RetroSimba

Whitey Herzog’s advice worked well for Ken Oberkfell

December 16, 2010 by retrosimba

(Updated March 21, 2017)

A disciple of the Whitey Herzog school of managing, Ken Oberkfell, third baseman on the Cardinals’ 1982 World Series championship club, was bench coach on Mets manager Terry Collins’ staff in 2011.

Before that, Oberkfell had been a minor-league manager for 17 years. In an interview for the 2010 Cardinals yearbook, Oberkfell discussed the advice he received from Herzog.

“When I started managing, I talked to Whitey a little bit,” Oberkfell said. “He just said, ‘You’ve got to have your own identity, your own way of managing things. You can take what you can from other managers you’ve had, but you have to be yourself.’

“And he also said, ‘If you make a decision, don’t second-guess yourself.’ And I’ve taken that to heart.”

Oberkfell began his managerial career in 1995 in the independent Northeast League. After managing there again in 1996, Oberkfell became a manager in the Phillies’ system. He managed Piedmont of the Class A South Atlantic League from 1997-99 and Clearwater of the Florida State League in 2000.

One of his players at Piedmont was 18-year-old shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who reached the majors in 2000, won the Gold Glove Award four times and a National League Most Valuable Player Award.

Rollins was the first of several outstanding prospects who were nurtured under Oberkfell’s care. Others include shortstop Jose Reyes, third baseman David Wright and outfielder Jason Bay. All became all-stars in the major leagues.

In 2001, Oberkfell joined the Mets organization. He managed Capital City of the South Atlantic League in 2001, St. Lucie of the Florida State League in 2002-03, Binghamton of the Eastern League in 2004, Norfolk of the International League in 2005-06, New Orleans of the Pacific Coast League in 2007-08 and Buffalo of the International League in 2009-10.

He was named minor league manager of the year by Baseball America magazine in 2005. In an article about the award, Oberkfell cited Herzog’s positive influence on his managing style. Story

“I learned a lot from Whitey in terms of handling players and communicating, especially with extra players,” Oberkfell told the magazine. “He always had a way of keeping them positive, keeping them ready. That’s so important if you want to have success at any level.

“And just like Whitey, I like to run. I like to be aggressive on the bases. I’m a pretty laid-back guy until we have runners on base.”

It was with the Cardinals that Oberkfell broke into the major leagues in 1977 as a second baseman. He played for Vern Rapp and Ken Boyer before Herzog joined the Cardinals in June 1980.

An outstanding fielder _ he led National League second basemen in fielding percentage (.985) in 1979 _ Oberkfell made a successful conversion to third base after Herzog traded incumbent Ken Reitz to the Cubs in December 1980.

Oberkfell led NL third basemen in fielding percentage in 1982 (.972) and 1983 (.960). His game-winning single off Gene Garber in Game 2 of the NL Championship Series gave the Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta. Boxscore Oberkfell batted .292 (7-for-24) with four runs scored in the 1982 World Series.

When Terry Pendleton proved ready to handle the third base job, Oberkfell was dealt to the Braves on June 15, 1984, for pitcher Ken Dayley and first baseman Mike Jorgensen.

From 1977-84 with St. Louis, Oberkfell batted .292 with a .364 on-base percentage.

Posted in Hitters, Managers | Leave a Comment »

How Cardinals nearly traded Bob Gibson to Senators

December 10, 2010 by retrosimba

(Updated Feb. 14, 2022)

The Cardinals almost dealt Bob Gibson to the Washington Senators.

In December 1960, the Cardinals and Pirates each had trade talks with the Senators regarding left-handed reliever Bobby Shantz.

“I wanted Shantz to cement our bullpen as the second man behind Lindy McDaniel, just as the Pirates wanted him behind Roy Face,” Cardinals general manager Bing Devine told Oscar Kahan of The Sporting News.

The Senators asked the Cardinals for right fielder Joe Cunningham, Devine said.

“When I would not make the deal,” Devine told Kahan, “they expressed interest in Bob Gibson.”

Gibson, 25, was unhappy with the way he was being utilized by Cardinals manager Solly Hemus. Gibson pitched in 27 games for the 1960 Cardinals, posting a 3-6 record and 5.61 ERA.

The Senators “said it would take a lot more than Gibson to get Shantz,” Devine told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Kahan, citing an anonymous source, reported in the Dec. 28, 1960, edition of The Sporting News the Cardinals offered the Senators three players for Shantz:

1. Bob Gibson

2. Either pitcher Ron Kline or outfielder Walt Moryn.

3. Any one of these minor leaguers: pitchers Ed Bauta, Willard Schmidt and Dean Stone, and outfielders John Glenn and Ben Mateosky.

“Kline and Gibson, each of whom would be a starter for the Senators, have been mentioned as possible trade bait for Shantz,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat noted.

Devine thought it was an offer the Senators couldn’t refuse. “I think I wound up offering more than they got from the Pirates, but we could not get together,” Devine said.

Senators manager Mickey Vernon had been a Pirates coach during the 1960 season and became impressed by several Pittsburgh prospects, especially first baseman R.C. Stevens.

The Senators swapped Shantz to Pittsburgh for Stevens, outfielder Harry Bright and pitcher Bennie Daniels.

Pirates general manager Joe Brown “beat me to the draw on Shantz,” Devine told the Post-Dispatch. “I feel that maybe I blew the thing, but we were ready to make a similar deal with Washington with players off our (big-league) roster.”

It was a deal the Senators would regret.

_ Stevens, who hit 37 home runs with 109 RBI for Class AAA Salt Lake City in 1960, played in 33 games for the Senators in 1961, with no homers and two RBI. He never played another season in the big leagues.

_ Bright, who hit 27 homers with 119 RBI for Salt Lake City in 1960, played two seasons with the Senators before he was traded to the Reds.

_ Daniels had a 37-60 record and 4.14 ERA in five seasons with the Senators.

When the Cardinals replaced Hemus with Johnny Keane in July 1961, Gibson blossomed into an ace, becoming the greatest Cardinals pitcher and leading St. Louis to two World Series championships and three pennants.

And, Devine ended up acquiring Shantz, after all.

After one season with Pittsburgh, the Pirates lost Shantz to the Houston Colt .45s in the expansion draft. On May 7, 1962, Houston traded Shantz to the Cardinals for outfielder Carl Warwick and pitcher John Anderson.

In three years with St. Louis, Shantz had 12 wins, 15 saves and a 2.51 ERA.

A final twist: While many recall pitcher Ernie Broglio was the key player Devine traded to the Cubs on June 15, 1964, for outfielder Lou Brock, what often gets overlooked is Shantz also was part of the deal.

So, instead of trading Gibson for Shantz, Devine ended up keeping Gibson, acquiring Shantz and trading him for Brock. Today, Gibson and Brock are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Posted in Hitters, Managers, Pitchers, Trades | 11 Comments »

Deal for Bruce Sutter revived Cardinals

December 9, 2010 by retrosimba

(Updated Aug. 11, 2024)

On Dec. 9, 1980, in a trade that successfully altered the course of the franchise, the Cardinals acquired closer Bruce Sutter from the Cubs for first baseman Leon Durham, third baseman Ken Reitz and utility player Ty Waller.

Sutter gave the Cardinals the reliable closer they had been lacking. With Sutter as the anchor, manager Whitey Herzog built a deep bullpen that handcuffed the opposition and took pressure off the starting staff.

Sutter, who would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, was a key to turning the Cardinals from underachievers throughout the 1970s to World Series champions in 1982.

In his first year with St. Louis, the strike-hampered 1981 season, Sutter had a National League-leading 25 saves. In 1982, he led the NL in saves again, with 36.

In the five years before Sutter’s arrival, no Cardinals reliever had recorded more than 13 saves in a season.

In his book, “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said, “Relief pitchers like Bruce Sutter are worth their weight in gold.”

Wheeling and dealing

At the 1980 baseball winter meetings in Dallas, Herzog, who had the dual role of general manager and manager, completed a multiplayer deal in which he acquired closer Rollie Fingers from the Padres. He still wanted Sutter, who had won the 1979 National League Cy Young Award. Herzog viewed Fingers as insurance in case a deal with the Cubs couldn’t be completed.

Herzog called Fingers “the great relief pitcher I needed, but not the one I really wanted. The guy I was really after was Bruce Sutter.”

The Cubs were willing to deal Sutter because he had been awarded a $700,000 yearly salary, about twice as much as the club wanted to pay, in an arbitration ruling the year before.

When Herzog first approached the Cubs about Sutter, their general manager, Bob Kennedy, wanted Durham, Waller and second baseman Tom Herr, Herzog said.

Regarding Durham, Herzog told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I hate to give him up. Durham is one of the top five prospects in the game.”

Cardinals scout Fred McAlister told the Chicago Tribune, “Quite frankly, in Durham, the Cubs may be getting another Dave Parker. If this guy ain’t a prospect, then nobody is.”

Herzog said he tried to get the Cubs to accept a package of players excluding Durham and Herr, but Kennedy responded, “No Durham, no Sutter.”

Herzog offered first baseman Keith Hernandez instead of Herr.

“I offered them Hernandez in a package deal,” Herzog said in the book, “You’re Missin’ A Great Game.” “But … Kennedy didn’t want to take on that big salary.”

When the Cardinals countered with an offer of Durham, Reitz and Waller, the Cubs accepted.

Upping the ante

Herzog was ready to part with Reitz, who he deemed “a fine-fielding third baseman but a streak hitter and maybe one of the slowest runners I’ve seen.” He hoped to shift Ken Oberkfell from second to third and put Herr at second.

Reitz, however, had a no-trade clause in his contract and wasn’t eager to approve a move to the Cubs. According to the Post-Dispatch, Reitz finally consented when the Cubs offered to increase his salary and the Cardinals agreed to compensate him for waiving the no-trade clause. Herzog said the Cardinals gave Reitz $50,000 to approve the trade. Newspapers reported the price was $75,000.

Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Verdi wrote, “It would have been nice had Kennedy held out for Ted Simmons, whose average for 81 games in Wrigley Field might have bordered on astronomical.”

Because he had signed free-agent catcher Darrell Porter, Herzog wanted to move Simmons from catcher to first base and put Hernandez in left field.

When Simmons balked at moving to first base, Herzog shipped Simmons, Fingers and pitcher Pete Vuckovich to the Brewers for pitchers Dave LaPoint and Lary Sorensen and oufielders David Green and Sixto Lezcano.

Good as expected

“The Cardinals have a chance to win the pennant with Bruce,” Kennedy told the Chicago Tribune, “but we have to rebuild, and he couldn’t win the pennant for us.”

Sutter said he was glad to leave the Cubs.

“I just don’t see any chance of the Cubs becoming a winner,” Sutter told the Chicago Tribune. “There’s not much in their minor-league system and it’s pretty obvious we didn’t have enough talent up here. It seems like the minute you become good around here, and they have to pay you for being good, they get rid of you because they don’t want to pay you. You just can’t operate that way.”

Sutter added, “The ballclub I’m going to is going to be a winner, and that matters more than anything.”

Using a split-fingered pitch Herzog described as looking “like a rock skipping on water _ tough to pick up, let alone hit,” Sutter was the stopper Herzog desired.

“When I got to St. Louis, I was sure I got myself a top-flight closer,” Herzog said. “…I realized it was smarter to start building my staff at the back, with that one potent guy, and move forward from there. I’d get that guy who could shut the door the last two innings, cut the other guy’s chance from 27 (outs) to 21, and hope my starters were good enough to get me through the sixth (inning).”

Sutter changed the dynamics of the game for the Cardinals. “Sutter might be the most important pitcher I ever had,” Herzog said. “He was sure the best relief pitcher I ever saw.”

Sutter led the league in saves in three of his four seasons with St. Louis. In the 1982 World Series, in which the Cardinals won four of seven games against the Brewers, Sutter had a win and two saves, closing out the decisive Game 7. Video

In an interview for the 2006 Baseball Hall of Fame yearbook, Sutter said, “I had a great time playing there. Whitey Herzog was the best. I learned a lot of baseball from Whitey Herzog.”

Claude Osteen, who pitched and coached in the big leagues, said most hitters couldn’t resist swinging at Sutter’s split-fingered pitch.

“So many times I’ve seen him come in to pitch and not be sharp and the majority of his out pitches are balls,” Osteen told the Philadelphia Daily News in 1985, “but the pitch just looks so appealing to the hitter that they can’t lay off of it. I’ve only seen one of two hitters _ Mike Schmidt is one and Ted Simmons was one of the best _ who were good at laying off of that pitch. Those two hitters constantly have Sutter behind in the count because they don’t swing at that pitch. That’s the secret to it.”

Posted in Managers, Pitchers, Trades | 2 Comments »

With Ron Santo in Hall, Ken Boyer should be there, too

December 8, 2010 by retrosimba

(Updated on Sept. 13, 2025)

In 2011, a committee elected Ron Santo to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Santo, former Cubs third baseman, was deserving of election, but voters should do the right thing and elect former Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer, too. To elect one without the other is an injustice.

The 16-person committee failed to elect Boyer when it met in 2011 and again in 2014, 2021 and 2024.

The committee considers players whose primes were between 1950 and 1969. Boyer and Santo each won the Gold Glove Award five times (Boyer, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1963; Santo, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968).

Both were equals as fielders. The same was true as hitters.

Some give Santo the edge because he had more career home runs and RBI than Boyer, but Santo also had almost 700 more at-bats (8,143 for Santo and 7,455 for Boyer). The career numbers:

BOYER: .287 batting average, 2,143 hits, 282 HR, 1,141 RBI.

SANTO: .277 batting average, 2,254 hits, 342 HR, 1,331 RBI.

Santo (.362) had a higher on-base percentage than Boyer (.349) and their slugging percentages were nearly equal _ .464 for Santo and .462 for Boyer.

In June 1963, Cardinals consultant Branch Rickey, generally considered a top evaluator of talent, told The Sporting News that Boyer is “the best third baseman in baseball today, with the bat, the arm and the legs. He’s the most underrated fielder. Take his bat away and this big fellow still is a great third baseman.”

A cover story by Dave Anderson in the 1965 season preview edition of Dell Sports magazine captured how highly regarded Boyer was during his prime. Boyer was named winner of the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1964 when he led the Cardinals to the World Series championship. (Santo never played in a World Series.) Dell Sports assigned Anderson to do a piece about Boyer and the Orioles’ Brooks Robinson, with the angle that the duo might be the best third basemen of all-time.

“Take a good look this season at Ken Boyer and Brooks Robinson,” Anderson wrote. “Appreciate them now, while they’re at their peak. They’re two of the best third basemen in baseball history. Possibly the best ever. Surely they’re the two best ever to compete in the same era.

“Many old-timers consider it heresy to rate any of the current stars as the best ever at their positions, but Ken Boyer of the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles demand such recognition. None of the other current stars have invaded the history of their position the way Boyer and Robinson have at third base.”

Anderson interviewed former Pirates third baseman Pie Traynor, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1948 after excelling as a fielder and hitter (.320 batting average) from 1920-37.

Traynor told Anderson, “Boyer is a steady, great ballplayer. He’s the punch of the Cardinals. If he doesn’t drive in all those runs (119 in 1964), they don’t win the pennant last season, and if he doesn’t drive in runs in the World Series, they don’t win that.”

When Anderson noted Boyer had put together 10 spectacularly steady seasons, Traynor replied, “(Brooks) Robinson must do that. He had a big season last year (1964), but can he keep it up like Boyer?”

Robinson did have a wonderful career with Baltimore and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983, one year after Boyer died of cancer at 51.

In the book “Few and Chosen,” Ken Boyer’s brother, Clete Boyer, who played in five World Series during eight years with the Yankees, said, “If we changed places and Ken played in New York (during his prime), he’d be in the Hall of Fame.”

Posted in Hitters | 10 Comments »

Here’s how Bob Uecker helped Cardinals to 1964 title

December 3, 2010 by retrosimba

(Updated Sept. 27, 2019)

Bob Uecker, unable to supplant Joe Torre as the starting catcher, was traded by the Braves to the Cardinals for outfielder Gary Kolb and catcher Jim Coker on April 9, 1964.

bob_uecker The Cardinals needed a backup for Tim McCarver and they liked Uecker’s throwing arm.

“We got Uecker to help Timmy and make our catching solid,” St. Louis manager Johnny Keane told The Sporting News. “We’re certainly not vulnerable behind the plate anymore. Our bench could be stronger, too, with Uecker available.”

Though Uecker, 29, was used sparingly during the season, he strongly contributed to a significant win against his former team in the Cardinals’ late surge to the 1964 National League pennant.

On Sept. 1, 1964, in a game at St. Louis, the Braves took a 4-0 lead in the second inning against the Cardinals and knocked out starter Ray Sadecki. Behind the relief pitching of Ron Taylor, the Cardinals fought back. Uecker hit his only home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth off Denny Lemaster, to get the Cardinals within a run at 4-3.

In the bottom of the ninth, with the score tied at 4-4, Julian Javier laced a one-out double and Lemaster intentionally walked Carl Warwick to get to Uecker, hoping to induce a double play.

Uecker, who hit .198 that season, foiled the strategy by pulling a single to left, scoring Javier from second and giving the Cardinals a 5-4 walkoff victory. Boxscore

“I wasn’t trying extra hard just because we were playing the Braves,” Uecker said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I was just happy to get some hits. I’d been hitting the ball good, but right at somebody.”

In the clubhouse after the game, as Uecker waited to be interviewed on television, his road roommate, pitcher Roger Craig, playfully approached him with a handful of shaving cream and a razor. “You’ve got to look right when you’re going on television,” Craig said to Uecker.

Spurred by the comeback, the Cardinals posted a 21-8 record in September, clinched the pennant on the final day of the regular season and won the World Series championship in a seven-game classic with the Yankees.

In his 1987 book, “Oh, Baby, I Love It,” McCarver recalled the scene in the clubhouse after the Cardinals beat the Yankees in Game 7 of the 1964 World Series: “I remember Bob Uecker, without a stitch of clothing on, dancing to the dumbest song I’d ever heard _ ‘Pass the Biscuits, Miranda.’ He was dancing all by himself, somehow putting modern moves to this idiotic song that, for some reason, had been the 1946 Cardinals’ rallying song. Uke could dance, too.”

Uecker was McCarver’s backup again in 1965, batting .228 in 53 games. Uecker hit two homers that season, against future Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry of the Giants and Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers.

On Oct. 27, 1965, the Cardinals traded first baseman Bill White, shortstop Dick Groat and Uecker to Philadelphia for outfielder Alex Johnson, pitcher Art Mahaffey and catcher Pat Corrales.

In his book “The Spirit of St. Louis,” author Peter Golenbock said Uecker was traded because he routinely entertained his teammates with humorous imitations of Cardinals general manager Bob Howsam, who wasn’t amused.

Howsam also was a protege of Branch Rickey, who had opposed the deal that brought Uecker to the Cardinals.

“When it came time to deal Bill White to the Phils,” Golenbock wrote, “Howsam refused to OK the trade unless Philadelphia accepted Uecker as well. For Howsam, it was addition by subtraction.”

Posted in Broadcasters, Hitters | 7 Comments »

Tom Underwood was key in major Cardinals trades

November 29, 2010 by retrosimba

Tom Underwood’s time with the Cardinals was brief _ 19 games pitched in 1977 _ but he was an integral part of two trades that significantly shaped the St. Louis team.

A left-handed pitcher, Underwood was the centerpiece of a controversial trade by the Cardinals that sent outfielder Bake McBride and pitcher Steve Waterbury to the Phillies on June 15, 1977. In addition to Underwood, the Cardinals got outfielders Dane Iorg and Rick Bosetti.

McBride was popular with Cardinals fans and players, but he feuded with first-year St. Louis manager Vern Rapp. McBride was the first Cardinal to defy Rapp’s hair-length code and he bristled at Rapp’s demand that McBride trim his mutton chop sideburns.

Because McBride had undergone knee surgery in 1976, Rapp wanted to move him from center field to right field and place Tony Scott in center. When McBride balked at the move, it triggered the trade to Philadelphia.

The Cubs thought they had a deal to acquire Underwood from the Phillies for outfielders Jose Cardenal and Greg Gross. When the Cardinals made McBride available, the Phillies dealt with St. Louis instead.

McBride, who batted .307 in five years with St. Louis, helped the Phillies to three division titles and the 1980 World Series championship.

Underwood was 6-9 with a 4.95 ERA (17 starts, two relief appearances) with St. Louis. He walked (57) almost as many as he struck out (66).

The Cardinals wanted Underwood because their only left-handed starter, Pete Falcone, was struggling and two other rotation members (Larry Dierker and John Denny) were slowed by injuries. At the time of the trade, Underwood was 23 and coming off consecutive winning seasons for the Phillies. The Cardinals envisioned him as a pitcher who could pay dividends for years.

As a Cardinal, Underwood was effective against left-handed batters (he held them to a .186 batting average with no home runs). Right-handed batters pounded him for a .299 batting average and seven homers.

In his nine losses with St. Louis, Underwood had a 7.82 ERA and opponents batted .363 against him.

Underwood’s best-pitched game for the Cardinals came against the Cubs in Wrigley Field on Sept. 6, 1977. He pitched a complete game, yielding six hits and a run while striking out eight in a 3-1 Cardinals victory. Catcher Ted Simmons homered, singled, walked, scored a run and drove in two. Boxscore

On Dec. 6, 1977, Underwood and picher Victor Cruz were traded by the Cardinals to the Blue Jays for pitcher Pete Vuckovich and outfielder John Scott.

Vuckovich, a tough right-hander, pitched well (39-31, 3.21 ERA) in three years with St. Louis. He, along with Simmons and reliever Rollie Fingers, were dealt by the Cardinals to the Brewers in December 1980 for pitchers Dave LaPoint and Lary Sorensen and outfielders David Green and Sixto Lezcano. That trade was critical to the construction of the Cardinals and Brewers into pennant winners in 1982.

Underwood went on to pitch for the Blue Jays, Yankees, Athletics and Orioles. In an 11-year big-league career, he was 86-87 with a 3.89 ERA.

Posted in Pitchers, Trades | 2 Comments »

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