Classic Cardinal: George Hendrick

by KYCards on May 8, 2008 11:03 PM EDT

The 2nd edition of Classic Cardinal is George Hendrick.

"Silent" George Hendrick was known to many as a guy who spoke silently (at least to the media) but carried a big bat. George had long history of refusing to speak to the press, but he was well-liked by his teammates and Cards fans. He was one of the NL's premiere hitters in the late 70's-early 80's and is now a VEB Classic Cardinal.

Hendrick began his career in 1971 with the A's where he got his first World Series ring in 1972. In early 1973 George was traded along with current Cards pitching coach Dave Duncan to the Cleveland Indians. He played with the Indians for 4 seasons when he was then traded to the Padres. On May 26, 1978 the Padres traded George to the Cardinals for pitcher Eric Rasmussen. He played for the Cardinals for 6 and a half seasons and won his 2nd WS ring as a member of the 1982 World Championship team.

In 1980 (his best season as a Cardinal) he posted 25 Hrs and 109 RBI (which was 2nd in the NL behind only Mike Schmidt) and batted .302. In the 1982 Championship season George had 19 HRs with 104 RBI. With the Cards George won the Silver Slugger Award Twice (1980, 1983). Silent George was by far the biggest power threat on those early 80's Cardinals teams. In December of 84 the Cards traded George and catcher Steve Bernard to the Pirates for pitcher John Tudor and OF/catcher Brian Harper.

Hendrick was a 4 time All-Star (1974-75, 1980, 1983) and in total played with the following teams Oakland Athletics (1971-1972), Cleveland Indians (1973-1976), San Diego Padres (1977-1978), St. Louis Cardinals (1978-1984), Pittsburgh Pirates (1985), California Angels (1985-1988). His career totals include 267 HRs, 1111 RBIs, 1980 hits, and had a career BA of .278.

George was a roving hitting/outfield instructor for the Cards from 1993 to 1995 and was a coach for Tony Larussa in 1996 & 1997. George is currently the first base coach for the Tampa Bay Rays. He will return to St. Louis for the May 16th, 17th & 18th series when the Rays take on the Cards.

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I am a big fan because on the day I was born, July 4, 1980, he hit a walk off homer to win the game 1 – 0.

by birdsonbat on May 8, 2008 11:55 PM EDT reply actions

Excellent pick for a Classic.

George was my older brother’s hero; and, as a little kid idolizing my big brother, mine as well. I wasn’t quite 7 years old when we traded him away, but I can still clearly picture that tall, closed stance. I remember the criticisms of his gliding stride in the outfield. (A lot of the same ones that Encarnacion received). They said he was too nonchalant. They said he didn’t work hard enough. Yet, there were his numbers; and he was clearly the best power hitter for the Cards during the years he played in St. Louis. Hernandez was the best pure hitter for them, but nobody had Hendrick’s wrist strength.

The stories of his prank wars with Joaquin Andujar are classic. From nailing his shoes to the floor to the ever popular tricks with shaving cream. I remember a story my dad tells about a game after Hendrick had been moved to 1B. Andujar didn’t believe in lobbing the ball to 1B, instead he always threw his fastball. He did that to Hendrick, and Hendrick marched back to the mound shaking his finger at him for it. It just seems like baseball was more fun back then.

Thanks, again.

by etp_stl on May 8, 2008 11:57 PM EDT reply actions

RE: Excellent pick for a Classic

Shouldn’t you be working or something!

Yes he was my hero, and also the cause of my worst year of little league baseball. A 10 year old should not try to copy his batting stance, not near enough wrist strength.

His exploits from refusing to bat against any knukle ball pitcher (he claimed it messed up his timing) to the “silent” mystique made him appealing. Plus he played ball the right way.

My baby brother got the story mostly right, but before Hendrick marched to the mound shaking his finger, he fired the ball back to Andujar, and well we already know he had a pretty good arm!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

by jpenn44 on May 9, 2008 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

for some reason

my mother (now departed) took a huge liking to Hendrick. She called him “Gee-oh.”
I think it was her second favorite Cardinal after Willie McGee, but I can still hear her saying, “c’mon Gee-oh.”
Perhaps she liked him because he WAS so low-key; I never figured it out.

What I remember the most is Hendrick was a terrific cripple pitch hitter. He was deadly with a 2-0 or 3-1 count.

by the Tewk on May 9, 2008 12:14 AM EDT reply actions

Pillar of strength in the line up ...

On a team mostly composed of rabbits, fleas, and piranhas, George and his menacing power stick stood out in the middle of the order (20 homers during that decade constituted a legitimate power threat). My brother and I endlessly copied his closed stance in the unending backyard whiffle ball playoffs.
Burned in an earlier life by some beat writer (Cleveland?), he was strictly “no-comment” to the media, which only added to his cool mystique. We also enjoyed his gliding style in right field, and his plus arm. I’ll always remember his guided-missile strike to Oberkfell at 3rd to gun down Yount in the ‘82 WS; an historic outfield peg (only recently eclipsed by the exploits of young gun Rick).
George will always be a Cardinal Legend! (hitting clean up for a WS winner will do that for you)

by Urban Pawnee on May 9, 2008 9:35 AM EDT reply actions

He didn't get his due as an outfielder

In 1979 Silent George had 20 assists from the outfield and made 2 errors, mostly playing right field (a few games in center). Dave Parker, a rightfielder who was known for his arm, had 16 assists and 15 errors.

Parker won the gold glove.

It’s only fair to note that in 158 games Parker had 343 putouts; in 138 games Hendrick had 254. Still, Hendrick had a remarkable year and I have to think Parker’s 1977 and 1978 gold gloves influenced the voting in ‘79.

I know. It was a voting award. I just resented him not being recognized for his excellence.

I loved George Hendrick, too. We used to sit in the rightfield bleachers partly because leftfield had become a circus, partly because I hated the video scoreboard and could avoid seeing it in rightfield (old school, even back then), and partly because we loved Silent George. Occasionally, if he had just batted in the previous inning, instead of going all the way back to the dugout he would go sit in the bullpen with the relievers while the Cards batted. That always amused me. He just seemed like a guy who didn’t waste an ounce of energy, never flashy, just did his job and did it very well, whether at bat or in the field. That old line about Willie Mays - He made the hard plays look hard - never applied to George Hendrick.

by Youneverknow on May 9, 2008 2:11 PM EDT reply actions

Right field bleachers

I spent a lot of time there in the early 80s. Never could figure out why anyone would sit in the left field bleachers what w/ the better view of the 1b-2b basepath & throws across the infield.

I remember Hendrick just killing changeups.

by random on May 11, 2008 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions

heard this on the radio just a few days ago

i’m way to young to remember someone like hendrick. however, i heard a story on the radio about him which was rather amusing, and seems to fit with his personality from what i can tell here. apparently, after the final out in the 82 series, rather than run in and celebrate with the rest of the team, he slipped quietly out the right field fence, went to his car, and drove home. apparently he wanted to beat the traffic.
i have no idea if this is true or is just some embellishment of something that happened over twenty years ago, but it was a great story.

by mattybobo on May 9, 2008 5:03 PM EDT reply actions