of Howie Pollet.”

Pollet experienced an “extremely painful back ailment” and “torn side muscle,” the Associated Press reported.

Cardinals team doctor Robert Hyland instructed Pollet not to pitch again until spring training. “Howie figures that if he had taken a full week off in September after he first pulled a muscle in his back he would have been in better condition for the World Series,” The Sporting News reported.

Pollet continued to pitch in the major leagues until 1956. He was a 20-game winner for the 1949 Cardinals. In nine seasons with St. Louis, Pollet was 97-65. Pollet also was a Cardinals coach from 1959-64.

Previously: How Chase Riddle got Steve Carlton for Cardinals

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