St. Louis Cardinals: 125 tournament, regional finals

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, we at Redbird Rants wrap up our region with our finals. First, a brief recap of the head-to-heads and the results that got us here.

Round 1

• Ozzie Smith‘s “Go Crazy Folks” home run vs. Adron Chambers‘ 2011 wild pitch score against the Cubs in 2011 – “Go Crazy Folks” advanced.
• Chris Carpenter‘s World Series head-first dive to first base vs. Pete Kozma‘s single in the 2012 NLDS – Carpenter advanced.
• Bob Gibson‘s 3,000th strikeout vs. Tom Herr‘s “Seat Cushion Night” walk-off grand slam – Gibson advanced.
• Albert Pujols‘ 3 home run World Series game vs. Whitey Kurowski‘s 1942 World Series home run – Pujols advanced.
• Lance Berkman‘s game-six-extending single vs. Rick Ankiel‘s amazing outfield assists – Berkman advanced.
• Mark McGwire‘s 70th home run vs. Willie McGee‘s home-run-robbing World Series catch – McGwire advanced.
• Adam Wainwright slamming the door shut in the 2006 World Series vs. Lou Brock‘s 3,000th hit – Wainwright advanced.
• Stan Musial‘s 3,000th hit vs. World Series rally squirrel at-bat – Musial advanced.

Round 2

• “Go Crazy Folks” vs. Carp’s head-first dive to first base – “Go Crazy” advanced.
• Bob Gibson’s 3,000th K vs. Pujols’ 3HR World Series game – Pujols advanced.
• Berkman’s game six single vs. McGwire’s 70th HR – Berkman advanced.
• Waino’s 2006 World Series close vs. Musial’s 3,000th hit – Waino advanced.

Regional Semi-finals

• Ozzie’s home run vs. Pujols’ 3HR-game – Ozzie advanced.
• Berkman’s single vs. Waino’s close – Wainwright advanced.

More from Redbird Rants

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• What’s next for the St. Louis Cardinals after Contreras signing?
• Report: Cardinals Emerge As Mystery Team for Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Trade targets after signing Willson Contreras
• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects

So there we are. After all of the voting in the Whitey Herzog region (the one we are hosting), we are left to debate a head-to-head that likely needs no debating: Ozzie facing Wainwright. Wouldn’t you have loved to have seen that at-bat?

Do you, loyal St. Louis Cardinals fan, believe that Ozzie’s iconic and surprising World Series home run to which the famous “Go Crazy Folks” radio call belongs is the better bid for the #BestCardsMoments? Or is it the door slamming that came from the young arm of Adam Wainwright in the 2006 series when he was the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals?

Both moments have incredible merit and both moments are- without a doubt- in the lexicon of St. Louis Cardinals memories and moments. But, this isn’t up for debate. Instead, we are asking you to pick one of these two remaining competitors to advance to this tournament’s FINAL FOUR.

Next: Is Grichuk just another Schwarber?

Get to Twitter and get to voting. Voting will be open until Wednesday, September 20 at 12pm CT. Thanks for reading and GO CARDINALS!