CARDINALS HISTORY
Tommy John Surgery
In 1989, Greg Mathews becomes the 3rd player under contract with the Cardinals to undergo the surgery.
Tommy John surgery was performed on Ricardo Rincon, in 2006, becoming the 20th player under contract with the Cardinals to have it done.
Transactions and Interesting Games
- At Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl in 1937, Ducky Medwick hits two home runs and two doubles. The Cardinal outfielder’s 12 total bases contribute to the Redbirds’ 15-3 rout over the Phillies.
- The Cardinals released Hal White in 1954.
- The Cardinals signed John Mackinson as a free agent in 1955.
- In 1959, the Cardinals purchased Jack Urban from the New York Yankees
- In 1966, the first game ever played at Busch Memorial Stadium is an extra-inning affair. Lou Brock singled in the winning run in the 12th inning, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 victory over the Braves.
- The Cardinals purchased Willie Morales from the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2003.
- The Cardinals, in 2008, release Stu Pomeranz.
MUSIAL’S HOME RUN HISTORY
475 Career Home Runs
Musial hit one home run on May 12th in his career. In 1951, he smacked his 3rd homer of the season and the 177th of his career. It was in the second game of a doubleheader in Cincinnati. In the top of the 8th inning, the Cardinals trailed 4-3 with two runners on base (Don Bollweg and Rocky Nelson). The Reds sent Frank Smith to the mound and Musial proceeded to hit a 3-run home run.
Bob Gibson
On May 12, 1969, #STLCards Bob Gibson completed the 19th ‘Immaculate Inning’ in MLB history. In the 7th inning, Gibson struck out Len Gabrielson, Paul Popovich and John Miller on 9 pitches. He also went 3-for-3 w/2 RBI, a BB, and SB in his 151st career win.
Birthdays
Casey Hageman (May 12, 1887 – April 1, 1964) played for the Cardinals in the 1914 season before being traded to the Cubs. As a career, he was 3-7 and finished with a 3.07 ERA and earned 47 strikeouts. He played in 32 games with 11 starts in just over 120 innings.
Ted Kubiak (1942) bounced around the major leagues in his career but played briefly for the Cardinals in 1971. He was in 32 games and had 18 hits in 84 at-bats for a .250 average. His career mark shows he was a .231 hitter with 13 home runs and 202 runs batted in.
Bob Heise 1947 played for the Cardinals in 1974 when they acquired him in December 1973 from the Milwaukee Brewers for Tom Murphy. He played in only 3 games for the Cardinals with 7 at-bats and 1 hit. On July 31, 1974, he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the California Angels for a player to be named later. The California Angels sent Doug Howard (October 7, 1974) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade.
Taylor Duncan (May 12, 1953 – January 3, 2004) was claimed off waivers by the Cardinals in September of 1977 but played very few games for them. He hit 3 home runs in his career and drove in 39 runs.
Mark Clark (1968) made his debut on September 6, 1991, for the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched in 27 games for the Cardinals an had a 4-11 record with a 4.38 ERA. On March 31. 1993, he was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Juan Andujar (minors) to the Cleveland Indians for Mark Whiten. He went on to several more seasons where he pitched well and finished with a 74-71 record and a 4.61 ERA and 728 strikeouts.
Josh Phelps (1978) was in the Cardinals uniform in his last season in the major leagues. In that year, he played in 19 games with 34 at bats and 9 hits. His last game was on September 28, 2008.
Felipe Lopez (1980) was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals on August 5, 2008. He debuted August 6 when the Cardinals played the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played left field and recorded a single in his first at-bat, finishing the game 1 for 3. Lopez closed out the season batting .385 with the Cardinals and brought his season average up to .283. He became a free agent at the end of the season. The on February 27, 2010, López signed a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. López’ base salary will be $1 million plus performance incentives of $1.2 million. On April 17, 2010, López started against the New York Mets at shortstop, was moved to third base, and then pitched in the 18th inning of the game. Although the Cardinals eventually lost the game in the 20th inning, López pitched a scoreless inning, giving up only one hit and a walk. He then went on the DL, and came back and took over as the starting third baseman for the Cardinals after David Freese had a season ending foot injury. He eventually became the backup when the Cardinals acquired Pedro Feliz. On September 21, 2010, López was released by the St. Louis Cardinals
Lance Lynn (1987) was selected in the first round (39th pick) of the June 2008 MLB amateur draft by the Cardinals. The club added Lynn to the 40 man roster and activated him on June 2, 2011. He made his major league debut that night at Busch Stadium against the San Francisco Giants. He was named to the 2012 All-Star team. On November 10, 2015, the Cardinals announced that Lynn would miss the 2016 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Currently, his career record is 61-39 with 766 strikeouts and a 3.37 ERA. He is expected to rejoin the Cardinals rotation in the 2017 season. During the off-season of 2023, the Cardinals signed him as a free agent to a one year contract with a team option.
Debuts
none
Deaths
Clyde Kluttz 1979
Si Johnson 1994