For its May 2024 edition, the Cardinals Insider Podcast hosted by Brett McMillan spoke with former Cardinals pitchers Ricky Horton and Ken Dayley to share memories and thoughts regarding Whitey Herzog, who passed away in April. Horton pointed to Herzog’s ability to make every player feel important, boosting their confidence and helping them understand their […]
Whitey Herzog stories from Ricky Horton and Ken Dayley Read More »
On July 25, 2010, Whitey Herzog took the stage in Cooperstown, New York, joined by 50 Hall of Famers who had gathered to induct him into baseball’s most exclusive club. His only goal? To keep from breaking down and crying in gratitude. “Ever since December, every question that anybody asked me is this: What’s it
7/25/2010: Whitey Herzog is inducted into the Hall of Fame Read More »
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
How a 1988 Ozzie Smith GQ interview created a firestorm Read More »
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
Why the Cardinals traded Joaquin Andujar in 1985 Read More »
In the right-field bleachers, Cardinals fans attending Game 7 of the 1982 World Series hung a bedsheet declaring that evening’s starting pitcher, Joaquin Andujar, “one tough Dominican” in honor of the right-hander’s favorite self-description. On October 20, 1982, Andujar proved to be exactly that, pitching seven innings to lead the Cardinals to a 6-3 win
1982 World Series Game 7: Andujar, Sutter clinch the title Read More »
With his ballclub mired in last place in the National League East and rumors swirling of discontent in the clubhouse, Whitey Herzog called a press conference in San Diego on July 6, 1990, to announce that the St. Louis Cardinals’ Whiteyball era was officially over. Herzog’s resignation came with 2 ½ years remaining on his
Why Whitey Herzog resigned as Cardinals manager Read More »
Decades later, Cardinals fans who find video of Tom Lawless’s go-ahead, three-run home run off Frank Viola in Game 4 of the 1987 World Series can be excused for coming away with several misperceptions. Without the benefit of high definition, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound native of Erie, Pennsylvania, looks like a practiced slugger, pulling the ball
The Tom Lawless bat flip: October 21, 1987 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
How Ozzie Smith signed a new contract, then homered in the Cardinals’ 1985 home opener 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
Why the Cardinals traded Garry Templeton for Ozzie Smith Read More »