Top 10 postseason moments etched in St. Louis Cardinals lore

It might be hard to believe after the dumpster fire that was 2023, but the St. Louis Cardinals used to be the class of the National League. Playoffs weren't a nice surprise every few years; they were an expected appendix to a Cardinals season.

The winners of 11 World Series titles, the Cardinals are among the most successful franchises in sports, and since 1996, when Tony La Russa took the reins as manager, the Cardinals have been on a nearly unprecedented run, making the postseason 17 times.

The Cardinals have had their fair share of heartbreak in the playoffs, perhaps none more than the 1985 World Series against the cross-state Kansas City Royals when first base umpire Don Denkinger called Royals batter Jorge Orta safe on a ground ball that had clearly beaten him to the bag. The 1968 World Series was another heartbreaker, as Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich twirled three complete games en route to a seven-game Detroit victory.

Despite those bumps in the road, the Cardinals remained an enviable franchise for years. It can be argued that in today's game, the Cardinals are woefully behind the times in terms of player development and are no longer a marquee destination for free agents. The team has indeed fallen on hard times as of late, finishing 71-91 in 2023.

The fact that there are now teenagers who do not remember a Cardinals championship is sobering (and a reminder of how lucky we were as fans for so many years), but postseason heroics transcend time, whether you were alive to see and appreciate them or not.

These 10 postseason moments exemplified the best of the St. Louis Cardinals in their rich history.

10. Whitey Kurowski hits go-ahead World Series Game 5 home run (1942)

The dominant New York Yankees, led by Joe DiMaggio, were hungry for another title in 1942, and as they squared up against the Cardinals and their own formidable group comprising Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter, the Yankees were generally considered the favorites to win it all. But after winning the first game, the Yankees crumbled. The fatal blow came not from a star Cardinal, but from a relatively unheralded rookie named Whitey Kurowski.

Kurowski, a third baseman, had just hit .254 with nine home runs in his first full season in the league. With the Cardinals up in the series three games to one, the Yankees sent Red Ruffing to the mound to try and stave off elimination. With the game tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning, Kurowski uncorked a two-run shot off of Ruffing to put the Cardinals up by two.

Cardinals pitcher Johnny Beazley retired the Yankees in the bottom of the ninth after a single and an error, picking Joe Gordon off of second base and getting the next two batters out to award the Cardinals their fourth championship.

9. Jack Clark homers to clinch the pennant (1985)

After Ozzie Smith's home run to put the Cardinals ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers three games to two in the 1985 NLCS, the Dodgers took a 5-4 lead going into the top of the ninth inning. The Dodgers, seemingly unfazed by Smith's heroics against closer Tom Niedenfuer in Game 5, trotted Niedenfuer out again.

A single and subsequent steal of second by Willie McGee ignited the inning for the Cardinals, and after an intentional walk to Smith, Tommy Herr grounded out to second to move McGee to third. Next up was the team's big bopper and home run leader, Jack Clark.

Rather than walk Clark and load the bases, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda decided to pitch to him. Clark clobbered the first pitch from Niedenfuer over the left field fence to put the Cardinals up 7-5. The Dodgers failed to score in the bottom of the frame, and St. Louis was on its way to the World Series, which they would lose to the Kansas City Royals in seven games.

8. Bob O'Farrell nails Babe Ruth stealing to win World Series (1926)

The Cardinals were pitted against the fearsome New York Yankees in 1926. After a seesaw battle that led to a winner-take-all Game 7, the Cardinals staked their claim to a one-run lead behind the pitching of future Hall of Famers Jesse Haines and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Cardinals up 3-2, the legendary Babe Ruth walked up to the plate. He had homered once and walked three times in the game. Try as he might, Alexander wasn't able to retire Ruth, who took his fourth saunter to first base after ball four.

The next batter was Bob Meusel, who had hit .315 in the regular season. On the first pitch, Ruth decided to attempt to swipe second base. It was a risky choice to say the least, as the aggressive Ruth would have only a 51% success rate on stolen bases in his career. Cardinals catcher Bob O'Farrell popped up from his crouch and fired the ball to second baseman Rogers Hornsby, who laid the tag on Ruth to close out the World Series and capture the Cardinals' first of 11 championships.

7. Adam Wainwright whiffs Carlos Beltran to win NLCS (2006)

Adam Wainwright was just getting started with his illustrious career, but he had earned the trust of manager Tony La Russa to serve as the team's closer in the postseason. With two saves in the NLCS against the New York Mets already, Wainwright scampered out to the mound in the ninth inning of Game 7 eager to bring another pennant to the Gateway City.

The game had already been one for the ages. Mets outfielder Endy Chavez made a dramatic leaping catch at the left field wall to rob Scott Rolen of a two-run home run and double off Jim Edmonds running back to first. Chavez's catch preserved a 1-1 tie entering the bottom of the sixth inning.

Thankfully for Cardinals fans, Chavez's catch would end up being a footnote, as Yadier Molina hit a two-run dinger to put the Cardinals up 3-1 in the top of the ninth. It was on the shoulders of Wainwright, fresh off his first full season in the major leagues, to shut the door.

With the bases loaded and two outs after two singles and a walk, star outfielder Carlos Beltran strolled to the plate. After placing Beltran in an 0-2 hole, Wainwright threw what was soon to become his eponymous pitch: the "Uncle Charlie." Beltran could do nothing but stare at the sharp curveball on the outside corner, and the Cardinals were on their way to oppose and eventually beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. The young Wainwright had announced his arrival with a bang.

4. Bob Gibson fans 17 batters in World Series Game 1 (1968)

In the Year of the Pitcher, Bob Gibson stood above everyone else as the premier hurler in the sport. His infinitesimal 1.12 ERA was the best in the game, as were his 13 shutouts. He would add another to his ledger in Game 1, as he squared off against the Detroit Tigers' ace, the 31-6 Denny McLain.

Gibson proceeded to pitch one of the most masterful games in postseason history. He blanked the Tigers, surrendering no runs on five hits, and his 17 strikeouts still stands as an all-time postseason record, breaking that of Sandy Koufax's 16 in the 1963 World Series.

The Cardinals would unfortunately lose the series in seven games, in large part because of Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich's three complete-game victories, but Gibson's performance in Game 1 and over the entire season remains one of the most dominant in history.

3. Ozzie Smith's walk-off NLCS Game 5 blast (1985)

Ozzie Smith was incomparable in the field, winning 13 consecutive Gold Glove Awards in his career at shortstop. He was less apt at the plate, although he turned himself into a respectable hitter over time. However, power was never a part of Smith's game, which makes his clutch moment in the 1985 NLCS even more remarkable.

With the score tied at two apiece in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 5, the Los Angeles Dodgers brought in the closer, Tom Niedenfuer. After a popout from Willie McGee, the Wizard of Oz, one of the 13 career home runs in eight seasons to that point, dug into the batter's box.

Since Niedenfuer was a right-handed pitcher, the switch-hitting Smith batted from the left side — the side he had never hit a home run from. But Smith laced a fastball down the right field line to send the Cardinals to Game 6. Perhaps the only moment from that game more memorable than the home run was the call from KMOX radio broadcaster Jack Buck: "Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!"

2. Enos Slaughter's mad dash (1946)

Despite a career that saw 10 All-Star appearances, Enos Slaughter is unquestionably best known for what has come to be deemed his "mad dash" in the seventh game of the 1946 World Series.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the score tied 3-3, Slaughter led off with a single but couldn't be advanced after a failed bunt from Whitey Kurowski and a flyout from Del Rice. With Harry Walker coming to the plate, Cardinals manager Eddie Dyer decided to roll the dice and send Slaughter in motion.

On a 2-1 count, Slaughter took off. Walker hit a line drive to center field that landed for a hit. The center fielder threw it in to the cutoff man, shortstop Johnny Pesky. As Pesky fielded the ball, Slaughter ignored third-base coach Mike Gonzalez's signal for him to stop at third. Pesky hesitated on the throw, leading to a weak hopper to the catcher that allowed Slaughter to score the go-ahead run, which the Cardinals would not relinquish on their way to a Game 7 victory.

The moment was immortalized in 1999 when a statue was crafted outside Busch Stadium depicting Slaughter's slide across the plate.

1. David Freese's Game 6 walk-off home run (2011)

Local St. Louis kid David Freese was the linchpin in the Cardinals' magical run in the championship year of 2011, hitting .397 with 25 RBIs in the postseason, and he capped it off with possibly the most memorable moment in modern Cardinals history. In what stands as one of baseball's greatest World Series games, the Cardinals banged out 13 hits in an 11-inning effort against the Texas Rangers that saw multiple lead changes and the epitome of clutch hitting.

With the Cardinals facing elimination down by two runs in the bottom of the ninth, Freese hit a game-tying triple to send the game into extra innings. The Rangers took the lead again in the 10th, but the Cardinals battled back to tie it once again. After the Rangers were held scoreless in the 11th, Freese led off the inning with a walk-off shot into center field, sending the stadium into a frenzy. The Cardinals rode this momentum into Game 7 and secured their 11th title.

The area where Freese hit the fateful home run is now dubbed "Freese's Landing," and fans elected him into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2023 to show appreciation for his crucial role in the championship. Freese turned down the opportunity to be inducted, but St. Louis' adoration of the hometown hero is still alive and well.

The Cardinals were mired in last place in the National League Central in 2023 and haven't been to a World Series since 2013, but Cardinals fans still have a plethora of postseason memories to reminisce over — and hopefully many more to come.