July 2, 1964 - Bob Humphreys rode to the rescue from the bullpen for the first time, and Ray Sadecki was ever grateful.
“Hats off to Humphreys,” Sadecki yelled in the visitors’ clubhouse at Milwaukee today after the Cardinals beat the Braves, 4-3.
Humphreys, just called up from Jacksonville, walked the first man he faced, then retired the last nine.
The righthander understandably was a bit soft-spoken after his brilliant pitching in his 1964 debut with the Cardinals.
He remembered 1963, when his pendulum windup, including two or more pumps at his side, entertained the fans. But he also recalled being hit hard, then suffering a pulled muscle in his ribs. The injury put him on the shelf a long time.
Humphreys, who had a 6-2 record at Jacksonville, still uses the side-saddle windup to help make his motion deceptive. But he attributed his recent success to an improved slider and his ability to change speeds.
“I got away with some bad pitches,” Humphreys said.
Joe Torre sent Curt Flood far back to haul in his line drive.
“That was a hanging slide to Torre — and I thought it was going into the next county because it must have gone six miles high,” Humphreys said.
Humphreys, who struck out Eddie Mathews on a fastball after Sadecki twice curved called third strikes past the slugger, had a 3-1 count on Denis Menke with two out in the ninth. Then Menke grounded out.
“That was good because it kept Hank Aaron from coming to the plate,” observed Cardinal manager Johnny Keane.
The Redbirds, whose two-game sweep was their first cleanup of any series since April, climbed to fifth place. And Sadecki, 10-10 last season, boosted his record to 9-6.
Furthermore, Julian Javier reached the 10-homer mark for the first time in his pro career.
On his clubhouse stool after the game, Milwaukee manager Bobby Bragan said: “That Javier just murders us. He now has more power than any second baseman in the league. He’s the fastest going from home to first. He’s not as surehanded as Bill Mazeroski, but he’s great on the double play and can go farther than anyone on a pop fly.”
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