October 30, 1929: Gabby Street Gets The Job

On October 30, 1929, Gabby Street was named manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. The former Washington Senators catcher had joined the Cardinals coaching staff that season and after several changes at the helm, Street was named the skipper. The '29 season was a rough one for the Birds who had been swept out of the '28 World Series which led team owner Sam Breadon to firing Bill McKechnie despite the fact he had guided the club to a pennant. The choice that Breadon made was not necessarily a great one as it put the club in disarray, Billy Southworth took over at the beginning of  the '29 season but he couldn't keep the owner happy and by July, Breadon decided to bring McKechnie back. It didn't last. Before the season came to an end McKechnie was out and Street took over as an interim manager for the last few games of the campaign. After the season ended and Street got the job full time he began to help get the Cardinals back on track. He guided them to the National League Pennant in 1930 and  a World Series title in 1931. His run as Cardinals skipper came to an end midway through the '33 season after the team fell 10 games under .500 much to the owner's dismay. While Street's run as manager was a short one, he had helped the team refocus and accomplished a lot in that short span. Street's given name was Charles, but his gift of gab earned him a nickname that stuck with him for a lifetime. Before he became a coach he was the man who caught the great Walter Johnson in Washington. After his stint with the Birds he managed for a few seasons in the American Association then was hired on to manage the St.Louis Browns in 1938. The Browns just didn't have the talent for any manager to turn them into a contender and after one year Street returned to the Cardinals as a broadcaster. He would sit in the broadcast booth along side Harry Caray where the fans would listen to his stories of yesteryear while they were calling ballgames.

October 28, 2011: What a Ride!!! What a Year!!!

On October 28, 2011, with a 6-2 win in Game 7 of the World Series, the Cardinals won the 11th title in franchise history. Just one day earlier they survived Game 6 due to David Freese's late inning heroics. Twice in that fateful Game 6 the Texas Rangers were one strike away from a World Series Title, and lightning struck twice in the form of David Freese. First he tied it in the ninth with a triple, then he hit a walkoff shot that gave the Birds a 10-9 victory in the eleventh. The Game 6 victory was something you would only expect to see in a movie that probably had me on the edge of a heart attack multiple times. After the jubilation of victory passed the fact was they needed one more win to call themselves World Champions. With it all on the line Chris Carpenter made his third start of the series on three days rest and after rough first inning he settled down and turned in a performance that would help bring the club another ring. Carp gave up the only two Texas runs of the game in that first when Josh Hamilton and Michael Young connected on back-to-back RBI doubles. Things didn't go any better for the Rangers starter Matt Harrison, David Freese's hot bat tied the ballgame with a two RBI double in the bottom of the first. From there Carpenter found his groove while Harrison served up a solo shot to Allen Craig that gave the Cards a 3-2 lead and there was no looking back. The Rangers bullpen added to the Cardinals score with a bases loaded walk in the fifth, then a it batsmen one batter later to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead. Yadi capped the scoring off with an RBI single in the seventh as the Cardinals bullpen held the Rangers in check before Jason Motte took over in the ninth. Motte made quick work of the Rangers, he got Nelson Cruz to flyout, retired Mike Napoli on a grounder, and finished it off with a David Murphy fly ball that landed in the glove of Allen Craig. As Yadi rejoiced to The God of Baseball Heaven, the Cardinals were World Champions.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN201110280.shtml

October 27, 2006: The Cardinals Win Their 10th Championship

On October 27, 2006, St. Louis celebrated the first World Championship since 1982 with a 4-2 Cardinals victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the Fall Classic. The Tigers sent Justin Verlander to the hill while the Birds countered with Jeff Weaver and once again the Tigers rookie pitcher struggled  against the Cardinals. He was wild from the start, he threw two wild pitches in the first and barely escaped a bases loaded jam in the first. A familiar hero by the name of David Eckstein delivered in the second with a two out RBI single that put the Birds up 1-0. On the other side of the diamond, Weaver was looking strong. He had four strikeouts through three innings before a defensive miscue and a pitch to Sean Casey gave the Tigers a 2-1 advantaged in the fourth.  Weaver started that fourth inning with a quick out before Chris Duncan dropped a fly ball off the bat of Magglio Ordonez, the next pitch from Weaver was launched into the right field seats by Casey. The 2-1 lead for the Tigers was short lived, in the bottom of that fourth inning the Cardinals answered right back. Yadier Molina and So Taguchi picked up back to back one out singles before Weaver came to the plate hoping to move them over with a bunt. Weaver laid it down and Verlander fielded it, instead of going to first base for the sure out Verlander tried to get the lead runner and threw the ball away which led to Molina scoring the tying run, one batter later David Eckstein knocked Taguchi in with a groundout and the Birds were up 3-2. Verlander was able to settle down and give his club 7 innings but the damage had been done. The Birds added a little insurance in the eighth, Tigers reliever Fernando Rodney Eckstein gave up a single to Eckstein to lead off the inning, then walked Preston Wilson before getting the next two men out. Scott Rolen made Rodney pay for his mistakes with a single into right that brought Ecsktein into score the fourth Cardinals run. Weaver pitched a 1-2-3 eighth before handing the ball over to Adam Wainwright to close it out. Waino made it a little interesting, the first batter worked the count full before grounding out. The next man up, Sean Casey also worked the count full but he delivered with a double that brought the tying run to the dish. After getting Ivan Rodriguez to groundout Wainwright walked Placido Polanco. With men at first and third and two out Brandon Inge came to the plate with Detroit's season on the line, Waino did't toy around with him, Inge fell behind 0-2 then fired in the third strike that Inge swung but missed on. The Cardinals were World Champions for the first time in 24 years. It was an unlikely run by a team that just wouldn't give up. They had lost 10 of their last 14 regular season games and literally backed into the playoffs. Once the playoffs start the regular season numbers just don't matter, everyone that is in starts with 0 wins and 0 losses. Tony LaRussa's team had belief in themselves that they could compete with anyone and it was something they did on the way to the championship. They never gave up.

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN200610270.shtml

October 26, 2006: The Cards Move One Step Closer To a Title

October 26, 2006,  in front of more than 46,000 fans at Busch, the Cardinals moved one step closer to a World Championship with a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 4 of the Fall Classic. The game didn't look like it was going the Cardinals way early on, Sean Casey took Jeff Suppan deep in the 2nd that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Casey came up big again in the third with a two out RBI single then Ivan Rodriguez followed it up with an RBI of his own. With the score now 3-0, the Cardinals needed to get to work if they wanted to stop the Tigers from evening the series at two games apiece. To work they went. In the bottom of the third, David Eckstein delivered with a two out RBI double off of Jeremy Bonderman that scored Aaron Miles to put the Birds were on the board. They continued to peck away at the lead in fourth, the Tigers lead shrank to 3-2 when Yadi connected with a 2 out double that brought Scott Rolen into score. The score stayed the same until the seventh, Eckstein began the inning with a double, then pinch hitter So Taguchi went to the dish with a sacrifice bunt in mind, he laid it down perfectly, while Eckstein was on his way to third, Fernando Rodney was airmailing it over Placido Polanco's head at first. What should have been a simple sacrifice, turned into an E1, and a tied ballgame as Eckstein capitalized on the error. Three batters later Preston Wilson put the Birds in front with a two out RBI single and just like that the score was 4-3 Cards. The lead didn't last long, Braden Looper got into a bit of trouble in the top of the eighth, he allowed a leadoff double to Ivan Rodriguez, then Polanco moved him over on a groundout. The Cardinals skipper, Tony LaRussa then went to his young rookie Adam Wainwright who had suddenly found himself closing out games with the hopes of a Championship on the line. Unfortunately for Waino he couldn't keep Rodriguez from scoring, Brandon Inge tagged the Cardinals hurler for a double that tied the game which just set the table for someone that had been tearing it up all night long. Jim Leyland sent Joel Zumaya out to pitch the bottom of the eighth, he led the inning off with a walk to Yadi, the Cardinals backstop was eliminated from the basepaths on a fielder's choice off the bat of Aaron Miles. Zumaya got his second out of the frame with a strikeout of Juan Encarnacion but not before a wild pitch put Miles at second base. Then came David Eckstein, he had done damage all night long and he wasn't done just yet, the scraptastic shortstop came up with his fourth hit and third double of the game that brought Miles into score what proved to be the game winner. Waino put the exclamation point on it with a 1-2-3 frame and the Birds were one win away from the first title the team had seen since 1982.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN200610260.shtml

October 24, 2006: Carpenter Dominates Game 3 of The Fall Classic

On October 24, 2006, the first ever World Series game was played at the new Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis the Cardinals blanked the Tigers 5-0. The Cardinals had split the first two games in Detroit and were looking to take a 2-1 lead in the series with Chris Carpenter making his first ever World Series start in Game 3. It was something they would accomplish, the Cardinals hurler was flatout dealing while the offense capitalized on a double by Jim Edmonds in the fourth that scored two runs. Then a throwing error by pitcher Joel Zumaya in the seventh led to two more runs before a wild pitch by Zach Miner led to the fifth Cardinal run of the ballgame. The story of the day was Carpenter, he allowed just three hits over 8 innings of work. There was a minor scare in the seventh, after Placido Polanco lined out to Albert Pujols, Carp came off the mound looking like he might have hurt his hand. The entire training staff gathered around him while Josh Kinney began to warmup at a rapid rate. Minutes later Carp was right back to work, he set down batter after batter as the Cardinals were on their way to a very important victory. He got a standing ovation when he came out to bat in the eighth as the fans knew they had witnessed one of the best at his best. It was a long eighth inning for the Redbirds which led to Braden Looper finishing off the ninth with three quick outs. It was a masterful performance by Carpenter, he not only held the dangerous Tigers lineup to three hits, he also struck out 6, and walked no one, while helping move the Cardinals one step closer to a championship.

Check out the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN200610240.shtml

October 23, 1995: The LaRussa Era Begins In St. Louis

On October 23, 1995, it was announced that Tony LaRussa would become the 48th manager in the history of the St. Louis Cardinals organization. The former skipper of the Chicago White Sox and Oakland A's came to St. Louis with high expectations as he took the number 10 to signify his desire to bring the Cardinals their 10th Championship title in franchise history. He also expressed his hope to see the club surpass the 3 million in attendance number by fielding a good product that the fans in St. Louis would be proud of. The team drew 3 million+ during 13 of 16 years with  LaRussa at the helm. He was the guiding force to 8 Division Titles, 3 National League Pennants, and 2 World Series Championships. Over 16 years the skipper became the winningest manager in franchise history with 1,408 victories while wearing the birds on the bat across his chest. After the 2011 Championship, LaRussa went out on top. He had reached expectations then exceeded them after his long tenure with the Birds. He will forever be remembered for being the captain of the ship that could boast the most win during the 2000s with 913 in the decade, and the most postseason wins of any ball club in the major leagues from 1996 to 2011 with 33. He not only retired as the winningest manager of the Cardinals, his 2,728 managerial wins is good for third on the all time list, only John McGraw's 2,763 and Connie Mack's 3,731 stand before him. Following his retirement the Cardinals retired his #10 as he is among the greatest to ever wear a St. Louis Cardinals uniform.

Check out the all time list of Cardinals managers: http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/stl/history/managers.jsp

October 22, 2011: Albert Joins The Babe and Mr. October

On October 22, 2011, in a 16-7 Cardinals win in Game 3 of the World Series, Albert Pujols became just the third player in the history of the game to hit three bombs in one World Series contest. The Cardinals slugger went 5 for 6 with six runs batted in and tied Paul Molitor for most hits in a World Series contest. He also set a record for total bases with 14, as well as becoming the first player in World Series history to pick up a hit in four consecutive innings. Albert's bat had been quiet up to that point in the series then it came alive with bombtastic results. The Cardinals jumped in front early after Allen Craig went yard in the first, they tacked on 4 more in the fifth and it was looking like it was going to be all Cardinals in this one. Then, Kyle Lohse served up a solo shot to Michael Young in the fourth, and two batters later Nelson Cruz connected with a two-run shot that shrank the Cardinals lead to 5-3. The Cardinals answered right back in the fifth, Pujols led the inning off with a single then Rangers reliever Scott Feldman issue back-to-back walks that would come back to haunt him. Following the walks David Freese came up with a productive groundout that brought Pujols into score the sixth Cardinal run before a clutch double by Yadier Molina opened the lead up to 8-3. That Rangers team refused to go down without a fight, they scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to get within two runs of tying the ballgame only to have Pujols crush their rally with a three run bomb in the sixth. Molina added another RBI to his total before the inning ended to give the Cardinals a commanding 12-6 lead. The battering of the baseball wasn't over just yet. Albert went yard once again in the top of the seventh, this time it was a two-run bomb that opened the lead up to 14-6. Mike Napoli knocked in the last Rangers run of the day in the bottom of that inning. While the Rangers were done scoring the Cardinals had a couple more in the tank. Yadi capped off his day at the plate by knocking in Daniel Descalso in the eighth, then Pujols joined a very short list of legendary men when he rocked his third solo shot over the wall in the ninth that gave the Birds the 16-7 lead. Only Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson had hit three home runs in a World Series contest and Babe Ruth did it twice against your very own St. Louis Cardinals. The first time Ruth did it was during the 1926 Series, then the second time was during the 1928 series. Jackson joined Ruth in 1977, it would take 36 years for Pujols to join the club. Just one year later Pablo Sandoval added himself to that list with a 3 home run performance in Game 1 of the 2012 Fall Classic.

Watch the historic performance here: http://wapc.mlb.com/play?content_id=19939895

Here's the box score: http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2011_WS.shtml