Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Daly City, he grew up immersed in baseball. His father played semipro ball, his brother played professional baseball, and Reitz often noted that the game was woven into his life from the beginning. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 31st round in 1969, a selection that carried little expectation but ultimately delivered one of the most dependable players of his era.

His climb through the minor leagues was steady, defined by improving defense and enough offensive growth to keep him moving forward. By 1972, at just 21 years old, he had reached Triple-A and forced his way into the Cardinals’ plans.

When he arrived in St. Louis late that season, he did more than simply hold his own. In 21 games, he hit .359, including a seven-hit doubleheader against the New York Mets, and displayed a level of confidence that stood out immediately. The Cardinals, in need of stability, saw enough to make a significant change. Veteran Joe Torre shifted from third base to first, and the job at the hot corner belonged to Reitz. It was a bold move, but one that quickly proved justified.

Reitz’s rookie season in 1973 was uneven at the plate. He hit just .235 and rarely walked, limiting his offensive impact. But defense quickly became his identity. Playing on the artificial turf of Busch Stadium, where ground balls could take unpredictable hops, Reitz developed a reputation for making even difficult plays look routine. His hands were quick, his reactions precise, and his throws accurate. By the end of the season, he led National League third basemen in fielding percentage, the first of six times he would accomplish that feat.

It was during these early seasons that his nickname took hold. “Zamboni” captured exactly what he did: smooth over the chaos. Where other players might fight the turf, Reitz seemed to tame it. His teammates trusted him, and pitchers relied on him. In an era where defense was often overlooked in favor of offense, Reitz quietly established himself as one of the best at his position.

There were moments that hinted at just how special his glove could be. Early in his career, he made a diving stop down the third-base line, spun, and fired home to cut down a runner, a play so impressive that manager Red Schoendienst called it the best he had ever seen from a third baseman.

Teammates marveled at his ability to make throws from impossible angles, sometimes appearing to release the ball without even looking. What really set Reitz apart, though, was his ability to cleanly handle the routine grounders, inning after inning, game after game.

While defense defined him, Reitz strengthened his skills at the plate throughout his career. After his difficult rookie season, he improved steadily, becoming a reliable contributor in the Cardinals’ lineup. His batting average climbed into the .260s and .270s, and his run production increased each year. From 1973 through 1977, his RBI totals rose from 42 to a career-high 79, reflecting a player who understood his role and grew into it.

The 1977 season represented the peak of his offensive contributions. He hit 17 home runs and delivered his most complete year at the plate. That season also included one of the most remarkable games of his career. In a June doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Reitz drove in eight runs in the second game, hitting a grand slam and a three-run home run. It was an explosion of offense from a player known primarily for his defense, and it remains one of the most productive single-game performances in Cardinals history.

Two years earlier, in 1975, Reitz earned the Gold Glove Award for his defensive excellence. Yet that same offseason brought an unexpected twist. The Cardinals, seeking to strengthen their pitching staff and make room for a promising prospect, traded Reitz to the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Pete Falcone. From a roster-building perspective, the move had logic. From a practical standpoint, it left a void. Reitz had been a stabilizing force at third base, and replacing that kind of reliability proved more difficult than anticipated.

For Reitz, the trade was both surprising and personal. He had established himself in St. Louis and expected to remain there. Though returning to his hometown had its appeal, the experience with the Giants lacked the connection he had felt with the Cardinals. Within a year, St. Louis reversed course, bringing him back in a deal that sent Lynn McGlothen to San Francisco.

His return in 1977 immediately restored stability. Reitz resumed his role as the club’s defensive anchor while delivering his best offensive season. Over the next several years, he continued to set the standard at third base, leading the league in fielding percentage multiple times and establishing new benchmarks for defensive efficiency.

In 1977, he committed just nine errors in more than 150 games. In 1980, he was even better, committing only eight. His career fielding percentage of .970 stood as the best ever recorded by a National League third baseman at the time of his retirement.

The 1980 season also brought his only All-Star selection. He began the year hitting over .400 into mid-May before settling at .270, and his steady performance earned him a starting role in the All-Star Game. It was long-overdue recognition for a player whose contributions often went unnoticed outside of St. Louis.

Even in a career defined by consistency, Reitz produced moments of drama. In September 1974, he hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning against the Mets, extending a game that would stretch to 25 innings, one of the longest in major league history. It was a rare flash of late-game heroics from a player whose value was usually measured in quieter ways.

Reitz remained the Cardinals’ primary third baseman through 1980, appearing in more than 1,100 games for the organization. His time in St. Louis came to an end that December when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs as part of the deal that brought closer Bruce Sutter to the Cardinals. The trade had a significant impact on the franchise, but for Reitz, it marked the closing chapter of his Cardinals career.

His final seasons with the Cubs and later the Pittsburgh Pirates were brief and difficult. His performance declined, and he later acknowledged personal struggles that affected both his career and his life. Yet even in those challenges, the intensity with which he approached the game remained evident. He cared deeply about his performance, sometimes to an extreme, once even setting his glove on fire after a poor defensive outing.

After leaving baseball, Reitz worked to rebuild his life and remained connected to the Cardinals organization. He participated in alumni events, engaged with fans, and contributed to drug education programs, using his experiences to help others. He also found enjoyment in golf, competing in celebrity events and embracing a quieter life.

When he passed away in 2021, the tributes reflected a player who had left a lasting impression not through flash or notoriety, but through reliability. He may not have been the most celebrated player in Cardinals history, but he embodied something fundamental to the game: the importance of doing the job right, every time.

For those who watched him, the memory is simple. A ground ball hit toward third base did not create uncertainty. With Ken Reitz on the field, it was just another out waiting to happen.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

The post Ken Reitz: The Cardinals’ Zamboni first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Born October 20, 1953, in San Francisco and raised in nearby San Bruno, Hernandez grew up in a baseball household. His father, John Hernandez, had once been a promising prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system before eye trouble ended his playing career. Baseball remained central to the family, and Keith spent countless hours honing his skills. In his autobiography, he recalled standing on the lawn as a child, throwing a tennis ball against the garage wall, imagining himself as a major league star.

The Cardinals drafted Hernandez in the 42nd round of the 1971 amateur draft, a selection that initially seemed insignificant. Hernandez himself later acknowledged how unusual his signing bonus was for such a late pick. “Usually, guys taken that late aren’t even signed,” he wrote.

The organization quickly learned it had made a wise investment. Hernandez moved steadily through the Cardinals’ farm system and debuted in the majors in 1974. Early on, his reputation centered as much on his glove as on his bat. Managers and teammates noticed how effortlessly he handled the responsibilities of first base. Years later, Whitey Herzog would reflect on Hernandez’s defensive brilliance, saying he was “the greatest defensive first baseman I’ve ever seen.”

Hernandez’s defensive excellence became a constant throughout his career. Between 1978 and 1988, he won 11 consecutive Gold Gloves, the longest streak ever by a first baseman and a remarkable testament to both his athleticism and his preparation. His fielding ability was not simply about quick reflexes or soft hands. Teammates often remarked on his positioning, his anticipation, and his deep understanding of opposing hitters.

Pitcher Bob Forsch once described how valuable Hernandez could be during games. “When Keith Hernandez talked out there, I listened,” Forsch recalled. Hernandez would sometimes approach the mound and explain how a hitter should be pitched. “He was very astute about watching hitters hit.”

While Hernandez quickly became known for his defense, his offensive development took a little longer. That changed dramatically in 1979. At age 25, Hernandez produced one of the most impressive seasons in Cardinals history. He batted .344 to win the National League batting title, led the league with 48 doubles and 116 runs scored, collected 210 hits, and drove in 105 runs. Just as important, he reached base at a remarkable .408 clip, one of the highest on-base percentages in the league that year and a reflection of the disciplined approach that defined his offensive game.

The season culminated in an unprecedented moment in baseball history. Hernandez and Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell finished tied in the National League MVP voting – the first tie in the award’s history. Hernandez embraced the shared honor with humility. “A tie makes it all the better because Willie’s a great man,” he said. “It’s an honor just to have my name next to his.”

The MVP season elevated Hernandez from a promising player to the centerpiece of the Cardinals’ lineup. St. Louis rewarded him with a five-year contract worth roughly $3.8 million, making him the highest-paid player in franchise history at the time.

Hernandez remained a key figure in St. Louis throughout the early 1980s. Between 1979 and 1982, he was among the National League’s most consistent hitters, regularly finishing near the league leaders in batting average, doubles, and on-base percentage. By the time he left the Cardinals, he had compiled a .299 batting average in a St. Louis uniform and established himself as one of the club’s most dependable offensive performers. Modern statistical measures underscore his importance during those seasons: Hernandez accumulated more than 30 wins above replacement during his tenure with the Cardinals, placing him among the most valuable first basemen in franchise history.

His best moments with the Cardinals came during the club’s championship season in 1982.

That year, under Herzog’s aggressive “Whiteyball” style, the Cardinals combined speed, defense, and situational hitting to win the National League pennant. Hernandez served as the club’s steady offensive anchor, batting .299 with 94 RBIs while providing his usual Gold Glove defense at first base.

In the postseason, he was just as valuable. During the National League Championship Series against Atlanta, the Cardinals swept the Braves to reach the World Series. In the seven-game Fall Classic against Milwaukee, Hernandez drove in eight runs as St. Louis captured its first championship since 1967.

Despite his success, Hernandez admitted that the pressure of the World Series affected him deeply. Looking back on the decisive Game 7, he remembered standing at first base as closer Bruce Sutter prepared to secure the final outs.

“I had a pit, a knot, in my stomach,” Hernandez recalled. “I couldn’t even bend over to get in my fielding position. I was out there at first base thinking, ‘Don’t hit the ball to me.’”

The moment perfectly captured the emotional stakes of the championship run. When Sutter finally recorded the final out, the Cardinals had completed one of the most memorable seasons in franchise history—and Hernandez had been central to it.

Yet Hernandez’s relationship with the Cardinals was never entirely smooth. In his memoirs, Herzog wrote that by 1983, Hernandez remained an exceptional defender but had begun to change in other areas of his game.

“I’ve never seen a ballplayer bear down as much at first base as he does,” Herzog said. “But on offense, he was loafing.”

The manager also criticized Hernandez’s preparation habits, claiming that during batting practice he would sometimes return to the clubhouse to relax.

“His practice habits were atrocious,” Herzog wrote. “He’d come out for batting practice, then head back to the clubhouse to smoke cigarettes and do crossword puzzles.”

Hernandez strongly disputed those characterizations later in his career, insisting that crossword puzzles were simply a way to relax before games.

Despite the tension, Hernandez remained an outstanding player. Even Herzog acknowledged that Hernandez and George Brett were the two best hit-and-run hitters he had ever managed, adding that Hernandez was “a very intelligent ballplayer.”

Still, in June 1983, the Cardinals traded Hernandez to the New York Mets for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.

The news stunned many Cardinals fans. When the trade announcement appeared on the Busch Stadium message board, it was met with loud boos from the crowd. Hernandez, however, later said he had sensed the deal coming.

“I could tell a trade was coming,” he recalled. “I knew I wasn’t in Whitey’s good graces.”

The trade became one of the most debated transactions in Cardinals history. Herzog later defended the decision bluntly, saying that removing Hernandez from the clubhouse had been “addition by subtraction.”

Hernandez, for his part, always maintained a complicated affection for the organization that drafted and developed him. “I grew up a Cardinal,” he once said. “I was taught the Cardinal way to play… the pride it was to be a Cardinal.”

The trade did not mark the end of Hernandez’s success – it simply shifted the stage. In New York, he quickly became the stabilizing presence the Mets had been searching for. In 1984, his first full season with the club, Hernandez batted .311 with 15 home runs, won another Gold Glove, captured a Silver Slugger Award, and finished second in the National League MVP voting. The Mets won 90 games that season, their first strong showing in years, and Hernandez’s leadership and steady play were widely credited with helping transform the culture of the franchise.

Two years later, Hernandez again found himself at the center of a championship run. The 1986 Mets won 108 games and then survived a dramatic postseason that included a six-game National League Championship Series victory over the Houston Astros and a seven-game World Series triumph over the Boston Red Sox. Hernandez played a significant role throughout October. He collected seven hits and three RBIs in the NLCS and delivered key offensive moments in the World Series, including a two-run single in Game 7 that helped erase a 3–0 Boston lead.

Over the course of his 17-year major league career, Hernandez accumulated 2,182 hits, 162 home runs, and 1,071 RBIs while posting a .296 lifetime batting average and a .384 on-base percentage. Yet the foundation of that career was built in St. Louis.

During his nine seasons with the Cardinals, he had established himself as one of the finest players in the National League. He won the 1979 batting title with a .344 average, shared the league’s MVP Award with Willie Stargell, captured multiple Gold Gloves, and helped lead the Cardinals to the 1982 World Series championship. He is also one of the very few first basemen in Cardinals history to win both a batting title and a Most Valuable Player Award while wearing the uniform.

Those years also produced one of the most respected defensive reputations in baseball history. Whitey Herzog—who had clashed with Hernandez but never doubted his ability—once summed up his view of the first baseman simply: Hernandez was “the greatest defensive first baseman I’ve ever seen.”

Even after his playing career ended, Hernandez continued to maintain a connection to the game, becoming a broadcaster and one of the most recognizable figures in Mets history. Yet he never forgot where his career truly took shape.

“I grew up a Cardinal,” Hernandez once said, reflecting on the organization that drafted and developed him. “It was so ingrained in you the pride it was to be a Cardinal.”

In recognition of that legacy, Hernandez was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2021, an honor that formally cemented his place in franchise history. The induction acknowledged not only his statistical achievements but also the influence he had on the Cardinals teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Keith Hernandez’s career ultimately spanned far more than one city or one championship. But his years in St. Louis formed the foundation of everything that followed: the batting title, the MVP award, the Gold Gloves, and the championship that confirmed him as one of the most complete first basemen the game has ever seen.

Enjoy this post? Then you’ll love The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals, available now on Amazon!

The post Keith Hernandez: Remember Your Redbirds first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

One inning after punching Bill Madlock in the face and sparking the bench-clearing brawl, Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons capped off his four-RBI day owith a walk-off single to give St. Louis a 6-5 win and a 1 ½-game lead in the National League East Division.

Simmons’ busy day was baseball’s equivalent of a Gordie Howe hat trick, if such a thing existed.

After splitting their first two games against the Cubs at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals entered the series finale with a ½-game lead over the Pirates in the NL East. Bob Gibson, now 38 and in his second-to-last season, took the mound for the Cardinals with a 10-12 record and a 3.82 ERA, while 26-year-old Steve Stone climbed the hill for the Cubs with an 8-5 record and 4.15 ERA.

Both pitchers allowed runs in the opening frame. Jose Cardenal drove in a run with an RBI single to left, and the Cubs loaded the bases before Gibson got Steve Swisher to ground out and end the inning.

In the bottom of the first, Stone retired the first two batters he faced before Reggie Smith doubled and Simmons homered over the right-field wall to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead. Two innings later, Smith tripled to right field to score Brock. Simmons followed with a sacrifice fly – and his third RBI of the game – to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.

The Cubs answered in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Rick Monday drove in two with a single to right field. A misplayed ground ball brought home the tying run and Madlock added a sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead.

Chicago’s advantage was short-lived, as Joe Torre scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth.

After seven innings of work, Gibson left the game with no decision and Al Hrabosky took the mound. He retired the Cubs in order in the eighth, though it required exceptional plays by McBride, Brock, and second baseman Tom Sizemore.

“I was struggling out there,” Hrabosky said.[1]

In the bottom half of the inning, home-plate umpire Shag Crawford drew the Cardinals’ ire with a controversial call that helped to snuff a potential rally. Torre led off with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Larry Herndon. Batting next, McBride attempted to lay down a bunt, but Dave LaRoche’s inside fastball kept sailing in on the lefthanded-hitting McBride and hit him on the left hand, leaving him with a gash on his forefinger that required four stitches.[2]

When the ball bounced into fair territory, Cubs catcher Steve Swisher threw to second to start a double play. McBride immediately argued that he had been hit by the pitch. Crawford insisted that the ball had also hit McBride’s bat.

“The ball was a fairly batted, bunted ball,” Crawford said after the game. “I don’t care whether his finger is bloody or cut or whatever.”[3]

Both McBride and Torre – who let his feelings be known from the dugout – were ejected.

“I really don’t understand why he couldn’t change his decision with a split hand in front of him and blood running all over the place,” Brock said.[4]

Cardinals-Cubs brawl

As a result, tensions already were high when things got weird in the ninth. Hrabosky was well known for his pre-pitch routine, which often included stomping around the mound, turning his back to the hitter, and psyching himself up before taking the mound to pitch. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs planned to counter Hrabosky by taking their own time once the “Mad Hungarian” got ready to pitch.[5]

When Hrabosky slammed the ball into his glove and stalked to the mound to face Madlock, the Cubs’ first hitter of the ninth inning, the rookie third baseman backed out of the box. When he returned, Hrabosky went through his routine again, and Madlock once again stepped out. Finally, Madlock turned away and went back to the on-deck circle to grab pine tar for his bat. At this point, Crawford was tired of the back-and-forth.

“I said, ‘Bill, get back here,’” Crawford related. “I thought maybe he didn’t hear me because of the crowd noise and so I went after him and said it again.”[6]

When Madlock again ignored Crawford’s instructions, the umpire returned to the plate and signaled for Hrabosky to begin pitching. According to rule 6.02(c): “If the batter refuses to take his position in the batter’s box during his time at bat, the umpire shall order to the pitcher to pitch, and shall call ‘Strike’ on each such pitch. The batter may take his proper position after any such pitch, and the regular ball and strike count shall continue, but if he does not take his proper position before three strikes are called, he shall be declared out.”

As Madlock rushed back to the plate, Crawford called Hrabosky’s first pitch a strike. By the time Hrabosky threw his second pitch, Cardenal and Cubs manager Jim Marshall had both arrived at the plate, and Hrabosky nearly hit Marshall. Feeling crowded, Simmons shoved Marshall out of the way, then turned to Madlock and asked, “What are you looking at?”[7]

Madlock responded with a profane two-word answer and was immediately punched in the jaw.

“I must have hit him pretty good,” Simmons said. “I cut my knuckles.”[8]

Both teams raced onto the field.

“I did a 9.2(-second) hundred from the bullpen,” Cardinals reliever Mike Garman said.[9]

Cubs first baseman Andre Thornton was the first to reach the scene, tackling Simmons and driving him to the ground.

“I had to get Simmons because he took a free shot at Billy,” Thornton said afterwards with the pinky finger on his left hand in a split.[10] It was unclear how he injured his finger, although players reported that after Thornton tackled Simmons, Cardinals pitcher Lynn McGlothen “blindsided him” before Chicago’s Jim Tyrone, in turn, punched McGlothen and sent him to the ground.[11]

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said he tried to pull McGlothen away from two Cubs.

“I couldn’t budge the big guy – he wore me out,” Schoendienst said.[12]

The fight lasted two or three minutes and no one was seriously injured. Sizemore’s leg was scratched and Chicago’s Ray Burris was spiked. Ken Reitz’s shoulder was dislocated, but he noted that it had popped out of place multiple times in his career.

“It goes away in a day,” he said.[13]

McBride, who was in the clubhouse having his finger treated following his eighth-inning incident, ran onto the field when he realized what was happening.

“I’m running out there and everybody starts asking me, ‘How’s your finger?’” McBride said. “I said, ‘Hey, this is supposed to be a fight!’”[14]

Players and coaches from both sides were quick to break up the fisticuffs, and Sizemore expressed his appreciation for Chicago’s Don Kessinger and Monday.

“They said, ‘You’ve got too much to lose – let’s break this up,’” Sizemore said. “That’s real class. They’re veterans and they know we have a chance to win a lot of money (in the pennant race).”[15]

Incredibly, Marshall was the only one to get the boot. When the Cubs’ manager realized no one was going to be ejected, he asked Crawford, “Don’t you care about the players?”

“No, I don’t care about the players – they don’t care about me!” answered Crawford.

“That’s when I started cussin’,” Marshall said.[16]

“Marshall didn’t like my statement, but I don’t think players should be thrown out for fighting,” said Crawford, who had been aboard a U.S. destroyer that was hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane in World War II.[17]

When the game resumed, Hrabosky felt refocused. He struck out Madlock, got Cardenal to fly out to Simmons, then struck out Dave LaRoche.

“It was the greatest thing that could have happened for me,” Hrabosky said of the brawl. “It was a personal challenge. It really psyched me up. It was just what the doctor ordered.”[18]

With runners on first and second and two outs, Simmons ended the game in the bottom of the ninth, punching the ball back up the middle to score Brock from second base and give the Cardinals a 6-5 win.

The victory delighted Pat Dean, Dizzy Dean’s widow. She was in the audience after Dizzy’s number 17 was retired in a pregame ceremony.

“They must have done this for Diz,” she said. “It looked like the old Gas House Gang.”[19]

Enjoy this post? Sign up below and get Cardinals history delivered directly to your inbox!

[1] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[2] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[3] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[4] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[5] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[6] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[7] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[8] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[9] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[10] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[11] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[12] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[13] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[14] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[15] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[16] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[17] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[18] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[19] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

The post The 1974 Cardinals-Cubs brawl sparked by Simmons, Hrabosky first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

With the recognition, Gibson became just the third pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards, joining Sandy Koufax and Denny McLain. Gibson previously had won the award in 1968.

“It’s a great honor,” said Gibson, who went 23-7 with a 3.12 ERA on the season. “I’m looking forward to winning 20 games – at least that many – next year. My arm is fine and I just like to keep on winning as much as I can.”[1]

The 34-year-old Gibson started the season slowly. After a disastrous outing against the Astros on May 18 in which he allowed six earned runs on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings, he found himself with a 2-3 record and 5.34 ERA.

From that point forward, however, Gibson returned to vintage form. In his next start, Gibson struck out a season-high 16 batters in a complete-game win over the Phillies. It marked the first of 10 consecutive wins, including wins in all seven of his June starts. He won 21 of his final 25 decisions. On the final day of the season, Gibson signed a $150,000 contract for the 1971 season that made him baseball’s highest-paid player.

“I think 1970 was the second-best season of my career – second to 1968,” Gibson said. “The season was somewhat disappointing because we were never in the race and winning the pennant and getting into the World Series is what it is all about.”[2]

Gibson’s 23 wins tied San Francisco’s Gaylord Perry for the National League lead. It marked the fifth time in his career he had reached 20 wins in a season, breaking the franchise record he previously shared with Dizzy Dean.

“Actually, Gibson had his best won-and-lost season, and in many ways he did it under trying conditions,” Cardinals general manager Bing Devine said. “This was his first year on AstroTurf, which had to be somewhat detrimental to him, and there were all those other things – shortened strike zone, lowered mound, etc.”[3]

Gibson’s 274 strikeouts marked the third consecutive year he had broken the franchise record for strikeouts in the season, and made him the first pitcher in major-league history to post eight seasons with at least 200 strikeouts.

Of the 24 Cy Young Award ballots, 23 placed Gibson first on 23 and was the only player named on every ballot. Perry, who went 23-13 with a 3.20 ERA and 214 strikeouts, received the only other first-place vote (Gibson was second on that ballot).

The Cubs’ Fergie Jenkins finished third in the balloting after he went 22-16 with a 3.39 ERA and 274 strikeouts.

In addition to the Cy Young Award, Gibson won his sixth consecutive Gold Glove Award and finished fourth in the National League MVP voting behind Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench, Chicago’s Billy Williams, and Cincinnati’s Tony Perez.

He also hit .303 with two homers and 19 RBIs, marking the only time in his career that he hit over .300.

Gibson finished the season with 190 career wins, leaving him 10 shy of 200.

“I don’t have any special goals along those lines and winning 200 doesn’t mean too much to me,” he said.[4]

Gibson went on to pitch five more seasons for the Cardinals. In 1971, he threw the only no-hitter of his career and in 1974 he recorded his 3,000^th strikeout. He retired with a 251-174 career record and a 2.91 ERA over 17 seasons, all in St. Louis. In 1981, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player.

[1] “Award OK But Gib Likes Wins,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 4, 1970.

[2] “Award OK But Gib Likes Wins,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 4, 1970.

[3] Neal Russo, “Gibson’s Reward: $150,000 Pact for ’71,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 2, 1970.

[4] “Award OK But Gib Likes Wins,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 4, 1970.

The post How Bob Gibson won his second Cy Young Award in 1970 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The Cardinals’ September 28, 1971, win over the New York Mets marked not only Carlton’s final appearance wearing the birds on the bat, but also clinched the first 20-win season of his career. Coincidentally, it also marked Nolan Ryan’s final start for the Mets.

Carlton’s 1971 campaign started strong, as he won his first four games and ended May with a 9-2 record and 2.47 ERA. After claiming a complete-game victory over the Mets on August 30, Carlton’s record was 18-7. However, he suffered two losses and a no-decision in his next three starts and didn’t pick up his 19^th win of the season until September 19, when he threw a four-hit, complete-game shutout against the Expos.

Five days later, Carlton couldn’t repeat his success against Montreal, surrendering a three-run lead with six runs allowed over eight innings. With no decision in that game (the Cardinals went on to win, 10-6), Carlton entered his final start of the year with a 19-9 record.

His opposing pitcher, Ryan, was coming off a win over the Cubs that upped his record to 10-13 record, giving him a double-digit win total for the first time in his career. He was unable to carry that momentum forward in his final start for the Mets, which was played in front of just 3,338 fans at Shea Stadium.

Ryan lasted just five batters in the first inning, walking Lou Brock, Ted Sizemore, Matty Alou and Joe Torre before Ted Simmons singled to right, scoring Sizemore and Alou. Already trailing 3-0 with no one out, Mets manager Gil Hodges handed the ball to Jim McAndrew, who got a couple of groundouts and a pop fly to escape the inning without allowing another run.

“It seemed he was just throwing the ball because it had to be thrown,” Hodges said.[1]

“It was the most distressing day of my life,” Ryan said. “I never was so embarrassed. I felt like I was picking up a ball in mid-December.”[2]

By mid-December, Ryan was with the Angels, having been traded with Leroy Stanton, Frank Estrada, and Don Rose for Jim Fregosi. Ryan went on to build a Hall of Fame legacy, pitching 22 more years, making eight all-star games, and winning two ERA titles.

One inning after Ryan left the game, the Cardinals got to McAndrew. Carlton led off the second with a single to left. Lou Brock scored him with a triple to right and Sizemore hit a sacrifice fly that extended the Cardinals’ lead to 5-0.

That was more than Carlton needed. Though he had all but abandoned the slider during the season, Carlton was throwing the pitch so well in his pregame bullpen that he relied on it against the Mets.

“The Mets are like the Giants and the Reds for me – they all wait for my fastball,” the 26-year-old Carlton said. “So as you get older, you get wise. You figure, ‘Why challenge them with the fastball for nine innings?’”[3]

In the sixth inning, Bob Aspromonte hit a sacrifice fly and Jerry Grote added an RBI single to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 5-2. The Mets never threatened again, however. In the ninth, Grote led off the inning with a walk, but Carlton struck out Tim Foli, then retired Ken Singleton and Bud Harrelson on fly balls to end the game.

“Nobody was going to take away his 20^th victory this time,” shortstop Dal Maxvill said.[4]

With the win, Carlton improved to 20-9, becoming the first Cardinals southpaw to reach 20 wins in a season since Ray Sadecki in 1964. Carlton finished the season with a 3.56 ERA over 273 1/3 innings. It was a significant upgrade from his 1970 campaign, when Carlton went 10-19 and led the majors in losses.

“I’m not jumping up and down about 20 for the first time, but it makes you feel good inside,” Carlton said. “There was a lot of skepticism before the season about me. A lot of people didn’t think I could bounce back after last year.”[5]

Sadecki, now with the Mets, suggested that the Cardinals made a mistake in starting Carlton a day early.

“They should have saved Carlton for Thursday’s game against Tom Seaver,” he said, “and then sent both bullpens home and let them go one-on-one.”[6]

Less than five months later, the Cardinals traded Carlton to the Phillies for pitcher Rick Wise. After earning a reported $50,000 in 1971,[7] Carlton sought a significant raise for the 1972 season. While some reports claimed that Carlton sought $75,000, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Carlton was asking for $65,000.[8] The Cardinals, however, were unwilling to go above $57,500.[9]

In his 2004 autobiography, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine said that the decision to trade Carlton wasn’t truly his to make: after delaying as long as he could, he received word that Cardinals owner Gussie Busch wanted Carlton traded within 48 hours.

“Basically, Mr. Busch wanted him gone,” Devine wrote.[10]

Carlton went on to pitch the next 15 seasons for the Phillies, winning four Cy Young awards on his way to a Hall of Fame career. With Carlton at the top of the rotation, the Phillies won the National League East in 1976, 1977, and 1978, then won the World Series in 1980. Philadelphia made the playoffs again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, then captured the National League pennant again in 1983.

In 15 seasons with the Phillies, Carlton won 241 games and posted a 3.09 ERA over almost 3,700 innings. After making his final major league appearance in 1988, Carlton was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994. He retired with a 329-244 career record, 3.22 ERA, and 10 all-star appearances. He posted a 38-14 record and 2.98 ERA for his career against the Cardinals.

Enjoy this post? Get Cardinals history delivered straight to your inbox!

[1] Neal Russo, “Steve’s 20^th No 9^th-Mare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1971.

[2] Neal Russo, “Steve’s 20^th No 9^th-Mare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1971.

[3] Neal Russo, “Steve’s 20^th No 9^th-Mare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1971.

[4] Neal Russo, “Steve’s 20^th No 9^th-Mare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1971.

[5] Neal Russo, “Steve’s 20^th No 9^th-Mare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1971.

[6] Neal Russo, “Steve’s 20^th No 9^th-Mare,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1971.

[7] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[8] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[9] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[10] Bing Devine with Tom Wheatley, The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Sports Publishing, New York, N.Y., Page 163.

The post Steve Carlton reaches 20 wins in final game with the Cardinals: 9/8/1971 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I talk to the gypsy war gods,” he explained afterward. “I work myself into a controlled rage.”[1]

On May 9, 1977, Hrabosky and his gypsy war gods responded, striking out George Foster, Johnny Bench, and Bob Bailey to escape the ninth inning unscathed. After a game-saving play at the plate stopped the Reds in the top of the 10^th, Ted Simmons homered in the bottom of the inning to give Hrabosky and the Cardinals a 6-5 win.

“These 1977 Cardinals are shaking Busch Stadium like no St. Louis baseball team has done in perhaps a decade,” wrote Dick Kaegel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The latest shock wave hit the Cincinnati Reds like a runaway mine train last night. It was a classic thriller, baseball at its spine-tingling best.”[2]

Ten years earlier, the Cardinals selected Hrabosky out of Fullerton (Calif.) College with their first-round pick (19^th overall) in the 1969 draft. The lefthander reached Double-A that season, and the following year he made his major-league debut, throwing a shutout inning in a loss to the Padres. Three days later, he earned his first major-league win, entering the game in the 16^th inning and throwing two scoreless innings in a 5-3 win over the Cubs.

In 1973, Hrabosky became a regular in the Cardinals’ bullpen and in 1974 he placed fifth in the Cy Young Award voting, going 8-1 with a 2.95 ERA over 88 1/3 innings. The following year he was even better, placing third in the Cy Young and eighth in the National League MVP vote with a 13-3 record, 1.66 ERA, and league-leading 22 saves.

Heading into the Cardinals’ May 9, 1977, game against the defending World Series champion Reds, Hrabosky had three saves and a 2.35 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. Earlier that season, Hrabosky had been forced to shave his beard and Fu Manchu mustache to adhere to new manager Vern Rapp’s edict that all Cardinals players be clean-shaven. As both Rapp and the Reds soon discovered, however, that didn’t mean that the Mad Hungarian had been tamed.

The Monday night game was being broadcast nationally and matched Cincinnati’s Woodie Fryman, a 37-year-old veteran lefthander and two-time all-star, against 27-year-old Bob Forsch, who won 15 games in 1975 but was looking to rebound from a tough 1976 campaign.

The two teams traded runs in the early innings as Cardinals right fielder Hector Cruz hit an RBI single in the first and Reds right fielder Ken Griffey answered with an RBI single of his own in the third.

In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals pushed two more runs across as Ted Simmons smacked an RBI double and Keith Hernandez scored Simmons with a single to left.

Forsch maintained the 3-1 lead until the sixth. After Forsch struck out George Foster to open the inning, Johnny Bench hit a solo home run and Cesar Geronimo tripled. Dave Concepcion scored Geronimo with an RBI single, and after Pedro Borbon laid down a sacrifice bunt, Pete Rose doubled to left field to score Concepcion and give the Reds a 4-3 lead.

Rapp replaced Forsch with Buddy Schultz, and Griffey greeted the lefthanded reliever with a single to right field that scored Rose and extended the Reds’ lead to 5-3.

Lou Brock led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left field, then scored on a single by Tony Scott. One inning later, Keith Hernandez tied the game with a 400-foot leadoff home run[3] on the first pitch offered by reliever Rawly Eastwick.

Al Hrabosky Enters the Game

To pitch the ninth, Rapp turned to Hrabosky. It immediately became an adventure.

Griffey opened the inning with a single to left. Hrabosky walked Morgan, and Dan Driessen followed with a bunt single that loaded the bases.

“I thought with Foster and Bench coming up, there was no way,” Hernandez said. “I thought they’d at least get a fly ball and get a run in.”[4]

Between each pitch, Hrabosky turned his back to the plate. Then, slamming the ball into his glove, he stomped to the mound and went into his windup. Relying on the fastball, he struck out Foster, then Bench.

With two outs, Reds manager Sparky Anderson called on Bob Bailey, who hits .370 as a pinch-hitter the previous year, to bat for the lefthanded-hitting Geronimo. It didn’t make a difference. Hrabosky struck out Bailey to end the inning.

“It was unbelievable,” Brock said. “It was like seeing an instant replay over, over, and over. It was slugger against fastball pitcher … one-on-one and may the best man win.”[5]

“I’ve never seen anybody pitch that way in all my life,” Hernandez said. “I was so excited, I was watching Al more than the batter. I was completely in awe.”[6]

The Busch Stadium crowd was equally impressed, rewarding Hrabosky with a standing ovation as the inning ended.[7]

“It was the most incredible thing I’ve seen in my life,” Simmons said. “It was dark and all of a sudden, he groped around until he found the light switch and turned it on. … Every pitch was a fastball. They knew it was coming – they had to.”[8]

Things weren’t much easier for Hrabosky in the 10^th. After he retired the first two hitters, pinch-hitter Ray Knight singled to bring up Griffey, who already had three hits for the day. Griffey collected his fourth, doubling off the right-field wall, but Cardinals right fielder Mike Anderson relayed the ball to second baseman Don Kessinger, who in turn threw out Knight at the plate.

“When I got it and threw it to Kessinger, I saw the runner was just one step past third and I said, ‘No way he’s gonna score,’” Anderson said.

“Andy played it perfect,” said Kessinger. “He gave me a good, high relay throw where I could handle it. I knew if I could make a good throw, we’d get him.”[9]

Just a few pitches later, Simmons ended the game with his bat. With reliever Dale Murray pitching, Simmons homered to right field to give the Cardinals a 6-5 win. It was just the third home run Murray had allowed in 1,307 opposing at-bats.[10]

“I feel great about my home run, but the pitching performance Al gave was one of the finest I’ve ever seen in my life,” Simmons said. “Bench, Foster, and Bailey, three of the best fastball hitters in the game, and Al just blew ‘em away from the plate with the bases loaded.”[11]

“You couldn’t have put it on a piece of paper and designed it any better than that,” Simmons said.[12]

“It was an unbelievable game,” Kessinger said. “There was a little bit of everything. It’d be a great game even if you lose. But when you win, it’s even better.”[13]

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 17-9 on the young season while the Reds fell to 10-16 with their fifth consecutive loss.

“It’s something you’ve got to do if you’re going to win a pennant – come from behind,” Hernandez said. “It’s something Cincinnati has been doing for the last three or four years.”[14]

St. Louis finished the game with 14 hits, including two apiece from Garry Templeton, Scott, Cruz, Simmons, Hernandez, and Kessinger.

“I like ‘em – they’re aggressive,” Anderson said. “They’re gonna give the Pirates all they can handle this year, I’ll tell you that.”[15]

Despite their strong start, the Cardinals finished the year just 83-79, 18 games behind the National League champion Phillies and 13 games behind the second-place Pirates.

The 1977 campaign proved to be a contentious one for Hrabosky. Later that May, Rapp suspended Hrabosky for “sheer insubordination.” The Post-Dispatch referred to the suspension as “the culmination of a long series of disagreements” between Hrabosky and Rapp.[16]

Hrabosky was reinstated a few days later and finished the year with just 10 saves and a 4.38 ERA over 86 1/3 innings. It proved to be his final season with the Cardinals, as he was traded to the Royals for Mark Littell and Buck Martinez that December. In eight seasons in St. Louis, Hrabosky went 40-20 with a 2.93 ERA and 59 saves.

Hrabosky pitched two seasons in Kansas City, making the only postseason appearances of his career in 1978, then played his final three seasons in Atlanta. Over a 13-year major league career, he posted a 3.10 ERA and 97 saves.

Enjoy this post? Sign up below and get Cardinals history delivered directly to your inbox!

[1] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[2] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[3] Bob Hertzel “Baseball’s Day … Reds Make It 5 Straight,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 10, 1977.

[4] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[5] Earl Lawson, “Cards, ‘Gypsy War God’ Beat Reds, 6-5,” Cincinnati Post, May 10, 1977.

[6] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[7] Earl Lawson, “Cards, ‘Gypsy War God’ Beat Reds, 6-5,” Cincinnati Post, May 10, 1977.

[8] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[9] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[10] Dick Kaegel, “1307^th Batter Doomed Murray,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[11] Earl Lawson, “Cards, ‘Gypsy War God’ Beat Reds, 6-5,” Cincinnati Post, May 10, 1977.

[12] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[13] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[14] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[15] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[16] Neal Russo, “Rapp Suspends Hrabosky For Insubordination,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1977.

The post Al Hrabosky and the gypsy war gods stifle Reds: May 9, 1977 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The game was the longest night game in Major League Baseball history, exceeding a 24-inning, 1-0 Astros victory over the Mets in 1968. The game’s total time was only exceeded by a 1964 day game between the Mets and Giants went seven hours and 23 minutes, ending with an 8-6 San Francisco victory after 23 innings. In terms of innings, the contest ranked second only to a 26-inning battle between the Dodgers and Braves in 1920.[1]

The previous record-holder for the Cardinals’ longest game was an 8-7 win over the Cubs that lasted 20 innings in 1930.[2] In all, the Cardinals used a total of 26 players, breaking the National League record, and the Cardinals and Mets combined to use 50 players, setting a new MLB mark.[3]

“I’ve been out till 4 in the morning before, but never on a team bus going from the ballpark to the hotel,” Cardinals equipment manager Butch Yatkeman said.[4]

Both teams opened the evening with first-inning runs. Mets starter Jerry Koosman issued one-out walks to Ted Sizemore and Reggie Smith before Joe Torre made him pay with an RBI single into left field. Koosman limited the damage, however, when Ted Simmons lined into an inning-ending double play.

The Mets answered in the bottom of the inning against Bob Forsch. After a one-out error and a wild pitch, Mets first baseman John Milner doubled into right field to tie the game 1-1.

Both pitchers exchanged zeroes until the bottom of the fifth, when Mets second baseman Felix Milan – who finished with four hits and a walk in 11 plate appearances – reached with an infield single. Left fielder Cleon Jones followed with a home run over the left-field wall to give New York a 3-1 lead.

“It was a fastball where I didn’t want to put it – a big mistake,” Forsch said.[5]

Heading into the ninth inning, it looked as though that might be all the support Koosman needed for his 14^th win of the season. Koosman struck out Torre to open the frame, but Ted Simmons followed with an infield single. It was just the Cardinals’ fourth hit of the game.

After Koosman struck out McBride looking, he was one out away from the complete-game victory. Cardinals third baseman Ken Reitz, however, had other plans. After Koosman fooled him with a first-pitch changeup, Reitz hit a fastball over the left-field wall to tie the game, 3-3.

“I was guessing fastball,” Reitz said. “He made me look bad on the first pitch.”[6]

From there, the bullpens took over. Al Hrabosky threw three innings of relief for the Cardinals and Harry Parker did the same for the Mets. St. Louis pitcher Claude Osteen entered the game with one out in the 14^th inning and proceeded to throw 9 1/3 shutout innings, holding the Mets to just four hits while striking out five.

For the Mets, Bob Miller threw a scoreless 13^th inning before Bob Apodaca threw three scoreless frames. In the 17^th inning, Jerry Cram, a 26-year-old righthander with fewer than 23 major-league innings under his belt, entered the game. He proceeded to shut the Cardinals out for eight innings, scattering seven hits while striking out four.

Cram’s final inning was the 24^th. Jack Heidemann led off the inning with a single to right. After Cram intentionally walked Reggie Smith with two outs, Torre singled to load the bases. Cram, however, ended the threat when he got Dick Billings to ground into an inning-ending force out.

It was almost 3 a.m. by the time the Cardinals came up in the top of the 25^th inning. McBride led off the inning with an infield single off Mets righthander Hank Webb, a righthander from Copiague, New York. With Reitz at the plate, McBride took a big lead off of first. Webb made a quick throw over to first (the play was ruled a balk), but his throw sailed past Milner and the Mets’ first baseman had to run to retrieve it.

“I was leaning,” McBride said. “Leaning back on my heels, resting. When I turned second, I said to myself, ‘I’m going all the way.’”[7]

Milner threw home as McBride raced past third-base coach Vern Benson’s signal to halt at third. Milner’s throw beat McBride to the plate, but Mets catcher Ron Hodges dropped the ball and was charged with an error.

“It was a good throw by Milner and Hodges probably would have got McBride if he hadn’t taken his eyes off the ball,” Benson said. “I didn’t see any sense in sending him home with nobody out.”[8]

“Bake was running so fast that he couldn’t see the sign,” Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said. “When you’ve got speed like McBride’s, you make the other guys nervous. You just can’t beat that speed.”[9]

With a 4-3 lead finally in hand, Sonny Siebert returned to the mound for his second inning of relief. After 21-year-old rookie Brock Pemberton singled with two outs for his first major-league hit, Mets pitcher Tom Seaver joked that Pemberton couldn’t keep the memento because it was the last ball left.[10] He may not have been far off, as the game ended up using 15 dozen baseballs.[11]

With Pemberton representing the tying run, Siebert struck out Milner to end the game.

“It was a high fastball,” Siebert said. “It wasn’t a strike, I don’t think. … He was swinging for the fences and just swung through it.”[12]

By that point, all but a few hundred of the 13,460 fans had left. Among the die-hards who remained until the last pitch? Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn and his wife.[13]

Umpire Ed Sudol was behind the plate for all 25 innings. Incredibly, he also had been behind the plate for the 23-inning Mets-Giants game in 1964 and the 24-inning Astros-Mets game in 1968.[14]

“My legs feel like a couple of lead posts,” he said. “The players kept coming up and asking, ‘How are you standing?’ and I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know how I was standing.”[15]

Sudol said he was hit by the ball six times in the game – once in the chest, once in the shoulder, and four times on his mask.[16]

“One time my mask was knocked off,” he said. “No wonder I had a headache. And I didn’t even go to the bathroom in the seven hours.”[17]

Enjoy this post? Sign up below and get Cardinals history delivered directly to your inbox!

[1] Hal Bock, “Mets: L-o-n-g hours for nothing,” Daily Item, September 12, 1974.

[2] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[3] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[4] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[5] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[6] Paul Ballot, “Night Has 1,000 Outs,” Newsday, September 12, 1974.

[7] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[8] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[9] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[10] Jack Lang, “Baseball’s Longest Night — Mets bow in 25 innings and 7 hours, 4 minutes,” Long Island Press, September 12, 1974.

[11] Paul Ballot, “Night Has 1,000 Outs,” Newsday, September 12, 1974.

[12] Kevin Duffy and Rory Costello, “September 11, 1974: Cardinals prevail over Mets in 25 innings at Shea Stadium,” Society for American Baseball Research Games Project, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-11-1974-cardinals-prevail-over-mets-in-25-innings-at-shea-stadium/.

[13] Paul Ballot, “Night Has 1,000 Outs,” Newsday, September 12, 1974.

[14] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[15] Neal Russo, “Cardinals Shade Mets In 25 Innings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 12, 1974.

[16] Neal Russo, “Sudol Hits Back At ‘Hit’ Mark,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 13, 1974.

[17] Neal Russo, “Sudol Hits Back At ‘Hit’ Mark,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 13, 1974.

The post Cardinals, Mets play 25-inning game: September 11, 1974 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“Has Rick Wise signed?” Devine asked, referring to the 26-year-old right-hander who had led the Phillies in wins each of the past three seasons. Quinn answered that no, he had not come to terms with Wise.

“Well, neither has Carlton,” replied Devine. “Would you be interested in Carlton?”

This time, Quinn answered in the affirmative. [1] By the end of the day, not only had the two teams agreed to a straight swap of pitchers, but each had agreed to a new contract with their new acquisition for the upcoming season.

Though matters moved quickly following Devine’s phone call, the roots of the trade were established two years earlier, when Carlton refused to accept the Cardinals’ salary offer and sat out the first 18 days of training camp in 1970. To resolve the impasse, the Cardinals took the unusual step of invoking the renewal clause in his previous contract, requiring him to return for the same salary he earned in 1969.

Carlton reported to spring training on March 10 but continued to push for a new contract. Things grew so heated that on March 12, Busch said, “I don’t care if he ever pitches a ball for us again.”[2]

Finally, Richard A. Meyer, Busch’s longtime senior manager and aide, stepped in to lead the negotiation of a two-year contract.[3]

“I guess, really, this thing was generated by our differences with Carlton two years ago,” Devine said. “Having gone through that experience, we could sense a similar situation developing.”[4]

Despite back-to-back All-Star seasons, Carlton went just 10-19 in 1970, leading the league in losses despite a 3.73 ERA. He bounced back in 1971 with his first 20-win season and a return to All-Star form.

After earning a reported $50,000 in 1971, Carlton sought a significant raise for the 1972 season. While some reports claimed that Carlton sought $75,000,[5] the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Carlton was asking for $65,000.[6] The Cardinals, however, were unwilling to go above $57,500, leaving the two sides at an impasse.[7] After Carlton sent the team a letter expressing his unwillingness to sign the contract the team had sent him, he had just one meeting with Devine. That meeting took place “three or four days” before the trade, Carlton said.[8]

“This particular idea struck me as a solution to a problem that could be long-lasting,” Devine said.[9]

In his 2004 autobiography, Devine said that the decision to trade Carlton wasn’t truly his to make: after delaying as long as he could, he received word that he had 48 hours to move Carlton. “Basically, Mr. Busch wanted him gone,” Devine wrote.[10]

“I dragged my feet as long as I could, because I didn’t want to do it. I don’t like to second-guess my deals, but after that one, I did wonder: What if I had made a stronger effort to change Mr. Busch’s mind? So I asked Dick (Richard A. Meyer) what would have happened if I hadn’t moved Carlton within those 48 hours. Dick laughed and said, “I’ll tell you what would have happened. You’d have been gone first … and Carlton would have been gone right after you.”[11]

As Carlton campaigned for more money in St. Louis, Wise had also asked for $65,000, and gaining no traction with his club.[12] Quinn, however, wanted to make it clear that he wasn’t making the trade simply because Wise hadn’t signed: the Phillies believed Carlton was the superior pitcher.

“We’re trading ballplayers because we think that Carlton is one of the better pitchers in the National League,” he said. “I talked to (manager) Frank Lucchesi and called (owner) Bob Carpenter and the rest of our fellows, and they thought if we could trade Wise for Carlton, that would be a good deal for the Phillies. And that’s why we made the trade.”[13]

Both pitchers were shocked. Devine called Carlton at the pitcher’s St. Louis home to inform him of the deal.[14]

“I really didn’t expect to be traded,” Carlton said. “I just don’t understand it. I came up through the organization, and I never thought about leaving. I just didn’t have anything to say about where I was going. All of a sudden, you’re traded – cold turkey.”[15]

Wise, meanwhile, was surprised when Quinn arrived at his Clearwater Beach apartment to inform him of the trade. At first, Wise assumed the Phillies’ general manager was there to continue negotiations.[16]

“I was completely surprised,” Wise said. “There were a couple of times a few years back when I half-expected to be traded, but not now.”[17]

A month earlier, Wise and his wife, Susan, had been at a banquet where Quinn spoke about Wise’s future with the team.

“He said, ‘We’d never trade Wise. This is the fellow we’re going to build around,’” Susan recalled.[18]

“I was surprised because I’d been reading all winter that I was among the Phillies’ untouchables,” Wise said, “but I’m delighted to come to a contending ball club and good organization.”[19]

Before the day was over, Carlton, who earned about $45,000 in 1971, had a new contract that would pay him $60,000 to pitch for the Phillies. Wise, who earned $32,500 the previous season, agreed to a $50,000 salary with the Cardinals.[20]

In Carlton, the Phillies obtained a 6-foot-4, 210-pound left-hander who had gone 77-62 in seven seasons with the Cardinals. Since moving into the St. Louis starting rotation, Carlton had reached double-digits in wins for five consecutive seasons, including his difficult 1970 campaign.

In 1969, he set the modern major league record by striking out 19 Mets in a single nine-inning game.

“You have to give up something to get something, but we wouldn’t have made the trade if we didn’t think it would give us the edge,” said Phillies manager Frank Luccesi, who called it “the best deal we’ve made in years.”[21]

The trade marked the first deal between the Cardinals and Phillies since October 7, 1969, when St. Louis attempted to trade Curt Flood to Philadelphia, and Flood subsequently refused to report to his new team.

“I just wish I’d had a say-so,” Carlton said. “Not that it’s a problem going to Philadelphia, but … well, with the reserve clause, you just don’t have any say-so. You go where they say, or you don’t play at all.”[22]

In seven seasons with the struggling Phillies, Wise had gone 75-76. In each of the previous three seasons, he had led Philadelphia in wins, including a career-high 17 in 1971. With a 2.88 ERA over 272 1/3 innings that season, the 25-year-old set career highs in games started (37), complete games (17), strikeouts (155), shutouts (four), and ERA (2.88). He also made the first all-star appearance of his career.

Early in the year, Wise had said, “To win on this club, you have to pitch a shutout and hit a homer.”[23] On June 23, he exceeded even that, throwing a no-hitter and hitting two home runs against the Reds to lead the Phillies to a 4-0 win.

“I think we got a good pitcher and gave up a good pitcher,” Devine said. “The only difference, to me, is that one is right-handed and one is left-handed.”[24]

“I don’t know how it feels to not be in the second division, but I’m looking forward to finding out,” Wise said. “I’m tired of being labeled a .500 pitcher when I’ve been pitching for a ball club that is well below .500. I’m really excited. I’ve never been with a ball club that could be in a World Series.”[25]

Phillies catcher Tim McCarver, who teamed with Carlton in St. Louis from Carlton’s rookie season in 1965 until 1969, when McCarver was traded to Philadelphia, considered it an even trade.

“I think it’s about as even a trade as can be made,” he said. “Rick might have a little more poise and mound savvy. Steve has an edge in raw ability and stuff. Both are excellent pitchers.”[26]

Though he didn’t reach the heights of his 1971 campaign, Wise continued to pitch well in his two seasons in St. Louis. In 1972, he went 16-16 with a 3.11 ERA over 269 innings. The following year, he earned his second career All-Star nod en route to a 16-12 season and a 3.37 ERA. After the season, the Cardinals traded him and Bernie Carbo to the Red Sox for Reggie Smith and Ken Tatum.

Wise made his final major league appearance in 1982, wrapping up a career that included 18 big league seasons. He retired with a 188-181 record and 3.69 ERA.

Meanwhile, Carlton went on to pitch the next 15 seasons for the Phillies, winning four Cy Young awards on his way to a Hall of Fame career. After removing the slider from his pitch arsenal in 1971 due to the strain it placed on his arm,[27] Carlton brought the pitch back with the Phillies and learned to master it.

Later, after his career had ended, he was asked in an interview why he had been put on this earth. “To teach the world to throw a slider,” Carlton answered with a grin.[28]

With Carlton at the top of the rotation, the Phillies won the National League East in 1976, 1977, and 1978, then won the World Series in 1980. Philadelphia made the playoffs again in the strike-shortened 1981 season, then captured the National League pennant again in 1983.

In 15 seasons with the Phillies, Carlton won 241 games and posted a 3.09 ERA over almost 3,700 innings. After making his final major league appearance in 1988, Carlton was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994. He retired with a 329-244 career record, 3.22 ERA, and 10 all-star appearances. He posted a 38-14 record and 2.98 ERA for his career against the Cardinals.

Enjoy this post? Read more about the Steve Carlton trade in The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals, available now on Amazon!

[1] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[2] Bob Broeg, “Busch: ‘I Don’t Care If Carlton Plays,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 12, 1970.

[3] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[4] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[5] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[6] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[7] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[8] “Trade Shocks Carlton,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[9] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[10] Bing Devine with Tom Wheatley, The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Sports Publishing, New York, N.Y., Page 163.

[11] Bing Devine with Tom Wheatley, The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves by a Master GM, Sports Publishing, New York, N.Y., Page 165.

[12] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[13] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[14] “Trade Shocks Carlton,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[15] Bob Broeg, “For Rick Wise: ‘A New Feeling,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 26, 1972.

[16] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[17] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[18] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[19] Bob Broeg, “For Rick Wise: ‘A New Feeling,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 26, 1972.

[20] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[21] “Trade Shocks Carlton,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[22] Bruce Keidan, “Phils and Cards Solve Salary Problems – And Wise, Carlton Receive Increases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 26, 1972.

[23] “Trade Shocks Carlton,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[24] Dick Kaegel, “Cards Deal Carlton To Phils For Wise,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 25, 1972.

[25] Bob Broeg, “For Rick Wise: ‘A New Feeling,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 26, 1972.

[26] Bill Conlin, “No-Hit No-Run, No Longer Phil,” Philadelphia Daily News, February 26, 1972.

[27] Bill Conlin, “No-Hit No-Run, No Longer Phil,” Philadelphia Daily News, February 26, 1972.

[28] “Steve Carlton – Slider,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7xsdUOEnvg.

The post Why the Cardinals traded Steve Carlton to the Phillies first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

It wasn’t a bad achievement for a pitcher whose former minor-league manager with the Tulsa Oilers expected him to soon be ousted from the majors, as baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn recalled during Haines’ induction ceremony.

“When he came up to the Cardinals, his old manager Spencer Abbott, who had unwisely sent him from Tulsa to Kansas City, made a bet of a suit of clothes that Haines wouldn’t last six weeks in the big leagues,” Kuhn said.[1]

Abbott obviously lost that bet, as Haines not only stuck around with the Cardinals for their 1920 campaign, but played in St. Louis through the 1937 season.

“Pop” Haines played his first season of pro ball in 1914. He bounced around different teams and leagues – even reaching the majors with the Reds in 1918 – before he won 26 games between Tulsa and Kansas City in 1919. That success inspired Cardinals general manager Branch Rickey to seek a $10,000 loan to purchase Haines.

“Mr. Rickey told the story many times,” Haines said. “He was turned down by every bank in St. Louis in requesting a loan for that money and finally got it by getting Sam Breadon to buy a piece of the ballclub.”[2]

Recognizing that the Cardinals lacked the funds to compete for top-caliber talent, Rickey developed baseball’s first farm system. Haines became the last player Rickey ever needed to buy.

In his first season in St. Louis, Haines appeared in a league-high 47 games, throwing 301 2/3 innings. However, he went just 13-20 despite a 2.98 ERA. In 1923, Haines developed a knuckleball, the pitch that would allow him to stick around the majors well into his 40s.

It took him years to perfect the pitch, and in 1924, he suffered his worst season. Ironically, that campaign also included his best game, a no-hitter against the Braves that marked the first recognized no-hitter in Cardinals history.

Finally, in 1926, Haines got his knuckleball under control. He went 13-4 with a 3.25 ERA to help the Cardinals win the National League pennant and advance to the World Series, where they played a seven-game classic against the Yankees.

After throwing a complete-game shutout to win Game 3, Haines started Game 7, going 6 2/3 innings into the game before he popped a blister on his pitching hand. With Haines’ hand bloody, manager Rogers Hornsby turned to Grover Cleveland Alexander with the bases loaded and talented rookie Tony Lazzeri at the plate. Alexander struck out Lazzeri, then pitched two more scoreless innings to win the Cardinals’ first World Series championship.

“I was a knuckleball pitcher, and I used it a lot in that game,” Haines said. “I wore a big blister on my finger, and when I showed it to Hornsby, he decided to take me out. I went straight to the clubhouse and didn’t see Alex strike out Lazzeri.”[3]

Haines pitched in three more World Series for the Cardinals in 1928, 1930, and 1934. In Game 4 of the 1930 World Series, he allowed just one run in a complete-game win over the Philadelphia Athletics and another Hall of Famer, Lefty Grove.

In his 19 years in the big leagues, Haines won 210 games and posted a 3.64 ERA. A three-time 20-game winner, Haines’ best season came in 1927 when he went 24-10 with a 2.72 ERA. His 25 complete games that season included six shutouts.

“There are a lot of things that stand out in my career,” Haines said. “My 210 victories. My no-hit game in 1924 against the Boston Braves, when the last batter I retired was Casey Stengel. The 1926 World Series, and the 1930 Series game in which I beat Lefty Grove.”[4]

In the years following his retirement, Haines never enjoyed much luck with the Hall of Fame voters. In his final year on the standard ballot in 1962, he received just three votes. He found better luck, however, with the Veterans Committee, which included his former manager and teammate, Frankie Frisch, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter J. Roy Stockton.

In 1970, the committee also elected Earl Combs, now age 70, and former commissioner Ford C. Frick, now 74.

“It’s quite an honor,” Haines said. “I was in hopes, and my hopes came true. I’d hoped that if I ever was going to get into the Hall, it would come before I passed on, and now it’s happened. I’m kind of broke up about it.”[5]

Upon Haines’ election, Post-Dispatch sports editor Bob Broeg admitted that Haines may have benefited from a friendly committee, but pointed to the crucial role Haines played teaching successive generations of Cardinals how to compete for championships:

Whether Haines’ 210-158 won-and-lost record gives him Hall of Fame credentials is a question, but there never was a doubt about the man’s nobility as a person. He’s a ramrod-straight, right guy, a small-town boy who went back home to Phillipsburg, (Ohio), a suburb of Dayton, and put in 25 years as county auditor.

Pop Haines became an elder statesman for the Cardinals long before he threw his last knuckleball at the age of 44. He helped soothe ruffled Redbird feathers many times to keep the old Gas House Gang from exploding.

He could be kind, gentlemanly, considerate, and philosophical – except when he pitched. Then, he was the darndest hard loser.

When 1920 batterymate Pickles Dillhoefer threw wild on a pickoff attempt and the only run of the game scored, teammates had to harness Haines in the clubhouse to keep him off his catcher.

Fifteen years later, rookie center fielder Terry Moore was flabbergasted to walk into the visitors’ clubhouse at Cincinnati to see how Haines had ripped the furniture after a game had been lost by Redbird errors.

“When I saw how hard a nice old man like Pop could take it after losing a game,” said Moore, “I realized why he’d been a consistent winner and the Cardinals too. I never forgot how much Haines expected of himself and of others.”[6]

The three Veterans Committee selections were inducted on July 26 alongside former Indians manager and shortstop Lou Boudreau, who was elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Haines, who had recently undergone surgery, told the audience that, as a boy growing up, his mother used to have him bring baked goods to an old German lady. On this occasion, he repeated the phrasing his German neighbor often used.

“Deep down in my heart, I thank you too much,” Haines said. “I am one thousand times obliged.”[7]

Enjoy this post? Then you’ll love my book, The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals, available now on Amazon!

[1] “Pop Haines: Hall Induction Greatest Of All My Thrills,” Dayton Daily News, July 28, 1970.

[2] Ritter Collett, “Haines adds class in entering ‘Hall,’” Dayton Journal Herald, July 28, 1970.

[3] “Haines ‘Kind Of Broke Up’ By Hall Of Fame Selection,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1970.

[4] “Haines ‘Kind Of Broke Up’ By Hall Of Fame Selection,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1970.

[5] “Haines ‘Kind Of Broke Up’ By Hall Of Fame Selection,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1970.

[6] Bob Broeg, “Hall Hurrahs For Haines, Combs; Hmm For Frick,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 2, 1970.

[7] “Haines: ‘Thank You Too Much,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 27, 1970.

The post How Jesse Haines was elected to the Hall of Fame first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

In the deal, the Cardinals sent infielder Tommy Sandt to the Pirates in exchange for Stuper, a 1978 18^th-round draft pick who had grown up as a Pirates fan in Pennsylvania. Stuper had attended Butler Community College in Butler, Pennsylvania, then went 9-0 in his final season at Point Park State College.

“The rap on me in high school and later in college was that I labored too much and didn’t have a smooth enough delivery,” Stuper said.[1]

The Pirates assigned Stuper to the Charleston Pirates of the Class A Western Carolinas League for his first professional season. There, he went just 4-8 with a 5.33 ERA in 76 innings, walking 62 batters while striking out just 36.

On January 25, 1979, Stuper received a call from Murry Cook, the Pirates scout who had signed him to a $2,500 bonus. Cook told him he was headed to St. Louis.[2]

The Cardinals sent the 22-year-old right-hander to their Class A St. Petersburg affiliate, where he was used primarily as a reliever. In 93 innings, Stuper’s ERA dropped to 2.71. After throwing 39 more innings with St. Petersburg in 1980, Stuper was promoted to Double-A Arkansas, where he went 7-2 with a 2.86 ERA. After starting just one game in St. Petersburg, he made eight Double-A starts that season.

“When we got him, he was a strong, well-conditioned kid but was throwing down from the side and being used in relief,” Cardinals pitching coach Hub Kittle said. “Gradually we changed his mechanics, and when he came over the top, the ball began to jump.”[3]

That winter, Stuper threw 110 innings in the Mexican League. That extra work paid off in spring training, as he impressed the Cardinals’ coaching staff. Though he was sent down to Triple-A Springfield to continue his development, he was earmarked for a spot in the major-league rotation if someone went down with an injury.

Unfortunately, Stuper’s success didn’t carry over against Triple-A hitters. He went just 6-14 with a 4.92 ERA in 1981.

“When I got to spring training, I was in midseason form,” Stuper said in 1982, “but in the long run, pitching in the winter hurt me. My arm was very fatigued all season. One of my goals this season has been to prove that was the reason I had a bad year. You can say all you want that you had a tired arm, but nobody will believe it until you come back with a good season.”[4]

Despite his struggles in 1981, the Cardinals continued to believe in Stuper’s potential, particularly Kittle.

“I got down and started thinking, ‘Maybe I don’t have as much potential as the organization thinks,’ but the organization stayed behind me,” Stuper said. “Hub Kittle has been a big influence on me. Ever since I’ve been in Double-A ball he’s been telling me that I’ll make it to the big leagues.”[5]

Stuper also credited fellow pitcher Dave LaPoint and his wife, Kathy.

“God put some good people in front of me,” Stuper said. “There were times I thought about giving it up and getting a real job, but people like Dave and Kathy LaPoint would always seem to be there. They lived below me when we were pitching in Springfield, and they’d lie to me and tell me I’d pitched well when I hadn’t. I don’t know if I would’ve  made it without them.”[6]

Stuper did exactly that in 1982. Though he started the season back in Triple-A, Stuper was called up on May 25 and made his major-league debut on June 1, pitching eight innings in a no-decision against the Giants. Stuper went on to win four of his first five decisions, and after winning three consecutive starts in September, he entered the postseason with a 9-7 record and a 3.36 ERA.

Stuper made three starts that postseason. In Game 2 of the NLCS against the Braves, he allowed three runs over six innings. The Cardinals trailed 3-2 when he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the sixth, but Ken Oberkfell won the game with an RBI single that scored David Green in the bottom of the ninth.

Stuper made two starts in that year’s Fall Classic against the Brewers. In Game 2, he only lasted into the fifth inning before an RBI single by Cecil Cooper gave Milwaukee a 4-2 lead. Once again, however, the Cardinals rallied to win as Doug Bair and Bruce Sutter combined for five innings of scoreless relief and Steve Braun drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning to score the game-winning run in a 5-4 Cardinals victory.

Despite a pair of rain delays, Stuper didn’t need any relief help in Game 6. With the Cardinals trailing three games to two in the series, St. Louis needed a good outing from the rookie. They got exactly that in a complete-game effort in which he allowed one run on just four hits and two walks.

“I was throwing strikes and getting ahead of batters – that’s the name of the game – and in the third or fourth inning I started to get in the groove,” Stuper said.[7]

Stuper pitched the entire game despite a sixth-inning rain delay that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

“For him to pitch nine innings was one of the most impressive performances I’ve ever seen under the circumstances,” said teammate and future Hall of Famer Jim Kaat.[8]

During one stretch between the third and eighth innings, Stuper retired 15 consecutive Brewers.

“You have to tip your cap to Stuper for a great clutch performance,” said Keith Hernandez. “Here’s a rookie, 25 years old, who undoubtedly has never faced nearly this much pressure in any previous game. Our backs were to the wall. This was it.

“John is a diamond in the rough who has a fastball and sometimes lacks command of other pitches. If he gets past the fourth inning, he usually pitches great. He had to get his rhythm, and he’d found it when we had the first rain delay.”[9]

The following day, the Cardinals won 6-3 to capture their first world championship since 1967.

In 1983, Stuper went 12-11 with a 3.68 ERA over 198 innings, but in spring training 1984 he suffered a shoulder injury and opened the season in Triple-A. When he returned to the majors, he started 10 games for the Cardinals, posting a 3-5 record and 5.28 ERA. Stuper was optioned to the minors on June 30 and was later lent to the Brewers’ farm club in Vancouver.

In September, the Cardinals announced that Stuper was headed to the Reds as the player to be named later in the Cardinals’ trade for outfielder Paul Householder. In 99 innings in 1985, Stuper went 8-5 for the Reds with a 4.55 ERA. After the season, he was traded to the Expos, though he never played for Montreal.

After his playing days ended, Stuper became the head coach at Butler County Community College, then returned to the Cardinals in 1991 as a minor-league pitching instructor. In 1993, he was named the manager at Yale University. He managed the Bulldogs for 30 years, retiring after 30 seasons as the winningest manager in program history, with 535 wins.

Sandt, the player the Cardinals dealt to acquire Stuper from the Pirates, also went into coaching. Sandt, whose only major-league appearances came with the A’s in 1975 and 1976, became a minor-league manager for the Pirates from 1982 through 1986. In 1987, he joined Jim Leyland’s staff with the major-league club and remained with Leyland for the next 13 years. Together, they won the 1997 World Series with the Marlins. In 2000, Sandt returned to Pittsburgh as a coach under managers Gene Lamont and Lloyd McClendon.

Enjoy this post? Then you’ll love my book, The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals, available now on Amazon!

[1] Neal Russo, “Cards Rookie Puts Phillies In A Stupor,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 23, 1982.

[2] Neal Russo, “Cards Rookie Puts Phillies In A Stupor,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 23, 1982.

[3] Kevin Horrigan, “Stupendous: Rookie Puts Cards In Game 7,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

[4] Neal Russo, “‘Can’t Miss’ Stuper Arrives Year Late,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 30, 1982.

[5] Neal Russo, “‘Can’t Miss’ Stuper Arrives Year Late,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 30, 1982.

[6] Mike Smith, “Stuper Faces Game With Smile,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 19, 1982.

[7] Arnold Irish, “Stuper’s Effort Was Show-Stopper,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

[8] Rick Hummel, “Cards On Brink Of World Title,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

[9] Arnold Irish, “Stuper’s Effort Was Show-Stopper,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

The post How John Stuper was traded to St. Louis and became a World Series hero first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.