Suppan, 29, had signed with the Cardinals the previous December and responded with the best season of his career. On a staff that included Chris Carpenter, Matt Morris, Jason Marquis, and Woody Williams, Suppan led St. Louis with a career-high 16 wins and a 4.16 ERA (Carpenter, Morris, and Marquis each won 15 games).

Nonetheless, Suppan matched up against Clemens four times that season and Clemens had emerged victorious each time, including Game 3 of the NLCS, when Clemens held the Cards to just two runs over seven innings. In that contest, Suppan threw six innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks.

Early in Game 7, it looked as though Suppan might be in for another loss at the hands of Clemens and the Astros. On his fourth pitch of the night, Craig Biggio launched a solo home run just inside the left-field foul pole.

“Trying to stay out of the big inning was the key,” Suppan said. “If I walked somebody or gave up a solo home run, that was probably going to happen. I just had to stay out of the big innings.”[1]

If it weren’t for an incredible diving catch by Jim Edmonds, the Astros may have gotten that big inning in the second. After Jeff Kent and Jose Vizcaino reached base, Brad Ausmus hit a drive into the left-field gap only to see Edmonds run the ball down and then make a diving grab.

“I don’t want to say it cost us the game, but it ultimately turned the game in the Cardinals’ favor,” Ausmus said. “If that gets over Jimmy’s head, you’re looking at two runs in and a man on second. It’s a 3-0 game. That was a great play – and it went a long way to helping them win Game 7.”[2]

On the Fox broadcast, Edmonds’ grab was replayed five times. Astros bench coach John Tamargo, who was wearing a microphone, was beside himself.

“How in the world did he make that play?” he exclaimed. “Son of a gun.”[3]

“The guy’s been a human highlight film his entire career,” said broadcaster Bob Brenly.[4]

The importance of the catch wasn’t lost on the Cardinals dugout.

“That catch right there saved the game for us,” said Cardinals pitcher Woody Williams. “I said, ‘He just saved the game.’”[5]

“It basically kept me in the game,” agreed Suppan. “I was going pitch by pitch and giving it everything I had and he comes up like that … That’s the type of stuff that makes us the team we are.”[6]

The Astros took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when Edmonds’ attempt to throw Carlos Beltran out at third skipped past both Scott Rolen and Suppan, who was backing up the play.

The Cardinals cut that lead in half in bottom of the inning. With Tony Womack on third, Tony La Russa called for a suicide squeeze with Suppan at the plate and one out. When Suppan successfully laid down the bunt, Womack scored easily.

“I screwed up one earlier in the year and I made sure I got this one down,” Suppan said. “When I got the sign, I just made sure I got it down.”[7]

The Cardinals took control of the game in the sixth inning. Roger Cedeno entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Suppan and singled. After Edgar Renteria and Larry Walker each grounded out, Albert Pujols jumped on a 1-and-2 pitch from Clemens to double down the left-field line and score Cedeno.

“I knew I had to get a base hit there to tie the game,” Pujols said.[8]

On Clemens’ next pitch, Rolen lined a 343-foot homer to left that put the Cardinals ahead 4-2.

“When we were little kids, this is what we did in the backyard,” Rolen said. “You were your favorite team and playing your rival and you’re in the World Series in Game 7. … It’s just a day that you’re going to remember for the rest of your life.”[9]

With Suppan out of the game, Kiko Calero and Julian Tavarez each threw scoreless innings. In the eighth, Larry Walker added a key insurance run, grounding an RBI single into right field to give St. Louis a 5-2 lead.

In the ninth, Jason Isringhausen retired Kent, Morgan Ensberg, and Vizcaino in order to secure his third save of the postseason and send the Cardinals to the World Series for the 16^th time in franchise history.

“When we were getting ready to win, I took time to think about Jack (Buck) and Darryl (Kile),” La Russa said. “I think about the people in this organization that have treated all of us so great.”[10]

Suppan earned the win after allowing just one earned run over six innings. He held the Astros to just three hits and two walks while striking out six.

“That was a situation where that is an unbelievable team, the Astros,” Suppan said. “They’re a bunch of gamers and they play the game right and they play it well. I knew I was going to give up a couple of runs. I just tried to stay out of the big inning.”[11]

“Suppan did an amazing job,” Cardinals outfielder Reggie Sanders said. “You have to give credit to Suppan. He kept us in the ballgame long enough where we could bust out a couple of home runs.”[12]

Clemens allowed four earned runs over six innings.

“Any time you go against Roger, it’s a pleasure,” Suppan said. “You know it’s going to be a battle. He’s definitely one of the best. I played with him and I learned a lot from him. It was a very memorable night for me to go up against him again.”[13]

After the game, Pujols was named the NLCS MVP. In the seven games, he went 14-for-28 (.500) with four homers and nine RBIs. Unfortunately, the Cardinals’ dominance of the National League didn’t carry over to the World Series, where they fell to the Red Sox in four games.

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[1] Lori Schontz, “Suppan: key was avoiding the big inning,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 22, 2004.

[2] Norm Sanders, “Edmonds’ diving catch changed game’s tide,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[3] Dan Caesar, “Shannon’s thrilling call of HR is one to remember,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 22, 2004.

[4] Dan Caesar, “Shannon’s thrilling call of HR is one to remember,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 22, 2004.

[5] Joe Ostermeier, “Cards go national with win over Astros,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[6] Rod Kloeckner, “Suppan recovers from early homer,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[7] Rod Kloeckner, “Suppan recovers from early homer,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[8] David Wilhelm, “Pujols earns MVP after stellar series,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[9] Joe Ostermeier, “Cards go national with win over Astros,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[10] Joe Ostermeier, “Cards go national with win over Astros,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[11] Rod Kloeckner, “Suppan recovers from early homer,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[12] Rod Kloeckner, “Suppan recovers from early homer,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

[13] Rod Kloeckner, “Suppan recovers from early homer,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 22, 2004.

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The post How Jeff Suppan outpitched Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On October 20, 2004, Edmonds’ walk-off shot capped a 6-4 win over Houston and sent the Cardinals to their first playoff Game 7 since the 1996 NLCS. The shot came just two days after the Astros’ Jeff Kent hit a three-run, walk-off home run to win Game 5.

“This is what it’s all about,” Edmonds said. “I think we all watched TV as kids and we hear and read all the stuff that’s said and written. We finally get to play in Game 7. I mean, it’s better than going home.”[1]

Edmonds put the exclamation mark on a game that featured several Cardinals heroes.

After Lance Berkman put the Astros on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first, Albert Pujols answered against Houston starting pitcher Peter Munro. With leadoff man Tony Womack on first, Pujols sent a 1-and-2 pitch over the left-field wall to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Pujols’ home run – his sixth in 11 career postseason games – gave him eight RBIs in the NLCS.

The Astros tied the game with two outs in the third inning when Carlos Beltran singled and then scored on a Jeff Bagwell double to left field.

Once again, however, the Cardinals answered. After Pujols and Scott Rolen alertly advanced when Edmonds hit a fly ball to medium left field, both runners were able to score when Edgar Renteria singled up the middle.

“You need to score somehow,” Pujols said. “You’re at home here. You want to get the crowd involved. There are 52,000 people out there. … You want to create something.”[2]

Renteria’s hit chased Astros starting pitcher Peter Munro from the game after just 2 1/3 innings.

Cardinals starting pitcher Matt Morris handed the Cardinals’ bullpen a 4-3 lead after five innings of work. Ray King and Kiko Calero combined for two scoreless innings to get the game to closer Jason Isringhausen, who threw a scoreless eighth before he was sent back out for the ninth and a chance at his first multi-inning save since April 28, 2003.

Two days earlier, in Game 5, Isringhausen retired four Astros before Kent hit his game-winning three-run homer.

“It’s that time of year,” Isringhausen said. “It’s pretty simple. You leave it all out there because there’s nothing left if you lose.”[3]

The Astros had the same attitude. Morgan Esberg worked a 2-and-2 count before he was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, placing him in scoring position for Bagwell’s two-out, game-tying single to left field. The Cardinals had intentionally walked the switch-hitting Beltran to bring Bagwell to the plate.

Suddenly, it felt as though momentum was on the Astros’ side, especially when they brought their own star closer, Brad Lidge, into the game. Lidge had posted a 1.90 ERA and 29 saves during the regular season, earning Cy Young Award votes in his first campaign as the Astros’ closer.

Lidge’s total numbers were pedestrian compared to his dominance of St. Louis. In eight regular-season games against Lidge, the Cardinals were just 1-for-30 (.033) with 16 strikeouts. They were little better to that point in the NLCS, as Lidge had allowed just one hit in five innings (1-for-15, .067) while striking out nine. In Game 6, he continued that success, retiring all nine batters he faced and striking out five.

After Isringhausen retired the Astros in order in the 10^th, the Cardinals turned to an unexpected candidate: Tavarez. The 31-year-old reliever had suffered the loss in Game 4 when he allowed Beltran’s solo home run, which proved to be the game winner. After allowing Beltran’s blast, he buzzed a pitch past Bagwell’s head that drew a $10,000 fine.

When he returned to the dugout, Tavarez only made matters worse, punching the bullpen phone and breaking two fingers on his left (non-pitching) hand. When Tavarez finally calmed down, he realized that everyone from league officials to the coaching staff to his fellow players were disappointed in the way he reacted. When he called his father Francisco in Miami, Tavarez discovered that even his own family had little sympathy for him.

“I called him and said, ‘Dad, guess what? I’ve got two broken fingers.’ He said, ‘Good, you deserve it. You get no sympathy from me. Now go out there and prove you can do it. Go on and pitch.’”[4]

He went on to do exactly that, even though his broken fingers had swollen his hand to twice its normal size.  

“Everyone has been concerned,” Tavarez said. “I told Tony (La Russa), ‘Please, I can do it.’ Everybody has been upset about this. I told him today I can pitch and tonight I wanted to prove it.”[5]

With Tavarez unable to close his glove to catch the ball, catcher Mike Matheny had to soft toss the ball back to the pitcher. Tavarez would then catch the ball with both hands, using his pitching hand to catch the ball against the outside of his glove.

The unconventional method worked. Tavarez retired the side in order in the 11^th and 12^th innings.

“I think the biggest thing for us was Tavarez coming in and giving us an energetic inning,” Edmonds said. “After all he went through, all the negative publicity he got … people don’t know what kind of a person he really is. He just came out there and energized the crowd, energized us, and he got us going.”[6]

“He’s a good guy,” catcher Mike Matheny said. “He’s embarrassed by what happened, but I think everyone in here has come to know him and like him.”[7]

The Cardinals sent the middle of their lineup to the plate for the bottom of the 12^th. Pujols led off the inning with a walk before Astros reliever Dan Miceli got Rolen to fly out. Then, on the second pitch of his at-bat, Edmonds pulled an 0-and-1 pitch 405 feet to right field for just the sixth walk-off home run in NLCS history.

“I was just trying to get a hit,” Edmonds said. “I figured if I could hit something hard in the gap or (get) another base hit, he would run hard to get to third and we would get a chance to score somehow. I was just looking for a ball to get a good swing at. I wasn’t trying to go deep. I was trying to hit the ball hard. Thank God for that. We get to play tomorrow.”[8]

“Actually, I felt a lot like an idiot because when he swung at that first one, I was yelling at him, ‘Hit a line drive. Let’s get first and third,’” La Russa said. “I just wanted him to hit a line drive.”[9]

It was Edmonds’ second home run of the series and his third of the postseason.

“The biggest hit of my career,” Edmonds said. “This is what it’s all about. What a great feeling.”[10]

Meanwhile, it was Miceli’s third loss of the postseason, including Game 2 of the NLDS vs. the Braves and Game 2 of the NLCS. Edmonds’ blast marked the fourth home run he had allowed in 4 2/3 postseason innings.

“It’s been a tough postseason for me,” Miceli said. “I’m fine, I’m healthy, I’m just making bad pitches. It’s tough, but it’s tough for the whole team.”[11]

With a trip to the World Series on the line in Game 7, Jeff Suppan outpitched Roger Clemens and the Cardinals captured their first National League championship since 1987. Pujols, who went 14-for-28 (.500) with four homers, nine RBIs, and an NLCS-record 28 total bases, was named the series MVP.

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[1] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[2] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[3] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[4] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[5] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[6] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[7] Joe Strauss, “Jim Dandy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2004.

[8] David Wilhelm, “Edmonds homer brings a victory,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 21, 2004.

[9] David Wilhelm, “Edmonds homer brings a victory,” Belleville News-Democrat, October 21, 2004.

[10] T.R. Sullivan, “Cards force Game 7; Astros turn to Clemens,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 21, 2004.

[11] T.R. Sullivan, “Cards force Game 7; Astros turn to Clemens,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 21, 2004.

The post Jim Edmonds walk-off homer wins Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“He said, ‘Congratulations, you only need 283 more and you catch me,’” Edmonds said. “I don’t think I’m going to make it.”[1]

A graduate of Diamond Bar High School approximately 20 minutes from Anaheim, Edmonds was drafted as an 18-year-old by his hometown Angels in the seventh round of the 1988 draft. There, he made his name as a talented defensive center fielder, not as a power hitter.

After debuting with the Angels in 1993, Edmonds entered the 1995 season with just five major-league home runs. To that point in his career, his highest-powered season had come in 1992, when he hit 14 home runs between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Edmonton.

“I got a lot stronger and I changed my swing,” Edmonds said. “I went home in ’94 and said, ‘This is what I’ve got to do.’ I wanted to learn to pull the ball a little bit more. It just happened overnight. Very surprising. I knew I had power. I just wasn’t able to hit the ball in the air to right-center field as much. That’s where I changed. I wasn’t trying to hit 30 home runs. I was just trying to get the ball up in the air with some backspin.”[2]

His work paid off. In 1995, Edmonds hit 33 homers and was named to his first all-star game. He hit at least 25 homers in each of the next three seasons before an injury limited him to just five homers in 1999.

Just before the 2000 season began, the Angels traded Edmonds to the Cardinals for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy. Two weeks later, he hit his first home run as a Cardinal after totaling 121 with the Angels. It was the first of 42 blasts Edmonds hit that season as he set a new career high and placed fourth in the National League MVP voting. He followed that campaign with 30, 28, and 39 homers in successive seasons.

Heading into the Cardinals’ September 4, 2004, contest against the Dodgers, Edmonds was on the cusp of 40 home runs for the season and 300 for his career. The National League Central Division leaders, the Cardinals entered the game on a seven-game win streak that upped their record to 90-44 and extended their lead over the second-place Cubs to 16 ½ games.

“On a team of many indispensable parts, nobody has been more central to the Cards’ success than center fielder Jim Edmonds,” wrote Belleville News-Democrat sports editor Joe Ostermeier.[3]

The Saturday night game against the Dodgers represented more of the same. Edmonds, who had hit nine homers in his last 10 games, wasted no time getting the Cardinals on the scoreboard. After Dodgers starter Kazuhisa Ishii walked Scott Rolen to lead off the second inning, Edmonds pulled a 2-1 pitch over the right-field wall to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.

“I don’t really know what to say,” Edmonds said. “I never thought I would be in this situation. I never thought I would have 50 home runs or 100 home runs, let alone 300. Obviously, playing in a city with Mark McGwire having 500 and something (583) and now (Barry Bonds) playing with almost 700, 300 is not a big deal. But it’s pretty cool.”[4]

Edmonds joined Stan Musial and Gary Gaetti as the only players to hit their 300^th career home run with the Cardinals.[5]

“That’s a huge deal,” said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who earned the 2,100^th win of his career. “Three hundred bombs? Some of us never got 30 balls out of the infield. He’s had just a huge, huge season. He’s been terrific in the Cardinals uniform. It’s a tremendous plateau.”[6]

Edmonds’ single-season total also made a little history, as it marked the first time in franchise history that the Cardinals had two 40-home run hitters in the same season (Albert Pujols finished with 46 home runs).

In the sixth inning, Ishii again ran into trouble, walking two batters before Rolen hit an RBI single to center field. It was just the Cardinals’ second hit of the game.

Right-hander Elmer Dessens entered the game in relief for the Dodgers, but a misplayed fly ball by center fielder Steve Finley allowed two more runs to score and extended the Cardinals’ lead to 5-0.

“We caught a break,” La Russa said. “Finley is a Gold Glove kind of center fielder. I’m not sure what happened on that ball. That’s two important runs. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Lately, we’ve been both.”[7]

Cardinals starting pitcher Jason Marquis left the game after striking out nine over seven shutout innings. The game extended his win streak to 11 games, the longest by a Cardinals pitcher since John Tudor won 11 in a row in 1985.[8]

Dodgers third baseman Adrian Beltre hit an RBI double off reliever Dan Haren in the top of the eighth inning to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 8-1, but Ray King and Julian Tavarez combined for the final four outs. Beltre’s RBI was his 100^th of the season, joining Pedro Guerrero and Ron Cey as the only Dodgers third basemen to reach triple digits in a single season.[9]

The Cardinals went on to win 105 regular-season games and easily won the NL Central on their way to the National League pennant. Edmonds finished the season with 42 home runs to go along with 111 RBIs and a .301 batting average.

In eight seasons with the Cardinals, Edmonds hit .285/.393/.555 with 241 home runs and 713 RBIs. He was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.

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[1] Dan O’Neill, “Hitting 300^th HR is ‘pretty cool’ for Edmonds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 5, 2004.

[2] Mike Eisenbath, “Meet Jim Edmonds: All the tools – and baggage, too,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 26, 2000.

[3] Joe Ostermeier, “Edmonds center of Cards’ success,” Belleville News-Democrat, September 5, 2004.

[4] David Wilhelm, “Birds cruise past Dodgers again,” Belleville News-Democrat, September 5, 2004.

[5] Dan O’Neill, “Hitting 300^th HR is ‘pretty cool’ for Edmonds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 5, 2004.

[6] David Wilhelm, “Birds cruise past Dodgers again,” Belleville News-Democrat, September 5, 2004.

[7] David Wilhelm, “Birds cruise past Dodgers again,” Belleville News-Democrat, September 5, 2004.

[8] Joe Strauss, “Cards get two hits, one victory,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 5, 2004.

[9] Jason Reid, “Dodgers Are Deficient With Test Score of 5-1,” Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2004.

The post September 4, 2004: Jim Edmonds hits his 300th career home run first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On February 19, 2004, Pujols signed a contract for at least seven years and $100 million, making him just the ninth $100 million man in baseball history alongside Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Todd Helton, Mike Hampton, Jason Giambi, Ken Griffey Jr., and Kevin Brown.[1] The contract surpassed the Cardinals’ previous high-water contract, an eight-year, $90 million extension reached with Scott Rolen in September 2002.[2]

The contract also represented the largest ever given to a player with just three years of experience in the majors, more than tripling the four-year, $32 million contract Torii Hunter signed with the Twins.[3]

“(Pujols’) accomplishments in his first three seasons are unmatched in the history of the game,” Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. said. “Having reached this agreement, the Cardinals and their fans can now rest assured that Albert Pujols will serve as a cornerstone for the Cardinals for many years to come.”[4]

In each of his first four seasons in the majors, Pujols placed no lower than fourth in the National League MVP voting. As a 21-year-old rookie in 2001, he hit .329/.403/.610 with 37 homers and 130 RBIs to capture all 32 NL Rookie of the Year votes and place fourth in the MVP balloting behind only Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Luis Gonzalez. Pujols’ rookie campaign also included the first All-Star Game of his career and a Silver Slugger Award.

Avoiding the sophomore slump, Pujols placed second in the MVP voting in 2002, batting .314/.394/.561 with 34 homers and 127 RBIs. In 2003, he led the league in hits (323), doubles (51), runs scored (137), batting average (.359), and total bases (.394). Pujols’ 43 homers and 124 RBIs each tied him for fourth in the NL.

In winning the batting title, Pujols became the youngest batting champion since the Dodgers’ Tommy Davis led the league with a .346 batting average in 1962. He also became the first player in baseball history to hit .300 and total 30 home runs, 100 runs scored, and 100 RBIs in each of his first three seasons.[5]

“This deal recognizes Albert not only for his accomplishments over the past three seasons, but all along we felt it was important to retain a player such as Albert who came up through our farm system and see to it that he remained part of the club’s nucleus well into the future,” Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said.[6]

The contract paid Pujols $7 million in 2004, $11 million in 2005, $14 million in 2006, $15 million in 2007, and $16 million from 2008 through 2010. The Cardinals also held a $16 million option for 2011 that would make the deal worth as much as $111 million over eight years.[7] If the Cardinals declined the option year, there would be a $5 million buyout.[8]

The $7 million Pujols was receiving in 2004 was the same amount the Cardinals had submitted in arbitration; Pujols had submitted $10.5 million.[9] Without the new contract, Pujols would have been eligible for free agency following the 2006 season.[10]

“I came up in this organization. I wanted to stay here,” Pujols said. “I’ll be here for another seven years, and we’ll see what happens after that.”[11]

Both the Cardinals and Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano, said the contract was one of the most complex they had ever negotiated.[12] Those complexities forced negotiations to extend uncomfortably close to the scheduled arbitration hearing as the two sides discussed deferred payments and the inclusion of a no-trade clause.

The Cardinals wanted to defer $25 million but faced resistance from both the Major League Baseball Players Association and Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano. However, negotiations experienced a breakthrough when the Cardinals agreed to give Pujols full no-trade protection through 2006 and a limited no-trade clause from 2007 through 2010, in which Pujols could select 10 potential trade partners.[13]

In the days leading up to their agreement, the Cardinals and Pujols’ agent, Dan Lozano, discussed one-year, three-year, and seven-year contracts. Had they been unable to reach terms regarding the deferred money, Pujols would have signed a three-year deal worth approximately $34 million.[14]

Ultimately, the two sides agreed that the Cardinals would defer $3 million, interest-free, from 2007 through 2010 and would also defer $3 million from the option season in 2011. The Cardinals would pay the deferred funds from 2020 through 2029 in amounts of $1.5 million if the Cardinals activated the 2011 option and $1.2 million if they declined.[15]

To complete the contract ahead of the arbitration deadline, the Cardinals signed the contract before Pujols completed his physical.[16]

“The money will mean something in a small way with my family, but it will not change the way I play baseball,” said Pujols,[17] who received a $10,000 bonus as a 13^th-round selection in the 1999 draft.[18]

“I’m pretty sure people think, ‘What can I do with that money?’” Pujols said, “but it’s not my money. It’s money that I have borrowed from God, and He has let me use it. Whatever He wants me to do with it, that’s what I’m going to do.

“Right now, it’s not about the money. It’s about myself, getting ready for the 2004 season, and about the team. If you play this game and don’t win a championship, it doesn’t matter how much money you make.”[19]

Pujols made money and won championships during his tenure with the Cardinals. After leading St. Louis to the National League pennant in 2004 and the NLCS in 2005, Pujols and the Cardinals won the 2006 World Series over the Tigers in five games.

In 2011, the Cardinals picked up Pujols’ $16 million option, and he led the team to its 11^th World Series championship. After the season, however, he signed a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels. He remained with the Angels until 2021, when he was released and signed by the Dodgers.

Finally, in 2022, Pujols returned to St. Louis to play the final season of his career, batting .270 and clubbing his 700^th career home run on his way to 24 homers and 68 RBIs for the season. Across 12 seasons with the Cardinals, Pujols hit .326 with 469 home runs and 1,397 RBIs.

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[1] Joe Strauss, “Pujol$,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2004.

[2] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[3] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[4] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[5] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[6] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[7] Joe Strauss, “Pujol$,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2004.

[8] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[9] Joe Strauss, “Pujol$,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2004.

[10] Joe Strauss, “Pujol$,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2004.

[11] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[12] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[13] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[14] Joe Strauss, “Pujol$,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 20, 2004.

[15] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[16] Joe Strauss, “Cards’ desire for physical almost derailed Pujols deal,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 22, 2004.

[17] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[18] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

[19] Joe Strauss, “Historic deal sets Cardinals’ cornerstone,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 21, 2004.

The post Albert Pujols, Cards sign $100 million extension: 2/19/2004 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The second-year major-league shortstop was leading off for the Angels on June 18, 2002, the same day the Cardinals hosted a pregame memorial service in honor of broadcaster Jack Buck. Tragically, that game proved to be Darryl Kile’s final start, as the Cardinals right-hander passed away four days later.

“Just seeing that, seeing all those fans so close to the team, so supportive, and being right there to feel it all – it stays with you,” Eckstein said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. St. Louis has such a rich history … and here’s an opportunity to go there and play for them. It’s just a great, great fit.”^[1]

One week after Edgar Renteria signed a four-year, $40-million contract with the Red Sox, the Cardinals signed Eckstein to a three-year, $10.25-million deal to become their new shortstop and leadoff hitter. Eckstein became available after the Angels signed free agent shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

“David was the player we focused on right away after Cabrera signed,” said John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ assistant general manager. “Given the current free-agent market at shortstop, it pushed salaries higher, but we still felt this was a value signing for us.”[2]

Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty, who was in Hawaii on vacation, initiated contract negotiations. He called Eckstein’s agent, Ryan Gleichowski, who was on a holiday cruise and had to be on land for his cell phone to work. Once Gleichowski was docked in Cozumel, Mexico, he and associate Marc Pollack finalized the work on a three-year contract that included a $250,000 signing bonus and annual salaries of $2.25 million, $3.25 million, and $4.5 million.[3]

“They were very aggressive,” Eckstein said. “They were pretty much the first team to call, and (Thursday) it really took off. … It was clear that this was a good fit. The best fit.”[4]

Eckstein, a former University of Florida walk-on, had been drafted by the Red Sox in the 19^th round of the 1997 draft and was selected by the Angels off waivers in August 2000. By 2001, Eckstein was in the majors, batting .285/.355/.357 and placing fourth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

In four seasons with the Angels, Eckstein hit .278/.347/.353. In 2002, the 5-foot-6, 170-pound shortstop hit three grand slams during the regular season and helped the Angels win the World Series, going 9-for-29 (.310) with six runs scored and three RBIs against the Giants.

In 2004, Eckstein hit .276/.339/.332 with two homers, 35 RBIs, and 16 stolen bases. He was the hardest player in the American League to whiff, striking out just 49 times in 566 at-bats, a rate of one ever 13 at-bats.

Though Eckstein didn’t have a strong arm at shortstop, he committed just six errors in 138 games in 2004 to lead major-league shortstops with a .988 fielding percentage.

“When people see me, I don’t really look like your typical pro athlete, but it means I always have to prove myself,” Eckstein said. “No matter what the situation, you have to prove yourself. I don’t want to lose that edge.”[5]

The Cardinals were counting on that edge to make Eckstein a new fan favorite.

“We felt this was the guy, the perfect fit for our club for a lot of reasons,” Jocketty said. “For his personality, for the way he goes about playing the game. He’s a gamer through and through. He’s the kind of player St. Louis will embrace, and I think he will become a cult hero with our fans. He’s a hustler.”[6]

Former Cardinals infielder Rex Hudler, who had become an Angels broadcaster after his playing days ended, was familiar with the kind of hard-nosed player Cardinals fans adored, having been one himself.

“Put it this way, I named my son after him,” Hudler said. “David Scott Hudler. And now ‘Eck’ is headed to St. Louis. It’s a perfect fit. It will be a beautiful relationship. He’s going to be revered as the new Huckleberry Finn of St. Louis and Missouri.”[7]

Eckstein enjoyed the best seasons of his career in St. Louis. Taking over as the Cardinals’ new leadoff hitter, Eckstein hit .294/.363/.395 in 2005. His eight home runs matched his career high, while his 61 RBIs was just two shy of his best season. He also scored 90 runs, stole 11 bases, and was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.

That postseason, Eckstein hit .385 (5 for 13) in the NLDS against the Padres with a home run and four RBIs. Facing the Astros in a six-game NLCS, Eckstein went just 4 for 20, but scored five runs and drove in two more.

Eckstein earned all-star honors again in 2006 on his way to a .292/.350/.344 batting line. Though he struggled in the NLDS and NLCS, batting just 8 for 41 (.191), he came alive in the World Series. After collecting just one hit in his first 11 World Series at-bats, he went 7 for his next 11 to finish the series with a .364 average. In Game 4, he went 4-for-5 with three doubles to spark the Cardinals’ 5-4 win. Eckstein added two more hits and drove in a pair of runs in the decisive Game 5 victory.

Eckstein played one more season in St. Louis before signing as a free agent with the Blue Jays. In three seasons with the Cardinals, he hit .297/.357/.375 with 216 runs scored, 13 homers, and 115 RBIs.

The remainder of Eckstein’s career took him from Toronto to Arizona and San Diego. After Eckstein sat out the 2011 season, the Cardinals invited him to throw out the first pitch ahead of World Series Game 6. He officially retired in January 2012 with a career .280 batting average, 701 runs scored, and 123 stolen bases.

“My passion is baseball,” Eckstein said. “I’ll be around it, always, in some sort. At the end of the day, I know this: whatever I decide to do is going to be what’s best for me and my family. I can’t tell right now what that is. Life always throws you curveballs.”[8]

Enjoy this post? Please consider purchasing my book, The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals, available now on Amazon!

[1] Derrick Goold, “Cards sign SS Eckstein,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 24, 2004.

[2] “Cardinals pencil in Eckstein to play shortstop,” Belleville News-Democrat, December 24, 2004.

[3] Derrick Goold, “Cards sign SS Eckstein,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 24, 2004.

[4] Derrick Goold, “Cards sign SS Eckstein,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 24, 2004.

[5] Derrick Goold, “Cards sign SS Eckstein,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 24, 2004.

[6] Derrick Goold, “Cards sign SS Eckstein,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 24, 2004.

[7] Bernie Miklasz, “In Eckstein, Cards get a big return in small package,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 25, 2004.

[8] Derrick Goold, “Most Valuable Person,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 28, 2011.

Looking for more Cardinals history? You can browse by player or by decade.

The post Why the Cardinals signed David Eckstein in December 2004 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

Shortstop Edgar Renteria signed with Boston. Catcher Mike Matheny went to the Giants, second baseman Tony Womack signed with the Yankees, and pitcher Woody Williams returned to the Padres on a free-agent deal.

“You lose the guy who started Game 1 of the World Series (Woody Williams), you lose your catcher, your leadoff guy, your shortstop. Fans are saying, ‘Are we going to do anything? What’s happening? What’s happening?’ I think we knew at one point, something good was going to happen,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.^[1]

General manager Walt Jocketty made his big move on December 18, 2004, trading starting pitcher Dan Haren, reliever Kiko Calero, and prized catching prospect Daric Barton to the A’s for Mulder.

The A’s, who emerged as American League contenders behind a pitching staff led by Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito, had traded Hudson to the Braves three days earlier. Jocketty indicated that the Cardinals had the option to pursue either Mulder or Hudson, and preferred the 6-foot-6 left-hander from South Holland, Ill.

“This is something we’ve been working on for two or three weeks,” Jocketty said. “We’ve been going back and forth between Hudson and Mulder and we felt like in our case, we had control of Mulder for an extra year. Given his age, we knew it was going to be a steep price. Both are quality, top-of-the-rotation starters.”[2]

Mulder was due $6 million for the 2005 season with a $7.25 million club option in 2006.

“Given the sticker prices going around this winter, Mulder is a relative bargain,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan O’Neill wrote.[3]

A second-round pick of the A’s in the 1998 draft, Mulder raced to the majors, making 27 starts for Oakland as a 22-year-old in 2000. He enjoyed a breakout season the following year, winning a league-high 21 games with a 3.45 ERA in 229 1/3 innings. He placed second in the Cy Young Award voting behind Roger Clemens.

“I’m not a guy who goes out there and tries to get the strikeout,” said Mulder, who ranked second in the league in groundouts in 2004. “If I can get three pitches and three outs, that’s the way I’ll do it.”^[4]

From 2001 through 2004, Mulder’s 72 wins trailed only Curt Schilling’s 74 for the most in the majors.^[5] During that span, he led the American League twice in complete games (2003 and 2004) and shutouts (2001 and 2003).

“(Mulder) is the top-of-the-rotation-type pitcher we’ve been working hard to obtain this offseason,” Jocketty said. “It was difficult to part with the three players we traded, but to acquire someone like Mulder, we felt that this deal worked for us in several ways.”^[6]

Both Jocketty and La Russa indicated that the deal would not have been possible had the Cardinals not lost Renteria to free agency. The team offered the shortstop a four-year contract worth $36 million, but instead he accepted a four-year, $40 million offer from the Red Sox.[7]

“I really think we did the right thing,” La Russa said. “Edgar was more than we should spend. If we had signed Edgar, I don’t know that we could have made this trade. We would not have been able to address this first priority. Here we are now, and we have five legitimate starters.”^[8]

With the addition of Mulder, the Cardinals’ rotation was slated to include Chris Carpenter, Jason Marquis, Jeff Suppan, and Matt Morris, though Morris had recently undergone shoulder surgery and wasn’t projected to return until May.^[9] Rick Ankiel provided additional depth for the rotation.

“I can take my hat off to Walt and (Cardinals chairman of the board Bill DeWitt),” La Russa said. “After what’s taken place the past few days, we didn’t panic. We didn’t get into, ‘We’re not trying,’ or whatever the perception might have been. We said, ‘Let’s be patient, let’s do the smart thing.’”^[10]

Jocketty admitted that the Cardinals strategically kept the potential deal under the radar until it was finalized.

“We knew if the word got out that Oakland was willing to trade Mulder, and we were trying to close in on it, other teams would get involved and it would become a feeding frenzy,” he said. “So we tried to keep it quiet.”^[11]

The deal did, however, come with a question mark: Mulder’s health. On Aug. 24, the left-hander became the first pitcher in baseball to win his 17^th game of the season, but he failed to win again in his next seven starts, going 0-4 with 47 hits and 33 runs allowed in 28 2/3 innings. During that span, his ERA climbed from 3.72 to 4.43.

“There will be some concern because he struggled a little toward the end of the season,” La Russa said, “but I’ve talked to the Oakland people and we know that mentally and physically, he’s ready to go.”^[12]

Jocketty said trainer Barry Weinberg, who also previously worked with the A’s, spoke to Oakland’s trainers and doctors and reviewed all of Mulder’s records. Instead, Jocketty suggested that Mulder was simply trying to do too much during the season’s stretch run.

“He put a lot of pressure on himself,” Jocketty said. “The A’s lost Hudson to an injury for a while and Zito was having a rough year, so it fell on Mulder to carry the load of the entire rotation and he tried to do too much. It happens. It might have helped him to go through something like that. He’ll know how to handle it better from now on.”^[13]

“I wasn’t hurt at all,” Mulder said. “Whether I got tired, I don’t know. … There was nothing wrong with me and there is nothing wrong with me, it was just one of those things where I just flat-out struggled. I have never struggled like that in my career. More than anything, it was embarrassing for me. I was in a funk.”^[14]

Even after Hudson was traded, Mulder anticipated that he would be able to rebound the following season in Oakland. When Jocketty called to welcome Mulder to the Cardinals, the left-hander admitted that he was still shocked.

“I feel bad,” Mulder said. “I didn’t really sound excited when I talked to (Jocketty). … I am. I am excited about it.”^[15]

Mulder called Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen, who was with the A’s during Mulder’s first two seasons. His message was simple: “What’s up, teammate?”

Isringhausen said, “I called him just to talk before the trade: How he was doing, what he was thinking and blah, blah, blah. I knew Walt was trying to get him, and it happens to everybody at some point in Oakland. He’ll be a good fit.”^[16]

Meanwhile, the A’s once again found themselves rebuilding.

“We’ve had to reinvent ourselves every year,” A’s general manager Billy Beane said. “This is probably the most drastic. … There’s certainly some sadness losing first Tim and then Mark from a personal standpoint. Unfortunately, this is something we’ve had to deal with. We’re still the Oakland A’s. We’re still going to go on.”^[17]

Haren, the Cardinals’ second-round draft choice in 2001, had appeared in 28 games for the Cardinals the past two seasons, going 6-10 with a 4.85 ERA.

Calero had established himself as a key member of the Cardinals’ bullpen during their 2004 pennant run, posting a 2.78 ERA over 45 1/3 innings. In two seasons in St. Louis, he was 4-2 with a 2.80 ERA.

Barton was the potential prize of the deal. The Cardinals’ 2003 first-round choice, Barton hit .294/.420/.424 as a 17-year-old in the Appalachian League that year. In 2004, he hit .313/.445/.511 with 13 homers and 77 RBIs in Class A Peoria.

“Even though he’s a long way off, this guy is a hell of a hitter,” Jocketty said. “The question is where is he going to play. But he’s a left-handed hitter with power and he’s got a bright future. He should do well in the American League.

“It’s difficult to give up these young players, it really is. But we thought it was necessary to get Mulder, who can pitch at the top of the rotation, who fits in well with what we need and what we’re trying to accomplish. He’s an intelligent guy, a great athlete, a great fit.”^[18]

Mulder’s first season in St. Louis was almost everything Jocketty could have asked for, as he went 16-8 with a 3.64 ERA over 205 innings. Mulder got off to a strong start in 2006, going 5-1 with a 3.69 ERA in his first nine starts.

After throwing 8 1/3 shutout innings in a 1-0 win over the Mets on May 17, however, Mulder’s career was never the same. He won just one of his next six starts and his ERA climbed from 3.69 to 6.09 before he was shut down in June with shoulder issues. Though Mulder returned for two more starts in August, the shoulder required surgery.

Despite the injury, the Cardinals re-signed Mulder to a two-year, $13 million contract with a club option for a third year. Mulder was never healthy during the length of that contract, pitching just 12 2/3 innings and losing all three of his decisions. The Cardinals bought out his option for $1.5 million and Mulder retired after the season.

“We had very high expectations that Mark would come back and throw to the capabilities he had when we acquired him from Oakland,” said John Mozeliak, who had replaced Jocketty as Cardinals general manager. “That didn’t happen.”[19]

In 2014, Mulder briefly attempted a comeback with the Angels but tore his Achilles tendon on the second day of spring training and was released.

Each of the three players the Cardinals sent to Oakland in the deal went on to have successful major-league careers.

Barton debuted with the Athletics in 2007 and appeared in eight major-league seasons, all with the A’s. In 551 career games, the first baseman batted .247/.356/.365 with 30 homers and 184 RBIs, establishing himself as a patient hitter with a high on-base percentage but relatively little power.

After the 2014 season, he signed a free-agent deal with the Blue Jays but never appeared for the major-league club. He spent three seasons in the Mexican League, playing his final pro game in 2019.

Calero pitched four seasons for the A’s, posting a 3.96 ERA over 159 innings. He made three appearances in the 2006 NLCS for Oakland, throwing two scoreless innings against the Tigers.

The A’s released Calero in June 2008. He spent the 2009 season with the Marlins, appearing in 67 games with a 1.95 ERA. Strangely enough, given his success with the Marlins, he spent the 2010 season with the Mets’ and Dodgers’ Triple-A teams and did not return to the majors. He ended his career with a 3.24 ERA over 302 2/3 innings.

Of the three players Oakland received in the trade, Haren had the most successful career. In three seasons with the A’s, Haren was the model of consistency, starting 34 games each season and winning 14, 14, and 15 games, respectively. During that span, he posted a 43-34 record with a 3.64 ERA. In 2007, his final season with the A’s, he made the first all-star appearance of his career, posting a 3.07 ERA over 222 2/3 innings.

That December, Beane traded Haren and Connor Robertson to the Diamondbacks for Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, and Greg Smith. In Arizona, Haren enjoyed the best seasons of his career, earning all-star nods in 2008 and 2009. In 2009, his 14-10 record and 3.14 ERA placed him fifth in the Cy Young Award balloting.

Haren’s 13-year career included stints with the Angels, Nationals, Dodgers, Marlins, and Cubs. He retired after the 2015 season with a 153-131 career record and 3.75 ERA.

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[1] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[2] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[3] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[4] Derrick Goold, “Mulder says trade was quite a shock,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 21, 2004.

[5] Bernie Miklasz, “Jocketty moves under the radar,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[6] Janie McCauley, Associated Press. “Big Three for A’s now is a Zito solo,” Fresno Bee, December 19, 2004.

[7] Ian Browne, “Sox, Renteria make deal official,” MLB.com.

[8] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[9] Janie McCauley, Associated Press. “Big Three for A’s now is a Zito solo,” Fresno Bee, December 19, 2004.

[10] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[11] Bernie Miklasz, “Jocketty moves under the radar,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[12] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[13] Bernie Miklasz, “Jocketty moves under the radar,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[14] Derrick Goold, “Mulder says trade was quite a shock,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 21, 2004.

[15] Derrick Goold, “Mulder says trade was quite a shock,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 21, 2004.

[16] Derrick Goold, “Mulder says trade was quite a shock,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 21, 2004.

[17] Janie McCauley, Associated Press. “Big Three for A’s now is a Zito solo,” Fresno Bee, December 19, 2004.

[18] Dan O’Neill, “Cards land Oakland’s Mulder,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 2004.

[19] Derrick Goold, “Cards decline to exercise Mulder option,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 21, 2008.

The post How Mark Mulder was traded to the Cardinals first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The Cardinals received Walker and cash considerations for minor league pitcher Jason Burch and two players to be named later. In August, the Cardinals announced that Luis Martinez and Chris Narveson would go to Colorado to complete the deal.

“You look at this lineup, and you wonder, ‘How can it get any better?’ and it did,” said Cardinals outfielder Reggie Sanders.

With more than 10 years of experience, including five with the same team, Walker had the power to decline any trade. In fact, he had already declined a trade to the Diamondbacks for Matt Williams in 2002 and blocked trades to the Rangers and Marlins before the 2004 trade deadline.

“I think there were some people in Colorado who weren’t certain he would come (to St. Louis),” Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty said. “I talked to a few of the players over the last few days, and I expressed to Larry how excited they were about the possibility of his coming. … He weighed everything, and it didn’t take him long.”[1]

Rockies general manager said that a key goal for the Rockies in trading Walker was to get him on a team where he could compete for a championship.

“Larry is 38, and he was not going to be with us after next year,” O’Dowd said. “This gave us the best opportunity to put him somewhere with a chance to win, and it gives (rookie) Matt Holliday the opportunity to play every day.”^[2]

A native of Maple Ridge, Canada, Walker had grown up dreaming of becoming an NHL goalie. Instead, the Expos signed him in 1984 and sent him to Utica in the New York Penn League. In 1989, he made his major league debut, the first of six seasons he would spend in Montreal. Three years later, in 1992, he made his first All-Star appearance, batting .301/.353/.506 with 23 homers and 93 RBIs.

Prior to the 1995 season, Walker signed with the Rockies, where he proceeded to enjoy the best seasons of his career. In 1997, Walker won the National League MVP after batting .366/.452/.720 with a major league-leading 49 home runs. In 1998, 1999, and 2001, he posted the highest batting average in baseball.

“I was shocked and surprised,” Rockies first baseman Todd Helton said about the trade. “I have never played a game without him here. He is the best Rockies player ever.”[3]

A groin strain had limited Walker to just 38 games that season, though he had been effective when he took the field. At the time of the trade, he was batting .324/.464/.630 with six homers and 20 RBIs.

“I think he’ll be energized to come here and play with us, and I think he’ll energize our club,” Jocketty said. “He’s a gamer. He’s a hard-nosed player and a winner, and he’ll have no trouble fitting in with this club.”[4]

Burch was a 6-foot-5 right-hander the Cardinals drafted in the 21^st round in 2003. At the time of the trade, he had made 44 appearances for Peoria in 2004, posting a 3.78 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings.

Martinez, a 6-foot-6 southpaw from the Dominican Republic, had appeared in four games for the Brewers in 2003, going 0-3 with a 9.92 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. The Cardinals had claimed him off waivers in February.

Narveson was the Cardinals’ second-round pick in 2000. At the time of the trade, he was 5-10 with a 4.16 ERA for Double-A Tennessee. The year before, he had posted a 2.91 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 148 1/3 innings between High-A Palm Beach and Double-A Tennessee.

Burch never climbed above Double-A. After the 2006 season, the Rockies traded Burch and Jim Miller to the Orioles as part of a package for Rodrigo Lopez. He retired following the 2008 season.

Martinez finished the 2004 season in Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he went 2-2 with a 6.83 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings. The Rockies released him after the season, and Martinez played in the Japan Central League, the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the Mexican League, the Dominican Winter League, and the United Baseball League before retiring following the 2010 season.

Narveson spent the remainder of 2004 in Triple-A Colorado Springs. Prior to the 2005 season, the Rockies traded Narveson and Charles Johnson to the Red Sox for Byung-Hyun Kim and cash. The Cardinals picked Narveson up off waivers that August, and in 2006 he pitched in five games, starting one.

After spending 2007 in the minors, Narveson signed with the Brewers. He returned to the majors in 2009 and spent five seasons with the big-league club, going 26-18 with a 4.65 ERA. In 2011, he made six postseason relief appearances for the Brewers, including four against the Cardinals in the NLCS. Narveson pitched in Japan in 2014 before playing his final two major league seasons in Miami.

Meanwhile, Walker appeared in 44 regular-season games for the Cardinals, batting .280/.393/.560 with 11 homers and 27 RBIs. With Walker adding depth to an already potent lineup, the Cardinals won the NL Central with a 105-57 record.

In Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers, Walker hit two homers and scored four times. He went 5-for-15 as the Cardinals won the series in four games.

In Game 1 of the NLCS against the Astros, Walker singled, doubled, and tripled. In the seven-game series, he went 7-for-29 with two homers and five RBIs.

With the Cardinals’ Game 7 NLCS win, Walker reached the World Series for the first and only time in his career. Once again, he started the series on the right note, hitting a home run and two doubles in a 4-for-5 Game 1 performance. He homered again in Game 3.

Walker played 100 games in his final season in 2005. Despite playing with a herniated disc in his neck that made it impossible to turn his head to the left, he hit .289/.384/.502 with 15 homers and 52 RBIs. In the postseason, he went just 3-for-28. He retired shortly after the Cardinals were eliminated in the NLCS.

In 2020, in his 10^th year on the ballot, Walker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Finishing with the St. Louis Cardinals – I’m not a baseball historian, but when you talk about organizations, you usually talk about the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Cubs, the Cardinals,” he said. “Those are the iconic organizations that people know about around the world – a uniform that is recognizable around the world. I’ll never forget that first day walking in the clubhouse and putting that white birds-on-the-bat uniform over my head. It was a great way to go out.”[5]

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Rick Hummel, “Cards, Rockies deal after Walker’s OK,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2004.

[2] Associated Press, “Goodbye, Larry,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, August 7, 2004.

[3] Associated Press, “So far, so good for Walker-less Rockies,” Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, August 7, 2004.

[4] Rick Hummel, “Cards, Rockies deal after Walker’s OK,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 7, 2004.

[5] Derrick Goold, “Walker joins Jeter as two new electees,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 22, 2020.

The post Rockies trade Larry Walker to St. Louis: August 6, 2004 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

On June 2, 2004, Matheny was removed in the fourth inning of the Cardinals’ 5-3 win over the Pirates due to a muscle strain in his right side. The veteran catcher had been battling the strain for approximately a week, but aggravated the injury while swinging in his first at-bat of the game.

Matheny said the injury made it difficult for him to throw the ball back to the pitcher and even to breathe, a detail that manager Tony La Russa said “is not a good sign.”[1]

“Any time Mike Matheny mentions anything to me and has to come out of a ballgame, you treat it as a significant problem,” Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg said.[2]

With the potential for Matheny to be out for an extended period, the Cardinals needed either Molina or fellow farmhand Matt Pagnozzi to complement 30-year-old Cody McKay, a career minor leaguer who entered the season with just two major league appearances. The Cardinals opted for Molina, who was batting .310 with one homer and 14 RBIs in 36 games with Triple-A Memphis.

“He’s the right guy,” general manager Walt Jocketty said. “It’s a great opportunity for him and a great opportunity for us to see what he can do.”[3]

Memphis manager Danny Sheaffer, himself a former catcher, woke Molina at 11:30 the night before his debut to give him the good news. In turn, Molina called his brothers Bengie and Jose, both of whom were playing for the Angels.

“They just told me to keep working hard and … just keep working hard like in the minor leagues,” Molina said.[4]

For his part, Matheny said he had enjoyed working with Molina that spring and had been looking forward to seeing what he could do in the big leagues.

“I wasn’t necessarily excited about seeing it this year,” he joked, “but I’m going to do everything I can to help him.”[5]

With Yadier’s promotion, the Molinas became the first family in Major League Baseball history to have three brothers catching in the league at the same time. There were just four previous sets of brothers catching in the majors at the same time – Bill and George Dickey, Mike and Bob Garbark, Ray and Red Hayworth, and Gus and Frank Mancuso.[6]

“We knew he was going to make it, but we never thought it would be this quick,” Jose Molina said. “I know my mom and dad are real happy. I’m really happy for our family. There’s not another word to describe it. We’re just happy.”[7]

La Russa wasted no time in getting Molina into the starting lineup, pairing him with Woody Williams, a 37-year-old, 12-year major league veteran who had posted a career-high 18 wins for the Cardinals in 2003. Williams’ 2004 campaign, however, had gotten off to a rough start. The right-hander from Houston had lost his first three decisions of the season and didn’t pick up his first win until May 11. Williams had earned his second win of the season in his previous outing, a 10-3 Cardinals win over the Astros, and entered the month of June with a 5.19 ERA.

Williams and Molina enjoyed a quiet first inning, as Williams worked around Pirates catcher Jason Kendall’s leadoff single by striking out Daryle Ward and Craig Wilson.

In the top of the second, Scott Rolen doubled down the right-field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Hector Luna. With two outs, that brought Molina to the plate against Oliver Perez for his first career at-bat. On a 1-1 count, Molina hit a pop fly into short right field that landed in the glove of Pirates second baseman Abraham Nunez for the final out of the inning.

Nunez almost scored the first run of the game in the bottom half of the second. With two outs, Nunez singled to right and advanced to second on a walk to Tike Redman. Oliver Perez looked to continue the inning with a single to right field, but Reggie Sanders’ throw home beat Nunez, and Molina dove to apply the tag and end the inning. A photo of Molina’s bare-handed tag of Nunez by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Matt Freed accompanied Rick Hummel’s recap in the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

“He’s got so much composure,” La Russa said of Molina. “He plays like he’s got 10 years of experience.”[8]

In the top of the fifth, Molina tagged Perez for the first hit of his career, a line drive into the left-field gap. One batter later, So Taguchi hit into an inning-ending double play that maintained the scoreless tie.

The Cardinals didn’t get on the board until the top of the sixth. After Williams flied out and Tony Womack struck out looking, Edgar Renteria doubled over the head of Redman in center field. Albert Pujols was hit by a pitch, and Scott Rolen, returning from a fastball to the head that had held him out of the previous game, followed with a two-run double to right.

With the Cardinals ahead 2-0, Molina led off the top of the seventh with a double down the left-field line. Taguchi laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Molina to third, and Williams hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring Molina home.

“That was fun, huh?” Molina said. “I was just trying to get one hit, but I got two, and we got a win.”[9]

The Cardinals used three pitchers to get through the bottom of the seventh. After Bobby Hill and Nunez each singled, La Russa replaced Williams with Steve Kline. The lefty retired Jason Bay on a pop fly, then gave way to Julian Tavarez. Tavarez got Randall Simon to fly out to Molina, then retired Kendall on a ground ball to get out of the inning.

An RBI double from Sanders in the top of the eighth made the score 4-0 before the Pirates threatened again in the bottom of the inning. Jack Wilson led off with an infield single, but attempted to steal on a 1-2 pitch and became the first base runner to become victim to Molina’s arm.

Ward walked and Craig Wilson doubled to left field, prompting the Cardinals to replace Tavarez with Ray King. With runners on second and third, Rob Mackowiak hit a sacrifice fly to deep center to score Ward. Jason Isringhausen entered the game in relief of King, and the first batter he faced, Bobby Hill, reached on an error that allowed Wilson to score.

However, Isringhausen would strike out Nunez to end the inning, then worked around a ninth-inning single by Chris Stynes to earn the save.

Most of the ninth-inning fireworks actually came in the top of the inning after Pittsburgh reliever Mike Gonzalez brushed back Tony Womack with two outs in the inning. La Russa, who already was irked by a fastball that came up and in on Rolen, shouted at Kendall. Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, angry at La Russa for yelling at one of his players, raced out of the dugout, and both benches and bullpens emptied.

“Lloyd was saying, ‘Don’t yell at our players.’ I said, ‘Would you rather we hit somebody in the head or yell?’ I’d rather yell than hurt somebody,” La Russa said. “Yell at your pitchers to get the ball down.”[10]

La Russa and McClendon both were ejected from the game.

With six scoreless innings, Williams moved to 3-5 on the season and dropped his ERA almost half a run. After the game, he had nothing but compliments for his rookie catcher.

“He did a good job,” Williams said. “He pays attention. I’m sure he was just floating. It’s a special day for him, and I’m sure it’s something he never forgets.”[11]

Molina went on to play 19 years in the big leagues, winning two World Series, nine Gold Gloves, and being selected to 10 All-Star Games.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Rick Hummel, “Cardinals might call up Molina,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3, 2004: Page D5.

[2] Rick Hummel, “Cardinals might call up Molina,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 3, 2004: Page D5.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Molina excels in major league debut,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

[4] Rick Hummel, “Molina excels in major league debut,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Molina excels in major league debut,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

[6] Rick Hummel, “Oh, brother! The Molinas are making history,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 6, 2004: Page D12.

[7] Rick Hummel, “Oh, brother! The Molinas are making history,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 6, 2004: Page D12.

[8] Rick Hummel, “Molina excels in major league debut,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

[9] Rick Hummel, “Molina excels in major league debut,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Sweeping developments,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

[11] Rick Hummel, “Molina excels in major league debut,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 4, 2004: Page D7.

The post Yadier Molina makes his MLB debut: June 3, 2004 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

The previous night, the fireworks started when Jim Edmonds hit a two-run home run off Chicago’s Carlos Zambrano. The fiery Cubs right-hander felt that Edmonds spent too long admiring the ball as it flew over the right-field wall and shouted at the Cardinals center fielder as he rounded the bases. Tempers flared and the benches cleared before order was restored.

Four innings later, Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen hit what proved to be the game-winning blast, a two-run home run that broke a 3-3 tie. Zambrano responded by hitting Edmonds with a pitch for the second time that game, earning ejections for Zambrano and Cubs manager Dusty Baker.

With those events fresh on everyone’s mind, it didn’t take long for matters to escalate.

Led by a pitching staff that included Greg Maddux, Kerry Wood, and Mark Prior, and a lineup that included Aramis Ramirez, Moises Alou, and Sammy Sosa, the Cubs had entered the season as the National League Central favorites. However, they entered the day trailing the Cardinals by nine games, just half a game ahead of the third-place Cincinnati Reds. Since the calendar turned to July, St. Louis had won 12 of its previous 14 games, including an eight-game win streak to open the month.

The Cardinals took a brief first-inning lead. Womack drew a leadoff walk, and Edgar Renteria laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second base. Pujols, who came into the game batting .311, pulled a 3-and-2 curveball over Alou’s head in left field to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

Rolen, batting next, was hit on the arm by a 1-and-2 breaking ball. Though the circumstances made it unlikely that Rusch was throwing at the Cardinals’ third baseman, there seemed little doubt that a response was headed the Cubs’ way. In the bottom half of the inning, Cardinals right-hander Matt Morris delivered that reply by throwing a fastball that sailed behind Cubs center fielder Corey Patterson’s hips.

“I felt it was the right thing to do, to stick up for my teammates,” Morris said. “No one got hurt. In fact, it might have fired them up.”[1]

Indeed, while Morris retired the side in order in the first, he would not be so fortunate the next inning. He led off the inning by walking Alou, and fell behind Derrek Lee 2-and-0 before Lee homered to center field. Ramirez followed with a double, and Michael Barrett launched a line-drive home run over the right-field wall to make it 4-0.

Patterson added a two-run double over Edmonds’ head, and with two outs Alou hit an RBI single up the middle to give the Cubs a 7-1 lead and chase Morris from the game.

“I thought he hit a wall,” La Russa said. “He went out to the mound, and it was like all of a sudden somebody punched him in the gut. He was having trouble breathing.”[2]

Pujols and Ramirez traded solo home runs in the third inning to make it 8-2 before St. Louis began its comeback. After Pujols and Rolen each singled to lead off the sixth inning, Edmonds singled to right field to score Pujols. Baker replaced Rusch with Francis Beltran, who immediately walked Sanders and Mike Matheny to score Rolen. So Taguchi reached on an infield single that scored Edmonds, and Ray Lankford hit a sacrifice fly that cut the Cubs’ lead to 8-6.

Pujols made it 8-7 in the top of the seventh when he hit Kyle Farnsworth’s first-pitch fastball over the left-field wall.

Farnsworth was still holding onto a one-run lead in the eighth inning when he fell behind Taguchi 3-and-1 and threw a fastball down the middle of the plate. The diminutive Taguchi turned on the pitch and hit it into Waveland Avenue beyond the left-field wall. Afterward, Pujols pointed to Taguchi’s home run as the biggest blow of the game.[3]

The teams were still deadlocked 8-8 when the Cubs turned to LaTroy Hawkins for the ninth inning. Renteria led off with an infield single to bring Pujols, already 4-for-4 with two home runs, to the plate. Both of Pujols’ blasts had come on the first pitch, so Hawkins was cautious with his first offering, a low fastball. He was less cautious with his second pitch, a fastball out over the plate that Pujols hit the other way over the right-field wall.

Pujols’ three-homer game marked the first time a Cardinal had accomplished the feat since Mark McGwire on May 18, 2000.[4]

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was out of the park,” Pujols said.[5]

With two outs, Reggie Sanders added a home run to center field to make it 11-8. After striking out Yadier Molina to end the top of the ninth, Hawkins got into an argument with home-plate umpire Tim Tschida and had to be restrained by Baker and four of his fellow coaches.[6]

“Do I regret it? No,” Hawkins said. “I talked to him like a man at first, and it didn’t work.”[7]

In the ninth, Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen worked around two walks and a single to earn the save. It marked the Cardinals’ largest comeback since July 28, 2002, when they rallied from a 6-0, third-inning deficit to beat the Cubs.[8]

It was a strong showing for the Cardinals bullpen, which allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings, including three innings from Eldred and two shutout innings from Kiko Calero. Ray King earned the win after retiring the side in order in the eighth.

“It just shows the character of this team,” Isringhausen said. “After our big win Monday, we could have been content to leave town with a split … but we kept plugging away, plugging away. That’s how we do it. This is just a great win for us.”

With the win, the division-leading Cardinals moved 10 games ahead of the Cubs, who were leapfrogged by Cincinnati and fell into third place.

“This is the happiest I’ve ever been after giving up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings,” said Morris, who optimistically noted that the Cardinals’ comeback would not have been possible if he hadn’t allowed seven runs in the second inning.[9] “It’s unbelievable. To win that game against that team, with the position we’re in, it’s just a snowball effect. It keeps getting bigger.”[10]

In the next day’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, columnist Bernie Miklasz compared Pujols’ performance to another classic Cardinals-Cubs showdown: the “Ryne Sandberg game” of June 23, 1984, in which Sandberg went 5-for-6 with two home runs and seven RBIs, helping to spur the Cubs to the 1984 division championship.

“Citizens of Cardinals Nation: We have a reverse Ryno,” Miklasz wrote. “Two decades later, the St. Louis-Chicago rivalry has crowned a new comeback king – His Majesty Albert Pujols.”[11]

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon.

[1] Dave van Dyke, “Rallying the best revenge,” Chicago Tribune, July 21, 2004: Page 4-1.

[2] Joe Strauss, “Cubs gum it up; Birds stick it to ’em,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 21, 2004: D1.

[3] Strauss.

[4] Strauss.

[5] Strauss.

[6] Paul Sullivan, “Losing it … again,” Chicago Tribune, July 21, 2004: 4-1.

[7] Sullivan.

[8] Strauss.

[9] van Dyke.

[10] Strauss.

[11] Bernie Miklasz, “In Sandberg’s yard, Pujols shows he’s second to none,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 21, 2004: D1.

The post Albert Pujols goes 5-for-5 with three homers in comeback win: July 20, 2004 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.