Caray, a St. Louis native who attended Webster Groves High School, had been the Cardinals’ play-by-play man even longer than Anheuser-Busch had owned the team, dating back to 1945, when Griesedieck Brothers brewery sponsored both Cardinals and Browns broadcasts. Known for his catch phrases – “Holy cow!” and “It could be, it might be, it is – a home run!” – Caray was immensely popular.

The previous year, Caray had suffered a life-threatening accident when he was struck by an automobile on November 4, 1968, near the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel. To assist his longtime friend, Anheuser-Busch president Gussie Busch provided accommodations for Caray in St. Petersburg, where he spent the next 3 ½ months recovering. When the Cardinals resumed broadcasts for the 1969 season, Caray was with the team, delighting the fans on opening day when he discarded his crutches and demonstrated that he could walk under his own power.

However, that season proved to be his final year broadcasting the Cardinals. In August, Pittsburgh Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince confirmed that he had been offered a “five-year, six-figure” offer to join the St. Louis broadcast team. The Pittsburgh Press reported that the offer came amidst rumors that Caray’s days in St. Louis were numbered due to a personal conflict with Busch.[1]

Prince said the offer had come in July when the Pirates were in St. Louis for a series.

“KMOX-CBS Inc. has offered me a good job,” Prince said, “but there has never been one mention of my doing the Cardinal games. I wouldn’t play second fiddle to Caray … I wouldn’t quit a job where I’m No. 1 for one where I’d be No. 2 or No. 3.”[2]

After his firing, Caray suggested that the brewery might have used those reports as a trial balloon to gauge fan reaction to his potential replacement.[3]

The rumors that 1969 would mark Caray’s final season in the Cardinals’ booth continued throughout the second half of the campaign. During the Cardinals’ season finale against the Phillies, Caray told his audience that UPI was reporting he had been fired.

“UPI says they know definitely that I’ve been fired,” Caray said. “Why would they know first … why would anybody know first? … That’s what is really grinding inside of me after 25 years.”[4]

Despite the public rumors, the Cardinals didn’t make Caray’s departure official until October 9. On that date, Anheuser-Busch advertising director Donald Hamel informed Caray that after 25 years, his contract would not be renewed for 1970. Instead, Jack Buck would become the new voice of the Cardinals.[5] In a statement to the press, Anheuser-Busch president August A. Busch Jr. said the decision was based on the recommendation of the company’s marketing department.

“We have been very glad to have had Harry Caray as a member of our broadcasting team since 1954, and we can assure our fans that we will do everything possible to make the Cardinal broadcasts of the future both interesting and enjoyable,” he said.[6]

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quoted George W. Couch of Anheuser-Busch’s advertising department, who said, “We felt Caray would not fit into our 1970 program. I think the announcement speaks for itself.”[7]

Caray, who described himself as “bruised” and “hurt” by the decision, fiercely objected to the brewery’s stance that he had been fired for marketing purposes, noting that Anheuser-Busch beer sales had increased from 200,000 cases per year to 2 million since he had begun promoting the brewery’s beer on broadcasts. In protest, he made sure to have a can of Schlitz beer prominently displayed when he was interviewed on the subject.

“I want to know why I was fired,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot of rumors involving personal things.”[8]

The rumors he alluded to accused Caray of an affair with Susan Busch, the wife of Gussie’s son, August Busch III. As William Knoedelseder described in Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s King of Beer:

In 1968, a rumor began making the rounds in Anheuser-Busch social circles that Susie Busch, wife to August, was having an affair with Harry Caray. It was a jaw-dropping, juicy tidbit that practically demanded retelling.

Aside from the age difference (she was 29, he was 51) and the fact that both were married, Caray was the longtime voice of the Cardinals and one of her father-in-law’s best buddies. That he and Susie would be an item seemed weirdly incestuous. The pair could not have been less discreet when they were seen dining together at St. Louis’s only four-star restaurant, Tony’s, just a few blocks from Busch Stadium, visibly under the influence and so physically affectionate that owner Vince Bommarito had to instruct his whispering waitstaff to stop staring at them.

But it was hard not to. The sight of the florid, cartoon-faced sportscaster cavorting with the stunning young wife of August Busch III was not something a working-class St. Louisan ever expected to see, or would likely forget.[9]

Busch III and Susan divorced in 1969. Both Caray and Susan denied the affair.

“For the first time, I am in a position to discuss it openly, for the parties are now divorced,” Caray said that December. “Mrs. August Busch III is, to my knowledge, the finest of ladies, and she also happens to be a true friend of mine. She visited me daily while I was in the hospital, partly in the line of duty as a volunteer nurse and the rest out of unhappiness and loneliness. The young lady, now divorced, was a constant companion for a long time of my wife’s and a dear friend of mine. I hope she is still a good friend of mine, and I have now and have always had nothing but friendly affection and respect for her. If this is having an affair, then our society is becoming sick.”[10]

In a 1995 interview, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jerry Berger asked Susan if she and Caray had been “an item.”

“We were a friendship item, but not a romance item by any means,” she said. “Harry was married to Marion, and Harry and I used to play gin rummy. I could have made a phone call to Harry, easily, because Harry and August and I and Marion used to get together and play cards. But as far as a romance item, no.”[11]

Berger then asked why she believed the rumors had begun.

“I think people do this because we both had a name and we might have been seen out, having dinner, which was probably a situation, yes, I did join Harry for dinner,” Susan said. “August traveled a lot and I joined a lot of friends for dinner, as I still do to this day. And people would see us and I guess decided to go for the romance.”[12]

Caray also faced more mundane rumors that he was about to join Ed Vogel, a former Anheuser-Busch executive who had left the company in 1968, in the distribution of a rival beer in Florida. Caray said he went to Gussie Busch to alleviate any fears the elder Busch may have regarding those stories.

“I said, ‘Gussie, I am not here because of these many stories about me not being back with the Cardinals, but there are two things I want you to know,’” Caray recalled. “‘If you ever believed the truth before in your life, you must believe this because it is the truth.’”

According to Caray’s telling, Busch then said, “I must confess I had heard it and believed it, and I am glad you came out here to tell me.”[13]

Nonetheless, Caray was fired shortly thereafter. Shortly after the announcement, a group calling itself the Harry Caray Fan Club protested outside of Busch Stadium. A petition seeking Caray’s reinstatement also started in Jefferson City.

“Out here in the boondocks, Harry Caray IS the Cardinals to many of us,” read a portion of the petition. “He makes the names in the lineup dance with reality, and the quivering faith or haunting doubt that goes into the outcome of every game, every play, gives new reality and lasting emotion to all of us who love the Cardinals.”[14]

In November, Anheuser-Busch announced that Jim Woods, a native of Missouri who had spent the 11 previous seasons broadcasting Pirates games, would be beside Buck in the broadcast booth.[15] Buck indicated that he and Caray remained on good terms.

“We always were and still are,” he said. “I always wanted to be No. 1 but not at the expense of Harry or anyone else.”[16]

The following month, Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley announced that he had hired Caray to join the A’s broadcast team.

“Any time people in baseball can put color into the game, we should do it,” Finley said. “I’m doing it with Harry Caray, who I consider the finest baseball announcer in the country.”[17]

At the announcement, Caray said he hadn’t spoken to Gussie Busch since he was fired.

“He can’t look me in the eye,” Caray said. “I think the old man’s son had a big hand in letting me go. I was a great friend of his father.”[18]

Caray spent just one season in Oakland before returning to the Midwest with the Chicago White Sox. Caray stayed in the South Side broadcast booth from 1971 through 1981, then was hired by the Chicago Cubs for the 1982 season. Caray remained in the Cubs’ broadcast booth until he passed away in February 1998.

Caray’s son, Skip, followed in his father’s footsteps, broadcasting games for the Atlanta Braves from 1976 until his passing in 2008. Chip Caray, Skip’s son and Harry’s grandson, made the profession a family tradition. Chip was hired to work alongside Harry as a Cubs broadcaster for the 1998 season, but ended up taking his grandfather’s place following Harry’s passing. In 2005, Chip began broadcasting Braves games, and in 2023, he was named the new play-by-play announcer for the Cardinals, the position his grandfather held 54 years earlier.

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[1] “Cards Make Big Offer To Prince,” Pittsburgh Press, August 19, 1969.

[2] “Cards Make Big Offer To Prince,” Pittsburgh Press, August 19, 1969.

[3] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[4] Jerry Atkins, “Harry Fired?” Paducah Sun, October 3, 1969.

[5] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[6] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[7] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[8] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[9] William Knoedelseder (2012), Bitter Brew: The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America’s King of Beer, HarperCollins, Pages 106-107.

[10] “Harry Caray tells his side of the story,” Mattoon (Ill.) Journal Gazette, December 9, 1969.

[11] Jerry Berger, “Near Beer,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 13, 1995.

[12] Jerry Berger, “Near Beer,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 13, 1995.

[13] “Harry Caray tells his side of the story,” Mattoon (Ill.) Journal Gazette, December 9, 1969.

[14] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[15] “Pirates’ Woods To Announce Cards’ Games,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 6, 1969.

[16] “Caray Hunting Job After Dismissal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 10, 1969.

[17] Ed Levitt, “The Ham In Harry,” Oakland Tribune, January 20, 1970.

[18] Ed Levitt, “The Ham In Harry,” Oakland Tribune, January 20, 1970.

The post Why Harry Caray was fired as Cardinals broadcaster first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Flood refused to report to the Phillies. Instead, he sued to eliminate the reserve clause, Paragraph 10(a) in the Uniform Player Contract, which stated that “the Club shall have the right … to renew this contract for a period of one year.”[1] As a result of this clause, each team had the right to automatically renew each player’s contract the following season for as little as 80% of that year’s salary. Players had no rights to free agency, and if they could not come to a salary agreement with the team that held their rights, they simply didn’t play in the league.

Flood appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, and while Flood v. Kuhn was unsuccessful, it drew significant attention to the issue. In 1975, the reserve clause finally was struck down. The following year, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association agreed to a new contract that gave players the right to free agency.

“The fact is the modern player has gotten fat from the efforts of Curt Flood and has returned him no gratitude or any other form of appreciation,” Bob Gibson wrote in 1994. “I’ve often thought of what an appropriate and decent thing it would be if every player in the major leagues turned over 1% of his paycheck just one time to Curt Flood. They certainly owe him that much and more. Failing that, which I know is implausible, I can’t understand why Flood has not been offered a job with the players’ association. As far as I’m concerned, he invented the players’ association.”[2]

Flood already had been traded once in his career, in December 1957, when the Reds dealt him and Joe Taylor to St. Louis for relief pitcher Willard Schmidt and minor-league pitchers Ted Wieand and Marty Kutyna. At the Reds’ request, Flood was playing winter ball in Venezuela and learning to play second base when the trade was made. According to Brad Snyder’s Flood biography, A Well-Paid Slave, the 19-year-old Flood stared at the telegram for 30 minutes upon its arrival, vowing that he would never allow himself to be traded again.[3]

Despite his feelings regarding the trade, Flood found a home in St. Louis. He appeared in 121 games as a 20-year-old in 1958. After Johnny Keane took over as the Cardinals’ manager midway through the 1961 season, Flood became a fixture in the Cardinals’ lineup. He earned the first of seven consecutive Gold Glove awards in 1963, and the following year he hit .311 and led the league with 211 hits. He was named to the all-star game and won a second consecutive Gold Glove while helping to lead the Cardinals to the 1964 World Series title.

Flood remained a star throughout the late 1960s as the Cardinals won the World Series again in 1967 and the National League pennant in 1968. In that ’68 World Series, however, Flood misplayed a crucial fly ball that proved costly in the Game 7 loss.

Ahead of the 1969 season, Flood sought a salary increase from $72,500 to $100,000 but ultimately settled for $90,000.[4] That spring, one day after the Mets’ Bud Harrelson accidentally spiked him at second base, Flood missed a promotional banquet. He said that his medication had caused him to oversleep.

“For my arrogant and thoughtless failure to awaken in time, drag my torn self to the banquet, and pay tribute to season ticket holders galore, I was fined $250,” Flood said. “I protested angrily. I protested more things than one during that horrible season. Each complaint became another nail in my coffin. I was not speaking well of the boss. At $90,000 a year, I no longer looked so good in a hotel lobby. My days were numbered.”[5]

The relationship between Flood and the Cardinals continued to deteriorate as newspapers reported rumors that Flood, McCarver, and Julian Javier could be traded to the Reds for catcher Johnny Bench and second baseman Tommy Helms.[6] That fall, Flood gave an anonymous interview to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in which he accused Cardinals management of ordering manager Red Schoendienst to insert rookies into the everyday lineup, effectively giving up on the season.

Five days after Flood drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 12^th inning to give the Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Phillies in their season finale, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine and his Phillies counterpart, John Quinn, agreed to the trade that would have sent Flood to Philadelphia.

Though Flood refused to report to the Phillies, his days as a Cardinal were over.

“I loved the Cardinals, was proud to be one, and recognized that Curt Flood and Tim McCarver were two of the biggest reasons why,” said Gibson, who counted Flood as his best friend on the team. “With them gone, being a Cardinal would never mean quite the same thing.”[7]

Flood learned of the trade at 4 o’clock the next morning when he received a phone call from a reporter.[8] A few hours later, Jim Toomey, the Cardinals’ public relations director, called to officially deliver the news.[9] When Devine called, Flood told his now-former general manager that he was exhausted and wished Devine had shot him down last offseason.

“When you say, ‘shot me down,’ what do you mean?” Devine asked.

Flood replied that if Devine had offered him anything less than $90,000 in their contract negotiations, Flood would have retired and chosen not to play the 1969 season.[10]

“I didn’t take it seriously at first,” Devine wrote in his 2012 autobiography. “But I should have realized it was serious, because Flood was a strong-thinking personality.”[11]

Indeed, he should have. Flood soon released a press release of his own announcing his retirement.

“For the past year or two it has been increasingly difficult to stay in top physical shape; as you know I’ll soon be 32 years of age,” he said in the statement. “In addition, with my playing days nearing an end due to physical considerations alone, I’ve had to think of my own and my children’s future. Consequently, I’ve felt that I should give more time to the Curt Flood Photo Studio franchise business, as well as a large backlog of oil portrait commissions.

“I then told Mr. Devine that the trade to Philadelphia has caused me to make a personal decision that I have been putting off for some time. If I were younger, I certainly would enjoy playing for Philadelphia. But under the circumstances, I have decided to retire from organized baseball, effective today, and remain in St. Louis where I can devote full time to my business interests.”[12]

The statement was interesting not only due to the nature of Flood’s announcement but also because of his stated reasons. After all, he could make more money playing baseball “unless he’s better than Rembrandt,” former Cardinals general manager Frank Lane noted.[13]

More interesting, however, was the nature of Flood’s portraiture business. Though he had presented Cardinals owner Gussie Busch, the governors of Missouri and Illinois, the archbishop of St. Louis, and even Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow, Coretta Scott King, with portraits that he claimed to have painted, Snyder writes in A Well-Paid Slave that Flood didn’t actually paint any of the portraits. Instead, Flood sent photos of his subjects to an artist in California who enlarged the photos, painted over them, and shipped them back to Flood. Flood then signed his name to the portraits and presented them to their new owners.

“Your painting comes closest to depicting the dignity and reverence – and especially the live – which characterized his life,” Coretta Scott King wrote to Flood after receiving the portrait he claimed to have painted of her late husband.[14]

In November, Quinn met with Flood to convince him to come to Philadelphia. He explained that the Phillies were building a new ballpark and that Philadelphia was home to a rich culture of art and history. With four or five seasons in Philadelphia, Flood could increase his recognition as an artist, Quinn said.[15]

Though Quinn believed the star center fielder would choose to play in Philadelphia, Flood was not convinced. On December 24, 1969, he sent Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn a letter requesting that he be made a free agent. “After 12 years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel that I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes,” Flood wrote. “I believe that any system which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States and of the several States.

“It is my desire to play baseball in 1970, and I am capable of playing. I have received a contract from the Philadelphia club, but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decisions. I, therefore, request that you make it known to all the major league clubs my feelings in this matter, and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.”

Three days later, Kuhn declined Flood’s request. In January 1970, with the financial support of the players’ association, Flood filed suit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball. Ultimately, the Supreme Court sided with baseball in 1972, but Marvin Miller and the players’ association challenged the reserve clause again in 1975 after the Dodgers’ Andy Messersmith and Orioles’ Dave McNally played that season without a contract. On December 23, 1975 – almost exactly six years after Flood sent his letter to Kuhn – arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled against the reserve clause. Soon thereafter, free agency became part of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.

By that time, however, Flood’s career was over. His refusal to play for Philadelphia cost him the entire 1970 season. To compensate the Phillies and complete the trade, the Cardinals sent Willie Montanez and Jim Browning to Philadelphia.

Flood spent that year in Denmark, drinking heavily. In November 1970, the Phillies traded him to the Senators, where owner Bob Short hoped Flood would attract attention to a club that won just 70 games and finished last in the American League East that season. Short gave Flood a $110,000 salary, with half of that total paid in advance.

Senators manager Ted Williams, who hit .342 and won the American League MVP Award after missing three seasons due to military service, publicly supported his new center fielder but was concerned about Flood’s conditioning.

“Flood has to have the oldest 33-year-old body I’ve ever examined,” Senators team doctor George Resta said.[16]

Flood’s return to baseball proved to be short-lived. On April 20, before a game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, he found a black funeral wreath hanging in his locker where his uniform should have been.[17]

That proved to be the final start of Flood’s career. On April 26, after just 13 appearances for the Senators, Flood didn’t show up for the team’s game against the Twins. Instead, he booked a one-way flight out of the country. From JFK Airport, he sent Short a telegram:

I TRIED A YEAR AND A HALF IS TOO MUCH VERY

SERIOUS PERSONAL PROBLEMS MOUNTING EVERYDAY

THANKS FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE AND UNDERSTANDING

FLOOD[18]

Flood’s major-league career was over after 15 years and 1,759 games. Over that span, he batted .293 with 85 homers, 636 RBIs, and 851 runs scored.

“You always have a little selfish thing in the back of your mind which asks, ‘Did I give up too much to do this?’” Flood said. “I’ll never know.”[19]

Flood continued to battle alcoholism after his playing days ended. He briefly served as a color commentator for Oakland A’s radio broadcasts in 1978, but his contract was not renewed after the season. He owned and operated a public relations firm and remained active in youth baseball, serving as an American Legion and Connie Mack coach and Little League commissioner in Oakland.[20]

In 1995, Flood was diagnosed with throat cancer. He passed away on January 20, 1997. The following year, the U.S. Congress passed the Curt Flood Act, which eliminated baseball’s antitrust exemption. In 1997, Time magazine named him one of the 10 most influential athletes of the past century.

“It’s sad,” Lou Brock said after Flood’s passing. “Most of the pioneers wind up with an arrow in their backs, and he certainly was one of those who had an arrow in his back. As a pioneer, he never got his just due. God will amend that.”[21]

Flood was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2015; however, he has not yet been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Curt was a fighter, but he also sacrificed quite a bit so that today’s player can be where he is financially,” Cardinals first baseman Bill White said. “It’s too bad that most of these players today, probably 99%, don’t know that.”[22]

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[1] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 2.

[2] Bob Gibson and Lonnie Wheeler (1994), Stranger to the Game, New York; Penguin Books USA, 221.

[3] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 4.

[4] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 6.

[5] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 506.

[6] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 7.

[7] Peter Golenbock (2011), The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns, HarperCollins Ebooks, Page 507.

[8] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 1.

[9] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 1.

[10] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 7.

[11] Bing Devine (2012), The Memoirs of Bing Devine: Stealing Lou Brock and Other Winning Moves By a Master GM, Kindle Android Version, Location 1916.

[12] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 8.

[13] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 9.

[14] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 9.

[15] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 14.

[16] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 216.

[17] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 226.

[18] Brad Snyder (2007), A Well-Paid Slave, Kindle Android Version, Page 231.

[19] Mike Eisenbath, “An Artist: Flood Brought Range Of Talent To Game, And Life,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 26, 1997.

[20] Mike Eisenbath, “An Artist: Flood Brought Range Of Talent To Game, And Life,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 26, 1997.

[21] Rick Hummel, “Cardinals Recall Flood Excelling On, Off The Field,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1997.

[22] Rick Hummel, “Cardinals Recall Flood Excelling On, Off The Field,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1997.

The post October 7, 1969: Curt Flood refuses trade to the Phillies first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

In his first year on the ballot, Musial received 317 of 340 votes, good for 93.2% and far eclipsing the 255 votes necessary to reach 75% and earn election to the Hall of Fame. Nonetheless, there was some consternation when it was reported that one of the ballots included votes for the maximum 10 candidates but omitted both Musial and the other 1969 selection, Roy Campanella.[1]

In the following day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, sports editor Bob Broeg tried to explain how someone could deem Musial unworthy.

It’s this guess that the omissions were more the careless oversight or the intentional malice of honorary BBWAA members. The Hall of Fame ballot, to explain, is accorded to all active writers with 10 or more years’ experience. It also is given to all former 10-year BBWAA card-carrying members no longer in the craft. Some of the honorary members are so far removed from the game that they’re totally disinterested. Others are so old that they’re a bit senile or childish, as one indicated a few years ago when he voted nostalgically for 10 former Philadelphia ballplayers, all of whom could get into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown only one way – by buying a ticket.

… The worst thing that happened to Musial’s chances of winning election to the Hall of Fame by acclamation was just the publicized suggestion that he might be the first unanimous choice.[2]

Later in his column, Broeg wrote:

Of the 23 who didn’t vote for Stan, I feel sorriest for the guy who couldn’t see either Musial or Campanella as he took the pains and trouble to name 10 players he presumably felt deserved election more than those two three-time Most Valuable Player winners. That joker is so mean that he’d give Santa Claus and his reindeer the wrong directions en route to the county orphans’ home.[3]

For his part, Musial said he was happy simply to be elected.

“I wasn’t really concerned about that,” he said. “In this country, the majority rules. I’m just happy to go into the Hall of Fame. That’s the main thing.”[4]

Musial was the top vote-getter of the day. Campanella received 270 votes for 79.4% after missing election by seven votes in 1968.

“We’re all happy Campanella made it too,” Musial said. “He was a great opponent through the years, and he loved to play baseball. He’d always be gabbing when I was at the plate, but he didn’t say anything when I was crossing the plate.”[5]

Lou Boudreau fell 37 votes short with 218, and Ralph Kiner had 137. Former Cardinals Enos Slaughter (128), Johnny Mize (116), and Marty Marion (112) were the next highest vote getters, and Musial’s close friend Red Schoendienst received 65.

In addition to the writers’ ballots, the Veterans Committee elected pitchers Waite Hoyt and Stan Covelski.

Musial was informed of his election at a press conference in the Busch Stadium dining hall. There, he was joined by Joe Medwick, who had been elected to the Hall of Fame the previous year, as well as Cardinals general manager Bing Devine and his assistant, Jim Toomey. Schoendienst arrived shortly after the announcement.[6]

“I could close my eyes and see myself getting into the Hall last year, but the only difference was that I had to wait 20 years,” Medwick said. “Stan was very kind to me last year when the Cardinals sent him to Cooperstown to represent the club at the induction ceremonies. You can bet your life I’ll be in Cooperstown in July to see him.”[7]

Shortly before the phone call came from New York, Medwick shook Musial’s hand and said, “I like your chances, Stan.”[8]

Then came the call from Jack Lang, secretary of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He turned the phone over to William D. Eckert, the former U.S. Air Force lieutenant general who had recently resigned his position as baseball’s commissioner.

“I’m proud to be the first to tell you that you have been elected by an overwhelming majority to the Baseball Hall of Fame,” Eckert said. “Your record is most distinguished. You are a credit to your country and to baseball. I congratulate you on receiving baseball’s highest honor.”[9]

Musial earned that honor with a career that spanned 22 seasons from September 1941 until the conclusion of the 1963 season (Musial missed the 1945 season due to military service). Over the course of more than 3,000 games, Musial totaled 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, and 1,951 RBIs. Included in his .331 career batting average were seven National League batting titles, including consecutive crowns in 1950, 1951, and 1952.

Along the way, he won three MVP trophies in 1943, 1946, and 1948 and placed second in the MVP voting in 1949, 1950, 1951, and 1957. He was selected for 24 All-Star Games (the league used to play two All-Star Games per year) and led the Cardinals to World Series championships in 1942, 1944, and 1946.

Musial set seven major league records and tied 12. His major-league marks included 6,134 total bases, 1,377 extra-base hits, five home runs in a doubleheader, and 21 seasons with 100 or more games played.[10]

In looking back at his career, he ranked his top five achievements:

1. Attaining his 3,000^th career hit
2. Hitting five home runs in a single doubleheader
3. Breaking the National League career hits record
4. Breaking the National League career RBIs record
5. Setting the major-league record for total bases with 6,134[11]

Musial retired following the 1963 season at age 42. Though he earned MVP votes in both 1960 and 1962, he said that the final years of his career were a struggle.

“The ball seemed to be getting smaller, and the pitchers were throwing harder, and I couldn’t concentrate on every pitch anymore,” Musial said. “A lot of athletes were wearing glasses, and I figured that if glasses would help, why not use them? I was very disappointed when the doc said I didn’t need to wear them. And last spring, when I took a physical examination, the doctor said I had the best eyes around.”[12]

After the press conference, Musial and his son Dick hosted approximately 150 guests for a hastily arranged party at Musial & Biggie’s restaurant.[13]

Six months later, on July 28, 1969, Musial was officially inducted into the Hall of Fame. Throughout the program, a light rain fell on the ceremony, but as Musial stood to accept his plaque from new baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, the clouds parted, and the sun shone down on the stage.[14]

“Of all the thrills I experienced – from that first hit off Jim Tobin to the last two off Jim Maloney, my last two times up at bat in 1963 – I still say the greatest was in just pulling on the uniform and going out there to compete,” Musial said.[15]

After thanking family and friends, he concluded his remarks by saying, “I came up in 1941 to play against men who had starred as early as the mid-‘20s, and I stayed through 1963, playing against men who’ll star into the ‘70s and maybe even until 1980. So I feel qualified, I hope you’ll agree, to say that baseball was a great game … baseball is a great game … and baseball will be a great game.”[16]

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[1] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[2] Bob Broeg, “Those 23 Dropouts Can All Skiddoo,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 22, 1969.

[3] Bob Broeg, “Those 23 Dropouts Can All Skiddoo,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 22, 1969.

[4] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[5] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[6] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[7] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[8] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[9] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[10] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[11] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[12] Neal Russo, “Musial, Campanella in Hall of Fame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 21, 1969.

[13] Neal Russo, “Dick Musial Gives Pop A Lift, Pops the Cork,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 22, 1969.

[14] Bob Broeg, “Stan: ‘I Was Glad To Play,’ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 28, 1969.

[15] Bob Broeg, “Stan: ‘I Was Glad To Play,’ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 28, 1969.

[16] Bob Broeg, “Stan: ‘I Was Glad To Play,’ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 28, 1969.

The post Stan Musial is elected to the Hall of Fame: January 21, 1969 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Those 16 strikeouts left him just two shy of 18, a major-league record shared by Sandy Koufax (who accomplished the feat twice), Bob Feller, and Don Wilson. One more strikeout would tie Carlton with arguably the top two pitchers in Cardinals history – Dizzy Dean, who struck out 17 Cubs on July 30, 1933, and Bob Gibson, who K’d 17 Tigers in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series.

“I decided then to go all-out for the record,” Carlton said. “I wanted it badly then.”[1]

With the single-game strikeout mark within reach, Carlton struck out the Mets’ Tug McGraw, Bud Harrelson, and Amos Otis to finish the day with 19 strikeouts and etch his name in the major-league record books.

“I still can’t believe what I just did – it’s so unreal. It’s like a dream,” Carlton said. “My wife couldn’t get to the game, but she called me in the clubhouse to congratulate me and was almost crying.”[2]

The 24-year-old Carlton entered that September 15, 1969, game against the Mets with a 16-9 record and 1.92 ERA. In three previous games – June 8 against the Astros, June 27 against the Cubs, and July 16 against the Phillies – Carlton had totaled 12 strikeouts, and he had struck out 10 batters on two other occasions, including his previous start, a 3-2 loss to the Pirates in which he allowed two earned runs in seven innings.

Earlier that summer, Carlton was the National League’s starting pitcher in the all-star game, where he allowed two runs in three innings and earned the win. It was the second of 10 all-star nods Carlton would receive in his career.

As he prepared to face the Mets, however, Carlton was looking to finish his season strong after losing three of his last four decisions. He set the tone early, striking out Harrelson and Otis to open the game, then – after Tommie Agee reached on an error and Donn Clendenon singled – punching out Ron Swoboda to end the inning.

He was up to six strikeouts after two innings, then struck out one in the third inning.

Vada Pinson gave Carlton a 1-0 lead with an RBI single off Mets starter Gary Gentry in the bottom of the third, but the Mets answered in the fourth. After Clendenon drew a leadoff walk and Swoboda homered to give the Mets a 2-1 lead, Carlton struck out three of the next four batters he faced to give him 10 strikeouts after four innings.

“Once I had nine, I made up my mind to go all the way with it,” Carlton said. “It cost me the ball game. I was challenging everybody.”[3]

He added two more K’s in the fifth to give him 12 for the day before the Cardinals regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. After Gentry retired the first two batters of the inning, Lou Brock singled to center field, then stole second base. Curt Flood followed with an RBI single and Joe Torre added an RBI single into left-center field to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead.

Carlton struck out Swoboda in the sixth and Otis in the seventh to bring his total to 14. After Agee led off the eighth with a single, Carlton made Clendenon his 15^th strikeout victim of the day. However, Swoboda hit his second home run of the day (and ninth of the season) on a hanging slider to put the Mets ahead 4-3. It was the first multi-home run game of Swoboda’s career.

“The Amazin’ Mets and their Super Swat got me,” Carlton said.[4]

Carlton ended the eighth inning by striking out Al Weis for K number 16. In the ninth, he struck out McGraw on a 1-2 fastball, then caught Harrelson looking on another 1-2 pitch for his record-tying 18^th strikeout.

“There was no point in just tying the record, so I still had to get Amos Otis,” Carlton said. “I was tense, but I knew Otis was tense too, because nobody likes to go into the record book that way – as the No. 19 strikeout. That’s why I thought he might bunt. At the time, I felt I’d rather see Otis get a hit instead of fouling out or grounding out so that I’d have a shot at the record.”[5]

On a 2-2 pitch, Carlton threw a slider that dove into the dirt. Otis swung, and catcher Tim McCarver threw him out at first for Carlton’s 19^th – and final – strikeout of the day.

“I had a great fastball that kept rising and my curve was falling right off the table,” Carlton said.

Every player in the Mets’ starting lineup had at least one strikeout, and six struck out twice. Otis struck out four times in his five plate appearances. Afterward, he was asked if he had considered bunting in his final at-bat.

“If I’m going in the books, I’m going in right,” Otis said. “I wasn’t doing any bunting.”[6]

Meanwhile, Carlton told reporters after the game that he had been sick much of the day. In fact, Carlton said, he was battling dizziness, fatigue, and nausea in the middle innings.

“I had a fever all day and I felt so bad that I slept an extra hour and didn’t get to the ballpark until 7 o’clock, an hour before the game was to start,” he said.[7]

Mets manager Gil Hodges admitted his team – which also committed four errors – was fortunate to come out with the win against Carlton.

“It’s great to win when you play badly,” he said.[8]

The Mets finished the regular season with a 100-62 record to win the National League East Division, then beat the Orioles in a five-game World Series.

Carlton went on to win 17 games in 1969. After leading the league with 19 losses in 1970, he bounced back with the first 20-win season of his career in 1971. After that campaign, however, Cardinals owner Gussie Busch grew frustrated by Carlton’s salary demands and ordered general manager Bing Devine to trade him. On February 25, 1972, the Cardinals traded Carlton to the Phillies for Rick Wise.

Carlton spent 15 seasons in Philadelphia, winning four Cy Young Awards and making seven all-star game appearances. A member of the Cardinals’ 1967 World Series championship team and the Phillies’ 1980 championship squad, Carlton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

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[1] Neal Russo, “Carlton Whiffs 19, But Mets Strike, Too,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 16, 1969.

[2] Neal Russo, “Carlton Whiffs 19, But Mets Strike, Too,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 16, 1969.

[3] Dick Young, “Ron’s HRs Top Carlton’s 19 K Mark,” New York Daily News, September 16, 1969.

[4] Neal Russo, “Carlton Whiffs 19, But Mets Strike, Too,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 16, 1969.

[5] Neal Russo, “Carlton Whiffs 19, But Mets Strike, Too,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 16, 1969.

[6] Dick Young, “Ron’s HRs Top Carlton’s 19 K Mark,” New York Daily News, September 16, 1969.

[7] Neal Russo, “Carlton Whiffs 19, But Mets Strike, Too,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 16, 1969.

[8] Dick Young, “Ron’s HRs Top Carlton’s 19 K Mark,” New York Daily News, September 16, 1969.

The post September 15, 1969: Steve Carlton sets record with 19 strikeouts vs. Mets first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.