Cardinals’ JV Team Is Good Enough

No, the St. Louis Cardinals did not start their scab lineup.

These guys had paid-up union cards and everything.

Really.

All right, so starting third baseman Tom Lawless only had two hits all season--one in August, another in September. That doesn’t make him a bad person. Heck, when Lawless singled in the fifth inning Friday night, that extended his consecutive-month hitting streak to three!

And all right, so the entire St. Louis starting lineup only had 31 home runs all season--one of them by the pitcher. So Jack Clark, the guy on the bench, had 35 all by himself. So The Other Clark, the one from San Francisco, also had 35.

So what if San Francisco had Will?

St. Louis had a way.

How the Cardinals ever came back to beat the Giants, 6-5, in Game 3 of the National League playoffs is not only one for the history books, it’s one for the mystery books. Were Dashiell Hammett still alive and working here, somebody would want to hire him. Pay him 25 bucks a day, plus expenses, to solve the case of The Game That Got Away.

Hard as it is to believe, San Francisco blew a 4-0 lead, on its home diamond, to an outfit with more banjo hitters than a bluegrass band. Jim Lindeman? Jose Oquendo? This wasn’t a starting lineup; this was a police lineup. OK, ma’am, see if you can point out the one who plays major league baseball. Take your time.

The greatest St. Louis hitter of all time, Stan (the Man) Musial, was in the box seats, watching. The man who once got hits in 56 straight games, Joe (the Yankee Clipper) DiMaggio, was in the box seats, watching. They were watching a Cardinal batting order that went into the sixth inning of Game 3 batting .202 as a team. They were watching a team that needed five runs to take the lead on the Giants--and didn’t seem likely to score two.

St. Louis seemed powerless to stop them.

Nobody disagreed with Bob Brenly of the Giants before the game when he said: “I’d say we’re the intimidators in this series. I mean, we’re the guys swinging the big sticks, and they’re the guys with the track shoes on. Who would you rather see in an alley--somebody who can run fast, or somebody with a big stick in their hand?”

Better still for the Giants, they were not in an alley, but in a park--Candlestick Park, a place with real grass (real slippery grass) and real breezes and cold fronts. Sure, it might not be the prettiest place in the world. Friday’s San Jose Mercury News quoted Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog as saying: “Candlestick is a toilet with the lid up.” But it was still San Francisco’s happy, tidy little bowl.

Who would have thought that this motley crew of Cardinals could have come back to beat the Giants like this?

Score the series: Track Shoes 2, Big Sticks 1.

Going into the game--and later, once they got into the game--the Cardinals were a mess. Danny Cox couldn’t pitch. His neck was still stiff. Jack Clark couldn’t play. All he could do was pinch-hit--and, in the clutch situation that developed, strike out. Terry Pendleton couldn’t play, either. He slipped on that slippery grass. On the bench he sat, next to Clark: 202 missing RBIs.

Yes, St. Louis was powerless, but not Lawlessless. The invisible man, the man who went 0 for April, 0 for May, 0 for June and 0 for July, the unlucky but lovable Tom Lawless, was shagging flies in the outfield Friday when Herzog called him over.

“You’re the third baseman tonight,” the manager said.

“I am?” Lawless asked.

He wanted to make sure. Either that, or it was just nice to hear, and he wanted Herzog to repeat it.

“Actually, I told my wife today I might have a chance to play. Terry’s in pretty bad shape. I’m not even positive he’ll be able to play the rest of the series.”

Looks like a job for Tom Lawless, Utilityman!

He wasn’t exactly a hero. But he did flare a single in the fifth inning, keeping a rally alive when the Cardinals were still down by four.

“I’d hate for anybody to think I’m an automatic out,” Lawless said. But hey, when you’re 2 for 25 for the season, a single in August and a ground-rule double on the last day of the season, you are not exactly Stan the Man II.”

When the time came for Lawless to bat in the seventh inning, when the Cardinals were in the process of overtaking the Giants, he was eager to do his bit. Alas, Mr. Musial and Mr. DiMaggio did not get to see his style. With a 1-and-0 count, San Francisco changed pitchers, so St. Louis changed batters.

“When I saw (Giant Manager) Roger Craig walking out, I said, ‘Uh, oh,’ ” Lawless said.

But Curt Ford singled as his proxy, and that led to a four-run flood. St. Louis had the game, and San Francisco had the shock. And Lawless was satisfied with that.

“If there’s a message here, I hope it’s that it’s a 24-man team,” Lawless said. “We couldn’t have gotten this far without the big guys, but we couldn’t have gotten this far without us little guys, either. This was gratifying, you know? I feel good tonight!”