April 23, 1999: Tatis + Grand Slam X 2 = Historic

     On April 23, 1999, Fernando Tatis became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to hit two grand slams in one inning as he led the way in an 11 run outburst during the third inning of a 12-5 win over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The Birds found themselves trailing 2-0 going into that third frame before Tatis earned himself a spot in the record books. Both grand slams came off of pitches delivered by Chan Ho Park. The first came on a 2-0 pitch with no outs, and the second came with two outs on a 3-2 pitch that instantly made history as it sailed over the left field wall.

Watch the historic moment here: http://m.mlb.com/video/v3297525/042399-tatis-hits-two-grand-slams-in-one-inning

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN199904230.shtml

April 22, 1925: The Rickeymen Pummel The Reds In The Home Opener

      On April 22, 1925, the Cardinals kicked off their home schedule with a 12-3 beatdown of the Cincinnati Reds at Sportsman's Park. The boys came out swinging early, plating 11 runs on 12 hits in the first inning. 11 of the 12 hits were singles, and the other was a double. The Mayor of St. Louis Victor Miller had been sworn in the day before, and was on hand to throw out the first pitch before the offensive explosion at the ballpark. Every Cardinals batter picked up a hit with rightfielder Wattie Holm leading the Cardinal hit parade with three, while third baseman Les Bell led the team in ribbies with three.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN192504220.shtml

     I got a kick out of how the newspaper article referred to the team as "The Rickeymen" in reference to manager Branch Rickey. He managed the club for 38 games in '25 before Rogers Hornsby took over as skipper. Rickey spent seven years as the Redbirds skipper before the change was made. His record 458-485. Despite the mediocre managerial record, Rickey was an instrumental part of building the Cardinals into a Championship caliber club.

April 21, 1991: Watch Out Daulton... Here Comes Ray!!!

     On April 21, 1991, the Cardinals prevailed 7-6 over the Philadelphia Phillies in 10 innings at Busch. The winning run scored in a rather untraditional way when Ray Lankford scored from second on a groundout off the bat of Gerald Perry. When Perry hit the ball Lankford was off and running, he took the turn at third, then came barreling into Darren Daulton who could not hold onto the ball at the plate. The Cardinals found themselves trailing 6-1 in the contest before scoring four runs in the seventh, tying it in the ninth, then winning it on the dramatic play at the plate in the tenth.

You can watch the play here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0m1f_sT4c

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN199104210.shtml 

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