|
|
|
A few columns ago I wrote about my top 10 favorite sports movies, lines from sports movies, etc... This time around I thought I'd do something similar.
How about my top 10 postseason moments in St. Louis Cardinals history. Take notice that I said "my" top 10 postseason moments. That means that it'll be moments that have actually happened while I've been alive. So that will narrow it down to this list only including moments from 1982 to the present time.
Here we go...
#10... The curveball that Adam Wainwright threw to Carlos Beltran to end the 2006 National League Championship series and sent the Cardinals to the World Series. I've never seen a better curveball thrown. Beltran couldn't do anything but what that pitch. You know how they say a good curveball can make a hitters knees buckle. Go take a look a Beltran when Wainwright threw the pitch.
#9... Yadier Molina's home run that gave the Cardinals the lead in the same game. Molina isn't know as a power hitter. But that blast was monumental. It gave the Cardinals all the momentum, and it came from a very unlikely source. In short, it finished off the New York Mets and sent them packing.
#8... Albert Pujols hitting a Brad Lidge pitch about 500 feet to send the 2005 NLCS back to St. Louis. Sure, the Astros wound up winning the series. But the home run Pujols hit was epic. Lidge hung a slider and Pujols didn't miss it. The blast did so much damage to Lidge's psyche that he's never really been the same since.
#7... Jim Edmonds game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS. The Houston Astros were winning the series, 3-2, as it returned to St. Louis. It was a must-win for the Cardinals. And it looked like it was going to happen before Jeff Bagwell tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning. So the game went into extra innings, and in the bottom of the 12th Edmonds roped a home run into the seats to give the Cardinals the win. The Redbirds would go on to win Game 7 to become National League Champions.
#6... Ron Gant blasting two homers in Game 3 of the 1996 NLCS. I'll be honest, this is here only because I was in Busch Stadium for this game. In fact, I was sitting in the second row of the left field bleachers and one of Gant's blasts landed not all that far from where I was seated. I've never had so much fun at a baseball game. Postseason baseball is definitely a different experience. If you've never witnessed a postseason game I would advise that you do so. You won't regret it.
#5... Jack Clark's home run off of Tom Niedenfuer in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS. This is the one move in famed manager Tommy Lasorda's career that has been second-guessed the most. The Cardinals headed into the top of the ninth inning trailing, 5-4, and found themselves with Clark at the plate with two on and two out. Lasorda opted to let Niedenfuer pitch to St. Louis' best power hitter, and Clark made him pay by smacking the first pitch he saw about 450 feet into the left field bleachers.
#4... Chris Carpenter's 1-0 gem to beat Roy Halladay in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS. No one gave the Cardinals a chance in this one. Halladay is considered by many to be the best pitcher in baseball. He was pitching at home. There was no way he would lose. Halladay pitched a gem himself. But Carpenter was just better on this night, and the Cardinals bounced the Philadelphia Phillies from the playoffs.
#3... Adam Wainwright striking out Detroit's Brandon Inge to end the 2006 World Series. How good was Wainwright in 2006? It's not very often a young pitcher is asked to close out games in extremely high pressure situations. But Wainwright was up for the task in 2006. After fanning Carlos Beltran (see above) to win the NLCS, he did it again to clinch St. Louis' first world championship since 1982.
#2... Bruce Sutter fanning Milwaukee's Gorman Thomas to clinch the 1982 World Series. Joaquin Andujar pitched the first seven innings of Game 7 before Sutter took over in the eighth. What's that? Exactly! It was a two-inning save. That's something you never see anymore. Anyway, I was just 20 years at that time and, as I've always been, an avid backer of the Cardinals. When Thomas swung threw that final pitch euphoria set in. Growing up in the 1970's, I had never seen the Cardinals in the playoffs, let alone in the World Series. It was something special.
#1... Ozzie Smith's home run that won Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS. If you're a Cardinal fan this is a moment that you will never, ever, forget. St. Louis headed into the bottom of the ninth inning tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-2. But after Willie McGee popped up for the first out of the inning, Smith stepped to the plate and did something he had never done before while wearing a Major League Baseball uniform. That's right! He hit a home run to win the game for the Cardinals. I will never forget hearing Jack Buck's call, "Go crazy, folks, go crazy."
A few columns ago I wrote about my top 10 favorite sports movies, lines from sports movies, etc... This time around I thought I'd do something similar.
How about my top 10 postseason moments in St. Louis Cardinals history. Take notice that I said "my" top 10 postseason moments. That means that it'll be moments that have actually happened while I've been alive. So that will narrow it down to this list only including moments from 1982 to the present time.
Here we go...
#10... The curveball that Adam Wainwright threw to Carlos Beltran to end the 2006 National League Championship series and sent the Cardinals to the World Series. I've never seen a better curveball thrown. Beltran couldn't do anything but what that pitch. You know how they say a good curveball can make a hitters knees buckle. Go take a look a Beltran when Wainwright threw the pitch.
#9... Yadier Molina's home run that gave the Cardinals the lead in the same game. Molina isn't know as a power hitter. But that blast was monumental. It gave the Cardinals all the momentum, and it came from a very unlikely source. In short, it finished off the New York Mets and sent them packing.
#8... Albert Pujols hitting a Brad Lidge pitch about 500 feet to send the 2005 NLCS back to St. Louis. Sure, the Astros wound up winning the series. But the home run Pujols hit was epic. Lidge hung a slider and Pujols didn't miss it. The blast did so much damage to Lidge's psyche that he's never really been the same since.
#7... Jim Edmonds game-winning home run in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS. The Houston Astros were winning the series, 3-2, as it returned to St. Louis. It was a must-win for the Cardinals. And it looked like it was going to happen before Jeff Bagwell tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning. So the game went into extra innings, and in the bottom of the 12th Edmonds roped a home run into the seats to give the Cardinals the win. The Redbirds would go on to win Game 7 to become National League Champions.
#6... Ron Gant blasting two homers in Game 3 of the 1996 NLCS. I'll be honest, this is here only because I was in Busch Stadium for this game. In fact, I was sitting in the second row of the left field bleachers and one of Gant's blasts landed not all that far from where I was seated. I've never had so much fun at a baseball game. Postseason baseball is definitely a different experience. If you've never witnessed a postseason game I would advise that you do so. You won't regret it.
#5... Jack Clark's home run off of Tom Niedenfuer in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS. This is the one move in famed manager Tommy Lasorda's career that has been second-guessed the most. The Cardinals headed into the top of the ninth inning trailing, 5-4, and found themselves with Clark at the plate with two on and two out. Lasorda opted to let Niedenfuer pitch to St. Louis' best power hitter, and Clark made him pay by smacking the first pitch he saw about 450 feet into the left field bleachers.
#4... Chris Carpenter's 1-0 gem to beat Roy Halladay in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS. No one gave the Cardinals a chance in this one. Halladay is considered by many to be the best pitcher in baseball. He was pitching at home. There was no way he would lose. Halladay pitched a gem himself. But Carpenter was just better on this night, and the Cardinals bounced the Philadelphia Phillies from the playoffs.
#3... Adam Wainwright striking out Detroit's Brandon Inge to end the 2006 World Series. How good was Wainwright in 2006? It's not very often a young pitcher is asked to close out games in extremely high pressure situations. But Wainwright was up for the task in 2006. After fanning Carlos Beltran (see above) to win the NLCS, he did it again to clinch St. Louis' first world championship since 1982.
#2... Bruce Sutter fanning Milwaukee's Gorman Thomas to clinch the 1982 World Series. Joaquin Andujar pitched the first seven innings of Game 7 before Sutter took over in the eighth. What's that? Exactly! It was a two-inning save. That's something you never see anymore. Anyway, I was just 20 years at that time and, as I've always been, an avid backer of the Cardinals. When Thomas swung threw that final pitch euphoria set in. Growing up in the 1970's, I had never seen the Cardinals in the playoffs, let alone in the World Series. It was something special.
#1... Ozzie Smith's home run that won Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS. If you're a Cardinal fan this is a moment that you will never, ever, forget. St. Louis headed into the bottom of the ninth inning tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-2. But after Willie McGee popped up for the first out of the inning, Smith stepped to the plate and did something he had never done before while wearing a Major League Baseball uniform. That's right! He hit a home run to win the game for the Cardinals. I will never forget hearing Jack Buck's call, "Go crazy, folks, go crazy."
