One day after the Cardinals relieved manager Mike Matheny of his managerial duties on July 14, 2018, ace pitcher Adam Wainwright compared the shakeup to Albert Pujols’ decision to sign with the Angels after the 2011 season. “It was like an organizational transformational moment,” Wainwright said. “The wake-up call to the team arrived today.”[1] Matheny’s …
It took a lot to make Stan Musial visibly angry. But when the legendary Cardinals outfielder learned just before boarding the team’s train to Pittsburgh that the Cardinals had traded Red Schoendienst, his roommate for more than a decade, Musial made his displeasure clear. “The rest of us got the word that Red had been …
When the Cardinals signed Chris Carpenter, they hoped to add depth for the second half of the 2003 season. Instead, they discovered an ace for their 2006 and 2011 World Series championships. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound righthander was drafted by the Blue Jays 15th overall in the first round of the 1993 draft out of Trinity …
How the Cardinals signed future Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter Read More »
On June 10, 1944, just four days after D-Day, the Cardinals found themselves facing a 15-year-old pitcher who had been facing high school opposition just a few weeks earlier. They showed him no mercy. Joe Nuxhall, a lefthander out of Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio, lasted just 2/3 of an inning after allowing five …
June 10, 1944: Cardinals clobber 15-year-old pitcher Joe Nuxhall Read More »
Exactly one year after Mike Shannon made his major league debut, he launched the first home run of his career in a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. A St. Louis native who played his high school football and baseball at Christian Brothers College (CBC) High School and his college ball at the University of …
Mike Shannon hits his first career home run (9/11/1963) Read More »
On April 9, 1964, the Cardinals traded outfielder Gary Kolb and catcher Jim Coker to the Milwaukee Braves to acquire Mr. Baseball himself, Bob Uecker. A backup catcher throughout his two seasons in St. Louis, Uecker was a member of the Cardinals’ 1964 World Series championship club. Though Uecker didn’t appear in the postseason, starting …
Amid a cloud of rumor and innuendo, Anheuser-Busch effectively fired Harry Caray as their St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster on October 9, 1969. Caray, a St. Louis native who attended Webster Groves High School, had been the Cardinals’ play-by-play man even longer than Anheuser-Busch had owned the team, dating back to 1945, when Griesedieck Brothers brewery …
Why Harry Caray was fired as Cardinals broadcaster Read More »
It was fitting that Adam Wainwright’s 200th career strikeout came on a 3-and-2 curveball. On September 23, 2021, Wainwright joined the 2,000-strikeout club, whiffing Brewers infielder Luis Urias to reach the milestone in his 16th major league season. Paul Goldschmidt homered twice and the Cardinals won their 12th consecutive game in a streak that would …
September 23, 2021: Adam Wainwright throws his 2,000th strikeout Read More »
One day after hitting for the cycle, Nolan Arenado and the Cardinals did their best to do something even more impressive. On July 2, 2022, Arenado followed his cycle with two home runs, a first-inning blast that was the first of four consecutive Cardinal home runs and a ninth-inning shot that proved to be the …
Steve Carlton’s final start for the St. Louis Cardinals was a milestone game in more ways than one. The Cardinals’ September 28, 1971, win over the New York Mets marked not only Carlton’s final appearance wearing the birds on the bat, but also clinched the first 20-win season of his career. Coincidentally, it also marked …
September 28, 1971: Steve Carlton reaches 20 wins in his final game with the Cardinals Read More »
