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Why Cardinals had high hopes for Lew Burdette

June 9, 2023 by retrosimba

(Updated Jan. 13, 2025)

A right-hander whose extensive mix of pitches included a spitball, Lew Burdette was supposed to give the Cardinals the edge they needed to win the 1963 National League pennant, but it didn’t work out. Instead, he helped them attain a championship the following year, even though he was gone by June.

On June 15, 1963, the Cardinals obtained Burdette, 36, from the Braves for catcher Gene Oliver and pitcher Bob Sadowski.

The Cardinals expected Burdette could make the difference in a pennant race the way June acquisitions Grover Cleveland Alexander (1926) and Burleigh Grimes (1930) did for them.

Dynamic duo

Selva Lewis Burdette was from Nitro, W.Va., along the Kanawha River near Charleston. The town sprung up during World War I as a center for the manufacturing of gunpowder for the military.

Burdette went by a shortened version of his middle name, Lew or Lou. Asked by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1963 which spelling he preferred, Burdette replied that either way was acceptable. “I always (endorse) the check the way it’s written,” he said.

After reaching the majors in 1950, making two relief appearances with the Yankees, Burdette was traded to the Braves for Johnny Sain in August 1951.

Burdette and Braves teammate Warren Spahn (baseball’s career leader in wins among left-handers) liked palling around together, each bringing out the mischievous side in the other, and became road roommates. Their friendship was “as close as Damon and Pythias,” The Sporting News observed.

Asked why he and Burdette got along so well, Spahn told Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “It’s because we appreciate each other’s sense of humor … No one else can stand us.”

Glory days

Burdette led National League pitchers in ERA (2.70) and shutouts (six) in 1956.

The next year, he was named the most valuable player of the World Series, winning Games 2, 5 and 7 against the Yankees. Burdette went the distance in all three games, allowing a mere two runs in 27 innings for an 0.67 ERA. Video

As the New York Times noted, Burdette relied on “sinkers, screwballs and sliders, his excellent control and his unswerving poise.”

He also mixed in a devastating spitball.

“Burdette has a great sinker, and when he gets into a tight spot, he throws a wet sinker,” Reds outfielder Jerry Lynch told The Sporting News.

With 20 wins in 1958, Burdette helped the Braves repeat as National League champions, but the Yankees prevailed in the World Series, in part because he was 1-2 with a 5.64 ERA.

He remained an ace, leading the National League in wins in 1959 (21), in complete games in 1960 (18) and in innings pitched in 1961 (272.1).

A man for all seasons

Burdette injured an ankle in May 1962 and Braves manager Birdie Tebbetts lost confidence in him. “Burdette makes no secret of the fact that he feels he was mishandled by Tebbetts,” The Sporting News reported.

Though he finished the 1962 season with a 10-9 record, Burdette allowed 172 hits in 143.2 innings (the first time since 1953 he didn’t pitch at least 230 innings) and made no starts after Aug. 16. Afterward, he told The Sporting News, “Last season was the most miserable one I ever spent in baseball. It’s the worst feeling in the world not to be a part of things.”

Bobby Bragan, who replaced Tebbetts, told The Sporting News that Burdette was not in his plans for 1963. After getting a look at him in spring training, Bragan changed his mind and named Burdette the Braves’ Opening Day starter.

“He’s an even better athlete than I had envisioned,” Bragan told The Sporting News. “He can field, he can run, he can hit _ anything.”

Let’s make a deal

When Ray Washburn, who won his first five decisions for the 1963 Cardinals, suffered a shoulder injury, general manager Bing Devine searched for a starter to replace him and to join a rotation with Bob Gibson, Ernie Broglio, Curt Simmons and Ray Sadecki.

Devine’s first choice was Burdette, but the Braves were close to trading him to the Orioles, The Sporting News reported. Devine then tried to deal for Houston’s Ken Johnson, but the Colt .45s took him off the market when Turk Farrell injured a hip, according to the Globe-Democrat.

Next, Devine approached the Mets about Roger Craig. The Mets offered Craig, pitcher Ken MacKenzie and catcher Norm Sherry for Gene Oliver, outfielder Duke Carmel and pitchers Harry Fanok, Bob Sadowski and Ron Taylor, but the Cardinals wouldn’t part with Taylor, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Devine went back to the Braves and convinced them to deal Burdette to him. When they acquired Burdette, the Cardinals (36-26) were tied with the Giants for first place in the 10-team National League. The Sporting News described him as “an ideal pickup for a St. Louis club which felt that one more established pitcher might put it in the World Series.”

Globe-Democrat sports editor Bob Burnes declared, “It’s a good deal for the Cardinals. Eight to 10 victories by Burdette the rest of the season added to what the Cardinals already have potentially on their side could mean the pennant.”

Cardinals debut

Burdette was 6-5 for the 1963 Braves and won his last three decisions, including a shutout of the Mets in his final game with Milwaukee on June 12. Boxscore

His first appearance for the Cardinals was a start against the Mets on June 18 and he pitched a complete game for the win. Burdette held the Mets scoreless until Tim Harkness hit a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth. Boxscore

“He had the ball really moving, sailing, sliding and sinking,” Cardinals third baseman Ken Boyer said to the Post-Dispatch.

Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver, 21, told the newspaper, “I’ve never seen a pitcher who can move the ball around as much as Burdette did.”

In the book “We Would Have Played For Nothing,” Burdette said, “I had an uncanny ability of throwing strikes … If you get the reputation that you don’t walk anybody, you don’t have to throw strikes. They swing at anything.”

Brave new world

On July 11, 1963, Burdette faced the Braves for the first time in a start at St. Louis. After taking a pitch from Burdette for a strike in the third inning, Hank Aaron asked plate umpire Chris Pelekoudas to check the ball to see whether it had a foreign substance. Pelekoudas took a look and kept the ball in play. “Henry has a better sense of humor than people think,” Burdette told the Post-Dispatch.

Two innings later, Aaron snapped a 1-1 tie with an RBI-double against Burdette and the Braves went on to a 5-3 victory. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Burdette made his first appearance in Milwaukee since the trade. The opposing starter was his friend, Warren Spahn.

Burdette held the Braves to a run in nine innings and got the win. Spahn allowed the Cardinals three runs in eight innings. “Spahn didn’t pitch badly for an old man,” Burdette told The Sporting News. He added, “I didn’t feel especially good about pitching against the best friend I ever had in baseball, but I had a job to do, and all I could do was go out and do my best.”

Braves manager Bobby Bragan said to The Sporting News that Burdette “won that game with less (velocity) than anybody I’ve ever seen on a major-league mound.” Boxscore

Burdette beat the Braves again with a complete game at St. Louis on Sept. 15, 1963, helping the Cardinals win their ninth in a row and end the day a game behind the first-place Dodgers. Boxscore

“We got Burdette just for a game like this,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane said to the Post-Dispatch. “He gave us what we wanted when we had to have it.”

The Dodgers followed the Braves into St. Louis, swept a three-game series and went on to win the pennant. The Cardinals (93-69) finished in second place.

Burdette was 3-8 with two saves and a 3.77 ERA for the 1963 Cardinals. He had a 4.15 ERA in 14 starts and an 0.77 ERA in seven relief appearances. His losing record for the season was his first since 1952.

Starting over

In November 1963, the Cardinals acquired Roger Craig from the Mets and projected him to fill Burdette’s role. Burdette, 37, was moved to the bullpen in 1964. “I prefer starting,” he told The Sporting News.

Burdette was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in eight relief appearances for the 1964 Cardinals when he was traded to the Cubs on June 2 for pitcher Glen Hobbie.

It turned out that Burdette’s relief win for the Cardinals on April 24, 1964 _ a scoreless 11th inning against the Houston Colt .45s _ was important because the Cardinals (93-69) won the National League pennant that year by a mere one game over the Phillies (92-70) and Reds (92-70). Boxscore

“The Cardinals are a fine organization and I have no complaints with their treatment of me,” Burdette told the Associated Press. “It’s just that I didn’t get the opportunity to pitch. I guess they felt I was too old to be a starter. I’m 37, but I can outdo a majority of the 21-year-olds in most things.”

Burdette was 40 when he pitched his last game in the majors, a relief stint for the Angels versus the Twins in 1967. He faced three batters _ future Hall of Famers Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva _ and pitched a scoreless inning. Boxscore

In 18 seasons in the majors, Burdette was 203-144.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 17 Comments »

Battle stations: Dizzy Dean versus Paul Derringer

June 5, 2023 by retrosimba

Pitchers Dizzy Dean and Paul Derringer didn’t get along as Cardinals teammates. As opponents, their dislike for one another erupted into public view.

On June 6, 1933, Dean and Derringer got into a fight on the field before a game at Cincinnati. Only their egos got bruised.

Dean, the consummate showman, was a flamboyant flamethrower who craved attention. Derringer, a skilled but less flashy pitcher, was “a belligerent man who often used his fists to settle disputes,” according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

Dean became a Hall of Famer, but Derringer earned far more career wins (223) than Dizzy did (150).

Intramural rivalry

Conflict between Dean and Derringer began in 1931 when both competed at spring training for a spot as a rookie in the Cardinals’ starting rotation. The Cardinals chose Derringer, 24, and returned Dean, 21, to the minors.

Derringer responded with an excellent rookie season for the 1931 Cardinals, helping them to repeat as National League champions. Derringer was 18-8, leading National League pitchers in winning percentage (.692). He also was the Cardinals’ team leader in shutouts (four).

While Derringer thrived with the Cardinals, Dean pitched for minor-league Houston and took out his frustrations on Texas League foes, crafting a 26-10 record and 1.57 ERA in 1931. 

Dean joined Derringer in the 1932 Cardinals’ starting rotation. Smug after his successful debut season, Derringer “strutted too much” and “became his worst enemy,” Sid Keener observed in the St. Louis Star-Times.

That made Derringer a target for Dean’s barbs. “Derringer had trouble with Dean,” the Dayton Daily News reported, “and he was prepared to report to the league president that Dean had been nasty in riding him all season.”

June of 1932 was a turning point for the two rivals. Dean was 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA in June. Derringer’s June numbers: 2-3 and 6.09. From then on, manager Gabby Street turned increasingly to Dean, prompting Derringer to accuse the club of favoritism, according to the book “Diz.”

True to his nature, Derringer “challenged Gabby Street to a fistic duel in the clubhouse,” the Star-Times reported, “because he objected to the managerial maneuvers.”

Dean finished his rookie season as the National League leader in strikeouts (191), shutouts (four) and innings pitched (286). He was 18-15 with a 3.30 ERA. Pitching with “a chip on his shoulder,” according to the Star-Times, Derringer was 11-14 with a 4.05 ERA.

On the move

After Derringer lost his first two decisions in 1933, the Cardinals traded him and two others to the Reds on May 7 for shortstop Leo Durocher, plus two pitchers.

The Cardinals beat Derringer the first time they faced him, on May 30 at St. Louis. Boxscore Five days later, when the Cardinals came to Cincinnati, Derringer turned the tables and won. Boxscore

Derringer was one of eight former Cardinals on the 1933 Reds, according to the Dayton Daily News. Others included Sparky Adams, Jim Bottomley and Chick Hafey. When the series started, “the boys were all pals,” Si Burick noted in the Dayton newspaper. “Leo Durocher, the famous (bench) jockey, was kidding all his former teammates good-naturedly, and the Reds kidded right back. There was entirely too much fun going on.”

That all changed on June 6 before the start of a Tuesday afternoon game.

Fighting words

According to the Dayton Daily News, “Derringer was pitching in batting practice and Dean was razzing him from the Cardinals dugout.”

Dean was “riding the life out of me,” Derringer told the Associated Press.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Derringer said Dean was “questioning his courage.”

Derringer approached Dean and “asked him if he meant what he had been saying,” the Dayton newspaper reported.

“I replied, ‘I meant every word of it,’ ” Dean said to the Post-Dispatch.

Derringer threw a punch and claimed it landed square in Dean’s eye, the Dayton newspaper reported.

Dean told the Post-Dispatch, “I’m skillful at the manly art of self-defense and I ducked very cleverly.”

To prove his point, Dean “showed an eye that had no shiner,” according to the Dayton newspaper.

After the punch, Derringer grabbed Dean, “and when I saw he wanted to wrestle I caught him around the neck and threw him to the ground,” Dean explained to the Post-Dispatch.

As the clinched pair rolled around, Cardinals pitcher Dazzy Vance, 42, “strolled out and sat on them until the situation was in hand,” the Dayton Daily News reported.

Derringer told the newspaper that he “would have won by a knockout if Vance hadn’t stopped the bout.”

Dean claimed he gave Derringer “a right to the side of the head” before Vance arrived.

The Three Stooges-like antics carried over into the game. Cardinals player George Watkins was ejected for throwing his cap at an umpire after being called out on the base path, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, and Reds coach Jewel Ens also was ejected for arguing a call.

After the ejection of Ens, a woman spectator heaved a soda bottle from the stands, intending it for the umpire. Instead, it struck Cardinals infielder Burgess Whitehead on the shoulder as he stood on a dugout step, according to the Associated Press. Boxscore

Postscript

Dean was a 20-game winner for the 1933 Cardinals, then followed with 30 wins in 1934, plus two more in the World Series. He is the last National League pitcher to achieve 30 wins in a season.

Though his ERA was 3.30, Derringer was 7-27 in 1933 _ 0-2 with the Cardinals and 7-25 with the last-place Reds.

Despite that, he posted more wins (223) than losses (212) in his 15 seasons in the majors. He also pitched in four World Series for three franchises _ Cardinals (1931), Reds (1939 and 1940) and Cubs (1945).

 

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 12 Comments »

Cardinals got tangled up with true Vida Blue

June 1, 2023 by retrosimba

Before his fastball faded and spray hitters such as Ozzie Smith could pull it with power, the Cardinals saw the vintage Vida Blue, the one who, as Sports Illustrated noted, threw heat that “explodes in all directions.”

Blue was 28 when he came to the National League in a trade from the Athletics to the Giants in 1978. Though he would continue to pitch in the majors until 1986, his first year as a Giant was the last of his prominent seasons.

A left-hander who totaled 209 wins, Blue helped the Athletics win three World Series titles.

Rhapsody in Blue

Blue, 18, made his big-league debut with the Athletics on July 20, 1969. Two years later, he was the best pitcher in the American League, winning the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards. His numbers in 1971: 24-8 record, 1.82 ERA, 24 complete games, eight shutouts and 301 strikeouts in 312 innings.

“He throws harder than Sandy Koufax did,” Orioles slugger Boog Powell said to Sports Illustrated.

After Blue produced three seasons of 20 or more wins, Athletics owner Charlie Finley wanted to cash in on that success. In June 1976, he tried to trade Blue to the Yankees in exchange for $1.5 million, but baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the deal, declaring he did so in the best interests of baseball. (At the same time, Kuhn also canceled Finley’s attempt to swap reliever Rollie Fingers and outfielder Joe Rudi to the Red Sox for $1 million apiece.)

A year later, in December 1977, Finley sent Blue to the Reds for $1.75 million and first baseman Dave Revering. “They call Cincinnati the Big Red Machine. Now they have to call it the Big Blue Machine,” Vida said to The Sporting News.

The Reds envisioned a starting rotation led by Blue and Tom Seaver, but Kuhn again voided the deal. Part of the reasoning for Kuhn’s decision is he said he didn’t think the Athletics were getting enough talent in return. (In his nine seasons with the Athletics, Blue had a 124-86 record and 2.95 ERA.)

Ace vs. Cards

Giants general manager Spec Richardson sensed an opportunity. On March 15, 1978, Blue was traded to the Giants for seven players and nearly $400,000 in cash. Kuhn had no objections.

Naturally, Blue’s Giants debut came against the Reds at Cincinnati and he was the losing pitcher. Boxscore

After that, he went on a roll, winning six in a row. Two of those wins came against the Cardinals.

Blue’s first appearance versus the Cardinals was on May 1, 1978, at St. Louis. He limited them to four hits through seven innings on a mere 57 pitches. Trailing 2-0, the Cardinals scored a run against him in the eighth, but Blue got the win with strong relief help from Randy Moffitt in the ninth. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Blue faced the Cardinals at San Francisco and pitched a complete game for the win. He also singled, walked and scored a run in the Giants’ 9-3 triumph. Boxscore

Blue made three starts against the 1978 Cardinals and was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA. For the season, he was 18-10 with four shutouts and a 2.79 ERA. 

The Padres’ Gaylord Perry (21-6, 2.73) was selected as the 1978 National League Cy Young Award recipient by the Baseball Writers Association of America, but Blue was named The Sporting News National League pitcher of the year in voting by the players.

Throughout the season, Blue was backed by the hitting of 22-year-old Jack Clark, who batted .306 and led the 1978 Giants in doubles (46), home runs (25), RBI (98) and runs scored (90).

Hard time

In an eight-year stretch from 1971 to 1978, Blue pitched 258 innings or more in seven of those seasons. He wouldn’t work that many again.

In 1979, he was 0-2 with a 4.84 ERA in three starts against the Cardinals. On Aug. 29 that year, he gave up a career-high 14 hits to the Cardinals. Tony Scott had four hits and scored twice in the 5-1 Cardinals triumph at San Francisco. George Hendrick, Blue’s former teammate with the Athletics, hit a home run. Boxscore

Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “That’s the slowest I’ve seen him throw.”

In March 1982, the Giants traded Blue to the Royals. A year later, he pleaded guilty to a cocaine possession charge and was sentenced to three months in federal prison. Kuhn suspended him for the 1984 season.

Blue returned to the Giants in 1985 and eventually joined a starting rotation with ex-Cardinal Dave LaPoint and Atlee Hammaker, one of the players acquired from the Royals in the Blue trade.

On July 10, 1985, at St. Louis, Blue started, gave up five runs in three innings and took the loss. With two outs in the second, Blue threw a waist-high fastball to Ozzie Smith, who yanked it over the wall in left for a two-run home run. “A terrible pitch,” Giants manager Jim Davenport told United Press International.

An inning later, Blue’s former teammate, Jack Clark, also launched a two-run homer. “He challenges you,” Clark told the Post-Dispatch. “He gives you the fastball.” (Clark produced four hits, including two home runs, in five career at-bats versus Blue.)

In 17 career appearances, including 12 starts, versus the Cardinals, Blue was 5-5 with a 5.36 ERA.

Ted Simmons hit .316 (12-for-38) against Blue. Those with high on-base percentages against him included Tommy Her (.500, with six hits and three walks in 18 plate appearances) and Keith Hernandez (.421, with 13 hits and three walks in 38 plate appearances).

 

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 12 Comments »

Why Dennis Ribant took his slap shots to the big leagues

May 28, 2023 by retrosimba

Dennis Ribant hoped to be the second person _ and first American _ to play in both the National Hockey League and in baseball’s major leagues.

He made a good run at it, playing in the farm systems of baseball’s Milwaukee Braves and hockey’s Detroit Red Wings.

Encouraged by the Braves to focus on baseball, Ribant reluctantly gave up hockey and pitched in the majors with six teams, including one game for the Cardinals.

Cleats and skates

A Detroit native, Ribant was 12 when he worked for tips dusting off seats for fans at Tiger Stadium, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted.

A right-handed pitcher, Ribant got offers from the Tigers and Yankees after he graduated from high school but both were contingent on him quitting hockey, the Detroit Free Press reported. He signed with the Braves for less money because they “didn’t object too strenuously to hockey,” according to the newspaper.

About the same time, Ribant, 19, got assigned to the Detroit Red Wings’ Junior A hockey team in Hamilton, Ontario, for the 1960-61 season. “It’s a tremendous accomplishment in itself for an American kid to make a Junior A team,” Red Wings scout Jimmy Skinner told the Free Press. “It’s really rare.”

In a late-season game, Ribant “was hit blindside by a burly defenseman of the Toronto Marlboros and sent reeling into the boards of Maple Leaf Gardens,” Dick Young reported in the New York Daily News.

Ribant dislocated his left elbow. Soon after, when he showed up for his first spring training with the Braves in 1961, they were surprised to see his left arm in a sling.

(Five years later, Ribant still felt pain in the left elbow when he swung a bat, the Daily News reported in 1966.)

Fortunately for him, Ribant’s pitching arm, the right one, was undamaged. Assigned to Davenport (Iowa), a Class D team in 1961, Ribant was 17-2 and pitched a perfect game. Promoted to Class AA Austin (Texas) late in the season, he was 4-2. His overall ERA for the year was 1.68.

Playing hardball

After his successful pro baseball debut in 1961, Ribant planned to play another junior hockey season in the Red Wings’ system, but the Braves “shudder at the thought of him playing hockey,” the Free Press reported.

Braves general manager John McHale contacted his Red Wings counterpart, Jack Adams, and asked him to help convince Ribant to give up hockey, according to the New York Daily News.

As the Free Press noted, “The Red Wings find themselves in the strange position of discouraging a hockey prospect, especially an American hockey prospect and, taking it a step further, one born and raised in Detroit … Good American boys don’t come along very often, especially one from the club’s own town.”

According to the Daily News, Adams agreed to send scout Jimmy Skinner to talk with Ribant, but told McHale, “He’s a pretty good hockey player … The decision will be up to the boy.”

Ribant told the Daily News that Skinner said, “You’re going to be a big-league ballplayer. You can make a lot of money in baseball.”

Ribant replied, “I can do both, at least for a little while. I can make the National Hockey League, too, can’t I?”

Skinner said, “Maybe. You have a chance. They tell me you have a better chance in baseball. Think it over.”

Ribant decided to make baseball his sole sport.

(In an interview with the Free Press, Skinner said, “If he stayed in hockey, he would need several more years of seasoning, and I don’t think he’d ever make the National (Hockey) League, although he could play in the high minors.”)

A Canadian, Jim Riley, is the only person to play in the NHL and in baseball’s major leagues. An infielder, Riley played four games with the 1921 St. Louis Browns and two games with the 1923 Washington Senators. He also played in the NHL with Chicago and Detroit in 1927.

On the move

Ribant never did pitch for the Braves, In August 1964, during his fourth season in their farm system, the Braves traded him to the last-place Mets, who put him in their starting rotation. His first big-league win, on Aug. 17, 1964, was a four-hit shutout of the Pirates. Boxscore

After spending part of the 1965 season back in the minors, Ribant returned to the Mets’ starting rotation in 1966, finishing 11-9 with a 3.20 ERA. He and Bob Shaw (11-10) became the first Mets starters to complete a season with a winning mark.

After the season, Mets general manager George Weiss retired and was replaced by Bing Devine, the former Cardinals general manager who had become an assistant to Weiss. Devine determined the Mets needed a center fielder and went shopping for a Pirates prospect, Don Bosch. According to the New York Times, Mets scouts rated Bosch’s fielding skills “as good as Willie Mays, Bill Virdon or Curt Flood.”

Devine offered Pirates general manager Joe Brown a choice of a starting pitcher, Bob Shaw or Jack Fisher, for Bosch, but Brown insisted on Ribant, The Pittsburgh Press reported.

On Dec. 6, 1966, the Mets dealt Ribant and outfielder Gary Kolb to the Pirates for Bosch and pitcher Don Cardwell. “I hated to give up Ribant, but you can’t expect something for nothing in this business,” Devine told the New York Daily News.

Bosch flopped, batting .140 for the 1967 Mets and .171 the next year before being banished to the Expos.

Ribant was 9-8, including 2-0 versus the Cardinals, for the 1967 Pirates, and brought a hockey player’s attitude to the diamond. “Ribant doesn’t walk, he strides,” Roy McHugh wrote in The Pittsburgh Press. “He approaches the mound like John L. Sullivan on his way through the double doors of an 1890 saloon, ready to make the announcement that he can lick anyone in the house.”

After Ribant beat the Braves for his first win with the Pirates, Hank Aaron told The Pittsburgh Press, “He battles you … You get Ribant in a tough spot and he pitches his way out.”

Pirates teammate Roberto Clemente said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “I like this Ribant.”

Fast fade

The Pirates traded Ribant to his hometown team, the Tigers, in November 1967. It should have been a dream come true. The Tigers were headed to a World Series championship in 1968, but Ribant didn’t get to partake in the celebration.

Though he was 2-2 with a save and a 2.22 ERA in 14 relief appearances for the 1968 Tigers, they determined they needed a more experienced reliever in the pennant stretch. On July 26, 1968, the Tigers dealt Ribant, 26, to the White Sox for Don McMahon, 38.

An American League expansion team, the Royals, acquired Ribant before the 1969 season but planned to send him to the minors. When Ribant balked, Bing Devine, who had returned to the Cardinals, bought his contract. “I know Ribant,” Devine said to The Sporting News. “I know he likes to work and I’ve never seen him when he wasn’t ready to pitch.”

Ribant was sent to minor-league Tulsa. Its manager, Warren Spahn, was a Braves ace when Ribant joined that organization. Later, Spahn was a pitcher and coach with the Mets when Ribant was there.

“I know I can pitch up there (the majors),” Ribant told the Tulsa World. “I’m young (27), no problems and in good shape. My arm is sound and I’m throwing as good as ever.”

After earning three consecutive wins, including a shutout of Iowa, for Tulsa, Ribant was called up to the Cardinals on June 4, 1969. A day later, he relieved Mike Torrez in a game against the Astros, pitched 1.1 innings and allowed two runs, including a Joe Morgan home run. Boxscore

The Cardinals never gave him another chance. A week later, he was sent to the Reds for pitcher Aurelio Monteagudo.

Ribant made seven relief appearances for the 1969 Reds, posting a 1.08 ERA, and never pitched in the majors again.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 7 Comments »

How Cardinals won in 9th without a ball leaving infield

May 24, 2023 by retrosimba

Stan Musial won a game for the Cardinals with a walkoff pop-out.

It happened on May 31, 1963, against the Giants at St. Louis.

In the ninth inning, with the score tied at 5-5, reliever Don Larsen, the former Yankee who pitched a World Series perfect game, walked Cardinals leadoff batter Curt Flood.

Bill White tried to move Flood to second with a sacrifice bunt, but fouled off two attempts. Then he swung away, rapping a grounder to second baseman Cap Peterson. A rookie, Peterson’s throw to shortstop Jose Pagan covering second was too late to get Flood, and White was safe at first on the fielder’s choice.

Bobby Bolin relieved and Dick Groat bunted, pushing the ball between the mound and third base. Bolin fielded it and tried getting Flood at third, but Flood beat the toss and Groat was credited with an infield single, loading the bases for Musial.

A left-hander, Billy Pierce, was brought in to face him.

Giants manager Al Dark moved the infield in and called for his outfielders to play shallow, hoping to make a play at the plate if necessary.

Musial swung at Pierce’s first pitch and hit a pop-up toward the right side of the infield. The umpires shouted, “Infield fly,” meaning Musial automatically was out.

Dazed and confused

The infield fly rule is called on a fair ball that can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort when runners either are on first and second, or when the bases are loaded, before two are out. The rule is for the benefit of the runners because it keeps infielders from letting a shallow fly drop with the intention of causing a force play at second and third, or second, third and home, according to MLB.com. A runner is allowed to attempt to advance at his own risk.

When Musial’s pop fly went into the air, Peterson turned and started back toward his normal second base position, the San Francisco Examiner reported. Then he froze, according to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

When center fielder Willie Mays and right fielder Felipe Alou saw Peterson fail to react, they raced in to try for a catch.

“Mays came closest to getting the ball,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, but it fell among he and Alou and Peterson. According to the Examiner, “the ball landed right where Peterson was standing when the ball was pitched.”

When Curt Flood on third saw that the ball was unlikely to be caught, he dashed to the plate. Mays tried to grab the ball on one bounce so that he could throw home, the Post-Dispatch reported, but he could not come up with it. Flood streaked across the plate with the winning run and Musial was credited with a RBI.

Disgusted, Mays kicked his glove about 30 feet, the Post-Dispatch reported. Boxscore

The pop fly was Peterson’s responsibility to catch, Dark said to the Post-Dispatch. Regarding the outcome of a game being decided on an infield fly rule out, Dark told the newspaper, “I’ve never seen such a play at any point in any game.”

The wining pitcher was Bob Gibson, who had entered in the top of the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning of relief. He retired Willie McCovey, Matty Alou and Harvey Kuenn in order.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 15 Comments »

How potential became a burden for Jackie Brandt

May 5, 2023 by retrosimba

Jackie Brandt was an outfielder who earned a National League Gold Glove Award and was named to the American League all-star team, but people wanted more from him.

He was supposed to be the next Mickey Mantle, but he wasn’t.

He was supposed to be a sure bet to receive the National League Rookie of the Year Award with the Cardinals, but he didn’t.

He was supposed to be a flake, but maybe was just good at pretending to be one.

Quick rise

Brandt was an accomplished amateur pitcher and outfielder in his hometown of Omaha, but he didn’t get any offers to turn pro. Three months after he graduated from high school in 1952, he was wielding a sledgehammer as a boilermaker’s helper for the Union Pacific Railroad when Bob Hall, president of the minor-league club in Omaha, contacted the Cardinals and recommended Brandt to them, The Sporting News reported.

Cardinals scout Runt Marr went to Omaha, saw him throw and offered a contract, Brandt recalled to The Sporting News. A right-handed batter, Brandt preferred playing the outfield instead of pitching, and the Cardinals went along with his request, he told the Associated Press.

In his first regular-season game as a pro for Ardmore (Okla.) in the Class D Sooner State League, Brandt tore ligaments in his right leg and was sidelined for a month. When he came back, he tore up the league, hitting .357 with 131 RBI in 120 games.

Brandt made an impressive climb through the Cardinals’ system, hitting .313 for manager George Kissell’s Class A Columbus (Ga.) team in 1954 and .305 for Class AAA Rochester in 1955.

His performance for Rochester marked Brandt, 21, as a prime prospect for the majors. He excelled as a hitter (38 doubles, 12 triples), fielder (20 assists, 420 putouts) and base runner (24 steals). “Brandt is one of the best-looking kids I’ve ever seen,” Rochester manager Dixie Walker told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “He’ll be a major league star.”

Cardinals general manager Frank Lane said his Reds counterpart, Gabe Paul, offered $100,000 for Brandt. In rejecting the proposal, Lane told The Sporting News, “If Gabe offers $100,000 for him, the kid is worth every bit of $400,000.”

After Cardinals manager Fred Hutchinson saw Brandt play winter ball in Havana following the 1955 minor-league season, he said to The Sporting News, “He has a physical makeup similar to Mickey Mantle. He’s got the same kind of sloping shoulders, strength and speed. He showed exceptional aptitude defensively, a great knack of getting a jump on the ball and a strong arm.”

When New York Times columnist Arthur Daley got his first look at Brandt during spring training in 1956, he observed that the rookie had the “cat-like gait of Mickey Mantle. In fact, he looks as if he might be Mickey’s little brother.”

Another New York columnist, Red Smith, described Brandt as “a smaller, slighter version of Mickey Mantle.”

Great expectations

Brandt’s spring training performance earned him a spot on the Cardinals’ 1956 Opening Day roster and heightened expectations. Cardinals outfielders had won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1954 (Wally Moon) and 1955 (Bill Virdon), so Brandt was being touted as a favorite to get the honor in 1956.

“He is faster than either Moon or Virdon, both on the bases and in the outfield,” The Sporting News reported. “He loves to run, loves to hit and he doesn’t know the meaning of pressure.”

Brandt “could be another Terry Moore,” Cardinals chief scout Joe Mathes said to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, referring to the center fielder on the club’s 1940s championship teams.

Unfazed, Brandt told The Sporting News he could hit as well as any Cardinals player “except Stan” Musial. “Confidence is my major asset,” Brandt said.

Hutchinson, though, preferred a lineup with experienced big-leaguers. The Cardinals opened the 1956 season with Hank Sauer in left field, Virdon in center, Musial in right, Moon at first base and Brandt on the bench. In May, they dealt Virdon to the Pirates for Bobby Del Greco and made him the center fielder.

When Del Greco got injured, Brandt filled in and came through with consecutive three-hit games. Boxscore and Boxscore

Future shock

After a few starts in late May, Brandt was back on the bench. Dissatisfied with sitting and watching, he asked the Cardinals to send him to the minors so he could play every day, he told author Steve Bitker in the book “The Original San Francisco Giants.”

Instead, the Cardinals traded him. He was part of the June 1956 deal that sent second baseman Red Schoendienst to the Giants for shortstop Al Dark and others. The Giants insisted on Brandt being included. “We wouldn’t have made the deal without him,” Giants general manager Chub Feeney told United Press. “Frankly, we were surprised that the Cards would let him go.”

Brandt batted .286 with one home run in 42 at-bats for the Cardinals and fielded flawlessly. (According to researcher Tom Orf, Brandt is one of two players who began his career with the Cardinals, hit one home run for them and went on to slug 50 or more in the majors. The other is Randy Arozarena.)

On the day the trade was made, the Cardinals were 29-23 and one game out of first place in the National League. Frank Lane thought having Dark as their shortstop could spark them to a pennant. “Brandt could come back to haunt us, but we’re concerned about 1956 and not the future,” Lane explained to The Sporting News.

J. Roy Stockton of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch countered: “We don’t consider the Cardinals a sufficient threat in 1956 to justify trading away Brandt.”

(The Cardinals hit the skids in July and finished 76-78, 17 games behind the champion Dodgers.)

Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch, “Lane didn’t hurt the Cardinals trading me. It was his dealing off young players like Bill Virdon and Jackie Brandt … Brandt alone, counting what he can do now and what he’ll do in the future, is worth all four players the Cardinals got in the Giants deal.”

Golden gate

The Giants made Brandt their left fielder and he hit .299 with 11 home runs for them in 1956.

After spending most of the next two seasons in military service, Brandt was the Giants’ left fielder when they opened the 1959 season at St. Louis against the Cardinals. In the ninth inning, with a runner on first, one out and the score tied at 5-5, Brandt made two unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempts, then ripped a Jim Brosnan pitch 400 feet to left-center for a double, driving in the winning run. Boxscore

Brandt went on to hit .270 for the 1959 Giants and ranked first among National League left fielders in fielding percentage (.989), earning him a Gold Glove Award. The other NL Gold Glove outfielders that season were teammate Willie Mays (center) and the Braves’ Hank Aaron (right).

(According to the authorized biography “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend,” there were tensions between Brandt and Mays. “Brandt was outspoken and he was always criticizing Mays,” Giants broadcaster Lon Simmons said.)

Brandt was traded to the Orioles after his Gold Glove season.

Offbeat Oriole

Brandt played six seasons (1960-65) for the Orioles and was their center fielder for most of that time. In 1961, when he hit .297 and scored 93 runs, Brandt was named to the American League all-star team, but it was during his Orioles days that he got labeled a flake.

Teammate Boog Powell told the Baltimore Sun, “He had a pair of alligator shoes and, at a team party, decided to take them for a swim. He just walked into the pool, then out, and continued the evening like nothing had happened.”

(Decades later, when Powell operated a barbecue stand at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Brandt tapped him on the shoulder, said, “Pardon me, sir, but can you spare a poor man a sandwich?” and then kissed his old teammate square on the lips, the Sun reported.)

In a spring training game, Brandt got caught in a rundown and did a backflip to avoid the tag, the Sun reported. Another time, Brandt scored ahead of Jim Gentile, who missed the plate with his slide. Brandt bent down, picked up Gentile’s foot and placed it neatly on the plate, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.

Brandt’s words could be as amusing as his actions.

According to Milton Gross of the North American Newspaper Alliance, after the 1964 season, when Brandt hit less than .250 for the second straight year, Orioles general manager Lee MacPhail wished him a good winter. Brandt replied, “I always have a good winter. The bad summers are what troubles me.”

Regarding his inability to measure up to Mickey Mantle, Brandt told Gross, “I do everything pretty fair, but I’m not up to my potential. Maybe I’m living in the future.”

Orioles manager Hank Bauer said to the Sun, “I asked him how he managed to misplay a fly. He said, ‘I lost in the jet stream.’ “

According to the Baltimore newspaper, other gems uttered by Brandt included:

_ “This year, I’m going to play with harder nonchalance.”

_ “It’s hard to tell how you’re playing when you can’t see yourself.”

Brandt told author Steve Bitker, “My mind works crazy. I don’t do anything canned. Whatever comes to mind, I say or do.”

At least one popular story told about Brandt turned out to be untrue. As reported by the Associated Press and the Newspaper Enterprise Association, Brandt, wanting to experience some of the 40 flavors offered at an ice cream place, drove 30 miles out of his way to get there _ and then ordered vanilla. In 1983, the Baltimore Sun reported it was Ed Brandt, a reporter who covered the Orioles for the newspaper, who drove the extra miles for the ice cream and settled for vanilla. Over time, Jackie, not Ed, got associated with the tale.

“I’m shrewder than most of the guys think,” Brandt, the player, said to North American Newspaper Alliance.

Being a pro

When the Phillies swapped Jack Baldschun to the Orioles for Brandt in December 1965, Larry Merchant of the Philadelphia Daily News called it a trade of “a screwballing relief pitcher for a screwball of an outfielder.”

Regarding his reputation for being a flake, Brandt told Merchant, “We’re paid to entertain. It’s like being on stage. People want a show. They pay three bucks, so they ought to get one.”

The 1966 Phillies were a haven for free spirits, with Bo Belinsky, Phil Linz and Bob Uecker joining Brandt on the roster. Brandt didn’t play regularly, but was serious about finding ways to contribute.

“For weeks at a stretch, he would pitch batting practice 25 minutes a day,” Bill Conlin reported in the Philadelphia Daily News. “He would catch batting practice and became Jim Bunning’s preferred warmup catcher because of his knack of setting a low target with his glove.”

The Phillies sent Brandt to the Astros in June 1967 and he completed his final season in the majors with them. In his last big-league appearance, on Sept. 2, 1967, at St. Louis, Brandt singled versus Steve Carlton. Boxscore

In 11 seasons in the majors, Brandt produced 1,020 hits, including 112 home runs.

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