The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 1: 1957-58)
Across the decade of the 1960s, the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and St. Louis Cardinals hotly competed as three of the most successful teams in the National League. The Giants (1962) and Reds (1961) captured one pennant apiece, while the Cards nabbed three (1964, 1967, 1968). Even when they weren’t winning, these clubs were perennial contenders, as they accounted for either second- or third-place finishes 12 times in the eleven seasons from 1958 through 1968. We’ve explored the journeys of each of these franchises in this period, and how the Giants and Reds might have been better than they were.
A particularly interesting fact is that these three clubs engaged one another in significant player transactions multiple times in this period, deals that would have lasting impact on the standings. Going from Cincinnati to St. Louis was Curt Flood, from Cincinnati to San Francisco was Ed Bailey, from St. Louis to San Francisco were Sam Jones and Ray Sadecki, from St. Louis to Cincinnati were Eddie Kasko, Jim Brosnan, and Alex Johnson, and from San Francisco to St. Louis were Ernie Broglio, Bill White, Daryl Spencer, and Orlando Cepeda. Don Blasingame went from St. Louis to San Francisco to Cincinnati.
Many of these deals were highly questionable from one standpoint or another. What if some of them hadn’t been made? What if, instead, each of these ball clubs had made different decisions with these and other key talents in these years?
Why don’t we find out. This is going to be a long and somewhat winding road, but hang on, because we’ll be viewing some very intriguing scenery over the next eleven seasons.
The 1957-58 offseason: Actual deals we will make
For the most part, we’ll have all three of our ball clubs swing the same deals they actually did during this offseason. Most, in fact, were marginal transactions we won’t even bother to list here.
The key moves we’ll allow are the following:
Dec. 9, 1957: The Cincinnati Reds traded pitcher Don Gross to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Bob Purkey.
Perhaps you’ll recall, when considering this trade from the Pittsburgh perspective in a virtual 1950s Pirates exercise a while back, that we said the following:
We can’t make this deal, because we traded Purkey to St. Louis back in early 1956. But if we could make this one, we would.
That’s the case even though Purkey would develop into a star, and Gross would disappear from the major leagues within a few years, because at this point Purkey didn’t appear to be a star in the making; he was a soft-tossing 27-year-old journeyman. Gross wasn’t anything special either, but he was a year younger than Purkey, was a southpaw (a commodity almost alway in short supply), and his walk-to-strikeout ratio was a lot better than Purkey’s.
We’d make this trade in a heartbeat. But we can’t.
Why, then, if we think it was a good trade for the Pirates, are we willing now to make it from the Reds’ perspective?
The reason is that it’s one thing to assess a trade from the standpoint of strict talent-for-talent exchange, and another to bring the situational needs of the teams into consideration. And while Gross is a more impressive pitcher than Purkey on a rate-stat basis, one way in which Purkey is superior is in durability: whatever else he is, Purkey’s a horse for work, while Gross is more fragile.
If it were a manner of choosing which pitcher to deploy in a bullpen-and-spot-starting role, Gross would be the logical choice. But the Reds at this point are long on bullpen candidates and short on rotation heavy-lifters. Cincinnati has a need for which Purkey, despite his shortcomings, projects as a better fit than Gross.
Moreover, the Reds (both the actual version and ours) are about to land a replacement for the left-handed Gross.
Dec. 16, 1957: The Cincinnati Reds traded outfielder Wally Post to the Philadelphia Phillies for pitcher Harvey Haddix.
The muscular Post had fleetingly been a big-slugging star, but even though still a few years shy of 30, he’s dramatically regressed. The southpaw Haddix, in his early 30s, is no longer a star either, but still capable of a solid contribution if spotted properly.
Dec. 28, 1957: The Cincinnati Reds traded first baseman Ted Kluszewski to the Pittsburgh Pirates for first baseman Dee Fondy.
Such an exchange would have been laughable before 1957, but Kluszewski’s back trouble is severe enough to be career-threatening. Like the actual Reds, we’re ready to conclude that Big Klu’s days as a front-line contributor are gone, and will opt to go with the slick-fielding, light-hitting Fondy in a utility role instead.
April 3, 1958: The San Francisco Giants traded outfielder Bobby Thomson to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder-first baseman Bob Speake and cash.
Thomson had, of course, been a terrific all-around player in his prime, but was never close to the same following his 1954 broken ankle. Now at the age of 34, he seems to be just playing out the string. Like the actual Giants, we’ll be happy to receive the much younger Speake in return; he’s nothing special, but offers a left-handed bat with home run pop to be deployed off the bench.
(Thomson would defy the odds and bounce back with one final excellent season as the Cubs’ center fielder in 1958. Oh well.)
The 1957-58 offseason: Actual deals we will not make
Dec. 5, 1957: The Cincinnati Reds traded infielder-outfielder Curt Flood and outfielder Joe Taylor to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitchers Willard Schmidt, Ted Wieand, and Marty Kutyna.
The Reds can use some pitching help, but come on. Flood is not yet 20 years old, and has hit for both average and power in both of his low-minor league seasons, while demonstrating the capacity to play both third base and center field. He’s not the sort of prospect one casually swaps for roster-filler pitchers.
Our Cardinals would be all over this one, but our Reds will politely decline.
Jan. 28, 1958: The San Francisco Giants traded first baseman Gail Harris and infielder-outfielder Ozzie Virgil to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Jim Finigan and $25,000 cash.
This was effectively just a sale of the young talents Harris and Virgil, since the Giants had no particular need for the utility infielder Finigan. Our Giants will pass up the opportunity for quick cash and give Harris and Virgil a chance to compete for roster spots in spring training.
April 2, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Jim King to the San Francisco Giants for catcher Ray Katt.
This swap of second-stringers wasn’t exactly a blockbuster, but our Cardinals will conclude that the 25-year-old King is a more useful commodity than the 31-year-old Katt. Sorry, Giants.
The 1957-58 offseason: Deals we will invoke
Dec. 5, 1957: The St. Louis Cardinals traded pitcher Willard Schmidt and shortstop Ruben Amaro to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Don Landrum.
Rebuffed by the Reds in the attempt to convert the journeyman Schmidt into the center field prospect Curt Flood, our Cardinals will instead turn to Philadelphia.
Landrum is no Flood, but he’s a speedy youngster who’d presented a good year in triple-A in 1957. However, the Phillies, with Richie Ashburn patrolling center field, have no need for Landrum. It’s quite plausible they’d accept this offer from St. Louis, which would shore up the Philadelphia bullpen as well as provide a slick-fielding middle infield prospect.
April 2, 1958: The San Francisco Giants sold infielder-outfielder Ozzie Virgil to the Detroit Tigers.
Virgil won’t make our Giants’ roster, so now we’ll let the Tigers have him.
The 1958 season: Actual deals we will make
Again, there’s a long list of secondary deals undertaken by these ball clubs during this season that seem reasonable enough to us, and we’ll let them apply without listing them all here. Those worth noting are as follows:
May 8, 1958: The Cincinnati Reds traded pitcher Hersh Freeman to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Turk Lown.
A swap of bullpen aces of modest accomplishment and contrasting styles. The 29-year-old Freeman is a soft tosser with dubious stuff but pinpoint control, while the 34-year-old Lown is a hard thrower with good stuff but dubious control. Like the actual Reds, we like Lown a bit more, despite his advanced age.
May 20, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals traded infielder Alvin Dark to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Jim Brosnan.
At the age of 36, Dark can still hit for average, but is no longer up to the challenge of handling shortstop. So, like the actual Cardinals, we’ll conclude that the 28-year-old pretty-good right-hander Brosnan can be of more use going forward.
June 15, 1958: The Cincinnati Reds traded first baseman Steve Bilko, pitcher Johnny Klippstein, and players to be named later to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pitcher Don Newcombe. (On June 23, 1958, the Reds sent pitchers Art Fowler and Charlie Rabe to the Dodgers, completing the deal.)
Newcombe had been a superstar for the Dodgers as recently as 1956, but though he’s just 32, his hard-drinking habits appear to have gotten the best of him: he’s 0-6 with a 7.86 ERA at the time of this trade.
But like the actual Reds, we see Newcombe as a project worth taking on, especially since the trade-market price is just a bunch of journeymen.
June 23, 1958: The Cincinnati Reds sold pitcher Turk Lown off waivers to the Chicago White Sox.
June 24, 1958: The Cincinnati Reds purchased first baseman Walt Dropo off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
Lown hasn’t impressed, and like the actual Reds, with the departure of Bilko our Reds can use a right-handed-batting first baseman to complete the platoon. So we’ll undertake this waiver-wire parlay.
July 9, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased pitcher Chuck Stobbs off waivers from the Washington Senators.
The left-hander Stobbs has been worked quite hard in Washington, and seen his effectiveness tailspin. But he’s still only 28, and worth a shot.
The 1958 season: Actual deals we will not make
June 15, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals traded shortstop Dick Schofield and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielders Gene Freese and Johnny O’Brien.
Freese is an intriguing young player, a 24-year-old infielder with serious pop in his bat. But he doesn’t have the defensive aptitude to handle shortstop, and that’s where the Cardinals have the need. So our Cards will stick with the 23-year-old former Bonus Baby Schofield, who doesn’t look as though he’ll ever hit much, but plays solid defense and is pretty good at working walks.
The 1958 season: Deals we will invoke
May, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals sold outfielder-first baseman Irv Noren to the Milwaukee Braves.
May, 1958: The Cincinnati Reds sold outfielder Joe Taylor to the Baltimore Orioles.
Roster cut-down time prunings.
May, 1958: The San Francisco Giants purchased catcher Tim Thompson off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.
May, 1958: The San Francisco Giants sold catcher Ray Katt to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League.
In actuality at this point, the Tigers let the left-handed-batting Thompson go to Toronto. But we like him more than Katt, and our Giants will take Thompson off the waiver wire.
June 23, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals purchased pitcher Alex Kellner off waivers from the Kansas City Athletics.
June 23, 1958: The Cincinnati Reds purchased pitcher Bob Kuzava off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Actually on this date, it was the Reds plucking Kellner off the waiver wire. But our Cardinals will be trailing Cincinnati in the standings at this point, and so it will be St. Louis nabbing the 33-year-old southpaw instead. As a consolation prize, our Reds will get the 35-year-old southpaw Kuzava.
July 9, 1958: The St. Louis Cardinals sold pitcher Morrie Martin off waivers to the San Francisco Giants.
July 9, 1958: The San Francisco Giants sold pitcher Jim Constable off waivers to the Washington Senators.
More shuffling about of secondary left-handers. In reality, the Cardinals let the 35-year-old relief specialist Martin go on waivers to the American League, but our Giants will claim him instead, and let the marginal talent Constable go instead.
July 27, 1958: The San Francisco Giants sold first baseman-outfielder Whitey Lockman off waivers to the Detroit Tigers.
Making room for Bill White, returning from military service.
Aug. 25, 1958: The San Francisco Giants released outfielder Hank Sauer.
Making room for Jackie Brandt, also returning from military service.
1958 season results
Giants
Coinciding with their cross-country relocation, our Giants are undertaking a serious youth movement. San Francisco is introducing rookies in first-string roles at catcher, third base, right field, and left field.
1958 San Francisco Giants Won 83 Lost 71 Finished 2nd (tied)
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B G. Harris* 26 134 451 64 121 17 8 18 73 35 63 .268 .322 .461 .783 106
2B D. O'Connell 31 107 306 45 71 12 2 3 23 51 35 .232 .332 .314 .645 74
SS D. Spencer 29 148 539 73 138 20 5 17 72 73 60 .256 .342 .406 .748 99
3B J. Davenport 24 134 434 70 111 22 3 12 41 33 64 .256 .306 .403 .710 88
RF W. Kirkland* 24 134 455 56 116 27 6 15 59 46 75 .255 .329 .440 .768 103
CF W. Mays 27 152 600 123 208 33 11 29 96 78 56 .347 .419 .583 1.002 165
LF-1B O. Cepeda 20 148 603 90 188 38 4 25 96 29 84 .312 .342 .512 .854 125
C B. Schmidt 25 124 373 46 92 19 2 13 51 32 55 .247 .309 .413 .722 91
3B R. Jablonski 31 82 230 29 53 15 1 12 46 17 50 .230 .287 .461 .748 96
IF E. Bressoud 26 87 200 27 52 8 3 2 13 20 33 .260 .321 .360 .681 82
LF H. Sauer 41 61 142 14 36 6 0 9 28 18 20 .254 .344 .486 .829 119
1B-OF B. White* 24 49 115 17 30 5 2 4 15 14 16 .261 .336 .443 .779 106
OF B. Speake* 27 81 109 15 23 4 1 5 15 17 23 .211 .323 .404 .727 93
C V. Thomas 32 53 95 9 24 3 0 2 11 8 17 .253 .314 .347 .662 77
UT W. Lockman* 31 62 70 7 18 3 0 1 6 8 3 .257 .317 .343 .660 77
C T. Thompson* 34 39 61 6 14 1 0 2 7 5 5 .230 .294 .344 .638 70
OF J. Brandt 24 18 35 5 9 1 0 0 2 4 3 .257 .325 .286 .611 65
Others 100 13 25 4 1 3 14 8 18 .250 .300 .400 .700 85
Pitchers 416 38 76 13 1 2 33 17 115 .183 .204 .233 .437 17
Total 5334 747 1405 251 50 174 701 513 795 .263 .326 .427 .753 99
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
J. Antonelli* 28 41 34 13 16 11 3 242 216 101 88 31 87 143 3.27 116
R. Gomez 30 42 30 8 10 11 1 208 204 107 101 21 77 112 4.37 87
S. Miller 30 41 20 4 7 9 0 182 160 60 50 16 49 119 2.47 154
P. Burnside* 27 28 20 4 7 7 0 126 133 75 65 26 45 72 4.64 82
D. Zanni 26 27 10 2 8 5 0 105 109 56 48 13 59 70 4.11 93
A. Worthington 29 54 12 1 11 7 7 151 152 72 61 17 57 76 3.64 105
M. Grissom 40 51 0 0 7 5 11 65 71 34 29 11 26 46 4.02 95
R. Monzant 25 37 10 3 5 6 1 101 104 61 50 11 38 65 4.46 86
P. Giel 25 19 6 0 3 3 0 61 59 37 32 8 37 37 4.72 81
C. Barclay 26 18 5 1 3 3 0 56 71 25 25 9 14 16 4.02 95
J. Constable* 25 15 2 0 1 1 1 17 28 19 18 3 7 7 9.53 40
R. Crone 26 14 1 0 1 2 0 24 35 18 18 5 13 7 6.75 56
M. Martin* 35 14 0 0 2 0 2 19 21 7 6 0 8 5 2.84 134
Others 4 1 2 1 0 32 34 20 18 4 12 14 5.06 75
Total 154 37 83 71 26 1389 1397 692 609 175 529 789 3.95 97
* Throws left
Committing to the kids pays off wonderfully for the Giants. Twenty-year-old left fielder Orlando Cepeda is sensational, the Rookie of the Year, and Willie Kirkland in right, Jim Davenport at third, and Bob Schmidt behind the plate all hold their own just fine. Giving 26-year-old Gail Harris a crack at the first base job pays off for San Francisco as well, as he performs solidly in his first opportunity as a major league regular.
Willie Mays is as spectacular as ever in center field, and hard-hitting shortstop Daryl Spencer delivers his best year to date. It adds up to a quite productive offense.
But the pitching isn’t as impressive. Ace Johnny Antonelli is just fine, and 30-year-old journeyman Stu Miller comes out of nowhere with a terrific season in a swingman role. But that’s just about it for the good news, as the rest of the staff ranges from so-so to pretty bad.
Nonetheless our Giants have every reason to be delighted with this season’s developments. They bounce back from back-to-back sixth place disappointments to come in at 83-71, good enough to tie for second place behind the runaway champion Braves.
Reds
Cincinnati comes in having made a few tweaks to the ball club that fell from second to fourth place in 1957. We’ve shored up the starting rotation by adding Haddix and Purkey, and in mid-season we’ll bring in Newcombe as well. Right-hander Hal Jeffcoat had worked mostly as a starter in ’57, but this season we’re able to move him back to the bullpen full time.
The position-player lineup is essentially unchanged except for right field, where the departure of Post sets up a competition between erstwhile utilitymen Jerry Lynch and Pete Whisenant.
1958 Cincinnati Reds Won 73 Lost 81 Finished 5th
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B G. Crowe* 37 111 345 31 95 12 5 7 59 41 51 .275 .347 .400 .747 93
2B J. Temple 30 141 542 82 166 31 6 3 45 91 41 .306 .394 .402 .796 107
SS R. McMillan 28 145 393 48 90 18 3 1 24 47 33 .229 .309 .298 .606 58
3B D. Hoak 30 114 417 51 109 30 0 6 48 43 36 .261 .330 .376 .707 83
RF J. Lynch* 27 122 420 58 131 20 5 16 66 18 54 .312 .336 .498 .834 112
CF G. Bell* 29 112 385 42 97 16 2 10 44 36 40 .252 .309 .382 .691 78
LF-CF F. Robinson 22 148 554 90 149 25 6 31 81 62 80 .269 .350 .504 .854 118
C E. Bailey* 27 112 360 39 90 23 1 11 57 47 61 .250 .333 .411 .744 92
C S. Burgess* 31 99 251 28 71 12 1 6 30 22 20 .283 .343 .410 .753 94
LF-RF B. Thurman* 41 107 228 30 53 9 5 6 26 25 47 .232 .320 .395 .715 84
OF P. Whisenant 28 85 203 30 48 9 2 11 39 18 37 .236 .288 .463 .751 90
IF A. Grammas 32 95 173 20 38 6 0 0 10 27 19 .220 .319 .254 .573 51
1B W. Dropo 35 63 162 18 47 7 2 7 30 12 31 .290 .335 .488 .823 110
1B-OF D. Fondy* 33 89 124 23 27 1 1 1 11 5 27 .218 .244 .266 .510 32
1B S. Bilko 29 31 87 12 23 4 2 4 17 10 20 .264 .330 .494 .824 110
P-PH D. Newcombe* 32 39 60 9 21 1 0 1 9 8 10 .350 .420 .417 .837 118
UT E. Miksis 31 69 50 15 7 0 0 0 4 5 5 .140 .203 .140 .343 -9
Others 182 21 50 11 0 3 17 16 29 .275 .335 .385 .720 86
Pitchers 359 36 58 9 0 2 21 26 124 .162 .204 .203 .408 6
Total 5295 683 1370 244 41 126 638 559 765 .259 .326 .392 .717 85
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
B. Purkey 28 37 34 17 17 11 0 250 259 106 100 25 49 70 3.60 115
H. Haddix* 32 29 26 8 8 7 0 184 191 79 72 28 43 110 3.52 118
B. Lawrence 33 46 23 6 8 13 5 181 194 89 83 12 55 74 4.13 101
J. Nuxhall* 29 36 26 5 12 11 0 176 169 78 74 15 63 111 3.78 110
D. Newcombe 32 20 18 7 7 7 1 133 159 61 57 20 28 53 3.86 108
H. Jeffcoat 33 49 0 0 6 8 9 75 76 34 31 8 26 35 3.72 112
O. Peña 24 33 6 2 5 5 2 79 79 36 33 9 35 57 3.76 110
T. Acker 28 30 2 1 1 1 1 80 71 35 34 4 29 57 3.83 108
B. Kuzava* 35 28 7 1 4 5 0 82 81 39 35 10 24 43 3.84 108
R. Sanchez 27 14 1 0 1 1 0 27 28 16 13 2 11 15 4.33 96
J. Klippstein 30 12 4 0 3 2 1 33 37 20 18 5 14 22 4.91 85
T. Lown 34 11 0 0 0 2 0 12 12 8 7 2 12 9 5.25 79
C. Rabe* 26 9 1 0 0 3 0 19 25 10 9 3 9 10 4.26 97
Others 6 1 1 5 0 53 49 26 23 6 28 33 3.91 106
Total 154 48 73 81 19 1384 1430 637 589 149 426 699 3.83 108
* Throws left
Our revamped pitching staff performs quite well. Purkey sets up residence as the staff workhorse and robustly surpasses expectations. Haddix does just fine, and Newcombe and Jeffcoat both do reasonably well. It isn’t a great staff, but it’s a good one, solid and deep.
Another piece of good news is that Lynch, with a line-drive-hitting flourish, convincingly wins the right field battle. However, on balance our offense is a significant disappointment, as the heavy-hitting Cincinnati powerhouse of the past few years goes AWOL. Among the holdover regulars, only OBP-wonder second baseman Johnny Temple delivers as expected.
Young star left fielder Frank Robinson sees his batting average dive more than 50 points. Injuries nag center fielder Gus Bell and third baseman Don Hoak. The left-handed bats of first baseman George Crowe, catchers Ed Bailey and Smoky Burgess, and outfielder/pinch hitter Bob Thurman all produce plummeting home run rates.
Pythagoras as well conspires against the Reds this season. The Cincinnati run differential suggests a record of 82-72, but we underperform against that by a whopping nine games, and limp in at 73-81, in fifth. It’s the fewest wins by a Cincinnati ball club since 1952, and a frustrating season all around.
Cardinals
St. Louis enters this season fresh off a surprising second-place performance in 1957, and our alterations to the roster have been minor. The only significant change is a position shift: young star Ken Boyer had been moved from third base to center field in ’57, and we’ll think better of that and bring him back to third (as did the actual Cardinals). We’re giving the rookie Landrum the opportunity to take over in center.
The incumbent shortstop from 1957, the veteran Dark, is shipped out early in ’58, and in his place we’ll hold a competition between the youngster Schofield and journeyman Eddie Kasko, the singles hitter who served as the regular third baseman in ’57.
Pitching was the primary strength of the ’57 St. Louis team, and we’ve pretty much left the staff alone.
1958 St. Louis Cardinals Won 77 Lost 77 Finished 4th
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B S. Musial* 37 135 472 68 159 35 2 17 64 72 26 .337 .423 .528 .950 146
2B D. Blasingame* 26 143 547 75 150 19 10 2 37 57 47 .274 .342 .356 .699 83
SS D. Schofield# 23 111 315 41 71 10 2 2 22 49 49 .225 .326 .289 .615 62
3B K. Boyer 27 150 570 106 175 21 9 23 94 49 53 .307 .360 .496 .856 121
RF W. Moon* 28 108 290 39 69 10 3 7 39 47 30 .238 .341 .366 .707 85
CF D. Landrum* 22 126 353 40 84 13 3 3 26 32 59 .238 .301 .317 .618 62
LF D. Ennis 33 106 329 23 86 18 1 3 49 15 35 .261 .290 .350 .639 66
C H. Smith 27 77 220 14 50 4 1 1 25 14 14 .227 .269 .268 .537 41
OF-1B J. Cunningham* 26 131 337 65 105 20 3 12 59 82 23 .312 .448 .496 .944 146
C-RF G. Green 25 111 373 34 107 15 3 12 49 33 39 .287 .341 .440 .780 102
IF E. Kasko 26 104 259 21 57 8 1 2 23 21 25 .220 .276 .282 .557 46
CF B. Smith 24 94 254 32 69 8 1 6 28 7 35 .272 .291 .382 .673 74
OF J. King* 25 91 167 22 33 5 2 5 23 20 29 .198 .289 .341 .631 64
C H. Landrith* 28 70 144 10 31 4 0 3 14 26 21 .215 .333 .306 .639 68
SS-2B L. Tate 26 56 106 13 25 4 1 0 5 10 10 .236 .303 .292 .595 56
SS-3B A. Dark 36 18 64 8 19 0 0 1 5 2 6 .297 .318 .344 .662 73
Others 53 6 12 1 1 2 5 5 9 .226 .305 .396 .701 81
Pitchers 379 23 51 6 0 0 22 12 137 .135 .152 .150 .303 -21
Total 5232 640 1353 201 43 101 589 553 647 .259 .327 .371 .698 82
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
S. Jones 32 35 35 14 15 13 0 250 204 95 80 23 107 225 2.88 144
L. Jackson 27 49 23 11 14 13 9 198 211 93 81 21 51 124 3.68 113
W. Mizell* 27 30 29 8 11 14 0 190 178 81 72 17 91 80 3.41 122
J. Brosnan 28 33 12 2 8 3 8 115 107 46 44 10 50 65 3.44 121
B. Mabe 28 33 12 4 3 8 0 112 113 66 56 11 41 74 4.50 92
L. McDaniel 22 28 16 2 5 6 0 109 139 76 70 17 31 47 5.78 72
A. Kellner* 33 18 7 4 6 3 0 82 74 23 21 8 21 44 2.30 180
S. Maglie 41 10 10 2 2 5 0 53 46 31 28 14 25 21 4.75 87
P. Paine 28 46 0 0 5 1 2 73 70 33 29 7 31 45 3.58 116
B. Muffett 27 20 2 0 2 2 4 42 54 26 23 6 21 21 4.93 84
C. Stobbs* 28 17 0 0 1 3 1 40 40 16 16 4 14 25 3.60 115
M. Martin* 35 17 0 0 3 1 0 25 19 13 13 3 12 16 4.68 89
N. Chittum 25 13 2 0 1 1 0 29 31 21 21 5 7 13 6.52 64
B. Wight* 36 8 0 0 0 0 1 12 16 12 11 1 8 4 8.25 50
Others 6 0 1 4 1 55 71 45 43 9 34 30 7.04 59
Total 154 47 77 77 26 1385 1373 677 608 156 544 834 3.95 105
* Throws left
It’s a peculiar season for St. Louis. A few players perform wonderfully: Boyer is superb, Stan Musial, at 37, is clearly slowing down but still hitting up a storm, and The Man’s caddy, Joe Cunningham, hits astonishingly well. Toothpick Sam Jones, at the age of 32, finally masters his control enough to blossom as a flamethrowing ace, racking up the most strikeouts of any National Leaguer since 1936.
But these lofty achievements stand out starkly against a broad plain of disappointments. Lindy and Von McDaniel, the barely-old-enough-to-shave-pitching-sensation-brothers of 1957, both flop hard this year. Landrum does not hit well at all. Egregiously slumping hitters include outfielders Wally Moon and Del Ennis, infielder Kasko, and catcher Hal Smith.
Our offense overall is distinctly weak, and thus the still-strong pitching staff carries a heavy burden. These Cardinals sink from 87 wins and second place in ’57 to 77 wins and fourth in ’58, and it’s only by outperforming Pythag by four games that we’re able to come in at .500. It isn’t a good year in St. Louis.
Next time
We’ll find out if we can get our Reds and Cards on the beam, as our Giants seem to be.
Giants: Actual Reds: Actual Cardinals: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 80 74 3 727 698 76 78 4 695 623 72 82 5T 619 704
Giants: Virtual Reds: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 83 71 2T 747 692 73 81 5 683 637 77 77 4 640 677
References & Resources
Officially, the Cincinnati Reds were called the “Cincinnati Redlegs” from 1954 through 1959, as a means of distinguishing this major league ball club from the global Communist menace. It isn’t clear who was confused about this, but they made the name change anyway. At any rate, the new nickname never caught on among the fans or media, and was thus finally dropped. In this series, we’ll dispense with worrying about that, and just call them the Reds.
I didn’t know that the Cardinals got Ernie Broglio from the Giants. They later flipped him to the Cubs for Lou Brock in one of the more lopsided deals in history. That’s getting ahead of the story, huh?
Yeah, way ahead. But next week we’ll meet our friend Ernie.
The Giants were loaded at 1st base in 1958. Rookie of the year Orlando Cepeda, as the article notes Bill White added to the roster after military service, and in the minors was a young player who would be rookie of the year in 1959, Willie McCovey
Big time. As we’ll explore next week, it’s likely that the Giants in 1958-59 held the greatest concentration of very young first base talent ever seen, with two eventual Hall of Famers and one HOVG guy.
And though Gail Harris wasn’t a star, while vastly and understandably overshadowed, he could play a little bit.
Noone at the time of the Brock/Broglio thought it was a lopsided trade in favor of the Cards. Brock had an OPS+ of 77, had struck out 3 times as much as he walked and he was never a good defensive LFer.
Absolutely right. No one thought that at the time, because the evidence at the time didn’t hint that it would be. The outcome of the Brock/Broglio trade was the absolute, positive worst case scenario for the Cubs: the key player acquired immediately launched into a career-finishing crash-and-burn death spiral, and the key player surrendered immediately blossomed overnight into Hall-of-Fame-bound stardom.
The odds against it happening just that way were exceedingly long. So much so that no one expected it.