That really wasn’t the way this weekend was supposed to go. With the Tigers well below .500 and eliminated either technically or practically from any sort of offseason plans that didn’t involve golfing, the Cardinals were supposed to go into Detroit and at least take two of three if they couldn’t get the sweep. Instead, [...]
Earlier today, we went through all that happened on September 8, 1998. I mentioned in that story where I was but if you were a Cardinal fan–a baseball fan, even–alive at that time, you probably have a story about what that night was like for you. So I asked for them. If you remember where [...]
Home run #: 62 Date: September 8 Opponent: Chicago Cubs Location: Busch Stadium Pitcher: Steve Traschel Score: 0-0 Inning: 4 Outs: 2 Runners on: 0 Distance: 341 feet End of day Sammy Sosa total: 58 End of day Ken Griffey Jr. total: 49 It had to be tonight. That’s what everyone was thinking as Tuesday, September 8 passed and the hours continued [...]
Home run #: 61 Date: September 7 Opponent: Chicago Cubs Location: Busch Stadium Pitcher: Mike Morgan Score: 0-0 Inning: 1 Outs: 2 Runners on: 0 Distance: 430 feet End of day Sammy Sosa total: 58 End of day Ken Griffey Jr. total: 49 There is absolutely no way you could plan this out. With Mark McGwire already on 60, his rival for the [...]
The Cardinals won another series! Since it wasn’t against the Reds, that shouldn’t have been a big surprise, should it? Yet nothing about this series was assured or given. The Cards really should have swept it–we’ve already talked about Monday’s game–but for the fact that they piled up leads (and large leads at that), they [...]
Home run #: 60 Date: September 5 Opponent: Cincinnati Reds Location: Busch Stadium Pitcher: Dennys Reyes Score: 0-0 Inning: 1 Outs: 1 Runners on: 1 Distance: 381 feet End of day Sammy Sosa total: 58 End of day Ken Griffey Jr. total: 47 Six is a serious digit. Babe Ruth had 60 home runs in 1927. Roger Maris had edged his mark in [...]
Suddenly, October’s outlook has been replaced with September’s struggling. Since the calendar flipped to the ninth month of the year, the Cardinals have lost three straight games for the first time since July 11-14, the last three games of Mike Matheny‘s tenure. Their semi-comfortable lead as the first wild-card team has been replaced by hanging [...]
Opponent: Florida Marlins Location: Pro Player Stadium End of day Sammy Sosa total: 56 End of day Ken Griffey Jr. total: 46 You hear people talk about “the zone”. You hear people talk about getting that extra kick as they get closer to a finish line. That is probably the best way to describe what the first week [...]
Opponent: Florida Marlins Location: Pro Player Stadium End of day Sammy Sosa total: 55 End of day Ken Griffey Jr. total: 46 For some reason, this series against the Marlins is one that I can remember from the Mark McGwire chase. I mentioned before that I would start noting the home runs on my work calendar and I [...]
Back on July 25, the Cardinals dropped a 7-3 game in Cincinnati, meaning that they lost two of three in Great American Ball Park. Mike Shildt was 3-5 in the start of his career and while we were still excited about the changes that were happening, it still felt like the best we could hope [...]
Home run #: 55 Date: August 30 Opponent: Atlanta Braves Location: Busch Stadium Pitcher: Dennis Martinez Score: 5-7 Inning: 7 Outs: 0 Runners on: 2 Distance: 501 feet End of day Sammy Sosa total: 54 End of day Ken Griffey Jr. total: 46 After getting a little extra rest the day before courtesy of a heave-ho by Sam Holbrook (which, as we [...]
The Cardinals have dealt with injuries all year long. Adam Wainwright, Alex Reyes, they lost Yadier Molina for a month, plenty of others to choose from. When I decided this year to make a spreadsheet tracking roster moves, I didn’t realize just how many there were going to be. Over the last month or so [...]
