St. Louis Cardinals: Remembering Darrell Porter’s MVP 1982 Postseason

When St. Louis Cardinals fans recall 1982, they will remember names like Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Bruce Sutter, and Keith Hernandez. However, often they will forget Darrell Porter’s MVP performance in the NLCS and the World Series.

Darrell Porter was signed in 1980 to take the place of the beloved Ted Simmons at catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. When he played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals, he was known for his excellent defensive skills and power-hitting ability. Additionally, he was only the second catcher in MLB history to record 100 walks, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in a single season.

However, in spite of being a four-time all-star, Darrell Porter wasn’t the same player in St. Louis and never really embraced by Cardinal fans. Regardless, without Darrell Porter’s MVP performance in the 1982 NCLS and World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals arguably wouldn’t have won their ninth World Series that year.

Darrell Porter was signed to be the Cardinals catcher after Manager Whitey Herzog determined Simmons couldn’t be his catcher. Herzog and Simmons then feuded over the seven-time All-Star’s future role with the Cardinals. This, in turn, led to Simmons being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in one of Herzog’s early blockbuster deals.

Porter’s 1981 and 1982 Regular Seasons

Offensively, Darrell Porter was a disappointment for Cardinal fans in 1981 and 1982. Porter hit a slash line of .224/.364/.408 with 6 homers and 31 RBIs in 61 games during the strike-shortened 1981 season. 1982 wasn’t really any better for the left-handed bat. His slash line in 120 games was .231/.347/.402 with 12 homers and 48 RBIs.

Nevertheless, Porter kept his OPS+ fairly high both years due to his amount of walks he received. His 1981 OPS+ of 117 was third on the team, only behind Keith Hernandez and George Hendrick, while his 1982 OPS+ of 109 was fourth. In fact, he bested players such as Willie McGee, Ken Oberkfell, Tom Herr, and Ozzie Smith in 1982.

Defensively, Porter was solid behind the plate. Using Porter’s defensive metrics at Baseball Reference, he showed a Rtot/yr of 8 and a RF/9 of 4.84 in 1981. In 1982, his Rtot/yr was 1 and his RF/9 was 5.16. In short, both of these metrics measure defense with 0 being average. Porter by these measures would’ve been considered an above-average or better as a defensive catcher in ’81 and ’82.

Porter and the 1982 NLCS

In September of 1982, Darrell Porter was beginning to show signs of how he might step up in the postseason. Although he only had a .217 BA for that pivotal month, he also hit four homers, drove in eight and had 15 walks with a 111 OPS + in 25 games.

In three games during the 1982 NLCS against the Atlanta Braves, Porter hit an incredible slash line of .556/.714/.889 which was a almost unbelievable OPS of 1.603. This impressive OPS included three doubles and five walks.

However, Porter may have made his biggest contribution in game one. With the Cardinals leading 1-0, he threw out the Braves Claudell Washington on an attempted steal in the top of the sixth. Many credited this as the turning point of the series and seemed to take the steam out of the Braves in this first game.

The Cardinals went on to win the 1982 NCLS in three games and were thrust into their first World Series in 14 years, with Porter being named the NLCS MVP.

Porter and the 1982 World Series

Although Darrell Porter’s slash line came down to earth during the 1982 World Series vs the Milwaukee Brewers, his offensive contributions were still critical to the Cardinals.

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After being blown out 10-0 by the Brewers in game one, the Cardinals found themselves down 4-2 in the sixth inning of the second game. Porter’s two-run double tied the game in the sixth and the Cardinals went on to win 5-4 to tie the series at one game apiece.

The Cardinals then found themselves down three games to two, when in game six, Porter hit a two-run homer to help put the game away in the fourth inning.

Finally, in the deciding game seven, Porter contributed an RBI single in the eighth inning which helped put the game and series away with a 6-3 win. The Cardinals had won their 9th World Championship and Darrell Porter was named the World Series MVP.

Some final thoughts about Darrell Porter.

Darrell Porter stayed with the Cardinals through 1985, before moving on to the Texas Rangers. Porter finish his baseball career in 1987 and retired at the age of 35. Although Porter actually had better offensive numbers in 1983, his performance in the 1982 postseason is where he made his biggest contribution as a St. Louis Cardinal.

However, whenever I discuss the 1982 season with my friends, we seldom remember Darrell Porter. Unfortunately, most other Cardinal fans probably don’t remember him either.

Nevertheless, Porter’s contributions to the 1982 World Championship were crucial. Without Darrell Porter’s 1982 postseason, the ninth World Championship may have not happened until 2006.

It should be noted that Darrell Porter struggled with substance abuse off and on during his playing career, and it continued during his post-baseball career. He was a Christian who openly talked about his struggles and was a spokesman for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Darrell Porter died of an accidental drug overdose in 2002 at the age of 50. Rest in Peace, Darrell.