The only good thing about the Cardinals’ 1-4 trip is they returned home still in first place in the National League Central Division, albeit only a half game ahead of Cincinnati.

The 1-4 trip followed a 1-4 homestand, giving the Cardinals eight losses in their last 10 games. In three of their four losses on the trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles, they scored five runs, which would have been enough to win earlier in the season. But the bullpen let them down Sunday in a 6-5 loss at Los Angeles.

Left-hander Marc Rzepczynski struck out the only really dangerous hitter in the injury-riddled Dodgers lineup when he fanned right fielder Andre Ethier with two on in the seventh inning. That was the second out. Rzepczynski had only to get St. Louisan Scott Van Slyke, a minor league call-up who was pinch hitting.

After falling behind 3-0, Rzpczynski laid in a changeup. Van Slyke had the green light from manager Don Mattingly and the son of former star outfielder Andy Van Slyke, popped his first big-league home run, a three-run shot, to left.

“My plan was to go with sinkers away early and see if he could hit a ground ball,” Rzepczynski said. “Then I threw a 3-0 changeup, thinking he’d be a little bit out in front of it, I just left it up a little bit up, and it was right in his wheelhouse.”

The Cardinals ran themselves out of two innings although television replays indicated catcher Yadier Molina was safe in the sixth inning after trying to advance on a bloop hit by first baseman Matt Adams.

Adams’ performance in his first major-league game was notable. He had two singles in four at-bats as he replaced injured first baseman Lance Berkman.

“He’s a pretty mature hitter for his age and experience,” manager Mike Matheny said of the 23-year-old Adams. “He has a short, powerful swing and the ability to stay within himself and not try to do too much. He has the ability to go to both fields. Power is a rare commodity and he’s got some. Defensively, he does a nice job, too.”

NOTES
–1B Lance Berkman was placed on the disabled list Sunday. He will find out Monday the severity of his right knee injury suffered Saturday night. “If I’ve re-torn my ACL or something like that, I’d certainly get it fixed but you don’t know how psychologically you’re going to come back from something like that,” Berkman said. “I’m not talking from the standpoint of being scared of hurting it again. I’m talking about doing everything it takes to come back and play again at an elite level. I think that’s a legitimate question I’m going to have to answer if, in fact, it turns out to be something more serious than we hope that it is.”

–Rookie 1B Matt Adams was purchased from Class AAA Memphis to replace 1B Lance Berkman. Adams, a 23rd-round draft pick from Slippery Rock University in 2009, was hitting .340 with nine homers at Memphis and he singled on the first pitch thrown to him in the majors and added a second single on Sunday while playing flawlessly in the field, even starting a double play.

–RHP Kyle Lohse was denied his sixth victory by a bullpen letdown. Lohse, over 5 1/3 innings, pitched around many of the Dodgers’ 11 hits off him.

–3B David Freese, already locked in an awful slump, hit rock bottom on Sunday, fanning four times on four at-bats, mostly on high fastballs. Freese is 3 for his last 34 with all three hits coming in the same game.

–2B Skip Schumaker continued his impressive hitting as a part-time player, suggesting that perhaps he should play more. Schumaker tripled in two runs in the fifth and also drew a walk.

BY THE NUMBERS: 8 — Consecutive losses by the Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers over two seasons.

QUOTE TO NOTE:  From the Chicago Tribune, “If this team has shown anything, it’s that it’s resilient enough to hang in there. We realize no matter who it is, we’re going to be right there. I still feel that way.” — 1B Lance Berkman, after he went down with a right knee injury, further cluttering the Cardinals’ disabled list.

MEDICAL WATCH:

–1B Lance Berkman (right knee injury) was placed on the disabled list May 20. He will find out this week the severity of the injury suffered May 19.

–RHP Kyle McClellan (strained right ulnar collateral ligament) left the May 17 game and returned to St. Louis to be examined by team doctors. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 18 and will be sidelined at least 10 weeks.

–RF Carlos Beltran (sore right knee, plantar fasciitis in right foot) did not start May 14-17, though he pinch-hit three times. He returned to the lineup May 18.

–CF Jon Jay (sprained right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list May 15.

–RHP Scott Linebrink (right shoulder capsulitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 30. He felt tightness during an April 30 bullpen session, and he didn’t appear close to a return.

–RHP Chris Carpenter (weak right shoulder) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He isn’t likely to begin a real throwing program until sometime in May and probably won’t pitch until at least June.

During the offseason we have been taking a look at the past, giving readers a timeline of St. Louis baseball throughout history. Last time we learned about how Whitey Herzog came in and rebuilt the organization into a lean mean running machine. Whiteyball led to a World Series title in 1982, but felt a little less than potent in the two years following. Could the team rise to the top?

When people talk about the Cardinals’ 1985 team, it all seems to boil down to the Series. More specifically, it points to the Call. The team here at I-70 Baseball even did a week-long tribute to the 1985 Series between the Cardinals and Kansas City Royals (You can find the archive here). It is unfortunate that a 101-61 record that witnessed players winning the MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Gold Glove awards has boiled down to one call, but it happened.

Whitey and owner Gussie Busch were disappointed with how the team had performed in both 1983 and 1984. Because of that, most of the championship team from 1982 was long gone before the beginning of 1985. The real holdovers included Ozzie Smith and Tommy Herr in the infield, Willie McGee in the outfield, and Bob Forsch and Joaquin Andujar in the rotation. Joining those names were slugging first baseman Jack Clark, outfielders Vince Coleman and Andy van Slyke, and starting pitcher Danny Cox.

The Cardinals did not exactly run away with the division, as their biggest lead of four games out in front would indicate. They battled with the New York Mets tooth and nail all the way through the season. The “Pond Scum” Mets featured former Cardinal Keith Hernandez and young pitching phenom Dwight Gooden, who at age 20 picked up 24 wins in 1985.

What pushed the Cardinals to the top? Speed. The Mets and Cardinals basically had the best two lineups and pitching rotations in the National League, going toe to toe in many of the top counting categories, with the exception of a few. Where the Mets relied on power, in the form of home runs from their sluggers and strikeouts from their pitchers, the Cardinals looked to speed around the bases and scoring runs in bunches.

The Cardinals pushed through the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers despite facing such pitchers as Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser and Tom Niedenfuer. The real loss of that series occurred in Game 4, when Rookie of the Year winner Vince Coleman was trapped by a rolling tarp and suffered a broken leg. Losing his speed on the basepaths for the rest of the playoffs was a tough blow, but the team was far from finished.

The big question: if the Call does not happen, do the Cardinals win the Series? It is certainly possible. However, one bad call does not produce seven games’ worth of outcomes. There was still one whole game after it happened. The Cardinals still could have won… but they rolled over in game seven. They let it slip away.

1986 was a down year across the board. For Willie McGee it meant dropping from an MVP winning season in which he batted .353/.384/.503 to a disappointing .256/.306/.370 line. He was not the only sharp fall. The team was dead last in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, batting average, slugging and on base percentages. That is correct… dead last in the National League. The funny thing is they still managed to lead the league in stolen bases, despite having the fewest opportunities to do so.

The pitchers did not have quite a drop, but consider this: in 1985, Tudor and Andujar both won 21 games and Cox won 18. The pitching staff was in the top 3 in every category except strikeouts. The next year Andujar had found his ticket out of town and Tudor/Cox/Bob Forsch all put up rather similar lines of 12-14 wins and a roughly 3.00 ERA. Not bad, but who was the shutdown ace? That was a rotation of number two or three starters.

Speaking of not having an ace, the 1987 team might fit that bill even better. Have you ever heard of a team that went to the World Series without a pitcher winning more than eleven games? It happened. Eight different pitchers won at least eight games, but no pitcher on the team won more than eleven. Whitey pulled wins out of that team every way he could, because on paper, this team was not the top.

Jack Clark

All in all, the lineup was solid. The starters all seemed to hit around .285, and for the first time in what felt like decades, the Cardinals had a genuine slugger in Jack Clark, who thumped 35 home runs and racked up a ridiculous 136 walks. The whole team was patient at the plate, leading the league in walks and, as a result, in on base percentage, but Clark blew them all away. Wonder of wonders, the highest batting average on the season belonged to “light hitting” shortstop Ozzie Smith, who smacked out a .303 batting average (despite 138 of them being singles).

Finishing at 95-67 put the Cardinals three up on the Mets in the National League and pushed them into the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants, led by Will “the Thrill” Clark. Despite pushing the series to seven games, the Cardinals snuck out of it and on to the World Series to face the big bats being wielded by the Minnesota Twins’ Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek and Garry Gaetti. The Cardinals’ wiry runners looked like batboys next to the big guys hanging out in the Twins’ dugout!

The World Series turned out to be one of those affairs where the home team wins every game, but some people have made somewhat of a stink about that. The Twins played in the Metrodome, and in at least one player account of the Series, when the Twins’ players were up to bat the crowd noise was such that the team would turn on fans somewhere in the stadium that caused balls to blow into the stands, helping those sluggers just a little bit more. Who knew there would be wind in a dome? This was never confirmed of course, but considering the very lopsided scores in those four games in Minnesota (10-1, 8-4, 11-5, and 4-2), I suppose anything is possible.

Coming out of the World Series that year felt like a letdown, but for kids like Joe Magrane, who finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting in ’87, getting to the postseason was a, “Ho-hum, we will be back next year,” kind of feeling. Little did any of them know that this would be the last time the team sniffed the postseason for ten long, lean years.

Joe Magrane

1988 was awful for the Cardinals. Jack Clark and general manager Dal Maxvill were not the best of friends, and when the two could not come to terms on a new contract, the free agent basically threw his hands in the air and walked away to join the Yankees. It was a sucker punch to the rest of the team, who relied on the big slugger to push across all the runners they were getting on base for him. Without a guy to bring in the runners, tallies on the scoreboard were scarce. Vince Coleman and Willie McGee were still tearing up the basepaths, but they were left stranded more often than not. Joe Magrane knew that better than anyone, winning the ERA title in ’88 with a puny 2.18, but finishing with a 5-9 record. He would go up against David Cone and the Mets’ fearsome lineup, but his team could only ever scratch out a run at a time for him. With that kind of support, the team finished an abysmal 76-86, a very distant fifth place in the NL East.

1989 had promise. Slugger Pedro Guerrero came through in a big way, finishing third for the NL MVP, being branded with a “clutch” label and bringing around all those baserunners to score, racking up what felt like a monstrous 117 RBI after a year in which no one could seem to push a runner across. The pitching staff felt less of a burden to allow one run or less in every start, and as a result Joe Magrane had a nice year, going 18-9 and finishing third in the CY Young race.

Unfortunately, things were getting messy off the field. Gussie Busch’s health was failing. He turned the team over to his son, August Busch III, who had little interest in the team, and forced Whitey to go through a board of directors to get any baseball decisions done. On September 29, Gussie died, but the Cardinals had already started to fade out of the pennant race, finishing a close third. The pitchers’ arms tired and the bats could not keep up with the Cubs.

The end was nearing for the Cardinals. Gussie was gone, and Whitey was going to be next. The only question was when.

Angela Weinhold covers the Cardinals for i70baseball.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries. You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

1985 World Series

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals

Game 7 – October 27, 1985

Location: Royals Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

Attendance: 41,658

Recap: The Kansas City Royals came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 1985 World Series to win it all, culminating in a dominating 11-0 victory in Game 7. It was a battle of aces – Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen against the Cardinals’ John Tudor. Both pitchers had been the driving forces of their teams earlier in the series, but in Game 7, only one reigned surpreme. Tudor was knocked out of the game early, giving up five runs in only 2.1 innings, including a second-inning home run to Darryl Motley that ended up being the winning hit. The Cardinals ended up using seven pitchers in the game, one more than the Royals used the entire series. One of those Cardinal pitchers, Joaquin Andujar, was ejected for arguing ball-and-strike calls with home plate umpire Don Denkinger, who made a controversial bad call in Game 6, and St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog also got the boot. Meanwhile, the Royals put up 14 hits on the Cardinals’ weakened pitching staff, including a four-hit game for George Brett. Saberhagen gave up only five hits and threw a complete-game shutout. With two outs in the top of the ninth, Andy Van Slyke smacked a fly ball to right field, and the ball settled in Darryl Motley’s glove, giving the Royals their first and only World Series title.

Line Score:

TEAM R H E

St. Louis 0 5 0

Kansas City 11 14 0

Winning pitcher: Bret Saberhagen

Losing pitcher: John Tudor

Notables: Besides Motley’s second inning home run, only one of the Royals’ hits was for extra bases, a double by Lonnie Smith; Kansas City first baseman Steve Balboni smacked two singles, scored two runs and drove in two RBIs; Motley was 3 for 4 with three RBIs; although Tudor gave up five runs in the first three innings, the real disaster struck for the Cardinals in the fifth, when a multitude of relief pitchers gave up six runs to the Royals; Willie Wilson had two hits, a run, an RBI and a stolen base for KC; no Cardinals batter recorded multiple hits or an extra-base hit; Ken Dayley pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game for St. Louis.

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

As a Royals fan born after 1985, trying to give perspective on a World Series I have no recollection of proved a difficult task. My lack of insight is due to the fact I wasn’t born until two years after Darryl Motley closed his leather around the clinching fly ball off the bat of Andy Van Slyke.

The problem I had is as a journalist is that I feel responsibility to generate original material from my reactions to things I’ve seen or heard. I’ve always felt writers are artists, words are our paint, and paper (or in this case, your computer screen) is our canvas.

I obviously am aware of the 1985 World Series; in fact my first memories were from my mother when I was still a child. She was living in Kansas City during 1985. I’m not sure if she could name anyone on the team besides George Brett and Bret Saberhagen , but still to this day she reminds me how hopping the party was in Westport that night.

Not to mention George Brett is the namesake of my girlfriend (Brett, not George if you were wondering).

The fact that this blog is creating material based around the 25^th Anniversary of the I-70 Series proves what no other sports besides baseball possess. History is deep-rooted within the game. It’s a passion players from the past and present recognize and respect.

Passion oozes from fans to the front office, specifically in the postseason. The best example I can give is Don Denkinger. I’m not sure if fans of other sports can instantly conger up such strong emotions from one play, which happened a quarter of a century ago.

This instance is pertinent to the ’85 Series, but there are hundreds more throughout history. Bill Mazeroski in the 1960 WS, Carlton Fisk in the 1975 WS, Chris Chambliss in the 1976 ALCS, Ozzie Smith in the 1985 NLCS, Kirk Gibson in the 1988 WS, Joe Carter in the 1993 WS, and on and on and on. When any of these names are uttered to baseball fans, the replay reel automatically turns on in the back of their mind. They can vividly see, hear, and maybe even smell the events unfold exactly as they happened decades ago. This is something I think is unique to baseball. The I-70 World Series only added to the replays vaulted forever into our minds.

As I went through dozens of websites about Brett, Saberhagen, Lonnie Smith, killer tarps, and Denkinger, what I found intriguing is how much the game has changed.

It’s almost comical now to look at the backdrop for the ’85 Series, Royals Stadium’s god-awful forest green Astroturf carpet with diamond cutouts for dirt. The only things beyond the outfield wall were fountains and a prehistoric Royals scoreboard. Players with tight fitting uniforms and pants only reaching their calves. Fan favorites sported stirrups, mullets, and afros. Players were getting reprimanded and suspended for cocaine use.

Pat Sheridan and a classic look, vintage 1985

Now computer generated scoreboards wrap themselves around the outfield walls and facades of Kauffman. The fountains shoot and splash in between innings as if they were straight out of the Bellagio. Thousands of seats have been implemented beyond the outfield walls and every available inch of open space is marred by an advertisement. Players have traded in their old school duds for uniforms looking more like pajamas . Hairstyles have been upgraded to dreadlocks , the caveman style , and surfer dude look . Baseball is no longer dampened by narcotics use, instead by HGH and steroids.

The uniforms and stadiums aren’t the only things which have changed. The way the game is played, specifically the use of pitchers, has changed drastically.

The 1985 Royals staff was dominant, in a way which will probably never been seen again in the postseason. Saberhagen, Dan Quisenberry, and Charlie Leibrandt all finished in the top five for 1985 Cy Young voting. In the seven-game series the Royals used only six pitchers, one of whom, Joe Beckwith, only threw two innings.

To put it in perspective, during the 2009 World Series between the Yankees and Phillies, both teams used eleven pitchers in the six game series. Essentially the Yanks used five more pitchers to complete one less game.

The highest paid player on the field for the 1985 Series was Ozzie Smith. The Wizard cashed in for a cool $1.4 million during the season. The highest paid Royal was Brett at an even $1 million.

1985 Kansas City Royals team payroll: $9.6 million

1985 St. Louis Cardinals team payroll: $11.8 million

1985 Combined team payrolls: $25.4 million

Alex Rodriguez’s 2010 season earnings: $33 million

Since the I-70 Series the Royals and Cards have paved differing paths. Since ‘85 the Royals haven’t sniffed the postseason. They placed second in the division three times over the next 25 years, but finished last or second to last 16 times. The Cardinals have made nine playoff appearances, including three World Series berths, winning it all in 2006.

While diehards point to 1985 as the last Royals success, Kansas City’s organization has made sure to make it a lasting memory. The greatest single thing I take away from the ’85 Series wasn’t a specific player or play, but how it has changed the landscape of baseball over the last 25 years. It has created a passionate and devoted fan base for support in victory and defeat.

Nearly all of the awards presented by the Royals in the off-season are devoted to people who helped contribute during the unforgettable October of 1985: the Dan Quisenberry Special Achievement award (recognizing an outstanding member of the community), Dick Howser Player Development Person of the Year award, Frank White Defensive Player of the Year, Willie Wilson Baserunner of the Year, George Brett Hitter of the Year, and Joe Burke Special Achievement award.

As I look back on the I-70 Series I see seven games in October which transformed an organization. Its reverberations have been felt throughout the organization on the big league and minor league level. It has acted as a motivator for achievement for many of the youngsters who’ve become Royals. All of these kids strive to receive achievements named for legends of the past, so they can reign in another Fall Classic championship in the future.

Terry Lee (Tito) Landrum was a utility outfielder, born in Joplin, Missouri. I make this point because a lot of visiting sports reporters would get confused between him and teammate David Green. It was tall and muscular Green who was from Nicaragua, not Landrum.

Tito Landrum

Landrum signed with the Cardinals right out of high school in 1972. He progressed slowly through the minor league system, eventually breaking in with the big club in the middle of the 1980 season. He would play well enough to earn a spot as a reserve outfielder in 1981. His playing time went down with the additions of Lonnie Smith and Willie McGee, and Landrum found himself bouncing between Louisville (AAA) and St. Louis before getting a short chance at fame with the Baltimore Orioles in 1983. In the decisive Game Seven of the ALCS, Landrum would hit the game winning home run in the 10th inning, sending Baltimore to the World Series. Baltimore would go on to win the World Series, but Landrum would play sparingly and finish the series without a hit. Regardless, Landrum had his fifteen minutes of fame, or so he thought.

The Cardinals would reacquire Landrum prior the start of the 1984 season. He would get more playing time, subbing at all three outfield positions. He would finish the season with a respectable .272 batting average.

The outfield was very crowded to start the 1985 season, and Landrum would enter it nursing a pretty bad leg injury. When Willie McGee also went down with an injury, Landrum would go on the disabled list to make room for a young speedster named Vince Coleman. Coleman was only supposed to be with the big club for a few days, but as Landrum’s injury took longer to heal, Coleman cemented his position in left field. All of a sudden, the outfield was a lot more crowded.

With Vince Coleman and Willie McGee set in left and center field respectively, manager Whitey Herzog had to figure out what to do with his right field situation. Andy van Slyke was a future Gold Glover, but had a hard time hitting left handed pitching. Lonnie Smith was an offensive catalyst, but his defense could sometimes be an adventure – and those were his good days. This was all resolved when Lonnie Smith was traded to the Kansas City Royals, leaving Landrum and van Slyke as a platoon pair for the final outfield spot. The right handed hitting Landrum would play against left handed pitching, and the left handed van Slyke would get the bulk of the playing time against right handers.

This arrangement worked out quite well for Herzog as both Landrum and van Slyke played well in their respective roles. Cardinals fans might be surprised to learn that Landrum was actually more productive, hitting for a higher average than van Slyke. What he could not do is play defense like the younger van Slyke, who could produce a highlight reel that would make Jim Edmonds blush.

Things changed for Landrum when the Cardinals acquired Cesar Cedeno at the postseason eligibility deadline on August 29. Cedeno would initially play first base, taking over for the injured Jack Clark. At the same time, Andy van Slyke would get more playing time, even against left handed pitching. Landrum found himself as a late inning pinch hitter, and his batting average finally dipped below .300, finishing at .280 by year’s end.

As well as Cedeno had played down the stretch for the Cardinals, he became the platoon partner for Andy van Slyke in the NLCS instead of Landrum. That is until Game Four, when Vince Coleman would be caught under the automatic tarp system, severely injuring his leg. With Coleman out for the rest of the postseason, Landrum would take over in left field.

Always on base

In his first game, Landrum would go 4-5, all singles. He would also drive in 3 of the Cardinals 12 runs on the evening. Maybe not the speedster at the top of the order, but 4-5 hitting behind Jack Clark and Cesar Cedeno will do very nicely. Landrum would wear the collar in the next game against Fernando Valenzuela, but would steal second base after a late inning walk, putting himself in scoring position for the go ahead run. He would not score, but Ozzie Smith would send the huge crowd back home happy in a few minutes with the now famous “Go Crazy Folks” home run.

In the decisive Game Six, Landrum would collect another hit, but not figure in the scoring. He would finish the NLCS going 6-14 (.429) with 4 RBIs and a stolen base. Only NLCS MVP Ozzie Smith had a higher batting average (.435) than Landrum and only Tommy Herr drove in more runs (6). Not bad for a guy that only expected a few pinch hitting opportunities.

Tito Landrum would come up big again in the World Series, one of the few Cardinals to do so. Off a very tough left hander, Danny Jackson, Landrum would double and score the go-ahead run when Cesar Cedeno would drive him in with a single. Landrum would also get a hit off the nearly unhittable Dan Quisenberry, whose submarine style of delivery was especially tough on right handed batters.

In nearly a replay of Game One, it was a Tito Landrum double off Charlie Liebrandt in the 9th that set up Terry Pendleton’s bases clearing double to give the Cardinals the victory.

Landrum would extend his World Series hitting streak to three games with a single off Bret Saberhagen, one of the few that the Cardinals would get a hit against the eventual World Series MVP. He would extend that to four games when he hit a solo home run off Bud Black in the second inning of Game Four. That run would be the only one the Cardinals needed as John Tudor would pitch a brilliant complete game shutout.

Three Cardinals victories, and it was Landrum that scored the winning run in each of them. Unfortunately for St. Louis, he would not do that again for the rest of the World Series.

Landrum would collect a hit in each of the three remaining games, making him the only Cardinals player to get a hit in each game. He would lead the Cardinals in every offensive category except for RBIs (Jack Clark would have 4). Yes, the lineup was completely different without Vince Coleman in the leadoff spot. Willie McGee had a good, but not great World Series. The problem was that most of the rest of the batting order was one or two positions out of their regular spot, and they were never able to get in sync against the tough Royals pitching. Even though he had been thrust into the spotlight without much warning, Tito Landrum was the best player on the Cardinals roster for the last two weeks of the 1985 season. In a losing effort, the kid from Joplin should be remembered as the Cardinals’ Most Valuable Player.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at Throatwarbler’s Blog. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

It had been three years since the Whitey Herzog managed Cardinals shocked the baseball world by beating the seemingly invincible Milwaukee Brewers in the 1982 World Series and St. Louis was once again in the postseason. While those ’82 Cardinals were labeled as the Running Rabbits, they were a balanced lineup compared to what Herzog had to work with in 1985.

Upgrades, Downgrades and Stuff We Don’t Want to Talk About

The once dependable position of catcher turned into a huge liability for the 1985 Cardinals. Injuries and declining offensive production from the hero of 1982, Darrell Porter, gave rookie Tom Nieto an opportunity. He’d been impressive in a pair of call-ups in 1984, showing off a good bat to go along with some stellar defense. He became the number 2 catcher when Glenn Brummer was released at the end of the season, perhaps in fear that he might start stealing bases again. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, neither Nieto’s bat, glove, nor arm showed up for most of 1985, leaving a rather unproductive platoon situation at catcher.

Leaving under somewhat of a black cloud in a trade that ranks among the worst in Cardinals history, the Cardinals had lost one of their stars when Keith Hernandez was traded to the Mets for Neil Allen. A former NL MVP and perennial Gold Glove winner, Hernandez was one of the best at his position, playing exceptional defense to go along with some of the best gap-to-gap hitting in the major leagues. George Hendrick had initially taken over for Hernandez and played well, but started showing signs that his best years were behind him. In the spirit of Branch Rickey’s motto, “Always trade a player a year too soon, rather than a year too late” , Hendrick would be traded to Pittsburgh for a left handed starter named John Tudor – more on him later. Prior to the start of the 1985 season, the Cardinals made a blockbuster deal with the San Francisco Giants, sending four players for the slugging first baseman, Jack Clark. Just as with Orlando Cepeda nearly two decades earlier, Clark had been bitten by the injury bug that caused him to wear out his welcome in San Francisco. And like Cepeda, when healthy he became an offensive juggernaut in St. Louis, driving in runs at a frightening pace. Injuries would interrupt all three seasons Clark was in St. Louis, but in two of them (85, 87) he still managed MVP caliber performances.

A young switch hitting Terry Pendleton was the new third baseman but had yet to match Ken Oberkfell’s offensive production. He would prove his worth many times in 1987, and several more times with the Atlanta Braves, but in 1985, Pendleton was a young man learning how to play in the majors. He played well, but not as well as his predecessor.

A youngster named Andy van Slyke was the new right fielder, and while a defensive star, his offensive numbers were a big step down from the former right fielder, George Hendrick. He would eventually wear out his welcome in St. Louis and be shipped off to Pittsburgh for key piece to the ’87 championship team, catcher Tony Pena.

There were a few notable upgrades though.

If Lonnie Smith had been a catalyst at the top of the 1982 batting order, Vince Coleman was a herd of charging buffalo. Even though he was a light hitter and susceptible to striking out, when he did get on base exciting things happened. And generally very quickly. Coleman’s 110 stolen bases terrorized pitchers and catchers throughout the National League and led to a Cardinals trademark of scoring a first inning run without the benefit of a hit. The top of the lineup featuring Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, Tommy Herr and Jack Clark gave many pitchers in the National League the yips.

The other notable improvement was in the pitching staff, both starters and the bullpen. With two 21 game winners at the top of the rotation, and Danny Cox not far behind with 18 wins, the Cardinals seemed well equipped to play a short series but unlikely to be able to withstand the tests of a long season. What seemed like a liability when the season started, suddenly became one of the most feared bullpens when Todd Worrell was called up just prior to the postseason eligibility deadline. The hard throwing Worrell would complement one of the best lefties in the game, Ken Dayley.

The Cardinals had battled the heavily favored New York Mets all season long. Thanks to the amazing 19-1 turnaround from John Tudor, the Cards outlasted the rivals from New York and won the division by 3 games with an unbelievable record of 101-61. Thanks to the season long fight, this Cardinals team learned how to win – in every way imaginable. That would come in handy as the Cardinals were about to face the biggest adversity of the season, if not the decade.

A Rough Start

In the National League Championship Series, just expanded to a best of seven format, the Cardinals would face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even though the Cardinals had won 6 more games than the boys from Hollywood, the Dodgers were heavily favored in the series. The Cardinals were supposed to be just a speed bump on the Dodger’s road to the World Series.

As the series opened in Los Angeles, it appeared that the experts might be right. The Dodgers won the first two games rather convincingly. Both Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser seemed to be invincible, and their bullpen didn’t even break a sweat.

The series moved to Busch Stadium and the Cardinals hung on to win game 3. The Cardinals got to Bob Welch early and a combination of Danny Cox, Rick Horton, Todd Worrell and Ken Dayley kept the Dodgers at bay.

This brings us to a Sunday night game on October 13, 1985. Every one of the 53,000 in attendance knew the importance of this game. A win and the series is tied. A loss with as many as two games to be played in Los Angeles would be a very difficult hill to climb. It was now or never time for the Cardinals.

Before the game even started, things took a turn for the worse. No, not worse – the unthinkable. A light rain had started falling and a decision was made to cover the field to keep the infield dry. Vince Coleman failed to notice the automatic tarp rolling onto the field and one of his legs got caught underneath the heavy roll of tarp and machinery. He would suffer a badly bruised leg to go with a chipped bone and would spend the rest of the playoffs on crutches, supporting the team from the dugout.

That hill the Cardinals needed to climb just got a lot higher.

The Rough Inning

When the game finally started, Whitey Herzog would call on John Tudor to turn things around for the Cardinals. Even though he had taken the the loss in Game 1, the lefty had pitched well and there was no reason to think he would not be able to do so again tonight. In the first of a series of questionable managerial decisions from Tommy Lasorda, the Dodgers would counter with former Cardinal and St. Louis native, Jerry Reuss. Reuss had some success in Los Angeles, and while not a top of the rotation guy, he was a solid fourth starter.

Cardinal fans were way more engaged in this game, and it suddenly had less to do with it being the pivotal game in the series. Expectations had been high when Reuss broke in with the the Cardinals in 1970. The tall blonde lefty had been a star in high school and had become an ace at AAA Tulsa. His fortunes with the Cardinals were much different as moments of brilliance were overshadowed by struggles with the strike zone. We had hoped for a second Steve Carlton, but instead got a right handed Mike Torrez. As Reuss enjoyed success with the Pirates and Dodgers, our desire to see the Cardinals beat him increased. Since this was the 17th season for Reuss, there was a lot of pent-up frustration that needed to be released. Throw in a bit of “Win one for the Vincer” and you now have the makings of a huge game.

The Cardinals would erupt in the second inning, one of their most productive in postseason history. After a scoreless first inning, Jack Clark and super sub Cesar Cedeno would lead off the home half of the second inning with singles. Tito Landrum, filling in for the injured Vince Coleman, would single Clark home. The Dodgers made a huge defensive error in letting Pedro Guerrero’s throw go to the plate as it allowed both Cedeno and Landrum to take the extra base. That turned out to be significant when Terry Pendleton grounds out to second base in what would have been an easy double play. The Dodgers only had one play, retiring Pendleton at first, and the Cardinals would score their second run of the inning.

Next up is the light hitting Tom Nieto and he would walk in front of ninth place hitter John Tudor. The Dodgers hoped for an inning ending double play and an end to the rally, but instead dug themselves into a deep deep hole. The Cardinals sensed that this was an opportunity to break the game wide open. Forget the Ozzie Smith “go crazy folks” home run in game five and the three run Jack Clark bomb to win the series in game six, what happened next was the play of the series.

It was not if, but when would Herzog would put on the squeeze play. Aggressive base running is what got the Cardinals this far, and it would have to carry them to the World Series. Everybody in the stadium knew it was coming. The Dodgers were certainly expecting it. Everyone except Reuss. With Landrum running from third, Tudor lays down the bunt and Reuss is unable to field it and everybody was safe. The Cardinals had a three run lead, had been given yet another out, and the Dodgers were clearly rattled. This is when the Cardinals really poured it on, ending the post season career of Jerry Reuss.

In a rare productive out, leadoff hitter Willie McGee would hit an opposite field line drive which would allow Tom Nieto to move up to third base. That turned out to be important as Ozzie Smith followed that with a ground ball deep in the hole at short which scored Nieto. Tommy Herr followed that with a single, scoring Tudor. That would be all for Reuss and the Cardinals fans gave him a sarcastic ovation as he left the field.

Future Cardinal Rick Honeycutt would come in to try to end the rally. Honeycutt was the fifth starter who was sort of an odd man out in a short series. He would face four hitters and fail to retire any of them. Jack Clark would single, Cesar Cedeno would walk, and both Tito Landrum and Terry Pendleton would get their second RBIs of the inning with singles. Both Landrum and Clark were 2-2 in the inning. Tommy Lasorda would go to his third pitcher of the inning, the right hander Bobby Castillo. With a blowout in the making, Castillo was going to be in the game for a long time so that the Dodgers didn’t wear out their bullpen in case they were needed tomorrow afternoon for Game 5. Castillo finally gets the last out by striking out Tom Nieto to end the inning, but not before the Cardinals had a 9-0 lead. With John Tudor pitching, it might as well have been 200-0.

John Tudor did not disappoint as he pitched seven strong innings, allowing just three hits. The lone blemish was a meaningless home run by Bill Madlock to lead off the seventh inning. Tudor would be lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, saving him for a possible return in game seven, if needed. Rick Horton and Bill Campbell each pitched an inning to seal the 12-2 victory, and the once over-matched Cardinals were beginning to look like National League champions. That would come later with two dramatic late inning home runs, but Cardinal fans knew that with this victory, the series was all but over.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at Throatwarbler’s Blog. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.