The Animal Protective Association of Missouri in St. Louis has found itself in the midst of the Cubs/Cards rivalry with an animal shelter in Chicago!

In an effort to find out which city has the most love for shelter pets, the APA and The Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago are battling it out head-to-head, or tail-to-tail as may be in this case, to see who can raise the most money for shelter pets.

“Never before have we challenged another shelter to a friendly competition,” says APA Executive Director Steve Kaufman. “But seeing that this is Chicago and our baseball teams are playing each other twice in one month, we thought this would be a great way to help the animals!  But, we need St. Louis Cardinals’ fans to step up to the plate and donate to the APA!”

The Anti-Cruelty Society is a much larger shelter in a much larger city. “We have our work cut out for us,” says Kaufman.  But, he is confident his hometown can come out on top.

Even a small donation will make a difference and can help solidify that St. Louis has the most love for shelter pets!  You can donate online at www.apamo.org or call 314-645-4610 to make a gift.

The shelter with the most amount of money raised at the end of the series in Chicago on April 25 will be declared the winner.  The stakes are high: the losing shelter will be forced to name its next nine unnamed pets after the other teams’ starting lineup!

And if beating Chicago isn’t enough, the person who donates the largest amount to the APA will receive four Owner’s Box tickets to a Cardinals game and the other donors will be entered in a drawing to win a limited edition Michael Hunt lithograph and baseball, both signed by Cardinals great Stan Musial!

The contest ends on Thursday, April 26 at 8am, after the Cardinals finish a three-game series in Chicago.

ABOUT THE APA OF MISSOURI
Founded in 1922, The Animal Protective Association of Missouri is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing people and pets together, advancing humane education and creating programs beneficial to the human/animal bond. Among other programs, it offers pet adoptions, a low-cost veterinary clinic, domestic violence pet assistance and “Pick Your Price” adoption fees for cats.  For more information, visit www.apamo.org or call (314) 645-4610.

ABOUT THE ANTI-CRUELTY SOCIETY
The Anti-Cruelty Society is Chicago’s oldest and largest, private, open-admission, unlimited stay humane society. With a mission of building a community of caring by helping pets and educating people, its comprehensive programs and services help over  50,000 animals and humans every year and include: adoption, charity veterinary clinic, low or no-cost spay/neuter clinic, cruelty investigations and rescue, humane education & community outreach, a free behavior hotline, dog training classes, S.A.F.E. program (short-term accommodations for emergencies), The Bruckner Rehabilitation & Treatment Center, the Virginia Butts Berger Cat Clinic, and the Dog Rehabilitation Center. For more information, visit www.anticruelty.org or call (312) 644-8338. 

I live 149 miles from Kauffman Stadium, but I’m not in Royals territory. I’m a Royals fan in the suburbs of Cardinal Nation, otherwise known as Southwest Missouri. Actually, I’m a fan of two baseball teams. The Kansas City Royals and whoever is playing the St. Louis Cardinals.

You’re in the minority when you’re a Royals fan in Southwest Missouri. Whenever I confess I’m a Royals fan, the usual response is, “The Royals? They haven’t won anything since 1985 and they stole that series! They have a cheap owner! They trade away all their good players!” Except for the cheap owner comment ($55 million for Gil Meche? That’s not being cheap) and the Royals stealing the 1985 World Series, Cardinals fans have been more right than wrong about the Royals for the last ten to fifteen years.

I understand why most people in Southwest Missouri are Cardinal fans. People like to follow a winner, especially a team as successful as the Cardinals. It’s like following a winner makes you a winner, even if you’re not. If you like the Royals, Cardinals fans say, “What’s wrong with you?”

To build a fan base, it helps to have a good radio affiliate. But for the last few years, the Royals Springfield, Missouri affiliate was a 2 watt Bic lighter station called KGMY-AM, whose signal faded outside Springfield at night. In 2011, the Royals finally got a Springfield affiliate with a good signal, KWTO-AM. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have been on KTXR-FM, a 100,000 watt blowtorch, year after year. It’s hard for the Royals to build a fan base when their last Springfield radio affiliate had the signal strength of a pirate radio station.

Having the Cardinals AA affiliate in Springfield, Missouri doesn’t help either. When Springfield was in the running for a AA baseball team, I held slim hopes the Royals AA affiliate in Wichita would move to Springfield. But no, it was the Cardinals. A few years later, the Wichita Wranglers moved to Northwest Arkansas and became the Naturals. So instead of the Royals trying to claim some stake in Southwest Missouri and show the potential bright future of the Royals, they decide to grow their fan base in Northwest Arkansas. Thanks, Royals. You’ve just created another generation of Cardinals fans in Southwest Missouri.

And these Cardinals fans wear and have all sorts of St. Louis and Springfield Cardinals paraphernalia. Go to any Wal-Mart in the area and you’ll see all sorts of St. Louis and Springfield Cardinals gear (no giveaways of Pujols gear yet), but little or no Royals gear, save a hat or two. Realize the owner of the Kansas City Royals was the CEO of Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart doesn’t carry Royals gear in their stores that are closer to Kansas City than St. Louis. But I’d rather have an opossum on my head than wear any Cardinals gear.

Southwest Missouri used to have more Royals fans when the Royals were good. And that’s been a while. Since 1985, the Royals have had no playoff appearances and 19 losing seasons. The last winning season was in 2003, and before that, the last winning season was the 1994 strike shortened season.

Since 1985, the Cardinals have been to the playoffs ten seasons, won four National League pennants and won two World Series championships. They only had eight losing seasons, the last one in 2007.

The success of the Cardinals and the failure of the Royals have covered Southwest Missouri in a deep sea of Cardinal red. The only Royals fans you see bobbing around Southwest Missouri are the fans of the glory days, or Kansas City transplants who still have some loyalty to a team who has let them down year after year. Meanwhile, some of the self-appointed Best Fans in Baseball crow about the Cardinals superiority. What makes it worse is they’re right. And I’ve heard it for years.

But the Royals could win back Southwest Missouri, or at least claim part of it. How? One, the Royals need to start winning, and soon. Two, the Cardinals need to lose their charmed status and start losing like the Royals have since 1986. A tall order on both counts.

You don’t think the Cardinals are charmed? Take Albert Pujols. The Cardinals drafted Pujols in the thirteenth round and he became one the best players in the game. If the Royals had drafted Pujols, he probably wouldn’t have made it out of AA.

Then there’s the 2011 season. The Braves end of season collapse allowed the Cardinals to win a wild card playoff spot. No worries, the Phillies would beat them in the NLDS. Ok, maybe not. All right, the Brewers would beat them in the NLCS. Ok, maybe not. No problem, the Texas Rangers would beat them in the World Series. Then came Game Six.

The Cardinals won Game Six with a walk off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning by David Freese. David Freese? The Cardinals were so charmed in that game, Rontrez Johnson could have hit the walk off home run, won the World Series MVP and got to drive off in the 2012 Carbon Flash Metallic Grand Sport Corvette Chevrolet gave away. The Rangers were doomed after Game Six. I knew then the Cardinals would win the World Series, even if they fielded a team of 25 house cats for Game Seven. And the self-appointed Best Fans in Baseball celebrated. I sulked, waiting for 2012.

Could the Royals be better in 2012? The Royals have a group of young players who seem to have more upside than the hopefuls of the last ten to fifteen years. Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar are becoming the players I hoped they would be. The Royals have a legitimate potential superstar in Eric Hosmer, who with his beard looks like an Amish warrior in a Royals uniform. And don’t forget Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Greg Holland and Felipe Paulino, among others. And there’s more prospects in the Royals farm system who have a better chance to succeed than to flame out.

And what of the Cardinals? Tony LaRussa retired, being replaced by first time manager Mike Matheny. Albert Pujols bolted to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of North America of the Western Hemisphere of Earth of the Solar System of the Milky Way Galaxy of the Universe (That’s not the team’s official name, but it should be) for ten years and 254 million dollars. Could the Cardinals charmed run be coming to an end and they lose 100 games, the first time since 1908? Or will they field 25 house cats and win another World Series title in 2012?

I’d like to see the Royals do better than the Cardinals in 2012. But until that happens, all I can do is hope, surrounded by a sea of Cardinal red.

Home field advantage. A term usually reserved for football and basketball. If does not come into play very often in baseball. While some teams tend to play better at home is it often result of comfort level and a matter of routine. Not a result of intimidation, the crowd or the elements.

This might be because most ballparks these days are built to shield away such advantages in favor of providing the creature comforts of home to those in attendance. Warm weather cities such as Houston, Arizona and Tampa play in domes. While other cities like Milwaukee and Philly play in modern day softball parks where on the right day the ball flies out with ease. See game 5 of the NLCS for example.

No, few baseball teams set up there parks to give them and them alone the advantage like the Packers and Lambeau Field, Soldier Field and the Bears or even Cameron Indoor Stadium where the Duke Blue Devils play. The fans are in your face and so are the elements. For the teams playing half of their games in this kind of environment.

For those coming to visit they have to prepare for more than just the team they will be playing, but the where as well. While the physical game is the same the mental game can be vastly different and affect the physical game if not prepared properly.

Back to baseball. While the Texas Rangers played 81 of their regular season games on the road, winning 44 of them and 4 of their playoff games, going 3 &1, the majority of these games were played over the summer and in LA, Oakland, Seattle and Tampa for the most part. The other 85 were played in the hostile confines of Arlington, TX.

The Texas Rangers have yet to play in an environment like St. Louis in October. I am not referring to the wonderful group of fans that make up Cardinal Nation. Nor am I talking about Busch Stadium itself. No, I am talking about 50 degree temperatures at game time. Mist, Rain, hell who knows snow is never out of the possibility here in October.

Last year’s World Series road games took the Rangers to San Francisco, where it can get cold but not October in St. Louis cold. We say just how nasty in can get back in 2006 when Detroit came to town and when the Cardinals ventured up north. But this is different. Texas is not accustomed to playing in rally any kind of elements other than heat. And that will not be in play starting today.

This is the football equivalent of a dome team heading up to Green Bay for a road game in November. The Cardinals play in these conditions in both April (unfortunately) and October. The cold can affect the reflexes, the grip of the bat and ones state of mind. I welcome the cold and so should the Cardinals.

Home field advantage in baseball?….sure, so long as it’s October in St. Louis.

As always these are just my thoughts…keep on reading and you’ll get up to speed.

Derek is on Twitter @SportsbyWeeze and also writes for the Rams at RamsHerd.com

Also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SportsByWeeze

It is a subject matter that is ingrained deep inside of the i70baseball history. St. Louis and Kansas City both played important roles in both segregated and desegregated baseball. The history of the Negro Leagues lays deep inside of Kansas City, more than most any city in the nation.

Consistently, the long lasting issue of the National Negro League has been the lack of accurate statistics. There has simply been little way of telling what actually happened.

Among the injustices visited upon the ballplayers of the Negro leagues, the lack of a statistical record of their accomplishments might not leap out as one of the worst; but it has proved one of the most lasting. The Negro National League was founded in 1920; it has taken 91 years to find out for sure that Cristóbal Torriente was the batting champion, that Sam Crawford struck out the most batters, that Dave Brown compiled the best ERA, Pete Hill collected the most walks, and Oscar Charleston garnered the most win shares. – Micheal Lynch, Seamheads.com

As of this morning, the website Seamheads.com has made a major announcement concerning this material, this injustice, and their desire to bring some of the nation’s best players back to the forefront of our minds.

We at Seamheads.com and The Baseball Gauge have an exciting announcement to make regarding a new feature we launched this morning – The Seamheads.com Negro Leagues Database, powered by The Baseball Gauge (http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/index.php).

We are creating the first comprehensive statistical encyclopedia of the great black baseball teams and leagues that operated behind the color line in the days of Jim Crow segregation. The database also collects a vast amount of biographical information about these players, much of it previously unpublished.

Lynch was complimentary of the people that put in long hours to bring this project to fruition and focused on letting fans know just what they can expect when they delve into the database.

Many thanks and much credit should go to Gary Ashwill, Scott Simkus, Kevin Johnson and Dan Hirsch for putting this together. Gary compiled all the statistics for the seasons we’re starting with and he and Scott have done a fantastic job chronicling the Negro Leagues at their respective websites, “Agate Type” and “Outsider Baseball Bulletin.” In fact, according to my friend and Major League Baseball’s official historian, John Thorn, “Gary Ashwill and Scott Simkus are the class of the field these days.” Kevin has also written extensively about the Negro Leagues and created some fantastic databases in his own right, and Dan is the coding genius who puts it all on the site. Even if you’re a Negro league aficionado, you’ll find something new here, from unknown great teams to unknown good pitchers to unexpectedly bad hitters.

This is the beginning of the project, which will grow by leaps and bounds in the near future.

Here at the beginning of our project, we’re presenting four seasons of pre-Negro league play, 1916 to 1919, and the first three seasons of Rube Foster’sNegro National League, 1920 to 1922. You’ll see the likes of Oscar Charleston and Cristóbal Torriente at their very best, as well as two-way star Bullet Rogan. We’ve also got nine seasons of the Cuban Winter League, from a slightly earlier era (1905 to 1913). Cuban pro ball was racially integrated, and featured some of the very best African American ballplayers of the time, like Cyclone Joe Williams, John Henry Lloyd, and Pete Hill. So these numbers give us a rare glimpse of these players in their prime.

We are in the act of putting this encyclopedia together; it’s very much a work in progress, which we’ll be adding to little by little, game by game, season by season. Along with additional seasons Gary has nearly ready – the database will soon be expanded to include Major League and Negro League exhibition series from 1904 through 1915 and pre-Negro Leagues data from 1908 through 1915 – other researchers will be chiming in with their work soon as well. So check back frequently as we post new years and new information. Watch the all-time leader boards change and Hall of Famers’ careers gradually take shape in a way nobody has seen before.

As a special thank you to the loyal readers of Seamheads and to sites like i70baseball for helping to spread the word, Lynch including this free copy of Outsider Baseball Bulletin for our readers.

Bill Ivie hosts Gateway To Baseball Heaven every Sunday night at 930 p.m. Central Time on the Seamheads National Podcast Network.

I live in a rural part of Kansas. The high school of the town I live in plays 8-Man Football. When it comes to television providers my choices are Dish Network or Direct TV. I have been with Dish Network for several years. When the MLB Network was launched in 2009 I gave Dish Network an earful for not carrying the MLB Network. After all, I had access to NFL Network, NBA Network, and NHL Network, yet I didn’t have the network of my favorite sport. Yet, I stayed with Dish because I certainly wasn’t paying what DirectTV wanted for their services. And really, it wasn’t worth a vacation day for me to wait on a technician to come out and make the switch.

Which is why I was elated when I saw MLB Network appear on my program guide last Thursday. To my wife’s chagrin this will make this coming off-season a lot easier to handle. It also allows me to keep up on other baseball teams. I could do that before with the internet, but it takes a lot more effort to do that. One of the teams I like to follow is the Phillies. I have more than one friend in real life that is Phillies fan. I converse with several more via Twitter and other social media. I like good pitching and the Phillies have a lot of it. MLB Network shows a lot of Phillies games and this allows to me to watch more of them.

The Phillies are in a good place. All 5 of their starters would be the ace on the Royals pitching staff. Weird stuff happens in the MLB play-offs, but with that pitching staff anything short of a title would be a disappointment. However, I recently read this article at Grantland by the Dean of Royals Bloggers Rany Jazayerli. Read it for yourself but he essentially says the likelihood of the Phillies continuing their dominance is anything but a given.

The purpose of this Phillies love fest is not to relive the 1980 World Series where the Phillies and Royals paths crossed. It’s to compare two franchises at different ends of a spectrum. Looking at the information Rany lays out in his article. Where would you rather have your favorite franchise? Like the Phillies with a World Series title at hand but trending down. Or like the Royals near the bottom of the league in everything but trending up.

If I were buying stock I would buy the Royals. However, fandom in the sports world does not have inherent value. Winning a World Series involves being good, and being lucky. Outside the Yankees and Cardinals Word Series Championships are hard to come by. The Royals have one in their 42 seasons. Winning a World Series is the goal of a baseball team. Having a great organization top to bottom is good because it increases the likelihood of winning a World Series, not the other way around. Maybe my point of reference is off because I’ve been watching bad baseball for so many years. But if the Baseball Gods promised me a Royals World Series trophy in exchange for five years of 90+ loss seasons I think I would agree to that.

Over the course of a 162-game season, there are all sorts of ups and downs. Winning streaks, losing streaks, close plays, blown calls…etc. Players go on, and come off the disabled list, attendance figures rise and fall–a lot of things fluctuate over such a long season. Ask every manager in baseball about blown calls by the umpires during a regular-season game, and you’ll probably get 30 very similar responses: some will go your way, and some will go against you, but, over 162 games, it all evens out. A wise man once said, “Two out of three ain’t bad”. Held to today’s Major League Baseball schedule, that equates to a team winning 108 games–”not bad” indeed–in fact, within striking distance of the all-time record.

Not the “wise man” referred to a moment ago, but nonetheless a man who said “Two out of three ain’t bad”.

Last week, part of what I wrote was about the schedules of the Cardinals, Brewers, and Reds, stating that the Cardinals were in a position to really put some distance between themselves and the rest of the National League Central division. To “win the series” is a good frame of reference for success, in my opinion. This isn’t the NFL, where you MUST play each and every down to win that game, because so few games are played. Baseball’s schedule has ten times more games than that of the NFL, so winning the series is a good goal for baseball teams to aim for. One that, as previously mentioned, would bring wild success if achieved each and every time.

I took at a look at the Cardinals season to this point, and scanned the schedule & corresponding results for a series won or lost. The Cards have played in 20 different series’ so far in the 2011 campaign, and have won at least two games in a robust 14 of those (roughly two out of three). They entered play on Wednesday with the best record in baseball at 37-25, and a 2 ½ game lead in the division. Truly, two out of three (or in a couple of cases two & four) hasn’t been bad at all for this Cardinals team–it’s been pretty good, in fact!

Despite some defensive deficiencies around the diamond, they’ve managed to quietly win night after night without much fanfare or spectacle. That’s not to say we’ve not seen our share of exciting games, we certainly have. It just seems to me that our redbirds have enjoyed a lot of this success without much media attention (I mean, you know, less than usual for teams not named Red Sox or Yankees).

I think if the Cards keep going about their business they way they have up to this point, they’ll be in good shape come late September. The team might not be 100% healthy right now; but injuries are a part of the game, and no team is immune from being bitten by the injury bug. The pitching rotation has been ok without Kyle McClellan’s arm, and while the defense in the field may suffer some, with the (at least temporary) loss of Allen Craig, it isn’t like we’ve lost a gold glove, irreplaceable type of defender in Craig. Offensively? Yes, Matt Holliday is currently missing from the triple-threat of Pujols-Holliday-Berkman…but don’t be sad, ‘cause two outta three ain’t bad!

Integration of the white major leagues was a triumph for America, but it sent black baseball teams spinning into a new direction in the late 1940s.

To say integration killed Negro League baseball would be not quite accurate but the signing of Jackie Robinson did come just as the new “league” was still an infant.

A Negro “league” had not really held teams in unity for several years, coming together after The Depression. Barnstorming, players jumping contracts and player raids by owners, made black baseball unorganized throughout most of the 1930s. The Negro National League of the west and the Eastern Colored League had been so fragmented throughout the 1930s that league championships held little meaning. No World Series was held from 1927 to 1942.

All that was changing, however, and in the late 1930s and early 1940s, things were taking shape once again. The Kansas City Monarchs were back on top, winning the 1942 World Series, and they signed Robinson in 1945, only to have him “raided” by the Brooklyn Dodgers Branch Rickey.

What is now heralded as an admirable stand for justice may not have been completely magnanimous on Rickey’s part. Some believe, rather than intending to integrate white baseball, Rickey was actually attempting to use Robinson to form a new Negro league to compete with the existing leagues. Regardless of his motive, Rickey paid the Monarchs, the team with which Robinson was under contract, absolutely nothing.

Player raiding had plagued the Negro Leagues for years. But the practice had lost favor by the 1940s, and J.L. Wilkinson, the white owner of the Monarchs, felt disrespected and violated by the Dodgers’ nabbing of Robinson. He and partner Tom Baird protested to everyone who would listen, but decided against lodging a formal complaint to Major League Happy Chandler.

To attempt to block Robinson’s departure could have slowed the integration that was finally at hand. So the Monarchs were forced to relent. But the handwriting was on the wall, and from that moment everything changed for black teams.

Suddenly fans weren’t as interested in the aging legends of black baseball. They came, black and white alike, to see the future stars who would inevitably be added to white teams. Monte Irvin, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe – it was now the young studs that all eyes were upon.

But worse than that for black teams, was that attendance immediately took a hit. Black fans took new interest in the major leagues. Attendance in the Negro American League (based mostly in the Midwest) dropped by about half in 1947 from what it had been a few years earlier. Teams tried cutting payroll to stay afloat. The affect of salary reduction made the game even more suited for youngsters. Older players who were used to higher salaries and doubted their chances of making the major leagues jumped to Mexico or the Caribbean. Youths hoping to follow in Robinson’s footsteps were concerned more with opportunity than with salary. They were more likely to stick it out than their older counterparts.

It wasn’t long before the Negro Leagues transformed from the pinnacle of black baseball to a training ground for eager young prospects. Teams trying to stay in the black seized this new opportunity. If they couldn’t keep the big leagues out, they could at least get a piece of the action. After the Cleveland Indians’ Bill Veeck actually recompensed the Newark Eagles for Doby’s services, a new business boomed.

Since the Kansas City Monarchs were still an elite team, they had some of the best players for the white teams to pick from. In 1947, the year Robinson debuted in Brooklyn, the Monarchs sent Willard Brown and Hank Thompson to the St. Louis Browns. Next, they sent Satchel Paige to Bill Veeck’s Indians in 1948. At that point, black baseball teams began, by necessity, to care more about developing young big leaguers than about winning games. The 1949 the Monarchs actually voluntarily dropped out of the playoffs because they’d sold off four key players.

After 1949 there would be no more player raids without payment, a la Jackie Robinson. A minimum payment of $5,000 was set when Irvin signed with the New York Giants. The Monarchs scored the biggest profit in the Negro American League when they sold Ernie Banks and Bill Dickey for $20,000 in 1953.

All in all, the Monarchs sold 25 players to the major leagues, gaining the reputation of a Negro baseball preparatory school. Some teams actually formed alliances with major league teams, as the Monarchs allied themselves with the New York Yankees. The Monarchs would ship four players to the Yankees in 1949 and 1950, including future MVP Elston Howard.

Integration changed not only the segregated white leagues but also the Negro Leagues. The need for an all-Negro league disappeared after integration, but the exhibition of major league prospects kept black baseball going for nearly a decade after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

The 1980′s were such a great time to be a Cardinals fan. Gashouse baseball had returned to St. Louis, but this time it went by another name: Whitey Ball. Manager and GM, Whitey Herzog transformed a group of players that didn’t quite fit together into a unified team featuring excellence in speed, defense and timely hitting. A balance of veterans supporting an exciting core of young players who, if they could avoid the injury bug, could provide championship caliber baseball for many years to come.

The Rivalry

In literature, each great hero had a foe of his or her equal. Sherlock Holmes had his Professor Moriarty. Harry Potter has his He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. For the 1980′s, the Cardinals archenemy were the New York Mets, and a mighty villain they turned out to be.

The Cardinals would battle the Mets for supremacy of the National League East for much of the decade. Like the Robert Brown character from the Star Trek Episode “The Alternative Factor” (aka And What of Lazurus), this battle went on for what seemed an eternity with neither side able to claim victory. The Cardinals would finish first in 1981 (with the strike ruining their first post-season under Herzog’s leadership), 1982, 1985 and 1987. The Mets got off to a slow start but would win in 1986 and 1988. Each team would bring home one World Series title. The two teams would meet 173 times in the decade, and only a single game would separate the two, with the Mets owning the advantage. To the Cardinals fans, the differential felt more like 50 games as it seemed like the Mets were winning every series. This would become one of the best rivalries between two quality baseball teams – and each of their fans developed a strong dislike of the others.

The Race for 1987

Led by the 1-2 punch of Vince Coleman and Ozzie Smith backed up by the big bat of Jack Clark, the Cardinals got off to a slow but steady start in 1987. Key injuries kept the Cardinals from contending in 1984 and again in 1986. In mid-April, it seemed like it was happening again. On April 19, Barry Lyons of the Mets ran after a foul ball and slid hard into the Cardinals dugout, hitting John Tudor and leaving the staff ace with a severely broken leg. Tudor would miss the next three months, but somehow Herzog found a way to keep his team focused. And winning.

As the temperatures started warming up in May, so did the Redbirds. They continued to win more than losing in June and suddenly the Cardinals found themselves with a comfortable lead early in the summer. A 9 game winning streak in early July all but sealed up the National League East, or so we thought. Unfortunately, there were still 2 months to play, but a 10 game lead felt safe.

The Cardinals would begin to falter in August and again in September as additional injuries took their toll – none bigger than to slugger, Jack Clark. To add to the drama, a 7 game winning streak by the Mets in early August right on the heels of sweeping the Cardinals in St. Louis, and another 6 game run in early September brought the two rivals to within 1 1/2 games with less than a month to play. So much for that 10 game cushion.

The Game

This brings us to September 11, 1987. With a slim 1 1/2 game lead, the Cardinals went on the road to play 2nd place New York in a 3 game weekend series. Tensions were high and the momentum gained from winning this series would propel one of the two teams into postseason.

The 1987 Mets had a ferocious lineup. If they had any weakness, it was a vulnerability to left handed pitching, which the Cardinals had in abundance. For the series opener, the Cardinals were going with the always dependable John Tudor. Very quickly it became clear that this game was not going to follow anybody’s script.

Before we knew what hit us, the Mets had jumped out to a 3-0 lead. A Keith Hernandez RBI double and 2 run home run from Darryl Strawberry would get the home crowd of over 50,000 standing on their feet. Cardinals fans hopes for a September miracle series were destroyed in a span of about 3 minutes. And the first inning had just finished.

The Mets starter, Ron Darling, was unable to perform the most important job given to a pitcher – shut down the opponents when given a lead. A walk to Dan Driessen (filling in for an injured Jack Clark) and one of the rarest sights in baseball, a walk to Willie McGee, gave the Cardinals some hope. Three quick infield groundouts brought an end to the rally, but the Cardinals did manage one run. There was plenty of time – just eat away at the lead, one run at a time. Herzog style.

It was now John Tudor’s job to keep it a 3-1 Mets lead, and he didn’t fare much better than Darling. Two quick outs to the 8th and 9th place hitters brought Mookie Wilson to the plate. It also brought the New York crowd back to their feet. Wilson would hit a solo home run and the Mets would have their 3 run lead back. Now trailing 4-1, Cardinals fans felt like the season might be ending right here. To make matters worse, Ron Darling had shaken off his early game troubles. With Darling settling in and Tudor faltering, the season felt over. Tudor would find his groove though and the game would stay 4-1.

In the top of the 6th, Whitey Herzog would make the gamble of the game, maybe the season. Whitey would pinch hit for Tudor and hope that the bullpen could hold off the Mets. That decision appeared to backfire when Lance Johnson lined out to Keith Hernandez. Now it was up to the pesky Vince Coleman, and Coleman did what we had come to expect: a push bunt between Darling and Tim Teufel. With Ozzie Smith batting , Coleman would steal second base. This was Whitey Ball at it’s finest. One run at a time, keep the pressure on the other team. As quickly as it started, it ended when an overly aggressive Coleman was picked off of second base. Ozzie would extend the inning with a walk, but Tommy Herr grounded out weakly to first, ending the threat. But it was a threat, if they could just get another chance.

In the 7th, the Cardinals would try some Whitey Ball again. A walk and force out would put speedster, Willie McGee at first base. And after a Terry Pendleton strikeout, McGee would try to steal second. This game would feature another rarity – Gary Carter would throw out McGee at second, ending another rally. If the Cardinals could just break through.

This is when most Cardinal fans turned off their radios, and those that did missed some of the most exciting baseball of the decade.

In the bottom of the 7th, Scott Terry would get into trouble. A leadoff double by Len Dykstra and sacrifice bunt from Mookie Wilson had another runner at third with just one out. Running on contact, Herr made a good play on an infield grounder to throw out Dykstra at home. A seeing eye single from former Cardinal Keith Hernandez had the Mets poised for a 2 out rally. Herzog would again go to his bullpen – this time time for young lefty, Steve Peters. Only 24 years old and on the one month anniversary of his major league debut, Peters would face the toughest left handed hitter in 1987 – Darryl Strawberry. Peters would hit second in the next inning, so he knew he was in for just one out. If he could get it. Looking nothing like a nervous rookie, Peters got Strawberry to strike out, ending the rally.

We are now in the 8th inning and Davey Johnson calls for his closer, Jack McDowell. McDowell and Jesse Orosco would make a formidable righty/lefty combination out of their bullpen, much like the Cardinals had with Ken Dayley and Todd Worrell. The top of the 8th would feature the third rarity of the game – a Keith Hernandez error. The Cardinals would get a runner as far as third base, and the Mets seemed willing to concede a run to avoid a big rally. But the rally failed to materialize and more Cards fans turned off their radios.

And this brings us to the most exciting 20 minutes of 1987. Perhaps of the last 50 years.

The Shot

With the Cardinals trailing 4-1 and the Mets closer in a nice groove, the Cardinals brought the heart of the order up (Ozzie Smith, Tommy Herr and Dan Driessen) in their final at bat. Or so they thought. Ozzie would start things off with a walk. Tommy Herr would try to pull the ball through the right side of the infield, but Keith Hernandez would make the play and take the conservative out at first. Smith’s run at second base meant nothing. Or so they thought. Driessen would strike out and the Cardinals were down to their last out – still trailing 4-1. Willie McGee would extend the inning, hitting a sharp single up the middle, scoring Smith from second. Again the Mets would make the conservative play holding McGee at first, allowing Ozzie to score without a throw. Smith’s run meant nothing. The Cardinals final hope now lies on the shoulders of youngster, Terry Pendleton. Roger McDowell gets two quick strikes against the Cards third baseman. What happens next still gives me goosebumps when I think about it. With 2 strikes, one strike away from dropping the first game of this pivotal series, Terry Pendleton hits a 2 run homer to the deepest part of Shea Stadium – dead center field. At first, it was hard to hear the call over all of the Mets fans cheering thinking they had won the game.

Improbably, the game was now tied 4-4. The Cardinals were not done – not by a long shot.

David Green would double putting the go ahead run at second, but catcher Tom Pagnozzi would strike out to end the inning.

Extra Inning

Whitey Herzog would go again to his bullpen and play the lefty vs lefty odds, chosing Ken Dayley over Todd Worrell. Fans of the 80s Cardinals will remember fondly the pitching antics of Ken Dayley. He would show moments of dominating brilliance followed by unexpected wildness. And then sometimes followed by cartoon-like wildness. Like Mitch Williams in the 90s, Dayley could walk the bases loaded and then strikeout the side. The bottom of the 9th on September 11, 1987 we would experience all that, and more.

Lee Mazilli would make the first out on a line drive to Dan Driessen. A single by pinch hitter Bill Almon would set the stage for some of Dayley’s drama. A wild pitch would put Almon at second base. The winning run is now in scoring position with only one out and Dayley now has to face the top of the Mets batting order. Poor Mookie Wilson was overmatched by Dayley’s devistating fastball and wicked curve and eventually would strike out. A walk to Tim Tuefel would bring Keith Hernandez to the plate. Once again, the Mets fans were on their feet and cheering so loudly that they could be heard as far away as Philadelphia. This time, Dayley gets the best of the ex-Cardinal, getting him to ground out to his counterpart, Driessen.

Could it get any better than this ? Extra innings late in a pennant race between the league’s best two teams ? Of course it could – with a Cardinal victory, which would not take very long on this evening. Like all of the great games of the decade, it involved some more Whitey Ball.

Jesse Orosco, the other half of the Mets closing tandem, was on to pitch the 10th inning. Tony Pena would line out to short to start the inning. A seeing eye single to left field would put Vince Coleman on first. A wicked single to left from Ozzie Smith would put Coleman at 3rd, and a single to right center by Tommy Herr would put the Cardinals on top for the first time in the game, 5-4. Driessen’s force play at 2nd would score an insurance run when he beat out the double play throw to first and the Cardinals had a 6-4 lead. Willie McGee being Willie McGee, struck out to end the rally, but nobody cared – we had a 6-4 lead.

With the heart of the Mets order due up in the bottom of the 10th, Herzog stayed with his lefty, but Todd Worrell was getting ready. Just in case.

He wouldn’t be needed on this night. This time, there was no drama as Ken Dayley made quick work of the Mets, striking out Strawberry and getting fly ball outs from Kevin McReynolds and Gary Carter. This was the brilliance that Dayley occasionally displayed and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Rest of the Story

Within one pitch of losing the first game of the pivotal series in New York, the Cardinals rallied for a victory, winning not only this game, but gaining some much needed momentum that would carry them to the National League East Championship and another World Series visit. After this game the Cardinals would not look into the rear view mirror to see who was chasing them – they were not to be caught.

From here, the Cardinals would go on to split or win all but two series after this monumental game. They would lose a heartbreaker on September 25, a Friday game at Wrigley. One bad pitch by Bob Forsch to Andre Dawson gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead that would hold up in spite of two Vince Coleman stolen bases. With the season winding down, the Cardinals would lose 2 of 3 to the Mets at home – but those games meant nothing as Danny Cox, Joe Magrane and Greg Matthews took 3 of 4 from Montreal, the last of these with the Mets in the stands, watching the Cardinals celebrate for winning the National League East for the 3rd time in the decade.