pitched. The Cardinals fought back to prevail 10–9 in 12 innings, but the damage had been done. Stallard played his final Major League game on July 24 against the Chicago Cubs on the front-end of a doubleheader. He came in to pitch in the bottom of the 6th, and gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Ron Santo. Stallard pitched into the 7th. After giving up another run, reliever Joe Hoerner replaced him on the mound. Soon after his final appearance, the Cardinals reassigned Stallard to the Class AAA Tulsa Oilers of the Pacific Coast League. From 1967 to 1973, he played for several more minor league teams including the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs and High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms, with stops in Torreón and Córdoba of the Class AAA Mexican League. Stallard took a season off from pitching in 1968, serving as a pitching coach for the Hi-Toms under manager Jack McKeon, previously a Minnesota Twins scout and eventual manager of the 2003 World Series champion Florida Marlins and two-time National League Manager of the Year Award winner. Stallard resumed his playing career in 1969 for High Point-Thomasville by posting a 3–4 record and a 2.68 ERA. Despite posting solid earned run averages in three of his final four seasons (2.68, 2.52, 2.35), Stallard never received a call to the Majors again. In his final season, 1973, Stallard posted a 5–11 record with a 2.35 ERA at Córdoba. Over the course of his major league career, some Hall of Fame players had a tough time solving Stallard. Willie Mays was a career .200 hitter off him (6-for-30), Willie McCovey stuttered in at .152 (5-for-33, but with 3 home runs), Roberto Clemente hit .138 (4-for-29), and Frank Robinson could only muster a .214 (6-for-28) success rate against the pitcher. Others legends, however, such as Lou Brock (9-for-16) had no problem rattling Stallard. Death Stallard died on December 6, 2017, at the age of 80. References External links Retrosheet 1937 births 2017 deaths People from Coeburn, Virginia Boston Red Sox players New York Mets players St. Louis Cardinals players Lafayette Red Sox players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Virginia Raleigh Capitals players Allentown Red Sox players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Seattle Rainiers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players High Point-Thomasville Royals players Arizona Instructional League Royals players