Philadelphia Phillies Cardwell began playing in the major leagues when he made his debut for the Phillies in 1957. He struggled during his three seasons with the team, winning 16 games while losing 24 as a spot starter.
Chicago Cubs (no-hitter) Cardwell was traded to the Cubs on May 13, 1960, for
Tony Taylor. Two days later, he
no-hit the
St. Louis Cardinals 4–0 in the second game of a
doubleheader at
Wrigley Field—the first no-hitter ever thrown by a pitcher in his first start with a new team. The lone baserunner for the Cardinals was by a
walk from Cardwell to
Alex Grammas with one out in the first inning; Cardwell then retired the next 26 batters. Two ninth-inning catches enabled Cardwell to secure the no-hitter: the first catch by Cubs right fielder
George Altman on a
Carl Sawatski line drive for the first out of the inning, and the second catch by Cubs left fielder
Walt "Moose" Moryn on
Joe Cunningham's sinking line drive to end the game, Moryn catching the ball just inches off the ground. Cardwell finished the season 9–16 and the Cubs 60–94 despite his no-hitter. Cardwell also showed his hitting ability in 1960, getting 16
hits including five
home runs in 77
at bats for a .208
batting average. Cardwell's best major league season was for the Cubs in 1961, winning a career-high 15 games with a career-high 156
strikeouts.
St. Louis Cardinals Cardwell slumped to 7–16 in 1962. On October 12, he was traded with George Altman to the St. Louis Cardinals. However, his stay ended before he even pitched a game for the St. Louis team. A month later, the Cardinals traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a deal that sent former National League
MVP Dick Groat to the Redbirds.
Pittsburgh Pirates Cardwell won 13 games for the Pirates in 1963 while posting a career-best 3.07
earned run average. He was sidelined most of the 1964 season with shoulder trouble. In the 1965 season, he rebounded to win 13 more games. In December 1966, he was traded with Pirates outfielder
Don Bosch to the New York Mets for pitcher
Dennis Ribant and utilityman
Gary Kolb.
New York Mets Pitching mostly as a spot starter, Cardwell went 12–22 in his first two seasons with the Mets. In the 1969 season, he went 8–10 in a rotation with pitchers
Tom Seaver,
Jerry Koosman,
Nolan Ryan and
Gary Gentry, helping them win the
World Series. In late July of that year, he had a 3–9 record, then won five straight, including a 1–0 shutout in the second game of a September 12 doubleheader against the Pirates (in the first game, Koosman had also blanked the Pirates 1–0; both pitchers drove in the only run in their respective games). This victory, the ninth of a ten-game winning streak for the Mets, came two days after the Mets had taken over first place for good in the
National League East (in 1969 the two leagues had been split into two divisions) by leapfrogging past the Chicago Cubs, who had been in first place for much of the season before stumbling down the stretch.
Atlanta Braves Cardwell was sold to the
Atlanta Braves in July 1970, where he ended his major league career. In his 14 major league seasons, he won 102 games while losing 138 games with 1,211 strikeouts in 2,122
innings pitched. Although only a career .135 hitter, Cardwell hit 15
home runs with 53
RBI. ==Death==