#Stl post dis cards talk full
#Stl post dis cards talk professional

It’s up to him.”Īsked about Templeton, Cardinals catcher Gene Tenace said to The Sporting News, “We’re better off without him. “When he grows up to be a man and publicly apologizes to our fans and to his teammates, he can come back and play. “There’s no ballplayer big enough to show up the fans and make the gestures he was making,” Herzog told the Post-Dispatch. Herzog suspended Templeton indefinitely and fined him $5,000. Herzog ordered Templeton to go to the clubhouse and wait for him, but Templeton packed and left the ballpark under police protection, The Sporting News reported. In “White Rat,” Herzog recalled, “When he got to the dugout, I reached out and pulled him down the steps, and if the other players hadn’t come between us, I guess we’d have had a pretty good fight. He turned toward the fans and grabbed his crotch.Īfter Froemming ejected him, Templeton started toward the dugout, stopped, clutched his genitals and raised a middle finger to the fans, the Associated Press reported. In the bottom of the third, when Templeton entered the on-deck circle, he was booed. Plate umpire Bruce Froemming warned Templeton that any more gestures would lead to an ejection. Templeton responded to the jeers by slapping his left hand under a raised right arm with fist clenched.

#Stl post dis cards talk professional

If I’d paid good money to see a professional ballplayer put out, I’d have been booing, too.” In “White Rat,” Herzog said, “I didn’t blame them. Rather than hustle to first, Templeton took a few steps up the line, then veered toward the dugout. In the first inning, Templeton struck out, but catcher Milt May dropped the third strike. The start of the game was delayed 88 minutes because of rain, and some of the 7,766 spectators spent the time drinking. In his book “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” Herzog said, “I told Templeton he’d have to play, even if he didn’t feel like it.” 25, the Cardinals had a game against the Giants the next afternoon at Busch Memorial Stadium. “They could see he was dogging it on ground balls, pulling up short on the bases, and generally acting like he didn’t give a damn about baseball or them,” Herzog said.Īfter a night game on Tuesday, Aug. In “You’re Missin’ a Great Game,” Herzog said his response to Templeton was, “What’s the matter with you? You’re tired?”Īccording to Herzog, Templeton’s teammates were tired of his antics. He informed Herzog he didn’t want to play in day games after night games. 10, Templeton was restored to the leadoff position, but he wasn’t content. 2 spot in the order until the players went on strike June 12. Herzog responded, “No player is going to make out my lineup for me.” “This organization has had enough of me,” Templeton said. “Put Tony Scott and me in a package deal and send us to San Diego for Ozzie Smith and Gene Richards,” Templeton told the Post-Dispatch in a story published June 1. Louis Post-Dispatch he wanted to be traded to a team near his home in southern California. Herr “was the best leadoff man we’ve had here,” Herzog said to The Sporting News. On May 25, Herzog moved Templeton out of the leadoff spot and put Tommy Herr there.

#Stl post dis cards talk full

In 1981, Herzog’s first full year as Cardinals manager and general manager, Templeton hit. In 1979, Templeton became the first player to get 100 hits from each side of the plate in one season, but he also was the center of controversy, demanding a trade and snubbing the All-Star Game. In his book “You’re Missin’ a Great Game,” Herzog said Templeton, a switch-hitter with speed, “was the single most talented all-around player I’d seen since Mickey Mantle.” During the winter, the Cardinals traded him to the Padres for a future Hall of Famer, Ozzie Smith.Ī first-round choice of the Cardinals in the 1974 amateur draft, Templeton was 20 when he took over for Don Kessinger as starting shortstop in August 1976. Three weeks later, Templeton returned to the Cardinals’ lineup and finished the season. Louis hospital for treatment of emotional problems. The Cardinals suspended and fined Templeton, then moved him to the disabled list when he entered a St. Louis, Templeton got booed for not hustling and reacted by making obscene gestures.Įjected by umpire Bruce Froemming, Templeton was approaching the dugout when he was confronted by manager Whitey Herzog, who pulled him down the steps and backed him against a wall before teammates separated them.

A troubled talent, Cardinals shortstop Garry Templeton let his emotions reach a boiling point, resulting in a public meltdown.