I attended a doubleheader at Wrigley a few years ago. Orlando Palmeiro made a terrific catch in the ivy to send the first one to extra innings (15 innings total). The Cardinals lost it, but that catch was amazing.

I’ve got two games to add to the list

-The So Taguchi game at Wrigley where he homered off of Kyle Farnsworth and made a diving catch into the ivy. I might be wrong, but I think Albert hit 3 that day as well, but that might have been the next day and I don’t have time to look it up now.

-The rubber match of the Cardinals’ last regular season visit to Boston which also went 13 innings and was capped on an Edmonds’ homer over the monster. That game also could have ended about 12 times as I know Nomar hit one that was only a few feet short of ending it among others. Considering the Boston subway was about to shut down and I still had a long drive to NY to catch the Clemens 300 win game in the miserable, rainy Bronx, it made for a long night.

July 20, 2004. ‘The Comeback’.

The Cardinals were down 8-2 after three innings to the Cubs at Wrigley. Matt Morris got lit up for seven in the second inning, but the bullpen only allowed one run for the remainder of the game — 7.1 inning worth of duty.

Pujols launched three home runs in the comeback, including a two-run shot off LaTroy Hawkins in the top of the ninth to give the Cardinals the lead and the eventual 11-8 victory.

Not only that, So Taguchi, who rocketed a dinger in the 8th, made a ridiculous catch in left field that appeared to make him look like he came out of the ivy to snag it.

One of the best games I’ve ever been to in person, right next to Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS.

That was a terrific game. This team is a lot of fun to watch. I haven’t had this much fun watching The Cardinals since ‘85 when, if memory serves, they also defied national media expectations. This team is hungry and unrelenting. Hats off to Aaron Miles, Izzy, Adam Kennedy, and especially TLR.

How could you possibly forget Albert’s homerun off of Lidge in the 2005 LCS?

The best game I’ve seen in a while. Two in the recent past are,

1. Cards vs. Yankees a couple of years ago that pitted a healthy and effective Mulder against Randy Johnson.
2. Matt Morris’ 3-0 shutout of the Dodgers. Morris was nearly perfect. The defense by both teams was stellar.

I attended a game in 1998 - Cubs @ Cards - that was great… McGwire hit his 46th and Sosa hit his 44th in an exciting record breaking season. The game went 13 innings, but was filled with drama as both teams scored in the 11th and 12th innings. In the bottom of the 13th, Chicago pulled their center fielder in as a fifth outfielder, but Lankford still poked it through the infield for the game winning RBI. What a game! (thanks baseball-reference for the details).

EDIT post above: fifth *INFIELDER*

Billy,

Didn’t forget Game 5 of the 2005 NLCS — just waited for someone else to bring it up, because it seems more like a Great Moment than a Great Game. Like the John Mabry/Jim Edmonds comeback in Cincinnati. Was that really a great game? A great moment? Or just a shocking comeback?

A great game has switchbacks and drama and tensiona and moments that transcend.

It has Chavez catches, Molina homers, Rolen errors, Suppan escapes and bases-loaded intrigue in the ninth.

But that definition open for discussion.

What isn’t is the game mentioned by WC Tigers and 007. That definitely belongs on the list. Albert Pujols hits three home runs for the first time in his career. Tensions boil. So Taguchi cranks a game-tying home run off Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth inning. (HERE’S THE LINK to a “TESTY TUESDAY”.)

dg
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Sep 11, 1987 - Cards and Mets duel. Mets keep the Cards down for almost nine innings. Mets fans taunt, one group displaying a sign that says “Just One Hit”. With two out in top of ninth, Willie McGee bounces a little grounder that makes it into the outfield, scoring Ozzie who had walked earlier. OK. Terry Pendleton finally solves McDowell for a homer to center. Mets fans stunned and silenced.

Myself? Stunned, mouth open, wow! Take that Shea fans. Topped off by the Cards winning in extras. A key game, to me, in the Cards winning the division.

My candidates:

August 8, 1998: Ten years to the day after the Cubs try and fail to play their first home night game, they play in St Louis on national Televison. Cubs tie it in the 9th and take a two-run lead in the 11th; Lankford homers after an error in the bottom of the 11th to tie. The Cubs score in the 12th; Eli Marrero homers (3rd of 4 for the season, 5th of his 59 career homers) to tie. The Cards finally win in the 13th after an intentional walk to Big Mac and base hit by Lankford.

May 2, 2005: Cincinnati scores 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to take a 9-3 lead. The Cardinals win 10-9 in the 9th.

For a pitcher’s duel (and already mentioned above-sorta), how about 2004 NLCS Game 5, the best playoff game nobody outside of St Louis and Houston saw. Most of the country saw (or heard on ESPNradio) the Yankees-BoSocks Game 5 that lasted 14 innings / 5 hours, 49 minutes, while the Cardinals and Astros only played for 2:33. The fourth hit of the ballgame, and third for Houston, was Jeff Kent’s 3-run homer in the 9th off of Isringhousen in the closest 3-0 game you could have. (Fortunately, the Cards were still on KMOX that year.)

In August 1982, the Cardinals beat the Giants, I think, in 12 innings. Catcher Glenn Brummer, Darryl Porter’s backup, stole home to end the game. I’m not sure if that was a moment or a great game, but I was pretty impressed as a 13-year-old in the upper, upper deck of Busch II above third base. It was a terrific emblem for the Whitey Ball era. Anybody remember that one? I’ll bet Hummell does.

June 15, 1952, at the Polo Grounds, a game that I attended, the Cards were down 11-0 in the fifth inning to Sal Magle and the Giants and came back to win 14-12, still the greatest comeback in NL history (since tied).

I’m not trying to pile on Chris Duncan, but was he hustling all the way on the play at the plate in the 13th? I thought the replay on SportsCenter showed him jogging around third before realizing there would be a play, but it was a quick edit, and I wasn’t sure.

There were plenty of guys who contributed to the loss (Ank, Perez, etc.), but in my book, lack of hustle would be in a different category from misjudging a ball or lacking command on the mound.

I agree with WCTiger about the last game of the Fenway series in 2003. Best game I was ever at. Edmonds had another late-inning homer in addition to his eventual game-winner. The Nomar shot WCTiger mentioned was to dead-center, and he had previously tied the game as well with the Sox down to their last out. I was in field-level between first base and pesky’s pole, and it seemed that they sold all of the Cardinals fans tickets in that section, because there were a lot of us. We seemed to outnumber the Red Sox fans in that area of the ballpark. They seemed to be dumbfounded by the Cardinals fan turnout.

May 18, 1950, at Ebbets Hield, a game that I also attended, the Cards, behind Howie Pollet, were leading the Dodgers 8-0 in the eighth in the rain and wound up losing 9-8 as third baseman Tommy Glaviano made consecutive errors on the last three plays of the game.

Tommy Herr hit a walk-off grand slam in 1985 or 1987 vs. the Mets in the 10th inning, after Vince Coleman stole third and came home on the bad throw with two outs in the 9th to force the extra innings. it was seat cushion day at the ballpark and the rainstorm of seat cushions was beautiful.

If memory serves correctly…Shea Stadium, John Tudor vs. the rookie Doc Gooden, 1-0 Good Guys on a home run by the aging, end-of-career, shooting star, fill-in Cesar Cedeno.

Good times…good times.

Best regular season game since Jim Edmond’s walk-off double in bottom of ninth versus SF Giants. Game was in mid July, during the last year of the old Busch Stadium. The Cardinals were left for dead, down 4-0 going into the bottom of the ninth. Yadi had a 3 run HR to get things started.

Matt Morris hooking up against Curt Schilling in the NLDS was some of the best pitching I’ve ever seen.

I had the same experience as WCTiger. I was at the game in Boston back in ‘03 in which the Cardinals had the lead twice only to see Boston tie it up. I was sitting in centerfield and saw Nomar’s would-be homer heading straight for me before it bounced off the top of the wall. We had to leave early as well to make the subway’s last ride and when we got back to the hotel we found out that Edmonds had won it with a homerun. A great game, too bad we didn’t get to see the finish. We then went to NY the next day and sat in deep left field with the trash dumpster banging around all night and the steady drizzle.

The best game I saw prior to that was in September ‘85 against the Expos. Tudor pitched, but gave homers to Andre Dawson and rookie Andres Gallaraga. One of them a grand slam. The Cards were down 6-1, but then mounted a comeback capped by a homerun by Jack Clark. The previous night, although I didn’t see it live, they had come from behind to win and the next day Tommy Herr hit a homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. I think that’s when I knew that team was really going to be tough to beat. I didn’t know who Don Dekinger was at that time.

August of ‘82 I believe. The Cards are in Philly and Sutter is facing a bases loaded no out situation in the 9th w/ Mike Schmidt batting. Sutter gets Schmitty to bounce back to the pitcher for a home to first double play. I don’t remember all the details of the game or even the exact final score, I was still a kid then, but it was a thrilling nailbiter of a moment and was essential to the Cards winning the division and ultimately the series that year.

Your right about game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, but what about game two, when the met took an early three nothing lead off of Chris Carpenter? Then Scott Spezios triple that looked to be a home run, and finally So Taguchi taking hard-throwing Billy Wagner deep.

They lost when they should have won. Ankiel fell directly on his rear end and turned a routine flyball into a triple, then Duncan was thrown out by 30 feet at home. Great? Hardly.

PKcardinal: your memory serves you well. Here’s the box score and PBP:

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1985/B09110NYN1985.htm

Tudor and Gooden twirled matching shutouts through nine innings. Cedeno homered leading off the 10th, after Gooden had been pulled for Jesse Orosco; Tudor pitched the bottom of the 10th to pick up the complete-game shutout.

The two best pitchers in the National League going head-to-head, in the thick of a playoff race, matching each other zero for zero for zero for zero — yeah I think this game clearly deserves inclusion on any “best ever” list.

It was a great game. I enjoyed how you likened to playoff baseball. That explains why I decided to watch game 7 of the NLCS and Game 5 (Game 4) of the World Series last night. It’s amazing how the team has changed, but we are still battling. I love it. Now let’s take it to Detroit.

The Comeback 7/20/04 for sure. Pujols 5 for 5, So’s catch. Not to mention, our section starting the “Reggie..Reggie” chant in the friendly confines of Wrigley before Sanders game tying single.

Excellent call on the Tudor-Gooden game. Seems to me like there should be a classification set aside for Cardinals-Cubs games, with the July 2004 game ranking near the top.

Here’s what Joe Strauss wrote about that game in the next day’s paper:

Monday night they lost their composure. Tuesday afternoon the Chicago Cubs lost a six-run lead, their closer and their dignity. And today they have lost touch with the Cardinals, a team that despite its own claims to the contrary must now be painted in shades of dominance.

A micro-series that began with Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano hitting center fielder Jim Edmonds ended Tuesday with Redbirds first baseman Albert Pujols collecting five hits and three home runs against an overmatched pitching staff.

The Cubs entered the two-game set desperate to make a statement. The Cardinals left it without stating the obvious: They are the vastly better team.

That game also gave the Cardinals a catchphrase. That day, “Play Nine” was coined.

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McGee hits for the cycle, but Sandberg homers off Sutter twice to win. (MOth) June 23, 1984.

i would add the greatest managerial move. i was screaming at tony when he pulled ryan who had doubled twice for pinch hitter adam kennedy. that move made no kind of sense. kennedy hadn’t had a pinch hit in a couple of months of sundays. what the hell was tony thinking? of course, then kennedy hits one off the wall. you talk about going with a hunch and having it work out! was tony prescient or just lucky?

Lots of good examples there. One I’d like to add was my last game at Busch II as a resident of St. Louis - Bat Night on May 29, 1971. Bob Gibson vs. Jim Nash. Gibby gave up 5 runs in 3 innings (among the runs was Darrell Evans’ first major-league homer) and got hurt batting/running in the bottom of the 3rd (Gibby refers to this game in his second autobiography when he complains that the Cards put him on the DL when they didn’t need to).

The Cards chipped away at that 5-0 lead, though, and by the end of the 8th, had tied the game up.

The Braves, though, scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th and the game looked like it was over. Not so - with 49,000+ fans pounding their bats onto the stadium concrete (mine was a Matty Alou model), Brock singled, Alou singled, and Simmons bunted - the pitcher bobbled the play and everyone was safe - and then Joe Torre (this was his MVP season) tripled to score all three runners and win the game.

Terrific game. I was 13 at the time and we left St. Louis a month or two later (my father was in the Army). I’ve only been back to St. Louis three times since then - 1978, 1982, and 1984 - ironically, all four games I attended on those three occasions were against the Cubs.

Another game that I attended, this one on the road, was Jose Jimenez’ no-hitter at Bank One Ballpark in 1999. I never thought I’d ever witness a no-hitter in person, and this was a tight ballgame besides as the Cards didn’t score their run off Randy Johnson until the 8th or 9th inning.

Finally, I didn’t see this one on the list (I might have missed it) but how about the game against the Cubs the night Ozzie Smith was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002 - a 6-run, bottom-of-the-9th rally capped by Edgar Renteria’s 3-run homer and Jon Miller’s tribute to Jack Buck as he made the call: “Go Crazy Folks!”

Nice job by Pineiro. I’m amazed at how well every pitcher that has thrown for Papa Dunc always has bought in to his system. Before the Cards aquired Pineiro he relied on his fastball and tried to blow guys away. Now he has bought into “Pitching to contact” and ” Trusting you defense”. He had good command yesterday, and used both sides of the plate very well. Nice outing by Joel.

The collision at home was just a bad baserunning mistake. I agree that surprisingly Dunc does run very well, but J.D. Drew has one of the stronger arms in the AL. Just don’t understand why you’d send the runner.

TLR has done a great job in this series, but was it the right time to put CPR in? CPR had never entered a game were he had inherited a runner, couple that with the fact that the game was in historical Fenway Park. Shouldn’t TLR have sent a veteran like Springer out. I also didn’t quite figure out the home plate ump during the course of the game. He was never really consistent with the outside strike. I felt that CPR got the raw end of a couple of outside pitches that probably were stikes.

Does anyone really think that Mudler is going to be effective anymore in the big leagues?

Bigt,

Yes. I actually think that Mulder has a chance to return this season and be succesful. He has climbed every obstacle to get here and he might be starting at some point in the next few days. His velocity is around 89- 91 MPH. When the lineup comes around a second time and the hitters have seen what Mulder has then that will be a real challenge. He will then have to efectivly dominant both sides of the plate and try and keep the hitters of balance. Yadi is one of the best catchers in the game at keeping his pitchers in check mentally and Duncan handles pitchers from a mechanical stand point better than anyone to ever coach pitchers.

i don’t remember the specifics, but in 1996, the first year the cards had been playoff-bound in a long time (and the first time for me as a fan), they played a classic game on labor day, and the two stars were the ancient and beloved ozzie smith and willie mcgee. it was a dose of the 80’s heroes that sparked the victory (over the pirates??), and the momentum from that game carried the team right into the division championship.

Bernie, great post. The entire 2004 NLCS should be made into a multi-dvd set with interview and commentary. Both lineups were solid top to bottom, clutch plays and hits, great defensive plays and all around fundamental baseball. I’ll never forget it, but I sure wish MLB would do something with that series….

Bernie? You want the blog further up the street. Can’t miss it.

Without a doubt the 6/12/03 game against the Red Sox is in the Top 3 or 4 that I’ve ever seen. Whenever “great games” come up, this is the first one I mention. My wife and I were sitting right behind the Cardinals dugout. The up and down drama of that day compares favorably to Sunday’s game, better in my opinion because there wasn’t the sloppy play involed. What I remember most about that game is Garciaparra’s 9th inning blast - everyone thought it was gone, Cards fans exhaled when it hit the wall, but grew nervous immediately again when it looked like he might circle the bases for the winning run. Sox fans were going crazy as he rounded third to check on the relay throw.

Think about it….

- Cards up 3-0 going into Bottom of the 9th.
- Varitek homers with one on to bring them to 3-2.
- Someone gets on, Garciaparra cranks one off the centerfield wall and could have possibly made it home to end the game as the ball caromed into left field. There are less than two outs though, so we intentially walk the bases loaded and somehow Kline gets out of the inning.
- JD Drew hits pinch hit 2-run homer in 10th that has Cardinals fans thinking it’s over.
- Sox come back and score two in the 10th with the winning run, again, left at 3rd.
- After Pujols is intentially walked even though he was 0-5 to that point, Jimmy Ballgame jacks his 2nd of the game, a 3-run shot, in the 13th. We again think it’s over.
- Sox come back AGAIN and score two in the bottom of the 13th before Esteban Freaking Yan walks the tying run. LaRussa elects to intentionally walk the potential winning run (Varitek) and with a miracle, Yan gets Damon to pop out to end the game.
- Pujols goes 0-5; don’t see that often (I was looking at my pictures from that game - the dude was THIN. If he got back to that weight, he wouldn’t have to worry about hammies and calves).
- Grady Little calls it one of the most bizarre games ever.
- Rubber game of the first Cards/Red Sox series since ‘67 Series.
- Renteria goes 5 for 6.
- Izzy’s first appearance of 2003 after shoulder surgery.

Here’s the link…and thanks for the memories!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=230612102&loc=interstitialskip

I’ve got a decent pic of Edmonds reaching the dugout after his 13th inning homer too…I’m no more than 10 rows behind the dugout.

And I can echo what others were saying about the abundance of Cards fans there. I was sitting right next to three guys from SLU that I had some classes with. We drank throughout the game, celebrated the victory and they ended up driving my wife and I to Manhattan right to our hotel the next morning free of charge which saved us train fare and a cab ride and I too got to see Clemens’ 300th win and 4000th K (Renteria). What a game, what a trip!

PHI N 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 - 4 8 0
STL N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 - 5 10 0
August 6, 1989. Busch Stadium. A Sunday. Pendleton homers in bottom of 9th to tie game in what had been lackluster offensive day. Phillies score 3 in 10th. Cards come back, score 3 and then with 2 out and bases loaded Whitey pinch hits Joe Magrane! The stadium is rocking and the pitcher can’t get one near the plate. Magrane walks on 4 pitches. Cards Win. Amazing game.

In 2007 the Cards were up by 10.5 games at the All Star break. The first week in September they were in New York on Friday night and the lead over the Mets was 1.5 games. It was the 9th inning and the Cards were down 4-1. The sign guy had a sign saying “make it a half”. I can’t remember all the details but I think there were 2 outs a man on second - someone singled him in, maybe McGee. The next batter was Terry Pendleton. He hit a home run to dead center to tie the game at 4. I jumped off the couch and yelled when he hit it. In the 10 Herr had a two run single and the Cards won 6-4. The next day the Cards rolled over them 8-0. That was the turning point.

Well said, well said.

That was probably the best game I’ve seen since the 2006 playoffs. The only detriment was that the KSDK announcers were in way, way over their head.

3 games for you since the ’80’s:

1) the first “game” was actually a double-header sweep of the Expos late in the 1987 season, when the Cardinals, Montreal, and the Mets were all locked in a tight race…I have a hazy memory, but I believe that Danny Cox and Joe Magrane might have been the starters, and I THINK the games were both shutouts (I could be wrong on that)

2) the game in the mid-to-late 1990’s against the Braves when Atlanta had about a 9 or 10 run advantage, and the Cardinals came all the way back to win the game (12-11? or so?) on a phantom-run by Brian Jordan (he touched the catcher’s foot, not the plate, but we didn’t care at Busch, we were all screaming our lungs out)

3) the Labor Day game in 1996 that was referenced earlier was against the Astros, and in many ways was the beginning of the decade-long rivalry w/ Houston. The Astros came into town a game or 2 behind the Cardinals, and red-hot (sound familiar?), and the Cardinals ended up sweeping the series. My friends and I were seniors and high school, had 2nd-deck seats right by the right field foul pole, and watched Ozzie’s last-ever left handed home run land just beneath us. Later, of course, Willie drove home Ozzie for the win in extra innings. One of the best and most exciting times of my life, and still the best game I’ve ever been to in person.

Forget the games..how about greatest Bird Land posts and subsequent comments in our lifetime.

Seriously though, I’m surprised nobody mentioned the unlikely Gary Bennett walk-off Grand Slam to beat the Cubbies in August 2006. May not qualify for greatest game, but certainly the ending has to rank up there….

Keep up the good work DG, much appreciated.

How can you leave out the 2007 NCLS game in Houston when, in the bottom of the 9th, down two runs, with two out and two strikes on him Albert Pujols hit his “OMG” shot off Brad Lidge, turning the previously unhittable closer into a pitching basket case for the next full season? You remember that shot — ball rattling around the railroad tracks in deep left center field, the TV replay captured the shocked reaction of the kid in the seats behind home plate. And who could forget the look on Andy Pettite’s face when the ball left the bat? “Oh… my… GOD!” LOL! What’s better than that?

I have one for you that I was fortunate enough to have attended in person: 7/15/05 vs. the Astros. My future wife and I had right field bleacher seats and stayed for the entire 4 hours and 23 minutes it lasted. We both agree that it was probably the greatest game we have ever witnessed in person. The day after we went down to Blueberry Hill for a quick lunch before the second game of the series and got reports from the waiter that people were seen throwing their pint glasses across the room in excitement the night before when Albert hit his 5th ever walkoff homer. Rather than run the whole game down here, I will just attach the link.

DG, let me know if you remember this one, and if you think it fits your criteria. Thanks.

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20050715&content_id=1132292&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl

Kraemer,

Remember the game well. It was the team’s first game back from the All-Star break and it was against the surging Houston Astros. Here was Joe Strauss’ midnight-lift lede from that night:

Like an actor gone from the stage too long, the Redbirds had trouble falling into character before eventually remembering their lines.

One All-Star forgot the number of outs in the first inning. Another forgot to close the ninth inning behind him. An ugly first-inning collision cost them their left fielder. The Cardinals squandered three outs on the bases and for one of few times this season, they failed to reward their starting pitcher for a quality outing.

Two outs from a dispiriting loss, first baseman Albert Pujols ended the 4 hour, 23 minute marathon when he turned reliever Chad Harville’s 3-2 pitch into a two-run homer into the visitors’ bullpen.

dg
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I remember them as surging as well, but the funny thing is that at the end of the night they were 12.5 back in the standings. I guess they would get the last laugh by getting into the Series though.

On a side note, there was quite a bit of back and forth banter with Willy Taveras that night from the right field bleachers, and after the Astros took the lead in the top half he came out, faced us, and put his face on his closed glove to mock “time to go to bed”. Little did he know the ball would sail over his glove by just a few feet into the bullpen, sending he and his teammates back to the hotel on a sour note.

I was at the Nats/Cards game in D.C June 5th this year. After falling behind 7-0 to the Nats by the 3rd inning, the Cards scratched & clawed their way to a tie in the 9th & took the lead in the 10th, but lost 10-9.Even with a game going in the “L” column, I saw a Cards team that would NOT quit. 3 homers, by Glaus, Mather & Worrell. Worrell’s was his 1st “At Bat” in the Majors, Mather’s “At Bat” was even more riveting than his shot, filling the count, fouling off, frustrating Nats RP Sanches - amazing. Playing without Pujols at 1st, without Molina, Glaus playing 1st, Miles at 3rd, etc., on a scorching hot day in the 2nd game of a double header. It was a truly amazing, no quit Cardinals effort. I was SO proud of them.

One of the best MOth games was the moth game in the early ’90s. Busch Stadium filled with moths from thousands of hatched eggs hidden in newly laid sod on the field. Giants take a big early lead. Cardinal comeback capped by Shawn Dunston’s three-run homer off Barry Bonds’ glove and over the left field wall when Bonds lost the ball in the moths.

I was at that game, sitting by the Sox dugout and it was one of the greatest game I have been to. When Izzy slowed the game way down the Sox fans couldn’t stand it. The Cards truly came together in this series, and I think this is an October preview.