St. Louis Cardinals: Memphis Redbirds are PCL champions!

The AAA-affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals closed the door on postseason play on Sunday night and are now Pacific Coast League champions!

The Memphis Redbirds, the AAA team of the St. Louis Cardinals, took the best-of-five series to the wire but came out victorious on Sunday night against the El Paso Chihuahuas. This championship is the third of its kind for the Redbirds who last won back in 2009 and 2000.

This year’s championship- while the third for the Redbirds- is the 15th championship brought home to Memphis since professional baseball started in the river city of Tennessee in 1877; the Memphis team has not always been affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals.

This championship helps to solidify the Memphis Redbirds as a major minor league team and shows that the St. Louis Cardinals farm system is strong and ready for action.

Sunday’s 3-1 win came on the back of Patrick Wisdom who continued his postseason slaughter on his way to being awarded the MVP of the postseason. Wisdom, as he has done so often this postseason for the Redbirds, smashed a 2-run home run in the fifth inning to put the birds up 2-0.

Wisdom also showed defensive prowess at first base (read anything into this?) by making a diving catch that saved runs and kept the Redbirds winning. This catch occurred in the bottom of the 8th inning with two runners on, two outs, and a score of 3-1. Had Wisdom not closed the inning, the score could easily have been tied.

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On the mound, Matt Pearce tossed six innings of five-hit, one-run baseball. Mike Mayers (yes, the one who owns the minors but suffers in the majors), Sean Gilmartin, and Josh Lucas appeared out of the bullpen to sew up the win for the St. Louis Cardinals’ AAA team.

A happy flight home (albeit brief) was in store for the Redbirds who now will face off against the Durham Bulls, the AAA-affiliate of the Tampa Rays. The Bulls are the title-holders from the International League of the minor leagues.

The Redbirds and the Bulls will face-off on Tuesday night at 6:07pm CT in the single-game, winner-take-all final of the minor league season. This single-game finale will be televised on NBC Sports Network.

Special thanks to the Memphis Redbirds, Michael Schroeder, Director of Media and Public Relations for the Memphis Redbirds, and the game media releases from the Memphis affiliate for the information contained herein and in earlier articles that I have written about the Redbirds. I could not have covered these news pieces without this devoted depart of the Redbirds.

Next: Low-hanging fruit

Will you be watching the finale? I know I will! Go Redbirds and let’s see if we can’t get some of these great players in the majors ASAP!