1982
There's my wedding day, the births of my two daughters, and the day Bruce Sutter struck out Milwaukee's Gorman Thomas to win the 1982 World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals. Until October 20, 1982, I had spent my whole life — 13 years seemed like a stretch back then — cheering mediocre Cardinal baseball teams. But then manager Whitey Herzog arrived in 1980, followed by Sutter, Darrell Porter, and Joaquin Andujar in 1981, then Lonnie Smith and Ozzie Smith for the '82 campaign. (When I first learned of the Garry Templeton-for-Ozzie trade, I was devastated. What a difference a Hall of Fame career makes.)
Mark this down: There will never again be a World Series champ with a home-run leader who hit all of 19. George Hendrick — stirrups covered by his pants, he was ahead of his time — was the closest thing to a slugger that '82 team could claim. But how they ran!
Herzog designed his Cardinals for the vast dimensions of what can now be called "old" Busch Stadium: fielders who could keep the opponent off the bases with their glove work and hitters who could set the Astroturf basepaths afire once they got on. Ozzie, Lonnie, and rookie Willie McGee combined to steal 117 bases (the entire 2006 squad stole 59). Keith Hernandez (first base) and Ozzie (shortstop) are in the discussion when it comes to the greatest fielders at their positions . . . ever.
As for pitching, no starter won more than the 15 games Andujar and Bob Forsch did, but with the Hall of Fame-bound Sutter in the bullpen (36 saves and 102 innings pitched), few leads were lost late. This team was good in April (12-game winning streak) and September (8-game streak). They held off a Phillies team two years removed from a world championship, and swept the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. (I sat with my mom in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for Game 3; still gives me goose bumps.)
Best of all, a team that hit a total of 67 home runs beat a mighty Milwaukee Brewer team that mashed 216 to win the ninth world championship in franchise history, and the first since 1967. A Cardinal team never to be forgotten.
— Frank Murtaugh
2006
The day after the St. Louis Cardinals won the 2006 World Series, a friend — no doubt annoyed by my ebullient mien — tried to take me down a peg, claiming the victors were one of the worst champions in the annals of baseball. The Cards were indeed the champions with the lowest regular-season winning percentage in history and had limped into the playoffs, almost blowing a 7-game division lead with 12 games left to play.
But baseball is uniquely defined in sports because it celebrates infrequent success in the face of predominating failure. This is a sport where failing on average only seven out of 10 times can get you invited to an All-Star Game. Baseball teaches about overcoming failure with consistent behavior — understanding that the desired outcome will eventually turn in your favor so long as your circumstances remain ideal.
The Cardinals won not because they were consistently successful over the course of a regular season but because their consistent behavior finally bore fruit in the postseason. Some people call that getting hot at the right time. They won not because they had the highest payroll in baseball, with a roster filled with hired gunslingers and mercenary sluggers, but because they got timely contributions from role players. Some call that team chemistry.
Record and conclusion aside, the Cardinals were a good ball club in 2006. The team had won 100 games and the NL Central Division the year before and returned the reigning league MVP (Albert Pujols) and Cy Young winner (Chris Carpenter).
The '06 campaign was marred by numerous injuries and Jason Marquis' battleship ERA. But it also saw the opening of the new Busch Stadium, the rise of hurler Adam Wainwright, and the postseason heroics of Yadier Molina (my favorite active Cardinal), David Eckstein, and So Taguchi.
St. Louis entered each postseason series as massive underdogs — and kept winning. Because the way they got there hews so closely to the way baseball treats the mere mortal — and because they won anyway — the Cardinals' 10th World Series title is my favorite. The Scott Spiezio-inspired candy-red novelty soul patches notwithstanding.
—
Greg Akers
by the numbers
8 — Seasons of The Andy Griffith Show, featuring beautiful MAYberry
102 — Passengers on the MAYflower
60 — Number of bands playing at this year's Memphis in May Music Festival
6 — Number of #1 hits on Billboard Hot 100 by MIM performers Hall & Oates
1978 — Year quintuple- platinum album The Best Of: Vol. 1 released by Earth, Wind & Fire
4 — Official names for Tunisia, this year's MIM honored country
2.8 million — Internet users in Tunisia despite severe site censorship
20 — Number of teams competing in MIM's first Barbecue Cooking Contest
3 — Seasons of Rock of Love (to no avail) with MIM performer Bret Michaels
1 — Major-league teams with more World Series titles than the Cardinals' 10 (New York Yankees)
6 – Uniform number of Stan Musial, the first to be retired by the Cardinals
5 — Former Memphis Redbirds to homer in their first at-bat with the Cardinals
118 — Stolen bases by Cardinal Lou Brock in 1974, a National League record that still stands
13th — Inning in which Albert Pujols hit his championship-winning homer for the Memphis Redbirds in 2000
11 — Gold Gloves won by Ozzie Smith as a Cardinal
