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Cardinals crusher: A messy game in a silly season

October 1, 2021 by retrosimba

The Cardinals’ climax to a year of strangeness was fittingly bizarre.

On Oct. 2, 1981, the Cardinals’ chances of reaching the playoffs evaporated in the ninth inning of a game played in a mostly empty stadium on a night with the feel of winter in Pittsburgh.

After the Cardinals came from behind with a pair of home runs in the top of the ninth to tie the score, the last-place Pirates got a run in the bottom half of the inning against the National League’s best closer and won, 8-7.

The loss dropped the Cardinals 1.5 games behind the first-place Expos with two left to play. The Expos clinched the division title the next day, beating the Mets.

In a year when baseball made a sick joke of the season _ foreshadowing a series of decisions that purposely devalue regular-season excellence and reward mediocrity _ the Cardinals finished the 1981 schedule with the best record in the National League East and were excluded from the farce called the postseason.

Bonehead baseball

After major-league players went on strike in June 1981 and ended the walkout in August, those who run baseball decided to have two regular seasons in 1981. All division leaders at the time the strike began were declared champions of the first season. The second season consisted of games played after the strike. Like with the first season, those who finished in first place in a division went to the playoffs.

It didn’t matter to baseball officials that all teams didn’t play the same number of games in either season, or that some played more road games than home games. Baseball held an expanded playoffs _ with four division champions in each league instead of two _ and hoped the manufactured excitement would make fans forget being spat on by the strike.

The Cardinals (30-20) placed second to the Phillies (34-21) in the East Division in the first season.

With three games remaining in the second season, the Cardinals (27-22) trailed the first-place Expos (28-22) by a half-game. The Cardinals closed with a series at Pittsburgh versus the Pirates while the Expos were at New York against the Mets.

Winter wonderland

The series opener at Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Stadium was played on a Friday night when the temperature at game time was 39 degrees and the wind chill made it feel like 25.

“A swirling wind made pop-ups adventurous, and intermittent drizzle felt like snowflakes,” the Pittsburgh Press reported.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “The weather conditions were fitting for a Steelers playoff game in late December.”

A mere 2,348 spectators attended in a stadium with capacity for 47,971. It was the smallest attendance for a Pirates game since the stadium opened in 1970.

The brand of baseball the frozen faithful witnessed that Friday night caused shivers, too. The Pirates made four errors, one more than the Cardinals.

“Even on ordinary plays, balls popped out of gloves like in a game of flip,” the Pittsburgh Press noted. “There were more drops than in an eye doctor’s office.”

Blaming the weather, Pirates manager Chuck Tanner said, “Hard gloves and cold hands produce a lot of errors.”

Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter suggested frayed nerves played a factor, too. “I wouldn’t say we’re tight, but we haven’t played like we’re in a pennant race,” Porter said.

Coming back

Trailing 7-2, the Cardinals scored three in the sixth to get within two.

In the ninth, George Hendrick led off with a home run against Rod Scurry, working his third inning of relief, but the next two batters made outs.

Porter was the Cardinals’ last hope. After he fell behind in the count, 1-and-2, Porter pounced on an inside fastball.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever hit a ball better than that,” Porter told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The ball barely stayed inside the foul pole but cleared the wall in right by plenty for a home run, tying the score at 7-7.

“When something like that happens, you think you’re going to win,” Porter said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Especially, Porter might have added, when the Cardinals had Bruce Sutter to pitch the bottom of the ninth.

Sutter led the National League in saves for the third consecutive year in 1981.

Walks will haunt

Speedster Omar Moreno led off the ninth for the Pirates and drew a walk. After Tim Foli’s sacrifice bunt moved Moreno to second, Sutter gave an intentional pass to Dave Parker.

Mike Easler batted next. He played in the Cardinals’ farm system in 1976, and he would become the Cardinals’ hitting coach for three years when Tony La Russa was manager.

With the count 2-and-2, Easler sliced a double to left-center, scoring Moreno with the winning run. Boxscore

“Sutter has to pitch low to be effective,” Easler told the Pittsburgh Press. “His pitches dropped a foot. The one I hit did, too, only it was high and dropped right into my swing.”

Flim-flam

In its game story, the Pittsburgh Press declared, “The Pirates didn’t bury the Cardinals. The Cardinals picked up the shovel, dug the hole and jumped in.”

The loss to the Pirates, coupled with the Expos’ 3-0 victory that night, meant the Expos would have to lose their remaining two games for the Cardinals to have a chance to finish atop the division. It didn’t happen. The Expos finished (30-23) a half-game ahead of the Cardinals (29-23).

The Cardinals completed the 1981 schedule with the best overall record in the East Division at 59-43, two games ahead of the Expos (60-48) and 2.5 ahead of the Phillies (59-48).

The Reds had the best overall record in the West Division at 66-42, but, like the Cardinals, didn’t finish atop the division in either season, and didn’t get into the 1981 playoffs.

Incredibly, baseball devised a system in which four National League teams got into the 1981 playoffs, but excluded the two with the best overall records.

Whitey Herzog, who served the dual roles of Cardinals manager and general manager, said baseball’s hierarchy were “dumb dips,” The Sporting News reported.

“This second season is a farce,” Herzog said. “As good as the game was, I can’t believe they messed with it. You wonder why you beat your brains out.”

Since then, baseball has continued to dilute the regular season. Now, a team with the fifth-best record in its league qualifies for the playoffs.

It will get worse. Team owners want to expand the playoffs, following the model from 2020, when 16 teams qualified after the regular season was reduced because of the pandemic. Two of the playoff qualifiers had losing records. Three others, including the Cardinals, who didn’t even play all their scheduled games, got in by finishing two wins over .500.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers | 7 Comments »

How Mort Cooper did unexpected favor for Cardinals

September 27, 2021 by retrosimba

Though he no longer was with the Cardinals, Mort Cooper prevented their elimination from the 1946 pennant race.

On Sept. 29, 1946, the Cardinals and Dodgers entered the final day of the season tied for first place in the National League.

The Cardinals lost to the Cubs at St. Louis that Sunday, but dodged elimination because Cooper, their former ace, pitched a four-hit shutout for the Braves and beat the Dodgers at Brooklyn.

The losses left the Cardinals and Dodgers tied for first place with 96-58 records, necessitating an unprecedented best-of-three playoff series to determine the league champion. The Cardinals prevailed and advanced to the World Series, beating the Red Sox for the title.

Big winner

A husky right-hander, Cooper got to the big leagues with the Cardinals in September 1938 and became a mainstay of their starting rotation. With his younger brother, Walker, doing the catching, Mort helped the Cardinals win three National League pennants and two World Series championships from 1942-44.

Mort earned the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1942 when he was 22-7 with a 1.78 ERA. He followed that with a 21-8 record and 2.30 ERA in 1943 and 22-7 and 2.46 in 1944.

In 1945, Cooper got crossways with Cardinals owner Sam Breadon regarding salary. Breadon responded by trading Cooper to the Braves in May 1945.

After the season, manager Billy Southworth departed the Cardinals for a more lucrative offer from the Braves. Eddie Dyer replaced him and led the Cardinals through a season-long pennant fight with the Dodgers in 1946.

Tough task

On Sept. 26, 1946, Cooper pitched a three-hit shutout against the Giants, boosting his season record to 12-11. Boxscore

Three days later, on the morning of the season finale against the Dodgers, Southworth met Cooper for breakfast. According to the Boston Globe, Southworth asked Cooper, “How about pitching this last one?”

Though Cooper, 33, had just two days rest since beating the Giants, he replied, “Sure, I’ll pitch it _ and more than that. If the club will get me two runs, I’ll guarantee to win.”

According to the Associated Press, Cooper, well aware a Dodgers loss would enable the Cardinals to clinch the pennant if they beat the Cubs, sent a telegram to President Harry Truman, a fellow Missourian: “You try and pull the Cards in today. I will try to beat the Dodgers.”

Based on his season performance, Cooper’s task was formidable. He was 0-4 with a 6.48 ERA against the Dodgers in 1946. “We have taken him apart all year,” Dodgers manager Leo Durocher said to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Dyer told the Associated Press, “I didn’t see how Mort Cooper could beat the Dodgers with only two days of rest.”

Furthermore, the Dodgers chose as their starter Vic Lombardi, who was 3-0 with an 0.67 ERA versus the 1946 Braves. 

Doing it all

A raucous crowd of 30,756 filled Ebbets Field nearly to capacity on an overcast afternoon.

“Money rode on each pitch, and the nervous tension, like the gray haze that hung over the field, could almost be cut with a knife,” Dick Young wrote in the New York Daily News.

Cooper took command with his pitching as well as his hitting. He singled and scored in the third, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.

The Dodgers’ lone threat came in the eighth. With one out, Bruce Edwards reached on an error. After Cooper’s former Cardinals teammate, Joe Medwick, singled, moving Edwards into scoring position, “the reverberations from the stands were ear-splitting,” the Boston Globe reported,

Cooper, though, was “all icicles,” and retired the next two batters. In the ninth, the Braves scored three times against the Dodgers bullpen. Cooper contributed a RBI-single, then retired the Dodgers in order for the win. Boxscore

Cooper “pitched his most elegant nine innings of the entire season,” The Sporting News declared. “Mort applied himself with a determination and technical perfection.”

Durocher told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, “We could have batted against Cooper until midnight and still wouldn’t have scored a run off him.”

As stunned Dodgers fans started what the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described as “a mournful procession” from the ballpark, the public address announcer invited them to stay, saying updates on the Cardinals’ game would be posted on the scoreboard.

“Many hundreds did, milling around the field and the stands,” the New York Daily News reported.

Just about then, the Cardinals collapsed.

Missed opportunity

On a crisp, sunny afternoon at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, 34,124, the Cardinals’ biggest home crowd of the season, saw the Cubs erase a 2-1 deficit with a five-run sixth.

Eddie Waitkus started the Cubs’ rally with a double against starter Red Munger.

Complaining of a sore right elbow, Munger was lifted for Murry Dickson with two on and one out. The Cubs tied the score, 2-2, against Dickson and had the bases loaded, two outs, when starting pitcher Johnny Schmitz came to the plate.

Schmitz was “working with the discomfort of an infected left foot,” the New York Daily News reported. “He had the toe section of his shoe slashed to relieve pressure on the swelling.”

Schmitz smashed a Dickson delivery on the ground to the right of first baseman Stan Musial, who dived, gloved the ball and, while prone, made a wild toss to Dickson, who was racing Schmitz to the bag. The ball sailed high over Dickson’s head and, as the New York Daily News noted, “the Cubs ran around like rabbits with tails afire.”

Two runners scored on the play, putting the Cubs ahead, 4-2. After Harry Brecheen relieved Dickson, Stan Hack greeted him with a single, scoring two more for a 6-2 lead.

The Cardinals knew the Dodgers lost to the Braves, but they couldn’t rally against Schmitz, who pitched a complete game for the win. Boxscore

“We lost because we played bad ball,” Dyer said to the Associated Press. “Nobody can call it bad luck.”

Happy ending

Back in Brooklyn, the faithful who gathered around the Ebbets Field scoreboard “went into ecstasy” when the final from St. Louis was posted, the Boston Globe reported.

“Hearing how the Cubs went to work on the Cards was like getting a reprieve from the electric chair,” Durocher said to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Cardinals fans trudged out of Sportsman’s Park “wreathed in gloom.”

“They brought cowbells, horns, drums, tin pans and other jingle-jangle equipment to celebrate,” Sid Keener of the St. Louis Star-Times noted, but departed “without a single toot-toot.”

That night, President Truman sent a telegram reply to Mort Cooper: “Congratulations, Mort. You did a better job than I did.”

Two days later, on Oct. 1, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers, 4-2, in the opener of the playoff series at St. Louis. Howie Pollet pitched a complete game and Joe Garagiola contributed two RBI and three hits. Boxscore

The Cardinals clinched the pennant on Oct. 3 in Brooklyn with an 8-4 victory. Murry Dickson started and got the win. Boxscore

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers | 4 Comments »

Joe Hague and his walkoff grand slam for Cardinals

September 24, 2021 by retrosimba

Joe Hague experienced a shining moment late in a bleak season with the Cardinals.

On Sept. 24, 1971, Hague hit a 10th-inning walkoff grand slam, giving the Cardinals a 10-6 victory over the Expos.

A left-handed batter who was the Cardinals’ Opening Day first baseman for three consecutive seasons (1970-72), Hague did his best hitting against the Expos.

Decision time

A son of a career military man, Hague was born in Huntington, W.Va., and grew up in El Paso, Texas. After excelling in multiple high school sports, he played football and baseball as a freshman at the University of Texas.

Football coach Darrell Royal wanted him to quit baseball, Hague told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Instead, he quit football.

“I had to make a decision that season,” Hague recalled to the Montreal Gazette. “I was playing defensive end in football and weighed 218, but I had a lot to learn. I figured the minuses were greater for me in football and I gave that up to concentrate on baseball. It was a difficult decision.”

Hague played varsity baseball for coach Bibb Falk, a former big-leaguer. He led Texas in hitting in 1965, but was overlooked in the major league draft. “I was so musclebound,” Hague explained to the Post-Dispatch, “I couldn’t pull the ball.”

In the summer of 1965, Hague slimmed down and played for Galesburg in the Central Illinois Collegiate League. He led the league in batting average, home runs and RBI, drawing the attention of Cardinals scout Fred McAllister. A Stan Musial fan as a kid, Hague signed with the Cardinals in August 1965.

Prospect with power

In his first time at-bat in a regular-season game as a professional in 1966, Hague hit a grand slam for Cedar Rapids, a Class A farm team. The next year, he produced 27 home runs and 95 RBI for Class AA Arkansas.

Warren Spahn was the manager when Hague reported to Class AAA Tulsa in 1968. “I’m really pleased with Hague,” Spahn told the El Paso Herald-Post. “He’s as tough as a bull.”

Hague hit .293 with 23 home runs and 99 RBI for Tulsa, and was rewarded with a promotion to the Cardinals in September 1968. He got into seven games for the National League champions and got his first big-league hit, a home run versus the Dodgers’ Bill Singer. Boxscore

In 1969, Hague, 25, made the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster as a reserve, struggled, got sent back to Tulsa in June, hit .332 and returned to the big leagues in September.

When Mike Shannon needed treatment for a kidney ailment in 1970, the Cardinals moved Dick Allen to third base, opening the first base job for Hague.

Bob Broeg of the Post-Dispatch described Hague as “an intense young man who often tries to squeeze the bat handle into sawdust.”

Besides the pressure he put on himself, Hague felt pressure from the Cardinals’ staff. According to The Sporting News, hitting coach Dick Sisler called Hague “a blockhead because he is receptive to advice but he won’t put it into practice.”

Years later, recalling his Cardinals career, Hague told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “They were always checking weight and had me worrying about it. They changed the way I stood at the plate. You see how high I’m holding the bat here? They wouldn’t let me do that in St. Louis. If I have my hands down, I have a tendency to over-stride.”

Hague played in 139 games for the 1970 Cardinals, making 67 starts at first base, 44 in right field and five in left. He also hit .412 as a pinch-hitter. Overall, Hague hit .271 with 68 RBI, but was ineffective (.190) versus left-handers.

French connection

Hague was the incumbent first baseman in 1971.

Though Ken Boyer replaced Dick Sisler as hitting coach, and the Cardinals contended for a division title, the season was a disappointment for Hague, a frustratingly streaky hitter.

One source of encouragement was the Expos. Against them, Hague played like an all-star. For instance:

_ In 1970, Hague hit .355 in 17 games versus the Expos. His on-base percentage was .452 (22 hits and 11 walks) against them.

_ In 1971, Hague hit .354 in 18 games versus the Expos. His on-base percentage was .419 (23 hits and eight walks) against them.

On May 10, 1971, Hague, batting .169 for the season, hit a pair of home runs versus the Expos’ Steve Renko at Montreal. He barely missed hitting a third. Batting with the bases loaded in the seventh, Hague walloped a Mike Marshall screwball far down the line but foul. Boxscore

Four months later, Hague faced Marshall again with the bases loaded in the 10th inning at St. Louis. He drove Marshall’s first pitch over the wall in right for his first grand slam in the majors.

Hague’s blast was the Cardinals’ only grand slam of the season and the fourth walkoff grand slam in franchise history.

“I was glad to chip in a little bit,” Hague said to the Post-Dispatch. “I haven’t done much this year.”

Expos manager Gene Mauch unsuccessfully tried to get umpires to credit Hague with a single instead of a home run, saying Hague passed Jose Cruz on the basepath when Cruz stopped to shake Hague’s hand as Hague rounded first.

“Anybody who passes a runner doesn’t deserve a home run,” Mauch harrumphed to the Post-Dispatch.

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said, “I told Jose to shake hands at home plate the next time.”

Pennant winner

Hague hit .226 with 16 home runs for the 1971 Cardinals. His batting average against left-handers was .180. Hague made 64 starts at first and 33 in right.

Speculation was the Cardinals might trade him.

“If I had to be traded, I would like to go to Montreal,” Hague said to the Montreal Gazette. “I have always hit well in that park.”

Unmoved, Mauch replied, “It seems he hits .600 against us, so he can’t be hitting anything against the rest of the league. I don’t need that.”

Hague was the Cardinals’ first baseman when the 1972 season opened, but Schoendienst told The Sporting News, “This is going to have to be Hague’s year. He’s probably going to have to make it or break it.”

Hague was hitting .237 on May 19, 1972, when the Cardinals traded him to the Reds for Bernie Carbo.

Noting that Cardinals owner Gussie Busch demanded the trades of Steve Carlton and Jerry Reuss earlier in the year, Hague took a shot on his way out, telling the Post-Dispatch, “Mr. Busch is more concerned about personalities than he is building a winning ballclub.”

The 1972 Reds, a contender in the West Division, had a prominent Cardinals connection. Their general manager, Bob Howsam, was Cardinals general manager when Hague signed with them. Other former Cardinals on the 1972 Reds included Bobby Tolan, Julian Javier, Pedro Borbon and Ed Sprague.

Acquired to be a role player, Hague hit .345 as a pinch-hitter for the 1972 Reds, who won the division title.

In the 1972 National League Championship Series against the Pirates, Hague made three plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, walked twice and struck out.

In the 1972 World Series versus the Athletics, Hague again made three plate appearances as a pinch-hitter and all came against future Hall of Famers.

Hague flied out facing Catfish Hunter in Game 2, and grounded out versus Rollie Fingers in Game 5.

In Game 7, Hague faced Fingers again. Batting with runners on second and third, none out, with the Reds behind by two in the eighth, Hague popped out to shortstop Bert Campaneris. The Athletics won, 3-2. Boxscore

The next year, Hague dislocated his right hand in June, got replaced on the roster by Dan Driessen and never returned to the big leagues.

Hague, 30, played his last season in 1974 in the Mexican League for Yucatan, a club managed by Julian Javier.

After baseball, Hague earned a bachelor’s degree in business and went into commercial real estate in San Antonio, according to the El Paso Times.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 2 Comments »

Cardinals, Browns had a job to do: Help those in need

September 20, 2021 by retrosimba

A week before the Cardinals played in the World Series, they participated with the neighboring Browns in an event to help people in need during the growing economic crisis.

On Sept. 24, 1931, the National League Cardinals and American League Browns played an exhibition game in St. Louis to raise funds for the unemployed.

More than $30,000 was raised for the relief fund of the St. Louis Citizens Committee on Relief and Employment at a time when the Great Depression was gripping the nation.

Desperate times

The stock market crash of October 1929 launched the United States into its worst economic downturn. By 1930, the country’s industrial production dropped in half, leading to severe job loss, and the ensuing panic caused many banks to close.

Adding to the misery were the climate conditions that created the Dust Bowl. A devastating drought hit the Midwest and Great Plains in 1930 and was followed by massive dust storms in 1931.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the nation was at 15.9 percent in December 1931. It was above 20 percent each year from 1932 to 1935, peaking at 24.9 percent in December 1933.

In St. Louis in September 1931, the Citizens Committee on Relief and Employment arranged for the baseball exhibition game for the benefit of the unemployed.

Similar charity games had been played elsewhere that month. On Sept. 9 in New York, an exhibition between the Giants and Yankees netted $60,000 for unemployment relief and another in Chicago between the Cubs and White Sox netted $44,489, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.

Organizers of the St. Louis game said they didn’t expect to raise as much as the bigger metropolises, but they did hope to top the $22,168 netted for a Sept. 23 exhibition in Boston between the Braves and Red Sox.

Financial support

Team owners Sam Breadon of the Cardinals and Phil Ball of the Browns agreed to cover all expenses, so “every nickel of the receipts will be used to aid the needy and unemployed of St. Louis,” Red Smith reported in the St. Louis Star-Times.

“Relief and unemployment bodies are going to need every penny that can be raised,” the Star-Times noted. “Here is a chance to help swell the fund and at the same time get one’s money’s worth of sport.”

A special appeal was made to persons of prominence. An entire box of seats in the first or second row could be bought for $100. A whole box consisted of four or five seats.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $100 in September 1931 is the equivalent of $1,820 in 2021.

On the eve of the game, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported 61 boxes were sold at $100 each.

The game was played at 3 p.m. on a cool, overcast Thursday afternoon. “It felt more like football weather,” the Star-Times observed.

A crowd of 20,237 showed up at Sportsman’s Park. All except 13 were paid admission. The 13 who got in for free were telegraph operators assigned to work the press box, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.

Citizens Committee chairman Tom K. Smith estimated the threatening skies kept another 5,000 spectators from attending.

The mood was festive. “They came with cowbells and paper horns and lusty throats,” the Globe-Democrat reported. “Hundreds of women fans arranged in fall finery turned the stands into a bright mosaic.”

Sid Keener of the Star-Times noted, “The patrons were keyed up to a high pitch.” The underdog Browns “received as much applause and genuine rooting” as the Cardinals.

City champs

St. Louis mayor Victor Miller was tasked with tossing the ceremonial first pitch and “threw two bad ones; Jimmie Wilson, Cardinals catcher, reaching into the dirt to get one. The mayor also missed Wilson’s return throw,” the Globe-Democrat dutifully reported.

The Cardinals were designated the home team by a flip of a coin.

A week earlier, the Cardinals clinched the National League pennant. On the day of the exhibition game, their season record was 98-53, with three games remaining before the World Series began on Oct. 1 versus the Athletics. The Browns were 60-90, with four left to play, and were headed for a fifth-place finish, 45 games behind the Athletics.

The starting pitchers were spitball specialist Burleigh Grimes, 38, for the Cardinals and Dick Coffman, 24, for the Browns.

As Red Smith noted in the Star-Times, “There was little charity in the Cardinals’ hearts or bats for Dick Coffman.”

With the help of two errors by Browns first baseman Jack Burns, the Cardinals scored four runs in the first against Coffman, who was relieved by Lefty Stewart before the inning ended.

Stewart, who led the 1931 Browns in wins (14), shut out the Cardinals for 8.2 innings, limiting them to four hits.

Grimes held the Browns scoreless until they rallied for six runs against him in the fifth. The Browns scored another run in the seventh against Flint Rhem and won, 7-4. Goose Goslin had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored for the Browns.

The game, played in a snappy 1:56, ended with redemption for Jack Burns, who “made a spectacular diving catch” of Frankie Frisch’s bid for a double down the first-base line, the Globe-Democrat reported.

Daunting task

“The Browns gained the city baseball title for 1931 and the poor of St. Louis gained thousands of dollars,” Red Smith wrote in the Star-Times.

A total of $30,250 from ticket sales went into the relief fund of the Citizens Committee. That amount is the equivalent of $550,556 in 2021. Another $290 was donated by Browns and Cardinals players, the Globe-Democrat reported.

Citizens Committee chairman Tom K. Smith said, “The community responded much more nobly than any of us expected at the start and the committee is deeply grateful. It is a magnificent showing.

“Large as the sum is, it is but a pittance to what the burden of caring for the needy and unemployed will call for during the ensuing winter,” Tom Smith added. “The sum realized here today will meet the relief demands on the Citizens Committee for about 10 days. This will give the public some idea of the magnitude of the task before us.”

The unemployment rate didn’t drop below 10 percent until December 1941, the month the nation entered World War II, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By December 1944, the unemployment rate was at 1.2 percent.

As for the 1931 Cardinals, they went on to win the World Series championship. After getting stung by the Browns in the charity game, Burleigh Grimes excelled in the World Series, winning the third and seventh games.

 

Posted in Games | 4 Comments »

Jackie Collum stood tall in debut with Cardinals

September 17, 2021 by retrosimba

After pitcher Jackie Collum made an impressive debut in the majors, the Cardinals literally couldn’t wait for the encore.

On Sept. 21, 1951, Collum pitched a two-hit shutout and got the win against the Cubs in his first game in the big leagues.

The next night, Collum pitched two innings in relief and got the loss against the Cubs.

A diminutive left-hander, Collum craved heavy duty, and the Cardinals obliged.

Big talent

An Iowa native, Collum was born in Victor and grew up in Newburg, near Grinnell.

The middle finger of his left hand became disfigured when he was a boy.

“I got that when I was 4 years old,” Collum told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “My hand was caught in a pulley while we were making hay on our farm.”

The damaged digit didn’t prevent him from succeeding in athletics, nor did his size. As Bob Husted of the Cincinnati Enquirer put it, “Jackie was born in Iowa where the corn grows tall, but he didn’t.”

Collum reached a height of “almost 5 feet 7,” the Rochester Democrat-Chronicle noted.

He served in the Army during World War II for two years, including 19 months in the Pacific. After his discharge, Collum got a tryout with the Cardinals, who gave him a contract and told him to report to their minor-league spring training camp at Albany, Ga., in 1947.

Bob Stanton, manager of the Cardinals’ Class C affiliate at St. Joseph, Mo., liked Collum and recruited him for his team.

Forming a battery with catcher Vern Rapp, a future Cardinals manager, Collum was 15-11 for St. Joseph in 1947. A left-handed batter, Collum played outfield on some days he didn’t pitch. He produced 47 hits and a .388 batting average.

Right stuff

Back with St. Joseph in 1948, Collum won his first 16 decisions and finished the regular season with a 24-2 record and 2.47 ERA. He also batted .280 with 40 hits.

His reward from the Cardinals was an invitation to pitch batting practice at their big-league spring training camp in St. Petersburg, Fla., in 1949 before reporting to the minor-league training site.

Collum accepted and became a protege of Cardinals pitcher Harry Brecheen, who taught him how to throw a screwball.

Before Collum departed the big-league camp, Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer gave him a chance to pitch in an exhibition game against the Yankees on March 13. Collum struck out Joe DiMaggio with the bases loaded, the Post-Dispatch reported.

Two years later, in 1951, Collum, in his fifth season in the minors, pitched for manager Johnny Keane at Class AAA Rochester and was 15-8 with a 2.80 ERA.

“I can think of 25 pitchers in the majors who aren’t as good as he is today,” Keane told the Rochester Democrat-Chronicle. “He’s one of the finest competitors among pitchers I’ve ever seen. He’s got it inside.”

On Sept. 17, 1951, the Cardinals called up Collum, 24, to the majors.

Overtime duty

Four days later, on Sept. 21, Cardinals manager Marty Marion made a last-minute decision to give Gerry Staley a rest and start Collum in that night’s game against the Cubs at St. Louis.

The only hits Collum surrendered were an infield single by Bob Ramazzotti in the third and a soft single to center by Eddie Miksis in the sixth.

Collum walked three in the first four innings and two in the ninth, but was aided by a defense that turned four double plays.

“I was in a bit of a daze,” Collum told the Post-Dispatch. “I usually have pretty good control.”

Collum also singled twice and scored twice against Cubs starter Frank Hiller. Boxscore

The following night, Sept. 22, the score was tied 5-5 when Marion brought in Collum to pitch the ninth. He retired the side in order, but the Cubs scored against him in the 10th, handing Collum the loss 24 hours after his shutout. Boxscore

Compared to today’s standards of pitch counts and cautious care, using Collum in relief the night after he pitched a shutout seems outrageous. It’s possible, though, Collum wanted the work.

Cardinals broadcaster and former catcher Gus Mancuso told Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News, “He looks like a high school pitcher, but he’s got twice as much heart as the average big man.”

Birdie Tebbetts, who later managed Collum with the 1954-55 Reds, said to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “I’ve never seen a ballplayer with more desire than Collum. He isn’t much larger than a short beer, but he’s got the guts of a burglar. Nothing scares him. He keeps himself in wonderful condition. He loves to pitch and would be in there every day if such a thing were possible.”

After his back-to-back appearances, Collum pitched in one other game for the 1951 Cardinals. On Sept. 29, he started against the Cubs at Chicago, pitched six innings and got the win. Boxscore

He pitched a career-high 239 innings in 1951 _ 222 for Rochester and 17 for the Cardinals.

Traveling man

After his busy 1951 season, Collum went directly to Cuba to play winter baseball. From Cuba, he reported to Cardinals spring training camp in 1952 and showed up “about 30 pounds underweight, tipping the scales at 136 pounds,” the St. Joseph News-Press reported.

Collum opened the regular season with the Cardinals, but was returned to the minors after two relief appearances.

The Cardinals brought back Collum to open the 1953 season, but traded him to the Reds in May for pitcher Eddie Erautt. When Collum arrived in the Reds’ clubhouse, they didn’t have a uniform that fit him, so he borrowed a bat boy’s baseball pants, The Sporting News reported.

On July 11, 1954, in a 6-5 Reds victory over the Braves, the shortest pitcher in the league, Collum, got the win, and the tallest pitcher in the league, 6-foot-8 Gene Conley, took the loss. Boxscore

In three seasons (1953-55) as a spot starter and reliever with the Reds, Collum was 23-22 with four saves.

In January 1956, Frank Lane made his first trade as Cardinals general manager, sending pitchers Brooks Lawrence and Sonny Senerchia to the Reds for Collum.

Lane described Collum to United Press as “a courageous little guy and all-around good performer.”

Collum was 6-2 with seven saves for the 1956 Cardinals. After the season, they traded him to the Cubs. He pitched briefly for the Cubs, Dodgers, Twins and Indians, but spent most of the remainder of his baseball career in the minors.

In nine seasons in the majors, Collum was 32-28 with 12 saves. He hit .246 with a home run, a three-run shot for the Reds at the Polo Grounds against the Giants’ Ruben Gomez. Boxscore

Against the Cardinals, Collum was 5-5 with a save and hit .250.

Posted in Games, Pitchers | 2 Comments »

A bad twist at the end of a big season for Sparky Adams

September 14, 2021 by retrosimba

In a bid to win an extra $30 in a baseball version of a track and field meet, Cardinals third baseman Sparky Adams paid a high price, costing himself playing time in the World Series.

On Sept. 20, 1931, Adams injured an ankle in a base-circling contest before a game against the Dodgers at St. Louis.

Adams, who led the 1931 Cardinals in hits, runs and doubles, sat out the final six games of the regular season and also was sidelined for five of the seven games of the World Series.

Small and fast

Born in Zerbe, Pa., a coal mining region, Earl John Adams was an undersized, but athletic, youth.

“My size, or lack of it, has been a tremendous handicap since boyhood,” Adams told The Sporting News. “Ever since I can remember, it has been, ‘You’re too small for this and you’re not big enough for that.’ Naturally, I resented it, and my resentment made me more determined to do the things I wanted to do.”

Nicknamed “Rabbit” because he was small and fast, Adams developed into a prospect and was signed by Cardinals scout Pop Kelchner. 

A half-inch under 5 feet 5, Adams, 25, reported to Danville, Va., for his first full season in the minors in 1920.

“The manager was disappointed when he saw me,” Adams told The Sporting News. “He asked if I’d brought my nursing bottle. One of the regulars said he would show me to my room and bed. He took me to a linen closet in the hotel and opened a drawer for me.”

Adams opened some narrow minds with his performance on the field. Playing shortstop, he produced 157 hits, including 33 doubles, in 119 games for Danville. He batted .326 with 98 RBI and 20 stolen bases.

Kid stuff

According to The Sporting News, Cardinals manager Branch Rickey was watching a group of rookies at spring training camp at Orange, Texas, in 1921 when he spotted a person he thought was a boy playing shortstop.

“Tell that bat boy to get out of the infield,” Rickey said to starting shortstop Doc Lavan.

Lavan replied, “That’s not a bat boy, Mr. Rickey. That’s Earl Adams.”

Adams came over to Rickey, who said, “Do you think you’re a shortstop?”

“Yes, sir,” Adams replied.

Rickey said, “I’m afraid you’re too small. Not enough weight. You’d never stand up under a season of play. You’d be skin and bones.”

“Try me,” Adams said.

Adams remained in camp and was put through a series of rigorous daily drills. His weight dropped from 158 pounds to 137, The Sporting News reported.

“Young fellow, I knew you were too small for the majors leagues,” Rickey told him.

Adams played in the minors for Syracuse in 1921 and for Wichita Falls (Texas) in 1922. In June 1922, he was acquired by the Cubs.

Name game

Adams was 28 when he made his big-league debut with the Cubs on Sept. 18, 1922, against the Dodgers at Brooklyn. Starting at second base, he singled twice versus future Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance. Boxscore

Three years later, when Rabbit Maranville became Cubs manager in July 1925, he met with Adams and, according to The Sporting News, said to him, “Say, Rabbit, we can’t have two Rabbits on this club … You’re a regular little sparkplug. So, from now on, you’re Sparky.”

The name stuck.

In November 1927, the Cubs sent Adams to the Pirates in a swap involving another future Hall of Famer, Kiki Cuyler. Two years later, the Cardinals purchased Adams’ contract from the Pirates.

In 1930, Adams, starting at third base, hit .314 with 36 doubles for the National League champions.

“He’s a darned pest at the plate,” Reds pitcher Red Adams told The Sporting News. “I’d rather pitch to Hack Wilson or Rogers Hornsby any time.”

Down and out

After losing four of six games to the Athletics in the 1930 World Series, the Cardinals came back and won the pennant again in 1931, clinching on Sept. 16.

Four days later, before a Sunday home game against the Dodgers, the teams staged a track and field meet. The promotional event featured a couple of 75-yard dashes, a bunt-and-run contest, a base-circling competition and a throwing contest, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported.

The players were competing for prizes totaling $240 cash, three radios and an automobile tire.

Adams, 37, won the bunt-and-run contest. After bunting a pitch, he scooted from the batter’s box to first base in 3.4 seconds, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

Trying to win $30 more in the base-circling competition, Adams was rounding first when he pulled up lame with a severely sprained left ankle.

Rookie Ray Cunningham started at third in place of Adams that day. The Cardinals’ catcher was their manager, Gabby Street, 10 days away from turning 49 and playing in a big-league game for the first time in 19 years. Boxscore

Andy High, a veteran utility player, started at third for the Cardinals in the final five games of the regular season.

Reserve strength

Adams, the smallest Cardinal, led the 1931 club in hits (178), runs (97) and doubles (a league-best 48). He also had the best fielding percentage among National League third basemen.

The Cardinals hoped his ankle would heal in time for him to play in the World Series, a rematch against the Athletics, but Andy High started at third in Game 1 on Oct. 1.

Another veteran backup, Jake Flowers, was the starter at third in Game 2.

With Lefty Grove pitching for the Athletics in Game 3, Adams, who hit .337 against left-handers during the season, returned to the lineup.

In the fifth, Adams fielded Bing Miller’s sharp grounder, but “limped painfully” after making the force play at second and was replaced the next inning by Flowers. Boxscore

Flowers started at third in Game 4 and Adams was back for Game 5. He led off the game with a single versus Waite Hoyt but couldn’t continue. Boxscore

Adams was done for the Series. After Flowers started Game 6, High was in the lineup for Game 7. High had three hits and scored twice, helping the Cardinals to a 4-2 victory and the championship. Boxscore

Adams was slowed by a knee injury in 1932. In May 1933, he was traded to the Reds in a deal that brought shortstop Leo Durocher to the Cardinals.

In 13 seasons in the majors, Adams batted .286 with 1,588 hits. For the Cardinals, Adams had 397 hits in 319 games and batted .297.

 

Posted in Games, Hitters | 4 Comments »

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