February 25 in Cardinals History

1972- Due to a salary impasse, the Cardinals trade 20-game winner Steve Carlton (20-9) to the last place Phillies for Rick Wise (17-14), who learns of the trade when Eddie Ferenz, the team’s traveling secretary, knocks on the all-star hurler’s condo door in Clearwater Beach early in the morning to inform the stunned pitcher of the spring training transaction. ‘Lefty’ will post a 27-10 record for Philadelphia and will win the National League Cy Young Award.
2010- The Rangers void Khalil Greene’s contract, announcing the reason for the action is a private matter, and is being done in the best interest of the ballplayer. The 30 year-old utility infielder, who missed 49 games with the Cardinals last season because of social anxiety, was unable to report to spring training last week as a result of his unidentified problem.

Birthdays

Bob Bescher- 1864

Elmer Reiger was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in 1910 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He batted right and left and threw right-handed. Rieger had a 0-2 record, with a 5.48 ERA, in 13 games, in his one year career.

Bob Vines (February 25, 1897 – October 18, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher. Vines played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1924 and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1925. In 5 career games, he had a 0–0 record with a 9.82 ERA.

Danny Cater (born February 25, 1940) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder. He was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies at the age of 18 on June 8, 1958. He played for the Phillies (1964), Chicago White Sox (1965–1966), Kansas City Athletics (1966–1967), Oakland Athletics (1968–1969), New York Yankees (1970–1971), Boston Red Sox (1972–1974), and St. Louis Cardinals (1975). Cater played twelve seasons in the major leagues, mostly as a regular. For the eight-year period from 1965 to 1972, he averaged over 500 plate appearances per season. He was a good hitter who was tough to strike out; however, he was slow afoot, so had a knack for grounding into double plays, finishing in the top ten in the league in that category six times in those eight years, including second in both 1968 and 1969. He finished second for the American League batting title in 1968 with a batting average of .290. It was “The Year of the Pitcher,” and Carl Yastrzemski won the title with an average of .301, the lowest ever for a batting champion.

Cesar Cedeno played for the Cardinals in 1985 and in a 17-year career, Cedeño was a .285 hitter with 199 home runs and 976 RBI in 2006 games. His 550 stolen bases rank him 25th on the all-time list, and the 487 steals he accumulated with the Astros ranks him first on the franchise’s all-time leader list ahead of superstar Craig Biggio.

Ken Dayley was traded along with Mike Jorgensen to the St. Louis Cardinals on June 15, 1984, for Ken Oberkfell. After spending most of the rest of the season in the minor leagues, he made it to the majors to stay in 1985, where he was converted to a full-time relief pitcher. That would remain his role for the remainder of his career, as he never started another game in the majors. He was released, then re-signed by the Cardinals following the 1986 season, and pitched for them through 1990, after which he was granted free agency. He won 33 games and lost 35 in his career.

Former Cardinals that Died on this Date

John McGraw – Hall of Famer