Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, appearing in St. Louis in that role for the first time, has the second longest tenure as a manager in the American League, ranking behind only Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels. Gardenhire has managed the Twins since 2002 but folks here may not have known that because the Twins hadn’t played here since 2001 before tonight.

Gardenhire has directed the Twins to four seasons of 90 or more wins, which is a little better mark than his .232 lifetime batting average as a New York Mets infielder in the 1980s.

Fans with long memories might give Gardenhire the business tonight because of his connection with the Mets but Gardenhire cracked,  “That’s OK. I didn’t hurt (the Cardinals). “I might have helped them more than hurt them. They should have been giving me bonuses for some of the things I did on the field.”