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How Ted Simmons started for both sides as all-star

June 28, 2021 by retrosimba

Ted Simmons was the first catcher to start All-Star Games for both the National League and American League.

Simmons was the starting catcher for the National League all-stars when he was with the Cardinals in 1978. He was the starting catcher for the American League all-stars when he was with the Brewers in 1983.

Named an all-star eight times, Simmons played as a reserve in three games (1973, 1977 and 1981) and did not get into games after being selected in 1972, 1974 and 1979. Simmons was voted the 1979 National League starting catcher by the fans, but was unable to play because of a broken left wrist.

Ted’s turn

The Reds’ Johnny Bench was the starting catcher for the National League in every All-Star Game from 1969-77. In 1978, fans voted for Bench to be the starter again, but a bad back kept him from playing in the July 11 game at San Diego.

Bench received 2,442,201 votes in fan balloting. The other top vote-getters among National League catchers in 1978 were the Dodgers’ Steve Yeager (1,952,494), the Phillies’ Bob Boone (1,842,080) and Simmons (1,815,712).

Of the four, Simmons was producing the best. He entered the all-star break with a .311 batting average and 10 home runs. Bench (.224, 11 homers), Boone (.258, seven homers) and Yeager (.189, two homers) were not as good.

Asked for his opinion of the all-star voting by fans, Simmons told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’d be lying if I said I did like it, but I don’t want to sound like sour-graping because everything that has come to Johnny Bench, he’s earned.”

National League manager Tommy Lasorda chose Simmons, Boone and the Braves’ Biff Pocoroba (.262, four homers) as all-star catchers, and named Simmons the starter. Before Simmons in 1978, the last catcher other than Bench to start for the National League in an All-Star Game was the Mets’ Jerry Grote in 1968.

Simmons was the first Cardinals catcher to start an All-Star Game since Walker Cooper in 1944.

Check it out

Asked about being an all-star starter, Simmons told the Post-Dispatch, “There’s nothing to match it.”

In the top of the first inning, with the Giants’ Vida Blue pitching, Simmons caught the Mariners’ Richie Zisk attempting to steal.

Batting sixth in the order, Simmons came to the plate with runners on first and second, none out, in the second against the Orioles’ Jim Palmer.

“Tough man at the plate,” said ABC-TV broadcaster Keith Jackson.

Broadcast partner Howard Cosell called Simmons “the most underpublicized exceptional hitter in baseball … I love to watch Ted Simmons hit.”

Expecting to get pitches to hit, Simmons swung exceptionally hard. “I thought I might get me a tater,” he said, explaining his home run cut.

Simmons drilled a pitch and “nearly removed the ankles from first base umpire Nestor Chylak with a nasty line drive barely outside the foul line,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Perhaps too eager to hit another hard, Simmons struck out, making him 0-for-5 in All-Star Game plate appearances.

Simmons got another chance in the third. With two outs, he again came up with runners on first and second against the Athletics’ Matt Keough, who relieved Palmer.

Fooled by a pitch, Simmons checked his swing but still connected. The ball bounced along the third-base line, “a gentle trickle placed well enough even for Simmons, no gazelle, to leg it out,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

The infield single loaded the bases.

“My first all-star hit,” Simmons said with a grin. “I’ll take it. They could roll it out there if they wanted.”

Simmons got one more at-bat in the game. Leading off the sixth against the Brewers’ Lary Sorensen, Simmons took another big swing and hit a soft liner to the Red Sox’s Dwight Evans in right for an out.

Boone replaced Simmons in the seventh.

The National League won, 7-3, for its 15th victory in the last 16 All-Star Games. Asked about the dominance, Simmons told the Post-Dispatch, “The National League has the better players.” Boxscore and Game Video

Play to win

Two years later, in December 1980, Simmons and Sorensen were swapped in a multi-player trade between the Cardinals and Brewers.

Like Bench had done in the National League, Carlton Fisk dominated fan balloting for catcher in the American League.

Fisk was the American League all-star starting catcher every year from 1977-82, with the exception of 1979, when the Royals’ Darrell Porter started. Fisk was with the Red Sox until becoming a free agent and joining the White Sox in 1981.

In 1983, Simmons got the all-star start because he was the top vote-getter among American League catchers in fan balloting. He got the support because he was hitting .307 with six home runs at the all-star break and had played for the American League champions the previous year.

The top vote-getters were Simmons (946,254), the Tigers’ Lance Parrish (824,741), Fisk (870,342) and another former National Leaguer, the Angels’ Bob Boone (610,559).

Parrish was batting .304 with eight home runs at the all-star break. Fisk (.250, nine homers) and Boone (.251, three homers) were not as good with the bat.

Played on July 6, 1983, at Comiskey Park in Chicago, the All-Star Game had its 50-year anniversary. The National League team was managed by the Cardinals’ Whitey Herzog, who made the trade of Simmons to the Brewers.

Simmons batted twice in the game. He grounded out to pitcher Mario Soto of the Reds in the first and popped out to second against the Giants’ Atlee Hammaker in the third before being replaced by Parrish.

The American League won, 13-3, snapping an 11-game losing streak. Boxscore and Game Video

“These guys wanted to win this game,” Simmons said to The Capital Times of Madison, Wis. “You could see it in peoples’ faces. Instead of guys saying, ‘I want out of the game. I’m going to play my three innings and go,’ they wanted to stick around.

“There were a number of former National League players who had been all-stars, like Bob Boone, Dave Winfield and myself, who tried to generate that, ‘Hey, let’s win the game,’ attitude.”

Posted in Games, Hitters | 4 Comments »

How Gary Blaylock turned into slugger for Cardinals

June 25, 2021 by retrosimba

Pitcher Gary Blaylock hit two home runs for the Cardinals and he did it in consecutive at-bats.

On May 12, 1959, in his final at-bat of the game, Blaylock hit a two-run home run against Reds reliever Jim O’Toole.

Four days later, on May 16, Blaylock took his next at-bat, against Phillies starter Jim Owens, and hit another two-run home run.

The home runs in consecutive at-bats were the only ones Blaylock hit in the majors. The 1959 season, Blaylock’s lone year as a big-league player, was split between the Cardinals and Yankees.

Long wait

Blaylock was born in the Missouri Bootheel, the southeasternmost part of the state, in the town of Clarkton, and grew up on a farm in nearby Malden.

A right-hander, he developed his arm strength milking cows, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Blaylock was 18 when he signed with the Cardinals in 1950.

Blaylock spent nine seasons in the Cardinals’ farm system. He had success, winning 23 for Johnson City in 1951 and 14 for Rochester in 1958, for instance. The Sporting News noted he “has appeared close to stardom at times,” but Blaylock repeatedly was passed over for a spot in the big leagues.

“We always have considered him a fine prospect,” Cardinals general manager Bing Devine told The Sporting News, “but he was young and found it difficult to control his temper. He fought himself and was, by and large, a thrower instead of a pitcher.”

The Cardinals liked what they saw of Blaylock, 27, at spring training in 1959. 

“He has matured,” Devine said. “He’s a pitcher now.”

Cardinals manager Solly Hemus told The Sporting News, “I’ll bet that if the state of the ballclub permits the use of Gary every fourth day, he’ll win 12 games. If he is used only in spots and not as a regular starter, he’ll win at least seven.”

On the run

The Cardinals opened the 1959 season with a starting rotation of Larry Jackson, Ernie Broglio, Vinegar Bend Mizell and Lindy McDaniel. Hemus said rookies Blaylock and Bob Gibson would be relievers and sport starters.

After waiting since 1950 to reach the big leagues, Blaylock made his debut on Opening Day at St. Louis, but not as a pitcher. He entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch-runner for Stan Musial, and it was quite an adventure.

Taking a big lead in anticipation of a hit-and-run play, Blaylock became trapped when Giants pitcher Johnny Antonelli made a pickoff throw to first.

“All I could think of _ and I thought of a lot in a split second _ was, ‘My gosh, I’ve been in baseball 10 years, waiting to get into a big-league game, and now look what I’ve done,’ ” Blaylock told the Post-Dispatch.

Blaylock made a desperate dash toward second. A throw to shortstop Andre Rodgers, covering second, arrived ahead of the runner, but Blaylock made a belated slide, eluded “a slow, careless tag” by Rodgers, and was called safe, The Sporting News reported.

Blaylock advanced to third on a groundout and scored on an Alex Grammas single. Boxscore

Hot and cold

Six days later, on April 16, Blaylock pitched in a big-league game for the first time. Appearing in relief against the Dodgers at Los Angeles, Blaylock tossed two scoreless innings, retiring all six batters he faced. Boxscore

Hemus rewarded him with a start against the Cubs at Chicago on April 21. Blaylock pitched a complete game, but the Cubs won, 1-0, behind Glen Hobbie’s one-hitter. Musial got the Cardinals’ lone hit, a double with two outs in the seventh. Sammy Taylor drove in the Cubs’ run in the second. Boxscore

In May, Hemus put Blaylock in the starting rotation. On May 12 at St. Louis, he held the Reds scoreless for five innings. With the Cardinals ahead 5-0, Blaylock hit a two-run home run deep into the seats in left-center in the bottom of the fifth.

“I’ve always been a fair hitter,” Blaylock told the Post-Dispatch.

He pitched 6.2 innings for the win, but was lifted before he had another at-bat. Boxscore

In his next appearance, a start versus the Phillies at St. Louis, Blaylock broke a scoreless tie with a two-run home run in his first at-bat of the game in the third. Blaylock went the distance and got the win, boosting his record to 3-1. Boxscore

After that, Blaylock’s season unraveled. He never won another start and was sent to the bullpen in the middle of June. In July, the Cardinals put him on waivers and the Yankees claimed him.

In 26 appearances for the 1959 Cardinals, Blaylock was 4-5 with a 5.13 ERA. He was 3-4 as a starter and 1-1 in relief. As a batter, Blaylock was 4-for-34 with 17 strikeouts.

Blaylock was an effective reliever for the 1959 Yankees. He had a 2.59 ERA in 14 relief appearances for them. A highlight came on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium when he pitched five scoreless innings and drove in Norm Siebern with a double. Boxscore

Shelled in his one start, against the Tigers, Blaylock finished the season 0-1 with a 3.50 ERA for the Yankees.

Nurturing talent

Blaylock pitched in the Yankees’ farm system from 1960-63, then moved into managing. He was a minor-league manager for the Yankees and Royals.

In 1971, when Blaylock managed the Royals’ farm team in Billings, Mont., his shortstop was George Brett, 18, who was in his first season as a professional. According to the Kansas City Star, Blaylock said he wasn’t convinced Brett “had enough arm to be a top-flight shortstop” and moved him to third.

“I was thoroughly impressed with him as a kid and as a guy that liked to play,” Blaylock said, “but I wasn’t impressed to the point that I thought he’d be a star.”

Blaylock also served as a scout and minor-league pitching instructor for the Royals. He mentored pitching prospects Bret Saberhagen, Danny Jackson and Mark Gubicza.

“He understands me more than anybody except my family,” Gubicza told the Kansas City Star.

The Royals named Blaylock pitching coach on the staff of manager Dick Howser in 1984. Blaylock succeeded another former Cardinal, Cloyd Boyer.

Blaylock was Royals pitching coach from 1984-87.

His coaching highlight came in 1985 when the Royals became World Series champions, defeating the Cardinals.

Royals pitchers limited the Cardinals to 13 runs in seven games. Saberhagen was 2-0 with an 0.50 ERA and won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award. He also was the recipient of the 1985 American League Cy Young Award.

Note: Special thanks to Cardinals researcher Tom Orf for providing the inspiration to research and write this post.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Pitchers | 4 Comments »

Why Cards made Rogers Hornsby Opening Day outfielder

June 22, 2021 by retrosimba

Before he settled in as a second baseman, Rogers Hornsby was moved all over the field by the Cardinals. The one constant amid the shuffling was Hornsby’s hitting.

In 1921, Hornsby was the Cardinals’ Opening Day left fielder. Before then, Hornsby had taken turns as the Cardinals’ starter at shortstop, third base, second and first.

His stint as an outfielder didn’t last long. Moved back to second base, Hornsby went on to have his peak seasons with the Cardinals.

Multiple moves

Hornsby made his major-league debut with the Cardinals in 1915. He played in 18 games, all at shortstop, after he was called up from the minors in September. At St. Louis on Sept. 30, the starting shortstops were a field of dreams matchup: Hornsby, 19, and Honus Wagner, 41, on the same field for the first time. Boxscore

In 1916, manager Miller Huggins made Hornsby the Cardinals’ Opening Day shortstop, but shifted him to third base in May. Hornsby started 79 games at third, 44 at short and 14 at first base for the 1916 Cardinals.

Hornsby was back at shortstop for Huggins in 1917 and stayed there all season, but he committed 52 errors. The next year, when Jack Hendricks managed the Cardinals, Hornsby made 46 errors at shortstop in a season shortened because of World War I.

Branch Rickey was Cardinals manager in 1919. He opened the season with Hornsby at shortstop, but shifted him to third base in June. Hornsby made 71 starts at third base in 1919, 36 at shortstop, 26 at second base and five at first.

In 1920, Hornsby opened a season at second base for the first time and remained there all year. Perhaps it is no coincidence that he led the National League in hitting (.370), on-base percentage (.431), hits (218), total bases (329), doubles (44), RBI (94) and extra-base hits (73).

In the foreword of Hornsby’s autobiography, “My War With Baseball,” a contemporary, Casey Stengel, said, “Most people, when they talk about Hornsby, just talk about his hitting. Well, he was just amazing on the double play, terrific as a runner, and his judgment on the field was keen.”

First rate at 2nd

Cardinals third baseman Milt Stock also had a big season in 1920, batting .319 with 204 hits. Unhappy with the Cardinals’ contract offer, Stock sat out spring training in 1921.

Uncertain when, or if, Stock would end his holdout, manager Branch Rickey planned to open the season with Hornsby at third base and rookie Specs Toporcer at second. Toporcer is believed to be the first player other than a pitcher to wear eyeglasses in a major-league game.

The lineup plan changed on the eve of the season opener when Stock signed with the Cardinals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Rickey’s 1921 Opening Day lineup had Stock at third, Toporcer at second and Hornsby in left field. Until then, Hornsby’s outfield experience in the big leagues consisted of three games in 1918. Boxscore

Hornsby started in left in the Cardinals’ first six games of the season, made no errors and hit .391.

Rickey “is highly pleased with the splendid showing Rogers Hornsby has made” as an outfielder, the St. Louis Star-Times reported. “Hornsby is delighted with his transfer … He has always aspired to hold down an outfield berth.”

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat noted Hornsby “has made some pretty plays in the pasture.”

At second base, Toporcer hit .300 in the Cardinals’ first six games, turned four double plays and made two errors.

The Cardinals, though, lost five of their first six games and were held to two runs or less in three of the defeats. Rickey wanted to get outfielder Les Mann’s bat into the lineup, so he opened a spot by moving Hornsby to second and benching Toporcer.

“It is firmly believed Hornsby’s potency will rate higher if he is given one position on the diamond, a permanent one,” the Globe-Democrat suggested.

Sticking primarily to second base for the rest of the 1921 season, Hornsby led the National League in hitting (.397), on-base percentage (.458), runs (131), hits (235), total bases (378), doubles (44), triples (18), RBI (126) and extra-base hits (83). He struck out a mere 48 times in 674 plate appearances.

He never again played in the outfield.

After the 1920 season, the Giants offered $200,000 and four players for Hornsby, The Sporting News reported. The Cardinals said they would make the deal only if second baseman Frankie Frisch was one of the players they received. The Giants, “suffering from shock” from the Cardinals’ rejection, said they wouldn’t trade Frisch for Hornsby even up, according to The Sporting News.

Staying primarily at second base, Hornsby became the Cardinals’ all-time best right-handed hitter. As player-manager in 1926, he led them to their first World Series championship.

After a falling out with Cardinals owner Sam Breadon, Hornsby was traded to the Giants _ for Frankie Frisch and pitcher Jimmy Ring.

Posted in Games, Hitters | 4 Comments »

Smooth as silk, Cardinals sidestepped slipping on satin

June 19, 2021 by retrosimba

The Cardinals decided nights in red satin weren’t for them.

In 1946, the Cardinals planned to take a bold departure from their traditional look. They bought red satin uniforms to wear during night road games.

When it came time to don the shiny red fabric in a game, however, the Cardinals backed out and stuck with their flannels.

Pajama game

Satin baseball uniforms made a sensation at the American Association All-Star Game at Toledo in 1938. The minor-league all-stars, including Ted Williams, wore red, white and blue satin uniforms for the night game, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In the 1940s, with night games becoming more commonplace, a few National League teams decided to try satin uniforms because the material reflected the ballpark lights.

Satin is a fabric weave that produces a smooth, soft, glossy material with a luxurious look. It is made of silk, polyester or nylon.

According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Dodgers, Braves and Reds experimented with satin uniforms in the 1940s.

Innovative executive Branch Rickey chose to have the Dodgers wear satin uniforms in 1944. The former Cardinals administrator got the idea from watching All-American Girls Professional Softball League teams play in satin uniforms under the lights in 1943, Newspaper Enterprise Association reported.

Rickey planned for the 1944 Dodgers to wear white satin uniforms with blue piping for night home games, and blue satin uniforms with white piping for night road games.

“Rickey decided to make Them Beautiful Bums even more colorful,” Newspaper Enterprise Association declared.

United Press described the Dodgers’ outfits as “satin pajamas” and “Little Lord Fauntleroy uniforms.” 

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called the uniforms “satin nightgowns” and rated the home whites as looking better than the road blues. “The flashy white undies with the blue stripes stood out particularly well,” the Brooklyn newspaper noted.

According to Brooklyn Daily Eagle columnist Tommy Holmes, “The players were expecting a lot of razzing from the wisecrackers, but witticisms from the cash customers were conspicuous by their absence.”

Newspaper Enterprise Association concluded, “The next thing you know they’ll be playing baseball without spikes and with chewing tobacco checked in the clubhouse.”

Fashion faux pas

Two years later, in 1946, the Cardinals purchased bright red satin uniforms for road night games, The Sporting News reported, but the duds never got worn by the big-leaguers.

The St. Louis Star-Times reported Cardinals players “refused to wear” the satins. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat claimed the Cardinals “considered the new satin suits too effeminate.” According to The Sporting News, manager Eddie Dyer determined “the uniforms were too fancy for the Cardinals.”

The Cardinals sold the red satins to Fred C. Steffens, a St. Louis sportsman, who donated the brand-new uniforms to the North Side Teen Town baseball team of St. Louis, the Star-Times reported.

On June 12, 1946, Cardinals pitcher Ken Burkhart presented the uniforms to the youth team at St. Louis’ Sherman Park.

Comfortable in their own skin, as well as in their familiar uniforms, the Cardinals went on to win the 1946 National League pennant and beat the Red Sox for the World Series championship.

Sharp-dressed men

While the 1946 Cardinals balked at wearing satin, the 1946 Braves embraced the idea.

On May 11, 1946, the Braves debuted their satin uniforms in a Saturday night home game against the Giants. It was the first time a big-league night game was played in Boston. Boxscore

The Boston Globe described the Braves’ outfits as “a slithery uniform of white satin with scarlet piping, which shine like lingerie in a department store window.”

Among the Braves swathed in satin were a group of former Cardinals, including manager Billy Southworth, center fielder Johnny Hopp and first baseman Ray Sanders. “A sight to behold,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch declared.

The Reds wore satin uniforms in 1948. After playing the Cardinals on a steamy Friday night in St. Louis on July 9, the Reds switched to gray flannels the following night.

According to The Sporting News, Reds players “complained the satins were too uncomfortable during the sweltering heat.”

After Reds general manager Warren Giles, acting on the recommendation of manager Johnny Neun, approved the scrapping of satin for flannel for the Saturday, July 10 game, “the fancy monkey suits went out.” the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Soon after, satin uniforms, like top hats and knickers, faded out of style.

Posted in Executives, Games, Opponents | 3 Comments »

Cardinals hoped Vitamin B1 would make them A1 team

June 16, 2021 by retrosimba

Popeye the Sailor had his spinach. The Cardinals had Vitamin B1 tablets.

In 1941, Cardinals owner Sam Breadon became convinced Vitamin B1 would enhance the performance of his players.

According to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Breadon bought 5,000 Vitamin B1 capsules to distribute to his players during spring training and the regular season.

In a popular comic strip at the time. Popeye boasted, “I’m strong to the finish because I eats me spinach.”

Spinach contains many nutrients, including Vitamin B1, also known as thiamine, but rather than load up on the greens, Breadon opted for the pills.

Getting a boost

Vitamin B1 was produced in tablet form starting in 1936. According to specialists at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, “the tablets have been used frequently in England to quiet war nerves,” The Sporting News explained. “Furthermore, the pills are said to be effective in aiding eyesight.”

The Cardinals wanted their players to take B1 “because this vitamin has shown great effectiveness in aiding the relief of nervousness, indigestion and the lack of energy,” the Globe-Democrat reported, “and therefore should help build up the players’ health, poise and staying qualities.”

Breadon, 65, was described as “a vitamin enthusiast” who “believes Vitamin B1 is just the thing for the athletes to help build up their appetites, health and the resistance they need for the physical effort they put forth,” according to the Globe-Democrat.

According to United Press, Breadon called B1 the “morale vitamin.”

Pep talk

When Cardinals players arrived for 1941 spring training at St. Petersburg, Fla., each player was given a bottle of the Vitamin B1 pills, the Chicago Daily News reported. The recommended dosage was three a day for 10 days, two a day for the next 10, and one a day thereafter.

The Sporting News hailed it as “a revolutionary step in training camp methods,” but also cautioned that “until the time when it is definitely established that capsules will provide all the energy needed after a hard workout, Cardinals players probably will pin their faith on Kansas City steak with French fries and a double order of pie.”

Cardinals vice-president Bill Walsingham Jr., a nephew of Breadon, said every player on the club would receive the Vitamin B1 capsules and would be encouraged to digest the medicine.

“We can’t force the players to swallow the capsules,” Walsingham said to the Globe-Democrat, “but, naturally, the club would like to have the players in line regularly for the B1 issue.”

According to United Press, “Bottles of the things were lying around the clubhouse in such profusion that baseball writers wondered whether they were in a spring training camp, or had blundered into the biennial convention of the American Pharmaceutical Association.”

In an editorial, the St. Louis Star-Times declared, “Breadon’s experiment of feeding his young stalwarts vast quantities of Vitamin B1 tablets, to give them vitality and pep, was the most courageous exhibition of crawling out on a limb since Babe Ruth bragged in the World Series of 1932 that he would hit a home run in the center field bleachers.”

Vitamin B1 didn’t hurt the Cardinals, but how much it helped is inconclusive. The Cardinals got off to a strong start, winning 31 of their first 42 games, and finished the season in second place at 97-56. The Dodgers won the pennant with a record of 100-54.

Years later, Webmd.com noted that naturally ingested “Vitamin B1 plays an important role in the body. It is needed to maintain the health of the nerves and the heart,” but added, “Most people who eat a normal diet do not need extra Vitamin B1.”

Posted in Executives | 6 Comments »

Cardinals created dramatic endings vs. Mike Marshall

June 13, 2021 by retrosimba

Dubbed by Sports Illustrated as the “busiest and brainiest relief pitcher in baseball,” Mike Marshall usually was effective against the Cardinals, but they also had some spectacular successes, twice beating him with walkoff home runs.

A right-hander with remarkable stamina, Marshall was the first relief pitcher to win a Cy Young Award. It happened in 1974, when he pitched for the Dodgers in 106 games, a major-league record for most appearances in a season by a pitcher.

A student of body movement who earned a doctorate in exercise physiology, Marshall developed an approach that enabled him to pitch often and well throughout most of the 1970s. He was an innovator, educator and baseball rebel.

Changing course

At age 11, Marshall was a passenger in a car that was struck by a train near his home in Adrian, Mich. Marshall’s uncle was killed in the accident and Marshall suffered a back injury, according to Sports Illustrated.

Despite an aching back, Marshall became a standout high school athlete in multiple sports, including as a baseball shortstop. He was 17 when he signed with the Phillies in September 1960.

While playing shortstop in the Phillies’ farm system, Marshall enrolled at Michigan State and attended classes during the baseball off-seasons.

Marshall hit for average in the minors, but his back bothered him, making it difficult for him to field grounders, and he told the Phillies he wanted to pitch, the Detroit News reported.

Marshall had a 3.39 ERA in 44 games for Phillies farm clubs in 1965. The Tigers purchased his contract in April 1966 and brought him to the big leagues in 1967. He pitched for the Seattle Pilots, an American League expansion team, in 1969 and the Astros in 1970. 

At Michigan State, Marshall earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1965 and a master’s degree in 1967. His mentor was William Heusner, a professor in kinesiology, the study of body movement. Heusner made Marshall an assistant, giving him a chance to teach.

Describing himself as an educator first and ballplayer second, Marshall told The Sporting News that as a teacher, “I feel I am performing a function that makes me feel vital as a human being.”

Marshall’s academic work helped him develop an approach to pitching. He taught himself to throw a screwball without straining his arm, but the Tigers, Pilots and Astros prohibited him from throwing the pitch.

“Those three were linked by a common denominator of insecurity,” Marshall told The Sporting News. “They couldn’t accept someone trying anything different, or admit that another man’s way might be right.”

Good match

Marshall’s baseball career took an upturn in June 1970 when the Astros traded him to the Expos. Gene Mauch was Expos manager and he encouraged Marshall to throw the screwball.

“It was Mauch who allowed Marshall to develop the concepts, the artistry, the free expression Marshall exhibits on the mound,” The Sporting News noted.

Marshall said, “Our relationship was poetry. I felt we talked as peers.”

Mauch showed faith and patience. Marshall was 3-7 with the 1970 Expos. The first time he faced the Cardinals was as a starter on Aug. 8 and he gave up five runs in 2.1 innings. Boxscore

The turning point came the next year when Marshall focused on relieving and earned 23 saves for the 1971 Expos.

“I’d say 1971 was my most satisfying season,” Marshall told The Sporting News. “That was the year I realized I was a major-league player.”

Marshall had a spectacular August for the 1971 Expos, with five saves and an 0.83 ERA, but suffered a setback against the Cardinals in September.

On Sept. 24, 1971, Joe Hague hit a walkoff grand slam against Marshall in the 10th inning, giving the Cardinals a 10-6 victory. It was the first walkoff home run allowed by Marshall in the majors. Boxscore

Head of the class

In the next two seasons with the Expos, Marshall had 14 wins, 18 saves and a 1.78 ERA in 1972, and 14 wins, a league-leading 31 saves and a 2.66 ERA in 1973. He led the league in games pitched _ 65 in 1972 and 92 in 1973.

During those two seasons, Marshall either won or saved 77 of the Expos’ 149 victories.

The Sporting News noted, “Marshall has revolutionized the thinking about relief pitchers, about their conditioning, about their concepts while on the mound.

“He has applied his understanding of kinesiology to the screwball, which he can make move in more than one direction, and to a conditioning program that makes it possible for him to pitch with a frequency and consistency that is beyond the capabilities of all other pitchers.”

Speaking out

After the 1973 season, Marshall was named Expos player of the year by the Montreal chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. The honor came with a $5,000 check from O’Keefe Brewery, a sponsor of Expos games, but Marshall refused to accept the money.

“I don’t feel I should compete against my own teammates for money like this,” Marshall said to The Sporting News.

Marshall requested in writing that the brewery donate the money to sickle cell anemia research. When he learned the brewery instead gave the $5,000 to an amateur baseball program, Marshall objected and pressured the brewery to honor his request, The Sporting News reported.

Marshall created another controversy when, in an interview with a Michigan reporter, he criticized the Expos’ defensive play.

“Who the hell wants to go back and pitch for that defense any more?” Marshall said. “Second base was terrible. There’s no way we can play another year with Ron Hunt … Third base was terrible. We have absolutely no defense with Bob Bailey. Zero. You can put a high school kid out there and get the same production out of our defense.”

Marshall apologized, but the controversies lingered. Described by Sports Illustrated as a “brooding intellectual of the bullpen” with a “mantle of Kierkegaardian gloom,” Marshall was traded by the Expos to the Dodgers for outfielder Willie Davis in December 1973.

Special season

Dodgers manager Walter Alston let Marshall pitch as much as he wanted. Marshall pitched in 13 consecutive Dodgers games and was 6-0 with two saves and 1.67 ERA in that stretch.

“What he has done is against everything that I ever felt was physically possible,” Dodgers pitcher Jim Brewer told The Sporting News.

Another Dodgers pitcher, Andy Messersmith, said to Sports Illustrated, “He’s a unique and complex individual. There is no one like him in this game. He’s small and rotund, but I haven’t seen anything athletic he can’t do if he puts his mind to it. I’ve never known Mike to go into anything, even Frisbee throwing, without some thought about the muscles involved.”

Marshall was 15-12 with a 2.42 ERA for the 1974 Dodgers and led the league in games pitched (106) and saves (21). He pitched 208.1 innings in relief. The Dodgers won the pennant, and in the World Series against the Athletics, Marshall pitched in all five games, allowing one run in nine innings. Video

Sports Illustrated said of the 1974 National League Cy Young Award winner: “It is his knowledge of his own body, its strengths and limitations, that allows him to pitch in as many as 100 games a season.”

Magic numbers

At his peak, Marshall was dominant against the Cardinals, with ERAs of 1.10 in 1972, 1.69 in 1973 and 1.06 in 1974. In 1976, Marshall made three appearances versus the Cardinals and got wins in all three, posting a 1.08 ERA.

After being traded by the Dodgers in June 1976, Marshall pitched for the Braves, Rangers, Twins and Mets. With the Twins, he was reunited with Mauch and was the American League leader in saves (32) and games pitched (90) in 1979.

In 96 career innings versus the Cardinals, Marshall gave up only two home runs to them. The first was the walkoff grand slam by Joe Hague in 1971. The other came in Marshall’s final season, 1981, with the Mets.

On Sept. 12, 1981, Julio Gonzalez hit a two-run walkoff homer run versus Marshall in the 13th inning, giving the Cardinals a 4-2 triumph. It was Gonzalez’s first homer in the big leagues in three years. Boxscore

Marshall finished with a career record of 97-112 and 188 saves. Against the Cardinals, he was 6-7 with 33 saves.

Marshall is one of five pitchers to pitch in 90 or more games in a big-league season. The list:

_ Mike Marshall: 106 (1974 Dodgers), 92 (1973 Expos) and 90 (1979 Twins).

_ Kent Tekulve: 94 (1979 Pirates), 91 (1978 Pirates), 90 (1987 Phillies).

_ Salomon Torres: 94 (2006 Pirates).

_ Pedro Feliciano: 92 (2010 Mets).

_ Wayne Granger: 90 (1969 Reds).

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