#CardCorner: 1987 Fleer Tom Niedenfuer
He will forever be remembered for surrendering two home runs in the 1985 National League Championship Series: One by Ozzie Smith, the first left-handed homer of Smith’s career; and another by Jack Clark two days later that put the Cardinals in the World Series.
Four years earlier, Tom Niedenfuer had stepped out of nowhere to help pitch the Dodgers to the World Series title. And despite his NLCS legacy, Niedenfuer’s 10-year big league career must certainly be deemed a success.
Born Aug. 13, 1959, in St. Louis Park, Minn., Niedenfuer moved with his family to Pennsylvania as a preschooler and then to Washington State. Raised in Redmond, Wash., Niedenfuer was a hard-throwing high school pitcher who went 11-0 his senior year at Redmond High School, earning all-state honors for the second year in a row. But he was not considered a top prospect, and the Dodgers took him in the 36th round of the 1977 MLB Draft – a point in the draft where most of the big league teams had ended their selection process. Only 13 players were taken after Niedenfuer – none of whom ever played in the major leagues.
But Niedenfuer didn’t sign with Los Angeles, opting instead to enroll at Washington State University. By his junior season in 1980, Niedenfuer was an All-Pacific 10 Conference selection after going 7-3 with a 3.20 ERA as a starter. Eligible for the MLB Draft again in the summer of 1980, Niedenfuer was bypassed by all 26 teams.
“I was shocked,” Niedenfuer told the Associated Press in 1981. “I was really disappointed at the time. It probably had a lot to do with where I was in the country. It’s tough with the weather (in Washington State).”
Niedenfuer did not give up on his pro dreams, however, and pitched in the Alaska League in the summer of 1980. After playing for the Mat-Su Miners for much of the season, Niedenfuer switched to the Anchorage Glacier Pilots and advanced to the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, Kan., where he impressed scouts so much that a small bidding war for his services ensued.
On Aug. 14, 1980, Niedenfuer signed with the Dodgers as an amateur free agent, receiving a bonus reportedly worth $32,500. He reported to the instructional league before earning a spot with Double-A San Antonio in 1981. He dominated Texas League batters that year, going 13-3 with five saves in 36 games – all in relief. After fanning 95 batters over 90 innings, the 6-foot-5 Niedenfuer brought his blazing fastball to the big leagues in August, just days after the season resumed following the strike.
He made his MLB debut on Aug. 15 vs. the Braves, a year and a day after signing with the Dodgers.
“I’ve been the right person in the right place,” Niedenfuer told Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash. “The biggest key for me was the strike in ’81. I was having a great year in Double-A when (Dodgers general manager) Al Campanis and (Dodgers manager) Tommy Lasorda saw me during the strike. I did well when they were down there. When the strike ended, the pitchers couldn’t go nine innings, so they called me up.”
Niedenfuer picked up his first win in his second appearance on Aug. 16 and allowed just three runs over his first nine games, which covered 15.2 innings. He went 3-1 with two saves and a 3.81 ERA in 17 games down the stretch as the Dodgers prepared for the postseason after being declared first-half champions of the NL West.
After less than two months in the big leagues, Niedenfuer earned a spot on the Dodgers’ postseason roster. He made his first postseason appearance in Game 2 of the NLDS vs. the Astros, inheriting a first-and-third, one-out situation from Dave Stewart and Terry Forster in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the 11th inning. Niedenfuer intentionally walked César Cedeño before striking out Art Howe. But Denny Walling followed with a pinch-hit single to right field, scoring Phil Garner to end the game.
The victory gave Houston a 2-games-to-0 lead in the series but the Dodgers rallied to win the next three to advance to the NLCS. Niedenfuer did not pitch in the rest of the NLDS, next appearing in Game 2 of the NLCS vs. the Expos, where he relieved Fernando Valenzuela in the seventh inning – in his only appearance of the NLCS – with Los Angeles trailing 3-0. Niedenfuer allowed a single by Chris Speier before getting pitcher Ray Burris on a fielder’s choice when Speier was forced out at second. Tim Raines followed with a double that sent Burris to third base, and Lasorda called on Forster and Alejandro Peña to get out of the inning without any further damage.
Montreal went on to win the game but the Dodgers took the series to advance to the Fall Classic.
Suddenly, Niedenfuer found himself on the game’s biggest stage.
“My thoughts when I went to Spring Training (in 1981) were to make the (Double-A) team,” Niedenfuer told the AP. “Things have progressed much more rapidly than I thought they would.”
Niedenfuer didn’t have to wait long to make his first World Series appearance, entering Game 1 in the fifth inning with the Yankees leading 5-1. After allowing a leadoff single to Bob Watson, Niedenfuer retired the next nine batters he faced, exiting the game after the bottom of the seventh with the Dodgers still training 5-1. The Yankees would win the game 5-3 but Niedenfuer’s performance helped save the Dodgers’ bullpen.
“I wasn’t nervous, not at all,” Niedenfuer said. “I feel confident up here. It’s been a learning year for me. I’ll feel a lot more at home next year.”
But Niedenfuer still had another Fall Classic game ahead of him. With the Dodgers trailing the series 2-games-to-1 entering Game 4, the Yankees scored four runs in the first three innings off Bob Welch and Dave Goltz. Los Angeles rallied to cut the lead to 4-2, and Niedenfuer entered the game in the fifth inning. He pitched a perfect top of the fifth before Los Angeles scored a run in the bottom of the frame to make the score 4-3. The Yankees then scored two unearned runs off Niedenfuer in the sixth inning before the Dodgers battled back in the bottom of the sixth with three runs to tie the score at six.
Steve Howe then relieved Niedenfuer to start the seventh, and Los Angeles would go on to win the game 8-7. The Dodgers then won Game 5 and Game 6 to capture the title and give Niedenfuer a World Series ring, capping an amazing 14-month journey for the 22-year-old right-hander.
Niedenfuer began the 1982 season with Triple-A Albuquerque after getting caught in a bullpen logjam. With young hurlers like Stewart, Peña and Howe all batting with Niedenfuer for spots, the Dodgers took advantage of options remaining on Niedenfuer’s contract to send him to the minors and keep Ted Power, who was out of options.
“I expected to be on the Los Angeles team this year,” Niedenfuer told the Albuquerque Journal. “Sure, it’s a letdown to be here. But I know that if I come down here and throw well, I’ll be back up.”
Niedenfuer was back with Los Angeles by the end of April and appeared in 55 games for the Dodgers that season, going 3-4 with nine saves and a 2.71 ERA. But his season ended on a down note, however, when he was tagged with the loss on the final day of the season – a defeat that cost the Dodgers a chance to move into a tie in the NL West standings with first-place Atlanta.
Entering a 2-2 game against the Giants in the seventh inning, Niedenfuer allowed a leadoff single to Bob Brenly and a pinch-hit double by Champ Summers. After Niedenfuer struck out Greg Minton, Forster relieved him and fanned Jim Wohlford to keep the game tied, but Joe Morgan followed with a three-run homer to give the Giants all the runs they would need. The Dodgers finished the season 88-74, one game back of the Braves.
In 1983, Niedenfuer shared the closer duties with lefty Steve Howe and went 8-3 with 11 saves and a 1.90 ERA in 66 games. This time, the Dodgers won the NL West and advanced to face the Phillies in the NLCS, where Niedenfuer appeared in two games without allowing a run, saving the only Los Angeles win of the series in Game 2.
Then in 1984, Howe was suspended for the entire season for violation of MLB’s substance abuse policy. The Dodgers quickly anointed Niedenfuer as their closer.
“We have high hopes for him,” Campanis said of Niedenfuer entering the 1984 season. “He looks like he’s ‘Steady Eddie.’”
But Niedenfuer injured his shoulder in May and missed three weeks, then passed out in a Cincinnati hotel lobby due to a kidney stone on June 19. For a while, Niedenfuer stopped breathing during the kidney stone incident. Dodgers scout Charlie Metro and a nearby reporter helped revive Niedenfuer, who had swallowed his tongue.
“I remember telling (Terry Johnson, the reporter) I felt like I was going to pass out,” Niedenfuer said. “I remember hearing (the reporter) yell for Charlie and a medic and I remember hearing Charlie’s voice. Other than that, I don’t remember anything.”
Niedenfuer was back on the mound by June 22, however. But a sore elbow sidelined him in July and he wound up appearing in just 33 games that year, going 2-5 with 11 saves and a 2.47 ERA.
In 1985, however, Niedenfuer had what was arguably his best season. He went 7-9 with 19 saves and a 2.71 ERA, striking out 102 and walking just 24 over 106.1 innings. The Dodgers won the NL West again and advanced to face the Cardinals in the NLCS. Niedenfuer saved Game 1 with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief as the Dodgers prevailed 4-1. Los Angeles won Game 2 as well before the Cardinals tied the series with wins in Game 3 and 4.
Then in the pivotal Game 5, Niedenfuer entered in the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at 2. He retired Willie McGee on a popup to start the frame before the switch-hitting Ozzie Smith, batting left-handed, stepped into the box.
Until that point, Smith had come to the plate 4,828 times in his regular season big league career without hitting a single home run as a lefty batter. But on a 1-and-2 pitch, Smith hit a ball down the line at Busch Stadium that cleared the fence and sent the Cardinals fans into delirium.
Niedenfuer told reporters after the game that after three outside pitches, he was trying to jam Smith on an inside offering that caught too much of home plate.
“I thought it would be on the warning track,” Niedenfuer told reporters. “It’s just one of those things. I have to put it out of my mind and look ahead to the future.”
The future arrived two days later in Game 6. Mike Marshall led off the bottom of the eighth with a homer off Cardinals closer Todd Worrell, giving the Dodgers a 5-4 lead and putting them three outs away from forcing Game 7. Niedenfuer had come into Game 6 in the seventh inning in relief of Orel Hershiser and allowed a triple to Smith that plated McGee and tied the game at 4. But Niedenfuer escaped without further damage – fanning Jack Clark and Andy Van Slyke to end the inning – and then worked a perfect eighth inning.
After Marshall’s home run, Niedenfuer went back out for the ninth and struck out César Cedeño to start the frame. But McGee followed with a single and stole second before Smith walked. Tom Herr then grounded back to the mound, pushing McGee to third and Smith to second with two outs.
With Van Slyke – who hit .091 for the series – on deck, the Dodgers opted to pitch to Clark, who crushed the first ball he saw into the left field stands to give the Cardinals a 7-5 lead. Ken Dayley retired Los Angeles in order in the bottom of the ninth to end the series.
“The ball,” Niedenfuer told reporters in a silent Dodgers clubhouse after the game, “would have had to hit the Goodyear blimp to come down in the ballpark.
“I’ll take four or five days off. Then I’ll start getting ready for next season.”
But things would never be the same for Niedenfuer with the Dodgers. He shared the closer’s duties with Ken Howell in 1986, going 6-6 with 11 saves and a 3.71 ERA in 60 games for a Los Angeles team that won just 73 games. Then in 1987, Niedenfuer was 1-0 with one save in 15 games when the Dodgers traded him to the Orioles for Brad Havens and John Shelby on May 22.
“When I was told to go to (Dodgers vice president) Fred’s (Claire) suite (at the team hotel), I walked in and asked: ‘Which team?’” Niedenfuer told the Los Angeles Times. “I heard about Baltimore and Boston last week, and I knew (the Dodgers) had some holes to fill.”
Niedenfuer went 3-5 with 13 saves and a 4.99 ERA in 45 games for the Orioles, who exercised the option in Niedenfuer’s contract to bring him back in 1988 for a reported $850,000. He went 3-4 with 18 saves and a 3.51 ERA in 52 games for a Baltimore team that lost 107 times that season and became a free agent when the year was done.
On Dec. 7, Niedenfuer returned home to the Pacific Northwest when he signed a two-year deal (with a team option for 1991) with the Mariners worth a reported $1.75 million. But Niedenfuer suffered a broken left wrist in Spring Training in 1989 and was unable to pitch effectively. The Mariners sent him to Triple-A early in the season and then again over the summer and he finished the year 0-3 with no saves and a 6.69 ERA in 25 games.
On April 6, 1990, the Mariners released Niedenfuer.
“I thought he had a couple good outings (in Spring Training) but he just didn’t work into our plans this year,” Mariners general manager Woody Woodward told the Seattle Times.
With Niedenfuer’s contract guaranteed by the Mariners, the Cardinals picked him up for the league minimum four days after he was released. He pitched in low-leverage situations for most of the year, going 0-6 with two saves and a 3.46 ERA in 52 games. But his fastball – evidenced by just 32 strikeouts in 65 innings – was largely gone.
When Niedenfuer found no offers in free agency, his on-field career came to an end. Over 10 big league seasons, he made 484 appearances – all in relief – while going 36-46 with a 3.29 ERA and 97 saves.
And though his final trip to the postseason did not produce the results he wanted, his first gave him a World Series ring he could always treasure.
The former college starter who was virtually overlooked by big league scouts found a home in the bullpen. And he was forever grateful.
“As a reliever,” Niedenfuer told the AP in 1981, “you always have more of a chance of getting into a game.”
Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
