The last time the St. Louis Cardinals’ top two farm clubs have been in the post-season together was the same year that Lou Brock entered the Hall of Fame and Whitey Herzog’s club fell to the Kansas City Royals and Don Denkinger in the World Series.
That was 24 long years ago, in 1985.
In other words, just making the playoffs in the same year has never happened since the Cardinals moved their Triple-A club to Memphis in 1998 and their Double-A club arrived in Springfield, Missouri in 2005.
To actually find Cardinals championships at both levels at the same time, one has to go all the way back to 1980.
To help put into perspective how long ago that was, Springfield, MO is the Cards’ fourth Double-A stop since 1980 and Memphis is the Triple-A team’s third home during that time.
Even more ironic perhaps is the fact that the Cardinals’ 1980 Triple-A champion was located in Springfield – Springfield, Illinois, that is. The Double-A champs of 1980 were based in their long-time Arkansas home.
To delve into the Cardinals’ minor league club records and history, check out my series from the last off-season, and specifically these two articles:
“Cardinals in Triple-A – 1977 to present”
“Cardinals in Double-A – 1966 to present”
Since I assembled the following for myself, I thought I would share it with others too. Here are the 2009 post-season schedules for the Pacific Coast League and Texas League.
PCL American North (Memphis) vs. South
| Road | Home | Date | Eastern time | |
| Game 1 | Memphis | Albuquerque | Wednesday, September 09, 2009 | 9:05 PM |
| Game 2 | Memphis | Albuquerque | Thursday, September 10, 2009 | 9:05 PM |
| Game 3 | Albuquerque | Memphis | Friday, September 11, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 4* | Albuquerque | Memphis | Saturday, September 12, 2009 | 7:05 PM |
| Game 5* | Albuquerque | Memphis | Sunday, September 13, 2009 | 2:35 PM |
PCL Pacific North vs. South
| Game 1 | Sacramento | Tacoma | Wednesday, September 09, 2009 | 10:00 PM |
| Game 2 | Sacramento | Tacoma | Thursday, September 10, 2009 | 10:00 PM |
| Game 3 | Tacoma | Sacramento | Friday, September 11, 2009 | 10:05 PM |
| Game 4* | Tacoma | Sacramento | Saturday, September 12, 2009 | 10:05 PM |
| Game 5* | Tacoma | Sacramento | Sunday, September 13, 2009 | 4:05 PM |
PCL finals
| Road | Home | Date | Eastern Time | |
| Game 1 | Sacramento | Memphis | Tuesday, September 15, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 2 | Sacramento | Memphis | Wednesday, September 16, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 3 | Memphis | Sacramento | Friday, September 18, 2009 | 10:05 PM |
| Game 4* | Memphis | Sacramento | Saturday, September 19, 2009 | 10:05 PM |
| Game 5* | Memphis | Sacramento | Sunday, September 20, 2009 | 4:05 PM |
TL North first-half (Springfield) vs. second-half
| Road | Home | Date | Eastern time | |
| Game 1 | Northwest Arkansas | Springfield | Wednesday, September 09, 2009 | 8:10 PM |
| Game 2 | Northwest Arkansas | Springfield | Thursday, September 10, 2009 | 8:10 PM |
| Game 3 | Springfield | Northwest Arkansas | Friday, September 11, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 4* | Springfield | Northwest Arkansas | Saturday, September 12, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 5* | Springfield | Northwest Arkansas | Sunday, September 13, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
TL South first-half vs. second-half
| Road | Home | Date | Eastern time | |
| Game 1 | Midland | San Antonio | Wednesday, September 09, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 2 | Midland | San Antonio | Thursday, September 10, 2009 | 8:05 PM |
| Game 3 | San Antonio | Midland | Friday, September 11, 2009 | 7:30 PM |
| Game 4* | San Antonio | Midland | Saturday, September 12, 2009 | 7:30 PM |
| Game 5* | San Antonio | Midland | Sunday, September 13, 2009 | 7:00 PM |
TL finals
| Road | Home | Date | Eastern time | |
| Game 1 | NWA | MID | Tuesday, September 15, 2009 | 7:30 PM |
| Game 2 | NWA | MID | Wednesday, September 16, 2009 | 7:30 PM |
| Game 3 | MID | NWA | Friday, September 18, 2009 | 8:15 PM |
| Game 4* | MID | NWA | Saturday, September 19, 2009 | 2:05 PM |
| Game 5* | MID | NWA | Sunday, September 20, 2009 | 7:05 PM |
* if necessary
Update: I should have also mentioned that the PCL winner will play the International League champ in the annual Triple-A Championship – Tuesday, September 22 at Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Ballpark (7:05 p.m. EST).