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 »
On March 11, 1981, “the Big Cat” Johnny Mize, who held the Cardinals’ single-season home run record for more than 40 years and would go on to hold it for 17 more, was finally elected to the Hall of Fame. Mize was selected by the Veterans Committee alongside Negro Leagues founder Rube Foster. He and
Why Johnny Mize was shocked to be elected to the Hall of Fame Read More »
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’
February 25, 1985: Dal Maxvill becomes surprising GM choice Read More »
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
How Joe Magrane won the 1988 ERA title with just five wins 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 »
Just two days after Ozzie Smith inspired St. Louis to “go crazy” with a game-winning home run in Game 5 of the NLCS, Jack Clark finished off the Dodgers with a ninth-inning blast that sent the Cardinals to the 1985 World Series. With two outs in the ninth and the Cardinals trailing by a run,
How Jack Clark homered to win Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS Read More »
In the right-field bleachers, Cardinals fans 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 21, 1982, Andujar proved to be exactly that, pitching seven innings to lead the Cardinals to a 6-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 7 of
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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
10/21/1987: The Tom Lawless bat flip 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 »