RetroSimba

(Updated June 11, 2024)

With 21 games remaining in the season, bad omens hung over the Cardinals like a murky mist along the Delaware River and threatened to choke out their division title hopes.

In September 1982, the Cardinals clung to first place in the National League East Division by a half game, entering a series against the pursuing Phillies at Philadelphia.

It didn’t take a carnival fortune teller to see the warning signs:

_ After gaining a 3.5-game lead over the Phillies with a Sept. 1 win against the Dodgers, the Cardinals lost six of their next nine.

_ Shortstop Ozzie Smith had severe swelling in his right thigh and was unavailable for the Phillies series _ and for several games after that.

_ Like the ghost of seasons past, Steve Carlton, who relentlessly tormented his former club as payback for the pettiness of club owner Gussie Busch, was the scheduled starter for the Phillies in the series opener.

After winning 12 in a row in April and leading the division for most of the season, the Cardinals, who never had won a division title, were at a crossroads.

Crunch time

The mood in Philadelphia was electric with anticipation on the eve of the series.

“This is a month when a baseball man needs strong nerves and an informative scoreboard,” columnist Mark Whicker wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News.

Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt told Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Our fate is in our hands for the next three or four days.”

If Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog felt pressure, it didn’t show. “A race like this is fun, to seesaw back and forth and watch that scoreboard,” Herzog said to the Inquirer’s Peter Pascarelli. “This is easy. I’ll tell you what’s tough. It’s managing a team in September that’s out of the race. That is the hardest job in baseball.”

Actually, for the Cardinals, the hardest job was trying to beat Carlton. He entered the game with a career record against the Cardinals of 33-10, including 3-1 in 1982. (Carlton would finish his Hall of Fame career 38-14 versus the Cardinals, including 5-1 in 1982.)

Phillies take first

The Sept. 13 opener was everything the Phillies hoped it would be. Carlton pitched a three-hit shutout, striking out 12 and walking none, and hit a home run in the Phillies’ 2-0 victory.

“That’s the best he’s pitched against us since I’ve been here,” Herzog told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Hal Bodley of The Sporting News noted, “Much of Carlton’s success can be attributed to his conditioning routine and his fearsome slider. Without his uncanny strength, he would not be able to throw the nasty slider. Carlton’s great strength enables him to get a tighter grip on the ball. Because it’s thrown so hard, it breaks and drops sharply.”

Phillies manager Pat Corrales, who caught Carlton as a Cardinals backup catcher in 1966, said, “It’s amazing to watch a man almost 38 throwing like he is 28. That just goes to show what desire, talent and preparing yourself can do.” Boxscore

The win moved the Phillies into first place, a half game ahead, and put them into position “to cripple the Cardinals’ division hopes,” the Post-Dispatch noted.

“Sometimes,” Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez said to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “a game like that can make you get swept.”

Dramatic duel

The turning point in the series, and perhaps the Cardinals’ season, occurred the following night, Sept. 14.

Darrell Porter’s two-run home run against Mike Krukow and the pitching of rookie starter John Stuper gave the Cardinals a 2-0 cushion as the Phillies came to bat in the eighth. After retiring the first batter of the inning, Stuper walked Bob Molinaro and gave up a single to Pete Rose. Bruce Sutter relieved and yielded an infield single to Gary Matthews, loading the bases for slugger Mike Schmidt.

(Guarding the line, third baseman Ken Oberkfell made a tumbling stop of Matthews’ grounder. After considering a throw to second for a possible force out, Oberkfell instead fired to first and barely missed retiring Matthews. If Oberkfell had thrown to first without hesitation, Matthews likely would have been out, and Herzog, with first base open, would have ordered an intentional walk to Schmidt.)

Schmidt had faced Sutter twice during the season and doubled both times.

Sutter got ahead with two quick strikes, but then Schmidt worked the count even. Swinging at a sinking split-fingered pitch, Schmidt tapped the ball to Sutter, who started a home-to-first double play, ending the threat.

“That confrontation between Sutter and Schmidt _ that is what baseball is all about,” Stuper said to the Post-Dispatch.

Schmidt said, “He’s at his best when the hitter has a lot of pressure on him.”

Getting Schmidt to bounce into the double play was “the turning point of the race,” Herzog told Cardinals Magazine.

After winning the showdown of future Hall of Famers, Sutter held the Phillies scoreless again in the ninth, securing the Cardinals’ victory and enabling them to reclaim first place. Boxscore

The Cardinals would remain atop the division the rest of the season.

Championship caliber

In the series finale on Sept. 15, Joaquin Andujar pitched a three-hit shutout for the Cardinals, who won, 8-0. The Cardinals scored five runs in the third against former teammate John Denny, who was making his first Phillies start since being acquired three days earlier from the Indians.

After the game, “the mood bordered on the funereal” in the Phillies’ locker room, the Post-Dispatch reported. Boxscore

Having withstood the Phillies’ challenge, the Cardinals went on a roll. In addition to winning the last two games of the Phillies series, they swept a five-game series with the Mets at New York, including doubleheaders on consecutive days, and won the opener of a two-game rematch with the Phillies at St. Louis.

The eight straight wins lifted the Cardinals’ record to 87-63 and put them 5.5 games ahead of the second-place Phillies.

Ozzie Smith was out of the lineup from Sept. 11 through Sept. 23, but in that stretch the Cardinals were 10-4. His replacement, Mike Ramsey, made 14 September starts at shortstop and didn’t commit an error.

The Cardinals clinched the division title on Sept. 27, swept the Braves in the National League Championship Series and prevailed in a seven-game thriller against the Brewers in the World Series.

The St. Louis Hawks had a significant role in launching Bill Russell into a NBA career with the Boston Celtics.

In April 1956, the Celtics traded for the rights to the Hawks’ first-round draft spot and used it to take Russell. Eight months later, when Russell made his NBA debut with the Celtics, it came in a game against the Hawks.

A five-time recipient of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award who helped the Celtics win 11 league championships, Russell was a center who revolutionized the game, excelling at rebounding, blocking shots and playing defense.

Draft moves

With the tandem of Russell and guard K.C. Jones, the University of San Francisco won consecutive NCAA basketball championships in 1955 and 1956.

Russell generally was regarded as the best amateur basketball player in the country, but at the NBA draft on April 30, 1956, the Rochester Royals used the first overall pick to take Duquesne guard Sihugo Green.

According to the New York Times, money was a factor in the Royals’ decision. The Harlem Globetrotters were expected to make a lucrative offer to Russell and the cash-strapped Royals didn’t want to get into a bidding war with them.

Defending the choice, Royals owner Lester Harrison called Green “the best all-around player in the country, bar none,” International News Service reported.

Russell told the San Francisco Examiner, “I think Rochester made a good choice for its No. 1 man. I always said Sihugo and my friend, K.C. Jones, were the two best ballplayers I ever looked at.”

(Green played in nine NBA seasons, including four with the Hawks, and finished his career as Russell’s teammate with the 1965-66 Celtics.)

Please come to Boston

After the Royals selected Green, the Hawks, with the No. 2 overall pick, had the chance to take Russell. Like the Royals, though, the Hawks didn’t think they could afford him, especially if the Globetrotters bid high, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York Times reported.

The Hawks also were looking to generate local interest. In the 1955-56 season, their first since moving from Milwaukee to St. Louis, they finished 33-39. Club owner Ben Kerner thought Celtics center Ed Macauley, a St. Louis native who had been a standout performer at St. Louis University, was just the sort of popular local player the Hawks needed to attract customers.

In exchange for Macauley, the Celtics got the Hawks’ draft spot and used it to select Russell.

Two days later, on May 2, the Celtics sent Cliff Hagan to the Hawks in a cash transaction. Kerner said the acquisition of Hagan “had nothing to do with” the deal for Russell, the Post-Dispatch reported. Over time, though, several publications, including the Post-Dispatch, reported the transaction as Macauley and Hagan to the Hawks for Russell.

(The Celtics made quite a haul in the 1956 draft, getting K.C. Jones and Tommy Heinsohn of Holy Cross in addition to Russell.)

After acquiring Russell, Celtics coach Red Auerbach told the Boston Globe, “He’s the greatest defensive center I’ve ever seen.”

Russell said to the San Francisco Examiner, “I was pleased when I heard I was drafted. It was flattering to know they thought enough of me to pick me among the first.”

The Celtics in 1950 had become the first NBA team to draft a black player, Chuck Cooper.

Decades later, in a 2013 interview with Bill Simmons that aired on the NBA’s TV network, Russell, discussing the trade to acquire him, said, “St. Louis was overwhelmingly racist. If I would have gotten drafted by St. Louis, I wouldn’t have been in the NBA.”

Great expectations

Though drafted, Russell remained an amateur so he could play for the United States in the 1956 Summer Olympics. The Games at Melbourne, Australia, were held Nov. 22 to Dec. 8.

After helping the U.S. win a gold medal, Russell returned home and got married. He and his bride arrived in Boston on Dec. 16. Three days later, Russell signed a one-year $17,000 contract with the Celtics.

“He is one of the most publicized performers to join a Boston team in years _ and if he lives up to his advance notices he will belong in a class with Ted Williams,” columnist Harold Kaese wrote.

Jack Barry, who covered the Celtics for the Globe, wrote, “Bill Russell may revolutionize the game of basketball … Russell could be the first player to become a drawing card on his defensive ability.”

After three practice sessions with the Celtics, Russell was deemed ready to play in a regular-season game. His first opportunity came on Dec. 22 against the Hawks at Boston Garden.

Arnie Risen, in the NBA since 1948, was the Celtics’ starting center that Saturday afternoon. Russell came off the bench, totaled six points (he missed eight of 11 shots and all four free throws), but grabbed 16 rebounds and excelled on defense. Boxscore

“Demonstrating his great defensive strength,” Russell “three times went high into the air to block shots by Bob Pettit, generally considered the NBA’s top big man,” United Press reported.

Risen told the wire service, “He’ll block a shot by any man who shoots straight away in front of him. Fellows will have to be very tricky to score against him.”

(In a 1999 interview with the Globe’s Bob Ryan, Risen said, “I feel flattered when I hear Bill Russell say I was his mentor. I’m not so sure that isn’t just an old friend boosting a teammate. If I did anything for him, it was to tell him what to expect from the other players in the league, and to help him with our offense.”)

Russell said to United Press, “I have to admit I was very nervous. I was very tight all the way. My shooting was way off and I was just plain lousy at the foul line.”

Regarding his four missed free throws, Russell said to the Globe, “I choked.”

Auerbach told United Press that Russell “revealed his potential but also his greenness.”

Celtics owner Walter Brown said to the Globe, “I don’t care if he can’t shoot, as long as he gets those rebounds and cuts down some of those guys who have been murdering us for years.”

True greatness

The Celtics won the NBA championship in Russell’s rookie year, beating the Hawks in the final round of the playoffs. The next season, the Hawks won their lone title, prevailing against the Celtics in the finals.

After that, Russell and the Celtics dominated, winning eight consecutive NBA championships from 1959 to 1966.

Russell had several strong performances against the Hawks, including:

_ 37 rebounds on Dec. 23, 1966. Boxscore

_ 35 points on Nov. 14, 1961. In that game, the Hawks’ Clyde Lovellette, averaging 23 points a game, “couldn’t cope with Russell’s defensive tactics” and was held to two points, the Associated Press reported. Boxscore

_ 29 rebounds and 26 points on Nov. 21, 1962. Boxscore

_ 28 points and 27 rebounds on Feb. 4, 1964. Boxscore

In 1966, Russell became the NBA’s first black head coach. In three seasons as player-coach of the Celtics, Russell led them to two NBA championships. 

Russell five times led the NBA in rebounding. The top three career rebounders in the NBA are Wilt Chamberlain (22.9 per game), Russell (22.5) and Pettit (16.2).

During the 1960s, when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a teen named Lew Alcindor at Power Memorial High School in New York, he saw the Celtics play many times at Madison Square Garden.

“The man I studied was Bill Russell,” Abdul-Jabbar said to Bob Ryan. “I learned so much. Watching him, I learned the dynamics of the game, and how to win.”