Tim Jordan did what he could over seven pro seasons

Lafayette Leopards outfielder Tim Jordan went 2 for 4 in this August 1994 game, increasing his average to .315, The Lafayette Journal and Courier wrote.

Jordan also had success that year with home runs, 14, and RBIs, 54, The Journal and Courier wrote.

"I'm just concentrating and thinking about what I'm doing and not putting a lot of pressure on myself," Jordan explained to The Journal and Courier then. "That's the key  - not trying to do more than I can do."

Jordan had that performance in his sixth season as a pro, his first in independent ball. He saw time in just one more campaign. He topped out at single-A.

Jordan's career began in 1989, taken by the Cardinals in the 45th round of the draft out of Fernandina Beach High School in Florida.

Jordan started with the Cardinals in the rookie Arizona League. He got into 36 games and hit .211. 

He moved to rookie Johnson City for 1990. That July, he hit a two-run home run to help his team make up a deficit, The Johnson City Press wrote.

"We had a man on first and I knew I had to put the ball in play and make something happen," Jordan told The Press. "I wasn't thinking home run, but when I hit it I was pretty sure."

Jordan saw 61 games overall for Johnson City that year. He hit .276, with four home runs. 

He played 1991 between single-A Savannah and Johnson City, then 1992 at short-season Hamilton. He saw just three games in 1993, at single-A Springfield. 

For 1994, he moved to independent ball and Lafayette. In 49 games, he hit .353.He then played 1995 at independent Mohawk Valley. He got into 63 games there and hit .233 to end his career.

• Johnson City Press, July 28, 1990: Red-hot Twins hold off Cards
• Lafayette Journal and Courier, Aug. 25, 1994: Leopards foil Bandits again

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,434
Made the Majors:1,423-32.1
Never Made Majors:3,011-67.9%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Dave Norris saw 2 seasons in Cardinals system, single-A

Johnson City Cardinals hurler Dave Norris took the mound in the second game of this August 1990 double header and proceeded to have little trouble, The Johnson City Press wrote.

He went six innings in the contest and gave up five hits, before two consecutive walks led to him being lifted. Norris picked up the win.

Norris got that win in his first season as a pro. He went on to see just one more campaign. He topped out at single-A.

Norris' career began that year in 1990, taken by the Cardinals in the 18th round of the draft out of Saint Mary's College of California.

He started with the Cardinals at rookie Johnson City. He went two innings and gave up one unearned in a July game. He took the loss in an August game, going seven and giving up two runs.

Overall, Norris got into 24 games that year, starting five. He went 2-2, with a 4.50 ERA.

He then moved to single-A Springfield for 1991. He went 2-0, with a 4.03 ERA in 12 relief outings to end his career.

• Johnson City Press, Aug. 9, 1990: JC Cards manage split with Pulaski

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,433
Made the Majors:1,423-32.1
Never Made Majors:3,010-67.9%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Tremayne Donald provided excitement over 4 pro seasons

Johnson City Cardinals hitter Tremayne Donald didn't hit home runs, but his speed made him "pure excitement" on the bases, The Johnson City Press wrote in July 1990.

"That's one of the things the Cardinals like, guys who can run," Donald told The Press then. "They like little guys who are fast and can hit the gaps. I've got God-given talent to run so I have to get on base as much as possible so I can use my speed."

Donald used his speed that year to steal 44 bases. He ended up stealing 122 over his career. But he could only use his speed to make four pro seasons. He topped out at high-A.

Donald's career began in 1989, taken by the Cardinals in the 24th round of the draft out of Paducah Tilghman High School in Kentucky.

Donald started with the Cardinals in the rookie Arizona League. He got into 34 games and hit .281. He also stole six bases.

He moved to rookie Johnson City for 1990. He got into 63 games, stole those 44 bases, but hit just .187.

Donald hit those numbers as the Cardinals tried to make him a switch-hitter early in the year, The Press wrote.

"We hope Donald can take to switch-hitting," Cardinals farm director Ted Simmons told The Press then. "He has good speed and is a good 'Whitey (Herzog)-type' player."

Donald moved to single-A Springfield for 1991. He saw 77 games and hit .250, while stealing 38. He then played 1992 at high-A St. Petersburg. He hit .229 there in 112 games, stealing 34. That season proved his last as a pro.

Donald soon turned to coaching. By 2019, he'd been coaching at various schools for 21 years. He was named then the head coach at his alma mater, Paducah Tilghman. He continued in that role in 2024, having taken the squad to region runner-up in 2023 with graduating seniors, The Paducah Sun wrote.

"This is the most inexperienced team I've had since being at Tilghman and the youngest team, but our expectations are not going to change," Donald told The Sun to start the 2024 campaign. "We're not going to make excuses that we're young and inexperienced; we're going to go out there and play in a way we know how and see what happens."

• Johnson City Press, June 22, 1990: Simmons likes Cards' farm system, Part 2
• Johnson City Press, July 11, 1990: Fleet-footed Donald makes things happen in Card-like fashion
• Paducah Sun, March 9, 2024: Paducah Tilghman Blue Tornado enters season with youthful roster

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,432
Made the Majors:1,423-32.1
Never Made Majors:3,009-67.9%-X

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Bob Milliken played, then coached decades with Cardinals

Cardinals minor league pitching instructor Bob Milliken had a message for short-season Hamilton Redbird pitchers in June 1990, as the far-away major league staff struggled with injury and performance, The Hamilton Spectator wrote.

Issues in the majors usually led to chain reactions in the minors, The Spectator wrote.

"There will always be room for pitching," Milliken told The Spectator then. "If I was still a pitcher and I looked at it I would say 'there's a place for me' and I'd go get it. I'd bear down and work."

Milliken spoke with decades of experience both in the minors and in the majors. He made the majors as a player over two seasons with Brooklyn. He later returned there as a coach with the Cardinals.

Milliken's long career in baseball began in 1947, signed by the Dodgers out of Cameron High School in West Virginia.

He started with the Dodgers at Class B Nashua. He made AA Fort Worth in 1949 and AAA Montreal in 1950. He then spent time in the military before returning to make Brooklyn in 1953.

That September in 1953, Milliken came on in emergency first-inning relief and proceeded to go 8.1 innings of hitless ball.

"Funny thing was, I pitched the last three innings with a blister on my middle finger," Milliken told The Brooklyn Eagle afterward. 

Milliken went 8-4 overall that year in 37 outings, 10 starts. He also had a 3.37 ERA. He returned for 24 more outings, three starts in 1954. He went 5-2 then, with a 4.02 ERA.

Milliken returned to the minors for 1955. He then moved to the Cardinals system for 1960 and continued playing in the minors into 1962.

He then soon started his coaching career. By 1967, he was back in the majors as bullpen coach for the Cardinals. He stayed there at least four seasons before returning to the minors as a pitching instructor. For 1976, he became Cardinals pitching coach. 

He soon returned to the minors and instructing. By 1991, he'd worked with the Cardinals for 30 years. That October, he worked with a rehabbing Todd Worrell.

"That slider," Milliken told Worrell, according to The Tampa Tribune, "really bit. It was one of those things no one can hit."

Milliken passed away in 2007 at the age of 80.

• Brooklyn Eagle, Sept. 10, 1953: Great Showing in Relief Role Gives Dressen Ideas
• Hamilton Spectator, June 19, 1990: Making a pitch for 'bigs'
• Tampa Tribune, Oct. 29, 1991: Worrell continues to make a pitch for ultimate save

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,431
Made the Majors:1,423-32.1-X
Never Made Majors:3,008-67.9%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

George Kissell taught 'The Cardinals Way' over 6+ decades

Approaching another year of Hall of Fame results in January 2014, a Fox Sports columnist made a Cooperstown argument not for a player or a manager, but for a coach, longtime Cardinals system coach George Kissell.

The columnist wrote how Kissell was largely responsible for "The Cardinals Way," and he'd been singled out for praise by two Hall of Famers, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre and he'd been behind some of the top Cardinals hitters, especially switch-hitters like Tom Herr.

"He truly was the biggest influence on me as far as teaching me the correct way to play the game," Herr told the Fox Sports columnist in an email. "Baseball is a game of repetition and he understood the importance of creating perfect habits through perfect practice. He was also great at imparting his knowledge of game situations and the correct way to defend them. He left no stone un-turned."

By the time he was done, Kissell had spent more than 60 years in the game, starting out briefly as a player, then turning to coaching and managing. 

Kissell's long career in the game began in 1940, signed by the Cardinals as a player out of Evans Mills High School and Ithaca College.

Kissell started with the Cardinals at Class D Hamilton. He played three seasons before joining the military during World War II. He returned home in 1946, and  took his first managerial job while still playing, at Class B Lawrence.

"I know we have a fine team and I like youth," Kissell told The Winston-Salem Journal to start the 1950 season as team manager. "The boys will average about 21 years of age and they hustle every day of the month, not the 15th and 30th and that's the kind of a club I like and I believe you will like."

He continued largely managing in the minors with the Cardinals through 1968. In 1950, he managed at Class B Winston-Salem.

For 1969, Kissell moved up to St. Louis as first base coach. He continued in that role through 1975. He got a new role for 1976, special field assistant with the general manager.

He spoke to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that March in 1976 about his new role, and thoughts on his time in the majors. Kissell turned to fundamentals, how to play the team game.

"That is, to take a shot going to right field with a man on first or first and second with none out," Kissell told The Post-Dispatch. "That's what I call winning ball."

He later took the title as roving fundamentals instructor. In 1990, he was listed as field coordinator on his Johnson City card, after apparently having been in town for picture day.

Kissell continued with the Cardinals through 2004. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 88 after being injured in a car accident.

In 1997, as Kissell continued to work with Cardinals players, The Post-Dispatch featured him in an article headlined "Mr. Baseball."

"He's everything that is good and fundamental and right about baseball," Cardinals player John Mabry told The Post-Dispatch then about Kissell. "To me, everything in the Cardinals organization is him. One real reason to respect the 'birds on the bat' on the uniform is that's what he is. Respect him, you respect the Cardinals."

• Winston-Salem Journal, April 12, 1950: 'We'll Be Out There Fighting for Pennant,' Kissell Tells 200 at 'Welcome Cards' Dinner
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 26, 1976: Prof. Kissell, Baseball Ph.D.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 30, 1997: Mr. Baseball
• Fox Sports, Jan. 7, 2014: Legendary Cardinals instructor George Kissell deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,430
Made the Majors:1,422-32.1-X
Never Made Majors:3,008-67.9%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Mark DeJohn used baseball knowledge over nearly 5 decades

The State College Daily Collegian described State College Spikes manager Mark DeJohn meeting with his transfixed players in June 2006 as DeJohn "spitting fire and brimstone about baseball, religion and life."

"That, right there, is his trademark," pitching coach Sid Monge told The Daily Collegian of that meeting. "He communicates. If you really listen to that carefully, he has a message for you no matter what. He does it through humor; he does it through a good sense of direction."

DeJohn was then well into his long coaching career, much of it spent in the minors, though some in the majors. He became a coach after first playing, and briefly reaching the majors, himself -  in his 12th season.

DeJohn's long career in baseball began in 1971, taken by the Mets in the 23rd round out of Wilson High School in Connecticut.

He started at rookie Marion, then made single-A Pompano Beach in 1973, AA Victoria in 1974 and AAA Tidewater in 1975. He continued at AAA, moving to the Tigers system in 1978. 

Then, in April 1982, he made Detroit. Upon his callup, a former manager of his - and future Hall of Famer - Jim Leyland recounted to The Evansville Press qualities he saw in DeJohn that would serve him well later.

"He's a blessing for a manager," Leyland told The Press. "The professional atmosphere he creates is outstanding. He never complains, he just does his job. And he has a way of helping to relax the guys while teaching them to win."

DeJohn got into 24 games with the Tigers and hit .190. He played one more season at AAA, ending his playing career.

DeJohn then started his minor league managerial career with the Tigers at AA Birmingham. He moved to the Cardinals system in 1986 and stayed with the organization through much of the rest of his career, more than three decades later.

Along the way, DeJohn managed at Savannah, Johnson City, AAA Louisville and elsewhere.

In 1996, moved back to the majors with the Cardinals as bullpen coach an then as bench coach. He stayed in the majors through 2001, then returned to manage at AA New Haven for 2002. He later served a decade as Cardinals minor league field coordinator before his retirement at the end of 2019.

"I haven't made a lot of money in the game, I really haven't," DeJohn told St. Louis Sports Page upon his retirement. "But I've made a living. I feel privileged to have made a living in the game. I enjoyed coming to work every day and that's something a lot of people can't say. I feel very fortunate."

• Evansville Press, April 22, 1982: Mr. big leaguer
• State College Daily Collegian, June 30, 2006: DeJohn revels in teaching players
• St. Louis Sports Page, Aug. 28, 2019: Mark DeJohn's retirement will leave big void in Cardinals organization

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,429
Made the Majors:1,421-32.1-X
Never Made Majors:3,008-67.9%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356

Tom Urbani worked to earn confidence over 4 ML seasons

St. Louis Cardinals hurler Tom Urbani worked his way to the majors. He just wanted to stay there - and for the club to believe he should be there, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote in July 1995.

"All I've ever wanted since I've been here was that when I pitch, whether it's out of the bullpen or in the starting rotation, is for people to have confidence in me," Urbani told The Post-Dispatch. "I wanted to feel that I don't have to look back over my shoulder when I was having a bad outing."

Urbani spoke that year in his third season with time in the majors. He saw one more, for 81 total major league appearances over his career.

Urbani's career began in 1990, taken by the Cardinals in the 13th round of the draft out of Cal State Long Beach.

Urbani went to Long Beach out of Harbor High School in Santa Cruz. There, he both pitched and hit. He spoke to The Santa Cruz Sentinel in 1986 about pressure situations.

"I want to be in control," Urbani told The Sentinel. "When you're pitching, you're in control. When you're up to bat, the ball's in your corner. You have to do something, and I like that. I like to take control and get the job done myself."

Urbani started with the Cardinals at rookie Johnson City and short-season Hamilton. He went 4-7 between them, with a 4.34 ERA.

He made high-A St. Petersburg in 1991, then AA Arkansas and AAA Louisville in 1992. Then, in April 1993, he made St. Louis.

When he arrived, he recounted to The Post-Dispatch how his father had prepared him as a youth, about how few kids who want to make the majors actually do.

"It was a pleasure talking to my dad on the phone last night," the newly minted major leaguer told The Post-Dispatch.

Urbani saw nine outings, two starts, with the Cardinals that year. He went 1-3, with a 4.65 ERA. He then returned for 20 more outings, 10 starts, in 1994. He went 3-7, with a 5.15 ERA.

Urbani saw time in two more seasons - 24 outings, 13 starts with the Cardinals in 1995 and 19 outings, 4 starts between the Cardinals and Tigers in 1996. He ended with a career record of 10-17.

He continued playing two more seasons in the minors, and in Italy. He saw AAA with the Expos and Rangers in 1997 and back with the Cardinals and independent Reno in 1998 to end his career.

Urbani then turned his attention to coaching local youth as an instructor, according to The Sentinel in 2001.

"First of all, I love baseball," Urbani told The Sentinel that June. "I also love helping kids get better. I can be totally down, but if you see me after four hours of lessons, I'm uplifted. I feed off the kids."

Urbani passed away in 2022 at the age of 54.

• Santa Cruz Sentinel, April 15, 1986: Doing it all
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 22, 1993: From Early Age, Urbani Played His Cards Just Right
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 9, 1995: Earning Respect
• Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 13, 2001: Spotlight

More: The 1990 Johnson City Cardinals

1990 Minor League Tally 

Players/Coaches Featured:4,428
Made the Majors:1,420-32.1-X
Never Made Majors:3,008-67.9%

5+ Seasons in the Majors:577

10+ Seasons in the Minors:356