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Not sure too many remember when Vern Rapp was the St. Louis manager. I believe he followed Red Schoendienst in 1977. I don’t think he was the St. Louis manager very long, maybe one or two years.
However, I didnt realize Rapp later managed Cincinnati. I was watching this Youtube video about the Ron Cey/Mario Soto foul/fair homerun controversy when I saw that Rapp was the Reds manager.
r/Esteemed Rat
Geesh Rat….. I’m very very busy today, but just can’t break away from watching this full length telecaster with Harry. I think I actually recall watching this very game. I would have been what? A sophomore in college…..I blew off many a class back in the day to watch WGN. Getting back on topic, yeah, Vern got a bad rapp as a Cardinal manager, Rat.
Wasn’t it Vern Rapp who made Hrabosky shave his fumanchu style facial hair, thus sapping his Mad Hungarian persona on the mound.
Vern was a bad rapp. Then again that Team hitting wise was very similar to this one. Three guys trying to carry 6 offensively. The Pitching wasn’t as good as this team. Bing Devine had the Team in a mess. Late 70’s for the Cards was rough. Bing and Vern left together. Wasn’t the least bit unhappy about that. GM’s have the biggest influence on a Team. You don’t succeed without talent. You need ownership dedicated to winning and that means putting a winner in the GM chair. Not sure if Dewitt is committed enough. mo is proving everyday that he is not the right man for this position.
All of this chatter reminds me of my favorite verse in Jack Buck’s book. Talking about what a mess the Cardinals were in the late 1970s, Buck said:
“All that was about to change. Whitey Herzog was coming to town!”
r/Esteemed Rat
Rapp did have the “no facial hair” policy, and Hungo reluctantly obliged. He tried to compensate by putting on a mean look while on the mound. But it was not the same.
That was a real low point for the ball club. You had three very good pitchers starting elsewhere and often in the post season in Steve Carlton, Mike Torrez and Jerry Reuss. You had Bake McBride, Jose Cruz, and Reggie Smith bashing the ball with other clubs as well. Just a sorry situation.
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