As a youth in south St. Louis County, Sonny Siebert was a fan of second baseman Red Schoendienst and the hometown baseball teams, Cardinals and Browns. Years later, Siebert played for Schoendienst when he managed the Cardinals.
A right-hander with the skill to pitch a no-hitter or belt a home run, Siebert was acquired by the Cardinals from the Rangers 50 years ago, on Oct. 26, 1973, when he was at the back end of his playing career.
After achieving double-digit win totals in eight of his 10 seasons in the American League, Siebert was up to the challenge of switching to the National League. He pitched a shutout in his Cardinals debut and punctuated his 1974 season with a win in an epic marathon during the September title chase.
At home on the hardwood
Named after his father, a foreman at a lead company, Wilfred Siebert (better known as Sonny) was an infielder for the Bayless High School baseball team in St. Louis and a high jumper for the track squad, but he got the most attention for his basketball abilities. Described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in February 1953 as a “sprout who is the pride of the Bayless fans,” Siebert got selected to the South County League all-star basketball team his sophomore season.
When Siebert was 15, he attended a Cardinals tryout camp. “They put me at shortstop,” he said to the Post-Dispatch. “Four balls were hit to me and I fielded all of them perfectly and flipped perfectly underhand to first base. I was quite proud. Red Schoendienst had been my idol and I copied his underhanded flip.”
The Cardinals told him to stay home. “They said I didn’t throw hard enough and I ought to forget about baseball,” Siebert said to the Post-Dispatch.
Experiencing a growth spurt, Siebert was 6-foot-2 when he reported for his junior basketball season in high school. (He eventually grew another inch.) He was a prolific scorer, popping jump shots from all ranges. Siebert topped 1,000 points for his varsity career early in his senior year. On Jan. 14, 1955, his 18th birthday, Siebert scored 43 points against Eureka.
“I don’t think there is a shot in the book that Sonny didn’t make that night,” Bayless coach Clyde Ficklin told the Post-Dispatch. “Jump shots, hook shots, drive-ins, layups, fall-away shots _ you name ’em.”
The Post-Dispatch noted, “Wilfred Siebert is an unobtrusive, retiring sort of high school boy who does average-well in class and seldom makes himself noticed. There is almost nothing out of the ordinary about him except when he puts on a basketball uniform for the Bayless High team. Then Wilfred becomes Sonny Siebert, a running, shooting demon who drives opponents batty.”
A two-time Class B all-state selection, Siebert accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of Missouri in June 1955. As a sophomore in his first varsity season, Siebert averaged 13.4 points a game. His 308 total points broke the Missouri sophomore record held by Norm Stewart (256).
Playing in a conference dominated by Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas and Bob Boozer of Kansas State, Siebert averaged a team-high 16.7 points for Missouri as a junior. He scored 27 in an upset victory against Indiana and his free throw with four seconds left gave Missouri a one-point triumph versus Marquette.
Missouri coach Sparky Stalcup called Siebert the “league’s best shot,” United Press reported. The wire service also observed that Siebert “is troubled by myopia, an eye condition making distant objects blurry.” Siebert was taking “pupil dilation treatment” for his eyes.
Change in plans
Siebert didn’t play baseball at Missouri as a sophomore but he did his junior year. A first baseman, he hit .368 with eight home runs in the regular season. Missouri reached the championship game of the 1958 College World Series before losing to University of Southern California, 8-7, in 12 innings on June 19. Two days later, Siebert, 21, got married.
Receiving interest from professional baseball teams, Siebert decided to skip his senior year at Missouri. The Cleveland Indians brought him to their ballpark for workouts that summer under the supervision of talent evaluators Hoot Evers and Bob Kennedy.
“(Outfielder) Rocky Colavito was there then and he worked with me every day, teaching me how to make the throw from the outfield,” Siebert recalled to The Sporting News. “Evers and Kennedy seemed to like the way I threw the ball, so they decided to make an outfielder out of me.”
Siebert signed with the Indians on July 16, 1958, and received a $48,000 bonus, the Post-Dispatch reported. He was one of three St. Louis athletes who left University of Missouri early for pro baseball deals in 1958. The others, football players Charlie James and Mike Shannon, signed with the Cardinals.
Sent to a Class B farm club in Burlington, N.C., Siebert struggled in the outfield, didn’t hit (.147) and was dropped to Class D Batavia, N.Y. “On the last day of the season, we didn’t have any pitchers left, so I pitched two innings of relief and I did all right,” Siebert told The Sporting News. “I think the batters were afraid to stand in there against me. It was the first time I was ever on the mound.”
Still an outfielder in 1959 with the Class C Minot (N.D.) Mallards, Siebert broke an ankle and was limited to 185 at-bats. After the season, he went to the Indians’ Florida Instructional League team. Asked to pitch batting practice, Siebert impressed coach Spud Chandler, the former Yankees pitcher, who urged him to stick with pitching.
(Siebert then accepted an invitation to try out for the NBA St. Louis Hawks. He participated in their training camp before the 1959-60 season but didn’t make the team.)
An outfielder at spring training in 1960, Siebert got frustrated when instructors tried to change his batting style. According to The Sporting News, he “was ready to quit,” but then, remembering Chandler’s advice, asked to become a pitcher.
On the rise
Success was not immediate but Siebert persevered. He was 27 when he reached the majors with the 1964 Indians.
In 1965, Siebert had 16 wins and a 2.43 ERA for Cleveland. He struck out 15 in shutting out the Washington Senators. Boxscore
The next year, Siebert won 16 again, including a no-hitter versus the Senators. Boxscore
He got to pitch in St. Louis for the first time as a professional, appearing in the 1966 All-Star Game at Busch Memorial Stadium. Siebert retired all six batters he faced _ Jim Ray Hart, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Ron Santo. Boxscore
Experienced pro
In April 1969, Siebert was traded to the Red Sox. He had 15 wins for them in 1970 and 16 in 1971. He also hit .266 with six home runs for the 1971 Red Sox. Two of those homers came in a game versus Pat Dobson of the Orioles, who were shut out by Siebert. Boxscore
“Sonny Siebert has the best stuff on the staff,” Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee said to The Sporting News.
In 1973, Siebert had a falling out with Red Sox manager Eddie Kasko, who banished him to the bullpen. The Rangers, managed by Whitey Herzog, acquired Siebert in May 1973 and he became their ace.
In his Rangers debut, Siebert pitched five scoreless innings to beat Catfish Hunter and the Athletics. Boxscore On June 20, Siebert shut out the Twins and ended Rod Carew’s 18-game hitting streak. Boxscore Five days later, he pitched six scoreless innings in a win versus Ken Holtzman and the A’s. Boxscore
Mike Shropshire of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote, “When Sonny Siebert pitches, the Rangers’ games take on a peculiar air of dignity and sophistication. Instead of the usual orgy of runs, it’s strictly a matter of law and order.”
In July, with his ERA at 2.10 for the Rangers, Siebert suffered a shoulder separation and was sidelined for a month. When he returned, he lost five decisions in a row. Herzog was fired in September and replaced by Billy Martin.
Headed for home
The Cardinals acquired Siebert (for outfielder Tommy Cruz) to join a revamped starting rotation that included two other former Red Sox pitchers, John Curtis and Lynn McGlothen, and holdovers Bob Gibson and Alan Foster.
At 1974 spring training, Siebert, 37, pitched well and Schoendienst declared him the No. 2 starter behind Gibson. “Siebert has been our best pitcher down here,” Schoendienst told the Post-Dispatch. “In fact, he might also be our best hitter.”
Making his National League debut in the Cardinals’ second game of the season against a Pirates lineup with Willie Stargell and Dave Parker, Siebert pitched a four-hit shutout and drove in two runs with a single. Boxscore
In May, Siebert made five starts and had a 1.66 ERA for the month. He pitched consecutive shutouts against the Cubs and Padres. Boxscore and Boxscore
After he won his fourth straight decision on June 5 versus the Giants, giving up one unearned run in 8.2 innings, Siebert had a season record of 6-3 with a 1.95 ERA for the Cardinals. Boxscore
The bubble burst when Siebert went on the disabled list on July 4 because of an inflamed tendon in his right elbow. He returned on July 28, went winless in August and was moved to the bullpen in September.
Siebert’s last win for the Cardinals came in a doozy of a game _ a 25-inning endurance test with the Mets. Siebert, the Cardinals’ seventh pitcher, performed a high-wire act for 2.1 scoreless innings.
Relieving Claude Osteen with two on and two outs in the 23rd, Siebert walked Felix Millan to load the bases, then got Cleon Jones to fly out to right.
In the 24th, the Mets had the bases loaded with two outs, but Siebert got Rusty Staub to ground out.
The Cardinals broke the 3-3 tie in the 25th when Bake McBride scored from first on a wild pickoff throw by pitcher Hank Webb. Siebert gave up a single to Brock Pemberton (his first big-league hit) in the bottom half of the inning but then shut down the Mets. Boxscore
In 28 games, including 20 starts, for the 1974 Cardinals, Siebert was 8-8 with a 3.84 ERA. After the season, he was traded to the Padres.
Siebert, 38, finished his career with the 1975 Athletics, winning four times for a team that finished with the best record in the American League (98-64) and secured its fifth consecutive West Division title.
His career record was 140-114 with 16 saves. Of his 114 hits, 12 were home runs.