April 27, 1933: The Bats Come Alive In The Ninth

     On April 27, 1933, the Cardinals found themselves trailing the Cincinnati Reds 2-0 headed into the bottom of the ninth, before the bats came alive and the team scored 3 runs on their way to victory. Dizzy Dean gave the Birds eight strong innings of 4-hit ball, but was victimized by errors that put the team in the 2-0 hole. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinals skipper Gabby Street called on Tex Carleton to pinch hit for Dean. Carleton did not do any damage with his bat, but he did pitch a scoreless ninth and would go on to earn the W.  Larry Benton, who had gotten the start for the Reds had pitched a gem of his own, until he saw it all unravel in the ninth. Benton gave up consecutive singles to Ripper Collins, Rogers Hornsby, and Ducky Medwick before the Reds skipper Donie Bush took the ball out of his hands. He called on Benny Frey to put the fire out, however, Frey did not bring a big enough bucket of water, or he might have just brought a bucket and forgot the water altogether. The reliever proceeded to give up a single to Pepper Martin to close the Cardinals gap to 2-1, then he issued a free pass to the Redbirds catcher Jimmie Wilson that tied it up. Street called on Ethan Allen to pinch hit for Carleton, and Allen did his job by hitting a sac fly that brought the winning run across the plate.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN193304270.shtml

April 26, 1969: The Birds Bury The Phillies With a Six Run Ninth

     On April 26, 1969, tied 4-4 with two outs in the top of the ninth at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, the Cardinals exploded for 6 runs on their way to a 10-4 victory over the Phillies. The huge inning was sparked by a solo shot by Lou Brock. The long ball was followed by singles off the bats of Curt Flood and Bill White, then the Moon Man Mike Shannon added to the lead with an RBI single that brought Flood trotting into score the sixth Cardinals run of the contest. The hit parade was not done just yet. Vada Pinson singled to load the bases, then Tim McCarver clear'em all with a Grand Slam that gave the Cardinals the commanding 10-4 lead. The Birds were down 3-1 earlier in the contest before Shannon connected on a three run shot in the eighth that gave them 4-3 edge. The lead was short lived though, because in the bottom of the eighth Richie Allen parked one over the wall to tie it. Allen's homer simply set up for an exciting finish by the Cards who called in Joe Hoerner after the offensive explosion to close out the game. Hoerner made quick work of the Phillies with a 1-2-3 inning that added a Big Red W to the win column.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI196904260.shtml

April 25, 1951: Poholsky Earns His First W

     On April 25, 1951, rookie hurler Tom Poholsky earned his first major league win in convincing fashion by allowing just two hits in a 4-0 victory over the Pirates at Sportsman's Park. The two hits allowed by the young righty were both singles, before the kid set down the last 19 men he faced. Peanut's Lowery, Don Richmond, and Solly Hemus all had an RBI in the contest, as well as Enos Slaughter who picked up the biggest ribbie of the game with a solo shot in the sixth inning. The Cardinals organization had high hopes for Poholsky as he had just came up from Rochester as a highly touted prospect. However, his career was not what you would call a storybook as he posted a 30-45 record over 5 seasons with the Birds, before being shipped to the Cubs via trade. While there is no storybook ending to the career of Tom Poholsky, there was a storybook ending on that day at Sportsman's Park as he hurled his way into the rich history of Cardinals baseball.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN195104250.shtml

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Poholsky called St. Louis home until he passed away in 2001. You can check out his stats here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/poholto01.shtml

April 24, 1982: 12 Straight Wins For The Birds

     On April 24, 1982, the Cardinals rattled off their twelfth consecutive win with a 7-4 victory over the Phillies in Philadelphia. Much to the dismay of Cardinal Nation, the streak came to an end the next day with former Redbird and future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton leading Philadelphia to an 8-4 victory. The 12 game winning streak fell just two short of the franchise record of 14 that had been set by Dizzy Dean and the Gashouse Gang in '34, but much like the Gashouse Gang, the '82 gang went onto win the World Series.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI198204240.shtml

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