RetroSimba

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 »

In the fast lane with Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Maury Wills

September 24, 2022 by retrosimba

Three impact players who defined the style of the National League in the 1960s were Maury Wills of the Dodgers and Lou Brock and Bob Gibson of the Cardinals. Wills and Brock brought speed with their base stealing, Gibson brought power with his pitching, and all three brought savvy and smarts to a championship brand of baseball.

In the 10-year period from 1959 to 1968, the Cardinals and Dodgers combined to win seven league pennants and five World Series titles.

Wills (1962) and Gibson (1968) each earned a National League Most Valuable Player Award.

From 1960 to 1969, the only players to lead the National League in steals were Wills and Brock. Wills led each year from 1960 to 1965. Brock was the leader each year from 1966 to 1969.

In 1962, Wills established the major-league record for stolen bases in a season (104). Twelve years later, Brock broke the mark (with 118).

A switch-hitting shortstop, Wills totaled 2,134 hits and 586 stolen bases in 14 seasons in the majors with the Dodgers, Pirates and Expos.

Record in St. Louis

On Sept. 23, 1962, at St. Louis, Wills, 29, had two stolen bases against the Cardinals, giving him 97 for the season and breaking the major-league record (96) established by Ty Cobb of the 1915 Tigers.

“Mercurial Maury Wills, a preacher’s son with the heart of a burglar, became the greatest base stealer in modern times,” Frank Finch wrote in the lead to his game story in the Los Angeles Times.

Wills twice stole second in the game against the battery of pitcher Larry Jackson and catcher Carl Sawatski. Boxscore

For the season, Wills finished with 104 steals in 117 tries. He was successful on 11 of 12 stolen base attempts versus the 1962 Cardinals.

In his book “Oh, Baby, I Love It,” Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver said of Wills, “He opened up baseball’s eyes to what speed can do for a team.”

“Maury Wills is the greatest slider and the quickest starter in the history of the game,” Phillies manager Gene Mauch told Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray in 1965. “He gets the base stolen the first five feet. He’s the most unafraid runner I’ve ever seen.”

In the book “We Played the Game,” McCarver said, “Maury Wills was smart. No one was better at sliding into a base. He had a sixth sense that told him how to be safe. If he knew it would be a close play, he’d slide into the glove and kick the ball out, or he’d avoid the tag and reach the corner of a base with his hand.”

One reason the Cardinals acquired catcher Bob Uecker from the Braves on the eve of the 1964 season opener was to try to slow down the base stealing of Wills.

Walks will haunt

Wills could field (two Gold Glove awards) and hit (five times in the top 10 in the National League in hits) as well as steal bases. Video

With the Dodgers in 1965, he had five hits in a game against the Cardinals. Boxscore

In the 1966 All-Star Game at St. Louis, Wills’ single in the 10th inning drove in Tim McCarver with the winning run for the National League.

With the Pirates in 1967, Wills slugged a three-run home run against the Cardinals’ Steve Carlton in Pittsburgh. “That’s the first one I’ve ever hit over the left field wall at Forbes Field,” Wills told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I was the most surprised person in the ballpark when the ball cleared the wall.” Boxscore

Wills had 15 hits versus Carlton in his career, but the home run was the only one that wasn’t a single.

Against another future Hall of Famer, Bob Gibson, Wills batted .211 and had a paltry on-base percentage of .261. Of Wills’ 26 hits in 123 at-bats versus Gibson, 22 were singles and four were doubles.

In his book “On the Run,” Wills said, “Bob Gibson was the toughest pitcher for me to hit. He had a little slider he’d throw in on my fists. It was small but hard, and I just couldn’t get around on it.”

In the book “From Ghetto to Glory,” Gibson said, “I don’t have any trouble with Maury. I try to throw him high fastballs and let him hit it in the air. He’s not strong enough to hit the ball out. When he’s batting left-handed, he’ll hit a lot of fly balls to left field if you get it up and away.”

Wills drew nine career walks from Gibson, but only one from 1963 to 1971.

In the book “Sixty Feet, Six Inches,” Gibson explained, “If you’re pitching to Maury Wills, for heaven’s sake don’t walk him. I learned to not be too fancy with the little guys who couldn’t hit home runs. Make them take their cuts.”

When Wills did reach base against Gibson, the Cardinals’ ace would try to keep him from stealing by going into the stretch position and then pausing for as long as possible. In the book “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “After I’d been in the league a few years, I stopped wasting my time and energy by throwing to first to hold runners on. I eventually learned that I didn’t have to throw the ball to keep the runner close. I just held it a little longer. That drove Maury Wills crazy.”

In a typical Gibson wisecrack, he also said in the “Sixty Feet, Six Inches” book, “Honestly, though, when Wills was on base it didn’t bother me as much as you might think because I was resigned to the fact that Tim McCarver, my good buddy and catcher, wasn’t going to throw him out. I loved pitching to McCarver, but we both know that he wasn’t about to throw out Maury Wills.”

(McCarver, no doubt, would like to have it noted that on July 16, 1964, at St. Louis, he twice threw out Wills attempting to steal second. The first time was with Ray Sadecki pitching and the other was with Mike Cuellar on the mound. Boxscore)

Running a stop sign

In 1974, Lou Brock was 35 when he made his bid to break Wills’ record for stolen bases in a season. Though he’d led the National League in steals seven times before 1974, Brock never had achieved 100. His highest total was 74 in 1966.

In Brock’s autobiography, “Stealing is my Game,” Hall of Famer Stan Musial said, “I don’t think Lou or anybody else believed Maury Wills’ mark would topple after only 12 years. It looked like one of those eternal records. What Maury did was magnificent. Lou had to have everything going for him in 1974 to do even better.”

In his book “On the Run,” Wills recalled, “As the season went on and Lou Brock got closer to my record, I found myself watching the games on TV and rooting for the pitchers. Nothing worked.”

According to Wills, Brock called him for advice during the season.

“My legs are hurting, Maury,” Brock said. “What should I do?”

Wills said he jokingly replied, “Ice them down, Lou. Take a couple weeks off. Then quit.”

In his book, Wills said, “The record was my identity. I was the stolen base king. I didn’t want to see my record broken. It meant a lot to me. Records were made to be broken, but not mine.”

On Sept. 10, 1974, Brock got his 105th stolen base of the season, breaking Wills’ record, in a game against the Phillies at St. Louis,

“I wasn’t at the game when Brock stole his 105th base,” Wills said in his book. “I was at the NBC studio waiting to comment on it.”

Asked how he felt about seeing the record surpassed, Wills said he replied, “I don’t like it at all. I wasn’t pulling for him. I wasn’t wishing him any bad experiences or any harm, but I wasn’t pulling for him.”

In Brock’s autobiography, his collaborator, Franz Schulze, wrote of Wills, “The way he responded to it warms my heart. He took an attitude which to me is as rational as Brock’s. He grieved over the winnowing away of the single accomplishment in which he had taken the greatest pride. He didn’t like to give up what was precious and hard-earned. So far as I’m concerned, that’s a perfectly healthy outlook. Lou, just as smart, just as honest, thought so, too.”

Hall of Famer Ernie Banks said in the Brock autobiography, “People like to contrast Lou and Maury. You know, Lou has the short slide. Maury had the great, broad hook slide.

“Well, I think they’re much more alike than different because the best thing about both of them is their brains. I’ve seen Lou and Maury both psyche out a pitcher as if they were inside the man’s head, just reading the meter. After the smarts, it’s their motivation. Both wanted tremendously to get where they are.”

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Records | 6 Comments »

Attention, now pitching for the Cardinals _ Stan Musial

September 20, 2022 by retrosimba

On the day he secured his sixth National League batting title, Stan Musial learned he should stick to hitting instead of pitching.

Musial pitched for the only time in a big-league game on Sept. 28, 1952, in the Cardinals’ season finale against the Cubs at St. Louis.

He threw one pitch to one batter, his closest pursuer for the batting title, Cubs outfielder Frankie Baumholtz, then returned to the outfield.

Musial’s pitching appearance was prearranged by the Cardinals, who hoped it would generate interest in a game with nothing at stake in the standings.

Instead, the stunt was an embarrassment to Musial.

Show time

The Cardinals (88-65) entered the final day of the 1952 season in third place in the National League and the Cubs (76-77) were in fifth. Regardless of the outcome in the season finale, both teams were assured of finishing in those spots in the standings.

On the morning of the final game, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Musial would pitch that Sunday afternoon, but only to Baumholtz. Cardinals manager Eddie Stanky told the newspaper Musial would pitch at least once to Baumholtz.

According to The Sporting News, the Cardinals received permission from National League president Warren Giles for Musial to pitch against Baumholtz.

In his book, “Stan Musial: The Man’s Own Story,” Musial said he “was persuaded” to pitch to Baumholtz “as a box office promotion.”

Musial entered the game with a league-leading .336 batting average. Baumholtz was second at .326. According to the Post-Dispatch, it remained mathematically possible for Baumholtz to surpass Musial for the batting title. For that to happen, Baumholtz would have to go 5-for-5 in the finale and Musial would need to go hitless in at least four at-bats.

If Baumholtz went 5-for-5, he’d finish with a batting average of .334. If Musial went 0-for-4 or 0-for-5, he’d finish at .333.

Though the odds were stacked against Baumholtz overtaking Musial, the Cardinals thought having Musial pitch to him would make it more intriguing.

On the mound

Musial began his professional career as a left-handed pitcher in the Cardinals’ system. After pitching two seasons (1938-39) for Williamson (W.Va.), Musial pitched for another Class D farm, the Daytona Beach (Fla.) Islanders, in 1940.

Musial was 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA for Daytona Beach. On days he didn’t pitch, he often played the outfield. In August 1940, he was playing center field against Orlando when he damaged his left shoulder trying to catch a sinking line drive.

The injury ended Musial’s pitching career. Moved fulltime to the outfield in 1941, Musial, 20, rose through the farm system, impressing with his hitting, and reached the majors with the Cardinals in September that year.

Eleven years later, he was asked to give pitching another try in order to end Frankie Baumholtz’s last-gasp bid to snatch the batting crown from him.

Having regrets

A crowd of 17,422 gathered at Sportsman’s Park for the 1952 season finale. Rookie left-hander Harvey Haddix was the Cardinals’ starting pitcher. Musial began the game in center field.

Haddix walked the Cubs’ leadoff batter, Tommy Brown. Then, with Baumholtz coming up, Musial went to pitch, Haddix moved to right field, and Hal Rice shifted from right to center.

“Musial took only a couple of pitches for warmup,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

In his autobiography, Musial said, “I didn’t relish the contrived show. I didn’t like it particularly because the one batter I’d face would be Baumholtz. I didn’t want to give any impression I might be trying to show him up.”

As Musial warmed up, Cubs manager Phil Cavarretta said to Baumholtz, “They’re trying to make a fool of you, Frank,” Baumholtz told author Danny Peary for the book “We Played the Game.”

Baumholtz said he replied, “I don’t think so. I think it’s just a gimmick to get a lot of people in the stands to watch two also-rans on the last day of the season.”

Send in the clowns

Baumholtz was strictly a left-handed batter, but he stood in from the right side to face Musial. Baumholtz never had batted right-handed. According to The Sporting News, Baumholtz made the switch as a gesture of sportsmanship because he “refused to try for a cheap hit” against the National League batting leader posing as a pitcher.

Or, as the St. Louis Globe-Democrat put it, “Baumholtz didn’t want to get something for nothing.”

Musial threw Baumholtz a fastball, the Post-Dispatch reported. In describing the pitch in his book, Musial said, “I flipped the ball.”

Baumholtz “met the ball squarely and it bounced on a big hop” to third baseman Solly Hemus, the Post-Dispatch reported. “Figuring on a double play, Hemus fumbled the ball. He then threw late and wide to first, and Brown took third.”

As United Press noted, “Baumholtz was safe on an error on what should have been a double play ball.”

Reaching on an error made Baumholtz 0-for-1 for the game and virtually eliminated his chance of overtaking Musial for the batting crown.

“I’m not proud of that circus,” Musial said in his autobiography.

After the Baumholtz at-bat, Musial, Haddix and Rice returned to their original positions. Haddix got the next batter, Bill Serena, to ground into a double play, but Brown scored from third for a 1-0 Cubs lead.

When Musial batted in the third inning, Cubs starter Paul Minner “tried to tease him with a slow underhand toss but it was wide of the plate,” the Globe-Democrat reported. On a curve, Musial fouled out to the catcher.

In the ninth, Musial lined a 3-and-2 pitch from Minner to left for a single. In going 1-for-3 in the game, Musial finished the season with a .336 batting average.

Baumholtz went 1-for-4 _ his hit was a bunt single in the sixth _ and placed second in the batting race at .325.

Haddix pitched eight innings and allowed three runs. Minner pitched a shutout in a 3-0 Cubs victory. Boxscore

Higher standards

In the seven seasons in which he won batting titles, Musial’s .336 mark in 1952 was his lowest. It also was the lowest figure by a NL batting leader since Ernie Lombardi of the Reds hit .330 in 1942.

“I had a bad year,” Musial said to the Globe-Democrat. “I wish I could have done better. My timing was off during the season.”

Yep, it was terrible. In addition to winning the batting crown, Musial, 31, led the National League in slugging percentage (.538), hits (194), total bases (311) and doubles (42) in 1952.

In his autobiography, Musial said he was “most disappointed” in his RBI total of 91 in 1952. It was the only time in a 10-year stretch from 1948-57 that Musial didn’t drive in 100 runs in a season.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | 12 Comments »

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