This is Part 3 of a three-part series about Keith Hernandez, which includes Part 1: Road to the MVP and Part 2: Champions in ’82, Traded in ’83. As Keith Hernandez helped to turn around a Mets franchise that had been mired in the bottom of the National League East standings, Whitey Herzog and Hernandez […]
Keith Hernandez Part 3: Post-Cardinals Career and Legacy Read More »
This is Part 2 of a three-part series chronicling Keith Hernandez’s career, which includes Part 1: Road to the MVP and Part 3: Post-Cardinals Career and Legacy. After Keith Hernandez‘s MVP season, the Cardinals rewarded him with a five-year, $3.8 million contract. The contract made Hernandez’s salary more than 10 times larger than the
Keith Hernandez Part 2: Champions in ’82, Traded in ’83 Read More »
This is Part 1 of a three-part series chronicling Keith Hernandez’s career, which includes Part 2: Champions in ’82, Traded in ’83 and Part 3: Post-Cardinals Career and Legacy. Even before Keith Hernandez was born, the St. Louis Cardinals figured prominently in his life. Hernandez’s father, John, had been a left-handed hitting first baseman in
Keith Hernandez Part 1: Road to the MVP Read More »
The trade to obtain Jack Clark may have taken longer than anyone would have liked, but in the end, the St. Louis Cardinals had the middle-of-the-order slugger they needed to capture two National League championships. After finishing third in the National League East in 1984, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog made clear that his top priority
How Jack Clark was traded from San Francisco to St. Louis Read More »
For decades afterward, Cardinals fans would simply remember the game as “Seat Cushion Night.” The Cardinals and Mets game on April 18, 1987, appeared to be an ordinary April ballgame on the schedule. It was just the 10th game of the season for both teams, and while the St. Louis and New York ballclubs were
Seat Cushion Night: Tom Herr grand slam lifts Cardinals over the Mets Read More »
The day after the Cardinals, Phillies, and Indians agreed on a three-team deal that sent Lonnie Smith to St. Louis, Philadelphia Daily News reporter Bill Conlin wrote that it “was a deal filled with marvelous paradoxes.”[1] The Cardinals already had outfielders George Hendrick, David Green, Dane Iorg, and Sixto Lezcano on the roster, and had
How Lonnie Smith was traded to St. Louis in three-team deal Read More »
On October 21, 1981, the Cardinals and Yankees quietly made a deal that sent Willie McGee to the Cardinals for pitcher Bob Sykes. The trade didn’t draw much attention in the press. The New York Daily News, focusing heavily on the World Series, noted the trade in a collection of wire reports near the bottom of
Why the Yankees traded Willie McGee to the Cardinals Read More »
If you’re going to steal 110 bases as a rookie, you don’t have any time to waste. So when Tito Landrum and Willie McGee both went down with injuries, Vince Coleman made sure to make the most of his opportunity. Coleman had been attracting headlines for two years, ever since setting a new professional baseball
Vince Coleman steals two bags in MLB debut: April 18, 1985 Read More »