Don Cardwell
Posted by Andy on January 15, 2008
For the second day in a row, a pitcher from the 50s and 60s has passed away. Yesterday it was Don Cardwell.
Cardwell's career was not particularly remarkable, except that he seems to have pitched in some bad luck. His career W/L record is 102 up and 138 down, which is unusually lopsided for a guy with a 95 career ERA+. Indeed, neutralizing his stats converts the record to 113 up and 117 down, which makes a lot more sense. In 1961, he went 15-14 with a 110 ERA+, and when neutralized that converts to a 17-13 record that season. It's only a difference of a couple of decisions each way, but 17-13 sure sounds lot better than 15-14.
Image from www.baseball-almanac.com
Here are the guys with the most career PAs against Cardwell:
**PA** AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GDP G_miss YR_miss +-----------------+-------+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+-------+ Hank Aaron 121 109 39 4 3 10 34 11 9 .358 .413 .725 1.138 0 1 1 0 3 8 Willie Mays 117 106 30 4 0 5 17 8 13 .283 .333 .462 .795 0 2 1 1 0 Maury Wills 103 92 20 1 2 0 2 10 14 .217 .291 .272 .563 0 1 0 0 2 Tony Gonzalez 96 86 26 2 1 2 10 9 17 .302 .375 .419 .794 0 0 0 1 2 Eddie Mathews 96 74 22 5 2 6 13 21 12 .297 .448 .662 1.110 0 1 4 0 2 8 Bill Mazeroski 95 85 22 3 0 1 7 6 13 .259 .316 .329 .645 0 2 4 2 0 Frank Robinson 94 87 26 5 0 7 17 4 12 .299 .351 .598 .949 0 0 0 3 1 Johnny Callison 93 81 25 7 1 4 17 11 7 .309 .398 .568 .966 0 0 2 1 1 Jim Gilliam 93 84 26 5 0 0 8 9 5 .310 .376 .369 .745 0 0 0 0 0 Tony Taylor 93 83 21 2 0 0 5 5 13 .253 .319 .277 .596 2 0 0 3 1 Orlando Cepeda 92 79 14 1 0 2 9 9 17 .177 .283 .266 .549 0 1 2 3 4 Roberto Clemente 91 89 29 5 1 1 3 2 14 .326 .341 .438 .779 0 0 1 0 1 Vada Pinson 90 85 24 5 2 3 9 4 9 .282 .322 .494 .816 0 0 0 1 2 Dick Groat 87 84 19 0 0 0 2 1 7 .226 .244 .226 .470 1 0 0 1 5 Bill Virdon 85 75 16 3 3 1 1 9 6 .213 .306 .373 .679 0 0 0 1 1 Felipe Alou 82 77 15 4 1 2 5 2 8 .195 .235 .351 .586 1 0 0 2 1 6 Bob Skinner 81 76 21 3 2 1 10 4 7 .276 .309 .408 .717 0 1 0 0 4 Willie McCovey 77 64 21 3 0 7 14 9 8 .328 .442 .703 1.145 0 0 3 4 4 Bill White 77 73 22 5 1 0 7 4 10 .301 .338 .397 .735 0 0 0 0 2 Ken Boyer 75 70 24 4 3 2 11 4 11 .343 .373 .571 .944 0 1 0 0 2
Wow, there are a lot of great names on that list. It's a totally unfair sample, and as you can see, a lot of them did quite well against Cardwell (hello Hank Aaron.)
Actually, here are the lowest career OPS against Cardwell, minimum 50 PAs:
PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG **OPS** SH SF IBB HBP GDP G_miss YR_miss +-----------------+---+---+---+--+--+--+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+---------+---+---+---+---+---+------+-------+ Daryl Spencer 56 55 8 0 0 0 2 0 11 .145 .161 .145 .306 0 0 0 1 3 Roy McMillan 69 64 8 2 0 0 1 5 8 .125 .188 .156 .344 0 0 0 0 2 1 Del Crandall 52 48 7 0 0 1 6 2 6 .146 .192 .208 .400 0 1 0 1 2 1 Dick Groat 87 84 19 0 0 0 2 1 7 .226 .244 .226 .470 1 0 0 1 5 Julian Javier 68 64 12 1 0 1 7 2 10 .188 .221 .250 .471 0 1 1 1 1 Jose Pagan 53 49 8 2 0 1 5 3 3 .163 .226 .265 .491 0 0 1 1 1 Matty Alou 56 51 12 0 0 0 1 3 1 .235 .291 .235 .526 1 0 0 1 0 Ron Santo 57 52 9 1 0 2 8 4 9 .173 .228 .308 .536 0 1 0 0 1 1 Johnny Edwards 55 44 6 0 1 1 5 9 6 .136 .291 .250 .541 0 1 1 1 0 Orlando Cepeda 92 79 14 1 0 2 9 9 17 .177 .283 .266 .549 0 1 2 3 4 Maury Wills 103 92 20 1 2 0 2 10 14 .217 .291 .272 .563 0 1 0 0 2 Felipe Alou 82 77 15 4 1 2 5 2 8 .195 .235 .351 .586 1 0 0 2 1 6 Tony Taylor 93 83 21 2 0 0 5 5 13 .253 .319 .277 .596 2 0 0 3 1 Wes Covington 55 48 11 2 0 0 4 6 5 .229 .327 .271 .598 0 0 2 1 0 Jim Davenport 61 56 11 3 0 2 4 3 11 .196 .250 .357 .607 1 0 0 1 1 Pete Rose 53 47 10 2 0 1 5 5 7 .213 .302 .319 .621 0 0 0 1 2 Bob Aspromonte 55 45 10 1 1 0 3 6 9 .222 .345 .289 .634 0 1 0 3 4 Bill Mazeroski 95 85 22 3 0 1 7 6 13 .259 .316 .329 .645 0 2 4 2 0 Bill Virdon 85 75 16 3 3 1 1 9 6 .213 .306 .373 .679 0 0 0 1 1 Bob Skinner 81 76 21 3 2 1 10 4 7 .276 .309 .408 .717 0 1 0 0 4
A few of the same names, plus Ron Santo, Pete Rose, and others.
I don't know much else about Cardwell. Some of you readers must have some stories. Let's hear them.
January 15th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I don't know if this counts as a "Don Cardwell story", but on September 12, 1969, the Mets swept a doubleheader from the Pirates by identical scores of 1-0. In game 1, the only RBI came off the bat of (pitcher) Jerry Koosman. In game 2 the only RBI came off the bat of (pitcher) Don Cardwell.
January 15th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
wboenig2's post got me thinking and I found this.
Of Cardwell's 52 career RBI ( http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/hpsc )
23 (44%) were either game tying or tie breaking. http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/eANx
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/BTXA
January 16th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
In 1969, from the mid-August (when the Mets were 10 games back) to the moment they clinched, Cardwell got 6 starts. He went 4-0 with a 0.80 ERA.
January 18th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Even more amazing, the Mets scored a grand total of 19 runs in those 6 games & won them all!!
January 18th, 2008 at 8:57 am
That 7 week run to close the 1969 season is just amazing to look at. After falling 10 back, the Mets close 38-11 to win by 8. The starters went 27-9 with a 1.99 ERA, allowing just 13 HR's in 367 innings & Seaver closes the season with 8 straight complete game victories. Magical.