Unimpressed, the Post-Dispatch wrote, “The Cardinals presented one of the lightest 3-4 punches in any batting order, Brock and Flood.”įlood drove in two runs and the Cardinals won, 7-6.

The next night, the first five batters in the Cardinals’ order against the Pirates were: Phil Gagliano, Dick Groat, Lou Brock, Flood and Boyer. The injury “has him moving like television’s Chester (Dennis Weaver’s character from “Gunsmoke”) and Grandpa McCoy (Walter Brennan’s character from “The Real McCoys”),” the St. On June 30, 1965, White injured his right heel. The Cardinals had a 9-4 record with Flood as their cleanup hitter. In 13 games batting fourth for the 1965 Cardinals, Flood hit. Schoendienst was rewarded for his faith in Flood.

Mike Shannon and Tim McCarver could have been options to bat cleanup, but Flood was having a better season than either of them. He appeared to be better suited for one of the top two spots in the order, not the cleanup position usually filled by sluggers. Boyer had opened the 1965 season as the cleanup hitter and White largely had taken over the role in June.įlood had led the Cardinals in runs scored in 1962 (99) and 1963 (112) and was second in 1964 (97), but he never had produced more than 12 home runs and 70 RBI in a season. Schoendienst, in his first season as a manager, chose Flood to bat fourth in 1965 because Ken Boyer, bothered by a bad back, wasn’t producing at his usual level and Bill White had an injured foot.

Flood appeared in the cleanup spot as a defensive replacement or pinch-runner four times in 1958 and once in 1959, but didn’t get any at-bats then. It was the only time in 15 major-league seasons Flood batted cleanup. Desperate to fill the cleanup spot in the order with a potent bat, Cardinals rookie manager Red Schoendienst turned to Curt Flood, a player better known for scoring, not driving in, runs.

Curt flood award