RetroSimba

Cardinals were bridge between roles for Tom Murphy

May 1, 2023 by retrosimba

As Tom Murphy felt his pitching career sliding downhill, the Cardinals pulled him back into the big leagues.

On May 8, 1973, the Cardinals rescued Murphy from the Royals’ farm system, acquiring him for pitcher Al Santorini.

A right-hander who had been in the Angels’ starting rotation for four years, Murphy used his season in St. Louis to show he could be effective again in the majors, After that, he transformed into a closer _ but not with the Cardinals.

Baseball cards come to life

Born in Cleveland and raised in nearby Euclid, Ohio, Tom Murphy and his identical twin brother, Roger, became college athletes. Tom was a pitcher for Ohio University and Roger became a wide receiver for Northwestern’s football team.

Tom Murphy had a combined 16-1 record his sophomore and junior seasons at Ohio U. Roger Murphy had 51 catches for Northwestern in 1966 and went on to play in the Canadian Football League.

The Astros (1965) and Giants (1966) drafted Tom Murphy but he preferred to stay in college. When the Angels drafted him in January 1967, one of the reasons he signed was they agreed to let him complete his bachelor of arts degree in English that spring, The Sporting News reported.

Murphy’s first stop in the Angels’ system was with Quad Cities, a Class A club in Iowa managed by Fred Koenig. Murphy was 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in six starts.

The Angels called up Murphy, 22, the next year, in June 1968, and put him in the starting rotation. The Angels’ pitching coach, Bob Lemon, had been Murphy’s favorite boyhood player with the Indians, according to The Sporting News.

In beating the Yankees for his first big-league win, Murphy faced another baseball icon from his childhood, Mickey Mantle. Though Mantle, 36, was playing in his last season on wobbly knees, “I was scared,” Murphy told the Los Angeles Times. “You better believe I did a little trembling. Here was a guy I idolized.”

Murphy managed to twice retire Mantle in key situations. His strategy, he told the Times, was, “I figured I’d challenge him with my best, and let him hit it as far as he could,”

In the third inning, with runners on second and third, one out, Mantle hit “a whistling drive directly at first baseman Chuck Hinton, who threw to shortstop Jim Fregosi at second for a double play,” the Times noted.

Two innings later, Mantle batted with two on and two outs. “Murphy threw two sweeping curveballs and Mantle could do no better than hit foul balls,” the Times reported. “The third pitch was a high fastball. Mantle swung ferociously, but the ball nestled in catcher Tom Satriano’s glove” for strike three. Boxscore

Murphy made 15 starts for the 1968 Angels and had a 2.17 ERA.

California dreaming

Being a rookie in the big leagues in Southern California in 1968 made for heady times for Murphy. Tall (6 feet 3) and angular, Murphy was a bachelor who enjoyed the California beach life. Murph the Surf, they called him.

He wore the mod clothes of the time, including silk brocade Nehru jackets. As the Los Angeles Times observed when he arrived for an interview, “Murphy wears a brown shirt of Edwardian cut. It is complemented by a brown and gold ascot. The pants are hip huggers. They are white with a black stripe and bell-bottomed.”

His road roommate, pitcher Andy Messersmith, told the Times, “I get my kicks walking around with Tom and hearing what people say about his clothes. Like the day in Boston after he had just bought this gold Nehru. We walked around downtown and people thought he was Ken Harrelson (of the Red Sox). They thought he was The Hawk.”

Murphy replied, “Aw, it was because of my nose.”

In 1969, Murphy and Messersmith joined Rudy May and Jim McGlothlin _ the four M’s _ in a mod Angels starting rotation, all 25 or younger.

During spring training, players sneaked Murphy’s twin brother Roger into an Angels uniform and sent him onto the field for calisthenics. Roger lied down in the grass and used first base for a pillow, then got up and told astonished Angels manager Bill Rigney he was retiring. Rigney thought Roger was Tom until he was brought in on the gag, the Times reported.

There wasn’t much funny, though, about Tom Murphy’s season for the 1969 Angels. He had 16 losses, threw 16 wild pitches and hit 21 batters with pitches. “The statistics seem to suggest that Murphy’s pitching was as wild as his wardrobe,” John Wiebusch of the Times reported.

Murphy told the newspaper, “There are smart pitchers and stupid pitchers, and it doesn’t take a genius to classify me.

“I tend to lose my cool too quickly. Things upset me and when that happens I lose my poise.”

Murphy did much better in 1970 (16 wins) but not so well in 1971 (17 losses, but in eight of those the Angels failed to score. He also lost three games by 2-1 scores and another by 3-2.)

K.C. and the Sunshine Band

After the 1971 season, the Angels obtained a pitcher who was 29-38 with the Mets (Nolan Ryan), put him into their starting rotation and traded Murphy to the Royals in May 1972. “I can’t quite picture myself sunbathing in Kansas City,” Murphy quipped to The Sporting News.

Bob Lemon was the Royals’ manager. Murphy’s first start for him was against the Angels. He pitched well (two runs allowed in seven innings) but lost. Boxscore

In July, Murphy (3-2, 4.79 ERA) was demoted to minor-league Omaha. He pitched a no-hitter against Indianapolis and was back with the Royals in September. His highlight was a shutout against a Twins lineup with Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew, beating Bert Blyleven. Boxscore

Murphy had an 0.34 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched for the Royals in September 1972, but when the season opened in 1973 he was back in the minors.

Join the club

The 1973 Cardinals lost 20 of their first 25 games and were looking for any help. Cardinals director of player development Fred Koenig, Murphy’s first minor-league manager, recommended him and the deal was made with the Royals.

Murphy joined a pitching staff populated with other American League castoffs such as Alan Foster, Orlando Pena and Diego Segui. His first two Cardinals appearances, both in relief, resulted in 4.1 scoreless innings, and he was moved into the starting rotation on June 10.

Though Murphy lost his first three decisions as a Cardinals starter, he pitched well. He allowed one run in a 3-1 loss to the Expos Boxscore and two runs in a 2-0 loss to the Cubs. Boxscore

His breakthrough came on July 4, 1973, with a complete-game win against the Pirates. Murphy also contributed a single and a double, scored a run and drove in another. Boxscore

He won his next start as well, beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Boxscore

The next day, Murphy’s twin brother pulled another prank. He got into the clubhouse, dressed in Tom’s uniform and asked trainer Gene Gieselmann for a rubdown, saying he’d hurt his arm in a surfing accident. Gieselmann went to work, thinking it was Tom.

Murphy also became a source of amusement for Bob Gibson, who delighted in imitating his teammate’s herky-jerky pitching motion. “Murphy has the habit of prefacing his windup by flipping his gloved hand forward, as if shooing flies,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

On July 29, 1973, Murphy had two hits in the Cardinals’ win against the Cubs but didn’t qualify for a decision. Boxscore In his next start, he limited the Expos to two runs. but was the losing pitcher. Balor Moore shut out the Cardinals on four hits. Boxscore

Soon after that, Murphy was moved to the bullpen and was effective. He finished the season 3-7 with a 3.76 ERA. In his six relief appearances totaling 13.1 innings, he was 1-0 with an 0.68 ERA.

Finding a niche

Murphy’s strong relief work for the Cardinals was a sign of good things to come for him. It was the Brewers, though, who benefitted.

On Dec. 8, 1973, the Cardinals sent Murphy to the Brewers for utilityman Bob Heise. Brewers manager Del Crandall made Murphy, 28, the closer. “He’s got heart,” Crandall told The Sporting News. “While other guys get nervous in certain situations, he can go out there and do the job.”

Using a combination of sinkers and sliders, Murphy made 70 relief appearances for the 1974 Brewers and was 10-10 with 20 saves and a 1.90 ERA.

He had 20 saves again for the Brewers the next year but overall wasn’t as dominant, posting a 1-9 record and 4.60 ERA.

Murphy went on to finish his playing career with the Blue Jays. In 12 seasons in the majors, he was 68-101 with 59 saves and a 3.78 ERA.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 12 Comments »

How Cardinals got into a no-win situation

April 26, 2023 by retrosimba

Not even a dugout full of four-leaf clovers would have been enough to help Patsy Donovan turn the 1903 Cardinals into winners.

What Donovan needed more than the luck of the Irish was a dugout full of run producers and premium pitchers.

As player-manager of the 1903 Cardinals, Donovan (pictured here) did all he could. He was a crafty hitter and a smart manager _ and he also had a rookie pitcher who would become a Hall of Famer _ but that was not enough to compete in the National League.

The 1903 Cardinals finished in last place in the eight-team league at 43-94. Their .314 winning percentage is the lowest in Cardinals franchise history, and the 43 wins are the fewest by a Cardinals club in a season not shortened by labor strife or pandemic.

Popular lad

Born in County Cork, Ireland, Patsy Donovan immigrated to the United States with his family when he was a boy and settled in Massachusetts.

An outfielder and left-handed batter, Donovan reached the big leagues in 1890 and replaced Connie Mack as player-manager of the Pirates in 1896. “As a field general, Patsy ranks with the best in the business,” The Pittsburgh Press noted.

After the 1899 season, the Pirates had an ownership change and Donovan’s contract was sold to the Cardinals. Playing right field for them in 1900, Donovan hit .316 with 45 stolen bases, but the team finished 65-75.

Donovan became Cardinals player-manager in 1901 and led them to a 76-64 record. He hit .303 with 73 RBI and 28 steals. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch declared that “Donovan comes very near to being the best-versed man in the inside workings of the game.”

Many eyes, Irish or otherwise, were smiling on Donovan, whose “classic features (unlike those of some roughhouse ballplayers) don’t look as if they had been chiseled out with a crowbar,” the Post-Dispatch observed.

As the newspaper noted, “The ladies turned out in full force to see the old favorite of the fair fans, Patsy Donovan.”

Shuffling the Cards

Any hopes the Cardinals had of continuing a rise in the National League standings in 1902 were dashed when the fledgling American League made a raid on their roster. Five of their eight starting position players (first baseman Dan McGann, second baseman Dick Padden, shortstop Bobby Wallace, left fielder Jesse Burkett and center fielder Emmet Heidrick) and three top starting pitchers (Jack Harper, Jack Powell and Willie Sudhoff) were enticed to jump to the American League. Most went to the St. Louis Browns.

Donovan hit .315 with 34 steals in 1902, but with so much of his supporting cast departed, the Cardinals fell to 56-78.

Discouraged, Donovan resigned and planned to quit baseball. “He had no money (from the Cardinals) with which to build up a team,” the Post-Dispatch reported in November 1902. “With the prospect of going through another season like the one closed, Donovan concluded he wanted to change.”

Cardinals owners Frank and Stanley Robison convinced Donovan to change his mind and come back for the 1903 season. To help appease him, they acquired a third baseman, Jimmy Burke, from the Pirates and purchased the contract of a minor-league pitcher, Mordecai Brown.

Helping hands

A son of Irish immigrant parents, Jimmy Burke was born and raised in Old North St. Louis. Playing for the Shamrocks, an amateur sandlot team, Burke developed a reputation as a scrappy competitor. As The Sporting News noted, “He made up in hustle and fight what he may have lacked in exceptional ability.”

Mordecai Brown hailed from Nyesville, Ind., 30 miles northeast of Terre Haute. He was a youth when he mangled his right hand in a corn chopper accident, the Chicago Tribune reported. Soon after, he fell while chasing an animal on the family farm and did more damage to the hand.

As a teen, Brown worked in a coal mine and played baseball. Because of the unusual way he was forced to grip the ball in his deformed hand, Brown’s pitches had an unorthodox spin that often baffled batters, the Chicago Tribune noted.

Brown was 24 when he entered professional baseball with a minor-league team in Terre Haute in 1901. After posting 27 wins for Omaha in 1902, he was signed by the Cardinals, and by then he had a nickname _ Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown.

On the skids

Donovan began to feel optimistic about his 1903 team. In February, he told The Pittsburgh Press, “The Cardinals will be much stronger than they were last year.”

The good vibes continued when the Cardinals won their season opener, beating the Cubs, 2-1, on a five-hitter by Clarence Currie. Boxscore

“Three Finger” Brown made his big-league debut against the Cubs and pitched a one-hit shutout for the win in a game shortened to five innings because of rain. Boxscore

Before Brown’s next start, against Pittsburgh, “Patsy Donovan warned the Pirates that they would be surprised when they saw his find in the person of a pitcher with only three (usable) digits on his throwing hand,” The Pittsburgh Press reported. “The (Pirates) laughed, but their laughs turned to weeping when the battle was on.”

Brown gave up five runs in the fourth inning, held the Pirates scoreless for the other eight innings, and got the win. Boxscore

The good times faded fast. After a 6-7 record in April, the Cardinals were 4-23 in May. They collapsed over the last two months, losing 38 of 48 games. Their 43-94 mark for the season put them 46.5 games behind the National League champion Pirates (91-49).

The Cardinals gave up the most runs (787) in the league and scored the fewest (505). Their top home run slugger, Homer Smoot, hit four.

Patsy Donovan, 38, was the club’s leading hitter (.327) and also had 25 stolen bases. Jimmy Burke hit .285 with 28 steals.

“Three Finger” Brown led the pitching staff in ERA (2.60) and strikeouts (83), and tied Chappie McFarland for the team high in wins (nine).

On the move

After the season, the Cardinals made matters worse, trading “Three Finger” Brown and catcher Jack O’Neill to the Cubs for pitcher Jack Taylor and catcher Larry McLean. Patsy Donovan left to manage the Washington Senators.

Brown went on to help the Cubs win four National League pennants and two World Series titles. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Donovan finished with 2,256 hits and a .301 batting average. He managed the Senators, Dodgers and Red Sox after leaving the Cardinals.

In 1914, when he was a Red Sox scout, Donovan was sent to Baltimore to check out a pitching prospect, Dave Danforth. The player who got his attention was Babe Ruth. Donovan told the Red Sox to sign Ruth immediately and, acting on his recommendation, they did, The Sporting News reported.

According to the Associated Press, Donovan’s acquaintance with one of the Xavierian brothers who coached Ruth at a Baltimore orphanage helped get The Babe to sign with the Red Sox.

Described by The Sporting News as “a great developer of young players,” Donovan was hired to manage the minor-league Buffalo Bisons in 1915. He encouraged one of their infielders, Joe McCarthy, “to study the strategy of the game,” The Sporting News reported.

McCarthy followed Donovan’s advice and embarked on a managing career with the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox that led to his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers, Pitchers, Records | 10 Comments »

Doggone it: Pitcher Russ Van Atta was pet’s best friend

April 21, 2023 by retrosimba

Russ Van Atta, a left-handed pitcher fresh off a promising start in the majors, earned a noble, but costly, save.

After an impressive rookie season with the 1933 Yankees, Van Atta injured his pitching hand when he rescued his dog from a house fire.

No longer able to control a curveball, his performance waned and he got sent from the Yankees to the St. Louis Browns.

Iron man

Born in the northwestern New Jersey community of Augusta, Van Atta turned 14 in 1920, the year his father died of typhoid fever, he told the Morristown (N.J.) Daily Record. Van Atta said he went to work in a local zinc mine. “I worked at the 700-foot level and I made 57 cents an hour,” he said to the Morristown newspaper.

Van Atta also excelled in local baseball games and the owner of the mine helped him get an athletic scholarship to Penn State. In 1928, Yankees scout Paul Krichell, who signed Lou Gehrig, Leo Durocher and Tony Lazzeri, got Van Atta, 22, a bonus offer of $250.

After five seasons in the minors, Van Atta was nearly 27 when he made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster in 1933, joining a starting rotation that included Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing.

Welcome to the show

On April 25, 1933, Van Atta made his big-league debut with a start against the Senators at Washington.

The starting lineups were loaded with future Hall of Famers _ center fielder Earle Combs, third baseman Joe Sewell, right fielder Babe Ruth, first baseman Lou Gehrig, second baseman Tony Lazzeri and catcher Bill Dickey for the Yankees; left fielder Heinie Manush, right fielder Goose Goslin and shortstop Joe Cronin for the Senators. (Another, Senators outfielder Sam Rice, entered the game in the ninth.)

Van Atta shined amid the stellar cast. He pitched a five-hit shutout and produced four singles and a sacrifice bunt in the Yankees’ 16-0 victory. Years later, he told The Montana Standard, a newspaper in Butte, that “the greatest thrill was going 4-for-4.”

Stealing the spotlight, though, was the brawl that occurred in the fourth inning after the Yankees’ Ben Chapman slid hard into second, knocking down the Senators’ Buddy Myer. As several players fought, “hundreds of fans came pouring out of the lower tier” of the stands and joined in a “pitched battle,” the New York Times reported. Five spectators were arrested, and three players (Chapman and Dixie Walker of the Yankees, and Myer) were ejected. Boxscore

Outdoors with the Babe

Van Atta relished being a member of the Yankees and was especially fond of Babe Ruth and manager Joe McCarthy.

“Babe came down (to New Jersey) one time for a turkey hunt,” Van Atta recalled to the Morristown Daily Record. “It was supposed to be a wild turkey hunt, but the turkey was actually a tame one that weighed about 36 pounds. The turkey was on an oak tree and Babe was supposed to be the guy who shot it, but his first shell jammed. Finally, he put another shell in the gun and he put the buckshot through the turkey, and we carried the turkey to (the) house.”

Van Atta said Ruth took the bird to the Fulton Fish Market in New York to get it cleaned, then served it for dinner at his apartment.

Regarding Joe McCarthy, Van Atta told the Morristown newspaper, “He knew the game like no one else alive.”

Van Atta completed his rookie season with a 12-4 record and a .283 batting average. His .750 winning percentage tied him with Lefty Grove of the Athletics for best among American League pitchers in 1933.

Good deed

At 2;30 a.m. on Dec. 13, 1933, Van Atta was awakened at his Mohawk Lake, N.J., home by his wife, who discovered the house was on fire, Van Atta recalled to the Montana Standard.

In addition to Van Atta and his wife, others in the house were their child and Van Atta’s mother, United Press reported. All escaped, but then Van Atta realized his cocker spaniel pup still was in the burning house, the St. Louis Star-Times reported.

Van Atta rushed back into the building and grabbed the dog, “but in trying to get back out he smashed into a glass door,” the Star-Times reported. Among his injuries was a severed nerve on the index finger of his pitching hand.

The index finger went numb and Van Atta said he never recovered any sense of feeling in the digit. (More than 40 years later, Van Atta lit a match under the finger and held it there without flinching to demonstrate to a newspaper reporter that the numbness remained.)

Van Atta kept the injury a secret from the Yankees, the Montana Standard reported.

Without any feeling in the index finger, Van Atta couldn’t control the curveball. “I had a good fastball and I still had the curve, but I never knew where the curve would go,” he told the Montana newspaper. Batters “started laying for my fastball,” he said.

Van Atta was 3-5 with a 6.34 ERA for the 1934 Yankees. In May 1935, his contract was sold to the Browns

Change of scene

Going from the Yankees, who never had a losing season during the 1930s, to the Browns, who never had a winning season during that decade, was a step down in every regard.

“When the Yankees traveled (by train), they had two sleeping cars for the players and only used the bottom berths,” Van Atta told the Montana Standard. “The Browns had one sleeping car, and the players had to use both the upper and lower berths.”

Fortunately for Van Atta, the Browns were desperate for pitching, and they gave him plenty of work. He led American League pitchers in appearances (58) in 1935, but was 9-16 with a 5.34 ERA.

In 1936, Van Atta again appeared in the most games (52) among American League pitchers, but was 4-7 with a 6.60 ERA.

On June 10, 1937, Van Atta tore a ligament in his pitching arm while trying to complete a game against the Senators. He didn’t win again for the rest of the season. During the winter, he underwent an elbow operation.

In his first start in 1938, Van Atta was pitted against Cleveland’s Bob Feller. For four scoreless innings, he “matched Feller pitch for pitch,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported, then was knocked out of the game when struck in the left forearm by a Lyn Lary line drive. “Desperately, Van Atta tried to keep on pitching but he could barely lift the arm,” the newspaper observed. Boxscore

Van Atta sat out most of the 1939 season. At spring training with the Browns in 1940, he called it quits at 33. “I can’t throw right, so there’s no use wasting my time and the club’s money,” he told the Star-Times.

In seven years in the majors, Van Atta was 33-41 overall and 21-37 after the house fire.

Reflecting on the turn his career took after injuring his finger in the rescue of his dog, Van Atta good-naturedly told the newspaper, “I still got him, and every time I look at him I say, ‘There goes $100,000.’ “

According to the Morristown Daily Record, Van Atta was elected sheriff and then freeholder (or commissioner) in New Jersey’s Sussex County. He owned seven Gulf Oil service stations there from 1950-71.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 12 Comments »

Hobie Landrith measured up with ample skills

April 17, 2023 by retrosimba

Hobie Landrith was an undersized catcher with big desire.

At 5-foot-8, according to the Associated Press and his Topps baseball card, Landrith stood “about as tall as the bat boy,” the Baltimore Sun noted, but he played in the majors for 14 seasons, including two with the Cardinals.

A left-handed batter, he had many good games at St. Louis, both for and against the Cardinals. Landrith had more career hits (78) in St. Louis than he did in any other big-league city.

Though best known for being the first player the Mets took in the National League expansion draft, Landrith didn’t last a full season with them.

Catching up

Hobart Landrith was born in Decatur, Ill., and moved with his family to metropolitan Detroit when he was 7. At 15, he served as a bating practice catcher for the Tigers.

In 1948, according to the Detroit Free Press, Landrith was one of two top high school catchers in Detroit. The other was Harry Chiti. Both became big-leaguers. (Landrith and Chiti were teammates on the 1956 Cubs and 1962 Mets).

After attending Michigan State for a year, Landrith signed with the Reds in 1949. Sent to their Tulsa farm club in 1950, Landrith broke a leg sliding into home plate in the season opener at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the Tulsa World reported.

When he recovered, the Reds, needing a bullpen catcher, brought Landrith, 20, to Cincinnati. He impressed manager Luke Sewell, who put him on the roster. Landrith started four games for the Reds that summer.

After spending most of 1951 and 1952 in the minors, Landrith stuck with the Reds through 1955 as backup to Andy Seminick and then Smoky Burgess.

Flair for dramatic

For a player who hit .198 in 1954, Landrith had his share of standout performances. In May, his three-run home run against the Cardinals’ Gerry Staley sparked the Reds to victory. Boxscore Two months later, Landrith hit a walkoff home run in a 1-0 triumph over the Giants. Boxscore

Reds broadcaster and former pitcher Waite Hoyt referred to Landrith “with unabashed affection as Little Hobie because he’s been the sort of guy it’s always easy to root for,” the Dayton Journal Herald reported.

On Sept. 1, 1954, Landrith impressed with his glove _ and his courage _ when he took part in a promotional stunt and caught a baseball dropped 575 feet from a helicopter at Crosley Field. “It knocked me to the ground, ” Landrith told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “but I held on.”

Landrith received $500 for catching the ball.

(The record was set in 1938 when Indians catchers Hank Helf and Frank Pytlak each caught a ball dropped from atop the 708-foot Terminal Tower in Cleveland, the Associated Press reported.)

Second string in St. Louis

In November 1955, Landrith was traded to the Cubs and he made 90 starts for them in 1956. After the season, the Cubs dealt Landrith, pitchers Sam Jones and Jim Davis, and utilityman Eddie Miksis to the Cardinals for pitchers Tom Poholsky and Jackie Collum, catcher Ray Katt, and an infield prospect, Wally Lammers.

Cardinals general manager Frank Lane then tried to flip Landrith to the Reds for Smoky Burgess, but was turned down, the Associated Press reported.

Used primarily as a backup to Hal Smith, Landrith made 56 starts for the 1957 Cardinals. He hit .243 and nailed 14 of 30 runners attempting to steal.

Seeking a catcher with more pop, Bing Devine, Lane’s successor as Cardinals general manager, tried to swap Landrith to the Reds for Burgess after the 1957 season, but he was turned down, too, according to the Associated Press.

Landrith was the Cardinals’ Opening Day catcher in 1958, but most of the playing time that season went to Hal Smith (61 starts) and Gene Green (48). Landrith, who started 34 games, batted .215.

A highlight came on July 13, 1958, when Landrith had four hits and two RBI against the Pirates at St. Louis. (A lifetime .233 hitter in the majors, Landrith batted .313 versus the Pirates in his career.) Boxscore

A month later, Landrith walloped a game-winning home run in the eighth inning against the Phillies’ Turk Farrell at St. Louis. Boxscore

On Oct. 7, 1958, Landrith, pitcher Billy Muffett and third baseman Benny Valenzuela were traded to the Giants for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Marv Grissom.

Tall among Giants

Landrith twice had four-hit games for the Giants at St. Louis. The first was July 4, 1959. Boxscore The other came on Aug. 16, 1960, when Landrith had three doubles and a single against Bob Gibson and caught the four-hitter of rookie Juan Marichal, who was facing the Cardinals for the first time. Boxscore (Landrith also was the catcher when Marichal pitched a one-hit shutout versus the Phillies in his Giants debut. Boxscore)

“Hobie has helped me a lot, especially on gripping the ball so the batters can’t see if it’s going to be a fastball or a curve,” Marchial told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

On Aug. 17, 1961, a spectacular catch by Cardinals center fielder Curt Flood robbed Landrith of an extra-base hit at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

With the Cardinals ahead, 2-0, in the eighth, the Giants had a runner on second when Landrith batted against Larry Jackson. “At least three Cardinals (in the dugout) grabbed towels and signaled Flood to shade farther to the right,” the San Francisco Examiner reported. “He took five steps and needed every one.”

Landrith drove a pitch to right-center. “I hit that ball as hard as I’ve ever hit any,” he said to the Post-Dispatch.

Flood told the newspaper, “I thought for sure the ball was going out.”

“Flood took off with his back to the infield all the way,” the Post-Dispatch reported. “About one step from the fence he timed his high leap perfectly and speared the ball.” Boxscore

An original

After being drafted by the expansion Mets, Landrith went to spring training with them in 1962. Crouched behind the plate in a game, he was struck on top of the head by the backlash of a batter’s big swing. After a few days on the sideline, Landrith returned and was knocked on the noggin by another batter’s backlash. “I’m three inches shorter than when I reported to camp,” he told Dick Young of the New York Daily News.

In the Mets’ first regular-season game, against the Cardinals, Landrith started, went hitless and made an errant throw to second on Julian Javier’s stolen base. Boxscore

Landrith’s Mets highlight came on May 12, 1962, when he hit a two-run walkoff home run at the Polo Grounds against the Braves’ Warren Spahn. The high fly down the line in right “just did make the railing of the upper deck as it fell almost straight down,” the New York Daily News reported. Boxscore

A month later, Landrith was traded to the Orioles as the player to be named in a deal for first baseman Marv Throneberry.

In his second week with the Orioles, Landrith slugged a two-run walkoff home run against Dick Radatz of the Red Sox at Baltimore, earning a win for starter Robin Roberts. Landrith, Radatz and Roberts all attended Michigan State.

“Roberts leaped out of the Orioles dugout, jumped up and down, and gave Landrith a big bear hug as Hobie battled his way through congratulating teammates.” the Baltimore Sun reported. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades | 10 Comments »

How Alan Foster finally found a fit with Cardinals

April 12, 2023 by retrosimba

As a teen, Alan Foster was a pitching prospect being compared with Sandy Koufax. At 26, he was a pitching project hoping to get another chance to stick in the majors.

In 1973, the Cardinals threw a lifeline to Foster, inviting him to spring training as a non-roster pitcher. He made the most of the opportunity, earning a spot on the Opening Day pitching staff and working his way into the starting rotation.

A right-hander who made his big-league debut in 1967, Foster had his first winning season in the majors with the 1973 Cardinals. He achieved career highs that year in wins (13), innings pitched (203.2) and strikeouts (106).

By design

When Foster was a senior at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, Calif., near Los Angeles, he struck out 188 batters in 99 innings and posted an ERA of 0.39, according to The Sporting News.

“What attracted the scouts was that, besides being able to throw very hard, I was accomplished in other aspects of pitching,” Foster told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I had good control. I could hit the corners. I knew how to pitch, in and out. I was able to make a lot of hitters look ridiculous.”

Foster’s father, a physician, told the scouts his son wanted to study architecture at UCLA and would opt for college unless offered a substantial contract, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On the recommendation of scout Ben Wade, the Dodgers selected Foster, 18, in the second round of the 1965 June amateur draft (ahead of catcher Johnny Bench). Foster signed after his father negotiated a $97,000 contract for him, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Orient express

In 1966, playing for manager Bob Kennedy at Albuquerque, Foster was 11-5 with a 2.86 ERA. The Dodgers, 1966 National League champions, brought Foster on their tour of Japan after the World Series. Pitching against Japanese all-star teams, Foster, 19, impressed, earning three wins and posting a 2.53 ERA in 32 innings pitched.

In a story headlined “Rookie Pitcher Steals Show on Dodgers Tour,” the Los Angeles Times described Foster’s pitching as “dazzling.”

“He has an easy motion like Sandy Koufax,” umpire Doug Harvey told the newspaper.

The Sporting News rated Foster’s pitches “as impressive as (a young) Koufax.”

(While in Japan, Foster met Cristina Rodriguez. Born and raised there, she was the daughter of a film distributor, according to the Post-Dispatch. Alan and Cristina married three years later.)

High expectations

Foster, 20, opened the 1967 season with the Dodgers. making his debut in relief against the Braves, The first batter he faced: Hank Aaron.

“I was going to try to show him I was not just another wild kid,” Foster said to Sports Illustrated. “Well, the first pitch went right over his head and the second one wasn’t much better. Now I’m two balls behind to Henry Aaron.”

Foster made another bad pitch, but Aaron swung and bounced out to shortstop Gene Michael. Foster pitched two scoreless innings. “I wasn’t nervous,” he told the Los Angeles Times, “but I sure was excited.” Boxscore

(For his career, Aaron batted .366 with 15 hits, including two home runs, against Foster.)

After another relief appearance, Foster was sent to Spokane to get starts. He pitched two no-hitters against the Angels’ Seattle farm team, winning both by 1-0 scores, and a two-hitter, striking out 15, versus the Cardinals’ Tulsa affiliate.

At Dodgers spring training in 1968, Foster was a center of attention. Under the headline, “Best Rookies of 1968,” Foster appeared on the cover of the March 11 Sports Illustrated, along with the Reds’ Johnny Bench, the Cardinals’ Mike Torrez, the Tigers’ Don Pepper (father of golf pro Dottie Pepper) and Cisco Carlos of the White Sox.

“Alan Foster is the man (Dodgers owner) Walter O’Malley hopes can help his team back into contention,” Sports Illustrated exclaimed. “When the Dodgers get high on a pitcher, the National League had best look out.”

At the annual Dodgers spring training party hosted by O’Malley and his wife Kay, pitcher Mudcat Grant sang to the accompaniment of teammates Foster and Tommy Hutton on guitars, The Sporting News noted.

It was a surprise when the Dodgers sent Foster back to Spokane.

Coming up short

Foster stuck with the Dodgers in 1969 but finished 3-9 with a 4.38 ERA.

One of his best performances that season came in a losing effort against the Cardinals. Foster held them to a run and three hits in eight innings, but Steve Carlton pitched a five-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory. Boxscore

“I guess I’m not very lucky,” Foster said to the Los Angeles Times. “That’s the best I’ve ever pitched in the major leagues … I can’t pitch any better than that.”

Three months later, the Pirates’ Willie Stargell launched a Foster curve more than 500 feet over the roof of the right field pavilion and into the parking lot, becoming the first batter to hit a home run out of Dodger Stadium. Describing the blast in the Los Angeles Times, Ross Newhan wrote, “It appeared to be Apollo 12.” Boxscore

After a 10-13 record and 4.26 ERA for the 1970 Dodgers, Foster was traded to the Cleveland Indians.

Humbling tumble

Before joining the Indians, Foster said he hurt his arm playing winter baseball in Mexico, the Post-Dispatch reported. Then, on the first road trip of the 1971 season, he damaged his right elbow lugging his luggage. “I had to nurse that along without telling anybody,” he said to the newspaper.

Traded to the Angels after finishing 8-12 for the 1971 Indians, Foster spent most of 1972 in the minors. “It humbled me,” Foster told The Sporting News. “It taught me not to take anything for granted. I matured then.”

Called up to the Angels in September 1972, Foster made three relief appearances. Cardinals player personnel director Bob Kennedy, who’d managed Foster at Albuquerque six years earlier, scouted him and liked what he saw. “He has a lot of desire now,” Kennedy told the Post-Dispatch.

Kennedy and Cardinals player development director Fred Koenig recommended Foster to general manager Bing Devine. The Cardinals purchased Foster’s contract in February 1973 and put him on a minor-league roster.

On the rise

At Cardinals spring training, Foster, 26, emerged as a force, posting a 1.61 ERA in 28 innings. “I couldn’t have done any better,” Foster told The Sporting News, “and if I had done a little worse, I probably wouldn’t have stayed with this club.”

After six relief appearances to start the 1973 season, Foster joined a starting rotation with Bob Gibson, Rick Wise and Reggie Cleveland.

In Foster’s first Cardinals start, at Dodger Stadium, Al Downing beat him, pitching a two-hit shutout. Foster got one of the hits. Boxscore

In his next start, Foster shut out the Expos on a four-hitter. He also singled twice, scored twice and had a sacrifice bunt. Boxscore

Foster finished 13-9 overall (13-7 as a starter) for the 1973 Cardinals. He had six complete games and two shutouts.

“This year, I finally began to have full command of my pitches,” Foster told The Sporting News. “I’ve cut down on the number of pitches and I’ve been ahead of most of the hitters. That’s the only way to pitch. When you get behind, a .300 hitter becomes a .600 hitter.”

Winding down

Foster had an inconsistent 1974 season for the Cardinals. He shut out the Giants and pitched a three-hitter against the Mets. Boxscore and Boxscore

He also twice produced three hits in a game. Boxscore and Boxscore

However, Foster lost five of his first six decisions. In June 1974, the Cardinals offered Foster, Mike Garman and Mike Tyson to the Cubs for shortstop Don Kessinger, but were turned down, The Sporting News reported. (The Cardinals acquired Kessinger for Garman in October 1975.)

Foster got his record to 7-7, then lost three in a row and was removed from the rotation in September 1974. Two months later, he was traded to the Padres.

In 10 seasons in the majors, Foster was 48-63 overall, 20-19 with the Cardinals.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 14 Comments »

Name of the game: Amen and hallelujah for Jesus Alou

April 7, 2023 by retrosimba

Bob Uecker’s speed, whatever there was of it, was no match for the arm of Jesus Alou.

A perfect throw by Alou in a game against the Cardinals nailed Uecker at the plate, aiding a win for the Giants that moved them into sole possession of first place in the 1964 National League pennant race.

Alou, youngest of three brothers to play in the majors, was an outfielder and contact hitter who excelled against premier pitchers. St. Louis University students formed a fan club in his honor.

Oh, brother

Jesus Alou was a right-handed pitcher when he joined the Giants’ Class D farm team at Hastings, Neb., in 1959. Alou, 17, “developed a sore arm and was sure he was about to be released,” the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported. Instead, he became an outfielder, the same position played by his brothers Felipe and Matty.

“I always thought that maybe they just kept me because Felipe and Matty were moving up and they didn’t want them to feel bad,” Alou told the newspaper.

All three Alou brothers were born and raised in the Dominican Republic. In his autobiography, “Alou: My Baseball Journey,” Felipe said, “Our home was the size of an average bedroom in the United States _ 15 by 15 feet _ some of it with an uneven cement floor, and the rest, particularly our kitchen floor, was dirt.”

Felipe recalled Jesus would take meat “right out of the pot when it was still cooking over an open fire. He loved meat and always seemed to have a ravenous appetite … Jesus was the one who grew the tallest and filled out the most.”

Felipe entered the Giants’ system in 1956 and Matty joined him a year later. Felipe reached the majors with the Giants in 1958 and Matty got there in 1960.

Jesus Alou hit .324 or better in four consecutive seasons in the minors before he was brought up to the Giants in September 1963.

In Jesus Alou’s debut against the Mets, he, Matty and Felipe batted consecutively in the eighth inning (Jesus and Matty as pinch-hitters) and became the first trio of brothers to appear in the same big-league game. Boxscore

Five days later, Felipe (in center), Matty (in left) and Jesus (in right) were the Giants outfielders for two innings in a game against the Pirates. Boxscore

In his book, Felipe said, “People have asked me what I felt. Pride, to some degree, but mostly what I felt was an overwhelming sense of responsibility to look out for my younger brothers. I was more concerned for them than anything.”

After seeing Jesus Alou play, Giants manager Al Dark told the San Francisco Examiner, “He’ll be something special one of these days, perhaps next year.”

The three Alou brothers appeared in a game together eight times, but never started a game together.

After the season, Felipe was traded to the Braves and Dark said Jesus would get first crack at Felipe’s right field job. “In Dark’s expert opinion, (Jesus) is destined to become a better all-around ballplayer than Felipe, a development which would qualify him to rub shoulders with the best in the business,” the Examiner noted.

Forgive me, Father

A son of a carpenter _ naturally _ Alou was the first player in the majors to be named Jesus. Some of the less enlightened had a devil of a time accepting this.

“In the Dominican Republic, as well as elsewhere in Latin America, the name Jesus is a common one, but in this country … the name is sacred to the Savior and a jarring note is struck when the name is not so honored,” Examiner columnist Prescott Sullivan wrote in March 1964.

“It’s a grand name, a wonderful name, and Jesus Alou wears it proudly,” Sullivan wrote, but “we’ve been thinking that what Jesus Alou needs is a nickname.”

Sullivan suggested Alou should be called “Jay or Jess or even Chi Chi.”

(Sullivan provided playwright Neil Simon with the inspiration for the Oscar Madison character in “The Odd Couple,” according to the Associated Press.)

Sullivan contacted several San Francisco holy men, who told him that, by God, they agreed with the notion that Alou should not be called by his given name.

Monsignor Eugene Gallagher, director of the Catholic Youth Organization, confessed, “A nickname for Alou would eliminate the danger of disrespect for a name sacred to our Savior.” A spokesman for Episcopal Bishop James Pike of Grace Cathedral said, “It would be simpler all around to call him by a name other than the one given to our Lord.” Rabbi Alvin Fine of Temple Emanuel offered, “For baseball purposes, I’d rather call him Butch.”

The advice was taken as gospel. Some broadcasters and reporters referred to the player as Jay Alou instead of Jesus.

Good impressions

On May 28, 1964, Alou was the left fielder for the Giants at St. Louis. In the seventh inning, the Cardinals led, 1-0, and had Bob Uecker on second when Carl Warwick lined a single to left. “With two out, we had to try for the run and send Uecker in,” Cardinals manager Johnny Keane told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We had to hope for a wide throw, or a bounce that got past the catcher.”

Instead, Alou charged the ball, scooped it on one hop and fired a strike on the fly to catcher Del Crandall, who was waiting when Uecker slid into the tag. “That ball passed Uecker like a roadrunner,” coach Vern Benson said to the Post-Dispatch.

In the next inning, Willie Mays hit a Curt Simmons pitch off a girder in right-center for a two-run home run. The Giants won, 2-1, and moved into first place. Boxscore

(Mays “used to play cards with us all the time,” Jesus Alou told the Fort Launderdale Sun-Sentinel. “Every time he won, he gave us our money back.”)

Two months later, Alou had six hits (five singles and a home run) in a game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Boxscore

The Giants stayed in contention but finished three games behind the champion Cardinals.

The next year, Alou had 22 hits, including five doubles and two home runs, in 18 games against the 1965 Cardinals.

When the Giants played at St. Louis on June 28, 1966, a fan club of 48 graduate students from St. Louis University came to Busch Memorial Stadium and supported Alou with banners and cheers, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Alou had three hits in the game, scored twice and stole a base, then posed for pictures with the students. He hit .333 versus the Cardinals in 1966. Boxscore

Close call

After the 1968 season, Alou was chosen in the National League expansion draft by the Expos, who flipped him to the Astros for Rusty Staub.

In a June 1969 game against the Pirates, Alou fractured his jaw in a collision with shortstop Hector Torres while chasing a pop fly. On the ground, Alou “looked like he was dead,” Astros player Denis Menke told the Associated Press.

Alou swallowed his tongue and struggled to breathe before Pirates trainer Tony Bartirome “pulled Alou’s tongue up, inserted an inflationary tube in his throat and blew into it to open the passage,” Astros trainer Jim Ewell told the wire service.

Alou recovered and in 1970 he hit .306 for the Astros and .460 (17-for-37) against the Cardinals. In a May 1 game at St. Louis, he had three hits, three RBI and two runs scored. Boxscore

In 1971, the Cardinals acquired Matty Alou from the Pirates. In a game at Houston that year, Matty had two hits for the Cardinals and Jesus had three for the Astros. Boxscore

Bruce Bochy, who went on to manage the Giants to three World Series championships, began his professional playing career in the Astros’ system. In Felipe Alou’s book, Bochy said, “When I was a player, Jesus Alou was a guy who took me under his wing _ something I will never forget. I would sit next to Jesus in the dugout whenever I had the chance, soaking in his sage wisdom.”

In his book “I’m Glad You Didn’t Take It Personally,” Jim Bouton said Astros teammate Jesus Alou “is one of the most delicate, sensitive, nicest men I have ever met. He’d walk a mile out of his way to drop a coin in some beggar’s cup.”

Playing to win

In 1973 and 1974, Jesus Alou got to play in two World Series for the champion Athletics. The manager of the 1974 team was Al Dark. Jesus was joined on the A’s by an Angel, fellow reserve outfielder Angel Mangual.

Jesus Alou played 15 seasons in the majors and had 1,216 hits. He was at his best against some future Hall of Famers, batting .436 (24-for-55) against Steve Carlton, .370 (17-for-46) against Don Sutton, .353 (12-for-34) against Sandy Koufax and .333 (14-for-42) against Tom Seaver.

After his playing days, Jesus Alou was a scout for the Expos, and then director of Dominican Republic operations for the Marlins and later the Red Sox.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 10 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »