For those replayers who use actual lineups and rotations, I’ve found if you do enough research, there are answers out there for some of the questions that may puzzle us. Such is the case of St Louis Cardinals’ George Kernek. First baseman Kernek is an XC in my 1966 set and has been starting for the Cards since the season started. And no, he’s no monster card either with just two 0s and a mediocre hitting card at that.
Looking ahead, I see that the Cardinals management had turned their eyes elsewhere for their first base solution. They had to since Kernek put in only 55 plate appearances for the year. I was curious about St Louis’ fascination with the rookie Kernek so I looked into it. According to RetroSimba.com, the Cardinals saw George Kernek as their replacement for fan favorite and defensive whiz Bill White.
George Kernek was so highly regarded by the Cardinals they chose him to replace Bill White as their starting first baseman and issued him the uniform number previously worn by one of the franchise’s best players, third baseman Ken Boyer.
Kernek was the Opening Day first baseman for the 1966 Cardinals, but the rookie held the job for less than a month, was sent back to the minor leagues and never played in the majors again.
Once again, this emphasizes that MLB managers don’t have an APBA card to look at when making their personnel decisions. Kernek will soon be put in the St Louis envelope for good if I want to be true to the replay. As he did in 1966, he’s not impressing THIS manager either with a sub-.150 batting average so far.
Interesting story! You wonder how many guys get off to a poor start and are never heard from again. Does this mean that they can’t play or does it mean they never received a second chance. Didn’t Willie Mays have a ridiculously poor start? I highly doubt that Kernek ever remimded anyone of the Say Hey kid but I always wonder what would happen if they received another chance. I recall Bill Robinson coming up with the Yankees and performing terribly. About a decade later he was a mainstay for some of the very good Pirate teams in the late 70’s.
Carl Warwick is another good example. The Cubs tried starting him at the beginning of ’66. I’ve mentioned him before. Unlike Kernek, Warwick was at the end of a six-year career. He had a couple decent years in ’62-’63 for Houston and Chicago probably figured they could squeeze another out of him.
Warwick only hit five singles in 22 at-bats and that was the end of his career.
Wow, George Kernek really jogs the memory banks. I can remember watching a Pirates and Cards game on tv. When Kernak was at bat, Pirates announcer Bob Prince said Kernek looked like he forgot to take the hanger out of his jersey before he put it on.
It won’t be long before the Cards pick up Cepeda.
Actually, Cepeda just made his first start for the Giants (one hit and a SB).
Indeed, the “Baby Bull” transaction will be one of the biggest of my replay. In real life, the Giants left him for dead but he came to life for the Cardinals and led the NL in rbis. A real comeback for his career.
Fergie Jenkins will be coming over to the Cubs soon too. He’s a B pitcher but only has 12 starts. His 38 relief appearances will come in handy though.