St. Louis Cardinals: Round one of 125 greatest competition

The St. Louis Cardinals are a massive piece of baseball lore. 2017 marks the 125th year of the Cardinals existence and contain a treasure trove of great moments.

125 years of St. Louis Cardinals baseball is a wonderful thing. To celebrate, Redbird Rants is thrilled to join our brothers and sisters through the United Cardinals Bloggers and specifically with Cards Conclave (C70 At The Bat specifically) to bring you a special, multi-site tournament recognizing the top 125 greatest Cardinals moments.

For more on this tournament, jump over to my earlier article here.

Today is our first day to host the competition here at Redbird Rants. Boy do we have some competition too…

Smith vs. Chambers

First up, Ozzie Smith “Go Crazy Folks” HR in the NLCS 1985 vs. Adron Chambers scoring on wild pitch in 2011. Here’s the skinny…

In 1985, the St. Louis Cardinals had reached the postseason with a record of 101-61. Wouldn’t we love to see those numbers this year?! They faced the Los Angeles Dodgers and won the series in six games.

The most iconic moment of the 1985 NLCS was the unlikely home run smashed by Ozzie. This homer was Smith’s first home run from the left side of the plate and came against Tom Niedenfuer in game five of the series. Here’s the famous clip:

This famed moment of Cardinals lore is competing against Chambers scoring on a wild pitch in 2011. Chambers flash speed came in September of 2011 against the Chicago Cubs. While not as large an impact as the Smith home run, any defeat of the dreaded Cubs is worthy of competitions for greatest Cardinals moments.

With Adron on third and Rafael Furcal at the plate (0-2 count, bases loaded, two outs, 1-1 tie), and then-dominant closer Carlos Marmol on the mound , a wild pitch bounced off the plate allowed Chambers to scurry home and break the tie. Busch Stadium went wild. I was jumping wildly at home too!

Here’s the clip of Adron’s tie-breaking run:

Berkman vs. Ankiel

Second up in today’s competition for today is Lance Berkman tying the game (again) in the 2011 World Series vs. Rick Ankiel showing off his arm in 2009. Here’s the skinny…

More from St Louis Cardinals History

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• Cardinals: The best Silver Slugger performances at each position.
• The St. Louis Cardinals are in rare company with this free agency stat
• What Happened to the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals? Matt Holliday Edition
• The St. Louis Cardinals avoided disaster with Jason Heyward

Berkman joined the tying hits in the 2011 World Series game six in the bottom of the tenth inning. This game against the Rangers had several back and forth ties and tie-breakers and going into extra innings tied saw the St. Louis Cardinals looking at a long evening.

That was until the top of the tenth when the Rangers took the lead. What looked like a closed game, Berkman refersed with a single in the bottom of the tenth. This set up the iconic David Freese home run (also included in this tournament so look for it).

Here’s a clip of Berkman’s critical single:

Berkman was a great outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and helped the Cardinals land the 2011 World Series rings. Another great outfielder in Cardinals lore was Rick Ankiel. Ankiel started as a pitcher and had a great career there but then transitioned to the outfield after developing the yips.

Related Story: Ankiel's HBO Special

This move was of great benefit for the St. Louis Cardinals as he had one heck of a cannon from the outfield and often destroyed runners on the base paths. For this competition, Ank’s arm moments are up against Berkman’s tying single.

Here’s a great compilation clip of Ankiel’s outfield cannon:

So, the time is yours now. Please go vote. You can find our poll question on Twitter to place your vote.

St. Louis Cardinals: Short stop epidemic must come to an end

The St. Louis Cardinals have experienced some illness at the short stop position in their recent history. Perhaps a good dose of vaccination is necessary.

Thanks for reading and be sure to follow our sister sites throughout this tournament and make sure to stop by Redbird Rants each Wednesday as we progress through this recognition of the greatest Cardinals moments.