On October 21, 1982, Andujar proved to be exactly that, pitching seven innings to lead the Cardinals to a 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 7 of the World Series. Just five days earlier, Andujar was writhing on the ground in agony after Cecil Cooper smashed a ground ball back up the middle and struck Andujar in the leg. Andujar was removed from the game and taken to the hospital, where x-rays were negative.

However, by the time the Cardinals had wrapped up a 13-1, rain-delayed victory in Game 6 to force the decisive seventh game, there was little doubt that manager Whitey Herzog would hand the ball to his ace with the world championship on the line.

“I told my teammates before the game that nobody was going to beat me today,” Andujar said. “I told them, ‘You’d better keep the champagne handy because we’re going to be drinking it.’”[1]

“I was afraid if I didn’t give him the ball, I’d be one dead manager,” Herzog joked.[2]

Andujar had received treatment on Monday, October 18, during the Cardinals’ off day ahead of Game 6, but on Tuesday he declined treatment and told the team he was ready for Game 7.

“I’ll give it my best tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve been hit on the knee before and never missed a start.”[3]

“I’m sure he’s going to have some tenderness and soreness there, but this is the seventh game of the World Series,” Cardinals trainer Gene Gieselmann said. “I was having my doubts, but when he came in yesterday (Monday), I thought he had a pretty good chance of pitching.”[4]

Andujar already had won Game 3 of the NLCS against the Braves and Game 3 of the World Series, when he held the Brewers scoreless with just three hits allowed in 6 1/3 innings.

Milwaukee countered with former Cardinal Pete Vuckovich. Vuckovich had gone 18-6 with a 3.34 ERA during the regular season on his way to the American League Cy Young Award, but by the time he took the mound for Game 7, it had been a month since his last win. After dropping his last two starts of the regular season, Vuckovich had taken the loss in Game 2 of the ALCS and received a no-decision in Game 5 against the Angels.

In his World Series Game 3 start against the Cardinals, Vuckovich went 8 2/3 innings, but allowed two home runs to Willie McGee in a 6-2 St. Louis victory.

This time around, Vuckovich worked in and out of trouble as the Cardinals stranded six baserunners in the first three innings. In the second inning, Tom Herr drew a walk between singles from Dane Iorg and Ozzie Smith. With the bases loaded, Vuckovich got Lonnie Smith to fly out to right field, ending the threat.

An inning later, Keith Hernandez walked and George Hendrick singled before Vuckovich retired Darrell Porter and Iorg to maintain the scoreless tie.

The Cardinals finally broke through in the fourth. McGee and Herr singled to start the inning, and Lonnie Smith scored McGee on an infield single to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

It proved to be a short-lived advantage, as Ben Oglivie hit Andujar’s first pitch of the fifth inning over the right-field wall to tie the score, 1-1.

The Brewers took the lead an inning later. Jim Gantner led off the inning with a double, and Paul Molitor followed with a bunt down the third-base line. Andujar pounced on the ball but threw wildly to first base, allowing Gantner to score and Molitor to advance to second. Robin Yount followed with an infield single that advanced Molitor to third base and Cecil Cooper brought Molitor home with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Trailing 3-1, the Cardinals answered with two runs in the sixth inning. With one out, Ozzie Smith singled and Lonnie Smith doubled down the left-field line.

“That was the big hit of the ballgame as far as I was concerned,” Molitor said. “You just get the lead and all of a sudden you look up and you see the tying run at second base with one out.”[5]

With runners at second and third, Brewers manager Harvey Kuenn turned to his bullpen. In 5 1/3 innings, Vuckovich had allowed 10 hits and walked two.

“I get paid to take the ball when they give it to me and give it back when they ask for it,” Vuckovich said, before admitting that he had tears in his eyes after being removed from the game.[6]

Left-hander Bob McClure didn’t demonstrate Vuckovich’s ability to dance out of danger. McClure walked pinch-hitter Gene Tenace to load the bases before Keith Hernandez hit a two-run single into the right-field gap to tie the score. The next batter, George Hendrick, followed with an RBI single to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.

Afterwards, Brewers catcher Ted Simmons pointed to that inning as the turning point.

“They got the big hits,” the former Cardinals all-star said. “They deserved to win. We got the lead and we couldn’t hold them.”[7]

Andujar closed out his day with a strong seventh inning. With two outs, Charlie Moore reached on an infield single, but Andujar got Gantner to bounce a ground ball back to him for the final out. With the inning over, Andujar – as he often did when he made big plays – made a “shooting” gesture at Gantner.

In response, the Brewers second baseman shouted, “You’re a hot dog,” twice at Andujar. The Cardinals’ pitcher had to be restrained from Gantner by home-plate umpire Lee Weyer.

“When I repeated to him my hot dog comment, he came at me,” Gantner said. “People like him who like to dish it out should learn to take it. I respect him as a pitcher, but that’s all.”[8]

Andujar, who called Gantner “a smart man,” suggested afterward that Gardner was attempting to goad him into a fight.[9] Regardless, Andujar’s day was done after allowing just two earned runs and seven hits over seven innings. With a one-run lead, Herzog handed the ball to Bruce Sutter for the final two innings.

“This was the big one, and I was going to be a hero or goat, but I wanted to be the one out there pitching,” Sutter said. “That’s been my job all year long.”[10]

Acquired in a December 1980 trade with the Cubs, Sutter had led baseball with 36 saves that season.

“For my money, there’s nobody I’d rather have out there than Bruce Sutter,” Cardinals pitcher Jim Kaat said. “Even when he was struggling this year, when the fans were hollering boos instead of ‘Bruce,’ I said that I don’t care how many he loses, I can’t think of another pitcher I’d rather have on the mound with a one-run lead.”[11]

It couldn’t have gone to plan any better. Facing the top of the Brewers’ lineup in the eighth, Sutter retired Molitor, Young, and Cooper in order.

“He’s the main man on that ballclub,” Molitor said. “Take away him and they are not better than a lot of other clubs. They are not a team you expect to come from behind. If you get them down, you can keep them down, but if they get the lead, it’s usually, ‘See you later.’”[12]

In the Cardinals’ half of the inning, they added a pair of insurance runs as Darrell Porter and Steve Braun each hit RBI singles off Brewers reliever Mike Caldwell. Ahead 6-3, Sutter got Simmons and Ben Oglivie to ground out before striking out Gorman Thomas to clinch the Cardinals’ first World Series championship in 15 years.

Ironically, Sutter’s historic strikeout didn’t come on his best pitch – the split-finger fastball. Instead, after Thomas fouled off four split-finger fastballs, Sutter turned away from the pitch that had made him a future Hall of Famer.

“I had a three-run lead and nobody on, so I gave him a fastball,” Sutter explained. “I just wanted to throw it down the middle.”[13]

When Thomas swung and missed, Porter threw off his mask and charged the mound, knocking Sutter off his feet in the postgame celebration.

“You couldn’t think of a better ending to the World Series,” Iorg said. “The best reliever in baseball against the best-hitting team in baseball. Your best against their best.”[14]

It marked Sutter’s third save of the postseason.

“I don’t think it will really hit me until this winter,” Sutter said. “I’ll be sitting up there on a deer stand and I’ll start yelling. I won’t get any deer, but I’ll have a good time.”[15]

Porter, who already earned NLCS MVP honors against the Braves, was named the World Series MVP after going 8-for-28 with a home run and five RBIs in the Fall Classic.

“Hoo-ee, I’ve been to two county fairs and a goat roast and I ain’t never seen nothin’ like this,” he said as observed the postgame celebration.[16]

Hendrick, another candidate for World Series MVP honors, missed the celebration. Instead of returning to the clubhouse with his teammates, he exited the field through the gate in right field and went straight to his car in the parking lot.

“The next day I called him up and said, ‘Where were you?’” pitcher Bob Forsch recalled. “He said, ‘I just wanted you guys to enjoy it. I was listening to the celebration in my car while I was driving home.’”[17]

[1] John Hughes, “Herzog’s genius was the difference,” Wisconsin State Journal, October 21, 1982.

[2] Rick Hummel, “Cards’ Goal: Bury Brewers With Wounded Knee,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Cards’ Goal: Bury Brewers With Wounded Knee,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

[4] Rick Hummel, “Cards’ Goal: Bury Brewers With Wounded Knee,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1982.

[5] Bill Brophy, “Season of miracles ends,” Wisconsin State Journal, October 21, 1982.

[6] Neal Russo, “Brewers Credit The Cardinals, And Vuckovich Takes The Blame,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[7] Ed Wilks, “Simmons Remained At The Front In Class,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[8] Neal Russo, “Andujar Style Is ‘Hot Dog’ To Gantner,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[9] Neal Russo, “Andujar Style Is ‘Hot Dog’ To Gantner,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[10] Mike Smith, “A Ring For Sutter’s ‘Split Finger,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[11] Mike Smith, “A Ring For Sutter’s ‘Split Finger,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[12] Bill Brophy, “Season of miracles ends,” Wisconsin State Journal, October 21, 1982.

[13] Mike Smith, “A Ring For Sutter’s ‘Split Finger,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[14] Mike Smith, “A Ring For Sutter’s ‘Split Finger,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[15] Mike Smith, “A Ring For Sutter’s ‘Split Finger,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[16] Kevin Horrigan, “It Was The Time For Series Victory,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 1982.

[17] Bob Forsch with Tom Wheatley (2013), Tales from the St. Louis Cardinals Dugout, New York; Sport Publishing, Page 31.

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In a deal that took more than two months to complete, the St. Louis Cardinals sent Templeton, outfielder Sixto Lezcano, and pitcher Luis DeLeon to the San Diego Padres to obtain Smith, who became a Hall of Fame player and franchise cornerstone in 15 seasons in St. Louis. The Padres also sent pitcher Al Olmsted to St. Louis.

At the time of the trade, there was no guarantee that the Cardinals were obtaining the better shortstop.

Since St. Louis drafted him 13^th overall in the 1974 draft out of Santa Ana Valley High School in Santa Ana, California, Templeton had piled up impressive numbers over six big-league seasons. In his first full major-league season in 1977, he hit .322 and led the league with 18 triples while adding eight homers and 79 RBIs.

He was named an all-star that season, the first of two for Templeton while wearing the birds on the bat. He also won the Silver Slugger Award in 1980. At the time of the trade, Templeton had a .305 career batting average and 138 stolen bases in 713 games.

Smith offered a very different profile. A fourth-round pick by the Padres in the 1977 draft out of California Polytechnic State University, Smith played one minor-league season before becoming San Diegos’s starting shortstop in 1978. Smith placed second behind Bob Horner in that year’s National League Rookie of the Year balloting, batting .258 with one homer, 46 RBIs, and 40 stolen bases while playing some of the best defense in the league.

In 1980, Smith won the first of 13 career Gold Glove awards, then followed that performance with another Gold Glove and his first All-Star Game appearance in 1981. In four seasons in San Diego, Smith hit .231 with one homer, 129 RBIs, and 147 stolen bases in 583 games.

Despite Smith’s on-field success, his relationship with the Padres quickly deteriorated.

Prior to the 1980 season, Smith and the Padres negotiated his salary all the way into spring training. Unable to come to an agreement, the Padres renewed his contract for $72,500, the same amount he earned the previous year.[1] That May, Smith told reporters he might need to take a leave of absence during the season to accept a job that would pay better. His agent, Ed Gottlieb, said that Smith had made some poor investments and needed a higher salary to keep his creditors at bay.

“I wouldn’t want to leave the game because I love it so much, but I may be forced to because of circumstances,” Smith said.[2]

The Padres’ response was swift.

“If Ozzie or anyone else leaves this team without good reason, they’re getting fined,” team president Ballard Smith said. “I’m not going to put up with anything like that.”[3]

Matters only escalated when Gottlieb placed a classified ad in the San Diego Union-Tribune that read: “Part time. Padre baseball player wants part-time employment to supplement income. College education, willing to work, prefer PR-type employment. Need hours tailored to baseball schedule, but would quit baseball for right opportunity. Call Mr. Gottleib. 714-555-4800.”[4]

Smith wrote in his 1988 autobiography that he was unaware Gottlieb was placing the ad.

“I don’t know why Ed put in the part about quitting baseball – maybe as a bluff,” he wrote. “I had no intention of doing anything other than playing baseball. The problem was that I wasn’t getting paid for it the way I thought I should be paid.”[5]

This time, the Padres’ response came from Joan Kroc, the wife of Padres owner Ray Kroc. She offered Smith a part-time job assisting the family gardener, Luis.

“Luis is enthusiastic about the idea,” she said. “He’s a real baseball fan; Ozzie is his favorite player. I asked Luis about his salary, and he said $3.50 per hour is the usual starting figure, but since Ozzie is a college man and he has natural talent, we could pay him $4.50.”[6]

In 1981, the Padres and Smith avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $300,000 contract that included a no-trade clause.[7] With that settled, the Padres approached Gottlieb and asked him to propose a contract that would keep Smith in San Diego for the rest of his career. Gottlieb and Smith responded with a 25-year contract for $1 million per season that would carry through Smith’s age-51 season.

“We figured that if that wasn’t what they had in mind, they would get back to us and say no, we didn’t mean that long, let’s try to work out a shorter deal, or something,” Smith explained. “If they were interested in seriously negotiating a contract, that’s what they would have done. But we were dealing with the Padres, and I guess that was too much to expect. They took our proposal and ran right to the press with it, saying this showed how much I wanted to get out of San Diego.”[8]

Meanwhile, Templeton was battling his own issues in St. Louis. Batting just .265 when the players went on strike in June, Templeton was dropped from the leadoff spot, a move that prompted him to request a trade. As his frustrations mounted, Templeton complained about his salary and indicated at times that he was too injured or too tired to play.[9]

On August 26, matters spiraled out of control on Ladies Night at Busch Stadium, as Templeton had a heated confrontation with the fans, making several offensive gestures before Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog pulled him down the dugout steps and off the field.

Templeton was suspended, then placed on the disabled list as the team arranged for him to meet with a psychiatrist.[10] He returned to the team on September 14, but his fate with the club was already sealed.

Herzog wanted a shortstop in return for Templeton. Detroit’s Alan Trammel and California’s Rick Burleson were on his wish list, but neither team was willing to trade their star shortstop. Padres manager Jack McKeon had previously told Herzog he would never trade Smith, but by the time the two managers ran into each other at the winter meetings, his tune had changed. When Herzog reminded McKeon that Smith had been untouchable in their previous conversations, the Padres manager said, “We still like Ozzie. It’s his agent we are angry with. Everybody in the whole organization is pissed at him.”[11]

The two sides negotiated a trade centered around Smith and Templeton. Matters became complicated, however, when the Padres realized that the no-trade clause in Smith’s previous contract remained in effect until he signed a new one. The Padres asked Smith to waive his no-trade clause, and Smith countered by asking the team to buy it out. The Padres declined.[12]

Instead, the Cardinals were given permission to negotiate with Smith. The day after Christmas 1981, Herzog hopped on a plane to meet with the man who would become the star of his franchise.

“I’ve been on a lot of airplanes but that was probably the most important plane trip I ever took,” Herzog said.[13]

In that meeting, Herzog offered Smith $450,000 a year and said, “If you don’t like me or don’t like the Cardinals at the end of the season, I’ll give you your release. If you do like the Cardinals, we’ll sign you to a three-year contract.”[14]

Still, Smith remained unconvinced. He wanted $750,000, which would pay him more than the Cardinals had paid Templeton.[15]

A week after meeting with Smith, Herzog reached out again. This time, he said that if Smith approved the trade, the Cardinals would be willing to determine his 1982 salary through an arbitrator.[16]

Finally, on February 11, 1982, the deal was finalized.

Templeton played 10 seasons in San Diego, where knee and ankle injuries zapped some of the electricity from his game. Nonetheless, he remained an effective shortstop, winning his second Silver Slugger in 1984 and earning an all-star appearance in 1985. After the 1991 season, he retired with a .271 career batting average to go with 70 homers, 728 RBIs, and 242 stolen bases.

Lezcano, the other player sent to San Diego in the deal, hit .289 with 16 homers and 84 RBIs for the Padres in 1982. He was hitting just .233 in 1983 when the Padres traded him to the Phillies.

Eight months after the deal was completed, Smith and the Cardinals were celebrating a World Series championship. They went on to win the National League pennant in 1985 and 1987, and Smith enjoyed a 15-year career as the face of the Cardinals franchise.

“When we were able to bring Ozzie over from San Diego, it was the final piece of the puzzle in making the Cardinals a championship club,” Herzog said. “I did tell Ozzie that if he would agree to the trade, I thought we would have a team that could win the World Series.”[17]

Smith retired after the 1996 season with 13 Gold Gloves, 15 All-Star Games, and 2,460 hits. He finished with a .262 career batting average and 580 stolen bases.

Smith was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2002.

“No one will ever know what would have happened had I decided to remain in San Diego,” Smith wrote 20 years later. “I don’t know if I would have won a World Series, and I don’t know if I would have been elected to the Hall of Fame.”[18]

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[1] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Pages 33-34.

[2] Collier, Phil. “‘Can’t Get By on $72,500,’ Ozzie Smith Tells Padres.” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10, 1980.

[3] Collier, Phil. “‘Can’t Get By on $72,500,’ Ozzie Smith Tells Padres.” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10, 1980.

[4] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Page 35.

[5] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Page 35.

[6] Collier, Phil. “‘Can’t Get By on $72,500,’ Ozzie Smith Tells Padres.” San Diego Union-Tribune, May 10, 1980.

[7] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Page 39.

[8] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Page 47.

[9] Neal Russo, “Templeton Apology Demanded,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 27, 1981.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Psychiatrist To Evaluate Tempy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 28, 1981.

[11] Whitey Herzog and Kevin Horrigan (1987), White Rat: A Life in Baseball, New York, N.Y.; Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., Page 137.

[12] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Pages 50-51.

[13] Rick Hummel, “Deal for Templeton boosted Smith’s career,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 9, 2002.

[14] Rick Hummel, “Deal for Templeton boosted Smith’s career,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 9, 2002.

[15] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Page 55.

[16] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (1988), Wizard, Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., Page 55.

[17] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (2002), Ozzie Smith: The Road to Cooperstown. Canada: Sports Publishing, LLC., Pages 5-6.

[18] Ozzie Smith and Rob Rains (2002), Ozzie Smith: The Road to Cooperstown. Canada: Sports Publishing, LLC., Page 23.

The post Why the Cardinals traded Garry Templeton for Ozzie Smith first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I didn’t have any idea I would be traded, but I knew that Whitey had a problem because we had 13 pitchers in camp,” Shirley said.[1]

A left-hander from Oklahoma, Shirley came to the Cardinals as part of the trade with the Padres that brought Rollie Fingers, Gene Tenace, and Bob Geren to St. Louis for Terry Kennedy, John Littlefield, Al Olmsted, Mike Phillips, Kim Seaman, Steve Swisher, and John Urrea. In his lone season with the Cardinals, Shirley appeared in 28 games, including 11 starts. He went 6-4 with a 4.08 ERA in 79 1/3 innings.

“I have a lot of respect for the Cardinal organization,” Shirley said. “No hard feelings.”[2]

After pitching well in 1981, Shirley struggled in his 18 spring training innings, allowing 14 earned runs on 24 hits.[3]

“You won’t find a better guy than Shirley, but he didn’t throw the ball like I saw him before,” Herzog said. “I probably didn’t pitch him enough. I don’t know.”[4]

“Whitey realized I pitch better the more I pitch,” Shirley said, “but the way he manages, when we face Montreal, a power right-handed club, or Philadelphia, I wouldn’t be in there. I’d sit eight or nine days and be called on to face one hitter, and I failed.”[5]

Shirley’s ability to start or pitch in relief, however, made him valuable. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Reds each wanted Shirley. Cardinals executive Joe McDonald spoke with the Blue Jays about a possible trade during their spring training game on March 31, but was unable to reach an agreement.[6]

“We tried to get him when he was still pitching for San Diego,” Reds president Dick Wagner said. “Our plans are to pitch Shirley in short relief along with Jim Kern, Tom Hume, and Joe Price.”[7]

For Shirley, the trade not only meant he needed to shave his moustache due to the Reds’ policy against facial hair, but also that he would not be pitching against the team against whom he enjoyed the most success. Shirley was 12-7 for his career against the Reds but just 33-58 against the rest of the league.[8]

For the Cardinals, the deal meant that 22-year-old left-hander Dave LaPoint would get his first extended look with the big-league club.

“If we didn’t have LaPoint, we couldn’t do what we did,” Herzog said.[9]

Originally drafted by the Brewers in 1977 out of Glens Falls High School in New York, LaPoint appeared in five games for Milwaukee in 1980 before he came to St. Louis as part of the trade that sent Fingers, Ted Simmons, and Pete Vuckovich to the Brewers.

As a 21-year-old, LaPoint spent most of the 1981 season with Triple-A Springfield, where he went 13-9 with a 3.19 ERA. In September, the Cardinals called him up to the majors, where he appeared in three games, including two starts, and went 1-0 with a 4.22 ERA.

“I really wanted to keep LaPoint on the team, and we really don’t have any prospects in Triple-A,” Herzog said. “We think Brito and Lahti are both big-league prospects, and we need somebody to step in if something happens here.”[10]

A lean, 22-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic, Brito had been in the Reds’ system since he was 17. After going 12-6 with a 3.45 ERA in Double-A in 1980, he struggled at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he went 6-11 with a 4.89 ERA in 1981. In 116 innings, he struck out 91 batters but walked 77.

“This was a big decision for us to make to give up two young prospects like this,” Wagner said. “Brito’s one of the highest-regarded prospects in the game, period. They were very important to us.”[11]

Lahti had been a high school sensation at Hood River Valley High School in Oregon before continuing his baseball career at Treasure Valley Community College and Portland State University. Along the way, he was drafted by both the Phillies and Giants, but didn’t sign until the Reds made him a fifth-round draft pick in the 1978 June draft. At the time of the trade, he was coming off a season with Triple-A Indianapolis in which he posted a 3.42 ERA and struck out 70 batters in 100 innings.

“I can spot a fastball 91 or 92 mph,” Lahti said. “I’ll keep them off stride with a slider now and then, but when you can move a fastball in and out, you don’t need much else. I don’t go through the order very often.”[12]

Lahti opened the 1982 season with Triple-A Louisville before he was called up to St. Louis in June. It didn’t take long for the excitable reliever to make an impression on teammates. Just a few weeks after he was called up, Lahti covered first base on a successful putout, then turned to throw the ball around the infield. In his excitement, the ball sailed all the way to the center-field wall.

“I try to keep myself pumped up, but I’m not conscious of my actions,” Lahti said. “Maybe it’s my second being. They say there’s two sides to everybody. Maybe that’s my second side. On the mound, I’m a monster.”[13]

As the Cardinals raced toward the National League pennant, Lahti established himself as a valuable member of the bullpen, winning five games and posting a 3.81 ERA over 56 2/3 innings. Lahti made two appearances in the World Series, allowing two earned runs over 1 2/3 innings.

In 1983, Lahti served as the Cardinals’ bridge to closer Bruce Sutter. In 74 innings, he posted a 3.16 ERA. The following year, he threw 84 2/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA.

“It’s too bad somebody can’t think of another statistic for evaluating relievers,” Herzog said. “Then people would know that Lahti is one of the best long relievers in the National League. He’s never going to get many saves. A long reliever never does. He has to do the job in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings and get us to the short man.”[14]

The key to Lahti’s success, Herzog said, was his willingness to challenge hitters.

“Lahti’s my ‘jams’ pitcher,” Herzog said. “When the bases are loaded, I bring Jeff in, and he makes ‘em hit the ball. He challenges the daylights out of them. Just comes in and lets it fly. He’s got a lot of guts.

“One statistic I’ve always considered the best for evaluating relievers is how he does against the first hitter he faces, and for a stretch last season, Lahti got out the first hitter he faced 17 times in a row.”[15]

Lahti attributed at least some of his success to his perfectionist tendencies.

“I’ve always felt it’s got to be perfect or I’m not going to do it,” he said. “I learned that working my way through college as a carpenter. If a pitcher’s mechanics aren’t right, he won’t get anybody out. It’s like a carpenter building a house. If everything isn’t square, it isn’t going to fit together.”[16]

After the 1985 season, Sutter signed a large free-agent contract with the Braves, leaving the Cardinals without their closer. With the team once again pursuing the National League title, Lahti shifted to a more prominent role and led the team with 19 saves. Another Oregon native, Ken Dayley, was second on the team with 11.

“The only difference now is that people see the ‘S’ by my name instead of just two-thirds of an inning … no runs, no hits,” Lahti said. “I set the table for Bruce, but the guy who gets the save gets all the recognition. The middle man is a forgotten soldier, but to me, as long as I did my job and we won, that’s all that mattered.”[17]

In Game 5 of the NLCS against the Dodgers, Lahti threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning and earned the win when Ozzie Smith hit his walk-off home run off Tom Niedenfuer. In the World Series against the Royals, Lahti earned the save in a 4-2 Game 2 victory.

The 1985 season proved to be the high point of Lahti’s career. The following spring, he threw just 2 1/3 innings before requiring season-ending shoulder surgery for a torn rotator cuff. In 1987, his attempt to return was cut short by continued pain. After resting the shoulder throughout the 1987 season, Lahti planned to attempt one more comeback in 1988. However, a week before he was scheduled to leave for spring training, he called Cardinals general manager Dal Maxvill and gave him the bad news: his shoulder still hadn’t recovered enough to pitch. He was calling it a career.[18]

“I look at my whole baseball life like something out of a fairy tale,” said Lahti, who purchased an orchard back in Oregon. “When I left Hood River, I wanted to play ball, and I wanted to come back here when it was over. I wanted to be able to work for myself and own my own home. That’s what I wanted out of baseball, and I got it.”[19]

Over five major-league seasons, Lahti went 17-11 with a 3.12 ERA and 20 saves.

“It would have been nice to play 10 years, but I had no control over that,” Lahti said. “I got to do it, though. A lot of kids would love to do what I did.”[20]

Brito, the Cardinals’ other acquisition in the trade, never made it to the majors. He pitched two seasons in the Cardinals’ system before continuing his minor-league career with the Orioles through 1985.

Shirley spent one season in Cincinnati, where he made 20 starts in 41 appearances. He went 8-13 with a 3.60 ERA before signing as a free agent with the Yankees.

Shirley pitched five seasons in New York, working primarily as a reliever. Over 11 major-league seasons, he went 67-94 with a 3.82 ERA.

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[1] Earl Lawson, “Reds get Shirley in deal with Cards,” Cincinnati Post, April 1, 1982.

[2] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[4] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Shirley Hopes To Find Niche With Cincinnati,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 2, 1982.

[6] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[7] Earl Lawson, “Reds get Shirley in deal with Cards,” Cincinnati Post, April 1, 1982.

[8] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[9] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Cards Trade Shirley For Two Youngsters,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1, 1982.

[11] Tim Sullivan, “Shirley Fills Reds’ Need For Lefty,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 2, 1982.

[12] Arnold Irish, “‘Jam’ Man Works In Obscurity,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 1984.

[13] Mike Smith, “Animated Lahti Gives Cards Lift,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 1982.

[14] Arnold Irish, “‘Jam’ Man Works In Obscurity,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 1984.

[15] Arnold Irish, “‘Jam’ Man Works In Obscurity,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 1984.

[16] Arnold Irish, “‘Jam’ Man Works In Obscurity,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17, 1984.

[17] Dave Luecking, “Lahti Learned Lessons Well,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 10, 1985.

[18] John Sonderegger, “Ex-Card Lahti Isn’t Bitter Over Career-Ending Injury,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 10, 1988.

[19] John Sonderegger, “Ex-Card Lahti Isn’t Bitter Over Career-Ending Injury,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 10, 1988.

[20] John Sonderegger, “Ex-Card Lahti Isn’t Bitter Over Career-Ending Injury,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 10, 1988.

The post Jeff Lahti is traded to St. Louis: April 1, 1982 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On September 4, 1982, Smith did exactly that, tying a modern-day National League record with five stolen bases in a 5-4 loss to the Giants. Smith, whose five steals came against four different pitchers, said he was inspired to tie the record when Giants reliever Jim Barr hit him with a pitch in the sixth inning.

“He hit me on purpose and it spurred me on,” said Smith, who already had two stolen bases prior to the at-bat.[1]

One day earlier, Bruce Sutter suffered a rare blown save when Chili Davis led off the 10^th inning with a triple and scored on a Darrell Evans sacrifice fly, giving the Giants a 3-2 win. Despite the loss, the Cardinals held the National League’s best record at 76-57 and led the Phillies by 2 ½ games in the NL East.

To get them back on the winning track, the Cardinals turned to rookie left-hander Dave LaPoint, who was 7-3 with a 3.66 ERA heading into the contest. The Giants countered with Mark Dempsey, a 6-foot-6 right-hander out of Ohio State University who was making the only start of his major-league career.

Dempsey lasted just 2 2/3 innings. In the first inning, Smith doubled to right field, then scored on a single by George Hendrick. Willie McGee led off the second inning with a solo home run that made it 2-0.

“I was getting a few pitches up, and I was getting too far behind the batters,” Dempsey said. “I got behind on Willie McGee, for instance, and I didn’t realize he has that much power.”[2]

In the third, Smith singled to right and then stole second before Keith Hernandez followed with a single. Hendrick added a single of his own but Davis threw Hernandez out at the plate. After Darrell Porter walked, Giants manager Frank Robinson called on Mike Chris to retire McGee and end the inning.

In the fifth, Smith started yet another rally, this time leading off with a walk before he stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Giants catcher Bob Brenly. Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly into center field that scored Smith to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

The Giants began their comeback in the sixth. To that point, LaPoint had held San Francisco to just three hits over five innings. However, Davis led off the inning with a bunt single and Jack Clark followed with an RBI double to left.

An inning later, Giants shortstop Guy Sularz scored on a throwing error by Porter, who was attempting to throw out Jim Wohlford as he stole second base.

With a 4-2 lead, the Cardinals turned to their bullpen for the final five outs. Doug Bair recorded the final out of the seventh, then struck out the side in the eighth. In the ninth, Bair retired Duane Kuiper on a ground ball, but with one out, Jeffrey Leonard singled to center.

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog inserted 43-year-old veteran Jim Kaat to face 38-year-old Joe Morgan, but Morgan won the match-up with a single into left. Once again, Herzog called upon Sutter with the game on the line, and once again, the Giants scored the game-winning run against the Cardinals closer.

After Sutter got Davis to ground out for the second out of the inning, Herzog came to the mound to ask Sutter if he wanted to walk Clark to face Reggie Smith. Sutter chose to face Clark instead.[3]

The strategy didn’t work.

On the first pitch he saw, Clark launched a three-run homer approximately 425 feet[4] to left field, giving the Giants the 5-4 victory.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever hit a ball harder – it was gone,” Clark said.[5]

It was indeed, though Herzog admitted that Sutter didn’t throw a bad pitch.

“Clark hit a darn good pitch – it was down,” he said.[6]

Sutter was not comforted by Herzog’s words after allowing his second walk-off hit in as many days.

“It’s never a good pitch when it ends up out of the park,” he said. “Clark is a great hitter. You try to keep it down and hope he hits it into the ground.”[7]

Smith finished with three hits and three runs scored to go along with his five stolen bases. In addition to his first-inning double, third-inning single, and ninth-inning single, he also walked and was hit by a pitch. In the ninth inning, Smith stole both second and third, but was left stranded when Porter grounded back to the pitcher for the final out of the inning.

Smith’s performance upped his batting average to .319 with a .392 on-base percentage and 62 stolen bases.

He stole six more bases to finish the season with 68 stolen bases while batting .307/.381/.434. In addition to making an all-star game appearance, Smith placed second to Dale Murphy in the National League MVP voting.

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

[1] Nick Peters, “Giants stun Cards in ninth,” Oakland Tribune, September 5, 1982.

[2] Terence Moore, “Giants win on Clark’s dramatic HR,” San Francisco Examiner, September 5, 1982.

[3] Nick Peters, “Giants stun Cards in ninth,” Oakland Tribune, September 5, 1982.

[4] Terence Moore, “Giants win on Clark’s dramatic HR,” San Francisco Examiner, September 5, 1982.

[5] Nick Peters, “Giants stun Cards in ninth,” Oakland Tribune, September 5, 1982.

[6] Nick Peters, “Giants stun Cards in ninth,” Oakland Tribune, September 5, 1982.

[7] Nick Peters, “Giants stun Cards in ninth,” Oakland Tribune, September 5, 1982.

The post Lonnie Smith ties NL record with five stolen bases: 9/4/1982 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

An Illinois native, Brummer had played his college baseball at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois, and signed with the Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 1974. After working his way through the Cardinals’ farm system, Brummer made his major league debut in 1981, appearing in 21 games, primarily as a defensive replacement.

In 1982, Brummer appeared in two April games as a defensive replacement, then returned to Triple-A Louisville, where he served as the backup catcher. When Darrell Porter broke his finger in May, the Cardinals called Brummer back up to St. Louis. With a two-hit game against the Padres and a three-hit showing against the Giants, Brummer’s batting average climbed to .375 by the end of the month.

When Porter returned to action, the Cardinals kept Brummer around as a third-string catcher, and he was used primarily as a late-game replacement.

“He’s the best third-string catcher I’ve ever seen,” Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog said. “He warms up 97 pitchers every night.”[1]

By the time the Cardinals faced the Giants on August 22, Brummer’s batting average was .268. It had been more than a month (July 16) since he had a hit. The only reason to think Brummer might play a key role was the fact that the Cardinals’ bench was a player short; Dane Iorg and his wife were at the hospital celebrating the birth of their fifth child.[2]

Thanks in part to a recent five-game win streak, the Cardinals were two games ahead of the Phillies in the National League East, and Joaquin Andujar was scheduled to take the mound against the Giants. Andujar was just 9-10 on the season but had pitched well in his last three starts and had a 2.78 ERA entering the game.

The Giants had enjoyed a 10-game win streak earlier in the month, including three walk-off winners, but had dropped the first game of the series to the Cardinals, 7-6. They countered Andujar with Atlee Hammaker, a 24-year-old left-hander who was 8-7 with a 4.40 ERA.

Both pitchers cruised through the first inning, but in the second the Cardinals took the lead on back-to-back doubles by George Hendrick and Gene Tenace. Willie McGee hit the second home run of his career – a two-run blast in the fourth – to make it 3-0, but the Giants rallied to take the lead in the sixth.

After retiring the first batter, Andujar allowed a double to Joe Morgan and a single to Chili Davis. Jack Clark doubled into left field to score Morgan and Davis, and Darrell Evans followed with an RBI single to tie the game. After a single by Dave Bergman chased Andujar from the game, Milt May drove in a run on a fielder’s choice to make it 4-3.

The Giants held a one-run advantage until the bottom of the ninth. After Greg Minton struck out Ozzie Smith to lead off the inning, he hit David Green with a pitch. Green stole second before Ken Oberkfell doubled into the right-field gap to tie the game.

“He got it up a little over the plate,” Oberkfell said. “I hit it where they weren’t for a change.”[3]

It was Oberkfell’s first successful pinch-hit attempt in three seasons with the Cardinals.

“I figured he was due,” Herzog said.[4]

Both bullpens held firm in extra innings. In the 10^th, Jim Kaat got an inning-ending double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam. An inning later, the Giants stranded runners on first and second when Jeffrey Leonard grounded out.

Brummer, who had entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning and then stayed in the game at catcher, began the Cardinals’ 12^th-inning rally with a one-out single to left field. McGee followed with his fourth hit of the day to advance Brummer to second, and with two outs, Ozzie Smith bounced an infield single back to Giants pitcher Gary Lavelle to load the bases.

As Lavelle began to focus on Green, Brummer realized that the Giants reliever wasn’t paying any attention to him at third base.

“I mentioned to (third base coach Chuck Hiller) after a couple of pitches that the pitcher wasn’t paying any attention to me,” Brummer said. “I don’t know what he said. He didn’t exactly say no. He didn’t exactly say yes either. He didn’t know what to say.

“I was thinking about it all the time, but I didn’t want to tip it off. I took my normal lead on three of the pitches. On the second and third pitch, I noticed there was a lot of high leg kick in his stretch. If he has a high leg kick, he’s taking some time to get rid of the ball. I got to a certain point where I knew they were not going to pick me off. I was 30 feet off. I just kept edging, edging. Slowly, slowly. When he stretched, I just went.”[5]

On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, with Lavelle ahead in the count 1-2, Brummer took his chance and broke for home. Green stepped out of the batter’s box, May stepped in front of home plate to see the ball, and umpire Dave Pallone stepped to the side to see the play at the plate. Brummer was safe.

“I never would have thought that I’d steal home in my career,” Brummer said. “It’s like a dream come true that a catcher would try to steal home for the St. Louis Cardinals or anybody else to win a ballgame.”[6]

Herzog admitted that he hadn’t seen it coming either.

“Nobody knew he was coming,” said Herzog, who stole home himself during his playing days. “I didn’t either.”[7]

As the Cardinals celebrated, the Giants argued the pitch was over the plate and that Pallone had never ruled it a ball or strike. Pallone, however, insisted that he had called the pitch a ball.

“As far as I could see, the pitch was out of the strike zone,” he said. “If I felt like the pitch was a strike, then the inning would have been over.”[8]

When he was asked where the pitch was, however, he said he didn’t recall. “It was somewhere out of the strike zone,” he said.[9]

“He wasn’t even behind the plate when the ball got to the plate,” Giants manager Frank Robinson said. “He didn’t call a ball. He didn’t call anything. He’s a liar.”[10]

“The conversation after the play tells you he didn’t know what was going on,” Lavelle said. “(Giants pitching coach Don) McMahon came up to him and said, ‘What was the pitch? You have to call the pitch.’ After that, Pallone said, ‘Then it was a ball.’”[11]

McMahon said, “The umpire was jumping out of the way. He wasn’t even in position to make the bleeping call.”[12]

Herzog argued that since May stepped in front of the plate to receive the pitch, it must have been a ball.

“How can it be a strike if it never gets to the plate?” he asked.[13]

After four hours, the game was over, and Brummer had written his name into Cardinals history.

“I thought I had seen it all,” first baseman Keith Hernandez said in the locker room after the game. “I have not seen it all. I’ll probably never see that again in my career. Stealing home plate with two strikes and two outs … I’ll never see that again.”[14]

Of course, Brummer’s mad dash for home never could have happened if it weren’t for the efforts of the Cardinals’ bullpen. Martin, Doug Bair, Jim Kaat, and Jeff Lahti combined for 6 2/3 shutout innings, allowing just three hits over that span.

McGee finished the game 4-for-6 with a home run and a stolen base to raise his season average to .331. Hendrick singled, doubled, and scored twice.

The Cardinals went on to win the NL East with a 92-70 record, topping the Phillies by three games on their way to the 1982 world championship.

Brummer made six more appearances the rest of the way, including a start in the final game of the season. He finished the year batting .234 with eight RBIs and two stolen bases in 64 at-bats. In the postseason, he didn’t have any at-bats but did play in the ninth inning of the Cardinals’ 13-1 Game 6 victory.

Brummer played for the Cardinals through the 1984 season, appearing in 129 games. He played the 1985 season for the Rangers, batting a career-high .278 in 121 plate appearances. He played for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Hawaii in 1986 before retiring with 178 career games over five major-league seasons.

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

[1] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[2] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[3] Rick Hummell, “Oberkfell Delivers Most Important Hit,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[4] Rick Hummell, “Oberkfell Delivers Most Important Hit,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[6] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[7] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[8] Terrence Moore, “Robby: Umpires are bush,” San Francisco Examiner, August 23, 1982.

[9] Terrence Moore, “Robby: Umpires are bush,” San Francisco Examiner, August 23, 1982.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[11] Terrence Moore, “Robby: Umpires are bush,” San Francisco Examiner, August 23, 1982.

[12] Terrence Moore, “Robby: Umpires are bush,” San Francisco Examiner, August 23, 1982.

[13] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

[14] Rick Hummel, “Brummer Steals A Game For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1982.

The post Glenn Brummer steals home, becomes unlikely Cardinals hero: August 22, 1982 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.