When fans remember the St. Louis Cardinals clubs of the 1980s, names like Ozzie Smith and Willie McGee often come first. But few players better represented that era’s grit, defense, and determination than Terry Pendleton, the hard-nosed third baseman who helped lead St. Louis to two National League pennants. Pendleton’s path to St. Louis was […]
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Keith Hernandez arrived in St. Louis as an unheralded draft pick, but he left nearly a decade later as one of the most accomplished first basemen in Cardinals history. A National League batting champion, co–Most Valuable Player, World Series champion, and perennial Gold Glove winner, Hernandez embodied the combination of defensive brilliance, offensive consistency, and
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Pedro Guerrero arrived in St. Louis late in the 1988 season with a résumé few hitters could match: a World Series co-MVP award, multiple All-Star selections, a Silver Slugger, and a reputation as one of the most dangerous right-handed bats of the 1980s. The St. Louis Cardinals, still searching for consistent middle-of-the-order thunder in the
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By the time St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Danny Cox finished the 1985 regular season with 18 wins, his teammates knew that the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder was a fighter. As it turns out, they had no idea just how right they were. On October 3, 1985, Cox earned his 18th win of the season, holding the New
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Coming off the best offensive season of his career, Ozzie Smith came out swinging once again as the 1988 season was about to open, this time with controversial statements that made waves across the National League. In advance of the April 1988 publication of his new autobiography Wizard, which Smith wrote with St. Louis sportswriter
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On March 11, 1981, “the Big Cat” Johnny Mize, the Cardinals’ single-season home run record holder for 58 years, was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. Mize was selected by the Veterans Committee alongside Negro Leagues founder Rube Foster. He and Foster were inducted alongside Bob Gibson, who received 84% of the Baseball Writers
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On February 3, 1989, former Cardinals first baseman Bill White was named National League president, becoming the first black man to lead a major professional sports league in America and the first player to become NL president in more than 70 years. White’s hire came two years after Dodgers general manager Al Campanis was fired
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On February 25, 1985, the Cardinals made a surprise choice for their next general manager, hiring former shortstop Dal Maxvill away from the Atlanta Braves, where he had been serving as third-base coach. Maxvill was hired to replace Joe McDonald, who served three years in the role but resigned at the request of the Cardinals’
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In 1988, Cardinals lefthander Joe Magrane put together one of the most unusual seasons in MLB history, winning the National League ERA title with a miniscule 2.18 ERA while somehow managing to win just five of his 24 starts. The dichotomy between Magrane’s mound dominance and his relatively small win total still stands as the
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Joaquin Andujar always felt like a ticking time bomb. Even when he won 15 regular-season games and two World Series contests to help the Cardinals win their first world championship in 15 years in 1982. Especially when he won a combined 41 games in 1984 and 1985, placing fourth in the Cy Young Award voting
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