Hal Woodeshick: A Golden Decade of Anguish
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Can we judge a man by his baseball card legacy? If so, then Hal Woodeshick needed a lot of cheering up.
Journeyman pitcher Hal Woodeshick has left behind a baseball card legacy of scowls, grimaces and outright anguish.
It all starts in 1959; his first appearance on a baseball card. By then, Woodeshick had been a pro for nine years and was with his fifth organization. The look seems to say, “I might belong here, but it pains me to think about it.”
In 1960, not a smile to be seen.
1961, and so it goes. The Senators left town, but he stayed behind, drafted by the new Senators.
1962. Be suspicious of new endeavors, like expansion teams.
1963. Life is a burden.
1964. Such is my fate.
1965: A glimmer of hope?
1966. Grim determination or just grim?
1967. It’s hard to believe he’s only in his early thirties here. He looks like a middle-aged manager of a failing tool and die concern.
Woodeshick was lights out for the Cardinals in ‘65 and ‘66, but not so much in ‘67, their World Champion season. The final pitches of his pro career were thrown that season in the eighth inning of Game Six of the World Series. The last batter he faced was Triple Crown Winner Carl Yastrzemski , whom he induced into a forceout grounder. I like to think this photo was taken right after that when, at last, we see Hal Woodeshick smile:
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