December 17 in Cardinals History

 

Trading History and Transactions

The Cardinals purchased Fred Haney from Indianapolis (American Association) in 1928.

The Cardinals traded Jim Bottomley in 1932 to the Cincinnati Reds for Ownie Carroll and Estel Crabtree.

Cardinals released Ken Dayley in 1986.

In 2008, the Cardinals signed Joe Thurston as a free agent.

Sign Kwang-hyun Kim to a contract in 2019.

Birthdays

Rebel Oakes (1883) – he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with future Hall of Fame manager Miller Huggins for Fred Beebe. He played for the Cardinals for four seasons as a starting center fielder, then jumped to the Federal League when it was established in 1914. After two seasons as the player-manager for the Pittsburgh Rebels, named in honor, the league folded and Rebel never returned to Major League Baseball. 

In 986 games over seven major league seasons, Oakes posted a .279 batting average (1011-for-3619) with 428 runs, 112 doubles, 42 triples, 15 home runs, 397 RBI, 163 stolen bases and 265 bases on balls. He finished his career with a .961 fielding percentage as an outfielder.

Jack McAdams (1886) finished his career with a 0-0 record as a pitcher.who played in 1911 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Oscar Tuero (1893) -He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of three seasons (1918–1920) with the St. Louis Cardinals. For his career, he compiled a 6–9 record in 58 appearances, mostly as a relief pitcher, with a 2.88 earned run average and 58 strikeouts.

Ray Jablonski (1926) – Jablonski broke into the 1953 Cardinals’ starting lineup. He started all 157 games for the Redbirds at third base, and set career bests in home runs (21) and runs batted in (112), finishing third in the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award balloting (behind Jim Gilliam and teammate Harvey Haddix). In 1954, he drove in over 100 runs for a second straight season and batted a career-high .296. Selected to the 1954 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, he started at third base for the National League and contributed a fourth-inning single off Sandy Consuegra to help the Senior Circuit overcome a four-run deficit and take a 5–4 lead. But the rival American League ended up winning the slugfest, 11–9, at Cleveland Stadium.His 1953–54 seasons constituted the high-water marks of his big league career. Although he led NL third-basemen in assists in 1954, Jablonski committed 27 and 34 errors in successive seasons, and with hard-hitting and slick-fielding Ken Boyer poised to break onto the varsity roster, the Cardinals traded Jablonski to the Redlegs along with pitcher Gerry Staley for Cincinnati relief ace Frank Smith after the 1954 campaign.

Travis Tartamella (1987) -The Cardinals selected Tartamella in the 19th round of the 2009 MLB draft. Baseball America rated him as the “Best Defensive Catcher” in the Cardinals minor league system in 2014. On September 21, 2015, the Cardinals purchased Tartamella’s contract, promoting him to the major leagues, following an injury to starting catcher Yadier Molina. Tartamella debuted in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds on September 23 in a 10–2 win and singled on the first pitch of his first plate appearance.On November 2, Tartamella was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to the Triple–A Memphis Redbirds

Deaths

Ken O’Dea died on this date in 1985.