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Bobby Tolan intrigued Cardinals with speed, hitting
June 4, 2014 by retrosimba
As a teen-ager, Bobby Tolan was a premier prospect for the Cardinals and was given a chance to displace Mike Shannon as the right fielder.
Tolan was 19 when he debuted in right field for the Cardinals on Sept. 3, 1965. Batting leadoff, Tolan was 1-for-4 against the Mets. He singled to center in his first at-bat, but was picked off by pitcher Dick Selma and tagged out in a rundown. Boxscore
Sprinter speed
A left-handed batter, Tolan, 17, was signed by the Pirates in 1963 as an amateur free agent out of Fremont High School in Los Angeles. His cousin, Eddie Tolan, had been called the world's fastest human after winning gold medals in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints for the United States in the 1932 Olympic Games at Los Angeles.
After a season in the Pirates' system, Tolan was left off the big-league roster and selected by the Cardinals in the December 1963 minor-league draft.
Converted from first baseman to outfielder by the Cardinals, Tolan made an immediate impact, hitting .297 with 34 stolen bases for Class AA Tulsa and being named to the Texas League all-star team.
In 1965, Tolan continued to impress. He hit .290 with 45 stolen bases for Class AAA Jacksonville.
A 1965 profile of Tolan in The Sporting News was headlined, "Teen-ager Tolan A Blur On Bases, Whiz With Stick."
After Jacksonville beat the Dodgers in an exhibition game that year, Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills said, "He could challenge my base-stealing record."
Said Dodgers catcher John Roseboro: "The kid looks too good to be true."
Grover Resinger, who managed Tolan in consecutive seasons at Tulsa and Jacksonville, filed glowing reports to the Cardinals.
Another Billy Williams
"He's improving all the time," Resinger said. "… He's going to be one of the better hitters in the game. He's a line-drive hitter, with good power to all fields. Bobby is a Billy Williams type of hitter. He's going to get stronger and I think he has a good chance to become a 25- to 30-homer hitter."
Late in the 1965 season, Bob Howsam, Cardinals general manager, decided to give Tolan a chance to be St. Louis' everyday right fielder for the final month of the season.
Shannon, who had become the Cardinals' regular right fielder in the second half of 1964, struggled in 1965. He hit .221 and had almost as many strikeouts (46) as hits (54). The Cardinals' backup right fielders _ Tito Francona (.259) and Phil Gagliano (.240) _ weren't long-term solutions.
Howsam also was thinking ahead to 1966 when the Cardinals would move into their spacious new home, Busch Stadium II. He envisioned Tolan joining Lou Brock and Curt Flood in an outfield of speedsters who could chase down fly balls in the big stadium. Howsam also liked the thought of Tolan running the bases.
"His base-stealing ability is unlimited," Resinger said of Tolan. "I think he'll eventualy steal 50 bases in the big leagues. He's not as fast as Brock, but he is above average."
Too much, too soon
Tolan made 17 September starts in right field for the 1965 Cardinals, but he was overmatched at the plate. He hit .188 (13 hits in 17 games).
That performance prompted Howsam to alter his plans. After the 1965 season, the Cardinals acquired outfielder Alex Johnson from the Phillies. The Cardinals opened the 1966 season with Johnson in left, Flood in center and Brock shifting from left to right.
Johnson started poorly, though, and by mid-May was sent to the minors. The Cardinals moved Brock back to left and reinserted Shannon in right.
Tolan hit .172 in 43 games for the 1966 Cardinals. He was a backup to Roger Maris in right for the 1967-68 Cardinals clubs that won consecutive National League pennants and a World Series title.
After the 1968 season, the Cardinals traded Tolan to the Reds for right fielder Vada Pinson. Tolan was reunited with Howsam, who had become the Reds' general manager.
Given a starting outfield spot, Tolan thrived with Cincinnati. He fulfilled Resinger's prediction, producing a league-high 57 steals for the 1970 Reds. In four seasons with Cincinnati, Tolan hit .282 with 140 steals and helped the Reds win pennants in 1970 and 1972.
In a 13-year major league career with the Cardinals, Reds, Padres, Phillies and Pirates, Tolan hit .265 with 193 steals.
Previously: Here's how Mike Shannon became a Cardinals catcher
Posted in Games, Hitters, Prospects | 2 Comments
on November 1, 2019 at 2:37 pm | Reply Phillip Mezzapelle
In fairness to the Cardinals, they were loaded with veteran talent and this probably worked against Bobby. Still though, it's no excuse to make a bad lopsided trade as the Cardinals did. Given a chance to play everyday, Bobby proved his worth. Had there been an MVP award for the league championships back then, Tolan would have won it during the 1970 Nlcs. He also proved to be a Cardinal killer. In 83 games he produced 83 hits and a. 303 average.
Thanks for the info on how Bobby Tolan performed versus Cardinals in his career.