Baseball: Closeup of St Louis Cardinals team logo on jersey during national anthem before game vs Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Washington, DC 4/24/2013 CREDIT: Simon Bruty (Photo by Simon Bruty /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X156434 TK1 R1 F403 )
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The St. Louis Cardinals persist as one of Major League Baseball’s oldest franchises, with a number of history making players who have represented them over the years.
And with 11 World Series championships and 19 National League pennants in its history, the team has had a number of title winning players contribute to that history over the years as well. On Friday, fans received news that one of the team’s former championship players had died.
“I’m sad to report that former Cardinals pitcher Dick Hughes has died at the age of 88,” Augie Nash reported on X. “Dick debuted with the Cardinals in 1966 and spent his entire 3-year career with the team.”
St. Louis Cardinals Former Rookie Sensation And MVP Contender Dick Hughes Dies
Hughes, who was born in Arkansas, began his professional pitching career in 1958, though he did not debut with the Cardinals until eight years later, at age 28. However, his long-awaited debut was quickly followed up by a sensational rookie campaign in 1967.
Over 27 starts in that season, Hughes posted a 2.67 ERA with 161 strikeouts and a 0.954 WHIP that was the best in that National League. He pitched nine World Series innings for the Cardinals against the Boston Red Sox, helping the team secure a championship that season.
Hughes earned MVP Award votes for that campaign and came in second to eventual Hall of Famer Tom Seaver in the National League Rookie of the Year Award votes.
Former St. Louis Cardinals World Series Champion Saw Promising Career Cut Short By Injury
Unfortunately, after that sensational rookie season, Hughes injured his throwing shoulder in Spring Training 1968 and, with no available surgery to repair a rotator cuff, that injury cut his promising career short.
“‘Something happened’ at the end of the warm-ups, throwing at game speed. ‘My shoulder ached,’ remembered Hughes, and ‘I was given a (cortisone) shot,’” according to Thomas Van Hyning of the Society for American Baseball Research. “Hughes pitched five innings after alerting trainer Bob Bauman that something was wrong. X-rays later showed he had a torn rotator cuff, an injury doctors could not properly repair in those days. Hughes said it would have been ‘best in hindsight to shut it down and give it time to heal.’”
Instead, Hughes appeared in 25 games for the Cardinals in that season before being put on the disabled list and eventually ending his career.
Hughes stuck on with the Cardinals in a few different roles before leaving baseball altogether and focusing on his family.
“His playing career in baseball ended in 1968 although he served various roles in the Cardinals organization … until 1975,” a local obituary noted. “At this point, he chose to spend more quality time with his family… His love of music, playing the guitar, and outdoor pursuits like hunting and fishing also influenced his children and eventually his grandchildren.”