1969– The St. Louis Cardinals purchased Byron Browne from the Houston Astros
Birthdays
Harry Arndt is a former second baseman. He was born on February 12, 1879, in South Bend, Indiana. He played four seasons, with the Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinals. Arndt played in 271 games with 244 hits in 985 at-bats. He had a .248 average with six home runs and 99 runs batted in.
Kiddo Davis (February 12, 1902, in Bridgeport, Connecticut was an outfielder. He played all or part of eight seasons in the majors, 1926 and 1932-1938. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies.
Chick Hafey (February 12, 1903, Berkeley, California – July 2, 1973, Calistoga, California) was a player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (1924–1931) and Cincinnati Reds (1932–1935, 1937), Hafey was a strong line-drive hitter who batted for a high average on a consistent basis.
Hafey was part of two World Series championship teams (in 1926 and 1931) as a Cardinal and also made history with the first hit in an All-Star game, starting in left field and batting cleanup for the National League in the 1933 game. He was selected by the Veterans Committee for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. In 2014, the Cardinals inducted him into their team hall of fame.
He played in the minor leagues for the Fort Smith Twins of the Western Association in 1923. He moved to the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League the next year, hitting .360 before being called up to the Cardinals near the end of the season. He split time between the Cardinals and Syracuse Stars in 1925. He spent the 1926 season with the Cardinals, but he played only 78 games.
Hafey was the first major success of Rickey’s expansive farm system, breaking through in 1927 when he led the National League in slugging. Hafey, however, had suffered multiple beanings in 1926. He developed sinus trouble and his vision deteriorated, and Hafey began to wear eyeglasses while playing. Although Specs Toporcer was the first baseball player to wear glasses, Hafey was the most prominent; he is one of two Hall of Famers with eyeglasses, Reggie Jackson being the other.
In the field, Hafey was known for having a “rifle arm.” He had a power peak, averaging 27 home runs and 114 RBI from 1928 to 1930.[4] In July 1929, Hafey tied a National League record with ten hits in ten consecutive at-bats. In August 1930, he hit for the cycle. In 1931, Hafey won one of the closest races for a batting title in history, hitting .349 to beat New York’s Bill Terry by just .0002, and teammate Jim Bottomley by .0007. The title was only secured by a hit in Hafey’s final at-bat of the season. Hafey was fifth in the voting for the 1931 MVP award.
Mike Clark (February 12, 1922 – January 25, 1996) was a right-handed pitcher, Clark was 30 years old when he broke into the Major Leagues on July 27, 1952, with the St. Louis Cardinals. Although he played 17 years of professional baseball, he appeared in only two partial seasons in the Majors, working in 35 games played for the 1952–1953 Cardinals.
Joe Garagiola (born February 12, 1926) is an American former catcher in Major League Baseball who later became an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality. He was well known for being one of the regular panelists of The Today Show for many years.
Garagiola was signed at age 16 by the St. Louis Cardinals organization. At 17 he remains the youngest player to play in Columbus Red Birds history. Garagiola made his major league debut in 1946. But Garagiola never quite lived up to the promise of his youth, appearing in only 676 games over 9 seasons for St. Louis, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs and New York Giants.
Steve Mura (February 12, 1955, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a retired Major League pitcher, He was a member of the Cardinals’ 1982 World Series winning team. He finished with a 30-39 career record on the mound.
Deaths
- Dick Wheeler 1962
- Dutch Distel 1967
- Bob Rhoads 1967
- Francis Healy 1997
- Gino Cimoli 2011