Last Place Update

September 29, 2011 – This is the final Last Place Update for the Major League Baseball season.  As stated in the previous update, the 56-106 Houston Astros are MLB’s Worst Champions.  They are the only team to have more than 100 losses this season.  The 63-99 Minnesota Twins are in second and the 67-95 Seattle Mariners are in third.

The honorable mention was supposed to go to Minnesota, but they lost that, too, because their collapse didn’t cost them playoff spots.  Instead, honorable mentions go out to the 90-72 Boston Red Sox and the 89-73 Atlanta Braves for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  The Braves went 12-21 since August 23, losing their last five games. The Red Sox went 7-20 in September.  Both teams missed the playoffs by losing the last game of the season.  At least the Astros went 9-16 in September and 14-20 since August 23.

Houston’s 2011 record was a game behind the 2010 champion Pittsburgh Pirates record of 57-105.  It’s the worst finish since 2005, when the Kansas City Royals also went 56-106.

The Last Place Updates are a tongue-in-cheek look at the worst teams, but it's also a fact that it takes a special kind of athlete to earn the privilege of wearing a professional sports uniform, whether it's for a season or a long Hall of Fame career.  Only a tiny percent of people are good enough to wear the uniform of a professional sports team whether it's a world champion team or even the cellar dwellers.  Hats off to all the MLB teams for a good 2011 season!!

Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for doing what Boston and Atlanta couldn’t do.  Good luck to all the teams in the playoffs.

Note: The Last Place Updates for the NFL’s Kings of the Cellar begin next week.

Today in 1955 - St. Louis Cardinals vs Milwaukee Braves

September 18, 1955 – Today in 1955, the St. Louis Cardinals swooped in on County Field to take on the Milwaukee Braves.

The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1^st on a Hank Aaron RBI double.  The scored remained the same until the bottom of the 8^th.

In that inning, the Cardinals tied the game with a sacrifice fly by Ken Boyer, who hit in Alex Grammas.  The game then went into extra innings.

Starting pitcher Warren Spahn stayed on the mound and pitched shutout ball through the top of the 11^th.  In the bottom of the inning, Spahn faced Cardinals reliever Larry Jackson and struck out.  Bill Bruton hit a triple and Milwaukee had the winning run on third.  Jackson the struck out Johnny Logan and there were two outs.  Jackson intentionally walked Eddie Mathews and faced Hank Aaron.  During the at bat, Mathews stole second and Aaron got a walk.  The bases were loaded with two out.  George Crowe came to bat and hit a single.  Game over.  The Milwaukee Braves beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1.

Spahn pitched for all 11 innings and got the win.  He went to 16-14, struck out 6 and batted 0-4.  Jackson got the loss and fell to 7-14.  He struck out 3 and batted 0-1.

The Braves improved to 83-66.  They were second in the National League, 12.5 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.  The Cardinals fell to 64-84.  They were 7^th in the National League and 31 games behind the Dodgers.

Notables

• There were 5 Hall of Famers playing in this game: Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial for the Cardinals, and Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, and Warren Spahn for the Braves.
  
• This was Harry Walker’s only season managing the Cardinals.  He replaced Eddie Stanky earlier in the season.  Walker went on to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1965-67 and the Houston Astros from 1968-72.
  
• This was Charlie Grimm’s third season managing the Braves.  He managed the team from 1952-56.  Grimm was a long time manager of the Chicago Cubs, managing the team from 1932-38, 1944-49, and 1960.
  
• Cardinals second baseman Red Schoendienst went on to manage the team from 1965-76, 1980, and 1990.  He led the team to two World Series appearances, winning the championship in 1967.
  
• Cardinals center fielder Bill Virdon became the manager of the Houston Astros, from 1975-82.
  
• Virdon was an opponent of Braves left fielder Chuck Tanner as a player and a manager.  Tanner managed the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1977-85 and led the team to a World Series title in 1979.  Virdon faced Tanner as manager of the Astros and the Montreal Expos from 1983-84.
  
• Virdon managed the Pirates from 1972-73 and played for the team from 1956-65 and 1968.
  
• Del Crandall managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 1972-75.  He would be replaced in 1976 by Cardinals shortstop Alex Grammas, who managed the team from 1976-77.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at St. Louis Cardinal vs Milwaukee Braves - September 18, 1955

Today in 1989 - Houston Astros vs St Louis Cardinals

September 3, 1989 – Today in 1989, the St. Louis Cardinals hosted the Houston Astros at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

Houston got on the board first with an RBI single by Craig Biggio in the 4^th inning.  Glenn Wilson hit an RBI single in the 5^th and Mark Portugal scored on a Kevin Bass groundout in the top of the 6^th.  The Astros led 3-0.

But the Cardinals would not be denied.  In the bottom of the 6^th inning, Willie McGee hit in Vince Coleman on a ground rule double.  Ozzie Smith hit a sacrifice fly and McGee advanced to third.  McGee scored on a groundout by Milt Thompson.  The score was now 3-2.

In the bottom of the 8^th, Thompson hit a sacrifice fly and the score was now tied 3-3.  Relief pitcher Todd Worrell got out the side in the top of the 9^th. 

In the bottom of the 9^th, Astros reliever Danny Darwin faced Terry Pendleton, who hit a single into center field.  Denny Walling hit a long single to right field and Pendleton advanced to third.  With runners at the corners, Darwin intentionally walked Jose Oquendo and the bases were loaded.  Leon Durham pinch hit for Tony Pena and hit a fly ball to center field.  Pendleton tagged and scored.  Game over.  The Cardinals beat the Astros 4-3.

Cardinal reliever Todd Worrell got the win and went to 3-5.  Danny Darwin fell to 11-4 and Juan Agosto got his fourth blown save.

The Houston Astros dropped to 72-64.  They were 6 games behind the San Francisco Giants, 2^nd in the NL West.  The St. Louis Cardinals improved to 74-61.  They were a game and a half behind the Chicago Cubs, 2^nd in the NL East.

Notables

• There were 2 Hall of Famers playing or managing in this game, both with the Cardinals: player Ozzie Smith and manager Whitey Herzog.
  
• Neither starting pitcher factored in the final decision.  Houston starting pitcher Mark Portugal pitched for 7.1 innings.  He struck out 6 and batted 2-4.  St. Louis starting pitcher Joe Magrane pitched for 6 innings.  He struck out 4 and batted 0-1.
  
• This was Art Howe’s first season managing the Astros.  He is featured in blog entries from the past several days.
  
• This was Whitey Herzog’s 9^th season managing the Cardinals.  He managed the team from 1981-90.  He led them to a World Series win in 1982 and two NL Pennants in 1985 and 1987.
  
• Art Howe played for Whitey Herzog from 1984-85.
  
• Tony Pena went on to manage the Kansas City Royals from 2002-05.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at Houston Astros vs St Louis Cardinals - September 3, 1989.