1905 – Accused of throwing games, St. Louis Cardinals righthander Jack Taylor is acquitted by the National League Board of Directors in New York, but he is found guilty of bad conduct and fined $300
1910– The St. Louis Cardinals purchased Vic Willis from the Pittsburgh Pirates
1935– The St. Louis Browns purchased Bill McAfee from the St. Louis Cardinals
2011– Stan Musial receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an award in which the honorees are selected by the sitting president, from Barack Obama. The Cardinals’ legend, who benefitted from local grass-root efforts on his behalf, joins major leaguers Hank Aaron, Moe Berg, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Ted Williams, as a recipient of the most prestigious honor given to a United States civilian.
Birthdays
Frank Betcher played Major League Baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1910 under the name Frank Betcher and was demoted from playing time. Disappointed, he asked the manager why he was demoted. The manager responded that he lacked enthusiasm. Bettger told the manager: “I’m just trying to hide my nervousness.” The manager advised: “Try something else. That’s not working.” From that moment on, he played with vigorous enthusiasm until his baseball career was cut short by an arm injury. He hit .202 with no career home runs.
Jimmy Ring (February 15, 1895, Brooklyn, New York – July 6, 1965, Queens, New York) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1917–1920), Philadelphia Phillies (1921–1925, 1928), New York Giants (1926) and St. Louis Cardinals (1927). Ring batted and threw right-handed.
Ring was used sparingly by the Cincinnati Reds from 1917 to 1918. He won 10 games in 1919, and beat Ed Cicotte and the Chicago White Sox in Game Four of the World Series on a five-hit, 2–0 shutout. He pitched again in Game Six, losing after allowing one run in five innings of relief. The next year he won 17 games, and was sent to the Philadelphia Phillies at the end of the season along with Greasy Neale in the same trade that brought Eppa Rixey to Cincinnati.
From 1921 to 1925 Ring averaged 12.8 wins per season, with a career-high 18 wins in 1923. Then, he was traded by the Phillies to the New York Giants before the 1927 season. After an 11–10 mark with the Giants, he was sent to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Frankie Frisch in exchange for Rogers Hornsby.
Ring failed to win a game for St. Louis in 1927. He appeared in 13 games and had a 0–4 record. In 1928, his last major league season, he returned to the Phillies and had a 4–17 mark in 35 appearances.
In a 12-season career, Ring posted a 118–149 record with 835 strikeouts and a 4.12 ERA in 2354-1/3 innings pitched.
George Earnshaw (February 15, 1900 – December 1, 1976) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He played in parts of nine seasons (1928–36) with the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Brooklyn Dodgers, and St. Louis Cardinals. He was the American League wins leader in 1929 with the A’s. For his career, he compiled a 127–93 record in 319 appearances, with a 4.38 ERA and 1,002 strikeouts. Earnshaw played on three American League pennant winners with the Athletics, winning the World Series in 1929 and 1930.
George Livingston Earnshaw was born February 15, 1900, in New York City. He grew to be 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and 210 pounds. George’s nickname was “Moose.” He was aggressive, threw hard, and threw strikes. His career covered nine years with a total of 127 victories, and over half of Earnshaw’s victories occurred during the A’s pennant winning years 1929–31. He won a total of four World Series games, starting eight games with five being complete games. He struck out 56 batters in 62 innings pitched and had an ERA for the three Series of 1.58. Connie Mack gave more credit to George Earnshaw for the Athletics’ 1930 World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals than any other player.
Earnshaw did not reach the majors until he was 28 years old. A graduate of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, he was a pitching star for the minor league Baltimore Orioles when Connie Mack purchased his contract in June 1928. That season, the A’s finished second in the American League, 2½ games behind the Yankees. Moose had a record of 7–7 with a 3.85 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 158 innings pitched. It was in 1929 that Earnshaw and Lefty Grove began to dominate big league hitters. For the next three years, they were the only two pitchers on any one team to win 20 or more games. The 1929 season was George’s turn to shine. His 24 victories against 8 losses was the most in the majors, and his 149 strikeouts were second only to teammate Grove in the American League and third in the majors. His fastball being wild at times, George’s 125 walks were an American League high, but his 3.28 ERA was among the best.
Tommy Cruz (born February 15, 1951 in Arroyo, Puerto Rico) is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1973) and Chicago White Sox (1977). Cruz batted and threw left-handed. He is the brother of Héctor and José Cruz, and uncle of Jose Cruz, Jr.
Cruz had a brief major league career, appearing in seven games for the Cardinals and White Sox, going hitless in two at-bats with two runs scored. He also played in the Rangers and Yankees farm systems.
Mitchell Boggs On June 6, 2008, Boggs was promoted to the Cardinals’ major league club from the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds to replace Mike Parisi on the active roster. In 12 starts with the Redbirds in 2008 before his promotion, Boggs was 5–1 with a 3.28 ERA.
On June 10, 2008, Boggs got his first start going five innings, giving up only four hits and two runs, in picking up his first victory, over the Cincinnati Reds, 7–2 in Cincinnati.[2]
Boggs broke out in 2012, having the best year of his career. He had a record of 4 wins and 1 loss with an ERA of 2.21. He also led the National League in holds with 34.
Boggs spent part of 2013 as the closer for St. Louis, but he was sent to the minor leagues in early May with an ERA of 12.66.[3] He came back to the Cardinals after 18 days on May 20 and blew Michael Wacha’s 2-1 lead in his debut on May 30. He was demoted a second time to AAA-Memphis the next day.
Deaths
- Pete Childs 1922
- Billy Kinloch 1931
- Tommy Raub 1949
- John Callahan 1954
- Diomedes Olivo 1977
- Cotton Pippen 1981
- Joe Frazier 2011