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Why Rogers Hornsby was welcomed back to Cardinals

October 19, 2022 by retrosimba

Rogers Hornsby slammed the door on the Cardinals but it didn’t shut.

On Oct. 25, 1932, the Cardinals signed Hornsby for a second stint with them.

The reunion seemed unimaginable six years earlier when Hornsby and Cardinals owner Sam Breadon quarreled during contract talks. Reaching a boiling point, Hornsby stormed out of Breadon’s office, slamming the door behind him and triggering his banishment from the club.

Hit and miss

In December 1926, Hornsby was at the height of his popularity in St. Louis. A second baseman and right-handed batter of exceptional skill, he hit better than .400 three times with the Cardinals and earned six of his seven National League batting titles with them. In May 1925, Hornsby became Cardinals player-manager, replacing Branch Rickey, who moved into the front office. Hornsby led them to their first World Series title the following year.

The relationship between Hornsby and Breadon became strained during the 1926 championship season. As the St. Louis Star-Times noted, Breadon grew uneasy with the amount of gambling Hornsby was doing on horse races. According to author Mike Mitchell in his book “Mr. Rickey’s Redbirds,” Hornsby often was visited at the ballpark by a bookmaker, Frank Moore.

For his part, Hornsby was miffed that Breadon scheduled exhibition games for the Cardinals during the pennant stretch. Hornsby also resented Rickey’s authority in player personnel decisions and clashed with him, upsetting Breadon.

Shortly before Christmas Day 1926, Hornsby and Breadon met to discuss a contract, but neither was feeling the holiday spirit.

According to the Star-Times, Breadon offered a one-year deal for $50,000. Hornsby demanded three years at $150,000. Wanting control of all player personnel decisions, Hornsby also insisted that Breadon fire Rickey.

The talks deteriorated further when Breadon introduced a contract clause banning Hornsby from attending a horse race or from betting on one, and prohibiting him from associating with bookmakers, author Mike Mitchell noted.

The meeting unraveled and so did Hornsby, who exited in a huff. Fed up, Breadon called the Giants and agreed to trade Hornsby to them for second baseman Frankie Frisch and pitcher Jimmy Ring.

Hornsby played in 1927 with the Giants (filling in as manager in September when John McGraw became ill) and in 1928 with the Braves (taking over as manager in May) before going to the Cubs. Near the end of the 1930 season, he became player-manager of the Cubs.

Cubs capers

Hornsby had the support and admiration of Cubs owner William Wrigley Jr., who, according to the Chicago Tribune, called Hornsby “the smartest manager and the smartest player I have ever seen.”

When William Wrigley Jr. died in January 1932, his son, Philip Wrigley, took over and relied on the experience of club president William Veeck Sr. Without William Wrigley Jr., to protect him, Hornsby and Veeck Sr. clashed. “The temperature between them had dropped to freezing,” The Sporting News reported.

In addition, Hornsby’s relations with some Cubs players became strained. He “snarled at the athletes and injured the tender feelings of quite a few,” The Sporting News noted.

In his autobiography, “My War With Baseball,” Hornsby said Veeck Sr. “tried to make some of my managing decisions from his office and it was obvious we didn’t see eye to eye.”

On the night of Aug. 2, 1932, with the Cubs in second place at 53-46, five behind the Pirates, Veeck Sr. fired Hornsby and replaced him with Charlie Grimm.

A subsequent investigation by baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis disclosed that Hornsby had borrowed about $6,000 from four Cubs players to cover his horse racing bets, the Star-Times reported.

The Cubs went on to overtake the Pirates and win the National League pennant. When Cubs players met to determine how to divide their share of the World Series proceeds, they voted to give Hornsby nothing.

Forgive us our trespasses

After winning National League pennants in 1930 and 1931, the Cardinals finished 72-82 in 1932, 18 behind the champion Cubs. The Cardinals ranked sixth in the eight-team league in both hits and runs scored.

Seeking a hitter, Breadon and Rickey turned to Hornsby, who was at his St. Louis County farm. According to Red Smith of the Star-Times, Hornsby “had been an apparent outcast from baseball, passed up by every major-league club except the Cardinals, and his farm property is under federal attachment for unpaid income taxes and penalties.”

The Cardinals signed Hornsby to a one-year contract for $15,000. The deal included a provision “that at the close of the 1933 season he will be given his unconditional release and therefore will be free to sell his services to the highest bidder,” the Star-Times reported.

In essence, Hornsby had a contract that would grant him free agency. Ever the gambler, he was betting on himself that he would parlay a productive 1933 season into a more lucrative offer the following year.

Another unusual twist: With second basemen Frankie Frisch and Rogers Hornsby, the Cardinals had the players who were swapped for one another six years earlier.

Considering the genuine animosity expressed after Hornsby’s departure in 1926, the reconciliation was surprising to some. “I could hardly believe the setting before my eyes was a reality,” Sid Keener wrote in the Star-Times. “Hornsby and Breadon were chatting and making plans again. They had been pals, then enemies, and now they’re pals again.”

A contrite Hornsby told Red Smith, “If I had listened to Mr. Breadon and Mr. Rickey six years ago, I’d be a lot better off today financially and every other way. It’s like coming home. I had disagreements with the Cardinals, but I know Mr. Breadon and Mr. Rickey always treated me fairly.”

Hornsby said to Keener, “I’m willing to admit I made the one big mistake of my career when I slammed the door on Mr. Breadon’s face six years ago and refused to accept the contract that was offered.”

According to the St. Louis newspapers, the Cardinals projected Hornsby as their second baseman for 1933, with Frisch moving either to shortstop or third base.

“We believe Rog is still a great ballplayer,” Breadon said to the Star-Times. “We think he will help us win the pennant next year. That is why we are signing him.”

Rickey told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I see no reason why Hornsby can’t have a great year for us.”

Cardinals manager Gabby Street was onboard with the move, too. “Rogers Hornsby is far from being through as a baseball player,” Street said to the Springfield (Mo.) Leader. “I think he’s got a lot left in him and that he’ll be of a real help to the Cardinals.”

Street added, “I don’t anticipate any trouble from him.”

Speculation swirled that Hornsby soon would be lobbying to have Street’s job, but Breadon told the Star-Times that Hornsby had been given “no consideration whatsoever” as a possible successor to Street.

Never a dull moment

Shortly before the 1933 Cardinals started spring training, Hornsby injured his right foot while instructing at a baseball school in Hot Springs, Ark. When the Cardinals opened the regular season against the Cubs at Chicago, Frisch was at second base and Hornsby was on the bench.

Hornsby didn’t appear in either of the Cardinals’ first two games at Chicago, nor did he play in the home-opening series versus the Cubs at St. Louis a week later, but he created controversy with comments accusing Cubs teammates Charlie Grimm and Gabby Hartnett of plotting to get him fired the year before.

According to United Press, Grimm and Hartnett wanted to go into the Cardinals clubhouse at St. Louis and “horsewhip” Hornsby for making what they said were false statements about them, but William Veeck Sr. advised against fighting “a washed up ballplayer.”

In response, Hornsby told the news service, “Whenever Charlie Grimm or Gabby Hartnett want to fight, all they have to do is to roll up their sleeves and come on. I’m ready for them.”

The mood was both tense and electric when the Cardinals returned to Chicago to play a Sunday doubleheader at Wrigley Field on April 30, 1933. 

Facing the Cubs for the first time since his firing and for the first time since the war of words with Grimm and Hartnett, Hornsby, 37, started at second base in both games. He had two hits and a RBI and scored a run in the opener, then drove in the winning runs with a two-run home run against Pat Malone in the second game. Game 1 and Game 2.

Hornsby was jeered in every at-bat, but there were no incidents with Cubs players. In the clubhouse after the games, Hornsby displayed “a little extra gleam of satisfaction in his eyes,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

In June, Hornsby had hits in five consecutive plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, including a two-run double that broke a 5-5 tie in a 7-5 victory over the Dodgers. Boxscore

A month later, both the Cardinals and the American League St. Louis Browns made major changes.

On July 19, when their manager, Bill Killefer, resigned, the Browns approached the Cardinals about a replacement. According to the Star-Times, Branch Rickey came to Hornsby and asked, “How would you like to manage the Browns?”

Hornsby replied enthusiastically and accepted Rickey’s offer to negotiate for him.

On July 24, the Cardinals fired Gabby Street and elevated Frankie Frisch to the role of player-manager. Two days later, the Browns hired Hornsby to be their player-manager.

“Mr. Rickey was my guiding adviser throughout the negotiations with the Browns,” Hornsby told the Star-Times. “It may seem peculiar to the fans in St. Louis, but I am indebted to Mr. Rickey for obtaining the position with the Browns. We’ve had many bitter battles in the past, but they’ve been forgotten long ago.”

In 83 at-bats for the 1933 Cardinals, Hornsby had 27 hits and 21 RBI. He batted .325 overall and .333 as a pinch-hitter. His on-base percentage was .423.

“I’ve learned to like him,” Frankie Frisch told the Star-Times, “and I regretted to see him go.”

Posted in Games, Hitters | 15 Comments »

Tommy Boggs lost chance for playoff start vs. Cardinals

October 15, 2022 by retrosimba

Looking to cap a comeback from an injury that nearly shattered his season, pitcher Tommy Boggs was expecting to start Game 2 of the National League Championship Series for the Braves against the Cardinals.

Instead, his hopes for a storybook ending got washed away on a stormy St. Louis night.

After suffering a partial tear of the rotator cuff in his right shoulder early in the season, Boggs wasn’t expected to pitch again in 1982, but he defied the odds and returned to the starting rotation on the last day of August, helping the Braves over the final month in their bid for a National League West Division title. The Braves felt so confident about Boggs’ recovery that they planned to give him a start in the playoff series versus the East Division champion Cardinals.

A right-hander, Boggs pitched nine seasons in the majors for the Rangers and Braves.

Top talent

Born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Boggs was a year old when his family moved to Lexington, Ky. Boggs later played youth baseball there and rooted for the Reds, according to the Lexington Herald and the Austin American-Statesman.

After the family relocated to Austin, Texas, Boggs became a standout pitcher at Lanier High School. The Rangers took him with the second overall pick in the first round of the 1974 amateur baseball draft. Boggs was selected ahead of other first-rounders such as Lonnie Smith (Philies), Dale Murphy (Braves), Garry Templeton (Cardinals), Willie Wilson (Royals) and Rick Sutcliffe (Dodgers).

The Rangers called up Boggs, 20, from their Sacramento farm club in July 1976 and he joined a starting rotation with the likes of Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven and former Cardinal Nelson Briles. Boggs made his major-league debut in a start against the Red Sox, The first batter he struck out was Fred Lynn. The first hit he gave up was to Carl Yastrzemski. Boxscore

Relying on his fastball, Boggs impressed many, including Cleveland Indians manager Frank Robinson, who told The Sporting News, “He’s good now and he can be a great one. He has poise. He gives the impression he’s in total command, and that’s rare for one his age.”

After Boggs got his first big-league win against Whitey Herzog’s Royals, Rangers manager Frank Lucchesi told the Kansas City Times, “The kid is something special. He reminds me of a young Tom Seaver.” Boxscore

Trials and tribulations

The high expectations created a strain not even an exceptional fastball could overcome. Boggs’ record in two seasons with the Rangers was 1-10. In December 1977, they traded him to the Braves.

“Everything was always, potential, potential,” Boggs told the Austin newspaper. “You really get sick of hearing about it. One time, in triple-A, I saw this sign, one of those Charlie Brown things, that said, ‘The greatest burden in life is potential.’ For about three years, I really believed that.”

Boggs lost 21 of his first 24 decisions in the majors.

It wasn’t until 1979, when he was with the Braves’ farm club in Richmond, Va., that Boggs, 23, began fulfilling his potential. He credited Richmond pitching coach Johnny Sain, who taught him to throw a slider. “Before that, I was a two-pitch pitcher, fastball and curve,” Boggs told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “When my curve was off, the batters would just sit on my fastball.”

Boggs had his best season as a pro with Richmond, posting a 15-10 record with 16 complete games.

“I finally got the confidence that I could win again, and the slider was a big part of it,” Boggs said to the Austin American-Statesman. “The pitch, and the confidence, were the two big differences.”

In 1980, Braves manager Bobby Cox and pitching coach Cloyd Boyer, the former Cardinal, gave Boggs a spot in the starting rotation. Mixing his pitches effectively, he finished 12-9, including 3-0 versus the Cardinals.

“The key to pitching against the Cardinals is to keep Garry Templeton off base in front of the big guys,” Boggs told the Atlanta Constitution.

Boggs regressed in 1981 (3-13 record), but showed enough at spring training in 1982 to be a starter for manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson. In the Braves’ home opener, Boggs and Al Hrabosky combined to beat Don Sutton and the Astros. Boxscore

After two more starts in April 1982, Boggs felt pain in his right shoulder.

Down, not out

“When they told me it was a rotator cuff, it really scared me,” Boggs said to the Atlanta Constitution. “There goes your livelihood.”

Torre said, “If he helps us before the end of the season, I’d consider it a plus. I’m not thinking of him coming back before the end of the year.”

Specialists advised Boggs that rest, rather than surgery, was best. Two months later, Dr. Frank Jobe informed Boggs the tear in the rotator cuff had healed and cleared him to begin workouts.

When the Braves played the Cardinals that season, Boggs sought the advice of catcher Darrell Porter, who had experienced a similar injury in 1981. “It’s healed as much as it can, but I still have pain,” Porter told the Atlanta Constitution. “I can’t throw over the top like I used to. I can’t extend my arm. Boggs is facing something difficult.”

After working to strengthen the shoulder, Boggs made three starts for Richmond and was called up to the Braves.

On Aug. 31, 1982, in a start against the Phillies, Boggs made his first big-league appearance since the injury. He pitched six shutout innings and got the win. The two batters he struck out were Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt. Boxscore

“His control was phenomenal,” pitching coach Bob Gibson told the Atlanta Constitution. “I didn’t expect him to have control. He could be a big lift for us.”

Boggs said, “There were times in the last four months when I didn’t know if I could pitch again. Just to go out there was more gratifying than I can explain.”

Boggs made six starts in September for the Braves, showing he could contribute in the playoff series against the Cardinals.

Tough break

Torre chose Phil Niekro, Pascual Perez and Rick Camp as the starting pitchers for the first three games of the best-of-five National League Championship Series. Boggs was picked to start if a Game 4 was necessary.

Wet weather in St. Louis altered those plans. In Game 1 on Wednesday Oct. 6, Niekro pitched 4.1 scoreless innings and had a 1-0 lead when the game was called off because of rain. In the rescheduled Game 1 on Thursday Oct. 7, the Cardinals routed Perez and won, 7-0, on Bob Forsch’s three-hitter.

After the loss, Torre said he would start Niekro in Game 2 on Friday night Oct. 8, but on the morning of the game he changed his mind and said Boggs would start that night against the Cardinals. Torre told the Atlanta Constitution he based his decision on two factors: (1) Whether it’d be fair to pitch Niekro on one day’s rest, and (2) the possibility of having another Niekro start rained out that night.

Gibson called Boggs in his hotel room and informed him of Torre’s decision. Pitching in the playoffs is “something you prepare yourself for all your life,” Boggs told the Post-Dispatch.

Unfortunately for Boggs, it rained relentlessly and the game was called off before a pitch was thrown.

Afterward, Torre changed his mind again, saying Niekro, not Boggs, would start the rescheduled Game 2 on Saturday Oct. 9.

“Someone once told me that changing your mind is a sign of intelligence,” Torre said to the Atlanta Constitution. “After all the times I’ve changed my mind about pitching this year, I must be the most intelligent guy in the world.”

Though Torre said Boggs would start Game 4, if one was necessary, it didn’t soothe the sting Boggs felt about having his Game 2 assignment rained out and being bypassed for Niekro in the rescheduled game. “I’m disappointed,” Boggs told the Post-Dispatch. “I thought I had earned a right to pitch.”

The Cardinals won Game 2, rallying against reliever Gene Garber after Niekro went six innings, and clinched the pennant by beating Rick Camp in Game 3.

Boggs never got to pitch in a playoff game. His last season in the majors was 1985. He ended with a career record of 20-44.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 13 Comments »

Why Larry Hisle never got a chance with Cardinals

October 11, 2022 by retrosimba

The Cardinals acquired the player who might have helped them win a division title in 1973, but gave him away before he played a game for them.

On Oct. 26, 1972, the Cardinals got outfielder Larry Hisle from the Dodgers for pitchers Rudy Arroyo and Greg Milliken.

Hisle might have been a fit to join a Cardinals outfield with Lou Brock and either Jose Cruz or Bake McBride.

Instead, on Nov. 29, 1972, a month after acquiring him, the Cardinals traded Hisle to the Twins for reliever Wayne Granger.

Hisle fulfilled his potential with the Twins and later with the Brewers. Granger, in his second stint with St. Louis, was a disappointment.

The 1973 Cardinals, who ranked last in the National League in home runs, finished 1.5 games behind the division champion Mets. Hisle’s 15 home runs for the 1973 Twins would have made him the team leader on the 1973 Cardinals.

Prized prospect

Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Larry Hisle was named by his mother, a baseball fan, in honor of Larry Doby, who became the first black player in the American League, according to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Hisle’s parents died when he was a youth and he was adopted by Orville and Kathleen Ferguson, “two of the finest people in the world,” Hisle told United Press International.

Hisle played youth baseball with two other future big-leaguers, Al Oliver and Gene Tenace, according to SABR, but he also was a standout prep basketball player. When Oscar Robertson, recruiting for the University of Cincinnati, called, “I almost dropped the phone,” Hisle told The Sporting News.

After agreeing to play basketball at Ohio State, Hisle was picked by the Phillies in the second round of the 1965 baseball draft and signed with them. A right-handed batter, he played two seasons at the Class A level in the minors, then reported in 1968 to Phillies spring training camp, where he roomed with Bill White.

In choosing Hisle, 20, to be the Phillies’ 1968 Opening Day center fielder, manager Gene Mauch told The Sporting News, “Hisle is the best center fielder I’ve ever had.”

The experiment didn’t last long. Though he hit .364 in 11 at-bats for the 1968 Phillies, Hisle was sent to the minors before the end of April.

Rookie season

The Phillies named Hisle their center fielder for 1969, but he had a shaky start. He hit .159 in April and removed himself from a game because of what the team physician described to The Sporting News as “acute anxiety.”

“We’re all aware he’s a very intense, high-strung young man who is going to take a little longer to adjust up here,” Phillies manager Bob Skinner said to The Sporting News.

Hisle did better in May, producing four hits, two RBI, two runs and two stolen bases in a game against the Cardinals. Boxscore

Before a game in Philadelphia, the Giants’ Willie Mays chatted with Hisle and told him, “Open your stance, take it easy and concentrate on just meeting the ball,” The Sporting News reported. Hisle responded with four hits and two RBI that day. Boxscore

Phillies teammate Dick Allen aided Hisle, too, and became a mentor. “I’ll never forget how much he helped me,” Hisle told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hisle hit .266 with 20 home runs and 18 stolen bases for the 1969 Phillies.

Too far, too fast

Dick Allen was traded to the Cardinals after the 1969 season in a deal involving center fielder Curt Flood, who refused to report.

With neither Allen nor Flood, the Phillies needed Hisle to step up, but he didn’t, hitting .205 in 1970 and .197 in 1971.

“I put too much pressure on myself,” Hisle said to the Chicago Sun-Times. “I doubted my ability.”

In October 1971, the Phillies dealt Hisle to the Dodgers for Tommy Hutton.

Hisle “was built up as the potential superstar who would lead the Phillies out of the wilderness, and he wasn’t ready to handle the role,” Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Frank Dolson wrote. “The enormous pressures beat him down, sent his batting average plummeting, and turned the fans who had cheered him as a rookie into a booing mob that virtually chased him out of town.”

Mind games

At spring training in 1972, Hisle was the last player cut by the Dodgers, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Rather than go to the minors, Hisle said he considered quitting baseball. He was attending Ohio University in the off-seasons, studying math and physical education, “and has thought of teaching and social work,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

A voracious reader of authors as diverse as B.F. Skinner and James Joyce, Hisle “dabbles in analytic geometry, and worries about what happened to his hitting,” the Los Angeles Times noted. “He may be, he says, too much of a thinker for his own good.”

The Dodgers assigned Hisle to Albuquerque, hoping the manager there, Tommy Lasorda, would help him overcome self-doubts.

Playing for Lasorda, “I learned that the most important thing a person can say about himself is, ‘I believe in myself,’ ” Hisle told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hisle hit .325 with 23 home runs and 91 RBI for Albuquerque in 1972.

The Twins tried to acquire him after the season, but the Dodgers wanted pitcher Steve Luebber in return. Luebber was rated the best pitching prospect in the Twins’ system and they didn’t want to trade him, so the Dodgers dealt Hisle, 25, to the Cardinals.

Coming and going

“Hisle could play a big part in the youth movement of the Cardinals,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch declared. 

The Cardinals brought Hisle to St. Louis and told him “they were hoping I could help the outfield defense,” Hisle told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “From what I heard, it needed help. I was really happy to join the Cardinals.”

General manager Bing Devine also was seeking help for the bullpen, and approached the Twins about Wayne Granger, a former Cardinal. Granger’s 19 saves for the 1972 Twins were six more than Cardinals pitchers totaled that year.

“We had talked with the Twins about Granger shortly after the season ended, but they wanted a hitter in return and we didn’t have anyone available,” Devine told The Sporting News. “After we got Hisle, they expressed a strong interest in him.”

The Twins hardly could believe their good luck. Granger “had not endeared himself to the front office with charges that the Twins weren’t a first-class organization,” The Sporting News reported, and they were eager to trade him.

“It was fortunate for us that Bing Devine was interested in Wayne Granger,” Twins owner Calvin Griffith told columnist Sid Hartman. “We talked to Devine about Hisle. He was reluctant to give him up, but he wanted Granger.”

Devine said to The Sporting News, “We really had figured on Hisle as an extra man on the club because he can do so many things.”

Nothing personal

Hisle was at home when the Cardinals called, informing him of the trade to the Twins. “I was disappointed and hurt,” he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

According to the newspaper, “Hisle later received a handwritten note from Bing Devine. Devine apologized for the quick trade to Minnesota, explaining it was not intentional nor a snub at Hisle, but merely something which Devine felt could help the Cardinals. Hisle appreciated the letter, and still has it.”

The Twins made Hisle feel at home, naming him their center fielder. “I’m getting a chance to play regular here,” he told the Minneapolis newspaper. “I don’t know if I would have played every day for the Cardinals.”

Hisle scored 88 runs and drove in 64 for the 1973 Twins. His 230 total bases ranked third on the team, behind only Rod Carew and Tony Oliva.

Granger was 2-4 with five saves and a 4.24 ERA for the 1973 Cardinals before he was traded to the Yankees in August.

Hisle had big seasons for the Twins in 1976 (96 RBI, 31 stolen bases) and 1977 (28 home runs, 119 RBI). Granted free agency, he signed with the Brewers and had 34 home runs, 115 RBI and 96 runs scored for them in 1978.

A two-time all-star, Hisle played 14 seasons in the majors. He was the hitting coach for the World Series champion Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Trades | 13 Comments »

Believe it or not, Cardinals once did Cubs a favor

October 7, 2022 by retrosimba

Even in a rivalry as intense as Cubs vs. Cardinals, sometimes a little common courtesy prevails.

On Sept. 28, 1947, at Chicago, the Cardinals and Cubs created their own rule during the last game of the season.

When a Cubs baserunner, slugger Bill Nicholson, needed to leave the field for treatment of a minor foot problem, the Cardinals agreed to let the Cubs use a substitute, or courtesy runner, and then allow Nicholson to return to the game.

Under standard baseball rules, a player leaving the game needs to stay out of the game. The Cardinals, with nothing at stake in the standings, opted to make an exception for the Cubs.

A goodbye game

Regardless of the outcome of the 1947 season finale, the Cardinals were assured of finishing in second place in the National League behind the champion Dodgers, and the Cubs were guaranteed to end up sixth in the eight-team league.

Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer had just one regular, second baseman Red Schoendienst, in the starting lineup. Among those getting the day off were Marty Marion, Terry Moore, Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter.

Cubs manager Charlie Grimm started most of his top hitters, including first baseman Eddie Waitkus and outfielders Phil Cavarretta and Bill Nicholson.

Nicholson had the nickname “Swish” because of his propensity for striking out. Nicholson led the National League in most times whiffing in 1947 (83), but in 16 seasons in the majors he never struck out 100 times in a year.

(Today’s swing-and-miss hackers include Joey Gallo, who struck out 213 times in 2021 and received a salary of $6.2 million, according to baseball-reference.com. In 2022, Gallo batted .160 for the season and received $10.2 million.)

Nicholson gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a home run, his 26th of the season, against Cardinals starter Ken Burkhart.

Give me a break

With one out in the fourth, Burkhart issued walks to Nicholson and Bob Scheffing. On ball four to Scheffing, Cardinals rookie catcher Del Wilber, who lost track of the count, made a wild throw to second in a futile bid to nab Nicholson.

As the ball sailed into the outfield, Nicholson headed to third. Sliding safely into the bag, he scraped an ankle, the Chicago Tribune reported. (According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Nicholson damaged a shoe sliding into third.)

Regardless of the reason, Nicholson needed to leave the field for a quick patch-up, but all indications were he’d be fit to return _ if the Cardinals would permit it.

With 17,414 spectators on hand at Wrigley Field, the Cubs were eager to keep the club’s top home run and RBI producer in the game.

“By courtesy of the Cardinals,” the Chicago Tribune reported, pitcher Hank Borowy was permitted to run for Nicholson, with the understanding Nicholson would return to the game as soon as he was able.

Thus, Borowy became known as the courtesy runner.

Headed home

With Scheffing on first and Borowy on third, Ray Mack singled to left. Borowy scored, extending the Cubs’ lead to 2-0. Scheffing reached second safely on the hit, took a step or two toward third and was caught flat-footed on Erv Dusak’s strong throw to Schoendienst, who applied the tag for the out.

Nicholson re-entered the game in right field in the top of the fifth. An inning later, he singled but Scheffing followed by grounding into a double play.

In the seventh, with Joe Medwick on first, Dusak launched a drive “that for a moment appeared headed for the seats,” the Tribune reported, but Nicholson caught it near the wall.

The Cubs prevailed, 3-0, behind the five-hit shutout of Johnny Schmitz in a game completed in one hour, 35 minutes. Boxscore

A slender left-hander, Schmitz finished the 1947 season with a 13-18 record, leading the league in losses, but he was 5-4 versus the Cardinals that year.

“The Cardinals left by train for St. Louis shortly after the game, and were ready to return to their various homes,” the Globe-Democrat reported. “For the first time, players will be given expense money to their hometowns under the provisions of the player-owner agreements reached last season.”

Posted in Games, Opponents | 10 Comments »

Cardinals thought George Altman would be big bopper

October 2, 2022 by retrosimba

Two years before they acquired Lou Brock, the Cardinals made a blockbuster trade with the Cubs for an outfielder they hoped would ignite their offense.

On Oct. 17, 1962, the Cardinals acquired outfielder George Altman, pitcher Don Cardwell and catcher Moe Thacker from the Cubs for pitchers Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel and catcher Jimmie Schaffer.

Altman was the key to the deal for the Cardinals. A left-handed batter, he was a National League all-star who hit for power and average.

The Cardinals thought they were getting a run generator who would propel them to their first championship since 1946. Instead, Altman lasted one season with the Cardinals, who contended but fell short in their bid for a title. It wasn’t until June 1964, when they made another big trade with the Cubs to get Brock, that the Cardinals got the catalyst they needed to become World Series champions.

From hoops to hardball

Born and raised in Goldsboro, N.C., Altman was a standout high school athlete in multiple sports, including baseball. Tennessee State University recruited him to play basketball.

A 6-foot-4 forward, Altman had hopes of pursuing a professional basketball career, but a knee ailment his junior season made him reconsider. When Tennessee State started a baseball program his junior year, Altman made the team. Though he continued to play college basketball, he began thinking his future was in baseball.

After graduating in 1955, Altman got a tryout with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League and impressed manager Buck O’Neil, who signed him and became his mentor.

(Altman’s Monarchs teammate was pitcher Satchel Paige, 49. In his autobiography, “George Altman: My Baseball Journey From the Negro Leagues to the Majors and Beyond,” Altman recalled, “I’m not 100 percent sure that Satchel knew all of our names. He definitely called me ‘Young Blood.’ We didn’t talk to him that much because he didn’t travel with us most of the time. He had his own Cadillac and he followed the bus.”)

After the season, O’Neil joined the Cubs as a scout and recommended Altman. The Cubs signed him, and in 1959, Altman, 26, made his big-league debut as their Opening Day center fielder. In his first at-bat, Don Drysdale hit him in the thigh with a pitch. “I don’t know if he hit me on purpose,” Altman said in his autobiography, “but I would say he was trying to intimidate me.”

Unfazed, Altman singled twice in the game against the future Hall of Famer. Boxscore

Let’s make a deal

In 1961, the Cubs had four future Hall of Famers in their lineup (Richie Ashburn, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams) but Altman was their batting leader (.303). He produced a league-leading 12 triples, 27 home runs and 96 RBI.

The Cubs also had four future Hall of Famers in their 1962 lineup (Banks, rookie Lou Brock, Santo, Williams) but Altman again was their top hitter (.318). He clubbed 22 homers, had 19 stolen bases, ranked fourth in the league in on-base percentage (.393) and was named an all-star for the second year in a row.

To improve on their 1962 record (59-103), the Cubs determined they needed pitching and a corner outfield spot for Brock.

Brock was the Cubs’ center fielder in 1962 but was better suited for left or right. With Billy Williams entrenched in left, the Cubs opted to shop Altman for pitching and to open a spot in right for Brock.

The Cardinals, who, as St. Louis Globe-Democrat columnist Bob Burnes noted, “spent much of the summer in a state of frustrated anguish because they couldn’t come up with the big hit when they needed it,” sought a run-producing right fielder after Charlie James totaled eight home runs in 1962. When they suggested swapping their 1962 leaders in wins (Larry Jackson with 16) and saves (Lindy McDaniel with 14) for Altman, “the Cubs had to jump at the offer,” Burnes wrote.

High hopes

With Altman, the Cardinals had three of the top six finishers in the 1962 National League batting race: Stan Musial (third at .330), Bill White (fourth at .324) and Altman (sixth at .318).

General manager Bing Devine told the Globe-Democrat the Cardinals’ starting outfield in 1963 would be Musial in left, Curt Flood in center and Altman in right.

Altman “figures to be of particular value in Busch Stadium, where the close right field pavilion is an inviting home run target for left-handed swingers,” the Chicago Tribune observed.

According to the Post-Dispatch, the shortest distance from home plate to the right field wall at Busch Stadium was a mere 310 feet.

“With the short right field fence in St. Louis, I have to like the park,” Altman told the Post-Dispatch. “I’d like to top all my season highs. I’ll settle for 100 runs batted in, but I’d like to go for 150. I want to hit more than 27 home runs and bat higher than .318.”

Vision problems

In the winter months after the trade, Altman stayed in Chicago and studied to earn a stockbroker license. Altman said he believed the studying he did in the dim lighting of his basement hurt his eyesight.

Driving from Chicago to the Cardinals’ spring training site in Florida, “I had trouble seeing the road signs and the lane lines” at night, Altman said in his autobiography. “I stopped in Nashville to have my eyes examined. The doctor said, ‘Son, you need glasses and should get them as soon as possible.’ “

At spring training, Altman’s vision improved sufficiently enough that he opted not to wear eyeglasses.

He began the 1963 regular season with great promise _ eight hits in his first 16 at-bats _ but went into an 0-for-27 slump in May. Altman, 30, didn’t hit his first home run until May 10, a two-out shot in the ninth inning off the Pirates’ Bob Friend that carried the Cardinals to a 1-0 victory. Boxscore

In June, Altman produced a 17-game hitting streak, but wasn’t hitting many home runs. Cardinals consultant Branch Rickey wanted Altman to pull with power to right field and convinced Bing Devine to deliver that message to Altman.

Altman, who preferred hitting for contact to all fields, tried pulling the ball regularly, but struggled, hitting .226 in July. “I tried to pull entirely too much,” he said to The Sporting News. “It fouled me up.”

Desperate, he wore eyeglasses for a game against the Reds and went 0-for-4, bringing a quick end to the experiment. “They weren’t worth the discomfort,” Altman said to The Sporting News. Boxscore

In his autobiography, Altman said the eyeglasses “steamed up in the humid summer air. I did better without them.”

Altman gave up trying to pull the ball and did better the last two months, hitting .291 in August and .273 in September. For the season, he batted .274 with nine home runs and 47 RBI. The Cardinals, who finished six games behind the champion Dodgers, “felt that if he had performed this year as expected, the team would have won the pennant,’ syndicated columnist Red Smith wrote.

Altman said in his autobiography the causes for his drop in production were tension “with me wanting to make good and make a good first impression with the Cardinals” and his eyesight. “There were times my vision was weak enough that when I looked out everything was fuzzy,” Altman said.

In November 1963, Altman and pitcher Bill Wakefield were traded to the Mets for pitcher Roger Craig.

After an injury-plagued season with the Mets, Altman was dealt back to the Cubs. The trade was made by Bing Devine, who joined the Mets after being fired by the Cardinals. Thus, Devine was involved in three Altman trades, acquiring him for the Cardinals from the Cubs, swapping him from the Cardinals to the Mets, and then trading him from the Mets to the Cubs.

Altman went to Japan in 1968 and revived his career there. In eight seasons in Japan, Altman hit 205 home runs, including 34 in 1968 and 39 in 1971.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Trades | 12 Comments »

Feds to Lou Brock, Milk Duds: You’re out!

September 28, 2022 by retrosimba

A candy commercial turned sour instead of sweet for Cardinals speedster Lou Brock.

In September 1972, the Federal Trade Commission banned a Milk Duds television commercial featuring Brock because it deemed the advertisement as deceptive.

In the commercial, Brock suggested he got the speed to steal bases by eating Milk Duds.

Candy man can

Milk Duds, chewy chocolate-covered caramels, were introduced in the 1920s in Chicago. (The Chicago Tribune reported the start date as 1926. Hershey, the current owner of Milk Duds, lists the date as 1928.)

Milton J. Holloway, a Chicago native whose father immigrated to the United States from England, was the creator of Milk Duds and other candy such as Black Cow suckers, the Tribune reported.

According to Hershey, Milk Duds got named because the maker couldn’t get the caramels to form perfectly round shapes, and thus dubbed them duds. In another version, a candy executive told the Tribune, “It was supposed to be duds _ as in fancy duds.”

Regardless, the name and the candy were popular in the United States and became a successful business for Milton Holloway. According to the Tribune, Holloway said he ate Milk Duds every day to measure the candy’s quality.

In 1960, Holloway sold Milk Duds to Beatrice Foods Co. of Chicago for $1.25 million, the Tribune reported. Holloway was 76 when he died in 1972.

Follow the money

After Marvin Miller became executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association in 1966, he “negotiated numerous lucrative licensing and marketing deals that added millions of dollars to the Players Association coffers,” Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reported.

In one of those deals, Beatrice Foods agreed to pay the players’ union for the rights to market Milk Duds as the official candy of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Also, the agreement enabled Beatrice Foods to produce baseball cards on the backs of 5-cent boxes of Milk Duds in 1971. The cards included several future Hall of Famers, including Brock, Bob Gibson, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson and Tom Seaver.

Beatrice signed Brock to do television commercials for Milk Duds. In a 1970 commercial, Brock is shown giving base stealing tips to youngsters. “When the pitcher goes into his motion,” Brock says, “I take off like I was running for a box of Milk Duds.” A narrator’s voice intones: “Milk Duds are great little energy builders.” Video

Say what?

Things got as sticky as a melted Milk Dud for Beatrice Foods with a follow-up commercial featuring Brock.

Here’s a transcript of the controversial commercial as reported by the Hackensack (N.J.) Record:

Narrator: “Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder. Hitter with blazing speed on the bases. What’s your secret for stealing second, Lou?”

Brock: “I study every pitcher in the league and his moves. I take about a four- to five-step lead off the bag, and stay real loose.”

Narrator: “Milk Duds with energy for speed. Is that where you get your speed, Lou?”

Brock: “Sure. I sure do like Milk Duds.”

Narrator: “Milk Duds are little bits of energy. Rich chocolate-covered caramel. Milk Duds with energy for speed on the bases. That’s why Milk Duds are the official candy of the Major League Baseball Players Association. You’ll see the official seal on every box. Enjoy them often.”

Ain’t that America

That commercial got the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington, D.C. Created by President Woodrow Wilson in September 1914, the FTC describes its mission as “protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition.”

The FTC determined the Milk Duds commercial was deceptive because Brock told viewers he got his base stealing speed by eating the candy. “The FTC believed a false impression was being conveyed,” the Hackensack Record reported.

In this case, the false impression was “that eating candies, such as Holloway Milk Duds, was necessary to instill, improve and maintain athletic ability and performance,” the Associated Press explained.

In issuing its consent order, the FTC prohibited Beatrice Foods from using deceptive endorsements by athletes and athletic organizations. Or, as the Washington Star-News put it, “For the first time, a jock huckster was told to get off the air if he wasn’t going to tell the truth.”

According to the FTC, the endorsements were based on a monetary relationship between Beatrice Foods and its endorsers and not on nutritional superiority, The Sporting News noted.

Under the headline, “FTC Watchdog On Prowl Vs. Athletes’ Oversell,” the Boston Globe described the ruling as “a landmark finding.”

“For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission is formalizing guidelines for endorsements,” the Globe reported.

(The next year, the FTC cracked down on Domino Sugar for hyping its product as the official sugar of Major League Baseball and the NFL. The FTC ordered Domino Sugar to use part of its advertising budget to say its product is not a special or unique source of strength, energy and stamina.)

According to the Hackensack Record, “The probable audience of an advertisement would influence FTC action. One aimed at children may be measured against more rigorous standards than one for adults.”

In a September 1972 editorial, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch supported the FTC action.

“The Cardinals have had little to cheer about all summer,” the editorial stated. “One bright spot, as usual, has been the play of Lou Brock, and how he does it we don’t know except we are fairly certain the Federal Trade Commission is right in saying it isn’t by eating a brand of candy called Milk Duds. The FTC has taken a much needed step toward correcting the abuses of athlete testimonials, which are directed at a largely young and impressionable audience.”

Posted in Hitters | 6 Comments »

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