» 2 Notable Ex-Pitchers, Podres, Cardwell Pass Away

2 Notable Ex-Pitchers, Podres, Cardwell Pass Away

Two notable hurlers passed away within a day of each other; lefthander Johnny Podres, who was part of 4 Dodger World Champion teams, and righthander Don Cardwell, who started and struggled in his early career with the Phillies but who was the first major league pitcher to toss a no-hitter in his first start with a new team having been traded by the Phillies to the Chicago Cubs in 1960 and was an integral part of the Miracle Mets 1969 World Championship.

Podres passed away in Glens Falls, NY. at age 75, but Glens Falls Hospital spokesperson would disclose further details.

Yahoo sports reports;

According to a report on the New York Daily News’ web site, Podres had been battling a number of illnesses and was a lifelong smoker. The newspaper also reported that Podres recently underwent a leg amputation to treat an infection.

Cardwell passed away on Monday at age 72 of causes not yet known. The AP report for the MLB website indicates that “he had been struggling with his health lately.”

Podres, who came from an iron mining family in Witherbee in the Adirondacks, broke in with the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers after but two seasons in the minors. John Madden of the New York Daily News reports;

The previous year, Dodgers GM Buzzie Bavasi turned down an offer of $250,000 from the Cleveland Indians for him after Podres had fashioned a stunning 21-3 record and 1.67 ERA in Class D ball. Podres went on to pitch 15 years in the majors, remaining with the Dodgers through 1965, and compiled a 148-116 record with a career 3.68 ERA. In 1957, he led the National League with a 2.66 ERA and six shutouts, and his best season was 1961 when he was 18-5. In four World Series with the Dodgers, Podres was 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA.

But Podres is best remembered for his performance in the 1955 World Series against the neighboring New York Yankees, the first World Championship for Brooklyn after the frustration of being soo close, soo many times, both in their rivalry with the then-neighboring New York NL Giants as well as against the Bronx Bombers in three previous World Series.

Podres won games 3 and 7, completing both games. His performance in game 7, a 2-0 shutout, was the stuff of lore.

Madden recounts that Podres;

shut the Yankees down on eight hits. The Yankees’ lone threat off him in the game was thwarted by reserve left fielder Sandy Amoros - who, just after being inserted into the game for defensive purposes for Junior Gilliam by Dodger manager Walt Alston, snared Yogi Berra’s slicing fly ball in the left-field corner of Yankee Stadium with two on and nobody out in the sixth inning to start a double play.

“When Yogi hit that ball, I thought it was out,” Podres said years later in an interview with Baseball Digest. “But then it started to slice a lot. I don’t know if Junior would have caught it, being that he was a righthanded thrower. Being lefthanded, Sandy was able to reach out at the last second and catch it.

“All I know is, we won the game, but the feeling … I don’t know. I can’t remember the feeling I had. There was too much hysteria going on.”

After retiring from active play, Johnny Podres was pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins and later, the Phillies whom he coached between 1991 and 1996, most notably the Phillies’ last NL pennant-winning season in 1993 under manager Jim Fregosi.

Pods, as he was affectionately called by the Phillies is credited with giving direction to the career of a then-young Curt Schilling who had come over in a trade with the Houston Astros. Schill was 14-11 with a 2.35 ERA for the NL East cellar-dwellers of 1992, his first season under Podres’ tutelege. He followed in 1993 with a 16-7 mark with a 4.02 ERA to lead the Phils into the World Series.

Schill writes on his 38 Pitches blog;

Johnny made me realize that being a man wasn’t about the macho cool stuff we think men are supposed to be, but rather compassion, care, commitment, loyalty, integrity and drive. He asked everything of me and always got everything I had. He made me realize the only limits in my life were self imposed, that pushing yourself mentally and physically were what separated players when they crossed the white line.

Yahoo’s obituary reports that “besides his wife, Podres is survived by two brothers and two sons.”

Although Don Cardwell holds the distinction be being the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter [he was one base-on-balls away from perfection], in his first outing after being traded [testament to how glad he must’ve been to be traded from that horrendous 1960 Phillies team], he is best known for his performance down the stretch of the 1969 Miracle season for the Mets who charged by the Chicago Cubs to win the NL East division, handled the Atlanta Braves for the NL Pennant and finally, the Met’s 4-2 pasting of the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo describes Cardwell’s stretch run in 1969 as well as his pitching style;

Cardwell split his career among five teams, but was perhaps best known for the role he played leading up to the 1969 World Series. After posting a 3-9 record over the season’s first four months, Cardwell strung together five straight wins down the stretch to help the Mets overtake the Cubs in the National League East.

He won just 20 total games in four seasons with the Mets, but the quality of those final five certainly trumped all else. Beginning the streak with a stretch of 28 scoreless innings, Cardwell went on to allow just one run over the five victories, good for a 0.26 ERA. By the time he finally lost a game on the season’s final day, Cardwell’s Mets — thanks also to a rotation that included [Tom] Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Gary Gentry — had clinched the division title.

He pitched one perfect relief inning in Game 1 of the World Series, marking the only postseason appearance of his career.

“He was a three-quarter-arm guy with a real good sinker, slider. Hard stuff,” former Mets teammate Ron Swoboda said. “I remember hitting off him before we got him from Pittsburgh and you really had to convince yourself from the right-hand side to stay in there against him.”