Retro Simba

As Cardinals manager, Branch Rickey either was ahead of his time or hopelessly out of step with the times. Take your pick. Either way, Cardinals owner and president Sam Breadon decided Rickey no longer should be manager. One hundred years ago, on May 30, 1925, Breadon changed managers, replacing Rickey with Rogers Hornsby. Rickey remained with the club in a front-office … [Read more...] about Why Cardinals preferred Rogers Hornsby to Branch Rickey

In a move more desperate than daring, the Cardinals attempted to bolster their starting rotation by acquiring a retired pitcher who’d been through a bankruptcy, admitted to having been a problem drinker and was thought to have lost velocity on his pitches. Ron Bryant, a left-hander who followed a 24-12 record for the 1973 Giants with a 3-15 mark in 1974, then went on baseball’s … [Read more...] about Stay with Cardinals did not go swimmingly for Ron Bryant

Yogi Berra wasn’t kidding when he said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Berra’s playing days certainly appeared to be over in October 1963 when he became manager of the Yankees. “I’ll have enough trouble managing,” he said to the Associated Press in explaining why he was done playing. More than a year later, though, the St. Louisan was behind the plate, catching for the 1965 … [Read more...] about How Yogi Berra performed an encore against Cardinals

In a race to determine the slowest runner in the National League, the loser was the commissioner of baseball, and he didn’t even run. A pair of catchers, Del Rice of the Cardinals and Rube Walker of the Dodgers, were the contestants in what Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described as “a snail versus tortoise match race.” When some of the Cardinals made small, friendly … [Read more...] about Diamond dash: Slow and steady wins the race? You bet!

Trying to inspire a ballclub that had become accustomed to losing, Roger Bresnahan was willing to do whatever it took for the Cardinals to win, even if it meant playing second base. Bresnahan, the Cardinals’ player-manager in 1911, would become the second catcher (after Buck Ewing) elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Yet, when the Cardinals were in a pinch at second … [Read more...] about How Roger Bresnahan instilled Cardinals with tenacity