Remembering the St. Louis Cardinals of Yesteryear
It may have been Lou Brock’s first year of eligibility, but he had been waiting his entire life for Jack Lang’s phone call. At 6 p.m. on January 7, 1985, the secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers Association of America called to inform Brock that he had just been elected to the National Baseball Hall of…
Bake McBride may have been the most unlikely Rookie of the Year in baseball history. Growing up, McBride believed he was more likely to make his living playing basketball or football than playing baseball. In high school, he didn’t even play baseball, as his school didn’t have a team. Instead, he played football and basketball.[1]…
Ken Boyer had just returned from a quail-hunting trip in Hermann, Mo., when the phone rang. It was a reporter, calling to tell Boyer that he had just been named the 1964 National League MVP. “I guess 14 must be my lucky number,” Boyer said. “That’s my uniform number and that’s how many birds we…
It’s hard enough to break a modern-day major-league record when you’re healthy. In 1974, injuries to both his hands may actually have helped Lou Brock break Maury Wills’ single-season stolen base record. Due to a right thumb injury, Brock had wrapped the digit in tape most of the season. On his left hand, a loose…
Lou Brock was never one to slow down, so it’s no surprise that he tied and passed Ty Cobb for the modern-day stolen-base record on the same day. Decades later, research found that Cobb’s career stolen base total was inaccurate, and added four stolen bases to his 1907 season and one to his 1921 campaign.[1]…
Technically, Lou Brock’s pursuit of 3,000 career hits began September 10, 1962, when he singled in his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs. However, the Cardinals legend didn’t give serious thought to the milestone until speaking to Detroit Tigers outfielder Al Kaline in 1974. That season, the 40-year-old Kaline had reached the milestone in…
The same day the Cardinals lost one of the best pitchers in franchise history, another claimed his 3,000th strikeout victim. On July 17, 1974, Bob Gibson claimed the 3,000th strikeout of his career, retiring Cesar Geronimo on strikes in a 6-4 loss to the Reds. Early that morning, Dizzy Dean, the unquestioned ace of the…
On June 27, 1973, Joe Torre hit for the cycle for the first time in his 13-year major league career. He had Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst to thank for it. After hitting an eighth-inning triple to move within a single of the cycle, Torre asked Schoendienst to remove him from the game. Sensing that Torre…
Long before Cardinals general manager Bing Devine traded Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens, and Bobby Shantz to the Cubs for Lou Brock, Jack Spring, and Paul Toth in June 1964, he’d been laying the groundwork for a deal. The preceding winter, Devine had inquired with Cubs general manager John Holland about Brock’s availability, but been rebuffed.…
Off to a slow start to the 1964 season, the Cardinals had to do something. For manager Bing Devine, that meant making one of the most famous deals in baseball history, trading Ernie Broglio, Bobby Shantz, and Doug Clemens to the Cubs for Lou Brock, Jack Spring, and Paul Toth. For Ken Boyer, that meant…