Makin' a List: The Hero of this Story Needs to Be Saved Pt. 1

Top 10 Pinch Hits in Cardinal History

Norman Mailer, the American novelist, thought that all great protagonists lived with worry. “To be a hero, to be a protagonist, means you live with worry all the time,” Mailer once pronounced. “People who perform great feats always live with intense worry.” For Mailer if you want to do something important, naturally your mind is filled with everything that could go wrong.

There should be solace in that thought. A reassurance that everyone lives with worry and self-doubt. It is hard to believe that sometimes. We don’t get to see others’ crosses. We don’t see them awake in the middle of the night while the rest of the world sleeps, haunted by an incessant whisper: “You can’t do this.” And so that fear leaves us paralyzed. Terrified of failing.

I do not envy pinch hitters. To sit on the bench all game only to be told - sometimes in the games most critical moment - “it’s your turn.” How is that not nauseating? How does anxiety not cripple them?

Matt Adams is one of the most productive pinch hitters in St. Louis Cardinals history. During his time as a Cardinal, Adams hit seven pinch hit home runs, the most of any player since George Crowe hit 8 during the 1959 and 1960 seasons. Discussing his abilities as pinch hitter in 2017 with the Post Dispatch, Matt Adams said, “People ask, ‘Are you upset about not playing every day?’ I think everybody’s mindset in the minors and when you get into the big leagues is that you want to be an everyday player. (I’m) going up there for that one at-bat and knowing that, ‘I got this. You’re not going to get me out. I’m going to get you.’”

Whether purposeful or not, Adams’ mentality disagrees with Norman Mailer. A player positioned to pinch hit needs to believe, to never worry. It is brilliant in as much as it is simple. How do you do defeat fear? You do it by not being afraid.

Below is the first part of the Top 10 pinch hits in Cardinal history.¹ Some of them saved seasons, some of them contributed to championships, all of them occurred in high leverage situations that would buckle all of our knees.

Of whom should we fear?

(10) Allen Craig (2011-2013)

The night before Thanksgiving in 2013, I sat next to a hospital bed and listened as a nurse, in a hushed tone, explained to us that our son had released meconium in the womb and as result we would not be able to hold him once he was delivered. Instead, he was to be whisked to the NICU and remain there under observation. After the nurse left the room, my wife looked over and seeing me with my head in my phone, asked what it said. In an even more hushed tone than we had just heard, I lied and said “Nothing.”

Of all the things that can be explained in a hushed tone next to a hospital bed, the early release of meconium probably ranks low, but Google does not tell you that. Google tells you much worse things, things that you had spent nine months trying not to think about.

The nurse ended up being wrong or at least not as right as Google suggested she could have been. Our son was born at 9:48 am on Thanksgiving morning and by 10:00 am he was in my arms. Sometimes the universe winks at you and all you can do is smile while exclaiming, “Ah ha! I get it!”

When our son was four, from time to time, he would still reach out his arms and ask me to carry him. My wife would roll her eyes at me as I lifted him up. As if she could already hear me complaining about my back, she would ask me why. The answer was simple really: because there was a time when I was told I couldn’t and because there will soon come a time when I have to tell him I can’t. The day I can no longer physically hold him will be a difficult one. Being forced to give up something you love always is.

No one would ever argue anyone but David Freese deserved to be World Series MVP in 2011. But if someone tried, they may be able to convince me that Allen Craig was a suitable replacement.

The score of Game 1 was tied 2-2 in the sixth with runners on first and third and two outs when Allen Craig came off the bench to hit for Chris Carpenter.

Alexi Ogando came out of the bullpen throwing straight fastballs. 97. 96. 97. The count was 1-2. The next pitch was the fastest of the at bat but it hardly mattered as Craig lifted it into the right field corner for an RBI single.

The score of Game 2 was tied 0-0 in the seventh innings with runners on first and third and two outs when Allen Craig came off the bench to hit for Jaime Garcia.

Alexi Ogando came out of the bullpen throwing straight fastballs. It hardly mattered as Craig lifted the pitch over the second baseman’s head and into right field for an RBI single.

The score of Game 6 was 7-4 in the eighth inning with no one on base. Allen Craig came to the plate for the injured Matt Holliday.² Craig destroyed a 0-1 curveball to cut the Rangers lead to two. The score was still 7-5 when David Freese entered the batter’s box in the ninth with two men on base.

The score of Game 3 of the 2013 World Series was tied 4-4 in the ninth inning with one out and a runner on first base when Allen Craig came off the bench to hit for Trevor Rosenthal.

Koji Uehara came out of the bullpen. Uehara had been lights out, having allowed first base runners per inning than any pitcher in baseball history. It hardly mattered. The first pitch Craig saw, he ripped down the line in left for a double. The double was Craig’s fourth pinch hit in the World Series - more than any other player in baseball history.³ He would eventually score the game winning run despite the dastardly Will Middlebrooks trying to cheat.

Between 2011 and 2013, Allen Craig was the best hitter on the Cardinals. During that three year stretch, Craig hit 312/364/500. He was an All-Star, received MVP votes and played in two World Series, securing the final out in 2011. He had more postseason home runs than every Cardinal not named Freese or Holliday. So impressed with his ability to hit, the team inked Craig to a 5 year/$31 million contract extension prior to the 2013 season. “We are pleased to have reached agreement with Allen on a new multiyear deal,” general manager John Mozeliak said at the time. “He has been a productive middle-of-the-lineup hitter throughout his professional career and we look forward to Allen's continued contributions.” In 2013, he rewarded the team’s faith, hitting a mind-boggling .451 with runners in scoring position. “To us he was their best hitter,” Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz said of Craig when looking back on the 2013 World Series. All of this and he was only 28. Allen Craig was to be the next Cardinal great.

And then he wasn’t.

24. That’s as many major league hits Allen Craig had in his career after the Cardinals traded him to Boston in July of 2014. 24. This man was the best hitter for a World Series team and within 2 years he would be out of baseball, with about a month’s worth of hits to his name.

It’s not a secret to what caused the precipitous decline. His body just betrayed him. In 2011, while playing in Minute Maid Park, Clint Barmes flared a 2-2 pitch foul up the right field line. Craig sprinted to catch it but reached the stands before the ball, his knee smashing into the barrier. He limped through three steps before collapsing onto the ground. Writhing and wincing in pain on the outfield grass as Albert Pujols lifted him up and assisted him walking off the field. The team originally thought he had just bruised the knee, but it was later discovered to be a broken knee cap and Craig would miss 63 days.

Two years later in September of 2013, the Cardinals traveled to Cincinnati, a game behind Pirates for the NL Central lead and 2.5 games ahead of the Reds. They trailed 2-1 in the fourth with a runner on second with Allen Craig coming to the plate. Who else would you want hitting down a run with a runner in scoring position?

Craig - of course - delivered. The ball shot off his bat, headed for the hole between first and second, but instead of sneaking through for a single, it was stopped by a diving Joey Votto. From his back, Votto lobbed his throw high and wildly to the left of Bronson Arroyo as he came to cover first. Beltran easily scored from second to tie the score, but as Craig tried to advance he rolled his ankle and crumpled into a heap behind first base. After he was tagged out, he slowly brought himself to his feet, and grabbed his foot. Just as in 2011, he limped off the field, though this time unassisted. He would not play again until the World Series.

Power comes from the ground up and with Craig operating on one good leg, his ability to hit - which once had appeared to come so easily, so naturally - had vanished. He started slow in 2014 and never recovered. That July, he hit .122 with six hits in 49 at bats. “I’ll never use an injury as an excuse,” Craig said. As admirable as that sentiment may be, Craig was a Red Sock on August 1. When asked to comment on the trade, Craig simply said, “No.”

Allen Craig hit three home runs in the 2011 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. Since 1980, Albert Pujols is the only Redbird that has more career World Series homers. Craig’s first came in the first inning of Game 3 of the 2011 World Series, launching a middle of the plate fastball into the left field bleachers. His third hit and third RBI in three World Series at bats.

As Craig touched home plate after rounding the bases, Joe Buck commented to Tim McCarver, “The Cardinals, Tim, have a young star in this kid.”

“There is no question about it.” McCarver agreed.

Eventually you lose everything you love.

(9) JD Drew 2000

J.D Drew made his major league debut less than an hour after Mark McGwire hit his 62^nd home run in 1998. Joe Buck effusively sang Drew’s praises. “Wow, what a night for Cardinals’ fans. Not only do you catch a night where you see a guy who is going to end up in the Hall of Fame [Mark McGwire], but you see the major league debut of JD Drew.”

Pinch hitting for Kent Merker in the bottom of the sixth inning, Drew struck out looking. When Drew replaced Ron Gant in left field at the top of the seventh, Buck continued to heap praise on the kid, “They say [J.D. Drew] can play in the outfield like few have been able to play in the outfield.” It didn’t end there, “J.D. Drew is going to be a superstar in this game,” Buck opined.

Buck was not alone in his assessment. When the Cardinals drafted Drew with the fifth pick in the 1998 amateur draft, he was hailed as the next Mickey Mantle. “He may be the best player to come out of the last two or three drafts,” Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty said. “He has a chance to be a franchise player.”

JD Drew did not become a franchise player. He spent six years in St. Louis where he slashed 282/377/498 with 96 home runs and a nearly .900 OPS. When he was traded to Atlanta following the 2003 season, he had accrued the ninth most WAR of any Cardinal since 1980. Not superstar numbers, but good, solid, production.

That’s not to say there weren’t moments where it seemed J.D. Drew would be a superstar. One of those moments was Game 2 of the 2000 NLCS. Trailing 0-1 in the series and 5-4 in the game, Drew came to the plate, technically pinch hitting for Placido Polanco, who had been announced to pinch hit for Ray Lankford.

With two outs and Will Clark on second, the left handed Drew lined the ball into center, scoring Clark and ending up on second with a double. Tie game. An amazing piece of hitting.

So, what happened? Why did J.D. Drew not become the franchise player? Why was he not the next Mickey Mantle?

Injuries were a major factor. Drew never played in more than 135 games during any season in St. Louis. During the 2002 playoffs, following a season where Drew had more plate appearances than at any time in his career, Rick Sutcliffe wondered “All the tools are there, but is he going to be able to stay healthy or not?” Drew tried to play through the injuries, self-diagnosing himself at only 50 or 60 percent on most days he played. In an interview with Rick Hummel in 2006, he bemoaned that he spent two and a half years “just trying to make people understand how it was to get ready to play in a game.”

In that same interview Hummel point blank asks Drew is it easier for him to be a good player rather than a great one. “I think that’s true a statement,” Drew responded before pointing out that it doesn’t mean he lacked the drive to be the best he could be. Others disagreed with that. Manager Tony La Russa chief among them. La Russa felt that Drew lacked that competitive fire, that push to be the best every day. “I never disliked J.D.,” La Russa said in an interview with Kerry Robinson in 2017. “I just felt like J.D. was going to allow himself to produce below his talent level.”

Which leads to the main factor that hindered Drew from becoming the next Mickey Mantle: J.D. Drew wasn’t Mickey Mantle. And he wasn’t the Platonic ideal of a baseball player. He was someone who wanted to get paid to play baseball. That’s all he ever asked for and that’s what he delivered over his fourteen year career.

It wasn’t Drew’s fault either, remember. Sometimes the gods need to lower their expectations.

(8) Nick Stavinoha 2010

The bell tolled before the familiar chords of AC/DC began to play over the stadium loud speakers. Here came Trevor Hoffman. No player in the history of baseball had saved as many ball games as Hoffman and with the Brewers leading the Cardinals 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning, he sought to further extend that record.

The Cardinals had struggled to find any offense throughout the majority of the game and against Hoffman, it seemed like the ninth would be more of the same. Although Colby Rasmus worked a walk to leadoff the inning, Hoffman needed just two pitches to record two outs. The Cardinals were down to their last chance and the pitcher’s spot in the batting order was due to bat. But instead of Dennys Reyes, up came Nick Stavinoha.

Stavinoha was a former football player at the University of Houston, and after a few transfers became a catcher at LSU. The Cardinals drafted Stavinoha in the seventh round of the 2005 draft and the former catcher, now outfielder, quickly moved through the system. “He got a well-deserved reputation coming through our system,” Tony La Russa said of Stavinoha in 2010. “Every manager or hitting coach who's ever had him will say the same thing: He takes a tough at-bat.”

Against Hoffman, Stavinoha would need to live up to his reputation. Just one series into the season, this was Stavinoha’s first at-bat. Truth be told, he did not have much experience up until this point in his career, only garnering 144 at-bats (and two home runs) over his two major league seasons.

With the crowd roaring, Stavinoha swung and missed a first pitch change-up. While he laid off the next pitch, another swing and miss, put the pinch hitter down to his last strike. “When I get to two strikes I don't try to do much,” Stavinoha offered after the game to reporters. “When I get to two strikes I'm just trying to get the barrel on it.”

With the count at 1-2, Stavinoha got the barrel of the bat on the ball and with one knee on the ground launched the Hoffmann 72 mph change up into the stands in left. Down one and down to his last strike, Stavinoha came through with a pinch hit two run home run. The Cardinals would keep the Brewers off the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth and win the game 5-4.

“I came through in a spot that everybody dreams to be put in,” Stavinoha said following his heroics. “Obviously, I'm really happy about that. I don't wear my emotions on my sleeve as much as some guys. I'm pretty happy about us getting a win tonight.”

(7) Dmitri Young 1996

On the day he was called up to the major leagues, Dmitri Young was approached by Willie McGee, “It’s ok for you to be nervous today,” McGee told him. “But tomorrow we’re going to need you to do what you did to get to the big leagues because we’re in a pennant race.”

McGee may have oversold Young’s role slightly in that first conversation. While the Cardinals erased a 2.5 game deficit to win the 1996 National League Central Division following Young’s call-up, Young himself had only 29 at-bats over those final 18 games. In the playoffs, Young role was even more muted during the Cardinals' sweep of the Padres in the National League Division Series. He did not have a single plate appearance. That would change during the National League Championship Series.

The underdog Cardinals had surprisingly taken two of the first three games against the defending champion Atlanta Braves, prompting fans to start believing the Cardinals could actually win the series. “The Braves sure look beatable now,” a Cardinals fan was quoted as saying following the Cardinals Game 3 win. “Anybody with half a brain would have figured the Braves were favored.”

During the first 6 2/3 innings of Game 4 of the NLCS, however, Braves starting pitcher Denny Neagle seemingly restored the Braves to favorite status. Neagle effortlessly quieted the Cardinal line-up, striking out six, and yielding only one hit. But with two outs in the seventh inning, John Mabry singled and Neagle walked Cardinal catcher Tom Pagnozzi on nine pitches. Bobby Cox, the Braves gruff manager, went to the mound to relieve Neagle for Greg McMichael. La Russa countered by yelling at Young to get a bat.

“I wasn’t nervous or anything," Young would say later. “There was no time for me to be nervous, or have my knees shaking, or be scared. It’s playoff time.”

Young knew nothing about McMichael. Ron Gant, who had played with the Braves earlier in his career, gave Young a quick tutorial on what the sidearm right hander featured - a two seam fastball that runs away and a sinker. Gant gave him one last piece of advice as Young headed to the plate: “Go with the pitch.”

The first pitch to Young was a sinker. Ball. “I got this guy,” Young thought to himself and dug in. On a 2-1 count, McMichael threw that low and away fastball that Gant had warned him about. Boom.

Young crushed the fastball over the head of Ryan Klesko and off the base of the wall in left centerfield. Rounding second with a full head of steam, Young slid head first into third with a two run triple. It was the first ever extra base hit in Young's career and the first ever pinch hit triple in a postseason game in Cardinal history. He would score on an infield single later in the inning to tie the game.

“Anybody in that situation would be nervous,” Young said after Game 4. “But I focused on seeing the pitch and driving it. So I saw it and drove it.”

(6) Willie McGee 1997

Willie McGee came to the plate in the home opener for the 1997 season having never hit a walk-off home run. He had thought about it before, as recently as the offseason following the 1996 season. To be the one that hits the game winning, bottom of the ninth home run. “It’s just something that popped up in my head for a minute,” McGee admitted in 1997.

The 1997 season could not have started any worse for the hometown heroes. They lost their first six games, scoring more than two runs in only one of those affairs. All seven losses had been on the road, so there was hope that the team would get off the schneid for the home opener at Busch against the Montreal Expos.

Despite the dearth of offense and long losing streak, nearly 48,000 red-clad faithful showed up to wave to the Clydesdales and will their team to victory. The Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second thanks to a sacrifice fly from second baseman Roberto Mejia, but in a true microcosm of the 1997, immediately coughed up the lead and did not score for the next 6.2 innings. But in a bit of a departure from their previous games, the Redbirds kept the Expos from scoring, meaning the game was still tied 1-1 headed to the ninth.

Expos reliever Ugueth Urbina came out for his second inning of work and immediately induced a pop out from Tom Lampkin and strike out of Mejia. With two outs and the pitcher’s spot due up, La Russa turned to his bench and the great Willie McGee.

The 48,000 fans had dwindled to just a few die hard faithful, but you would not know that by the ovation McGee received as he took a practice swing and stepped into the batter’s box. McGee had been nursing an injury, which caused Cardinals’ announcer Bob Carpenter to observe that no one knew how well Willie could run. “If he goes deep, he won’t have to run fast,” Ozzie Smith, providing the color commentary, presciently noted.

Urbina tried to fool McGee with a first pitch changeup, but Willie was on it and lofted it high into the chilly night and well over the fence in right. A pinch hit, two out, walk-off home run. “You’re boy did it!” Carpenter exclaimed to Ozzie, as his long time friend Willie rounded the bases.

“As an individual thrill, it’s something I don’t think I’ve ever done in my career,” McGee told the paper after his game winning blast. “It’s something I thought about doing, and how nice it would be to end a game that way. That was something Ozzie Smith would do. It was a special moment.”

It marked the Cardinals first win since Brian Jordan helped win Game 4 of the 1996 NLCS with his home run. Jordan seemed just as euphoric with Willie’s home run on this day, marveling after the game, “How beautiful was that? Just the perfect ending.”

La Russa agreed, saying that the homer was more dramatic than anything he had ever seen in a movie, “Except this was real life.”

Come back Friday for the Top 5 pinch hits in Cardinal history, but feel free to drop your guesses below for what five hits will make the list!

1. Come back Friday for Part 2!

2. I am actually not positive this counts as a pinch hit, since Holliday was hurt in the sixth - but I’m going to count it.

3. Tied for second? Dusty Rhodes. No, not that one.