Tim Plodinec was born in January 1947 in Aliquippa, PA. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 33rd round of the June 1968 draft from the University of Arizona. According to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on June 25, 2007, Plodinec was drafted at the suggestion of Jan Devine, daughter of Cardinals GM Bing Devine, who was a student at the school at the time. After four seasons in the minors, Plodinec was pitching at Tulsa when he was called up to the Cardinals with outfielder Bob Wissler
Wissler (age 25 at the time) never appeared in a major league game. In 1972, he was in his second season in the St. Louis system and his fourth season in professional baseball after being drafted by the Twins in 1969. He has no record after 1972.
for a weekend series against Los Angeles as fill-ins for Bernie Carbo and Lowell Palmer, who were called away to complete military requirements.
Manager Red Schoendienst didn't waste any time getting Plodinec into a game. In the seventh inning of the game on Friday, June 2, 1972, the Cardinals were down 5-1 when Schoendienst pulled Charlie Hudson with two men on base and two out and called for Plodinec to face Manny Mota. The Post-Dispatch wrote
He had Mota down, 0 and 2, and felt that this was the time to flash his knuckleball. Mota hit a bouncer to Torre, but the ball popped out of the third baseman's glove and Manny was credited with a run-scoring single. Another run scored on a wild pitch before Garvey and Sims both singled.Plodinec then retired Bill Russell to end the inning, but three runs had scored, making the score 8-1. The Cardinals lost 8-3. Plodinec presumably was sent back to Tulsa after the series. (Carbo was back in the lineup on Monday June 5.) He spent one more seasons with Tulsa in 1973, and in 1974 he was with Quebec, the AA club for Montreal. He played in the Mexican League in 1975 and then retired from baseball at age 28.
Posted April 16, 2020