Cardinal Jim Lindeman Relives First HR

1987 post-season?
“…kind of a blur.”

Jim Lindeman seemed like a working-class player. Not a hit-in-your-sleep kind of guy, but someone who’d use brains and determination to defy the odds.

I’m grateful for the insightful letter he shared. Here’s his memories:

Q: Your first career homer came off Jim Deshaies Sept. 5, 1986. What do you recall of that hit?

A: The HR off Deshaies was a high fastball and I hit it into the first few rows of left field in the Astrodome.

I still remember the crack of the bat.

Q: You racked up nine post-season hits in 1987. What moments stand out for you?

A: The 1987 post-season is kind of a blur. It all went so fast and it is hard to recall anything. I do remember Jeffrey Leonard and the ‘one flap down’ stuff and the intensity of the NL playoffs.

There was much less pressure in the World Series.

Q: You became a clutch pinch-hitter. Is one pinch-hit you’re proudest of?

A: I don’t have a particular hit in mind, but the 1991 season with the Phillies was my most successful pinch-hitting season.

Coming Friday: a Virgil Trucks birthday update!

(Red)bird Watching: (Re)writing Todd Worrell + Nine St. Louis Cardinals From My Past

Unlike Worrell, Tyson
signed by mail for
me (in the 1970s). I
loved Mike’s looping
sig and his
Gashouse Gang faces!

After the Cardinals overcame the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday, my thoughts turned to Todd Worrell. When he took St. Louis by storm in 1985, I wrote him. And wrote and wrote and…

He’s signed for many, according to http://www.sportscollectors.net/. However, in recent years, he’s been a man on the move. Some collectors have collected nothing but RTS returns, unable to find a current address.

I think I’ve located him. If St. Louis can have a storybook season, why not me? One more try!

I wondered if other former Cardinals will be by their TVs, too, hoping that their former employer gleans October glory once again. I wanted to devote my current crop of envelopes to St. Lou alums.

My other letters this week are headed to:

Cliff Chambers
John Fulgham
Jim Lindeman
Larry Miggins
Al Olmstead
Ted Power
Stan Royer
John Tamargo
Mike Tyson

Coming Thursday: Surprising words from Giants and Athletics broadcaster Lon Simmons.