Tim McCarver was just an 18-year-old out of Memphis, Tennessee, when the New York Yankees came calling. To recruit the catching prospect, the Yankees called upon no less an authority than Bill Dickey, the Hall of Fame catcher who won 11 World Series titles over a 17-year career. Dickey gave McCarver a brand-new mitt and …
October 12, 1964: Tim McCarver’s extra-inning homer wins World Series Game 5 Read More »
The St. Louis Cardinals’ iconic birds on the bat wasn’t created by a marketing firm. It didn’t undergo focus testing, and it wasn’t developed by a team of graphic designers. Instead, the concept was created by a young woman in Ferguson, Missouri, as she prepared for a meeting of the local Men’s Fellowship organization to …
February 16, 1921: The Cardinals’ birds on the bat logo is born in Ferguson, Mo. Read More »
On the day they set a record more than 15 years in the making, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina were determined not to come up short. On September 14, 2022, Wainwright and Molina, both age 40, broke a major-league record even older than they were. With their 325th start together, they topped the 324 games …
If Albert Pujols’ 700th home run couldn’t come at Busch Stadium, Dodger Stadium made for a nice consolation prize. On September 23, 2022, Pujols hit the 699th and 700th home runs of his career in front of a crowd of 50,000 fans who cheered him as though he was still wearing Dodger blue. While Pujols …
With 10 days remaining before the Cardinals’ 2021 season opener, Adam Wainwright was in the clubhouse taking a pregame nap when suddenly he was jolted awake by a “giant man on top of me giving me the biggest hug ever.”[1] Albert Pujols was back with the Cardinals. On March 28, 2022, after 10 seasons on …
March 28, 2022: Albert Pujols returns to the Cardinals Read More »
Headed into the 1985 season, the St. Louis Cardinals were an enigma. After trading Keith Hernandez to the New York Mets in 1984 and allowing Bruce Sutter to leave for Atlanta via free agency, Cardinals fans feared that star shortstop Ozzie Smith, entering the last year of his contract, would be the next Redbird out …
Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player. [1] Albert Chen, “Well-stocked Cardinals ready to make another run,” Sports Illustrated, March 27, 2013, https://www.si.com/mlb/2013/03/27/st-louis-cardinals-season-preview. [2] Jason Parks and Staff, “Prospects Will Break Your Heart: Top 101 Prospects,” Baseball Prospectus, January 27, 2014, https://www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/22670/prospects-will-break-your-heart-top-101-prospects/. [3] Jennifer Langosch, “Taveras ranks third among top 100 prospects,” MLB.com, January …
May 31, 2014: Oscar Taveras homers in his major-league debut Read More »
On the day of Whitey Herzog’s first game as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, he found himself, somewhat baffled, in Marietta, Georgia, trying to get to the team hotel in nearby Atlanta. His misadventures began when he was given the wrong departure time for his flight. Then, after catching a later plane to Atlanta, …
June 9, 1980: Whitey Herzog manages his first game for the Cardinals Read More »
Ahead of the 1982 season, shortstops Ozzie Smith and Garry Templeton both needed a change of scenery. In a deal that took more than two months to complete, the St. Louis Cardinals sent Templeton, outfielder Sixto Lezcano, and pitcher Luis DeLeon to the San Diego Padres to obtain Smith, who became a Hall of Fame …
February 11, 1982: Cardinals, Padres finalize the Ozzie Smith-Garry Templeton trade Read More »
Nine months after the Cardinals ended the Giants’ 1987 world championship hopes in a hard-fought, seven-game NLCS, the two teams came to blows in a midsummer brawl involving Will Clark, Ozzie Smith, and Jose Oquendo. Neither team enjoyed the same success in 1988 that they had before. Entering the final game of their four-game series …
July 24, 1988: Ozzie Smith and Jose Oquendo fight Giants slugger Will Clark Read More »
