1948– Cardinals outfielder Stan Musial ends his holdout, signing a contract for $31,000, the same salary he made last season. ‘Stan the Man’, after be assured by new owners Robert Hannegan and Fred Saigh that his salary will be increased based on his performance, gets a pay raise of $5,000 when he is hitting .403 at the All-Star break, en route to being named the National League’s MVP.
Birthdays
Dazzy Vance -(1891) He was the only pitcher to lead the National League in strikeouts seven consecutive seasons.Vance was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.Vance’s play began to decline in the early 1930s and he bounced to the St. Louis Cardinals (becoming a member of the team known as the Gashouse Gang), Cincinnati Reds and back to the Dodgers.
Art Rebel (1914) -. He was an outfielder over parts of two seasons (1938, 1945) with the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. For his career, he compiled a .333 batting average in 81 at-bats and drove in six runs. Rebel also played 17 seasons for 18 teams in the minor leagues, hitting .301 with 106 home runs.
Bob Johnson (1936)-Although Johnson’s career batting average was only .272, he twice hit over .340 as a part-time player, for the 1967 Mets (.348) and the 1969 Athletics (.343). During the latter season, Johnson made 14 pinch hits in 50 at bats, in a season divided between Oakland and the St. Louis Cardinals.In the field, Johnson played every infield position: shortstop (201 games), second base (167), third base (166) and first base (107). He collected 66 pinch hits in 243 career at bats — to match his career overall batting average of .272
Danny Frisella – (1977)Frisella was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals for lefty pitcher Ken Reynolds and minor leaguer Bob Stewart With Al Hrabosky already in their bullpen, the Cards had no need for a closer. Thus, Frisella became more of a right handed specialist for the Cardinals. He did well in that role, holding opposing batters to a .190 batting average, and compiling a 1.45 ERA. Two poor performances against Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” saw his ERA balloon to 3.97 before he was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later midway through the season.whose career was cut short when he was killed in a dune buggy accident on New Year’s Day in 1977
Tom Grieve – (1948)Grieve was traded along with Kim Seaman from the Mets to the St. Louis Cardinals for Pete Falcone at the Winter Meetings on December 5, 1978. Primarily an outfielder and a designated hitter, the right-handed batter finished his career with a .249 average, 65 homers and 254 RBIs in 670 games.
Leron Lee – (1948) He played eight seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He then played eleven seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball for the Lotte Orions, where he was a four-time All-Star and a four-time Best Nine Award-winner. His nephew Derrek Lee also played in the MLB.
Tom Lampkin – (1964) With the Giants in 1996, Lampkin for the first time in his career led his team in games played at catcher. He also led the National League by throwing out 51.5% of all would-be base stealers. Following the season, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals where, in two seasons, he saw the most playing time of his career as a backup to Mike DiFelice and Eli Marrero respectively.
Brian Hunter – (1968) He played all or parts of nine seasons in Major League Baseball between 1991 and 2000 for the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. While he was primarily a first baseman, he also appeared in nearly 100 games as an outfielder.
Nerio Rodriguez – (1971) In 2002, he played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians. Hs a 4-6 lifetime record and a 6.32 ERA.
Deaths
- Lon Ury
- Jack Taylor
- Kiddo Davis