April 20, 1977: Simba Leads The Birds To Victory

     On April 20, 1977, Ted Simmons drove in all four runs of a 4-2 Cardinals victory over the New York Mets at Busch Stadium.  Simba hit a three run shot in the sixth, then added a ribbie with a single in the eighth. Simmons led the team in homeruns in '77 with 21. He was selected to the All Star game, carried a .318 average on the season, and finished 9th in MVP voting.

   






     I have recently seen the voting for the Cardinals Hall of Fame, and I can tell you this: Simba is a no brainer. He not only belongs in the Cardinals Hall of Fame, he belongs in Cooperstown.



Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN197704200.shtml

April 19, 1986: Tim Conroy Draws a Game Winning Walk In The 17th

     On April 19, 1986, the Cardinals took down the Expos 9-6 in a 17-inning marathon in Montreal.  The Expos looked like they were going to sail to victory until the Birds tied it up 4-4 in the ninth. Each team scored in the thirteenth and fourteenth innings to keep the contest going, before an unlikely hero put the Cardinals up for good in the seventeenth. The hero was reliever Tim Conroy, who came to the plate with the bases loaded, worked a walk, and forced in Terry Pendleton to give the Cardinals a 7-6 lead. It was Conroy's first major league at-bat, who had been in the big leagues for 8 seasons up to that point. Willie McGee followed Conroy with a two-run double for a little insurance, before Conroy set down the side in order to secure the win. 5 hours and 22 minutes after the game began the Cardinals were victorious.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MON/MON198604190.shtml

April 18, 1950: The First Ever Opening Day Night Game Happens In The Lou

     On April 18, 1950, the first ever Opening Day night game was played at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. A crowd of 20,871 witness the historic occasion, and they watched the hometown Cardinals walk away with a 4-2 victory. The contest took just 1 hour and 49 minutes with Gerry Staley pitching the complete game for the Redbirds. Red Schoendienst and Stan "The Man" Musial homered in the contest.

     Schoendienst  was the second man up in the bottom half of the first and he gave the Birds a quick lead with a solo shot that landed on the roof in right field. Musial added to the Redbirds lead with a solo shot of his own to lead off the third, while Staley was in cruise control on the mound. The Cardinals hurler only gave up two hits through the first five innings before running into a hiccup of a sixth inning. After putting the first two men on, the Bucs first baseman Johnny tied it up with a two-rbi single. The Birds would bounce right back in the bottom of the frame with Joe Garagiola coming up with a big rbi that gave the Cards a 3-2 lead.

     In the top of the seventh Staley put the first two men on, and momentarily looked like he might be in a bit of trouble. Then he set the next three batters down in order. Enos Slaughter added another run with a ribbie in the bottom of the frame, and from there Staley set the next nine batters down in a row to secure the complete game victory.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN195004180.shtml

April 17, 1934: Dizzy and The Gang Take Down The Pirates on Opening Day

     On April 17, 1934, with 7,500 fans in the stands at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis the Cardinals opened the season with a 7-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game was marked by a dominating performance by Dizzy Dean who locked down his first of 30 wins for the club who would go onto win the World Series later that same year.

     The Bucs called on Heine Meine to start the Opening Day contest. Meine, a native St. Louisan was roughed up early and often. In the second inning the Birds rocked out three hits, which included a double by Pepper Martin on the way to scoring two runs.

     The Bucs threatened in the third, but Dizzy was able to work around a two-out bases loaded jam by getting future Hall of Famer Pie Traynor to ground out to second. With the threat eliminated the Cardinals bats went back to work in the bottom of third. Martin picked up his second double of the day in the frame, and two batters later Ducky Medwick parked one in the seats to extend the lead to 4-0. Medwick finished the day 3 for 4 with the bomb and two singles.

      The Pirates only run came in the top of the fourth after Arky Vaughan led the inning off with a double. After being moved over to third on an out by Gus Suhr, Cookie Lavagetto hit a sacrifice fly that brought Vaughan trotting in. It was all they were going to get out of Dean. In the bottom of the inning Waite Hoyt took over pitching duties for the Bucs and he didn't have a lot of luck either as the Cardinals bats were alive and well. Hoyt worked one scoreless inning, before being tagged for three runs in the fifth to extend the Redbirds lead to 7-1. Hoyt worked a scoreless sixth before handing the ball over to Ralph Birkofer who was able to keep the Birds off the board. However, the damage had been done, and behind the complete game effort of Dean the Cardinals walked away victorious.

     That 1934 campaign was a legendary season for Dizzy Dean. He posted a 30-7 record along with a 2.66 earned run average. He tossed 311 2/3 innings over 50 games. Most of them were starts, however, Dean also picked up seven saves in 16 relief appearances. He led the majors with 195 strikeouts, 24 complete games, and took home the National League MVP award. The only pitcher to record 30 or more wins since Dean's 1934 season was Denny McLain who went 31-6 in 1968. Dean's '34 season is one that will never be forgotten. He did more than win 30 games. He became a Champion, and he was a guiding force on a team that affectionately became known as the Gashouse Gang.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN193404170.shtml

April 16, 1957: The Cardinals Blowout The Reds On Opening Day

     On April 16, 1957, the Cardinals opened the season up by beating the Reds 13-4 in Cincinnati. It was the Reds worst Opening Day loss since 1911 when the Pirates blew them out with a 14-0 rout. The Birds had a variety of heroes in the contest but one stood above the rest and he wore the number 6 on his back. Musial went 4 for 4 with two singles and two doubles, and two ribbies. Al Dark rocked out three hits, Wally Moon hit a "moon shot", rookie Bobby Smith homered, Del Ennis knocked in three runs, and Herm Wehmeier went the distance to earn the complete game victory. This was the 775th consecutive game played for Musial who reached 895 before sitting out a game in August of that same year. That streak stands as the eighth best on the all time list.

Another Cardinals batter that had success that day was catcher Hal Smith who went 2 for 5 with an RBI. Smith passed away last Saturday, so I dedicate this fact to him in memoriam. Smith spent six years with the Redbirds. He represented the club in the All Star game in '57 then again in '59. A health condition forced him to retire early. However, he was able to live a long life and will be remembered by many. You can read about his life here: http://halsmithcards.com/ There are several videos of Smith on the site as well. I think this one is a true treasure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmSLCGovII

April 15, 1947: Jackie Opens The Door

     On April 15, 1947, with 25,623 Dodgers fan in attendance at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to join the ranks of Major League Baseball. In his first regular season contest Robinson went 0 for 3, but did work the count for a walk which led to a run in the 5-3 Opening Day victory over the Braves. The numbers on the scorecard did not matter as much as the long lasting impact that Robinson would have on sports and society as a whole. Robinson endured and overcame racism on his way to becoming a legend. He averaged .311 over his ten years in the big leagues, won the batting title and the National League MVP in 1949, and became World Series Champion in 1955.

     Robinson helped open a door that had been closed for more than 60 years, and countless great players have been able to walk through that door. One of those players was Bob Gibson. Gibson made his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 15, 1959; 12 years to the day that Robinson made his major league debut. The 23-year-old Gibson was facing Robinson's former club that had relocated to Los Angeles. Gibson came in relief at the Coliseum in L.A. and gave up a home run to 3rd baseman Jim Baxes. That would give him the distinction of being the first future Hall of Famer to serve up a long ball to the first batter he faced. The Cardinals fell to the Dodgers 5-0 in that contest, however, a storied career  had just begun. Like Robinson, Gibson would become a legend.

April 14, 1914: Chief Wilson Leads The Birds To Victory

     On April 14, 1914, in front of 7,500 fans at Robison Field in St. Louis, the Cardinals opened up the season with a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game winning run came in the bottom of the ninth when Chief Wilson hit a walkoff single that scored Art Butler from third base. Wilson was making his debut with the club that day. He had spent the first six years in Pittsburgh before a trade landed him in St. Louis. Wilson is best known for setting the still standing record for triples in a season with 36, which is something he accomplished in 1912. When he joined the Cardinals in 1914, his numbers were in decline. Despite that fact he still rocked out 12 triples that season, which was good for 2nd best in the National League. Wilson spent three seasons with the Cardinals before his days in the majors came to an end after the 1916 season.

     The game was a well fought battle on both ends. Babe Adams toed the rubber for the Buccos, while Dan Griner got the call for the Birds. Adams was tagged for six hits, and Griner gave up just five. According to the Pittsburgh Press the following day Griner got hit hard, but the Cardinals defense came up big behind him. The Cards grabbed a run in the first inning, before Pittsburgh grabbed their only run of the contest, that came on an error when Cardinals outfielder Cozy Dolan overthrew his target in the second inning. What should have been a single off the bat of Ed Konetchy (who was part of the Wilson deal) ended with the former Cardinal at third base. The Bucs second baseman Jim Viox then knocked Konetchy in with a double to right. Since the error put Konetchy in position to score the run was not charged to Griner who would go on to earn a complete game shutout.

     With the score knotted at 1 the Birds went to work in the bottom of the ninth. Miller Huggins picked up a base hit to lead things off, before Lee Magee flied out.  The Cardinals shortstop Art Butler come to the plate hoping to win it, but ended up hitting into a fielders choice that retired Huggins. However, Butler did some damage on the basepaths and stole second base to set the table for Wilson who laced one right up the middle that brought Butler into score. The Birds got the season started the right way.

     The 1914 season in Cardinal Nation was one in which the club surprised the National League. The team had been cellar dwellers in 1913 as they had posted a National League worst 51-99 record. In 1914 they went 81-72 and were in the thick of the pennant race until late August.  The team was still a number of years off when it came to bringing postseason glory to the fans in St. Louis, however, they were simply writing the early chapters for what has become one of the greatest history books that baseball has ever seen.

Read about the life and career of Chief Wilson here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ed5711f8

You can view Wilson's career numbers here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsoch01.shtml