RetroSimba

Hank Aaron and the home run that wasn’t vs. Cardinals

February 17, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated Feb. 20, 2023)

Hank Aaron could have added to his home run total if not for an unusual call in a game against the Cardinals.

Aaron, who would break Babe Ruth’s career home run record of 714 in 1974 and finish with 755, hit a home run against the Cardinals in 1965 that didn’t count toward his total.

On Aug. 18, 1965, at St. Louis, Aaron came to bat for the Braves against Cardinals starter Curt Simmons with the score tied 3-3 in the eighth.

In his autobiography, “I Had a Hammer,” Aaron said, “I always had difficulty with Curt Simmons because he would put the ball behind his back and then pound his leg with his glove. You never knew where the ball was coming from. Simmons used to drive me crazy with his herky-jerky delivery and his floating change of pace.”

In the 1965 game, Simmons teased Aaron with a changeup so high and so slow it seemed much like a blooper pitch. “I double-hitched my swing,” Aaron said in his book, “and took a big step up to meet the ball.”

Aaron lifted a high fly ball onto the pavilion roof in right for an apparent go-ahead home run.

Instead, Aaron was called out by plate umpire Chris Pelekoudas for being out of the batter’s box when he connected with the ball, nullifying the home run. Pelekoudas, in his sixth season as a National League umpire, ruled Aaron’s left foot was in front of the batter’s box.

“It’s the worst call I’ve ever seen,” Aaron said to the Associated Press. “I did the same thing the time before and popped up, and he (Pelekoudas) didn’t say a word. I always hit Simmons that way.”

Braves manager Bobby Bragan argued with the umpire and was ejected.

“It was either a grudge call, or he wanted to get his name in the paper,” Bragan said. “I’ve never seen such a call.”

Said Pelekoudas: “Bragan’s protest was strictly on judgment. His only argument was about a grudge _ and that is stupid. I didn’t hesitate in making the call.”

Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver said Aaron stepped out of the box and, “I expected (Pelekoudas) to call it.”

Cardinals coach Joe Schultz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “You’ve got to give the umpire credit for having the nerve to call it.”

Aaron said in his book, ‘I won’t swear to you that I didn’t step over the line of the batter’s box, but it was nothing that I or other hitters hadn’t done before.”

Cardinals backup catcher Bob Uecker wasn’t in the game, but years later, in July 1973, he claimed to the Boston Globe and the Associated Press that he “pointed out Aaron’s cleat marks” to Pelekoudas. “It was one of the few occasions I’ve seen Aaron blow his stack,” Uecker said to the Associated Press.

In his 1982 book “Catcher in the Wry,” Uecker told another version. “I had to tell Henry the truth. It wasn’t me,” Uecker said. “Tim McCarver was the catcher who took the homer away from him, but it was the sort of thing I would have been proud to do.”

In the ninth, with Ray Washburn pitching in relief of Simmons, the Braves sent Don Dillard to pinch-hit with a runner on base and two outs. Dillard delivered a home run _ the last of his big-league career.

In a fitting twist, the Cardinals argued the ball hit by Dillard didn’t clear the wall and shouldn’t have been ruled a home run, but the Cardinals lost that argument and the game, 5-3. Boxscore

Umpire Bill Jackowski said the ball hit the top of the wall, caromed off a fan in the stands and bounced back onto the field.

The Post-Dispatch reported the ball Dillard hit “came straight down and hit the outfield wall padding before bouncing onto the field.”

“I came very close to catching the ball,” Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood said to the Post-Dispatch. “I thought it was a big can of corn. There was no way for the ball to come down the way it did if a fan had touched the ball.”

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | 25 Comments »

How Topps finally got Stan Musial on its baseball cards

February 14, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated May 7, 2025)

So you think showing a squirrel on a Skip Schumaker Topps baseball card is controversial? How about printing baseball cards for seven years from 1951-57 and never offering a Stan Musial baseball card?

In the first series of its 2012 baseball card set, Topps printed two cards of St. Louis utilityman Skip Schumaker. The common card shows an image of Schumaker sliding. The other card, which has been released in limited supply (driving up demand and price), shows only Schumaker’s shoe as the so-called “rally squirrel” dashes across home plate.

Critics call the squirrel card dumb. Supporters find it fun. For Topps, the card has created publicity.

It may be the most controversy associated with Topps and the Cardinals since its seven-year absence without Musial.

Topps began printing baseball cards in 1951 when Musial was 30 and near the peak of his Hall of Fame career. Musial had a contract to appear on baseball cards produced by a rival company, Bowman.

Bowman produced Stan Musial cards in 1952 and 1953.

For the next four years (1954-57), Musial didn’t appear on any baseball card, even though he may have been the most popular player in the game.

In a 2001 interview with USA Today on the 50th anniversary of Topps baseball cards, Topps executive Sy Berger said Musial “just didn’t want to sign (a contract) for cards.”

The breakthrough came in time for Topps’ 1958 set. Berger said Cardinals owner Gussie Busch was raising money for charity. Berger said Topps offered to donate $1,500 to the non-profit of Busch’s choice if Musial would agree to sign a Topps contract to appear on a 1958 baseball card. Musial did.

(In the book “Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man,” author James N. Giglio claims “insufficient compensation” was the reason Musial didn’t sign with Topps until 1958.)

“Every year after that, Musial told us that he didn’t want the license fee, but would sign a contract in exchange for us making a similar donation to a charity of his choice,” Berger told Cardinals Yearbook in 2001. “That was how Musial ended up on Topps cards.”

Musial continues to be featured on Topps baseball cards today.

When Topps issued its first baseball cards in 1951, the look and feel were more like a deck of playing cards, or game cards for a baseball board game.

The 1951 cards came in two styles: with red backs and with blue backs. The front of the cards featured a player’s face bordered by a baseball diamond. The backs of the cards were colored either red or blue and offered no statistical information.

The red backs and blue backs were issued at the same time.

Two Cardinals _ pitcher Howie Pollet and outfielder Tommy Glaviano _ were part of the red backs. Six Cardinals _ pitchers Gerry Staley, Red Munger and Harry Breechen; second baseman Red Schoendienst; outfielder Enos Slaughter; and third baseman Billy Johnson _ were part of the blue backs.

The series had 52 red back and 52 blue back cards. There also were special-feature team cards and all-star cards. These included a Cardinals team card and an all-star card of retired Cardinals pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander.

In 1952, Topps issued a 407-card set that is the prototype for the traditional baseball card, with statistics on the back and designed images of players on the front.

The first Cardinal to appear in the 1952 set was catcher Johnny Bucha (card No. 19). Bucha played in a total of 24 games for the Cardinals over two seasons (1948 and 1950) but didn’t play in any games for St. Louis in 1952.

Previously: The story behind Stan Musial’s $100,000 contract

Posted in Hitters, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

How the Cardinals’ deal for Ozzie Smith almost fell apart

February 12, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated Sept. 12, 2025)

Ozzie Smith agreed to be traded to the Cardinals in what one writer called “one of the most bizarre transactions in recent baseball history.”

The deal propelled the Cardinals to three National League pennants and a World Series title and launched Smith toward a Hall of Fame career.

The trade, however, almost never happened.

On Dec. 10, 1981, at the baseball winter meetings in Hollywood, Fla., the Cardinals announced a trade of outfielder Sixto Lezcano to the Padres for pitcher Steve Mura.

Whitey Herzog, the Cardinals’ general manager and manager, acknowledged the deal also involved players to be named, but contract issues prevented him from revealing the identity of those players. Published reports made it clear the players were shortstop Garry Templeton and pitcher Luis DeLeon of the Cardinals and shortstop Ozzie Smith and pitcher Al Olmsted of the Padres.

The snag was Smith, 27, had a no-trade clause in his Padres contract. He wouldn’t agree to a trade to St. Louis unless the Cardinals either allowed him to keep the no-trade clause or compensated him for dropping it.

Tough talk

Herzog went to San Diego to meet with Smith and his agent, Ed Gottlieb. In January 1982, in a story headlined, “Ozzie’s Pay Demand May Cancel Trade,” The Sporting News reported the trade of Templeton for Smith “apparently is about to fall through.”

Herzog was quoted as saying Smith wanted more than twice the $300,000 salary he was paid in 1981.

“Ozzie would like to play for me, but it looks as if we’ll have to cancel the trade,” Herzog said. “Ozzie is a great fielder and baserunner. I’d like to have him, but if he doesn’t want to come to St. Louis, I don’t want him. No .220 hitter is worth what he’s asking.”

On Jan. 26, 1982, Smith said there would be no trade unless the Cardinals paid him $750,000 that year. The Sporting News reported the Cardinals offered a base salary of between $425,000 and $450,000, with incentives that could take the total package to $500,000.

Smith and his wife also wanted to visit St. Louis before making a decision. They arrived on a winter day.

“The chill index is 17 below,” Herzog recalled to Cardinals Magazine. “I’m sitting in the office and get a call: ‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith are here.’ So I went to the receptionist’s desk to get them and, holy moly, they were wearing long-length fur, I mean all the way down to their ankles. They had Daniel Boone hats on. I said there’s no way he’s going to come to St. Louis from San Diego where it’s 72.”

Working it out

Finally, on Feb. 11, 1982 _ two months after a Cardinals-Padres deal first was announced _ Smith agreed to the trade. His salary would be determined in arbitration before the season began and his Cardinals contract would not contain a no-trade clause, said Lou Susman, attorney for club owner Gussie Busch.

In his lead paragraph for The Sporting News, St. Louis reporter Rick Hummel wrote, “After 62 days, it was over. Ozzie Smith had become a St. Louis Cardinal in one of the most bizarre transactions in recent baseball history.”

Smith told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’m coming into this with a positive attitude. The Cardinals want my services. We won’t have any problems.”

In four seasons with the Padres, Smith twice won the Gold Glove Award, but he batted .231 with one home run and his on-base percentage was a paltry .295.

Herzog said he believed Smith’s offense would improve by playing home games on the AstroTurf in St. Louis rather than on natural grass in San Diego, but only if Smith focused on hitting balls on the ground.

When Smith came to Cardinals spring training camp at St. Petersburg, Fla., Herzog assigned coaches Chuck Hiller and Dave Ricketts to help him develop “a downward type of swing,” Hummel reported.

“Guys like Ozzie have to keep the ball out of the air,” Herzog said. “If he could hit .240 or .250, we’d be very happy because we know he’s the best defensive shortstop in the league and maybe baseball.”

Herzog later told Cardinals Magazine, “Ozzie was learning an awful lot about hitting. He worked on a daily basis with Chuck Hiller, trying to keep the ball out of the air. He went along with the program.”

To help Smith focus on hitting the ball on the ground, Herzog made a bet with him. “Every time I hit a fly ball, I had to give him a dollar,” Smith said to Cardinals Magazine. “Every time I hit a ground ball _ which enabled me to use my speed to get on base _ he gave me a dollar. It didn’t take long for him to realize that I got it. He decided, ‘OK, it’s time to call this bet off.’ ”

Just before the Cardinals opened the 1982 season at Houston, arbitrator Tom Roberts ruled for the Cardinals, awarding Smith a $450,000 salary rather than the $750,000 he requested.

Play like a champion

In the opener at the Astrodome, Smith went 2-for-5 with two RBI, including a single and RBI against Nolan Ryan, in the Cardinals’ 14-3 victory. Boxscore

It was a successful start to a magical season for the Cardinals, who went on to win their first World Series title in 15 years. Smith was a key contributor, winning a third Gold Glove Award and batting .248 with 24 doubles, 25 stolen bases and a .339 on-base percentage.

Teammate Keith Hernandez, in the book “Pure Baseball,” said Smith was “the best No. 8 hitter you ever saw in 1982 and 1983. Two outs, Ozzie needed to get on base to bring up the pitcher. He could do it … The No. 8 man in the National League will see some hittable pitches if he’s patient. Ozzie came through in this situation with regularity.”

In his book “White Rat: A Life In Baseball,” Herzog said, “Watching him every day, I’ve found out just how good he is. Of all the shortstops I’ve seen, and I’ve seen some good ones _ guys like Marty Marion, Mark Belanger and Luis Aparicio _ Ozzie is the best. I’ve never seen anyone do the things on a baseball field that he can do.”

Marion, shortstop on four Cardinals pennant winners in the 1940s, told Cardinals Yearbook in 1993, “I always admired Ozzie because he’s the first defensive player in my memory to make a lot of money. In our days, people didn’t appreciate a good fielder. You had to be a hitter to make money.”

Marion was manager of the White Sox when Aparicio joined the club in 1956. “Up until Ozzie, Luis was as good as anybody,” Marion said to Cardinals Yearbook. “The one thing that stands out about Ozzie is I never saw a shortstop dive for a ball and throw the man out until Ozzie came along.”

In the book “Few and Chosen,” broadcaster and former catcher Tim McCarver said, “A lot of infielders dive for a ball with no chance whatsoever of making the play. Ozzie dived and not only came up with the ball, but also got to his feet so quickly from a prone position that he usually got his man. His range was unbelievable. His speed and quickness were electric.”

Posted in Trades | 5 Comments »

How Stan Musial turned in a great comeback year at 41

February 10, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated June 10, 2023)

In 1962, at age 41, Stan Musial, thought by some to be finished, produced like a star player in his prime. He placed second in the National League in on-base percentage (.416) and third in batting average (.330).

It remains one of the great performances by a player 40 or older.

After hitting .310 or better in each of his first 17 big-league seasons, Musial failed to reach .300 in three consecutive years (1959-61). Many assumed the 1962 season would be his last and that he might be relegated to part-time status.

Musial worked out diligently after the 1961 season and reported to spring training in top shape in 1962. “I came into camp this year weighing 184, four pounds lighter than a year ago,” Musial told The Sporting News. “And believe me, those four pounds make a difference.”

From the start of spring training, Musial hit well _ “The Man had one of the best springs of his career,” The Sporting News reported _ and Cardinals manager Johnny Keane developed a plan to rest Musial as required during the 162-game season schedule.

Keane elected to open the season with an outfield of Musial, 41, in right, Minnie Minoso, 36, in left, and Curt Flood, 24, in center.

At a community luncheon before the season opener, Musial said he told Minoso, “We’re going to keep Flood in good condition. I’ll catch whatever comes to me and you catch whatever comes to you. Curt can have everything else.”

Musial established a blistering pace to open the season. Here is what he did in his first three games:

_ April 11, vs. Mets, at St. Louis: Musial was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk and two RBI in the Cardinals’ 11-4 victory. Boxscore

_ April 13, vs. Cubs, at Chicago: Musial was 2-for-4 in the Cardinals’ 8-5 victory. Boxscore

_ April 14, vs. Cubs, at Chicago: Musial had a home run, two RBI and a stolen base in the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory. The steal was Musial’s first in two years. Surprised Cubs catcher Cuno Barragan, unprepared for Musial’s theft attempt, threw wildly into center field, enabling Stan to scamper to third. Boxscore

“The Cubs, feeling that old guy won’t be going any place, patently ignored him and he was off and running,” reported The Sporting News.

Said Musial: “My boy, Dick, came over from Notre Dame for that game and he said he got a much bigger kick out of watching me steal the base than he did in seeing me hit a home run.”

Musial batted .396 (19-for-48) for April. His batting average dipped below .300 only once (.298 on May 24) all season. In July, undeterred by the steamy St. Louis summer, Musial hit .397 (27-for-68).

On Aug. 9, Musial led the league in batting at .354, nine points better than Tommy Davis of the Dodgers.

All season, Musial continued to defy the odds with sensational performances. Among the most notable:

_ May 19, vs. Dodgers, at Los Angeles: Musial broke an 0-for-9 slump with a ninth-inning single off a Ron Perranoski curveball. The hit was No. 3,431 for Musial, breaking the NL record of Honus Wagner.

“When I finally got to first base after breaking the record, I felt so relaxed I could have fallen over,” Musial told the Associated Press. “That’s when I realized the pressure had been on.” Boxscore

_ July 8, vs. Mets, at New York: Musial hit 3 home runs in the Cardinals’ 15-1 victory. He remains the oldest player to achieve the feat. Boxscore

In his 1998 book, “Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans,” Musial’s former Cardinals teammate, Tim McCarver, said, “If a batter keeps his shoulder locked in, he can be fooled on a pitch and start forward too early with his body yet still be able to keep his hands back and generate power. Stan Musial was the quintessential guy in this regard. You could fool Musial and his body would commit, but … he had his hands back and, boom, he could still deliver his power.”

_ July 25, vs. Dodgers, at St. Louis: Musial hit a two-run homer off Don Drysdale, giving Stan a NL-record 1,861 RBI, breaking the mark held by Mel Ott. Boxscore

_ Sept. 27, vs. Giants, at San Francisco: Musial went 5-for-5 with 2 runs scored in the Cardinals’ 7-4 victory. Boxscore

After the season, Musial was named the NL comeback player of the year in a poll of national baseball writers conducted by the Associated Press.

In his book “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said, “What gave me my greatest thrill in 1962 was the year I had at bat … I walked out there, day after day, certain I would play, confident I would hit. It was like old times.”

Posted in Games, Hitters | 11 Comments »

A peek behind the scenes at Cardinals Legends Camp

February 3, 2012 by retrosimba

A bonus to being able to interview Cardinals broadcaster and ex-pitcher Rick Horton at Cardinals Legends Camp Jan. 27 was the chance to watch a few innings of a game between former players and the campers at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.

Because the public isn’t allowed to attend the games, there were only about five people in the stands — likely friends or relatives of the players. So the event took on a “Field of Dreams” aura as Hall of Fame players such as Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith and Bruce Sutter stepped onto the field in crisp, white Cardinals uniforms to play inside a ballpark so empty it might as well have been an Iowa cornfield.

Sitting along the right-field line in the warm sunshine, I regrettably had only about 20 minutes to watch the action before having to return to my day job.

Pitching for the Cardinals was Dave LaPoint, the left-hander nicknamed “Snacks” who was a member of the 1982 World Series champions’ starting rotation.

Brian Jordan and Tom Lawless and Tom Pagnozzi were among those in the field. Sutter coached first base. And playing shortstop, wearing the familiar No. 1 and still looking to be in big-league shape, was The Wizard, Ozzie Smith.

In the home half of the first inning, Smith, batting second, stepped into the left side of the batter’s box against a right-handed camper. The first couple of pitches missed the strike zone. Smith, giving the camper his money’s worth, swung at several subsequent pitches out of the strike zone, fouling off one offering after another until he got one to his liking.

When the right pitch came, Smith uncoiled and launched a high fly ball into medium right field, near where I was sitting. The camper stationed in right looked into the sun and staggered, trying to follow the ball’s flight and gauge where it might land.

He extended both arms, the glove on his left hand turned up, and prepared for the ball to fall. It landed halfway up one arm, near the edge of his shirtsleeve. With arms still stretched outward, he brought them together as the ball rolled toward his hands as if on a conveyor belt.

For a moment, it appeared the ball might travel down his arms and into the glove. But then it slipped off his wrist and off his glove and toward the outfield grass. The fielder lurched forward, reached out with his bare right hand and snagged the ball, just as it was about to hit the ground.

“Out!” was the umpire’s correct call.

Ozzie Smith, who had circled first base and was headed to second, flashed a smile and headed back to the Cardinals’ third-base dugout, taking a good-natured razzing along the way from campers and Cardinals teammates.

Witnessing that gave me a sense for the special vibes that come from Cardinals Legend Camp. The retired players clearly enjoy being together again and being on the ballfield.

“That’s the neat thing about this camp _ the access to the players,” said camper Joe Pfeiffer, a Cardinals account executive. “These players want to be here. It’s genuine _ which makes it better for the campers.”

The camp, which was launched with significant help from broadcaster and former pitcher Al Hrabosky, is in its 12th year. Rick Horton has participated in 10 of the camps.

“It’s just been a blast every time I come down here,” Horton told me. “The fun we have here is unprecedented. Anything else I do the entire year _ nothing is as fun as this camp.”

Proceeds from the weeklong camp benefit Hire Heroes USA, a non-profit group that helps military veterans and their spouses find jobs after the completion of their service time.

“They do phenomenal work with job placement and counseling for people who are trying to get back into the workplace after their military service,” Horton said. “They really try to encourage businesses to hire heroes, people who have given an awful lot to our country, and kind of give them a head start into assimilating into a nice job opportunity.”

Asked about pitching in a camp game the day before, Horton described the feeling of being reconnected with former Cardinals teammates and the special bond they maintain.

“Sometimes we wonder, ‘Whose fantasy is this, really?’ ” said Horton. “I fielded a ground ball back to me yesterday. I turn around and throw the ball to Ozzie Smith. He jumps straight up in the air, avoids the slide and throws on to first base for a double play. I got to tell you, it was a rush for me.

“I know I’m getting out a dentist or a doctor or a lawyer, but just to be on the field with Ozzie again _ I really want to be a part of that. Playing is what gets us back to the relationships we were in 25 years ago. So that’s part of the magic of this.

“The campers see us transform into players again. They see us get into that persona again. It’s a thing that’s very special, very meaningful. It’s a part of our lives that will never really go away and this gives us a chance to celebrate it.”

Previously: Rick Horton discusses the 2012 Cardinals

Previously: Rick Horton pays tribute to Bob Forsch

Posted in Bloggers, Pitchers | Leave a Comment »

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

February 1, 2012 by retrosimba

(Updated Nov. 3, 2019)

Pitchers Bob Forsch and Ricky Horton were Cardinals teammates for four seasons (1984-87). During that time, the Cardinals won two National League pennants.

Horton turned 25 in 1984, the year he made his major-league debut with the Cardinals. Forsch was 34 that season.

In 15 years with the Cardinals, 1974-88, Forsch pitched two no-hitters and helped St. Louis win the 1982 World Series title.

Forsch died Nov. 3, 2011, at age 61. In retirement, he had been a fixture at the yearly Cardinals Legend Camp at Jupiter, Fla. When I interviewed Horton, now a Cardinals broadcaster, at that camp Jan. 27, 2012, it was evident Forsch’s presence was missed. In honor of his teammate, I asked Horton to share his favorite Bob Forsch story.

Here is how Rick Horton responded:

After a game in Chicago, he and I got on the L train to get back to our hotel after a Cardinal win. We had a bunch of Cardinals fans, who had had a few too many Budweiser products, on the train with us and they were loving Bob, saying, “Bob you’re my favorite player” and they were just going bananas over the fact that they were on the L train with Bob Forsch.

At one point, a guy says to Bob, “We always wondered if your son played baseball.” And Bob said, “I have two daughters. I don’t have a son.” And the guy pointed at me and said, “Isn’t he your son?”

I’ll never forget that. I laughed so hard. Bob laughed so hard.

You couldn’t write a better script, because the next day, honest, was Father’s Day. So I went to the hotel gift shop and bought him a Father’s Day card and had it up in his locker the next day. And I did that for a number of years to follow, treating Bob as my Dad.

In some ways, more aptly, Bob was like an older brother for me, in terms of showing me the way, showing me the right things, keeping me away from the wrong things, encouraging what professionalism is all about. Anybody who played with him knew Bob as a professional.

As well-known as he is, I’d still say he’s the most underrated Cardinals pitcher in the last 75 years. When you look at the Cardinals record books, his name is all over that. He spanned two decades.

The two no-hitters almost condenses him too much, almost makes him to be that guy instead of a guy who was so much more than that. He won a World Series game, pitched in three World Series for the Cardinals and really was the heart and soul of the pitching staff, at least when I was there.

When we lost Bob as a teammate, we lost an awful lot of leadership. And when we lost him this past year, we lost a lot more than that.

Posted in Broadcasters, Pitchers | 1 Comment »

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