Ode to St.Louis Cardinal Baseball Championships
After a harrowing and highly contentious Presidential race further dividing a seismically fractured nation (where the acting Commander in Beef still refuses to relinquish his considerable appetite for power) – and with COVID raging throughout the land – I thought it was a good time for something lighter. Nothing better serves to distract many Americans from their “real world” grievances than the topic of sports and our national pastime.
Then again, this ode to the St. Louis Cardinals has the potential to cause angst among friends in places like Chicago, New York and Dallas. (I’m not sure any of my buddies from Big D will ever get the stench of losing the 2011 World Series out of their mouths when the Rangers had the lead and the Cardinals down to their last strike (twice) in Game 6. Indeed, I suspect that the word “Freese” there is akin to what “Bartman” was in Chicago or “Buckner” was in Boston before both cities excoriated their World Series’ demons. Have faith Ranger fans – it will come … eventually.)
Don’t worry- this will not be a history of St. Louis Cardinal baseball or all of its great players. That would take a James Michener-length novel (though for those wondering, 38 Hall of Famers have played for the Redbirds with 17 inducted specifically as Cardinals). Rather, this will be a (relatively) brief tribute to the organization’s remarkable and unique achievements in the World Series over the past century.
As anyone from the Lou with a sense of civic pride (and anyone who follows baseball seriously) knows, the St. Louis Cardinals have won 11 World Series titles. Not bad for a metropolitan area that is ranked 20th in population. That’s the most Championships of any team in National League history and eclipsed only by the most successful franchise in all of sports – the financially-blessed New York Yankees with their insane 27 World Series crowns. Moreover, in World Series competition against the powerhouse Yankees, the Cardinals are 3-2 – the only team with a winning record against them in the World Series that has played them more than once (the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and Florida Marlins each won the their only World Series against the Bronx Bombers).
This might be a good time to mention that the greatest player in World Series history – Yogi Berra of the Yankees – was born and raised right here in the Lou. Berra not only played in the most World Series games, he has the most World Series hits, is 2nd in runs scored (after Mickey Mantle) and 3rd in home runs (behind Mantle and Babe Ruth). Most incredibly, Yogi earned enough World Series rings to place a different one on every digit on both hands – the only player in history who can say that.
What is particularly special about the Cardinals’ championships is that they are spread out nicely over a century, rather than the result of short-term serendipity of a few great teams. Indeed, every St. Louisan born in the last century who has lived to age 25 has experienced the joy of at least one World Series crown in their lifetime.
Further, St. Louis fans have been treated to some of the most exciting World Series in history. Of the Cardinals eleven World Series Championships, a remarkable eight of them were won in a deciding Game 7, including their first crown in 1926. That Series ended in a miraculous fashion with the greatest player of all time, Babe Ruth, being thrown out trying to steal second base with his team down by one run in the 9th inning. It’s the only time in history the World Series has ended in that fashion. (Many may be shocked that Ruth, a larger than life figure with a belly to match and who reportedly ate hot dogs during the game, would attempt such madness. But the Babe was surprisingly a decent base stealer who swiped 123 bases in his career, including one earlier in that same series.)
The Cardinals have also lost three Game 7’s in the World Series – meaning that they have played in a total of eleven Game 7’s! The only team that can match that is naturally the Yankees, who have also played in eleven (but out of forty chances). The Yankees are 5-6 in those games; the Cardinals 8-3. So, the Cardinals are arguably the most clutch baseball franchise in history.
Game 7’s are often close and low scoring affairs but the Cardinals have the odd distinction of having won a Game 7 by the most lopsided score ever of 11-0 (in 1934 against Detroit, contributing to Tiger fans pelting Cardinals left fielder Joe Medwick with debris and even vegetables) and also having lost a Game 7 by that identical 11-0 margin (in 1985 to Kansas City, the day after umpire Don Denkinger blew a call at first base in the 9th inning that cost the Cardinals a 12th title.)
The American League has largely dominated the World Series throughout history, having won 66 and lost 50 of them. But not when the Cardinals are the opponent. Indeed, the Cardinals are one of only three National League teams (that have played in at least three) to have a winning record in the World Series (kudos also to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds). Incidentally, the Dodgers have the worst record in World Series history. Despite this year’s win and having now won 7 World Series – the fourth most of any team – they have managed to lose 14 of them! (And no, Clayton Kershaw cannot be blamed for all of that.)
Finally, the Cardinals produced the greatest pitcher in World Series history – the recently deceased Bob Gibson. Gibby pitched in the World Series in 1964, 1967 and 1968 – three games in each Series – against the offensive juggernaut Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers, respectively. He won seven of those nine games, including seven in a row. His career World Series stats include an ERA of 1.89, a WHIP of .889, and 92 strike outs in 81 innings (to go along with hitting two home runs himself). Perhaps most remarkably, he pitched a complete game in eight of his nine games- incredibly, six of them without the customary four day break. In his first World Series game in 1964 he only went eight innings, but he made up for that by hurling 10 innings in his next outing for the extra-inning victory. And in Game 7 he pitched a complete game victory on merely two days rest. His next six World Series games in 1967 and 1968 were all complete games.
To put this extraordinary feat into context and historical perspective no pitcher on either team in this year’s 2020 World Series threw even one complete game (indeed, no starting pitcher lasted more than 6 innings). I know the game has changed with most teams committed to multiple hard-throwing relievers who step in at the first hint of trouble (that plan didn’t work out so well for Tampa this year in Game 6 with Ian Snell looking Gibson-like). But that’s a recent change in strategy. Consider that from 1992 through 2014 (23 years!) not one American League pitcher threw a single complete game in the Fall Classic. Bob threw eight in a row!
So a big shout out to the local team and the historical significance of its many accomplishments! Don’t you feel a lot better now?
