June 14, 1956: Trader Lane Sends Red Packing

On June 14, 1956, after making multiple early season deals Frank "Trader" Lane continued to shake up the Cardinals roster by shipping Red Schoendienst, Jackie Brandt, Dick Littlefield, Bill Sarmi, and Gordon Jones to the New York Giants for Al Dark, Whitey Lockman, Ray Katt,and Don Liddle. The deal stunned Cardinals fans, Shoendienst had been with the club since 1945 and had become a perennial all star as well as a fan favorite. It worked out well for Red, after the Giants dealt him to the Milwaukee Braves in June of '57 he would win a World Series Title in his first year in Milwaukee then another National League Pennant  in his second year with the club. As Lane's time continued in St. Louis he wore out his welcome by trying to trade Stan Musial, after Gussie Busch caught wind of that deal it was stopped dead in its tracks. Frank Lane only spent two years with the Cardinals, it was an interesting two years to say the least. After he resigned in September of '57, Bing Devine took over in the front office and  proceeded to build around his cornerstone players, not trade them like they were fresh out of a pack of baseball cards.

While I was looking into this I ran across a great newspaper archive that tells of how Lane's attempt to trade Musial really bothered the Cardinals legend, it also tells how upset Stan was about the trade that sent his friend and teammate Red Shoendienst packing: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19640410&id=UEcqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_04EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7563,3762790

Here is a very good read about Lane's time with the Cardinals, it also touches on what he did before he arrived here and what he did after he left: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/nothing-sacred/

June 13, 1941: Lanier Shuts The Dodgers Down

On June 13, 1941, in a game that took just 1 hour and 52 minutes to complete, Max Lanier pitched the Cardinals to a 1-0 win over the Dodgers at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The only run of the game came in the third inning when Don Padgett knocked Terry Moore in with a single.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194106130.shtml

June 12, 1993: The Cards rout the Expos

On June 12, 1993, behind home runs by Gregg Jefferies, Ray Lankford, and Mark Whiten the Cardinals pounded the Montreal Expos 13-3 at Busch. Jefferies started the game off with a three run bomb in the first then Lankford and Whiten both hit two run shot's in the fourth. With the score 11-0 at the end of four the rout was on. After the Expos plated two runs in the sixth, the Cardinals answered back with two runs of their own in the seventh, the last charge for the team from Montreal came in the eighth as they scored their final run of the contest on a sacrifice fly.

Check Out The Box Score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN199306120.shtml

June 11, 1958 Ken Boyer's Walk Off Wins It In The 12th

On June 11, 1958, Ken Boyer led the bottom of the twelfth inning off with a walk off solo shot off of Hal Jeffcoat to give the Cardinals a 3-2 victory over the Reds at Busch Stadium. Boyer led the club with 23 home runs and 90 rbi's in that '58 season.

Check out the Box Score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN195806110.shtml

June 10, 1890: Jack Stivetts Strikes Out 10 and Wins It With A Grand Slam

On June 10, 1890, two years before the club joined the National League and before the they were even known as the Cardinals, "Happy Jack" Stivetts struck out 10 batters and hit two home runs in a 9-8 Browns win over the Toledo Maumees. Stivetts' second jack was a walkoff grand slam with one out in the bottom of the ninth at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The team joined the American Association in 1890 as the St. Louis Brown Stockings after one year they became known as the Browns which is what they were called until the 1899 season when they took on the name the Perfectos. 1900 was the first year the team would take on the Cardinals name and from there they would forever be known as the St. Louis Cardinals.

Check out Stivetts' stats: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stiveja01.shtml

June 9, 1997: Mabry extends his hitting streak to 20

On June 9, 1997, with a single up the middle in the 7th, John Mabry extended his hitting streak to 20 games. The Cardinals outfielder picked up two rbi's on the hit and put the Cards on top 6-1 over the Padres in San Diego. The Redbirds waited until the 9th to inflict a little more damage and Mabry got in the action in that frame as well. He capped off the night with another rbi single then Mike Difelice picked up another single in the inning which brought Mabry across the plate for another Cardinals run, it was the final run of the 9-1 rout over the Friars. The streak ended the next time out but it was a huge turnaround for Mabry, just a few weeks earlier Tony LaRussa had to yank him for a pinch hitter because he was so lost at the plate. With a little help from his hitting coach George Hendrick he came out of the slump and caught fire. Mabry praised the coach for his advice and the coach praised Mabry for his work ethic. The streak came to an end in the next game but it was a remarkable run of baseball for him. I'm sure he learned lessons along the way that has helped him become the coach that he is today.

Here is a great article that was published when Mabry was named hitting coach, it has a lot about the about the streak, including the fact that he had 10 multi-hit games during that stretch: http://retrosimba.com/2012/11/05/george-hendrick-influenced-hitting-style-of-john-mabry/

June 8, 1980: The Whitey Herzog Era Begins

On June 8, 1980, Ken Boyer was told he would be relieved of his managerial duties after the first game of a doubleheader against the Expos in Montreal. This came on a on a day that Cardinals outfielder Bobby Bonds tied a National League record with six walks during the doubleheader. Once Boyer was relieved of his duties Jack Krol took the helm for the second game the Cardinals lost both contests but a new era of baseball was about to begin for the club. 1,100 miles away at Grant's Farm in St. Louis a press conference was held announcing that Dorrel "Whitey" Herzog was going to be the new manager of the team. The hiring had a historical impact on the team that will never be forgotten. His teams built on speed, defense and pitching ushered in the era of "Whitey Ball", they didn't hit a lot of home runs but they did  just about everything else to win ballgames. He led the club to a World Series Title in 1982 and won the National League Pennant in 1985 and 1987. The White Rat was a genius, he realized that Busch Stadium was built for speed and he built the perfect team to utilize the ballpark to their advantage.  He managed the club until 1990 in his time as skipper he managed the team to 822 wins, which is third on the all time list for Cardinals managers only Tony LaRussa and Red Schoendienst have more. The things that Herzog did with the Cardinals earned him baseball immortality, he was inducted into Cooperstown in 2010 and his #24 will never be worn by another Cardinal.