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Cardinal baseball, from the girls
Tag Archives: Mark McGwire
The Top 5 Iconic Moments in Cardinal History
Posted by on January 25, 2012
Sometimes the fearless leader of the UCB Daniel Shoptaw puts us on the spot with the monthly projects. January’s project is the top five moments in Cardinal history.
Five? I only get five? I don’t know how Bob Netherton managed to narrow it down, but after reading his I was spurned towards figuring out mine (So… thanks Bob!).
If you are digging back to the very beginning of the Cardinals, the pre-1900′s would be a starting point, but those moments were not really ‘iconic.’ Let’s see… where to start…
5. Bob Gibson’s 1968 season
Have you ever known a player to completely change the way the game was played singlehandedly? No, you think. That doesn’t happen. One player cannot change an entire sport. Oh yes it can…
| Age | Tm | Lg | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | STL | NL | 22 | 9 | .710 | 1.12 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 28 | 13 | 0 | 304.2 | 198 | 49 | 38 | 11 | 62 | 6 | 268 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1161 | 258 | 0.853 | 5.8 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.9 | 4.32 | AS,CYA-1,MVP-1,GG |
| 17 Seasons | 251 | 174 | .591 | 2.91 | 528 | 482 | 21 | 255 | 56 | 6 | 3884.1 | 3279 | 1420 | 1258 | 257 | 1336 | 118 | 3117 | 102 | 13 | 108 | 16068 | 128 | 1.188 | 7.6 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 7.2 | 2.33 | |||
| 162 Game Avg. | 17 | 12 | .591 | 2.91 | 36 | 32 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 262 | 221 | 96 | 85 | 17 | 90 | 8 | 210 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1082 | 128 | 1.188 | 7.6 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 7.2 | 2.33 | |||
| Lg | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | Awards | |||||||||||
Yes, you are reading that correctly. Bob Gibson’s 1968 season was other-worldly. A 1.12 ERA, 13 complete game shutouts, giving up 38 earned runs over 304 innings… who does this?
No one, not since Bob Gibson. You see, 1968 became somewhat of a “year of the pitcher” in Major League Baseball. Run-scoring was down, and since most fans come to see at least a little bit of action at a baseball game, the powers that be determined that this was a terrible thing. The result? The actual pitchers’ mound was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches. It was a literal leveling of the playing field, and all Gibson got to show for his season was an All-Star selection, Gold Glove, Cy Young, MVP award, and a National League pennant.
Oh, that’s all.
4. October 27, 2011 – “They just won’t go away.”
Despite the recentness of this moment, it is crazy to think that game 6 of this past year’s World Series might not make this list. On the whole I feel like I am a pretty lucky baseball fan. I’ve seen my team play in 3 World Series (winning twice) and countless playoff games in my 25 years on this earth. On the flip side, my grandpa turned 80 years old last year and is still waiting for his beloved Cubs to win it all.
The 2011 postseason had its share of thrills, spills and chills, but the Cardinals found themselves against the wall, finding themselves down to their final strike not once, but twice, and they still came out on top. David Freese became a household name with his game-tying triple, then followed it up with his walk-off winner. Joe Buck gave us all goosebumps with his call of the home run, channeling his dad with a “We will see you tomorrow night!”
The team wouldn’t quit. They pushed through and came out on top. Also, to further my point that I am a very lucky baseball fan? October 27 is my birthday. 
3. The teams that would not die.
The 2011 team was not the only one that was left for dead. 1964 was a wild pennant run in and of itself (and if you want a more detailed look, check out Bob Netherton’s posts on the subject). Ten games back? Nine games back? No matter, somehow these two Cardinal teams rose from the ashes and claimed a place in history.
Now, did it take a hard fall from the teams that were ahead of them in order for the birds on the bat to make it to the playoffs? You betcha. The 1964 Phillies are still remembered for that epic collapse. Will the 2011 Braves be remembered in the same way? Probably not, in all honesty. People don’t talk about the 1964 World Series the same way they will talk about the 2011 version. One thing is certain: no one will forget the Cardinals and their fight to the end!
2. Big Mac breaks the record
1998 was a magical summer for 11 year old me. I was living and dying with every long ball hit by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. I watched more Cubs baseball on WGN than any sane baseball fan should ever have to endure.
Yeah yeah, steriods. I know. But I didn’t back then. I’m not the only one that didn’t see behind the curtain either. Many of those that did, just didn’t care. For the first time since the strike of 1994 crippled many baseball fans from their love of the game, baseball had life. Games at Kauffman Stadium and the Astrodome were being sold out, and those teams had no business having that many fans in the stands. Nightly news would be cut off to update the score and the fact that Mac/Sammy had just blasted another one (and I didn’t live in the St. Louis/Chicago area to get full coverage).
But September 8, 1998 is a night that I will never forget. I screamed, I jumped around the living room, and I almost cut off my poor sisters’ circulation from hugging them so tightly. Watching that ball skirt over the wall, watching Mac almost miss first base, seeing the Maris family and Sammy running in from the outfield and all the people screaming and cheering… I was a part of that! We were all part of that. Despite what we know now… back then we were all just baseball fans again.
1. “Go Crazy Folks”
Ozzie with one out. Took a ball just outside. Cardinals have left ten men on and they left a lotta men on early. A runner at third nobody out in the first and didn’t score, second and third in the second and didn’t score. Smith corks one into into right down the line… it may go… go crazy folks! Go crazy! It’s a home run, and the Cardinals have won the game, by the score of 3-2 on a home run by the Wizard! Go crazy!
Seeing the words just doesn’t do that call justice. It never will. The 1985 NLCS game 5 home run by Ozzie Smith was great in and of itself. He wasn’t a home run hitter, especially not from the left side. The home run was incredible, but it was not the iconic moment.
It was the call. It was Jack Buck. There will never be another.
~*~*~*~*~*~
There you go – the top 5 moments in Cardinals history from my eyes. What say you? What did I miss? Let me know in the comments…
Is it baseball season yet?
Things We Were Wondering
Posted by on June 2, 2010
Chris’ computer ate her homework. No really – her computer crashed and today’s blog post is being held hostage by the Geek Squad somewhere. Angela and I had high expectations for a fill-in post, but unfortunately were both a little distracted by last night’s Cardinals game …and this:
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=12194640&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1David Freese Cover Photo Shoot from ALIVE Magazine St. Louis on Vimeo.
So, from the minds of two very tired and slightly giddy Cardinals bloggers, we bring you a list of “Things That Make Us Go Hmmmm?”
We were wondering….
1. Why would Brendan Ryan forego the high socks when his mustache alone seemed to be bringing the luck?
2. Why does Jason LaRue only cut his hair once a year? Why now? (By the way, Jason’s new look gets a definite thumbs-up!)
3. Why bring Aaron Miles up to the big leagues now when Tyler Greene and Joe Mather are both hitting better? (and at a higher level?)
4. Who invented MLB blackout areas and why don’t they make any sense?
5. Why is Colby striking out so much lately?
6. Why did the McGwires plan to have babies in June? Mark has a baseball job!
Let’s rephrase that: Why did Mark McGwire accept a job as the Cardinals’ batting coach when his wife was having triplets in June?
PS- congratulations to the McGwire family!
7. Why bring in Ryan Franklin in the 8th inning with the Cardinals trailing and a shortage of available arms?
8. Are there actual people running baseball-reference.com? Or do computers boost statistics from somewhere? Or is it just the work of magic baseball fairies?
9. Why do people either LOVE the wave or HATE the wave? No in-betweeners?
10. Why has Angela not dedicated an entire blog post to Adam Wainwright?
11. Why do Cardinals fans love scrappy little players? How far back does this love affair go? Pepper Martin?
12. Do players that go up/down from MLB to AAA rent more than one apartment?
13. Does pay change, depending on whether the boys are playing AAA or MLB games?
14. How many tattoos does Felipe Lopez have anyway?
15. Why does the national media only care about the Yankees/Sox baseball rivalry?
16. Why doesn’t anyone in baseball recognize that the Cardinals have the top three rotation guys in the majors?
17. How do we even compare team offense stats between AL and NL teams when AL teams have a DH and NL teams bat their pitchers?
18. How will Brendan Ryan survive without his sidekick while Joe Mather is with AAA Memphis?
And the biggest questions is:
How many readers will actually stick around to read all 18 things that we were wondering about?
Thanks for reading, Mom!
Today the Cardinals face the Reds to battle for the series at 7:15pm CT (on ESPN).
Please Send Bats
Posted by on May 9, 2010
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| Credit where due |
How I long for the days when we were (complaining?) talking about how the Cardinals were hitting too many home runs. Those were good good days. This has been a very unkind road trip for our boys in red, and the men in blue (aka umps) haven’t helped, to be sure, but the biggest issue? Far and away – the Cardinals bats have been lost. I’m not sure if they didn’t make the plane out of St. Louis for the east coast or if the boys are holding them at the wrong end, but it’s been tough to watch some of these at bats lately. In fact, I’m fairly certain some of the boys in my 8th grade class had better at bats in PE last week than I saw last night.
I’ve come to the conclusion (not that this is a new one by any means) that the Cardinals are indeed playing the role of guess hitters. I went out in search of the article that started this thought process in my head a few days ago. My search was exhausting, and took me to so many random and varying sites that I got a little lost in the history of the game, as well as wrapped up in the current oddities of the internet. Here are some of the examples:
- tweets that were just a few minutes old (that are appearing on google now… and I saw twitter names I knew… sometimes google is scary)
- Bleed Cubbie Blue game threads
- Milwaukee Sentinel articles from 1954 about the Milwaukee Braves (pictured at right)
- Baseball Digest articles from 1959 and 1961 (I’ll get back to these)
- Joe Strauss Live transcripts
- a simulation to see if you can react fast enough to hit a fastball (entertaining for the first 5 seconds or so… and I recommend turning down the sound)
- and this article from Bernie Miklasz, which (along with the Mark McGwire/Al Hrabosky conversation mentioned therein) is what started this whole thought process to begin with for me
That’s right, I am admitting for the second post in a row that something Al Hrabosky said got me thinking. I’m scared too.
However, hearing that our batting coach thinks that our guys are going out there guessing, and are far too reliant on watching video scares me much more. Videos like this speak to the issue as well.
I’m not saying this problem is localized to the Cardinals by any means. One article I found (and lost – there were too many) stated that there were more guess hitters in the league now than ever before, which didn’t surprise me in the least. Players from Garrett Anderson and Pat Burrell to Dustin Pedroia were being nominated as being guess hitters.
It sounds scary doesn’t it? Guessing. You and I couldn’t go into our daily jobs and just guess. I know I don’t get paid millions of dollars to guess all day (I also don’t get paid millions of dollars). That said, here are some names of guys that ‘just guessed’ through their whole careers and came out juuuuust fine:
Johnny Bench
Ted Williams
Tony Gywnn
That’s just the short list. I would also venture my own guess here and say that these guys knew a little bit more than some of the current free swingers running around MLB clubhouses. Just a guess though.
Speaking of history, ThisBaseball Digest article (I miss having a subscription to this mag) from May of 1959 had a nice quote from Rogers Hornsby, AKA the second-last NL player to hit .400 in a season. He stated,
Don’t be a guess hitter. Too many hitters are guess hitters. They should wait until they get a ball in the strike zone. It only takes one to hit. Instead they guess. They swing when they think they’ve outguessed the pitcher. But that isn’t a good percentage. Every pitcher has four pitches in his repertoire, fastball, curve, change-up and one other, possibly a knuckler. If the batter guesses right once out of four he’ll only hit .250.
A coach says swing, (players) swing, even if the pitch is a foot from the plate. They’re not supposed to. That’s not required. A batter doesn’t even have to protect a base runner if the hit-and-run signal is on. The main thing is don’t do anything silly.
Leave it to the Rajah to tell it like it is. I believe if someone pulled out this quote and showed it to Mark McGwire right now, he would look at you and say, ‘Exactly.’
I will leave you with one more thought for today (I know, I’m wordy for a Sunday). This gem is another Baseball Digest find, from 1961. Legendary Cleveland skipper Jimmie Dykes had this to say on guess hitters:
There are two kinds of ‘guess’ hitters in baseball. A batter of one kind ‘guesses,’ if you would call it that; that he will get some certain pitch while at bat and looks for this particular pitch; in fact, waits for it and lets other pitches go until he has two strikes and must hit at anything. A better name would be ‘waiting for your pitch,’ and most of the great hitters do it. The other kind ‘guesses’ on each pitch. Batters of this type will ‘guess’ that the next pitch is to be a curve or fast ball, and if wrong, as they frequently are, try again, probably changing the guess. They are continually getting crossed up, in part because they don’t stick to the original guess, but keep switching, thus can be wrong on every pitch. This is a bad hitting habit to get into and a hard one to break.
Let’s all hope the Cardinals are more like the first type, but the past few games don’t do much to reassure me in that regard. We need to see a beat-down of the Pirates today so the boys can at least go home on a higher note!
