5 moments the St. Louis Cardinals earned their villain stripes in 2021

ST. LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 01: Members of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate their walk-off victory against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on October 1, 2021 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 01: Members of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate their walk-off victory against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on October 1, 2021 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Kane/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 25: T.J. McFarland #62 of the St. Louis Cardinals reacts after getting the out in the eight inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 25, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 25: T.J. McFarland #62 of the St. Louis Cardinals reacts after getting the out in the eight inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 25, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

The Golden Defense

This play still brings chills as it shows just how in sync the Cardinals were during that 17-game winning streak in September.

In the eighth inning of the Cards game versus the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 25, Rafael Ortega knocked a one-hopper to Paul Goldschmidt who fired the hit to Yadier Molina, who threw the ball to Nolan Arenado to get the first out. Arenado then ran across the diamond to get the ball to Tommy Edman who tossed the ball to a waiting Harrison Bader at second base. Bader then threw the ball to Paul DeJong, who was in between second and third base, to tag out the runner to get the final out of the inning.

T.J. McFarland, who was pitching that inning, watched the play with his head seemingly spinning. He could be seen cheering and pumping his fist in excitement.

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It was a collective effort from the entire defense. From Goldschmidt nabbing the hit and instinctively throwing to Molina to the entire outfield converging on the infield including Bader knowing what to do at second base to get the ball to DeJong to end the play. It was epic and just shows why many of the Cardinal defenders in that play won a Gold Glove in 2021.