July 27, 1983: The Cardinals Rob The Basepaths

On July 27, 1983, no base was safe at Busch Stadium, as the Cardinals went on a bag stealing spree in a 7-6 win over the Giants. The team stole 9 bags on their way to the hard fought victory, Lonnie Smith led the charge with 3 steals. Ken Obkerfell and Willie McGee each swiped two. Bill Lyons and David Green each stole a base to cap off the base robbery. The game was battle throughout, the Cardinals had a 3-0 lead until the Giants put 5 runs on the board in the top of the sixth. The Birds took the lead back with 3 runs in the bottom half of the inning then San Fran came back with a run in the top of the seventh.With the score 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth David Green started the winning Redbird rally as he legged out an infield hit to leadoff the inning. Green stole second then moved over to third on a sac fly by George Kendrick. Tommy Herr knocked Green in with a sacrifice fly that proved to be the game winner as Bruce Sutter knocked the Giants down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth. It was a wild day at the ole ballpark. When interviewed after the game Whitey Herzog said  "Its amazing. That calls for a cold one." I'm sure a few frosty ones were crackin in the Cardinal clubhouse after that great win at Buschhhhhhhhh.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198307270.shtml

July 26, 1939: Sunkel Two Hits The Giants In St. Louis

On July 26, 1939, Tom Sunkel pitched a two hit gem as the Cardinals smoked the New York Giants 10-0 at Sportsman's Park. Sunkel carried a no hitter into the eighth before Tom Hafey broke it up with a one out single, Billy Jurges added another hit in the ninth before Sunkel put them away. It was the first time in Sunkel's career he went the distance in a game and it proved to be his only shutout in a Cardinals uniform. Sunkel's only full season in St. Louis came in that '39 season, he posted a 4-4 record and in the grand scheme he was one of those guys that just passed on through. He pitched a few years with the Giants and a year with Brooklyn before his days in the big leagues came to an end. Although his career record was just 9-15, it was truly remarkable that he even made it to the big leagues. When he was four years old he was shot in the left eye by a toy gun that left him blind in that eye. He overcame the handicap and found himself pitching for the Cardinals in August of 1937, while his career was short lived and by no means Cooperstown worthy the fact he reached that level was truly remarkable.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN193907260.shtml

July 25, 1969: Gibby Gets It Done

On July 25, 1969, the Cardinals took down the Giants 2-1 in thirteen innings at Busch Stadium. The game had instant classic written all over it with two future hall of famers squaring off in what was sure to be a great pitching duel. The Cards sent Bob Gibson to the mound while the Giants countered with Gaylord Perry, both pitchers gave up a run in the first then locked into a true battle that would lead to extra frames. Perry struck out 9 men before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the thirteenth. Gibby picked up his 11th K of the day when he struck that pinch hitter out, then finished off that half of inning with a quick flyball out. While the Giants skipper Clyde King chose to pinch hit for his ace, Red Schoendienst chose to let his ace hit for himself and it paid off. Gibson led the top of the thirteenth off with a single, then found himself on second after a Frank Linzy wild pitch. Phil Gagliano singled moving Gibby over to third then Curt Flood picked up the game winning rbi with a single that brought Gibson trotting across the plate. It was one of those days that the Cardinals hurler got the job done in more ways than one.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN196907250.shtml

July 24, 1949: Stan The Man Hits For The Cycle In Brooklyn

On July 24, 1949, just one day after the Cardinals pulled off a dramatic ninth inning rally, Stan The Man Musial hit for the cycle in a 14-1 rout of the Dodgers in Brooklyn. Musial started his day with a first inning triple off of Don Newcombe, then followed it up with a single off of Carl Erskine in the third. Musial took Erskine deep in the fifth then completed the cycle with a double against him in the seventh. Erskine chose to walk The Man in the ninth as the Cardinals cruised to an easy victory over Dem Bums in Brooklyn. Stan earned the nickname "The Man" from those Dodgers fans in Brooklyn, in 22 games at Ebbets Field in '48 and '49 Musial carried a .531 average on 43 hits, 11 of those hits were doubles, 5 were triples, and 8 of them were home runs. It was said the fans in Brooklyn would see him walking to the plate they would say "Uh oh, here comes the man again. Here comes The Man."

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194907240.shtml

The artwork was done by Bob Peak, you can find several autographed copies of it on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html? _trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=Stan+Musial+Bob+Peak&_sacat=0&_from=R40

July 23, 1949: The Cards Refuse To Lose In Brooklyn

On July 23, 1949, the Cardinals found themselves one strike away from defeat twice before scoring two runs on their way to beating the Dodgers 5-4 in Brooklyn. With 2 outs in the top of the ninth and Stan The Man on third, Lou Klein worked the count full before reaching first base on a walk. Marty Marion followed that up by breaking out of an 0 for 22 slump with a game tying single that advanced Klein to third. One batter later Joe Garagiola put the Redbirds on top with another single that scored Klein. Ted Wilks shut the door in the bottom of the ninth to secure the Redbird W as the Cardinals refused to lose in Brooklyn.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO194907230.shtml

July 22, 1913: Sallee Steals Home

On July 22, 1913, Slim Sallee stole home and pitched a complete game in a 3-1 win over the Dodgers in Brooklyn. To this day no other Cardinal pitcher has stolen home plate. Sallee was a bright spot for the Cardinals in the 1913 season, he won 19 games for the club that would only record 51 wins on the year.

Slim Sallee was a pretty interesting guy. Several times during his career he would go missing for days at a time. One of those times they found out he was serving as a deckhand on a boat that traveled between St. Louis and Memphis. Read more about him here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f5ef8e5d

July 21,1985: Braun's Two Run Shot In The tenth Wins It For The Birds

On July 21, 1985, Steve Braun's pinch hit home run off of Tom Neidenfuer in the top of the tenth led the Cardinals to a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The Cards put two runs on the board in the first. Then the Dodgers came back with a run of their own in the second, from there zeros were posted across the scoreboard until the eigth when Steve Sax knotted things up with an rbi single. With the score tied 2-2 and headed into extras both teams were looking for a hero but only one team would have one and that would be the Cardinals. The tenth inning started with a double by Terry Pendleton, then a flyout by Darrell Porter before Braun was called into pinch ht for Jeff Lahti, Lahti had bailed the Birds out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth that put the Cardinals in a position to win. The 37 year old Braun came to the plate with Pendelton just hoping for a single out of the pinch hitter who was just 3 for 21 off the bench that season, his wish was granted and then some, as Braun parked it over the right field wall to give the Cardinals the lead. The Dodgers didn't lay down in the bottom of the tenth Ricky Horton leaded the bases before Bob Forsch picked up the final out of the contest. When interviewed after the game Braun said "It was a good time to hit one." he went onto say "We're in first place, if we're going to stay there we're going to have to use all 25 guys." Braun was nothing more than a bench guy while he was with the Cardinals but his words ring true, every man that sits on a major league bench is there for a reason. It was Braun's only home run of that '85 season, it was a huge one, it snapped a 3 game losing streak and sparked a 6 game winning streak as the Cardinals finished off July strong and would go onto win the National League East by 3 games, then knocked the Dodgers off again on their way to another World Series.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN198507210.shtml