Retro Simba

In the same year Bob Gibson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was fired by the Mets. Rather than close the door to baseball jobs, the dismissal gave Gibson a chance to explore other possibilities. Those options included: _ Working for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. _ Replacing Dave Duncan as pitching coach of an American League … [Read more...] about Yankees made a pitch to hire Bob Gibson

Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst had a high regard for Pirates pitcher Al McBean; so much so that there was talk of a swap involving him and Curt Flood. A right-hander from the Virgin Islands who pitched 10 years (1961-70) in the majors, McBean was a good pitcher (67-50, 63 saves) who was as effective with a bat as he was with his arm against the Cardinals. McBean twice hit … [Read more...] about Al McBean: Swashbuckling pitcher impressed Cardinals

An introduction to the big leagues with the 1966 Cardinals was about as challenging as it gets for Jimy Williams. A middle infielder whose professional baseball experience consisted of one season at the Class A level of the minors, Williams got his first at-bat in the majors against none other than Sandy Koufax. His second plate appearance also came against a future Hall … [Read more...] about How Jimy Williams jumped from Class A to Cardinals

An incident involving a future Hall of Famer and a former Cardinals pitcher turned the relaxed atmosphere of an exhibition game between the Cleveland Indians and their top farm team into an awkward embarrassment. On June 30, 1976, Cleveland’s player-manager, Frank Robinson, went to the mound and slugged Toledo reliever Bob Reynolds before 5,013 stunned spectators … [Read more...] about Down and out: Bob Reynolds got decked by Frank Robinson

Quarterback Norm Snead lost a lot more often than he won in the NFL. Some of it was his fault. Some of it had to do with his supporting casts. A classic drop-back passer, Snead was 6-foot-4, smart and had a strong arm. Teams traded quarterbacks Sonny Jurgensen and Fran Tarkenton to acquire him. He played for Washington Redskins (1961-63), Philadelphia Eagles (1964-70), … [Read more...] about Boos and blitzes were not enough to keep Norm Snead down