Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog comments on the death of pitcher Joaquín Andújar at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on September 8, 2015. Andujar died at the age of 62 after a battle with diabetes. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Joaquin Andujar was one of those pitchers you loved to have on your team, but hated when he pitched against yours. If you were rooting against him, you were waiting for Andujar to explode. Heck, even if you were rooting for him, you were waiting for him to lose his temper.
Say what you will about his fiery competitiveness, but the guy could pitch.
Andujar was a two-time All-Star during his five seasons with the Cardinals from 1981-85. He had 20-win seasons in 1984 and ’85, leading the National League in victories in ’84 and was a 15-game winner on the Cardinals’ World Series title team in ’82, also winning Game 7 of the Series against the Brewers. He even got into with Jim Gantner in the seventh inning of that game. Watch this great postgame interview with Bob Costas on NBC Sports.
Before Tuesday night’s game between the Cubs and Cardinals, former manager Whitey Herzog smiled and shared memories of Andujar. “He was a joy to manage,” said Whitey. “Everybody knew he didn’t operate with a full deck most of the time, but when you had Joaquin on your ballclub, you were sitting on a firecracker every day.”