RetroSimba

Forsaken: An interview with Taylor Coleman

December 19, 2022 by retrosimba

When Taylor Coleman was 8 years old, her father abandoned her, she said, cutting off all communication and shirking his parental responsibilities.

Her father, Vince Coleman, was known to baseball fans as the stolen base specialist for the Cardinals, a player who created thrills with his speed and daring. Taylor saw a different side: a father in name only, unwilling to even acknowledge her, let alone help raise her.

Bolstered by the commitment and strength of her single mother, Taylor persevered, earning a college degree and becoming a successful businesswoman in cybersecurity sales and a mentor to people entering the technology field.

She has written a book about her father and his rejection of her. It’s called “A Letter To My Dead Beat Dad: The Facade Is Over.”

It’s a powerful read that stirs the emotions. The book is available on Amazon in hardcover and Kindle: Click here

Vince Coleman’s playing career spiraled after he left the Cardinals and reached bottom in 1993 when he was charged with a felony for throwing an explosive device similar to a grenade into a parking lot and injuring three people, including two children. The Cardinals later made him a member of their hall of fame.

During Thanksgiving weekend 2022, I did an e-mail interview with Taylor Coleman about her book. Here are the excerpts:

Q: The book is written in a very open and heartfelt manner. How did you manage to write such a personal story without holding back?

Taylor Coleman: “I felt a strong need to tell my truth and tell my story. I spent my whole life keeping my abandonment and trauma a secret. Something in me knew I had every right to share my feelings in a raw and genuine manner.

“I wanted this book to be as if someone was opening up a diary. I want the readers to know my anger and sadness, as well as feel the love that I still have for my father. It definitely took a lot of courage to be so honest. There were many times where I thought, ‘Should I really do this?’ But I deserve to be heard. I am becoming the type of woman who isn’t afraid to hold back.”

Q: Was it an emotionally exhausting, or an uplifting experience, to write this book?

Taylor Coleman: “It was a bit of both. I have always loved writing, so there was a genuinely therapeutic aspect of telling my truth. However, there are definitely parts of the book that caused me to cry or become upset while writing it, because I was having to relive those moments and remind myself of the hurt I felt. However, I can say overall it was more positive and uplifting.”

Q: Have you gotten feedback from any readers who also were abandoned by a parent?

Taylor Coleman: “Yes, I have, and it has all been very positive. I have had people tell me the book has helped them not be afraid to speak about their trauma and to learn how to heal. Others stated the book inspired them to tell their own stories and not hold back.

“I think the book also has been comforting to those who just want to know they are not alone. My dream and mission is not only to hold my father accountable, and possibly inspire him to change his ways, but most importantly, my mission is to be the voice and advocate for all humans who have seen a parent walk out of their life. Deadbeat moms and dads deserve to be held accountable for their cruel actions, and we (the offspring) deserve to be heard and recognized.”

Q: The book is as much about the strength, courage and commitment of your Mom. Has she read the book and, if so, what was her reaction?

Taylor Coleman: “She has read it several times, yes, and she loves every bit of it, and is extremely proud of me for doing such a thing. The book would not have been possible without my mother. I was so young when all of this happened, and there was a lot I had either forgotten about, or certain facts that she did not share with me because she never wanted to hurt me. So, I had to ask a lot of questions and confide in her to tell me all the details of what happened between her and my father, as well as the things he was doing, such as decreasing child support to $175 a month.”

Q: Besides your Mom, who are your role models, or mentors, and how have they inspired you?

Taylor Coleman: “My biggest role models outside of my mother are definitely my grandma, on my mother’s side, as well as two teachers I had growing up, Mrs. Pittman and Coach Fahrner. Those two individuals are heaven-sent, and they have always treated me so kindly. They are the types of teachers who make students excited to come to school, and they are always so generous and compassionate to each of their students. They are just genuinely good humans, and that is so hard to come by. They have inspired me to treat humans with kindness.

“My grandma is such a strong and resilient woman, who grew up very poor. However, she made such a beautiful life for herself, and she inspires me to continue being the independent woman I am, and lets me know that I can achieve and do or be anything I want to be in this life.”

Q: What is the most important advice you have for those who have been abandoned by a parent?

Taylor Coleman: “My biggest piece of advice is to learn, and always remember, to love yourself. Oftentimes, when a parent disowns their child, that child feels as if they are worthless or unworthy of love, and that can come to fruition later in life and cause one to chase toxic love or tolerate abuse from others, simply because they want to be loved. I want abandoned children, teenagers and adults to know they are still loved and still valued, and to not allow anyone to treat them poorly.

“Someone’s incapacity to love you, or see your worth, has absolutely nothing to do with you, and everything to do with them. Also, I want the general public to know that seeking therapy is not a bad thing. Everyone on this earth has trauma, and everyone on this earth needs therapy.”

Q: One aspect of the book is about the pitfalls of hero worship by sports fans. What message do you have for them about idolizing sports figures?

Taylor Coleman: “I want every sports fan to know that, at the end of the day, when that athlete steps off that field and takes off that jersey, they are just a normal human being like the rest of us. Being an athlete does not make you special, and does not justify being a terrible human being.

“I cannot stand it when I see comments from people saying things like, ‘Their personal lives don’t matter; he was a good player.’ Their personal lives do matter.”

Q: What would you say to a Vince Coleman fan who wonders whether she or he should read your book?

Taylor Coleman: “I would ask them to take a moment, look inside their heart, and picture themselves in my shoes. Picture an 8-year-old being told she will never hear from her father ever again. I would ask his fans to be empathetic and to understand that I am just a forgotten child that wants to finally be heard, and wants to make a positive impact in this world. His fans deserve to know who they are truly rooting for. They have all been terribly fooled.”

Posted in Hitters | 14 Comments »

Cardinals hoped Brett Tomko would work his artistry

December 15, 2022 by retrosimba

Brett Tomko was a sketch artist who made his living painting corners as a pitcher.

On Dec. 15, 2002, the Cardinals got Tomko from the Padres for reliever Luther Hackman and a player to be named (pitcher Mike Wodnicki).

A right-hander, Tomko was a durable, but hittable, member of the Cardinals’ 2003 starting rotation, earning 13 wins despite some rough outings.

Arts and crafts

In 1970, three years before Brett was born, his father Jerry entered a contest to name the new Cleveland NBA franchise. His suggestion, Cavaliers, was selected from more than 11,000 entries submitted, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. His prize for naming the team was a pair of season tickets for the club’s first year.

When Brett was 3, he moved with the family from Euclid, Ohio, to Placentia, Calif., near Anaheim, and developed skills in baseball and in art.

An art communications major at Florida Southern College, Tomko had a 15-2 record for the baseball team in 1995 and was named NCAA Division II player of the year, pitching a shutout in the national championship game.

When not playing baseball, he’d sometimes spend his nights at the campus art studio. “I’d stay until 4 in the morning, drawing and painting,” he recalled to the Dayton Daily News. “It relaxes me totally.”

He said to the Tampa Tribune, “I’ve always taken art courses. It’s come easy to me, like majoring in baseball.”

The Reds chose Tomko in the second round of the 1995 June amateur draft. After he reached the majors with them in May 1997, art remained a part of his life. “Tomko always carries with him a sketch pad and charcoals,” The Cincinnati Post reported. On road trips, he visited art museums. “I am the biggest nerd in major league baseball,” Tomko told Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe.

Before long, Tomko “dazzled teammates with his charcoal drawings,” Jeff Horrigan of The Cincinnati Post reported. Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News wrote, “Tomko drew beautifully in charcoal.”

(On April 15, 2007, the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson integrating the big leagues, each fan attending the Dodgers game that day received a copy of Tomko’s drawing of Robinson, the Los Angeles Times reported.)

Traveling man

Tomko had 11 wins for the Reds his rookie season and 13 the next year. In April 1999, the Dayton Daily News reported, the Reds could have acquired Jim Edmonds from the Angels for Tomko but refused to part with him. (The next year, Edmonds was traded to the Cardinals.)

In February 2000, the Mariners made the Reds an offer they couldn’t refuse, sending them Ken Griffey Jr. for a package of players, including Tomko. The Mariners used him primarily as a reliever before shipping him to the Padres in December 2001.

Tomko was 10-10 with a 4.49 ERA in 32 starts for the 2002 Padres, but Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan noticed he was developing an effective sinkerball. “When he was in Cincinnati, he would just rear back and fire,” La Russa told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We saw that he has really started to move the ball around and pitch.”

Shopping for pitching at the baseball winter meetings in December 2002, the Cardinals talked to the Giants about a trade of second baseman Fernando Vina for either starting pitchers Russ Ortiz or Livan Hernandez, the Post-Dispatch reported, but the Giants instead opted to sign free-agent second baseman Ray Durham.

Turning to the Padres, the Cardinals discussed swapping Vina for Tomko and another pitcher, Kevin Jarvis, before scaling back the framework of the deal, according to the Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals projected Tomko, 29, to join a starting rotation with Matt Morris, Woody Williams, Garrett Stephenson and Jason Simontacchi.

“He’s a guy who we’re getting in the prime of his career,” La Russa said to the Post-Dispatch.

Skeptics noted that Tomko was joining his fourth team in five years and only once posted an ERA below 4.44, but Dave Duncan told the newspaper, “He’s a low-ball pitcher, gets a lot of ground balls, and we have a good defense. I think he has pitched in some other places where the defense wasn’t so good and he had to suffer through that and paid a penalty for it.”

After seeing Tomko pitch in spring training with the Cardinals, Duncan said to the Post-Dispatch, “I feel good about everything about him. I like the way he’s throwing. I like the way he goes about his business, his willingness to work, his drive to win. All the ingredients are there.”

Like he had elsewhere, Tomko continued his art work while with the Cardinals. Among his projects was a portrait of teammate Woody Williams.

“The moments when Tomko has a charcoal pencil in his hand are among the most relaxing he can imagine,” Stu Durando wrote in the Post-Dispatch.

Good, bad, ugly

Tomko’s 2003 season with the Cardinals was a mix of gems and duds. He pitched complete games in wins against the Marlins (Boxscore) and Rockies (Boxscore). He also gave up nine runs in a game three times _ versus the Rockies (Boxscore), Red Sox (Boxscore) and Yankees (Boxscore).

Tomko finished the season with a 13-9 record and ranked second on the club in wins, but he gave up more hits (252) and more earned runs (119) than any pitcher in the National League. He allowed 35 home runs and batters hit .305 against him, helping account for a 5.28 ERA. Video

At times, Tomko impressed as much with his bat as he did with his arm. He hit .286 with nine RBI for the Cardinals.

Granted free agency after the season, Tomko signed with the Giants _ the fifth of 10 clubs he pitched for in 14 seasons. The others: Dodgers, Royals, Yankees, Athletics and Rangers.

Tomko finished with a career mark of 100-103. His 13 wins for the Cardinals tied his single-season career high.

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 12 Comments »

Power play: Fred McGriff vs. Woody Williams

December 11, 2022 by retrosimba

(Updated Jan. 20, 2025)

Toward the end of his Hall of Fame career, Fred McGriff gave the Cardinals something to remember him by.

A left-handed power hitter, McGriff grew up in Tampa, four blocks from Al Lopez Field, spring training home of the Reds, and sold soft drinks at Tampa Stadium during NFL Buccaneers games as a youth.

McGriff slugged 22 regular-season home runs against the Cardinals and two more in the playoffs. The very last two came on June 21, 2002, in a Cardinals-Cubs classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

The Friday afternoon game matched right-handers Woody Williams, 35, of the Cardinals and Jon Lieber, 32, of the Cubs. Both pitched with precision and smarts.

J.D. Drew, the second batter of the game, slammed a home run, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, before Lieber settled into a groove.

Williams retired the first 12 Cubs batters.

McGriff, who struck out his first time at the plate against Williams, led off the bottom of the fifth.

Traded by the Rays to the Cubs the year before (he made his Cubs debut against the Cardinals), McGriff, a first baseman, had led both the American League and National League in home runs (1989 with the Blue Jays and 1992 with the Padres), and had helped the Braves win two pennants and a World Series title.

At 38, he still was a force. (McGriff would produce 30 homers and 103 RBI for the 2002 Cubs, giving him 10 seasons with 30 homers and eight with 100 RBI.)

After McGriff worked the count to 3-and-1 in his at-bat in the fifth, Williams challenged him with a fastball. McGriff drove it out of the park for a home run, tying the score at 1-1.

When he came to bat again in the seventh, Williams jammed him with a fastball, but McGriff got around on it and belted another home run, which turned out to be the game-winner.

The Cubs won, 2-1. Williams pitched seven innings, walked none and allowed three hits _ the two McGriff home runs and a single by Lieber.

Lieber pitched a three-hit complete game and also walked none.

The game was played in one hour, 49 minutes _ the fastest involving the Cardinals since a May 1981 game against Steve Carlton and the Phillies that was completed in one hour, 45 minutes, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Several times, Williams and Lieber used more pitches while warming between innings than in securing their next three outs,” Joe Strauss reported. Boxscore

Williams told the newspaper, “It’s the way the game is supposed to be played … The way baseball is today, it’s set up for a three-hour game, which is a crock.”

Asked about his decision to throw a fastball to McGriff with the score tied in the seventh, Williams told Strauss, “I threw exactly the type of pitch that I wanted to throw when it was a 1-1 game. I got beat.”

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa wanted Williams to work around McGriff and take his chances with other batters. Referring to the fastballs McGriff hit for home runs, La Russa told the Post-Dispatch, “We made a couple of pitching mistakes.”

Williams saw it differently: “I go right at him … I’m not pitching around him.” Boxscore

McGriff hit .389 versus Williams in his career. Four of his seven hits against him were home runs.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 11 Comments »

Tale of two seasons: All or nothing for Gaylord Perry

December 7, 2022 by retrosimba

Gaylord Perry had a career record of 14-14 versus the Cardinals, but there was nothing mundane about the night-and-day seasons he experienced against them in consecutive years during the 1960s.

In four starts against the Cardinals in 1966, Perry was 4-0 and didn’t walk a batter.

The next year, Perry was 0-5 in five starts versus the Cardinals.

Perry pitched well against the Cardinals in both seasons (1.06 ERA in 1966) and (2.23 ERA in 1967), but one of the big differences between the two years was the blistering bat wielded by his ex-teammate, St. Louis slugger Orlando Cepeda.

On-the-job training

Relying on a fastball and curve, Perry reached the majors with the Giants in 1962. After four seasons with them his record was 24-30. His breakthrough came in 1966 when he mastered the spitball taught two years earlier by Bob Shaw.

Acquired by the Giants from the Braves in January 1964, Shaw was throwing at spring training when Perry observed how his pitches dipped sharply. Asked how he did it, Shaw showed Perry how to throw a spitball, a pitch banned in the majors.

In his book “Me and the Spitter,” Perry said Shaw told him, “It takes a lot of work. You got to know how much to apply, where, how to hold the ball and control it, and, most important, how to load it up without anybody seeing you.”

From then on, “Shaw and I were inseparable, spitball buddies, so to speak,” Perry said in his book.

According to Perry, “Most pitchers experiment with a spitter but soon give it up. If you don’t throw it correctly, it is just a hanging curveball, a gopher pitch. It took me the rest of that (1964) season and the next (1965) to master it in every way.”

At the same time, Perry also worked on developing a slider, and on learning to control his emotions on the mound.

Big winner

“By Opening Day, 1966, I had my spitter, my slider and my temper in good shape,” Perry said in his book.

The results were spectacular: Perry won 20 of his first 22 decisions and finished with 21 wins for the 1966 Giants.

His four wins against the Cardinals were by scores of 2-0, 4-2, 3-2 and 3-1.

Perry was 2-0 for the season when he entered a May 1, 1966, start against Bob Gibson and the Cardinals at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Limiting the Cardinals to four singles, including two infield hits, in the 2-0 shutout, Perry credited the slider. Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said to the San Francisco Examiner, “Slider? I didn’t see anything but fastballs.” Boxscore

Five days later, at St. Louis, Perry again beat Gibson and the Cardinals. Gibson pitched a three-hitter, struck out 14 but lost, 4-2. Boxscore

On July 4 at San Francisco, Perry got the game-winning hit, a single versus Nelson Briles, in a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals. Boxscore

A week later, in the All-Star Game at steamy St. Louis, Perry was the winning pitcher for the National League with two scoreless innings of relief. Boxscore

Facing the Cardinals for the final time in 1966, Perry ran his season record to 19-2 with a 3-1 win at San Francisco on Aug. 16. A key moment came in the sixth inning when, with one out and the Giants ahead, 2-1, the Cardinals put runners on first and third. Perry struck out Orlando Cepeda and got Mike Shannon to end the inning with a grounder. Boxscore

The four wins over the Cardinals in 1966 gave Perry a career record of 6-0 against them.

Give and take

Cepeda was the Giants first baseman the first time Perry threw a spitter in a game, May 31, 1964, in an epic 23-inning marathon with the Mets at Shea Stadium in New York. Perry pitched 10 scoreless innings of relief.

One of the first batters he threw the spitter to was Mets pitcher Galen Cisco, who, with two on and one out in the 15th, grounded into a double play. After snaring the relay throw, Cepeda “rolled the ball along the grass, tumble-drying it by the time it reached the mound,” Perry recalled in his book. “Everybody protects a spitball pitcher.” Boxscore

Two years later, in May 1966, Cepeda was traded to the Cardinals. In his first full season with them, he won the 1967 National League Most Valuable Player Award and the Cardinals won a World Series title. He also beat up on Perry and the Giants that year.

Perry’s five losses to the 1967 Cardinals were by scores of 2-1, 4-1, 3-1, 2-1 and 2-0. Cepeda had the game-winning hit in three of those.

The first came on April 18 at San Francisco. After Roger Maris reached second on an error with two outs in the 11th, Cepeda got jammed by a Perry pitch but muscled it into right-center for a RBI-single, breaking a 1-1 tie. Boxscore

Two months later, on June 18 at San Francisco, Cepeda’s two-run home run against Perry snapped a 1-1 tie in the eighth and carried the Cardinals to victory. Boxscore

“Cepeda especially enjoyed beating Perry because Gaylord and Orlando weren’t always the best of friends when they were Giants teammates,” The Sporting News reported.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Cepeda said Perry charged him with not putting out 100 percent when they were teammates.

On June 26, 1967, the Cardinals beat Perry and the Giants at St. Louis. Boxscore When the Giants returned two months later, Cepeda slammed another two-run home versus Perry in a 2-1 Cardinals triumph. Boxscore

For the 1967 season, Cepeda hit .471 versus Perry and .419 with 11 RBI versus the Giants.

In his book “Baby Bull,” Cepeda said of the 1967 season, “I saved some of my best hitting exploits for the Giants … Roger Maris said he had never seen any one player so single-handedly beat another team like I beat the Giants that year.”

Spit and polish

In Perry’s fifth loss to the 1967 Cardinals, on Aug. 24 at San Francisco, Dick Hughes pitched a four-hit shutout and delivered a run-scoring single in the 2-0 triumph. (“Hughes, by the way, threw a pretty good spitter,” Perry said in his book.) Cepeda had a single and two walks, and was almost flattened by a Perry pitch, The Sporting News reported.

After the game, Cepeda said in mocking fashion to the Post-Dispatch, “Poor Gaylord Perry. He pitched a good game again.” Boxscore

Cepeda’s success against Perry in 1967 didn’t last. He hit .217 against him for his career.

Other career batting marks versus Perry among 1967 Cardinals regulars: Lou Brock (.212), Curt Flood (.171), Julian Javier (.169), Roger Maris (.273), Dal Maxvill (.111), Tim McCarver (.186) and Mike Shannon (.190).

Perry was tough on the Cardinals when they repeated as National League champions in 1968. He pitched a no-hitter against them and was 3-1 with an 0.82 ERA.

In Perry’s last career appearance against the Cardinals, at Atlanta in 1981, he faced the likes of Keith Hernandez, Tommy Herr and Garry Templeton. Perry, 42, started for the Braves and Jim Kaat, 42, relieved for the Cardinals. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 17 Comments »

How Kurt Kepshire earned spot in Cardinals’ rotation

December 3, 2022 by retrosimba

Rescued from the Reds farm system, where he languished as a reliever, Kurt Kepshire developed into a starter for a Cardinals contender.

On Dec. 6, 1982, Kepshire was chosen by the Cardinals in the Rule 5 draft after being left off the Reds’ big-league winter roster.

The Cardinals might have kept Kepshire in a relief role as well if not for a fluke incident involving an Army tank.

Smashing success

A right-hander, Kepshire was a standout pitcher his senior season at Bridgeport Central Catholic High School in Connecticut. Five days before he was to start in a state quarterfinal playoff game, a careless classmate accidently pounded Kepshire’s pitching hand with a sledgehammer, breaking his index and middle fingers, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

“My coach said, ‘You can’t pitch,’ ” Kepshire recalled to The Sporting News. “I said, ‘Watch me warm up.’ “

Given the start, Kepshire struck out 17 and got the win. A few days later, he started and won the state championship game. “I pitched in pain, I’ll tell you that,” Kepshire said to The Sporting News. “It was pride. I love to pitch and I love a challenge.”

Kepshire enrolled at the University of New Haven and signed with the Reds after being selected in the 25th round of the 1979 amateur draft.

Used primarily as a reliever, Kepshire pitched four seasons in the Reds organization before he was drafted by the Cardinals on the recommendation of their Louisville farm club manager, Joe Frazier, according to the Post-Dispatch.

Ready, aim, fire

Assigned to the Cardinals’ Class AA Arkansas team in 1983, Kepshire made 19 relief appearances before being promoted to Class AAA Louisville.

Soon after Kepshire arrived in Louisville, Jim Fregosi, who had replaced Frazier as manager, approached him an hour before a game versus Omaha and asked if he could start. “I was shocked,” Kepshire told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Fregosi made the request because Louisville’s scheduled starting pitcher, Todd Worrell, sprained his back “when he slipped off a tank that he was inspecting” while visiting a military museum at Fort Knox earlier that day, the Louisville newspaper reported.

Under the headline “Tanks A Lot,” the Courier-Journal reported that Kepshire pitched six scoreless innings in his surprise start and got the win in Louisville’s 2-0 triumph over Omaha.

“He threw great,” catcher Tom Nieto told the Louisville newspaper. “His fastball was just taking off and he was spotting pitches and keeping the ball down, going right at them.”

In 21 appearances, including 10 starts, for Louisville in 1983, Kepshire was 6-2.

Big-league stuff

Sent back to Louisville to begin the 1984 season, Kepshire was in the starting rotation from the first day. Relying on a fastball and slider, he was 7-5 in 16 starts when the Cardinals called him to the big leagues in July to replace John Stuper in the starting rotation.

“Kepshire wasn’t ready (for the majors) at the beginning of the season, but he’s come into his own,” Fregosi told the Post-Dispatch. “He has a better idea of how to pitch.”

Making his debut in a start against the Giants the day after his 25th birthday, Kepshire allowed one run in 8.1 innings and got the win. “He challenges those guys,” Herzog told The Sporting News. “He’s got guts. I love it.” Boxscore

A month later, Kepshire prevailed in a start against Nolan Ryan and the Astros. Boxscore

Praising Kepshire for his willingness to pitch inside to batters, Herzog told The Sporting News, “He’s got nerve. Of all the kid pitchers, he’s going to be the best.”

The rookie capped his season with shutouts of the Cubs and Expos, finishing 6-5 with a 3.30 ERA. Boxscore and Boxscore

Cardinals pitching coach Mike Roarke said Kepshire “made tremendous progress” since spring training and adjusted to a change in his delivery that enabled him “to throw downhill,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Falling out

Kepshire went to spring training in 1985 assured of a spot in a Cardinals starting rotation with Joaquin Andujar, John Tudor and Danny Cox. “He goes after hitters and he doesn’t rattle easily,” Herzog told the Post-Dispatch in March 1985. “Right now, I’m looking at him as a good No. 3 starter.”

After beating the Pirates on Aug. 15, Kepshire had a season record of 9-6, but then staggered down the stretch, winning one of his next six starts.

In his last start, Sept. 14 versus the Cubs, Kepshire threw 14 pitches and 13 were out of the strike zone. After walking the bases loaded, he was lifted with the count 1-and-0 count on the next batter. Boxscore

Kepshire finished the season 10-9. His wins were important for a division champion that finished just three games ahead of the Mets, but he walked more (71) than he struck out (67) and gave up more hits (155) than innings pitched (153.1). The Cardinals left him off their playoff roster.

“I still think he can be a hell of a pitcher,” Herzog told the Post-Dispatch. “He needs an off-speed pitch, and he’s got a good one in the bullpen, but he can’t get it over in a game.”

Kepshire said to the newspaper, “I stunk it up the second half of (the) season. That’s my fault. It was a mental thing. I was in a rut.”

Different direction

The Cardinals tried to trade Kepshire after the season but didn’t get any takers, the Post-Dispatch reported.

“The Cardinals are dead wrong on me,” Kepshire said to the Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register. “I can throw strikes.”

He opened the 1986 season with them, made two appearances, including a start, and was demoted to Louisville.

“I don’t ever see myself coming back here,” Kepshire said to the Post-Dispatch as he left St. Louis.

Herzog responded, “If he has that attitude, he’ll never come back.”

Kepshire spent what he described to United Press International as “a miserable year” in the Cardinals farm system in 1986, signed with the Cleveland Indians after the season, got released in spring training, pitched in Mexico and in the minors for Expos and Twins affiliates, but never got back to the majors.

His career record with the Cardinals was 16-15, including marks of 4-1 against the Cubs and 3-0 versus the Giants.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 9 Comments »

How Ken Griffey Jr. came close to playing for Padres

November 29, 2022 by retrosimba

Ken Griffey Jr. should have been in the lineup for the Padres when the Cardinals faced them in the 2005 and 2006 National League playoffs. Instead, Griffey remained with the Reds, a team that never reached the playoffs during his nine seasons with them.

In November 2002, the Reds and Padres agreed to a trade of Griffey for Phil Nevin. Griffey would have been a Padre if Nevin hadn’t blocked the deal by invoking a no-trade clause in his contract.

The idea of trading Griffey for a journeyman such as Nevin would have been deemed preposterous a few years earlier, but the Reds were ready to cut their ties with a player once considered to be the best in baseball.

Special treatment

With the Mariners from 1989 to 1999, Griffey four times led the American League in home runs, and won 10 Gold Glove awards and a Most Valuable Player honor, but he wanted out of Seattle.

Born in the the same town (Donora, Pa.) and on the same date (Nov. 21) as Stan Musial, Griffey grew up in Cincinnati, where his father played for the Reds, and eventually relocated to Orlando. After the 1999 season, he rejected an eight-year, $140 million offer from the Mariners, saying he wanted to play for a team closer to his Florida home.

Though the Cardinals tried to acquire him, Griffey was traded to the Reds. According to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, Reds general manager Jim Bowden “made no secret of the fact that Griffey was going to get special treatment, a grievous mistake … Numerous Reds, past and present, have blasted Griffey as being self-absorbed and an island unto himself in the clubhouse.”

Limited to 70 games because of leg injuries in 2002, Griffey produced eight home runs and 23 RBI.

Content in California

A few days after Griffey turned 33, the Reds agreed during the Thanksgiving weekend to swap him to the Padres for Nevin, the Associated Press reported.

Primarily a third baseman and first baseman, Nevin had come to the Padres after stints with the Astros, Tigers and Angels. After producing 41 home runs and 126 RBI for the 2001 Padres, Nevin, 31, totaled 12 homers and 57 RBI in 2002.

The Reds viewed Nevin (due $31 million for the next four years) as a less expensive alternative to Griffey (due $86 million for the next six years). Also, Nevin was friends with Reds manager Bob Boone.

“Boone and Nevin have a longstanding friendship dating to Nevin’s childhood, when he grew up in the same Southern California neighborhood where Boone lived,” The Cincinnati Post reported.

Nevin’s agent, Barry Axelrod, said his client rejected a trade to the Reds because he wanted to remain on the West Coast, The Cincinnati Post reported.

Acting on orders from the Reds’ front office, Boone met with Nevin for lunch and tried to convince him to change his mind, but was unsuccessful, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Bargain basement

The Reds initially denied trying to trade Griffey, but came clean after Nevin confirmed to reporters he had blocked the deal.

Reds chief operating officer John Allen said the trade, orchestrated by Bowden, had the support of team owner Carl Lindner, The Cincinnati Post reported.

According to USA Sports Weekly, after the proposed deal with the Padres collapsed, the Reds offered Griffey to the White Sox for outfielder Magglio Ordonez, but were quickly turned down.

Among the reactions to the Reds’ attempts to peddle Griffey:

_ Mike Anthony, Hartford Courant: “How quickly Griffey has fallen off the map of baseball stars in three years with the Reds. The minute he left Seattle, he got old. He’s been injured and, at times, unhappy.”

_ Dan O’Neill, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Seems hard to believe Ken Griffey Jr., considered hands-down the best player in the game a few years back, is now being shopped like a used lawn mower.”

_ Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “He’s 33, plagued by injuries, miserable and bitter, on the downside of his career, and his team can’t even give him away.”

_ Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati Enquirer: “Griffey can be paranoid when he has no reason. Now, he has plenty of reason.”

Still got game

Three years later, in July 2005, the Padres traded Nevin to the Rangers. He went on to play for the Cubs and Twins, too. In 12 years in the majors, Nevin hit 208 home runs. During the 2022 season, he replaced Joe Maddon as Angels manager.

Griffey had more injury-marred seasons in 2003 and 2004 (when he hit his 500th career home run versus the Cardinals), but returned to form in 2005, when he was named the National League Comeback Player of the Year with the Reds.

Griffey produced 35 home runs and 92 RBI for the 2005 Reds. If he had been with the Padres that season, he would have been their team leader in home runs and RBI. The 2005 Padres, with top producers Ryan Klesko (18 home runs) and Brian Giles (83 RBI), qualified for the playoffs but were eliminated by the Cardinals in the first round.

In 2006, Griffey slugged 27 home runs for the Reds, three more than the Padres’ team leader, Adrian Gonzalez. The Padres again were eliminated by the Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs.

The Reds traded Griffey to the White Sox in July 2008. Granted free agency after the season, he returned to the Mariners for two more years. In 22 seasons in the majors, Griffey batted .284 with 2,781 hits, 630 home runs and 1,836 RBI, but never played in a World Series.

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