Follow the key plays and game-by-game results in the Championship Series of the “Best of St. Louis” tournament. Simulation was used to select the top St. Louis baseball team of all time, the 2004 Cardinals.

Prior articles in this series

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The Semi-Finals

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The “Great Eight” Quarterfinals

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The Sweet 16

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The World Champions

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – Losers Bracket Series

Best St. Louis Cardinals Team Sim Tournament

 #7 2004 Cardinals (four wins) over #5 1943 Cardinals (three wins)

Well, what have we here? Two teams that had to play an extra series just to get into the tournament end up meeting each other for the championship. Granted, they were seeded numbers 1 and 2 in the Loser’s Bracket, and each swept their series to get into the field of 16. Despite losing the World Series in real life, these were two very good ball clubs.

You could almost throw the 1942, ’43 and ’44 Cardinals into a hat and pick out one for a project and they would each play about as good as the other two. The 1943 team had a +204-run differential and a .682 winning percentage.  They had Stan’s first great season, with a .987 OPS. Mort Cooper was 21-8 with a 2.30 ERA, and lefty Max Lanier won 15 with a 1.90 ERA. The pitching was deep with the top six in innings pitched having no worse than a 2.90 ERA, and two were under 2.00 (Howie Pollet the other besides Lanier at 1.75 in 118 innings of work).

The 2004 team can’t match that pitching but can really light up the scoreboard. They sported a +196-run differential and a .648 winning percentage. Tony La Russa’s bunch featured the “MV3” of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. All three had OPSes over 1.000. And if that was not enough, they added Larry Walker mid-season, and he punched in with a .953 OPS in 44 games. Pujols and Edmonds crashed 46 and 42 homers respectively, while Rolen chipped in with 34.

The starting pitching was relatively pedestrian, although among starters, Jeff Suppan won 16 games, and Jason Marquis, Chris Carpenter and Matt Morris notched 15 apiece. The bullpen, a big part of the modern game, was excellent with lefties Ray King and Steve Kline, along with righties Julian Taveraz, Kiko Calero, and closer Jason Isringhausen. “Izzy” logged 47 saves.

This one looks to be a question of whether the ’43s pitching can hold down the ’04s hitting. Let’s dive into the games.

Game 1 at Sportsman’s Park, 1943 5-0

It looks like the answer to our question, at least based on the series opener, is that the 2004 Cardinals are going to have their hands full trying to handle the ’43 pitching. Howie Pollet was totally dominant, pitching a one-hitter and walking only one while striking out six in an awe-inspiring performance. Pollet retired the first 13 batters to face him, before walking Scott Rolen.

Pollet then got right back into the groove, retiring the next eight in a row. He had a no-hitter through seven frames, but Rolen again upset things with a lead-off single in the eighth. Shaking off the loss of the no-no, Pollet retired the final six.

Meanwhile the ’43s scored all five of their runs in the fifth, for a nice daily double. It happened with two out, none on against starter and loser Matt Morris. Marty Marion and Walker Cooper each had two-run doubles.

Game 2 at Sportsman’s Park, 2004 8-3

The 2004 team bounced back in a big way in Game 2, plating eight runs on 10 hits, which included three home runs. Jim Edmonds continued to lobby for tournament MVP with three hits, two homers and five RBI. It was a repeat of Game 1 for six innings, with ace Mort Cooper blanking the ’04s, making it 15 innings of scoreless pitching for the war time club. Meanwhile, his mates put three runs on the board, perhaps enough to grab a 2-0 series lead.

But the ’04 team climbed off the deck and scored all eight of their runs in the final three innings to turn the game around. It happened fast in the seventh as Edmonds started the inning with a home run, giving the ’04 team their first run of the series. Rolen followed with a single and Larry Walker homered to tie it at three all.

No further damage occurred, and after Julian Tavarez blanked the ’43 team in the seventh, the ’04 bunch took their first lead in the series when Edgar Renteria singled leading off the inning, stole second, and scored on Albert Pujols’ single. Edmonds then doubled Pujols home. For good measure, the ’04 team tacked on three in the ninth, courtesy of Edmonds’ second homer of the game, with Renteria and Pujols aboard. All eight runs were off Cooper, whose ERA jumped from 2.72 to 3.63 for the tourney.

Game 3 at Busch Stadium II, 2004 5-4

The series moved downtown for the middle three, with Chris Carpenter (3-2, 4.32) on the hill for the modern era Redbirds, facing Max Lanier (4-0, 2.58). The pitching was good early on with the teams tied at one apiece after five innings. With two-out, none on in the top of the sixth, the ’43s jumped on Carpenter for three runs to grab what looked like a safe 4-1 lead. Marty Marion started the rally with a single. Stan Musial doubled in the gap in right center, sending Marion home with the lead run. Walker Cooper reflected his name and walked, and Ray Sanders then went the opposite way, lining a two-run double down the left field line to plate Musial and Cooper.

As often happens in these games, the ’04 club bounced back in the bottom half, getting two back on a Tony Womack single, followed by a triple by Mike Matheny. Matheny scored when pinch hitter Roger Cedeno grounded out to second.

After a scoreless top of the seventh, a three-up, three-down inning tossed by Cal Eldred, the ’04s took the lead with what would end up being the final score, plating two with a clutch two-out, two-run single by Matheny. Ray King set the ’43s down in order in the eighth, and Izzy did the same in the ninth, recording his 12th save of the tourney. The 5-4 win was credited to Eldred, his second.

Game 4 at Busch Stadium II, 2004 7-4

Once the ’04 club started hitting, they did not stop, plating seven runs on 12 hits, enough to secure a 7-4 win. Starter Jason Marquis went seven innings with Steve Kline getting four outs, and Izzy came in again in the ninth for save #13.

The ’04 team did not hit any home runs but came through when it counted with Reggie Sanders driving in three and Pujols two. Musial homered for the ’43s and drove in two of their four runs.

With the ’04 team up three games to one, it looks like they will make short work of this series and be crowned the St. Louis All-Time Greatest team.

Game 5 at Busch Stadium II, 1943 4-2

“Not so fast”, said the ’43 club. That champagne will have to stay on ice at least another day. That man, not Stan, but Howie Pollet again came to rescue. He surrendered the whopping total of four hits and even walked four.

Still, it looked like the ’04 team was on their way to finish off the tourney, taking a 2-0 lead in the third when they scored both of what would turn out to be their only runs. So Taguchi led off with a walk, and Pujols singled. A wild pitch moved the runners up, and the uncharacteristically wild Pollet walked Rolen to load the bases. Edmonds singled, but only Taguchi could score. Reggie Sanders then grounded into a double play, with Pujols coming home.

The ’43s came back with a Musial homer in the fourth to make it a 2-1 game, then took the lead with two in the fifth on a Lou Klein single, Johnny Hopp double scoring Klein, and Walker Cooper single sending Hopp home. They finished the scoring with two more in the seventh when Pollet helped his cause with a lead-off single, followed by a homer by the Nebraskan Hopp.

The 4-2 victory and the trip back to Grand & Dozier for Game 6, and hopefully Game 7, should keep the ’43 team’s spirits up.

Game 6 at Sportsman’s Park, 1943 4-3

Whoa, we have a series here! The ’43 Cardinals did it again to send the series to its seventh game. Billy Southworth sent Mort Cooper (2-2, 3.63) back to the hill for the ’43s, hooking up with Woody Williams (3-1, 3.55). Cooper looked more like his reliable self, blanking the ’04 team through eight innings on one hit, while striking out eight and walking none.

Meanwhile, the war-time crew plated single runs in the second, fourth, fifth and eighth innings. The run in the eighth, making the score 4-0, was courtesy of a rare Scott Rolen error allowing Stan Musial to score from third. Earlier Walker Cooper helped his brother by touching Williams for two solo homers, with Lou Klein singling in the other run.

Mort Cooper had the game well in hand with the one-hitter going into the ninth and a 4-0 lead. He retired Renteria and Pujols to start the ninth, coming an out away from the second one-hitter in the series. But these games are rarely easy. The ’04 team put a scare into the ’43s as Jim Edmonds kept the game going with a single for the second hit off Cooper, and Rolen followed with hit number three. Larry Walker had the third straight hit, this one a circuit clout and suddenly instead of two out, none on and a 4-0 lead with a one hitter going, the ’43 were clinging to a 4-3 lead.

There was none of this “time to take the starter out” business in ’43 – Southworth did visit the mound and assured his ace right-hander that the game was still his, and to relax and “trust his stuff”. Facing lefty-hitting John Mabry, Cooper broke off a 2-2 “12-6” curve ball that tied the hitter in knots. Mabry flailed away in vain for Mort’s ninth strikeout and sending the series to a seventh sojourn.

Game 7 at Sportsman’s Park, 2004 5-4

The way these series have gone, it is only right that we have yet another seventh game, with this the seventh game to end all seventh games! In a rematch of the Game 3 starters, Tony La Russa came back with the big, gritty righthander Chris Carpenter (3-2, 4.62), while Southworth countered with lefty Max Lanier (4-1, 3.18).

The 2004 club alternated singles and strikeouts through the first four hitters to start the game, with Lanier getting Scott Rolen on a ground out to his counterpart Whitey Kurowski at third ending the frame. The ‘43s continued their momentum by jumping on Carpenter for two runs in the bottom half. Carpenter mowed down Johnny Hopp on strikes, but Marty Marion singled, Stan Musial doubled, and Walker Cooper singled, driving in Marion. Ray Sanders then launched a ball to center that plated Stan the Man, before getting Kurowski on a comebacker to prevent any further carnage.

The ‘43’s lead remained 2-0 into the fourth when both clubs tallied a run. The ‘04s looked as though they would break out, loading the bases with no outs. Tony Womack then hit a slow roller back to Lanier, Max throwing home for the force but the ball was hit too weak for any further play, keeping the sacks jammed. Mike Matheny duplicated Ray Sanders’ effort, hitting a fly ball to center that scored the run from third. Carpenter hit for himself and struck out.

The bottom half of the fourth started promising for the wartime bunch as well with singles from Sanders and Kurowski. But Harry Walker hit into a 1-6-3 double play, with Sanders and Kurowski moving up. La Russa ordered an intentional pass to eighth place hitter Lou Klein to get to Lanier. Max foiled the strategy, dropping a broken bat single over Womack’s outstretched glove to plate Sanders. Hopp then popped – out to Rolen at third.

The ’43s tacked on another run in the sixth when with one out Kurowski singled, and Walker doubled him home. Klein and Lanier grounded out, but the ‘43s were smelling a championship with a 4-1 lead and nine outs to get.

Heading into the seventh, Lanier had allowed seven hits and struck out seven. With the three-run lead, things looked lucky, but lady luck quickly switched sides. With Carpenter due up, La Russa sent Hector Luna to hit. Hector had been 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in previous pinch-hit roles but lined a single to center this time. Lanier then lost Renteria, walking him on a 3-2 count. So Taguchi and Albert Pujols singled, with Albert’s hit sending Luna home cutting the lead to two. With a lefty-lefty match-up against Edmonds, Lanier stayed on. Jimmy fought off a pitch on the outer half and blooped it over Marion for the third consecutive single of the inning, scoring Renteria.

It was now 4-3, and still no outs with two on. Southworth replaced Lanier with right-hander Gunboat Gumbert to face Scott Rolen. Rolen kept the ’04 machine rolling, driving the fourth consecutive single, and fifth of the inning through the left side sending in Taguchi with the tying run. The bases remained loaded with the “MV3” occupying the sacks.

La Russa called Larry Walker off the bench to hit for Reggie Sanders. Out went Gunboat and in came stalwart lefthander Howie Pollet. Walker worked Pollet to a 3-1 count, then fouled off a couple of pitches before taking a borderline pitch on the inside for ball four, forcing home Albert and the giving the ‘04s a one-run lead. There were still no outs with the bases loaded. Southworth brought the infield in, and Tony Womack obliged, grounding to Marion, who threw home, forcing Edmonds. Womack beat Cooper’s throw attempting to get two. Matheny then hit a ball through the box that Pollet made a terrific stab on, falling, recovering, and getting Edmonds by a step at the plate. Luna hit for the second time in the inning, this time striking out to finally bring the onslaught to a close.

Although they missed a chance to get more, the 2004 club could taste victory, up by one with six outs to go and a strong bullpen to get those outs. Julian Tavarez was called on to pitch the eighth. Despite a shaky inning that featured a lead-off single by Walker Cooper, and a two-out walk to Harry Walker (how many “walks” can we get in one sentence?), Tavarez survived by striking out Lou Klein to end send the game to the ninth up 5-4.

Pollet retired the ’04 club in order in the top half, setting the stage for the bottom of the ninth in a one-run game for the championship. Jason Isringhausen came in to try for his 14^th save of the tourney. Backup catcher and lefty hitting Ken O’Dea came up to hit for Pollet, and Izzy blew a fastball at the letters past him for strike three. Two outs to go!

It would not be the “Best of St. Louis” without drama, though, and that was the case here. Johnny Hopp took four straight pitches from Izzy out of the zone to put the tying run on base. Marty Marion was next, with the incomparable Stan Musial on deck. How much tension can the fans take? Marty hit a slow roller to third that Rolen charged in on, his only play at first nailing Marion by a half-step. The speedy Hopp was now at second with the potential tying run and up came Stan Musial. Walk him, putting the possible winning run on base and face Walker Cooper, or pitch to Stan?

La Russa had pitching coach Dave Duncan assess the situation with Izzy. Stan was 1-for-4 in the game, after flying deep to right his last at-bat. Izzy had not faced Stan in the series but wanted to go after him. This is St. Louis, and its greatest player had a chance to bring his team glory. Walk him? “No way,” said Izzy. “The fans deserve to see this.” The fans cheered the decision and were on their feet. The tournament came down to the greatest hitter in Cardinal history to decide the championship.

Izzy worked carefully to Stan, keeping the ball away. On a 2-2 count, he surprisingly threw a slider down and in that Stan just got a piece of and fouled off. Izzy then went outside again and missed, making the count full. The temptation was to put Stan on, but they are competitors. Izzy threw another pitch on the outer half. It was questionable whether it was in the strike zone, but Stan could not take the chance and fought it off. The ground ball to the left side was cut off by Rolen, who straightened up and threw a strike to Pujols, ending the tournament.

The 2004 Cardinals are your “Best of St. Louis” champions!! It took them 29 games to accomplish the feat, winning 20 of them.

Tournament Wrap-Up and Highlights

The “Best of St. Louis” tournament provided enough highlights and momentous thrills to fill any fan’s plate. Several are mentioned here.

1926 Cardinal Jesse Haines spins a no-hitter!

Perhaps the single biggest thrill of the entire tournament was Jesse Haines’ masterful effort in Game 4 of the 1926 Cardinals’ opening round series against the 2004 club. Hall of Famer Haines faced only 29 batters, striking out six while no-hitting the eventual tournament champions. Haines walked Jim Edmonds to start the second, and an error by third baseman Les Bell in the fourth were the only base runners for the ’04 team. After Bell’s error, Haines retired the last 17 batters. The no-no put the ’04 club on the brink of elimination, trailing Rogers Hornsby’s Roaring Twenties club three games to one.

2004 Cardinals, near elimination, rally to win tournament

Tagging onto Haines’ no-hitter, the 2004 team regrouped and won the final three games of the series, then swept the #2 seeded 1944 Cardinals in quarter finals. They stretched their winning streak to eight games with an opening series win in the semi-finals over the 1922 Browns, went on to win that series and won the championship in a thrilling seven-game finale.

Dizzy Dean sparkles

Haines’ no-hitter aside, no pitcher was better than Dizzy Dean in the tournament. Diz was magnificent throughout the event, leading the 1934 Cardinals into the semi-finals, going 6-0 in 6 starts, with one relief stint. His 0.99 ERA topped all hurlers who pitched at least 10 innings, and he was the only pitcher to toss two shutouts. He struck out 57 in 54 2/3 innings, walking only 18.

Stan the Man in a “Golden Pitch” at-bat to end the tourney

A “Golden Pitch” is defined as “an extremely rare, high-stakes pitch in Game 7 of the World Series where the outcome of that single pitch could end the game and crown either the leading or trailing team as champions.”

Such was the case with Stan at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 in the tournament finals. With the 2004 Cardinals up 5-4, Stan was up with a runner on second and two-out. His at-bat could end the series with either the 2004 team, or his 1943 club victors, or he could have tied the game. He ended the series by grounding out but was spectacular during the entire tourney.

2004 and 1943 Cardinals “Best of the Best”

While the 2004 Cardinals won the championship in a drama-filled seven game series over their predecessors from 1943, both teams stood above the rest of the field. The 2004 team went 20-9 (.690) in the tourney to win the trophy, but the 1943s had a slightly better record, finishing 19-8 (.704). The ’43 club also had a better run differential at +31, to the ‘04s +22.

While the ’43 team was great, the 2004 club took home the hardware.

All-Tournament team

Here is the All-Tournament team – the team of the best performers at each position.

Catcher – Bob O’Farrell, 1926 Cardinals. O’Farrell only had seven games to show what he could do but made the most of them, hitting .364 on eight hits, including four doubles for an OPS of 1.007. He was also flawless defensively in 60 innings of work behind the plate.

Others of note – Hank Severeid, ’22 Browns; Walker Cooper, ’43 Cardinals.

First base – Stan Musial, 1946 Cardinals. Again, Stan only played in seven games this year, but what a performance! He appeared at first base in five of the seven contests for the 1946 club, finishing with a .462 average on 12 hits in 26 at bats. Included among the hits was a double and two home runs good for a lofty 1.294 OPS. Stan scored six runs and drove in seven.

Others of note – Jack Clark, ’87 Cardinals; Ray Sanders, ’42 Cardinals; Jim Bottonley, ’31 Cardinals

Second base – Red Schoendienst, 1946 Cardinals. Stan’s roomie edged out 1930 Frank Frisch for the honors, again not getting a chance to play past one series but sparkling during his time on the field. Red hit an even .400 with 12 hits in the seven games.

Others of note – Frank Frisch, ’30 Cardinals; Tommy Herr, ’85 Cardinals.

Shortstop – Marty Marion, 1943 Cardinals. Marion was a key performer in the ’43 team’s run to the finals, hitting .345 in his 27 games and sparkling in the field. He hit four doubles and homered twice, good for an .845 OPS. On defense he made 12 “great” plays, and consistently helped his pitching staff, being the glue of the ’43 infield.

Others of note – Charlie Gelbert, ’30 Cardinals; Pete Kozma, ’13 Cardinals; Ozzie Smith, ’87 Cardinals.

Third base – Ken Oberkfell, 1982 Cardinals. A surprise here, but Obie gets the nod with a .395 average in 10 games, including 19 total bases and a .939 OPS.

Others of note – Mike Shannon, ’68 Cardinals; Whitey Kurowski, ’44 Cardinals; Les Bell, ’26 Cardinals.

Left field – Ken Williams, 1922 Browns. Williams is the clear-cut selection here based on a .417 average in 18 games, that includes eight homers, 24 RBI, with on-base percentage of .461 and a 1.291 OPS. He also scored 17 runs and chipped in with three stolen bases, playing a big part in driving the Browns into the semi-final round.

Others of note – Stan Musial, 44 Cardinals; Matt Holliday, ’11 Cardinals.

Center field – Jim Edmonds, 2004 Cardinals.  Another clear-cut winner, Edmonds was a force on offense and defense and a big reason for the 2004 club’s tournament championship. Edmonds hit .348 with a tournament best 10 homers and 30 RBI. He added nine doubles and an OPS of 1.092. He added 11 “great” plays on defense.

Others of note – Curt Flood, ’67 & ’68 Cardinals; Taylor Douthit, ’26 Cardinals.

Right field – Stan Musial, 1943 Cardinals. The greatest Cardinal ever received the nod at two positions in two years. He did it all for the ’43 Redbirds, leading them to a seventh game “winner take all” contest. As the right fielder, Stan hit .352 in the tourney, with 14 doubles, a triple and eight home runs. He scored 25 runs, and drove in 23, and walked 17 times, finishing with an OPS of 1.180.

Others of note – George Harper, ’28 Cardinals; Carlos Beltran, ’13 Cardinals; Jack Tobin, ’22 Browns.

Pitcher – Dizzy Dean, 1934 Cardinals. Diz’ accomplishments have been noted often in the write-ups of the tourney. His 6-0 record led all pitchers in wins, and he was tops in innings pitched (54 2/3) and shutouts (2). He struck out 57, walked 18 and gave up 43 hits for a 1.116 WHIP. His 0.99 ERA was best for all pitchers throwing at least 10 innings.

Others of note – Howie Pollet, ’46 and ’43 Cardinals; John Tudor, ’85 Cardinals; Pete Alexander, ’26 Cardinals; Jason Isringhausen, ’04 Cardinals.

Tournament MVP – Jim Edmonds, 2004 Cardinals

Batting average: .348
On base percentage: .405
Slugging percentage: .687
On base plus slugging: 1.092

10 homers, nine doubles, 23 runs scored, 30 RBI

12 “great plays” on defense with a .990 fielding percentage

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photo: Marty Marion (National Baseball Hall of Fame)

Follow the key plays and game-by-game results in the upset-heavy semi-final round of the “Best of St. Louis” tournament using simulation to select the top St. Louis baseball team of all time.

Prior articles in this series

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The “Great Eight” Quarterfinals

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The Sweet 16

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The World Champions

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – Losers Bracket Series

Best St. Louis Cardinals Team Sim Tournament

 We are down to the “Final Four” teams remaining from the original group of 20. Eight wins are needed to finish as the all-time St. Louis baseball champion. With incredible games and upsets galore, the final four do not include any of the four top seeded teams. The remaining contenders are seeded at 5, 6, 7 and 9.

Here is a quick look at the four finalists in order of their original seeding:

1943 Cardinals #5 – This team comes into the semis as most successful tourney team with an impressive 12-1 record. They swept the 1987 team in the Losers Bracket to reach the field of 16, then duplicated the feat against the 2013 team in the opening round of the field of 16. Their lone loss was to Bob Gibson and the ’64 team in the quarter finals.

Shortstop Marty Marion is leading the team in hitting at .440, Walker Cooper and Stan Musial have chipped in at .333 and ,321 respectively.

On the pitching side, lefty Howie Pollet has been the most effective starter, with wins in both appearances, a three-inning relief stint against the ’87 team and complete game starting effort against the ’64 team. He sports a miniscule 0.75 ERA. Walker Cooper’s brother Mort is 2-0 in three starts with a 2.52 ERA. Max Lanier is also 2-0 in three starts, including an 11-strikeout performance against the ’64 team in the quarter-final round.

They will meet the surprising 1934 Gas House Gang in the semi-finals.

1922 Browns #6 – An offensive juggernaut, they come into the semis at 8-3, winning their opening series over the 1985 Cardinals in six, and prevailing in the quarter finals over the ’82 Cardinals in five.

Left fielder Ken Williams has been the offensive leader at .486 with five homers and 17 RBI. Catcher Hank Severeid is hitting .342, and right fielder Jack Tobin has contributed a .340 batting mark. A surprise contributor has been third baseman Eddie “Kid” Foster, hitting a robust .412, although his defense has been subpar and we may see more of the superior defensive third baseman Frank “Governor” Ellerbe in the semi-finals.

George Sisler, a .420 hitter in real life, has struggled, hitting only .213 over the first 11 games. If he gets hot in these final rounds this team could be on their way to the championship. Urban Shocker, a future ’27 Yankee, is the mound leader with three complete games in three starts, all wins, and a 1.67 ERA. Elam Van Gilder is 2-0 in two complete game starts, with a 2.50 ERA.

2004 Cardinals #7 – Another team that can score runs in bunches, the ’04 team is 12-3 heading into the semis with all three losses in their opening round of 16 series against the 1926 Cardinals. They lost three of the first four in that series, but have come back to win seven straight, sweeping the two-seed 1944 team in quarter finals.

Jim Edmonds has battled Ken Williams for the tournament MVP thus far, with a .344 batting mark, six homers and 18 RBI. Albert Pujols is at .369, and Scott Rolen at .310. Rolen has added five homers to the attack.

Leading the starting staff is Jason Marquis at 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA in three starts. Closer Jason Isringhausen has saved 8 of the 12 wins, sporting a 2.19 ERA in 12 1/3 innings of work.

They face the 1922 Browns in a semi-final series that promises a lot of offensive fireworks.

1934 Cardinals #9 – The only World Series winner to reach the semi-finals, and a lower seeded team at that, this team rides the coattails of pitchers Dizzy and Paul Dean, and middle order bats Joe Medwick and Ripper Collins. Frank Frisch, their hustling manager, still has gas in the tank and has come up with some big hits.

In the tournament, they come into the semi-finals with an 8-4 record, having somewhat surprisingly disposed of the ’67 Cardinals in the opening round in five games, then going the distance to knock out the #1 seeded 1942 Cardinals. The quarter final series match-up with the top ranked 1942 squad could have gone either way; such was the drama that filled the match-up. An epic seventh game that went 16 innings will be tough to top as the tournament highlight, with the Gas House Gang finally prevailing 2-1.

As in real life, Dizzy Dean has carried this team on his back, going 4-0 in five starts, with an 0.91 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings pitched. Paul Dean has struggled some, although he did have a 13-strikeout performance in a win against the ’42 team. Third starter Tex Carleton has been effective as well with a shutout win in the opening series against the ’67 team and pitched five innings of shutout relief in the 16-inning Game 7 marathon to get the win in the series clincher against the ’42 team.

No one has particularly stood out on offense, although part-time catcher Virgil “Spud” Davis, used against left-handed pitchers, has hit .400, with six hits in 15 at bats including a homer. Medwick is at .280 and has tripled twice.

After disposing of the 1942 club, they will step up a year in the semi-final series and battle the 1943 version.

What’s in store next? Let’s find out!

#5 1943 Cardinals vs #9 1934 Cardinals

With Dizzy Dean unavailable for the series opener after 11 innings of work in their quarter-final clincher, brother Paul took the hill for the Gas House Gang against ’43 ace Mort Cooper. The ’43 club struck early against Paul with three runs in the first three innings. After Mort set “The Gang” down in order in the top of the first, Harry Walker got the ‘43s off to a quick start by doubling down the first base line. An out later Stan Musial followed suit, doubling home “The Hat”. The ‘43s pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third when Walker again doubled, his time with one out, and Lou Klein followed with another two-bagger. After Musial flew out, Walker Cooper singled driving in Klein.

Dean settled in after that and the ’34 club climbed off the deck to put up a three-spot in the top of the fourth, knotting the score. Ripper Collins, Bill Delancey and Ernie Orsatti all drove in runs. The game remained tied 3-3 at the end of nine; another extra inning affair for the scrappy ’34 squad. Neither team scored in the 10th. Mort Cooper was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the 10th, with lefty Howie Pollet coming in for the 11th and setting the ’34 club down 1-2-3. Paul Dean looked every bit the ace his brother is striking out 14 over 10 innings without issuing a walk. But at 153 pitches, he was worn out and Frisch brought in former Dodger standout Dazzy Vance in the ’43s 11th. The Dazzler walked Lou Klein to open the inning but struck out Musial. Walker Cooper singled and Ray Sanders walked to load the bases. Frisch stuck with Vance, but Whitey Kurowski then lined a 1-1 pitch to center plating Klein to give the ’43 team the win.

Game 2 was delayed a couple of hours by rain before the weather cooperated and the teams were able to get underway. Tex Carleton (2-1, 0.90) toed the slab, facing Max Lanier (2-0, 2.82). Perhaps the delayed start messed up Carleton’s pre-game prep as this time the Comanche, Texas native didn’t have it, being knocked around for 10 hits and six runs, all earned, in six innings of work. Meanwhile Lanier was sharp, striking out 10 in seven innings while his mates produced an 11-hit attack. Ray Sanders contributed a two-run homer and Cooper, Kurowski, Klein and Lanier each drove in a run in the 6-1 victory. The rain returned in the bottom of the seventh making conditions unplayable and the game was shortened to 7 ½ innings. Both managers agreed with the umpires to consider the game complete at that point.

The ’34 club moved in as the home team for game three and liked the change as who else but Dizzy Dean (4-0, 0.91) was finally ready to go. The offense responded with 10 runs on 10 hits, three of them by the “All American Out” Leo Durocher. Howie Krist (2-0, 5.25) started for the ’43 team but only lasted 1 1/3 innings as the Gas Housers started fast and did not let up. The Gang poured it on early, scoring seven second inning runs. The highlight of the inning was a based loaded triple by Joe Medwick. Bill Delancey had two hits in the inning, starting the onslaught with a double, and delivering the seventh run by singling in Medwick. The ‘34s added two more in the third and another in the fifth. Diz was pulled after six innings and the ’34 club up 10-2 to save him for possible future use in the series. Veteran Jesse “Pop” Haines blanked the ’43s the final three innings and the score ended at that same 10-2 mark.

Game 4 featured a pair of lefthanders on the hill with Bill Walker (0-1, 5.65) facing Harry Brecheen (1-1, 3.71). The 1943 team returned the favor with a rout of their own, accumulating 14 hits off four ’34 pitchers and running away to a 13-4 win, and three games to one series lead.  First baseman Sanders had three hits and drove in four, while Musial and Klein each pushed three runs across.

With the ’34 team having their collective backs to the wall, they pulled together yet again with more magical moments. Paul Dean (1-2, 4.75) came back for Game 5, facing Howie Pollet (3-0, 0.69). The ’43s continued their offensive assault, promptly scoring two runs to start the game on a single by Harry Walker and a Marty Marion home run. But the Gas Housers came right back in the bottom half on a Frank Frisch walk and two-run shot by Ripper Collins. The ’34 club tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth to go up 4-2, but a two-run homer by Whitey Kurowski in the sixth knotted the score at three. The game remained tied heading to the ninth; yet another nail-biter this Gas House Gang seems to always find themselves in.

Paul Dean was sharp, stepping out of his brother’s shadow to fan 11 ’43 Cardinals through eight innings. But he had also given up 10 hits and thrown over 160 pitches. The ’43 team pushed a run across in the top of the ninth, as the tiring Dean contributed to his downfall, throwing wildly on a comebacker by Harry Walker. With two out, Musial doubled Walker home, putting the ’43 team three outs from a trip to the Finals and sending a weary Paul Dean to the showers.

But as they had done all tournament long, the ’34 team kept plugging away. With one out and Murry Dickson pitching for the war time bunch, Pepper Martin lined a home run down the left field line to tie the game. Dickson then retired Frisch and Medwick to send it to the 11th. Neither team threatened as they battled to the 12th. Again the ’43 team got to within three outs of the finals as Johnny Hopp doubled and Harry Walker singled him home to go up 6-5.

But the ’34 team wasted no time pulling yet more rabbits out of the hat. Facing Red Munger, Ripper Collins doubled leading off and Bill Delancey singled him home, tying the game once again. This time the ’34s went one further, winning the game when Jack Rothrock sacrificed Delancey to second, and Burgess Whitehead singled him home. The Gas House Gang lives! How many miracles does this 1934 group have!?

With Dizzy back for Game 6, it was a foregone conclusion we would have a seven-game series, and that was the case. Once again, Diz was magnificent, spinning a five-hit shutout, outdueling Mort Cooper in a 3-0 win. Diz moved to 6-0 in the tourney. Delancey homered in the fourth to put The Gang up 1-0, and they tacked on two more in the sixth when Whitehead doubled home Frisch and Medwick.

For a trip to the championship series Frisch sent Tex Carleton (3-2, 3.00) to the mound to hook up with Max Lanier (3-0, 2.45).  Neither pitcher was especially sharp, with Carleton walking six and Lanier four. But Max also had 12 strikeouts. The ’43 team took a 3-0 lead in second on a Lou Klein home run, which followed a Ray Sanders HBP and a Johnny Hopp single. But as was commonplace, the Gas Housers came back with two in the fourth and one in the fifth to tie it. The fourth started with a single by Rothrock, followed by Lanier walking Chick Fullis. Durocher then grounded to third. Kurowski attempted a round-the-horn double play, but The Lip beat the throw to first. Carleton helped himself, singling home Rothrock. Whitehead followed with a grounder to third and again Kurowski went for two, with Whitehead beating the throw and Durocher scoring. Frisch grounded out to second, ending the inning. A scoreless bottom half and a run in the fourth on a one-out double by Collins, followed by Spud Davis’ run-scoring single knotted the score at three.

The war-time group got the run back in the bottom of the fifth, with Musial doubling home Marion. That was the final score as the ’34 club finally had no miracle left. Lanier finished strongly, striking out five over the final three frames. The 1943 team earns a trip to the series finals with an overall 16-4 record for the tourney. The ’34 team finished 11-8, with many heroics and a memorable run.

#6 1922 St. Louis Browns vs #7 2004 St. Louis Cardinals

Anticipated as a fun series, the teams opened in Sportsman’s Park with the Browns hosting the first two games. Game 1 matched Brownie ace Urban Shocker (3-0, 1.67) against the Cardinals Matt Morris (2-1, 3.81). The Cardinals started fast, tallying a run in the first, and two more in the second and third innings to jump to an early 5-0 lead. Tony Womack led off the series with a double and later scored on Albert Pujols’ ground out. John Mabry hit a two-run homer in the second, and Womack led off the third with a hit, a single this time, and later scored on a two-run, two-out double by Scott Rolen.

It looked like an easy win for the Cardinals, but with these series, no lead is safe regardless of the competitors. And sure enough, the Browns pretty much duplicated the Cardinals early frames. With Shocker settling in and blanking the National Leaguers, the Browns tallied a run in the fourth, then two in the sixth and two in the seventh to tie the game. Their first run was courtesy of a one out double by Ken Williams, and a run scoring single by Baby Doll Jacobson (great nickname!). In the sixth, singles by Kid Foster and George Sisler, followed by Williams’ sac fly pushed run number two home. Then Jacobson singled, following by Hank Severeid driving in Sisler. The Browns tied it in seventh on Wally Gerber’s single, a sac bunt by Shocker, and Jack Tobin’s two run homer.

The teams remained tied after nine, and neither could push a run across in the 10th or 11th innings. In the top of the 12th, with two out, none on, Scott Rolen reached on a throwing error by Foster. Larry Walker doubled home Rolen to put the Cardinals up 6-5. What did I say about a possible Browns’ error contributing to a loss? Jason Isringhausen came on in the bottom half to retire the side in order and earn his ninth save of the tourney.

In Game 2, the Browns jumped all over four Cardinal pitchers for 13 hits and 10 runs in a 10-3 rout. All nine Browns hitters had at least one hit, with Tobin, Sisler, Williams and Marty McManus striking out two apiece, and Tobin adding another homer. Right-hander Elam Van Gilder had no trouble with the ’04 Cardinal bats, spinning a complete-game five-hitter. Jim Edmonds and rookie Yadier Molina reached Van Gilder for late homers, but the Browns had the game well in hand by then.

The series moved to Busch Stadium II for Games 3, 4 and 5. The Browns took the series lead in Game 3, another one-run affair, 7-6, despite being outhit 11 to 9. Right-handers Rasty Wright (0-0, 2.57) and Chris Carpenter (2-1, 4.50) started and pitched well. Both departed after seven innings with the Cardinals holding a 3-2 lead. The Browns then jumped on the usually strong Cardinal bullpen, putting a four-spot up in the eighth to take the lead. The big blow was pinch-hitter Pat Collins’ two-run single off Julian Tavarez to put the Browns on top, 4-3. They then tacked on two more, jumping the margin to 6-3. But again, leads are precarious in this tourney, and the Cardinals countered with two in their half of the eighth off lefty Hub Pruett to tighten it to 6-5. Jacobson again homered in the top of the ninth to give the Browns a bit of breathing room, 7-5. And they needed it, as the Cardinals came back with a run in the bottom half to close to within one. But the rally fell short when Reggie Sanders grounded out with the tying run on second, as ace Urban Shocker secured the final out.

After losing two straight, it was the Cardinals turn to take charge, as they won Games 4 and 5 by scores of 6-3 and 3-1, regaining control of the series. Woody Williams and Matt Morris each turned in solid starting pitching efforts, with Williams going seven innings and giving up three runs on eight hits in Game 4, and Morris coming back to pitch a complete-game five-hitter in Game 5. Scott Rolen homered and drove in three runs in the Game 4 win, while Mike Matheny drove in two and Albert Pujols one in the gem Morris pitched in Game 5.

With the Cardinals just a game from advancing to the finals, the Browns turned to Urban Shocker (3-0, 2.35) again to keep their hopes alive. And keep them alive he did, tossing a six-hitter to edge the Cardinals 2-1 and send the series to the seventh game. Jeff Suppan (0-0, 5.79) gave the Cardinals a strong start as well, going 7 2/3 innings and surrendering only five hits. But two of those hits were home runs, one by Ken Williams in the sixth, his seventh of the tournament, and another by Jack Tobin in the eighth. The Tobin homer ended Suppan’s outing. Shocker pitched around a Rolen single in the ninth to nail down the win.

The stage was set for our second seven-game semi-final contest. Tony La Russa sent the bulldog Chris Carpenter (2-2, 4.68) out to start for the Redbirds, while Browns skipper Lee Fohl came back with Elam Van Gilder (3-0, 2.67). Carpenter turned in a magnificent effort, blanking the Browns on one hit through eight innings. Meanwhile, the Cardinals tallied five times with two in the first and third innings, and one in the seventh.

Leading 5-0 with Carpenter dominating, it was all but over going into the bottom of the ninth, when pinch-hitter Chick Shorten opened with a single. Tobin walked, and Jacobson bounced into a force out. Ken Williams, as he has done all tournament long, then drilled a three-run homer, his eighth long ball of the tourney. Suddenly the Browns were only down two, but down to their last two outs. On came Isringhausen to get Severeid and Sisler and preserve the win and send the 2004 Cardinals into the finals to face the 1943 squad!

Who will become the “Best of St. Louis”? Will it be the 1943 Cardinals, one of four pennant winners in five years and the most dominant stretch of St. Louis baseball ever, or the best modern era team, the 2004 powerhouse? Stay tuned.

Next up, the final installment where we cover the Championship series, recap the tournament, and present the All-Tourney team and tournament MVP.

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photo: Paul and Dizzy Dean

More surprises and thrilling moments are in store in the quarterfinal round of the “Best of St. Louis” tournament using simulation to select the top St. Louis baseball team of all time.

Prior articles in this series

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The Sweet 16

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The World Champions

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – Losers Bracket Series

Best St. Louis Cardinals Team Sim Tournament

#1 seed 1942 Cardinals vs #9 1934 Cardinals

Coming off a sweep of the 2006 World Champions in the opening round, the top-seeded 1942 Cardinals looked to continue their march against the ’34 “Gas House Gang”. The Gas Housers also had a relatively easy opening round series, knocking out the ’67 team in five games.

This series started off as a bit of a shocker with the Dean brothers dominating in Games 1 and 2. Dizzy shut out the “Swifties” in the series lid lifter, striking out 13 and scattering eight hits. The win put Diz at 3-0 in the tournament with 31 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings pitched and a 1.26 ERA. Despite the loss, ’42 starter Mort Cooper was even better, striking out 14 Gas Housers and surrendering only five hits. But the ’34 club scored the only run they needed in the seventh when Bill Delancey launched a solo home run with two out. They put the game away for all practical purposes in the top of the ninth when Ducky Medwick singled and Ripper Collins homered. Diz pitched a 1-2-3 bottom half for the 3-0 win.

In Game 2, Paul Dean matched Dizzy’s 13 strikeouts and gave up only five hits. Again the ’42s’ pitching was also good with Johnny Beazley yielding only five hits as well through eight innings, and Murry Dickson adding a scoreless ninth. The ’34 team put a run on the board in the top of the third when Pepper Martin tripled, and sped home on a wild pitch. The two-out wild pitch proved crucial as the ’42 club tied it in the bottom of the seventh on Enos Slaughter’s solo homer. The Gas Housers took the run back in the top of the eighth on a solo shot by Jack Rothrock, and the 2-1 score held.

Pitching was strong again in Game 3, with Max Lanier facing Tex Carleton. Carleton surrendered only two hits through five innings, but walked the number 8 and 9 hitters,” Creepy” Crespi and Lanier, to start the sixth frame. He then retired Terry Moore and Marty Marion, as the runners advanced. Enos Slaughter drove a clutch two-out single to left center plating both runners. The depression era club got a run back in the bottom half on a one-out single by Spud Davis, a walk to Chick Fullis and single by Leo Durocher to load the sacks. Pinch-hitter Burgess Whitehead then grounded to Ray Sanders at first, Sanders going to Marion at second trying to end the inning on a double play, but Whitehead beat the throw and the run scored. Martin then flew out to Moore in center ending the frame. Both teams tallied a run in the eighth with the veteran Jesse “Pop” Haines on for the Gas Housers while Howie Krist had replaced Lanier for the wartime nine. Another veteran, Dazzy Vance, came on in the ninth for the ’34 team and was greeted rudely, walking Stan Musial before Sanders homered, widening the gap to 5-2. The Gas House Gang got a run off Krist in the bottom of the ninth but could not get any closer as the ’42s held on for a 5-3 win to get back into the series.

Dizzy came back for Game 4, facing left-hander Ernie White, and he was masterful. Dean gave up only two hits, struck out 10 and pitched the Men of Frank Frisch to within a game of a major upset in a 3-1 victory. Ducky Medwick tripled home Frisch in the bottom of the first for the only run Diz would need, then tacked on single runs in the seventh and eighth to make the margin a little more comfortable. A second inning Walker Cooper triple followed by a Jimmy Brown run scoring ground out was the only run the great Diz surrendered, as he move to 4-0 in the tournament.

On the brink of elimination, the stunned 1942 club came back in championship form to win Games 5 and 6. The former was a tight 4-3 game as Mort Cooper topped lefty Bill Walker and Slaughter homered.  Still, the ’34 team kept the pressure on, trailing 4-2 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Medwick promptly homered to get within one. Cooper then retired Ripper Collins and struck out Bill Delancey, his ninth “K” of the game, before walking Ernie Orsatti. Pinch-hitter Whitehead singled, putting the possible tying run on second, but another pinch-hitter, Chick Fullis, grounded out to end the game.

The ’42 club then tied the series with a 7-3 Game 6 win, knocking out nine hits against Paul Dean in only 5 1/3 innings. Johnny Beazley went the distance for the wartime club, allowing five hits. The ‘42s rapped out 10 base knocks in total with Crespi accounting for three and scoring twice. Terry Moore and Marty Marion had two hits apiece, and Walker Cooper stroked another triple for two runs.

This set up one of the more dramatic Game 7s you will ever witness – a 16-inning drama matching the irrepressible Dizzy Dean against ’42 lefty Max Lanier. Diz was not quite as sharp as in his earlier starts but still had the strikeout pitch working and bore down when he needed an out. The ‘42s opened the scoring in the bottom of the third on one out singles by Moore and Johnny Hopp, Moore scooting to third on Hopp’s single. Slaughter then lofted a fly ball to medium right that was deep enough to get Moore home, as Rothrock’s throw was a bit offline. This same scenario played out later in the game with different results.

The score remained 1-0 until the eighth when the ’34 club tied it on a single by Fullis, who then caught the ‘42s napping and stole second. Durocher singled shallowly to left, with Fullis holding at third. With Diz due up, Frisch let him hit and he managed to hit a fly ball to Moore in center, Terry’s throw just missed nabbing the sliding Fullis, who evaded Walker Cooper’s tag attempt to tie the game.

Diz pitched around a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth, setting up a ninth inning of dashed hopes for both clubs. First, the ’34 club had a chance to grab the lead when Frisch and Medwick started the frame by singling off Lanier, with Frisch moving to third on Medwick’s hit. With the runner at third and no outs, Southworth pulled the ’42 infield in. Ripper Collins, hitting righty off Lanier, pulled a grounder right at Marion, who held Frisch and fired to first retiring Collins. Southworth ordered an intentional pass to Spud Davis, loading the bases. The infield moved back to halfway with Chick Fullis up. Fullis flied to Slaughter in right, as Frisch tagged and Enos threw a strike to Cooper who tagged out The Flash to end the inning.

Moving to the bottom of the ninth, Diz was still pitching but tiring some. A run and the ’42 club would advance. With Lanier due up, Southworth sent lefty Ray Sanders to hit, and he promptly singled. Terry Moore executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Sanders to second.  Johnny Hopp then grounded to Durocher, who in an anxious attempt to get Sanders running for third booted the ball, putting runners at first and third with one out. Now the ’42 club had a golden opportunity to end the series with Slaughter and Musial coming up. In an example of “déjà vu all over again”, Slaughter, who had just saved the ‘42s a run by throwing out Frisch in the top of the inning, flied to his counterpart in right, Jack Rothrock. Sanders tagged and Rothrock unleased a strong throw to Davis, who had the plate blocked, tagging Sanders for the third out and sending Game 7 to extra innings!

On they battled, with right-hander Howie Krist on for the wartime crew. Krist and Dean both hurled 1-2-3 10^th innings. Krist gave up a single to Frisch in the top of the 11th, but no further damage occurred. Marion reached a tiring Diz with a lead off single in the bottom of the 11^th. Crespi followed suit, with Marion scooting to third and it looked like the ‘42s would finish off the series, with a runner at third and no outs. Frisch, who had righty Tex Carleton and lefty Bill Walker warming, walked to the mound to check the fatigued Dizzy Dean. “What do think Diz?”, Frisch asked. “Shucks Frank, I ain’t even showed ‘em my best stuff yet”, Diz responded in his usual display of confidence mixed with country-boy charm. Normally Diz backed up his braggadocio, and that was the case this time. He proceeded to strike out Sanders, Moore, and pinch-hitter Harry Walker in order to keep the game tied, displaying one of the most remarkable pitching sequences of the tourney.

Southworth went to his ace Mort Cooper to pitch the 12^th and he retired the Gas Housers in order. With Dean out of gas, the lefty Walker came on for the ‘34s to face Slaughter in the bottom of the 12^th. Enos doubled, again giving the ‘42s a good chance to end it. Walker stayed on to face the lefty hitting Stan Musial and carefully walked him. Frisch summoned Carleton from the bullpen to face the righty hitting Walker Cooper, who popped out to short. He then induced Jimmy Brown and Marion to ground out, ending the threat. Mort Cooper and Carleton each held their opponent at bay in the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th innings. Neither team threatened but tension mounted with every pitch.

Cooper continued to dominate into the top of the 16^th, striking out Martin and getting Rothrock on a fly out to start the frame. But the feisty manager Frisch singled with his fourth hit of the game, and Medwick followed with his third hit, also a single, with Frisch going to third. Ripper Collins had the third straight hit, with his single scoring Frisch and breaking the tie. Lefty Ernie White came on to face the left-handed batting Delancey, who had hit for Spud Davis in the 12^th, and stuck him out, keeping the score 2-1.

Carleton pitched around a one-out single in the bottom half, striking out Whitey Kurowski to end the game and send the ’34 Cardinals on to the semi-finals. This was an absolutely incredible game with both clubs squandering opportunities, but the ’42 club especially let it slip away, leaving 16 runners stranded.

The legend of Dizzy Dean lives on! He pitched 11 innings and threw 179 pitches, striking out 13 and lowering his tournament ERA to 0.91. Carleton was clutch in relief, pitching the final five innings, allowing only one hit, striking out three and not walking anyone. The ’42 relief corps of Krist, Cooper and White were also terrific, throwing seven innings and giving up four hits while striking out seven and walking only one.

No matter how the rest of the tournament plays out, it will be hard to top this game for drama, tension and gritty performances.

#5 1943 Cardinals vs #13 1964 Cardinals

These teams pushed the odds a bit as the 1943 team had to win in the loser’s bracket to get into the field of 16, then win their opening series against the 2013 Championship club. They had no trouble in either series, sweeping both to start the tourney 8-0. The 1964 team was seeded 13th of 16 competitors yet upset the #4 seed 1946 group in a close, seven-game affair. That series mimicked to some degree the real-life 1960 World Series, as the 1946 team won the three games in rather dominating fashion and lost by close scores. How would this one turn out?

Well, to get to the finish first, the 1943 team continued their tournament dominance, winning in five games to push their overall record to 12-1.

In a bit of time warp and with a tired pitching staff from the opening seven-game series, the ’64 club sent Ernie Broglio to the mound to start, with Lou Brock in left field. And “Earnshaw” was good, going seven innings and departing with his club up 3-2 over Mort Cooper and the ‘43s. Mike Cuellar came in to start the eighth facing Harry Walker, with “The Hat” singling. Lou Klein walked, then Cuellar stayed on to face the lefty-hitting Musial. Stan popped out to shallow right, with Johnny Keane calling on knuckleballer Barney Schultz to face Walker Cooper. Cooper lived up to his name, walking to load the bases as Schultz’ knuckler was a little too effective. Ray Sanders and Whitey Kurowski followed with singles, putting the ’43 team up 4-3. Johnny Hopp’s sac-fly made it 5-3, and Howie Krist nailed down the win, blanking the ‘64s in the ninth.

The ’64 club jumped on starter Max Lanier for two in the top of the first of Game 2 when Curt Flood and Julian Javier singled and Dick Groat walked, loading the bases. Kenny Boyer drove home Flood with a sac-fly to Musial in right. Mike Shannon then walked against a shaky Lanier to reload the sacks. Bill White followed with a grounder to second. The ‘43s went for a double play but White just legged out the throw while Javier scored. Charlie James then went down on strikes, and that was all the offense the ‘64s could muster. Lanier and relievers Ernie White and Murry Dickson kept the ‘64s off the board the rest of the way, while the ‘43s came back for three runs, including two from Whitey Kurowski’s home run in the fifth, giving them a 3-2 win and moving to 10-0 in the tourney. Curt Simmons suffered his first tournament loss.

Bob Gibson finally broke through to beat the ’43 team in Game 3, throwing a complete game and striking out nine without a walk. Harry Brecheen was reached for four runs in the bottom of the fifth, which gave the ‘64s what they needed in the 4-2 victory. This was the first loss for the 1943 squad after 10 consecutive wins to start the tournament. The war squad took an early 2-0 lead into the fifth. Brecheen started the inning by striking out Tim McCarver but walked Gibson. Curt Flood singled and Javier doubled home Gibby and Flood. Dick Groat singled home Hoolie. After a Boyer strikeout, Groat took second on a wild pitch. Bill White then cashed in the run, singling home Groat. Mike Shannon grounded out to end the inning. Neither team scored the rest of the way, as the ‘64s narrowed the series to two games to one.

The ‘43s took control, capturing Games 4 and 5 to move to the semi-finals and end the dream of the ‘64s to continue against the odds. Howie Pollet was dominant in Game 4, spinning a two-hitter in the 4-1 win. Ray Sanders’ two-run homer was the big blow for the ‘43s, with a Lou Brock solo shot the only run mustered by the ’64s.

Howie Krist went the distance in the Game 5 clincher, with Marion, Walker Cooper and Danny Litwhiler homering for the 5-2 series-ending win. Curt Simmons, masterful against the ’46 club, took his second loss of this series.

The 1943 team will face the upstart 1934 club in the semi-finals.

#6 1922 Browns vs #14 1982 Cardinals

This is another series featuring a lower seeded team that scored an upset opening round win, with the 1982 speedsters of Whitey Herzog rather easily disposing of the #3 1931 team four games to one. The favored Browns topped another Whitey team, the ’85 bunch, in six games to advance to the quarter pole. In their opening series against the ’85 Cardinals, the Browns looked to be cruising to an easy series win by taking the first three games before getting a scare when the ’85 Cardinals won Games 4 and 5.

A similar scenario occurred in this series, as the Browns once again raced to a three-games-to-none lead. Just like the ’85 team, the 1982 team then got off the schneid and won Game 4. The Brownies mostly dominated the first three with scores of 8-2, 4-1, and 7-5. Left fielder Ken Williams was the offensive hero in the first two, going a combined 5-for-6 with two home runs, knocking in five. In Game 3, third sacker Eddie “Kid” Foster and catcher Hank Severeid did the heavy lifting, with Foster collecting four hits and Severeid driving in three. The ’82 team secured what turned out to be their lone win in Game four with Joaquin Andujar going seven innings, then getting help from Jim Kaat and Bruce Sutter in a 6-4 victory.

Like the ’85 team, the ’82 boys looked to be on their way to another win in Game 5, taking a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning behind John Stuper. But the Browns found their offense again late, plating two runs in the eighth to tie the game, then exploding against the usually reliable Sutter for six hits and five runs in the ninth to ice the series in the 8-3 final. Williams again was in the middle of things with a two-run triple in the big outburst.

The Browns move on the semis to face the winner of the 2004 vs. 1944 Cardinals series.

#2 1944 Cardinals vs #7 2004 Cardinals

As mentioned earlier, the 2004 Cardinals were a bit less statistically dominant than some other clubs and were humiliated in the World Series that year. That led them receiving only a #7 seed. Even so, this was a powerful team and probably would have garnered no lower than the four seed had they won the World Series.

They looked the part of a champion in this series, doing some humiliating of their own by eliminating the #2 seeded 1944 Cardinals in a four-game sweep. The ’44 team did not even score until Game 3, as Jason Marquis and Woody Williams, along with the excellent ’04 bullpen, shut out the wartime bunch in Games 1 and 2, 2-0 and 4-0. Marquis went six innings in Game 1, surrendering three hits, and relievers Julian Tavarez, Steve Kline, and Jason Isringhausen finished up with an inning each. Albert Pujols touched the familiar ‘40s ace Mort Cooper for a homer to start the fourth for the series’ first run, and the ‘04s added a second run in the seventh when Reggie Sanders doubled, and an out later pinch-hitter John Mabry singled him home.

Williams threw eight scoreless innings in Game 2, giving up only four hits, with Izzy again coming in to earn the save. The ‘04s scored four runs on 12 hits, three from Scott Rolen with Rolen, Pujols, Sanders and Tony Womack each driving in a run.

Game 3 moved to Busch Stadium III with the ‘04s home and it was the pivotal moment for the ’44 team – the “one that got away”. Facing Matt Morris, they took an early 4-1 lead as Ted Wilks was strong early, but the ’04 club chipped away with single runs in the fourth and fifth. As they trailed by a run going into the last of the eighth, Scott Rolen followed a Jim Edmonds double with a two-run homer to put the ’04 team up 5-4. However, Johnny Hopp led off the ninth with a solo shot off Isringhausen for the ’44s to even the score. Izzy then retired Ray Sanders, Stan Musial and Walker Cooper in order. With Harry Brecheen now pitching, the ’04 team went down without threatening in the bottom half, sending the game to extra innings. Izzy stayed on, shutting down the ’44s in the top of the 10th. With one out, none on in the bottom half Albert Pujols singled, and lightning struck again for the ’04s as Jim Edmonds hit a walk-off two-run shot into the bullpen to put the ’04 team up three games to none.

Tony La Russa’s bunch then punched their ticket to the semi-finals with a hard fought 5-4 win in Game 4, with Chris Carpenter getting the win over Mort Cooper. The ‘04s jumped on top in the bottom of the third when Pujols singled home Carpenter and Womack. The ‘44s tied it in the fifth when Hopp homered again, this time after a walk to Emil Verban. With the ’04s not scoring in the bottom half, the ‘44s grabbed the lead in the top of the sixth on a one out homer by Ray Sanders.

The ’04 squad then took the lead back in the bottom half as Pujols and Edmonds started the frame with singles. After Rolen lined out to left, Cooper plunked Reggie Sanders, loading the bags. Edgar Renteria singled through the hole in right, plating Albert and Jimmy.

Larry Walker homered in the eighth to push the lead to 5-3. The run proved crucial as the ‘44s notched a tally off Izzy in the top of the ninth when Ray Sanders led off with a double, moved to third on a ground out by Kurowski, and scored on a ground out by Augie Bergamo. Verban then hit the third straight grounder off Izzy which Renteria gobbled up and threw to Pujols, completing the sweep.

The 2004 club moves to the semi-finals, sporting a 12-3 tournament mark and a seven-game winning streak. They will lock horns with another powerful offensive group, the 1922 Browns.

A look ahead

Below is a glance at the real-life numbers for each of the final four teams compared to the league averages for the season. Pitching and defense defined the 1943 team, with an offense almost 10% better than league average as well.

They will face a 1934 club that was balanced at about 10% better than league norm on both offense and pitching.

The other series features a couple of powerful offenses. The graphic below is an insight into how good the 1922 Browns were – an offensive juggernaut with great pitching as well. Their defense by measure of number of errors was a weakness. But they were a great team and largely forgotten today. The franchise had little success over their history and the ’22 team did not win the pennant. Still, it was a very good squad.

Likewise, the 2004 team was great with an offense almost 14% better than league average and pitching close to 13% above the norm. Their defense was good as well.

Considering the metrics, one would expect the 1943 team’s pitching to stymie the 1934 club, while the Browns offense could overwhelm the 2004 Cardinals. However, the Gas House Gang has Dizzy Dean, and they won both series as underdogs including knocking off the top seed. Meanwhile, the 2004 Cardinals come in hot with seven consecutive wins and 12-3 in the tournament. They are a balanced team with a great bullpen. The Browns are 8-3 and can score runs in bunches, but a defensive miscue at a key point in a game might open the door for the Cardinals to take advantage. This shapes up for some terrific semi-final games.

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Sixteen of the Best Teams in St. Louis history face off in a sim tournament, with a host of thrills, spills and a few surprises.

Prior articles in this series

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – The World Champions

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – Losers Bracket Series

Best St. Louis Cardinals Team Sim Tournament

With the field of 16 set, the tournament proceeds full steam with a host of thrills, spills and a few surprises. Recaps of the first round of games follow.

#1 1942 Cardinals vs #16 2006 Cardinals

The 1942 St. Louis “Swifties”, generally considered the greatest of all Cardinal teams, made quick work of the 2006 bunch, advancing to the quarter finals with a four-game sweep. The ’42s outscored their latter-day cousins by a 35-13 count in the four games.

Infielder Jimmy Brown was a surprise force on offense for the ‘42s, hitting .400 in the series and driving in six runs. Shortstop Marty Marion hit .375, and stars Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial hit .375 and .353 respectively. Juan Encarnacion and Scott Rolen duplicated Slaughter and Musial’s feat by hitting .375 and .353 to lead the 2006 team.

Mort Cooper, Johnny Beazley, “Gunboat” Gumbert and Max Lanier won their starts for the ’42 squad.

In what turned out to be the closest contest, the ’42 team outlasted the ‘06ers 7-5 in the opener, with Brown driving in four of the runs and Slaughter two. On an off day for him, Chris Carpenter surrendered all seven runs, one unearned, in 5 1/3 innings.

The ‘42s then rolled to convincing 7-2, 8-3, and 13-3 blowout wins to end the series in four games. The Game 4 carnage featured 18 hits from the ‘42s, with hits by each of 14 different players. Four players had two hits each, and 10 others one apiece. Meanwhile, the ’06 club struck out 10 times without walking once, garnering nine hits, eight singles and a double.

The ’42 club will play the winner of the eighth and ninth seeds series, 1967 vs. 1934 Cardinals.

#8 1967 Cardinals vs #9 1934 Cardinals

In a minor upset, the 1934 “Gas House Gang” breezed past the 1967 “El Birdos” in five games. This series was projected to be close and go six or seven games and was tied at a game apiece after the first two contests. Dizzy Dean bested Bob Gibson in the opener by a 5-2 score, with Dick Hughes pitching the ’67s to a 7-2 win in Game 2 as Paul Dean faltered. Games 3 and 4 were all Gas Housers, overwhelming the ’67s 10-0 and 10-6. Game 3 featured a Carlton vs Carleton match-up, with Tex Carleton throwing a five-hit shutout and Rip Collins driving in four runs, with catcher Spud Davis chipping in three RBI. Steve Carlton only lasted three innings, trailing 6-0.

In Game 4, the second 10-run outburst by the ’34s featured 16 hits off Ray Washburn, Nelson Briles and Ron Willis. The ’34s ran out to a 4-0 lead as Wild Bill Hallahan was cruising along, before the El Birdos put a run on the board in the fifth, then had a four-run sixth to take a 5-4 lead. A Lou Brock homer in the top of the eighth made it 6-4, as the ’67s were six outs away and two runs ahead in a bid to even the series. But it was not to be as the Gas Housers put half a dozen on the board in the bottom of the eighth to overwhelm the ’67s. Manager Frankie Frisch got things starting with a leadoff double against the usually reliable Nellie Briles. Ducky Medwick promptly singled home Frisch to pull the ‘34s within a run at 6-5. After Ripper Collins forced Medwick, pinch-hitter Pat Crawford doubled into the right-center field gap, Collins moving to third. Manager Red Schoendienst chose to walk the lefty hitting Ernie Orsatti to get to light hitting and righty batting Leo Durocher. The Lip foiled the strategy, perhaps upset at not getting the Cardinal manager position in 1965, and singled in Collins and Crawford to put the ’34s in front. and grab a commanding 3 games to 1 lead.

Ron Willis was summoned from the bullpen but fared no better. Frisch was pushing all the right buttons as another pinch-hitter, Spud Davis, greeted him with a single to center plating Orsatti. Pepper Martin tripled home Durocher and Davis to complete the scoring.

Down three games to one, the ’67s brought Bob Gibson back to start Game 5 facing lefty Bill Walker. The ’67s opened the scoring in the second with Dal Maxvill doubling home Tim McCarver. Sometimes one run was all Gibby needed, but not this time. The ’34s had yet another six-run outburst in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a three-run Jack Rothrock homer. Gibson settled in after that, retiring 12 straight at one point. Meanwhile his mates chipped away with a run in the third and two in the seventh. The seventh inning runs were scored when Gibson led off and worked a walk, while Lou Brock followed with a homer.

Smelling blood, Frisch replaced a tiring Walker with Dizzy Dean. Mike Shannon was unfazed, leading off the eighth with a home run off Diz to make it a 6-5 game. Brock was at it again in the ninth, starting the inning by resorting to his well-known qualities, singling then stealing second. The potential rally stalled when Brock was gunned down at third on an attempted sacrifice bunt by Julian Javier. Curt Flood reignited it, singling to send Javier to third. Orlando Cepeda then grounded deep short, forcing Flood, but scoring Javier to tie the game at 6. Tim McCarver grounded out to end the inning, but the ‘67s had come all the way back to tie the game into the bottom of the ninth.

The Gas House Gang wasted no time claiming the series, as once again Ron Willis was the victim, and once again Pat Crawford hit a pinch double against him, with Pepper Martin doubling him home to cap the series. Schoendienst twice chose to pitch to the normally light-hitting lefty batter Crawford, rather than bring in lefthander Joe Hoerner and face a more lethal bat in Davis, or possibly Burgess Whitehead. And twice the journeyman infielder burned him.

The Gas Housers move to the quarterfinals to face the top seeded 1942 team.

#4 1946 Cardinals vs #13 1964 Cardinals

In a series that went the full seven games, our first big upset occurred as the 13th seeded 1964 Cardinals topped the #4 1946 squad. While it was not quite the caliber of the 1960 World Series, it had a similar tone with the 1946 team bludgeoning their latter-day comrades in their wins and losing the close ones. They outscored the ’64 club by 11 runs in the series, 35 to 24, winning by scores of 8-0, 10-4, and 11-3. The ’64 team won their four games with scores of 3-0, 5-2, 5-1, and 4-3. The ’46 team was up three games to two and dominating in the blowout wins, but the ’64 club grabbed the final two as the road team to shock the ’46ers.

The Game 1 8-0 rout by the ‘46ers was led by Stan Musial’s three hits and four RBI, while Marty Marion knocked in three. Red Schoendienst scored three runs. Bob Gibson kept the game reasonably close through six, trailing only 3-0. But a five-run seventh that featured a bases clearing three-run double by Marion put the game out of reach.

Curt Simmons pulled the ’64 club even with a nifty four-hitter in Game 2. Simmons’ off-speed stuff and herky-jerky motion had the ’46 hitters in fits. Julian Javier’s sixth inning three-run homer off Harry Brecheen after a walk to Ken Boyer and single by Lou Brock was all the scoring.

The ’46 team then earned their second lopsided win in Game 3, mashing 16 hits, three each by Schoendienst and Musial, with Ray Sadecki on the receiving end of most of the carnage. Musial, Enos Slaughter, and Erv “Four-Sack” Dusak each hit two-run homers, while Murry Dickson went the distance for the ‘46ers.

The back-and-forth series was evened again as Gibson came back and held the ’46 team to six hits and two runs in Game 4. Curt Flood and Dick Groat combined for five hits and scored four of the five runs in the 5-2 victory, with lefty Al Brazle taking the loss for the ’46 nine.

The pattern continued with the ’46 club exploding again in Game 5, hammering seven ’64 pitchers for 11 runs on 11 hits, and drawing nine walks. Howie Pollet was the beneficiary of the support, backed by 19 runs in his two starts. With three more hits, Musial was clubbing the ball at a .579 clip. His buddy Red was at .364. Needing only one win in the final two, the ’46 team looked like they would advance in the tournament.

But the ’64 team was not fazed. The two “Curts” were the story of the Game 6 5-1 win by the ’64s, with Simmons pitching another gem, going the distance, and Flood pounding out three hits including a home run and scoring four of the five runs. Simmons scattered seven hits, with the only run another homer by Dusak.

In a break from the norm for this series, the ’46 team did not generate much offense in Game 7. They took an early lead off Ray Sadecki in the second when Whitey Kurowski doubled and our man “Four Sack” Dusak continued to live up to his nickname, homering yet again for a 2-0 lead. Starter Dickson kept the ‘64s off the board until the fifth when Mike Shannon and Bill White singled, and with two outs and Shannon and White at second and third, Flood singled both home to even the score at 2.

Bob Gibson was summoned from the bullpen after Bob Skinner pinch-hit for Sadecki in the fifth. Gibby kept the ’46 team off the board for four innings, while Tim McCarver and Julian Javier hit solo homers to put the ’64 squad up 4-2 heading to the bottom of the ninth.

Musial started the bottom of the ninth by grounding out Javier-to-White. Enos Slaughter then singled, breaking Gibson’s 11-up-11-down streak, but Gibson struck out Kurowski to put the ‘64s one out from an improbable series victory. Dick Sisler then singled, sending Slaughter to third and putting the potential tying run on base. Marty Marion followed with a shot into the gap in right center that looked like it would tie the game, but Mike Shannon had a terrific jump and cut the ball off, then using his strong arm to keep Sisler at third; Slaughter scored to make it 4-3. With two outs, the tying run was at third and the potential winning run on second.

Manager Johnny Keane, as he was known to do in real life, stuck with Gibson. Keane visited the mound ordering an intentional walk to lefty hitting rookie catcher Joe Garagiola, loading the bases and bringing the pitcher’s spot up. ’46 manager Eddie Dyer called on pinch-hitter Buster Adams, who grounded out Javier-to-White to end the drama, and send the ‘64s into a wild celebration.

The series win moves the 1964 team into the quarterfinals to face the winner of the #5 1943 Cardinals versus #12 2013 Cardinals series.

#5 1943 Cardinals vs #12 2013 Cardinals

In a series featuring two teams that advanced from the Losers Bracket, the 1943 Cardinals improved to 8-0 in the tourney with their second consecutive sweep, this time knocking out the 2013 team. The war-time club proved to have too much pitching, and a balanced attack. Stan Musial homered twice in the series, accumulating nine hits in 16 at-bats and drove in eight.

Game 1 matched right-handers Mort Cooper and Lance Lynn. After the ‘13s left two on without scoring in the top of the first, the ‘43s scored after two batters. Harry Walker greeted Lynn with a triple into the right field corner, and Lou Klein sent him home with a sac-fly. No further scoring occurred in the inning. The modern-era club tied it in the third when Jon Jay singled, and with two outs Carlos Beltran mimicked Walker by tripling. Cooper then got Matt Holliday to ground out, keeping the score 1-1.

The ’43s came right back in the bottom of the third on singles by Walker and Klein, and Musial’s three-run homer. The ‘13s chipped away with single runs in the fourth and fifth, but the ‘43s added two more in the eighth while Cooper finished strongly, retiring the last 11 batters to nail down the win.

Max Lanier and Shelby Miller hooked up in Game 2, a see-saw affair with missed opportunities on both sides. The teams combined for 21 runners stranded, 11 by the ‘43s and 10 by the ‘13s. The 2013 club led 4-3 after six, but it was “That Man” again spoiling the party. Facing Joe Kelly, Klein and Musial hit back-to-back homers to vault the ‘43s in front 5-4.

Lanier was still on the hill for the ‘43s and walked Matt Carpenter to start the ninth. He then struck out Allen Craig, and got Carlos Beltran, 4-for-4 at that point, to fly out to left, sending Johnny Hopp to the warning track. Lanier then walked Matt Holliday, bringing Yadier Molina up with the potential tying and winning runs on base. With Lanier at 150 pitches and tiring, manager Billy Southworth summoned righty “Gunboat” Gumbert in to face Yadi, who grounded to Klein at second for the final out.

The series shifted to the “new” Busch Stadium, Busch III, for Games 3 and 4, with lefty Harry Brecheen going against Adam Wainwright in the third contest. Brecheen was strong early, with only a two-out first inning single by Holliday denting his stats over the first four innings. The ’43 team took an early lead when Walker Cooper led off the second with a home run. They added a second run on a single by Ray Sanders, a wild pitch, and run-scoring single from Marty Marion.

The ’43s made it 3-0 in the fifth when Musial doubled with two-out, none on, and Cooper singled him home. The ’13 club got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with no outs on a walk to David Freese, and singles by Molina and Jon Jay. Pete Kozma hit a run-scoring sacrifice fly. Then, Brecheen bore down, fanning Wainwright and Carpenter to limit the damage. Freese singled home Holliday in the sixth to make it 3-2, but the ‘43s again bounced right back on a double by Brecheen, and two out single by Musial.

Allen Craig homered in the eighth making it 4-3, and that is how the game ended.

The ‘43s wrapped up their eighth consecutive win with a 7-1 win in the series finale. The ‘43s amassed 13 hits off three ’13 hurlers, starter Jake Westbrook and relievers Randy Choate and Edward Mujica. Gumbert started for the ‘43s, with Al Brazle the winner in relief, and Murry Dickson finishing up the final three innings for the save. Sanders had three hits and Musial and Whitey Kurowski homered to pace the ’43 attack.

With another series’ win, the 1943 team moves on to the quarterfinals to face the 1964 club.

#6 1922 St. Louis Browns vs #11 1985 St. Louis Cardinals

This is an interesting series with two teams from different eras, both probably better than their seeds in this tournament. Using run differential, the Browns are the third best team in the tourney and the Cardinals eighth. The Browns’ winning percentage dropped them a couple of slots, and they were penalized one notch due to not winning the pennant. The ’85 Cardinals were knocked down a couple of places due to their World Series defeat. Thank you, Don Denkinger.

The series looked like it would be a cake walk as the Browns took the first three, winning Games 1 and 3 by a run, 5-4 and 3-2, sandwiched around a 16-4 blowout victory in Game 2.

Brownie ace Urban Shocker was staked to a 5-1 lead in the series opener and held on as the Cardinals picked up three runs late but could not get the tying run home. Andy Van Slyke struck out with two on and two out in the ninth to end it. Danny Cox was tagged with the loss.

The Browns had 17 hits in the Game 2 runaway, as Eddie Foster, Ken Williams, Hank Severeid, and Wally Gerber each had three hits. George Sisler had an unusual batting line of 4-3-0-0. He walked once, had no hits, yet scored three runs.

Jack Tobin and Ken Williams got the Browns off to a quick start in Game 3 with a single (Tobin) and home run (Williams) off Joaquin Andujar in the top of the first. Pitcher Dixie Davis held the National Leaguers scoreless through four, then helped himself by leading off the fifth with a double, moved to third on a single by Tobin, then scored on a double play ground out by Foster.

The Cardinals countered in similar fashion when Andujar singled to open the bottom of the fifth, while Vince Coleman and Willie McGee followed suit to load the bases. A Tommy Herr 4-6-3 double play scored Andujar, and Jack Clark struck out. The game remained 3-1 into the ninth, when the Cardinals again made it close, but came up short. With lefty Hub Pruett on the mound, Ozzie Smith doubled with one out and scored on pinch-hitter Cesar Cedeno’s single. But Pruett nailed down the win, getting Coleman to ground out and retiring McGee on strikes.

With their backs to the wall, the ’85 Cardinals did not fold, coming back to win Games 4 and 5 to make it a series. Despite the Browns taking an early 3-0 on John Tudor and the Cardinals in Game 4, the lefty kept the Brownies off the scoreboard the rest of the way, with ninth inning help from Todd Worrell, while the offense generated six runs. Coleman had three hits and scored twice, and Tudor pitched in with a two-run single. Ray Kolp took the loss.

Game 5 was a 2-1 win in 12 innings when Terry Pendleton singled home Cesar Cedeno to walk it off. It was Pendleton’s fourth hit of the game. Cox and relievers Bill Campbell, Ken Dayley, Ricky Horton, Jeff Lahti and Kurt Kepshire held the Browns to eight hits, with Brownie lefty Dave Danforth the loser in relief.

The Browns closed out the series behind Shocker’s three-hitter in the 3-1 finale. Jack Tobin had three hits including a home run and batted .448 for the series. Baby Doll Jacobson also homered for the AL club. For the series, Williams hit .429 with three homers and catcher Hank Severeid .391. The Brownies move to the quarter-final with a date to meet the winner of the 3/14 series 1931 Cardinals/1982 Cardinals.

#3 1931 St. Louis Cardinals vs #14 1982 St. Louis Cardinals

The 1931 team is considered one of the strongest clubs in Cardinal history. A .656 winning percentage and +201 run differential are top four in team history. This club topped off a great season with an upset World Series win over Connie Mack’s powerhouse Philadelphia Athletics, who were looking for their third straight championship. Pepper Martin “ran wild” and the hustling Redbirds won it in seven games. Mack never had another pennant winner, selling off his stars during the depression to keep the lights on.

The ’31 club started off this venture looking like the team that was expected to battle for the tournament crown with a pedestrian 5-2 win in the opener. Wild Bill Hallahan struck out nine ’82 Cardinals, besting Joaquin Andujar.

Despite the 1931 team’s impressive resume and the relatively easy Game 1 win, nobody told Whitey Herzog and his 1982 Cardinals that they need not show up for the remainder of the series. The latter-day club shocked the depression era nine by winning four straight by scores of 3-1, 6-3, 10-6 and 3-0.

The ’82 team got off to a quick start in Game 2 by sending eight men to the plate in the top of the first off Burleigh Grimes and plating two runs. That was all Bob Forsch needed, pitching eight strong innings and holding the ‘31s to a single run before Bruce Sutter secured the win with a scoreless ninth.

Game 3 was tied 2-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth with Steve Mura holding down the depression nine. Paul Derringer was mostly surviving for the ‘31 club, giving up only two runs but walking nine in 6 2/3 innings. He also struck out 10, and with 152 pitches under his belt, manager Gabby Street took out the tiring right-hander for Syl Johnson in the seventh.

Pinch-hitter Gene Tenace started the eighth against Johnson by flying out, but then Lonnie Smith singled, stole second, and scored on Tommy Herr’s single. Keith Hernandez followed with a base hit, and “Silent” George Hendrick tripled both home. Willie McGee tacked on another single to put the ‘82s up 6-2. A single run in the ninth by the ‘31s finished the scoring and put the ‘82s up two games to one.

Game 4 appeared to get the series even. Hallahan and reliever Flint Rhem had a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh, when things unraveled. The ‘82s exploded with a four-run inning, then tacked on three more in the eighth to walk away with a 10-6 win. Darrell Porter hammered a three-run homer, while Dane Iorg drove in two and Ken Oberkfell had three hits. Starter John Stuper was gone before the offensive outburst took place, with Doug Bair getting credit for the win.

The ’82s shocked the forecasters by wrapping up the series in Game 5, as Andujar came back to toss 8 1/3 innings of shutout ball on only four hits. Sutter picked up the final two outs for his second save of the series. Hernandez, Porter, and Ozzie Smith each drove in runs, tagging Jesse Haines with the loss.

The 1982 Cardinals move to the quarterfinals to meet up with the heavy-hitting 1922 Browns.

#7 2004 St. Louis Cardinals vs #10 1926 St. Louis Cardinals

The series with the widest gap in years pitted the first Cardinal championship team against the best 21^st Century Cardinal club. The 2004 team could have made the case as the best Cardinal team ever if not for their epic collapse in the World Series. 1926 was a study in contrast; the Cardinals seemingly outmanned by their World Series opponent defeated the powerful Yankees in seven games. By the numbers the 1926 group looked over-matched here, but the “experts” said that in ’26 as well.

The Roaring Twenties club started strongly, hitting ’04 starter Chris Carpenter early. With two out, none-on in the top of the first, player-manager Rogers Hornsby showed how it’s done by doubling. Jim Bottomley then single home “The Rajah”. Les Bell and Ray Blades followed with singles, then catcher Bob O’Farrell doubled home Bottomley and Bell to give stater Flint Rhem a 3-0 lead before he took the mound. The ’26 team tacked on a run in the third on another O’Farrell run-scoring double, and Rhem held on for a 4-3 win.

The ’26ers’ momentum continued with a 6-4 Game 2 win behind lefty Bill Sherdel. Blades homered and drove in two and shortstop Tommy Thevenow doubled home two.  Matt Morris took the loss for the ‘04s. Moving to Sportsman’s Park for Game 3, the 21^st Century club showed their might, exploding for 14 hits and 10 runs to overwhelm Hornsby’s crew, 10-4. Larry Walker, Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds homered, with Pujols driving in three and Edmonds two. Pete Alexander and four relievers were pushed around by the ‘04s.

Game 4 was one of the highlights of the entire round. After the Game 3 barrage by the 2004 team, Hall of Famer Jesse Haines turned in the highlight pitching performance of the tournament. Haines was nearly perfect, facing only 29 hitters while pitching a no-hitter! A second inning walk to Edmonds and a fourth inning error by Bell were the only marks against him. His mates made it comfortable by putting seven runs on the board with Taylor Douthit, Blades, and Bell each getting two hits, and shortstop Thevenow three. Woody Williams took the loss.

On the verge of elimination, down three games to one, not to mention getting no-hit, the 2004 club looked to be all but dead. Tony La Russa came back with Carpenter in Game 5, while Hornsby went with 20-game winner Rhem. The big latter-day right-hander was sharp, giving up only five hits and no walks through seven innings. The offense recovered from the no-hit game to knock out 13 hits against Flint Rhem, three each by Edmonds and John Mabry, cruising to a 6-2 win.

The sixth contest was a wild one featuring 28 hits and 16 runs. Bill Sherdel came back to start for the Hornsbys, with La Russa calling on Jeff Suppan for his first start of the series. Both clubs struck early. The ‘26ers scored two in the top of first on a walk to Blades, a two-out Jim Bottomley double, and Les Bell single. The ’04 squad came right back to take the lead with three of their own. After Edgar Renteria struck out, So Taguchi singled, Pujols doubled, and Edmonds brought them home with a long home run into the upper deck in right field.

After a scoreless second, the ’26 nine reclaimed the lead in the top of third, sending eight men to the dish and plating three tallies. The inning started quietly with Suppan retiring Douthit and Blades. But Hornsby and Bottomley drew walks, and Les Bell took a page from Edmonds’ book and drove a three-run homer into the bleachers in left.

Again the ’04 club responded, and again with two outs. Pujols started the bottom half with a single, after which Edmonds and Scott Rolen both flew out. Reggie Sanders kept the inning alive with a base hit, and Tony Womack walked loading the sacks. Mike Matheny then cleared the bases with a double to right-center. La Russa called on Roger Cedeno to hit for Suppan, and he drilled a single to plate Matheny. After three innings, it was 7-5 ‘04s.

Things quieted over the fourth and fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, the ‘04s tacked on another run. Syl Johnson was now on the hill for the ’26 club, retiring the first two before Pujols reached him for a base knock. Edmonds then doubled down the first base line with Pujols running on the pitch and Albert legged it home.

The Roaring ‘26ers were not done, coming back to make it 8-7 with two in the seventh. Facing Julian Tavarez, Hornsby tripled leading off, and Bottomley sent him home on a ground out to Pujols. Bell then grounded out 6-3, before Billy Southworth hit the second triple of the inning. Bob O’Farrell knocked in Southworth with a single, sending Tavarez to the showers. Kiko Calero came on to retire Thevenow, ending the inning.

Ray King and Jason Isringhausen held the ’26 club in check in the eighth and ninth, while the ’04 team tacked on a run to make it a 9-7 final, tying the series at three apiece. The stage was set for Game 7 with Pete Alexander facing Matt Morris for the right to move on to the quarter finals.

This time the pitchers were in control with both hurlers sharp. Alex retired the first six ‘04s before yielding two in the third on a lead off single by Renteria and a Matheny double sending him home. Morris bunted Matheny to third, and Tony Womack knocked him in him. An Edmonds homer leading off the fourth made it 3-0.

The ’26 club got two back in the sixth when Bottomley walked to start the frame, and Blades singled an out later. After an O’Farrell ground out, Thevenow singled in Bottomley. With Old Pete due up, Hornsby stuck with him and Pete came through with a run-scoring hit to make it 3-2.

La Russa’s bullpen prevented further scoring though, with Calero and Isringhausen retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth, giving the 2004 club a comeback series win after being down three games to one. Had they climbed off the deck like this in ’04, maybe we would have had another championship banner. In this event, they will face the winner of the 1944 versus 2011 Cardinals series.

#2 1944 St. Louis Cardinals vs #15 2011 St. Louis Cardinals

The final series in the opening round of 16 featured the third straight Cardinal pennant winner of the early ’40s. The 1944 squad won 105 games (in a 154-game season), and had a run differential of +282. Their opponent is a 2011 team that got hot late and kept that momentum going into the post season. Their regular season was not all that impressive, with a .556 winning percentage and only a +80 run differential; hence the low seed of 15.

Once again, early 21^st Century ace Chris Carpenter opened the series for the 2011 ballclub, and World War II era ace Mort Cooper toed the slab for the ’44 club. Neither starter was around for the finish, as it took 11 innings to decide the outcome. “11” is the lucky number as the 2011 bunch prevailed when of all people, Nick Punto, slammed a pinch-hit homer off ’44 reliever Blix Donnelly in the top of the 11^th to break a 4-4 tie, and Kyle McClellan preserved the win with a scoreless bottom half. Matt Holliday also homered among his three hits and drove in three.

The heavily favored ’44 group evened the series, taking game two 4-2 behind a complete game from Max Lanier. Lanier scattered eight hits and struck out four without giving a free pass, and Walker Cooper slammed a two-run homer for the ‘44s. Jaime Garcia took the loss for the modern era club.

The ’44 club turned on the jets after that, winning the final three games by scores of 8-2, 16-2, and 6-0. The 16-2 shellacking in Game 6 was headlined by Stan Musial and Ray Sanders each three hits and four RBI. Sanders, Whitey Kurowski and Johnny Hopp each homered, while Musial tripled twice. Musial then went 4-for-4 in Game 5 to put his mark at .600 for the series. Meanwhile his modern era counterpart Albert Pujols hit only .227. The ’44 club will hook horns with the team from 60 years later in what could be an epic series full of fireworks and drama.

What is next

We are down to eight teams with the quarter-final field set to play out as follows:

#1 1942 Cardinals vs #9 1934 Cardinals

Will Me & Paul turn Stan & Enos dizzy?

#5 1943 Cardinals vs #13 1964 Cardinals

Another ‘64 upset bid, or will the ‘43s prevail for Billy the Kid?

#6 1922 Browns vs #14 1982 Cardinals

Brownie brown or Redbird red, who will go for the crown and who will be dead?

#2 1944 Cardinals vs #7 2004 Cardinals

Southworth & La Russa go for a shot at the big Palooza.

 Stop by The Cardinal Nation’s free forum and join the special discussion on this tournament or any of the many other active threads about St. Louis Cardinals baseball!

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photo: 2006 World Champions (St. Louis Cardinals)

Setting up the 16 teams to face off in the final rounds of our Best of St. Louis sim tournament, this article focuses on the 11 World Champion Cardinals teams.

Note: The other five teams of the 16 were detailed in the previous article of this series.

Best of St. Louis Sim Tourney – Losers Bracket Series

#1 seed, 1942 Cardinals (.688 winning percentage, +275 run differential)

No Cardinal team has ever won as many regular season games as the 1942 club’s 106. But for much of the season it did not look like they would even win the National League pennant, much less be considered the greatest of all Cardinals’ ball clubs.

Stepping back a bit, the Cardinals looked like they were the dominant National League club during the Great Depression years. Capturing their third championship in 1934, player-manager Frank Frisch had a nucleus that included Joe Mediwck, Dizzy Dean, Paul Dean, Ripper Collins and Bill DeLancey. The future looked bright, but injuries cut short three of these players. The promising careers of both Deans and DeLancey were cut short before what would have been their prime seasons. Branch Rickey was especially high on DeLancey, calling him one of the three best catchers he had seen.

By the end of the decade, Rickey replaced Frisch as manager with former outfielder Ray Blades. After winning 92 games in 1939, the 1940 club started poorly at 14-24. Owner Sam Breadon side-stepped Rickey and brought in Billy Southworth as manager. Billy the Kid had been a star for the 1926 Cardinals champions, and a coach with the Giants until a scuffle with Bill Terry in 1933 ended his tenure in New York. Rickey brought him back to the Cardinal organization in 1935 to manage in the minor league system, from where Breadon summed him to replace Blades. Under Southworth, the Cardinals went 69-40 in 1940 and won 97 games in 1941.

While playing good ball in 1942, a day off on August 15^th and a come-from-behind 5-4 win by defending National League champion Brooklyn gave Leo Durocher’s Dodgers a comfortable 9 ½ game lead over the second place Cardinals. In addition, the Redbirds had already played 16 of the 22 scheduled games between the two rivals, leaving only six head-to-head matchups remaining to try to gain ground.

The first of these was a four-game series in St. Louis August 24-27. The Cardinals had climbed two games closer by the start of the series. The Redbirds won the first three, two in extra innings, including a complete-game 14-inning effort by ace Mort Cooper in the 2-1 second game victory. Brooklyn took the final contest, leaving town 5 ½ in front.

However, the momentum was with St. Louis. The Cardinals put on an incredible closing push, going an unheard of 26-4 the rest of the way and edging the Dodgers by two lengths. Going back to August 11, they were 40-7, an .851 pace to close out the season. The Dodgers over that same stretch were 12 games over .500 at 29-17 yet could not hold off the hard charging Cardinals.

When the dust settled, St. Louis led the league in runs scored and fewest runs allowed. Their .268 team batting average was best in the NL, as was their .717 OPS. Likewise, the pitching was tops, with a league leading 2.55 team ERA and 18 shutouts. The club was young, fast, and talented. Center fielder Terry Moore was the senior citizen at 30. Pitching ace Mort Cooper went 22-7, including a league leading 10 shutouts. Freshman sensation Johnny Beazley was 21-6 with sparking 2.13 ERA, second on the club to Cooper’s 1.78. Another freshman, Stan Musial, who had a 12 game “cup of coffee” the year before, hitting .426 in 47 at bats, showed he was the real deal, hitting .315 along with an .887 OPS.  Enos Slaughter checked in at .318 with a .906 OPS.

Despite the late season success and 106 wins, the Cardinals were decided underdogs to the Yankees in the World Series. The Bombers won 103 in the American League and had not lost a World Series since Rogers Hornsby tagged out Babe Ruth on a steal attempt to give the Redbirds their first World Championship in 1926. Since then, the Yankees won eight championships. They also totally dominated the National League teams, going 32-4 in World Series play between 1926 and 1942.

It looked like more of the same in ’42, with the Bombers racing out to a 7-0 lead in Game 1. The Cardinals rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth to make the score more respectful. Some observers including Dizzy Dean, then a radio broadcaster, felt the rally was more than a moral victory, and would inspire confidence in the Cardinal ball club. That was the case as they went on to sweep the next four, being the only team beat the Yankees twice in the World Series from 1926 until the Dodgers bested them in 1955 and again in 1963.

Generally considered the greatest of all Cardinal teams, this team should go deep into the tourney.

#2 1944 Cardinals (.688 winning percentage, +282 run differential)

Relative to the league, this team was more dominant than the 1942 Champions. They cruised to the National League pennant by 14 ½ games over second place Pittsburgh. At the end of August, they were an incredible 61 games over .500, leading the Pirates by 18 ½ lengths. Their final mark of 105-49 fell one game shy of the ’42 team.

Stan Musial hit .347 including 51 doubles and had a 9.0 WAR. Johnny Hopp hit .334 with an OBP of .404. Mort Cooper duplicated his 1942 record of 22-7, while Max Lanier and Ted Wilks won 17 each. Left-hander Harry Brecheen went 16-5 in his sophomore season to give the Redbirds a talented four-man rotation.

A six-game win in the “Streetcar” series against the Browns capped the greatest three-year run of success in Cardinal history.

#3 1931 St. Louis Cardinals (.656 winning percentage, +201 run differential)

A strong case can be made that this club was better than any Cardinal team in history excepting the 1942 bunch. They were likely better than the ’44 team, considering the wartime club played in a somewhat watered-down era with World War II consuming many of the best players of the era. I seeded them third due to the ’44 team’s better winning percentage and run differential.

The 1931 team finished 13 games ahead of second place New York, second in the league in batting (to the Cubs) and pitching (to the Giants). This team was balanced, with good veterans and rookies who made an impact. Gabby Street, the former Senators’ catcher who once caught a ball dropped from the Washington monument, managed the Cardinals after Sam Breadon’s effort to bring 1928 manager Bill McKechnie back were rebuffed when McKechnie signed a five-year agreement to manage the Boston Braves. The notoriously cheap Cardinals were able to get Street for $7500.

The roster was dotted with Hall of Famers, including batting champion Chick Hafey (.349), MVP Frank Frisch, first baseman “Sunny Jim” Bottomley (.348 – a fraction lower than Hafey), and pitcher Burleigh Grimes. Rookies Pepper Martin (.300) and Paul Derrigner (18-8) made an immediate impact.

A repeat of the 1930 World Series pitted the Cardinals and Connie Mack’s heavily favored Athletics. The A’s had a roster of Hall of Famers themselves, winning their third consecutive American League title and going for their third Series win as well. Among stars were catcher Mickey Cochrane, first baseman Jimmie Foxx, outfielder Al Simmons and pitcher Lefty Grove, who went 31-4 that year. But the Cardinals upset the Mackmen with Martin “running wild” in the first five games stealing five bases and collecting 12 hits including four doubles and a home run.

#4 1946 Cardinals (.628 winning percentage, +167 run differential)

With the fourth Cardinal pennant winner in five seasons, the good times returned as the roster was full strength with players returning after military service. This was another Cardinal team that won the World Series despite being underdogs. Most of the early pennant winners were not considered the favorites in the Fall Classic, yet won anyway. (1926, 1931, and 1942 were all thought to be over-matched by their American League champions).

Like Bill McKecknie earlier, Billy Southworth left the Cardinals after the 1945 season, receiving a better offer from Lou Perini of the Braves. Owner Sam Breadon chose long-time organization manager Eddie Dyer to lead the club in ’46.

The Cardinals again topped the National League in hitting (.265) and pitching (3.01 ERA). Stan Musial returned with a bang. Adding first base to his defensive portfolio, “The Man” hit .365 with 86 extra base hits, good for a 1.021 OPS and 9.3 WAR. He won the first of his three MVP awards. Also back was Enos Slaughter, who drove in 130 runs with a .300 average and 4.8 WAR. Third baseman and recent Cardinal Hall of Fame inductee Whitey Kurowski chipped in with a 5.0 WAR, .301 average and 89 RBI.

A second-year utility player named Albert “Red” Schoendienst settled in at second base, and after Breadon sold unhappy catcher Walker Cooper to the Giants for $175,000, a local 20-year-old youngster with a lot of promise was given the chance to play. As it turned out the quick-witted Joe Garagiola was better behind a microphone than behind home plate but shined in the World Series, hitting .316 in five games.

Pitching was led by left handers Howie Pollet (21-10, 2.10) and hard luck Harry Brecheen (15-15 despite a 2.49 ERA). The Cardinals might have been even better had Max Lanier not taken Jorge Pasquel’s money and bolted to the Mexican League. Lanier had a 6-0 record and 1.93 ERA at the time of his departure. Things could have been worse though, as reportedly Pasquel tempted Musial, then earning $13,500 with the Cardinals, with a five-year contract worth $125,000. Terry Moore and Enos Slaughter were also wooed by Pasquel but also turned down offers.

As so many Cardinal teams have done, this club charged late to the pennant. Seven games out in August, the Cardinals forced a first-place tie with Brooklyn, leading to the first-ever pennant playoff. The Cardinals won the first two in the best of three series to earn the right to face the favored Red Sox in the World Series.

Dyer used what became commonplace some 70 years later, a shift against Ted Williams in which third baseman Kurowski was the only infielder on the left side of second base. It worked as Williams had only five hits in the series, all singles. The hard-luck Brecheen won two games and saved the finale, as Enos Slaugher’s legendary “mad dash” brought the Cardinals their sixth championship.

#5 1943 Cardinals (.682, winning percentage, +204 run differential)

The number one seed in the losers bracket, this team advanced by sweeping Whitey Herzog’s 1987 club. They would have been seeded as high as third had they won the World Series but are penalized a couple of slots in the tourney. Still an excellent regular season ball club that could give fits to some more well-known champions.

#6 1922 Browns (.604 winning percentage, +223 run differential)

Easily the greatest Brownie team of all-time, and one of the best clubs in St. Louis history. I gave these guys a first round bye despite not winning the pennant, rounding out the field to 12 teams receiving byes. Manager Lee Fohl’s team had everything in 1922 except luck. They led the majors in run differential, hitting, and team ERA. Potent offense and quality pitching make this team a force, and I expect they will go far in the tournament.

#7 2004 Cardinals (.648, winning percentage, +196 run differential)

Similar to the 1943 Cardinals and 1922 Browns, this team was better than some higher seeded teams. They advanced to the field of 16 by sweeping the 1930 club in the Loser’s Bracket. Walt Jocketty built a powerhouse ball club that put it all together in 2004. But something happened when they reached for the prize, suddenly looking dis-jointed and tired they were swept out of the World Series by Red Sox. With a clean slate and talented roster, they will be a tough foe for anyone facing them in the tournament.

#8 1967 Cardinals (.627 winning percentage, +138 run differential)

After the late surge to the pennant three years earlier and knocking off the Yankees in the World Series, the mostly veteran Cardinals slipped to mediocrity in 1965 and 1966. Predicted to repeat their sixth-place finish of ’66, the Cardinals started quickly in ’67 winning their first six games. Never falling more than 4 ½ games off the pace, they took the league lead on June 19^th and maintained it the rest of the way, finishing 10 ½ games ahead of second place San Francisco.

A spirited group, this is another Cardinal club that was balanced with veterans in their prime, and young, talented players. Dubbed “El Birdos” by MVP Orlando Cepeda, the Cardinals had the best pitching in the league and finished seven runs behind the Cubs for the best offense. In July, ace starter Bob Gibson was injured by a smash off the bat of Roberto Clemente, breaking his ankle. He was out two months, and yet the Cardinals increased their lead by six games over that stretch. Second-year right-hander Nelson Briles stepped into the rotation and went 8-2 during Gibby’s absence.

Rookie Steve Carlton won 14 games with a 2.98 ERA, matching Gibson. Gibby won 13 in 24 starts. Another rookie, at 29 years old, Dick Hughes was the big winner with a 16-6 record and 2.67 ERA.

Cepeda, the former Giants slugger acquired the year before for Ray Sadecki, hit .325 and drove home 111, while Lou Brock, and Tim McCarver joined him on the All-Star Team with big years. Curt Flood hit .335, but a sore throwing arm kept him out of the lineup for 30 games. Julian Javier added an offensive force hitting .281 with 14 homers, while Mike Shannon successfully moved from right field to third base opening a slot for newly acquired Roger Maris. Maris was not the power hitter of his Yankee years, but drove in 61 runs in 125 games, many of them clutch.

Red Schoendienst was the perfect leader for this team, using a “let them play” approach and inspiring leadership. A seven game World Series win over the “Impossible Dream” Red Sox completed a magical year. This club will match-up with a team much like them from a previous generation, the 1934 champs.

#9 1934 Cardinals (.621 winning percentage, +143 run differential)

The “Gas House Gang” was in their finest hour – another spirited group with a colorful cast of characters that exemplified the phrase “truth is stranger than fiction.” It would be hard to make up the kind of personalities that this team possessed – the “Wild Horse of the Osage” Pepper Martin, outspoken and incredibly talented pitcher Dizzy Dean, loud-mouthed and brash Leo Durocher, sluggers Joe Medwick and “Ripper” Jim Collins, young catcher Bill DeLancey, and Dizzy’s brother Paul. Not to mention the old Flash himself, Frank Frisch as player-manager.

In late August, Diz led his brother into a revolt stemming from Dizzy’s complaint at the notoriously cheap management about Paul’s $3,000 salary. The Dean’s skipped a charity game, were fined, then suspended when Diz tore up a uniform. Asked by the press to tear up another one for a photo op, Diz obliged.

As is custom with Cardinal teams, the ’34 club trailed reigning World Champion New York by seven games on Labor Day. But the Deans tantrum seemed to pull the club together. Frisch held a clubhouse meeting saying, “Nobody is bigger than the game”, and the Gang rallied winning eight of nine. After Commissioner Landis intervened and the Deans were reinstated, the Cardinals were rolling. Meanwhile the Giants struggled yet maintained a 5 ½ game lead with 14 to play. On September 21^st the Cardinals won a make-up double-header from Brooklyn when Diz pitched a three-hit shutout in the opener, followed by Paul throwing a no-hitter in the second game. The Dodgers did the Cardinals another favor, taking two from the Giants at the end of the season as Brooklyn fans taunted Giant manager Bill Terry for his off-season comment about the Dodgers asking, “Are they still in the league?”

The World Series against Detroit was a wild seven game affair, with the Deans each winning two games to bring the Cardinals their third title.

#10 1926 Cardinals (.578 winning percentage, +139 run differential).

The first Cardinal pennant winner and World Champion, we are approaching the 100^th anniversary of the team that started it all in terms of great modern era Cardinal ball clubs. Hall-of-Famer Rogers Hornsby had taken over as manager from Branch Rickey midway through the 1925 season and revamped the starting rotation, getting instant results. The Cardinals were 13-25 under Brach Rickey in 1925 when owner Sam Breadon moved Rickey upstairs full time and made Hornsby manager. The Rajah had troubles managing later in his career but was very successful with the Cardinals. The ’25 team responded to go 64-51 under Rog and combined with the 1926 record he had a .569 winning percentage as Cardinal manager. This tops such revered pilots as Whitey Herzog, Red Schoendienst and Tony La Russa. Those three managed a lot longer of course, but Hornsby’s record as Cardinal manager combined with his incredible playing career put him in the top five all-time Cardinals, and a special place in club history as the leader of the first World Champion.

The ’26 team was not laden with great individual seasons from their stars but received solid contributions from more journeyman-type players. Hornsby hit only .317, this after a five-year stretch of averaging over .400. He still produced a 4.4 WAR. Third baseman Les Bell, possibly benefiting more than any other player from Hornsby’s influence, led the offense with a 4.6 WAR and .325 average including 64 extra base hits and 100 RBI. Jim Bottomley led the league with 120 RBIs. Cather Bob O’Farrell won the MVP, hitting .293 and played 147 games while providing leadership and inspiration. Center fielder Taylor Douthit hit .308 with a .375 on base percentage in his first full year providing stability at the leadoff spot.

The top hurler was Flint Rhem, a 20-game winner who had a reputation to celebrate by bending his elbow as much as teammate Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander. Pete, along with outfielder and future outstanding manager Billy Southworth were mid-season acquisitions, without whom the team probably would not have captured the pennant. Although Alexander was only 9-7 as a Cardinal, his 2.91 ERA topped the club, and his 134 ERA+ reflects his value was not shown in the W-L record. Southworth hit .317 and added 3.2 WAR in only 99 games as a Cardinal.

The World Series was legendary, with the Cardinals edging the heavily favored Yankees in seven games. Game 7 is still talked about today, featuring Alexander coming into a based loaded situation in the seventh inning with the Cardinals holding a 3-2 lead. Facing Tony Lazzeri, the Yankee second baseman squared up a pitch that would have cleared the bases, but he was out in front a bit too much and pulled it foul. Pete then struck him out and retired the next five Yankees before walking Ruth with two out in the ninth. The Babe thought he would catch the Cardinals napping and attempted to steal second. O’Farrell put the throw on the bag to Hornsby, who tagged out Ruth ending the Series. The Rajah called that the greatest moment of his career.

#11 1985 Cardinals (.623 winning percentage, +175 run differential)

1985 is another team that lost the World Series but is probably better than some of the higher ranked teams in the tournament. The much discussed “play”, when umpire Don Denkinger blew the call on what should have been the first out of the ninth inning in a game the Cardinals could have won the World Series lives in infamy among the Redbird faithful. This team advanced from the Loser’s Bracket by knocking off the 1968 club in a tight seven-game series. Speed and defense defined the 1980’s Cardinals, and this team used it to perfection leading the league in runs scored and finishing second in runs given up.

#12 2013 Cardinals (.599 winning percentage, +187 run differential)

Second-year manager Mike Matheny took this team to a pennant, the fourth in 12 seasons and as of 2025 the last one in Redbird history. Another club that led the league in runs scored, the Cardinals were balanced offensively and had just enough pitching to knock off the Pirates in the Division Series, then the Dodgers in the NLCS. Once again, the Red Sox had the better of the Cardinals, winning the World Series in six games and evening the record of the two teams in Fall Classic play at two apiece. The ’13 team advanced from the Loser’s Bracket by defeating the 1928 squad in six games.

#13 1964 Cardinals (.574 winning percentage, +63 run differential)

The epitome among Cardinal teams of the classic Yogi Berra phrase, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over”, this club spent most of the ’64 season as under-achievers. After a second-place finish in 1963, the Cardinals were expected to contend for the pennant but stumbled to a 40-41 record at the halfway point. Things were so bad that in August owner Gussie Busch fired general manager Bing Devine, and all but assured Leo Durocher would take the managerial reigns in 1965, replacing Johnny Keane.

The Redbirds play improved in August with call-ups Barney Schultz and Mike Shannon stabilizing the bullpen and outfield. June acquisition Lou Brock became a sensation, hitting, stealing bases and playing a good leftfield, while Bill White shook off a half-season slump and was hitting and driving in runs like the White of old. With St. Louis still trailing Philadelphia by 6 ½ games with 12 to go, the pennant race appeared settled. But suddenly the high-flying Phillies could not win, and the Cardinals could not lose. The “Phillie Phlop” included 10 straight losses, while the Cardinals won eight in a row. Coming into the final weekend, the Cardinals had a series with the last place Mets while the two other contenders, Cincinnati and the Phillies, played each other.

But those pesky Mets won the first two games, while the Phillies shook off their slump and split the first two in Cincinnati. Heading into Sunday, the final day of the season, a Cardinal loss and Phillie win would result in a three-way tie for the pennant. And for a few innings it looked like that would be the case, with the Mets taking an early lead and the Phillies pounding the Reds. But the Cardinals bats awakened as they ran away to an 11-5 win, clinching the pennant by a game over Cincinnati and Philadelphia.

Ken Boyer was named the MVP with his league leading 119 RBIs and steady field leadership. White had just 32 RBIs at the All-Star break but ended with 102. Curt Flood led the league with 211 hits, while Brock, a .251 hitter at the time of his acquisition from the Cubs on June 15^th, belted the ball at a .348 clip wearing the Birds-on-the-Bat. Mike Shannon added nine homers, all in the second half. Dick Groat and Julian Javier were solid up the middle, with Groat hitting .292.

Schultz was a life saver for the last two months, his knuckleball saving 14 games to the tune of a 1.64 ERA. Bob Gibson emerged as the staff ace with 19 wins and the lowest ERA among the starters at 3.01. Gibby matched Boyer atop the team’s WAR leadership with 6.1. Ray Sadecki, a promising lefthander from Kansas City, finally lived up to the hype, winning 20 games, while veteran Curt Simmons added 18. Pitching was also aided by a couple of unknowns, lefty Gordy Richardson and righty Bob Humphries. Richardson started six games and relieved in 13 others, sporting a 4-2 record and 2.30 ERA. Humphries appeared in eight games, all in relief, going 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA.

The World Series was the club’s fifth against the Yankees, the teams splitting the first four. The Cardinals won in 1926 and 1942, and the Yankees prevailed in 1928 and 1943. The fifth consecutive pennant for the Bronx Bombers was the end of their dynasty. Legendary sluggers Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were still productive, as was Whitey Ford. But age and attrition had taken their toll on the Bombers, and the Cardinals went on to win two more pennants before the Yankees reached the Fall Classic again.

Once again, the Cardinals played in a Series that went the full seven games. After splitting the first two, New York won Game 3 and looked as if they were on their way to a three games to one lead, carrying 3-0 lead into the sixth inning of Game 4. But Boyer turned the Series around, clubbing a grand slam that Ron Taylor and Roger Craig made stand up for a 4-3 Series tying win.

Tim McCarver followed up with a 10^th inning three-run homer in Game 5 to secure the win. After dropping the sixth game, the Cardinals jumped on young Mel Stottlemyre, pressed into service on short rest due to an injury to Ford, and sailed to the championship behind Gibson. Gibby tired late, but Johnny Keane stuck with him giving the ultimate praise to the big right-hander when asked why he did not take him out, “I had a commitment to his heart.”

Gibson earned the Series MVP award by pitching three complete games and striking out 31. Second year catcher McCarver hit .478 in the Series. League MVP Boyer, in addition to the big grand slam in Game 4, had three hits including another home run in the Game 7 pressure cooker, and scored three times. The Boyers, Ken and Clete, homered in Game 7 with their parents in the stands.

#14 1982 Cardinals (.568 winning percentage, +76 run differential)

Whitey Herzog was brought in the replace Ken Boyer as Cardinal manager during the 1980 season and then elevated to the dual role of manager and general manager. As GM, Whitey made his mark in a big way, trading all-star catcher Ted Simmons after the season, and bringing in closer Bruce Sutter. At one point Whitey had acquired two future Hall of Fame closers, with Rollie Fingers also added. But Fingers was flipped four days later, sent to the Brewers with Simmons.

The 1981 team had turned things around for the Cardinals, as they compiled the best record in the National League East Division. Due to a player strike at around the 50-game point that resulted in two “half” seasons, MLB had the winning team in each half play a post season series to decide the division champion. The Cardinals finished second in each half and were out of the post season despite the best overall record.

Herzog made more moves after 1981, bringing in “good hit, poor field” speedster Lonnie Smith, and trading talented but temperamental shortstop Garry Templeton to San Diego for “great field – no hit” shortstop Ozzie Smith, with others involved going both ways.

The addition of the Smiths solidified the lineup, and the Cardinals put all doubt aside as to the best team in the National League, winning the Eastern Division by three games over Philadelphia, and sweeping West Division Atlanta in the NLCS.

Lonnie Smith led the league in runs scored with 120, and the team in WAR at 6.2. The infield defense was spectacular with Smith and Tommy Herr at short and second, and all-world first baseman Keith Hernandez. The call-up of Willie McGee in May, joining Lonnie Smith and George Hendrick in the outfield, gave the ‘Birds one of the best outer gardens in the league. Rookie McGee hit .296 in 123 games. Hendrick was the home run leader at 19 and led in RBIs as well with 104.

The always entertaining Joaquin Andujar topped the starting rotation, winning 15 games and accumulating 5.5 WAR. Veteran Bob Forsch also notched 15 victories, and Bruce Sutter’s split-finger pitch produced a league leading 36 saves. Set-up man Doug Bair added eight saves and was consistent at keeping games in check for Sutter. 43-year-old Jim Kaat even saved a couple of contests.

An entertaining seven-game World Series against old friend Simmons and the Milwaukee Brewers ended with the Cardinals first World Championship in 15 years.

#15 2011 Cardinals (.556 winning percentage, +80 run differential)

2011 marked yet another Cardinal team that looked to be playing out the string late in the season, but a late surge coupled with another club’s demise proved fortuitous. At the end of August, the Cardinals trailed division leading Milwaukee by 8 ½ games, likewise Atlanta held an 8 ½ game advantage for the wild card spot. But a funny thing happened on the way to the playoffs. The Cardinals went 17-8 in September, while the Braves brought back memories of the ’64 Phillies, stumbling down the stretch at 8-18, including a total collapse at the end, losing their last five games. If that was not bad enough, they lost their final three at home to division champion and what turned out to be Cardinal playoff opponent Philadelphia, with game number 162 a 4-3 loss in 13 innings in a game the Braves led going into the ninth 3-2.

The Phillies later may have regretted their season ending sweep, dropping the final two games in the best-of-five division series to the team they helped get to October baseball, the Cardinals. Game 5 was a classic and one of the best pitched games this fan has witnessed, with Chris Carpenter beating pal and former teammate Roy Halladay 1-0.

The Cardinals went on to knock off rival Milwaukee in six games in the NLCS and won it all in a drama-filled seven-game World Series.

This marked the end of the line for the tandem of Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols as Cardinals (other than Albert’s swan song in 2022), but what a way to go out! As usual Albert led the club with a 5.2 WAR, hitting 37 homers and knocking in 99 runs. Free agent signee Lance Berkman added 31 homers and drove in 94. Playing only 124 games, Matt Holldiay made it a bit of a latter day “MV3” with 22 homers, 75 RBIs and a .296 average.

But third baseman David Freese earned the post season glory, hitting .545 with three homers in the NLCS, and .348 in the World Series. A ninth inning game-tying two run triple in Game 6, and 11th inning home run that won the game is still one of the greatest individual achievements in the long history of Cardinal baseball. Freese’s post season heroics earned him the MVP of both the NLCS and World Series.

Carpenter was the bellwether of the pitching staff, throwing 237 innings and adding 3.5 WAR despite a mediocre looking 11-9 record. Kyle Lohse, Jamie Garcia, Jake Westbrook and Kyle McClellan all won in double figures, picking up the slack for injured Adam Wainwright. Fernando Salas saved 24 games, and Jason Motte emerged as a dynamic closer toward the end of the season, saving five post-season games.

Most likely this club will be knocked out early in the tournament as they are not one of the better Cardinal teams to win it all, but they provided arguably the greatest post-season run of any of the 11 World Champions.

#16 2006 Cardinals (.516 winning percentage, +19 run differential)

With the expanded playoff structure in Major League Baseball, mediocre regular season teams have a greater shot at getting into the post-season. As a result, a team that perhaps under-achieved during the prior six months will occasionally put it all together in October. That was the case with this team, and later, to some degree in 2011 as well. The 2006 team had the same core players as the great 105-win 2004 group, but injuries hollowed out the lineup at times. Jim Edmonds missed 52 games, and shortstop David Eckstein 39. Even Albert Pujols lost 19 games of service and Scott Rolen 20.

Notable additions since 2004 included Chris Duncan and Scott Spiezio. Duncan hammered 22 homers in only 280 at bats, checking in with a 140 OPS+. He was an adventure in the outfield though, and too early for the NL designated hitter. Spiezio was a big help in filling in for Rolen, and his 120 OPS+ almost matched Rolen’s 126. Mid-season acquisition Ronnie Belliard at second base anchored the infield.

Pitching was a problem. Chris Carpenter was healthy and good, and Jeff Suppan was as expected. But after that the rotation was in shambles. Jason Marquis pitched 194 innings despite an ERA of 6.02. Mark Mulder was even worse, although held to only 93 innings his ERA was 7.14. Anthony Reyes, a minor league star but likely damaged goods by this time had a 5-8 record and 5.06 ERA.

While the Cardinals stumbled through the regular season, barely holding on to win the weak NL Central Division, everyone was healthy by the post-season, and the team played championship baseball. They knocked off San Diego in the NLDS three games to one and were pushed by the favored Mets in the league championship series to seven games, but prevailed.

The World Series heavily favored the American League champion Detroit Tigers. The Tigers won 95 games and had the best run differential in baseball. At least one media person mocked that the Tigers would win the Series “in three”. But it was the Cardinals who took home the hardware, winning in five games. It was the third time St. Louis and Detroit met in the Fall Classic, with the Cardinals taking a 2-1 edge. This was one of the bigger World Series upsets in modern times.

The 2006 squad will likely be overmatched by the great 1942 St. Louis “Swifties” in the tournament but deserve to give it a go with their World Championship banner hanging in Busch Stadium.

What is next

Looking ahead, in the next installment, we will cover the first round of the 16-team tournament and preview the quarter-final round.

Also, stop by The Cardinal Nation’s free forum and join the special discussion on this tournament or any of the many other active threads about St. Louis Cardinals baseball!

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TCN 2026 St. Louis Cardinals Prospect #21 – Luis Gastelum

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photo: 1943 St. Louis Cardinals

In our simulation game tournament to identify the best St. Louis baseball team of all time, eight exceptional, but non-World Series winning clubs face off, with four advancing to the 16-team playoff.

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Editor’s note: For those just joining, please refer to the introductory article which set the stage for the opening of this multi-part Best of St. Louis sim game tournament.

Best St. Louis Cardinals Team Sim Tournament

With our group of the eight Cardinals’ World Series losers set, let’s get on with the games and see who survives to compete for the “Best of St. Louis” grand tournament. To recap, all series are best-of-seven, with the higher seed receiving home field in Games 1, 2, 6 and 7. The four winners of this bracket will advance and be seeded with the 11 World Champions and 1922 Browns in a 16-team playoff. Here we go with the Losers Bracket series.

#1 seed 1943 Cardinals versus #8 1987 Cardinals
The war era Cardinal teams were powerhouses featuring great pitching and team speed, good defense, and good extra base-hit power but little home run punch. Sportsman’s Park lended itself to that style of play. This series showcased some of that as the 1943 St. Louis “Swifties” swept the latter-day edition of speed, Whitey Herzog’s 1987 bunch.

In Game 1, reigning National League MVP Mort Cooper dominated the 1987 club, holding them to four hits and one run. His catcher and brother Walker Cooper contributed a two-run homer in the opening game 5-1 win. Danny Cox was the loser, surrendering six hits and three runs, all earned, in five innings of work.

Game 2 featured a pair of lefties on the hill, Greg Mathews for the ‘87s and Max Lanier for the ‘43s. The war-time bunch took advantage of Mathews’ poor command early, building a 4-2 lead after four. But the ‘87s hit Lanier hard and looked to get the series tied, coming back from a 5-3 deficit to plate a run in the eighth to make it a one-run game.

Right hander Murry Dickson was pitching for the ‘43s when Whitey Herzog sent lefty hitting Curt Ford to hit for Jim Lindeman to open the top of the ninth. Ford lined a triple down the right field line, and Tony Pena followed with a sac-fly to knot the game at five apiece. Pat Perry hurled a 1-2-3 bottom half, sending the game into extras.

With lefty Al Brazle pitching for the ‘43s, Ozzie Smith got the ‘87s started in the 10^th with a leadoff single, and advanced to second on a hit-and-run ground out by Willie McGee. Electing to pitch to Jack Clark, Brazle got the slugger to ground out, but Terry Pendleton looped a single to right center plating The Wizard and putting the ‘87s three outs from tying the series.

Todd Worrell came on to secure the victory, but his day was short-lived and not in a good way. Marty Marion greeted him with a double, and pitching around Stan Musial, Worrell walked him. Walker Cooper again played the hero’s role, doubling off the wall in right to plate Marion, with Musial sliding in close behind and just ahead of the throw to secure the win.

Switching from Sportsman’s Park downtown to Busch Stadium, Game 3 was a wild affair featuring 18 runs, 31 hits and eight walks. Again, early on, it looked like the ’87s would seize the advantage. After a single tally in the top of the first by the ’43s, the ’87s jumped all over starter Howie Krist and reliever “Gunboat” Gumbert for five runs, giving starter Bob Forsch and early four-run cushion. A second inning single tally and a four-run outburst in the third brought the ’43s’ all the way back and in front 6-5, sending Forsch to an early shower.

The ’87s put single runs on the board in the fifth and sixth innings to regain the lead 7-6, before the Swifties had a five-run outburst of their own to complete the scoring and take a 3-0 series lead in the 11-7 victory. Whitey Kurowski homered and drove in three runs for the ’43s, with Marion contributing three hits and two RBI.

The ’43s completed the sweep with a 6-5, 12-inning win in Game 4. Once again, the ’87s climbed off the deck. Trailing 4-1 heading to the seventh, they scored a run, then three in the eighth to tie it after the ’43s added a run in the top half. The game stayed tied at 5-5 until the top of the 12th when Cooper and Kurowski singled with one out off Ken Dayley. Dayley then struck out Ray Sanders, but Nebraskan Johnny Hopp singled in the lead run. Todd Worrell replaced Dayley and prevented further scoring.

Howie Pollet put down the ’87s down in order in the home 12th to seal the series win, and a move the ’43 club into the big dance. There were many missed opportunities for both clubs in this game with the ’43s stranding 11 runners, and the ’87s a dozen. Despite being swept, the ‘87s were competitive, losing two games in extra innings. They just could not put away the ‘43s when they had them down.

Walker Cooper was 7-for-20 in the series (.350), with two doubles, a triple, and homer and seven RBI. Whitey Kurowski had four hits in the final game to boost his series average to .471, and Marion hit .438. Jack Clark paced the ‘87s at .412, but did not homer and drove in only two, missing several opportunities to turn a game around.

#2 2004 Cardinals vs #7 1930 Cardinals
With the top seed in the loser’s round justifying their position, would the #2 seed follow suit?

This series featured a couple of offensive heavyweights – whichever outslugged the other would be the likely winner. But it was Matt Morris’ pitching in the opener that was the story. The big righty threw seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out five without a base on balls. Meanwhile his mates collected 11 hits off ’30 starter Burleigh Grimes, with Tony Womack, Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen collecting two apiece. The ‘04s chased six runs across to cruise to a 6-1 victory.

The 1930 team jumped off the deck in Game 2, scoring two in the top of the first off Jason Marquis. Center fielder Taylor Douthit walked leading off, and an out later “Showboat” Fisher tripled him home. Chick Hafey then just missed a home run, sending Edmonds to the wall in center to score Fisher. But the ’04 team came right back, plating a run in the first and two in the second to take the lead. Marquis helped himself with a double in the two-run second, sending Larry Walker, who had singled, home.

The ‘04s looked to again be on cruise control, taking a 7-2 lead after a four-run fourth inning outburst. Marquis had scattered nine hits and at 124 pitches, manager Tony La Russa went to his talented bullpen to close it out. But the 1930 crew put a scare into them, welcoming the pitching change by exploding for their own four-run inning in the eighth. They sent eight men to the plate against Julian Taveras, with Cal Eldred and Ray King summoned to put out the blaze. Jason Isringhausen pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save in the 7-6 win.

Game 3 featured righthander Woody Williams for the latter-day team, facing lefty “Wild Bill” Hallahan. Although the ’04 team was outhit 11-7, Williams kept the ’30 group at bay for the most part as the modern team took a three games to none lead with a 5-2 win.

With their backs to the wall, the 1930 team sent righty Syl Johnson to the mound, facing ’04 righty Jeff Suppan in Game 4. Both pitchers were sharp. Johnson gave up only four hits, striking out six and walking one in seven innings. Suppan’s line was similar, also striking out six and walking one, while surrendering six hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The game entered the ninth inning tied at two. Righty Jim Lindsey had come on for the 1930s and set the ’04 club down in order in the eighth. His command escaped him the ninth, however, with the ’04 club loading the bases courtesy of a single and two walks. With two out and the pitcher due up, So Taguchi was called on to hit. And he delivered, lining a two-run single up the middle to put the ‘04s on the brink of a sweep.

Isringhausen came on for the ninth, but the ‘30s were not intimidated as Gus Mancuso led off with a single, and shortstop Charley Gelbert doubled, making the score 4-3. Izzy then walked Jimmie Wilson, building up the tension. But he regained some sense of control by inducing Douthit to hit into a 3-6-3 double play, with Gelbert now at third with the potential tying run. A walk to Frank Frisch kept the ‘30s faint hopes alive, but Izzy got Chick Hafey out on a comebacker to secure our second straight series sweep.

Jim Edmonds led the ‘04s with a lofty .467 batting mark, including two doubles, a home run and six RBIs. Izzy saved three of the four contests.

#3 1985 Cardinals vs #6 1968 Cardinals
The only opening round matchup to go the full seven, this was a mostly tight, well played series with the higher seeded 1985 club prevailing. The first three games were all one-run affairs, with the ’85 bunch grabbing the first two, both by 3-2 scores, and the ’68s coming back for the win in Game 3.  The latter was a 1-0 battle with Steve Carlton going eight shutout innings, to best a fine effort by Danny Cox and four relievers from the ’85 team.

In Game 4, Gibson, who was erratic in the opener, walking seven, knotted this series at two games each with a route-going five hitter, striking out eight. Kurt Kepshire started for the ‘85s, surrendering a run in the first by walking Lou Brock – never a good plan. Lou then stole second, just beating a strong throw by Darrell Porter. After Curt Flood flied out to deep center with Brock advancing to third, veteran Roger Maris doubled down the line in right. That looked to be the only run Gibson needed as the game was a very “’68 like” 1-0 going into the eighth inning. The ‘85s managed to tie it in similar fashion, with Vince Coleman leading off and bunting for hit, stealing second, moving to third on an infield hit by Willie McGee, and scoring Tommy Herr ground out.

That was all that Gibson gave up, and his mates put the game away in the bottom of the eighth with four tallies. Jeff Lahti took the brunt of the abuse, giving up a leadoff double to Brock and walking Flood. Maris struck out, but Orlando Cepeda grounded a single between short and third, chasing Brock home. Lefty Ken Dayley was summoned to face Tim McCarver and got him, although McCarver gave the ball a ride, flying out to deep right. Now it was righty Todd Worrell on to face Mike Shannon. Shannon was up for the match-up, doubling home Cepeda and Flood. Julian Javier tacked on an insurance run singling home Shannon. Gibson pitched around an error to shut down the ‘85s in the ninth.

Ray Washburn and Bob Forsch squared off in Game 5 to see which club would gain the series edge. Forsch was masterful, going the distance with a five-hitter, four strikeouts and only one walk. The ’85 club took advantage of more wildness from the ’68 staff, turning seven walks and nine hits into seven runs.  Washburn walked four in only 4 1/3 innings, with Ron Willis walking two and Hal Gilson one in relief. Jack Clark was the recipient of three of the free passes, also homering and driving in three for the ‘85s.

With the series moving back to the 1985 team as home for Game 6, the ’68 club was uncharacteristically potent on the offensive side. They pounded out 16 hits and scored nine times to back Nellie Briles and send the series to the seventh game. The ’85 boys had 13 hits of their own but only chased four over the plate. Joaquin Andujar started and was shelled for nine hits and six runs in only two innings. Flood, Maris, McCarver and Shannon each had three hits for the ‘68s, with Timmy driving in four.

This set up a dream pitching match-up for Game 7, Bob Gibson versus John Tudor. While both moundsmen went the distance, it was Tudor who prevailed, tossing a nifty two-hitter and striking out nine. Gibson gave up eight hits, one a two-run Darrell Porter homer, and took the loss in the 4-0 finale.

Andy Van Slyke (.471) and Willie McGee (.393) paced the ’85 offense, while Tudor was 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA in the series. Mike Shannon (.370) and Curt Flood (.346) kept the ‘68s going, but Bob Gibson was not quite the same dominant force he was in the ’68 regular season. Gibby tossed 25 innings in the series to the tune of a 2.88 ERA, and 21 strikeouts. But his 12 walks were a big reason he lost two of his three starts.

#4 1928 Cardinals vs #5 2013 Cardinals
This is the only Losers Bracket series won by the lower seeded team, albeit a 4/5 series should be two closely matched clubs. The ’28 team took Games 1 and 3 to jump out to an early lead in the series, but the 2013 squad prevailed in the last three to win the series in six games, all of which were competitive.

Pete Alexander got the better of Adam Wainwright in the opening match, scattering nine hits and walking none to notch a 3-1 win. Wainwright went six innings, giving up seven hits.

Lance Lynn and four relievers held the ’28 team to two runs in the second game, as the 2013s pounded out 11 hits and won 5-2. Matts Carpenter and Holliday had two hits each, as did Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig. Lefty Bill Sherdel took the loss. The 1928 club came back to grab the series lead with a 3-2 Game 3 decision behind Jesse “Pop” Haines. Shelby Miller tossed six innings for the 2013 team, giving up four hits and two runs. The eventual winning run was unearned, with shortstop Daniel Descalso wearing the goat horns, committing two throwing errors to set up a run scoring single from shortstop Rabbit Maranville.

After this, it was all 2013. Mike Matheny’s club fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first in Game 4, but shut down the Roaring ‘20s team thereafter. They battled back to score five in the fourth and tacked on another in the fifth for a 6-3 win that evened the series. David Freese and Matt Holliday homered, driving in five of the six runs. Starter Jake Westbrook went six innings with Joe Kelly and Edward Mujica finishing up.

Game 5 was back-and-forth with the ‘28s leading 5-2 at one point, only for the ’13 team to bounce back again with three in the eighth to tie and eventually prevailing 6-5 in 11 innings. Jon Jay’s single plated Freese with the winner. Fernando Salas received credit for the victory with two scoreless innings of relief.

Game 6 matched the series’ opener starters, Pete Alexander and Adam Wainwright. Both went the distance with Waino prevailing this time, striking out 11 and scattering eight hits in the 3-1 decision. Alexander was good as well, striking out five with no walks and taking a shutout into the eighth. But Pete Kozma’s (not a misprint 😊) third hit of the game, and then a hanging breaking ball that Carlos Beltran turned around and launched into the right field bleachers put the 2013 team ahead. Waino made it hold up.

Carlos Beltran (.360), Allen Craig (.348) and Yadier Molina (.348) all had impressive series. Wainwright struck out 17 in his 15 innings to the tune of a 1.80 ERA. George Harper hit .400 for the ‘28s, including two home runs. “Old Pete” pitched complete games in both starts, and did not walk a single batter, striking out seven and sporting a 2.00 ERA.

What is next

The 1943, 2004, 1985 and 2013 teams advance into the field of 16 to compete for the greatest of all St. Louis teams. Below are the matchups for the field of 16, with their winning percentage and run differential. Teams were seeded primarily on winning percentage and run differential; however, the Losers Bracket clubs were penalized a couple of spots from where they would have been based solely on those factors. If you don’t win the World Series, Bike Mike makes the road to glory a little tougher.

#1 1942 Cardinals (.688, 275) vs  #16 2006 Cardinals (.516, 19)
#8 1967 Cardinals (.627, 138) vs  # 9  1934 Cardinals (.621, 143)
#4 1946 Cardinals (.628, 167) vs  #13 1964 Cardinals (.574, 63)
#5 1943 Cardinals (.682, 204) vs  #12 2013 Cardinals (.599, 187)
#6 1922 Browns    (.604, 223) vs  #11 1985 Cardinals (.623, 175)
#3 1931 Cardinals (.656, 201) vs  #14 1982 Cardinals (.568, 76)
#7 2004 Cardinals (.648, 196) vs  #10 1926 Cardinals (.578, 139)
#2 1944 Cardinals (.682, 282) vs  #15 2011 Cardinals (.556, 80)

In the next installment we will preview the 12 tournament teams that received a first round bye.

Also, stop by The Cardinal Nation’s free forum and join the special discussion on this tournament or any of the many other active threads about St. Louis Cardinals baseball!

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The Cardinal Nation Prospect Guide is back for its eighth year. It includes 256 pages of in-depth commentary about the very best St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers, including dozens of all-new player scouting reports. Order your PDF or spiral-bound printed book copy today, with the latter on closeout for 20% off!

All paid members can purchase our Prospect Guide PDF at 50% off. Thank you for your support of The Cardinal Nation!

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St. Louis Cardinals 2025-2026 Winter Ball Report – November 30

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photo: 2004 National League champions (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Editor’s note: This begins a special series by Michael Roberts, aka “Bike Mike” or “bicyclemike” on The Cardinal Nation’s forums, where he serves as a moderator. The long-time fan, financial expert and simulation game aficionado uses the latter to identify the best St. Louis Cardinals team of all time. Here, he sets up the participants in the first round.

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The history of baseball runs deep in St. Louis. The first professional team was formed in 1874, and for a couple of years thereafter, two professional clubs called St. Louis home, the Brown Stockings and Maroons. These were independent teams, but St. Louis had a representative in inaugural National League season of 1876, the Brown Stockings. They were good too, finishing at 45-19, in third place in the eight-team league. They fell to fourth (of six teams) in 1877 at 28-32, and folded. This ended professional baseball in St. Louis until 1882 and the formation of the American Association.

Those 1880s teams, retaining the “Browns” moniker, started the tradition of excellence in St. Louis professional baseball, winning four consecutive league titles from 1885 through 1888. Those Browns featured player manager and recent St. Louis Hall of Fame inductee Charley Comiskey, and hard-hitting pitching ace Bob Caruthers. Caruthers was an early-era Babe Ruth and Shohei Ohtani, sporting a career batting mark of .282 and twice winning 40 games as a pitcher. He is still in the top 20 all-time among Cardinals WAR leaders, checking in at #19. In the earliest example of the rivalry with the Cubs, those Browns gave St. Louis it’s first “World Championship” in 1886, defeating Cap Anson’s powerful Chicago White Stockings (predecessor to the current Cubs) in seven games.

Any discussion of great St. Louis baseball teams starts with those 1880s Browns and covers 23 pennant winners in total, not to mention some excellent also-rans. But which team is best? We could probably poll a dozen readers of The Cardinal Nation and get 10 different answers. And all would be “right”, as anyone’s “greatest” team might be the one that is closest to their heart, or provided vivid memories.

I put this to the test, forming a tournament using a popular stat based computer sim game, “Action PC”.  The game platform is like the old card and dice games some of us might be familiar with such as APBA and Strat-O-Matic. As a long-time APBA player going back to childhood and into my 30s, I put together many relays and tournaments. APBA was an obsession for me as a youngster, often interfering with my studies more than my parents would have liked.

I had long envisioned setting up a bracket-style tourney with all the Cardinals’ pennant winners.  This year, I finally made it a reality, constructing a “best of” tournament with a bit of a twist.

In a bracket-style tournament, a field that is divisible by four is best. With 23 Cardinals pennant winners and the 1944 Browns, this would seem to make a nice base for a tournament. However, despite the four St. Louis powerhouse teams of the 1880s being some of the best clubs St. Louis has witnessed, playing them against the modern era teams would be impractical. The rules of the game we have known for 125 years now were still evolving then. In the 1880s, a walk took anywhere from eight to five balls, and a foul ball caught on one bounce was an out. Foul balls not caught were not strikes and batters could select a preference from the “hurler” high (above the waist) or low pitches.

While I consider the 1880s St. Louis Browns teams the true “grandparents” of the Cardinals teams of today and certainly in the discussion of our greatest teams, with the rule variations and style of play changes I chose to use only “modern era” (post 1900) teams for this tournament.

That leaves 19 Cardinals pennant winners to send to battle, 11 World Champions and eight that did not quite attain the final prize. “Eight” is a nice number to work with in a tournament, but “eleven” not so much. But wait, what about the American League Browns? There is not much to choose from there, but they did win a pennant in 1944. They also had a truly great second place team in 1922.

Going back to my APBA board days, the company issued “Great Teams of the Past” as part of their catalog of teams other than the most recent season set. One of those teams was the 1922 Browns, which I played a lot back in the card and dice days. It was a fun team with a lot of offense, and good pitching.

To quote advertising from APBA about those Browns, “They didn’t win the pennant. They finished second, a game behind the Yankees, but they were easily the greatest Brownie team in the league’s history. Led by peerless George Sisler, who batted .420 and stole 51 bases, this club had an aggregate team batting average of .313! Ken Williams led the league with 39 home runs and Urban Shocker was the club’s top hurler.”

Diving a little deeper, those Browns had a .604 winning percentage, better than 10 of the pennant-winning Cardinals clubs. Their run differential of +223 is exceeded only by the 1942 and 1944 Cardinal pennant-winning teams. The ’44 Browns were relatively pedestrian in comparison, playing at a .578 clip with a +97 run differential. The Pythagorean, or “expected” won-loss record for the ’22 bunch was seven games better than the Yankees. Based on run differential, they were the best team in baseball in 1922, exceeding both New York pennant winners.

St. Louis fans were treated to historically great offensive seasons in 1922. The Browns boasted Sisler and Williams, who amassed 8.7 and 7.9 bWAR, respectively. Sisler’s OPS+ was 170 and Williams’ 164. With 37 stolen bases in addition to the 39 homers, Williams also christened the “30-30 club”, as the first player in history to hit 30 or more homers and steal 30 or more bases. He was the only member for another 34 years until Willie Mays turned the trick in 1956.

Meanwhile, Rogers Hornsby had an incredible season for the St. Louis National League club, hitting .401 with 42 homers and logging an incredible 207 OPS+. He contributed 10.1 bWAR. Unfortunately, that club did not have enough of a supporting cast to push them to a pennant, ending up eight games behind the Giants and not earning a berth in the “Best of St. Louis” tourney.

So now the tournament field is set. 20 teams, 19 Cardinals clubs and the 1922 Browns. The eight teams that lost the World Series will be seeded into a “Losers Bracket”, while the 11 pennant winners and our lone Brownie team will receive a bye. The four winners in the losers bracket round will advance and be seeded with the 12 “Winners Bracket” teams to form a 16-team playoff.

All series will be best of seven, with the higher seeded team receiving home field in games 1, 2, 6 and 7.  Let’s start by previewing the eight non-pennant winners competing for Bike Mike’s “Best of St. Louis” championship, in order of seeding.

The Losers Bracket

1. 

   1943 Cardinals (.682 winning percentage, +204 run differential). The second of Billy Southworth’s three consecutive pennant winners featured great pitching, good team speed and defense.

Gone from the ’42 powerhouse was future Hall-of-Famer Enos Slaughter, but this team still had the talent to win. Stan Musial, in his second full season, had a breakout campaign, hitting .357 with a .987 OPS. His 220 hits included 48 doubles, 20 triples and 13 home runs, 108 runs scored and 81 driven in. Catcher Walker Cooper hit .318, and outfielder Harry Walker .294.

Pitching was the team’s biggest strength, with three hurlers sporting ERAs under 2.00, and another four under 3.00. As in 1942, Walker Cooper’s brother Mort led the staff with a 21-8 record and 2.30 ERA. In modern parlance, he also sported a 1.12 WHIP. Lefty Max Lanier was 15-7 with a sparkling 1.90 ERA. And that did not even lead the club. Lefty Al Brazle, in limited duty, had a 1.53 ERA and yet another southpaw, Howie Pollet, checked in at 1.75 in 118 innings.

2. 

   2004 Cardinals (.648 winning percentage, +196 run differential). The best of the modern era Cardinal teams, the only thing keeping this stellar group from serious contention for the greatest of all Cardinal teams is their collapse at the hands of the Red Sox in the four game World Series sweep. That sudden ineptitude in the biggest games of the year waters down an epic season.

Let’s start with the offense – it was the highlight year for the “MV3”, Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. Each OPS’d over 1.000, led by Pujols at 1.072. Albert hit .331, slugged 46 homers and added 51 doubles for good measure, driving in 123. Edmonds was right behind with 42 homers, 111 RBI and a 1.061 OPS. Rolen chipped in with 34 long balls, a .314 average and 1.007 OPS. It was almost unfair when they added Larry Walker during the season. In 44 games, the future Hall of Famer OPSed .953, launching 11 home runs and getting on base at a .393 clip. Reggie Sanders chipped in with 22 homers in 135 games.

The starting pitching was good; the bullpen was great. In an era when relief pitching is vital to winning, this club excelled with manager Tony La Russa turning to lefties Steve Kline and Ray King, and righties Julian Taveras, Kiko Calero and Cal Eldred setting up closer Jason Isrighhausen. “Izzy” matched Lee Smith’s Cardinals save record, since broken, with 47. Four starters won at least 15 games – Matt Morris, Jason Marquis, Jeff Suppan and Chris Carpenter.

3. 

   1985 Cardinals (.623 winning percentage, +175 run differential). A much-discussed bad call in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series might have cost this club a World Championship. The second of Whitey Herzog’s three pennant winners, and arguably the best of the bunch, this team epitomized “Whitey Ball” with speed, defense, and pitching. They were especially tough at home, going 54-27 while taking advantage of spacious Busch Stadium.

Vince Coleman exploded onto the scene with 110 stolen bases in his rookie year. As a team they stole 314 bags, with Willie McGee swiping 56, Andy Van Slyke 34, and keystone mates Tommy Herr and Ozzie Smith 31 each. Only one player hit as many as 20 homers, as Jack Clark hit his uniform number of 22. McGee batted .353 and added 13 homers, 18 triples, and was awarded the league’s Most Valuable Player award. Herr’s 110 RBI led the club, despite him homering just eight times.

The pitching was good as well, with John Tudor earning a memorable 21-8 win-loss record and 1.93 ERA. The enigmatic Joaquin Andujar matched Tudor’s 21 wins, and Danny Cox put 18 games in the “W” column. The loss of closer Bruce Sutter was supposed to be the death knell for this club, but Whitey had a versatile bullpen and called on righties Jeff Lahti (a club leading 19 saves along with a 1.84 ERA), Bill Campbell and August call-up Todd Worrell from the right side. Rick Horton (2.91 ERA) and Ken Dayley (2.76 ERA, 11 saves) were clutch from the left side.

4. 

   1928 Cardinals (.617 winning percentage, +171 run differential). The second Cardinal pennant winner and one of four NL champions for Hall of Fame manager Bill McKechnie, this team recaptured the pennant after winning in 1926, but finishing a game and a half off the pace in ’27. A sweep by the mighty Ruth-and-Gehrig Yankees makes this club more of a footnote today, but their numbers are almost identical to the ’85 team featured above.

Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley won the NL MVP award with a standout season in which he had a “triple twenty”; 42 doubles, 20 triples and 31 homers. He OPSed 1.030, hitting .325 and driving in 136. Chick Hafey blossomed into a star, with a .337 average and a .990 OPS. He was also an extra-base hit machine, slamming 46 doubles, six triples and 27 round trippers to drive in 111 runs.

Pitching was good as well, led by lefty Bill Sherdel (21-10, 2.86), veteran Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander (16-9, 3.36), and Jesse “Pop” Haines (20-8, 3.18).

5. 

   2013 Cardinals (.599 winning percentage, +187 run differential). The most recent Cardinal pennant winner, and a team that is perhaps a bit underrated. Manager Mike Matheny had a nice balance on offense and some very good pitching, much of it from sources somewhat surprising.

Like some early day players mentioned, Matt Carpenter blossomed into a star in his second full season, hitting .318 and slamming a club record 55 doubles. This team featured three other regulars topping the .300 mark, and another just under – Yadier Molina (.319), Allen Craig (.315), Matt Holliday (.300) and Carlos Beltran (.296).

Adam Wainwright led the pitching staff with 19 wins and a 2.94 ERA, with Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller winning 15 apiece and Joe Kelly notching 10 wins. Fireballer Trevor Rosenthal set up for Edward Mujica, who saved 37 games.

This club will square off against the fourth-seeded 1928 team to see who earns a shot at competing in the field of 16.

6. 

   1968 Cardinals (.599 winning percentage, +111 run differential). This team was at the apex of the 1960s Cardinals surge, riding high after the 1967 Championship and taking charge of the NL again, more-or-less coasting through the season. They finished April with a 13-5 record, and after a slide in May during which they fell to only a single game above .500, they went on a nine-game winning streak and never looked back, winning by nine lengths over the second place Giants.

We all know Bob Gibson’s incredible 1.12 ERA, and how pitching was THE story in ’68. His WHIP was an unheard of .852, and he struck out just under eight batters per nine innings on his way to the Cy Young and MVP awards. Gibby tossed 13 shutouts, while the rest of the staff tacked on 17 more. Nellie Briles won 19 with a 2.81 ERA, and Ray Washburn won 14, including a no-hitter, and a 2.26 ERA. Lefty Steve Carlton won 13.

Red Schoendienst’s bullpen was reliable as well, with Ron Willis, Joe Hoerner (1.47 ERA), Dick Hughes and Wayne Granger (2.25 ERA) getting most of the work. Schoendienst’s crew will take on Whitey Herzog’s 1985 team in the first round.

7. 

   1930 Cardinals (.597 winning percentage, +220 run differential). The antithesis of the ’68 crew, this was the “Year of the Hitter” and Gabby Street’s team could really mash. They should probably have been seeded above the ’68 team, but I used winning percentage as the seeding delineator. These guys edged the Cubs by two games in Hack Wilson’s 191 RBI season, hitting .314 as a team to lead the league.

A couple of outfielders lead the way with Showboat Fisher (great nicknames back then) hitting .374 and George Watkins right behind at .373. Watkins also knocked 17 homers and 32 doubles in only 119 games, good for a 1.036 OPS. Frankie Frisch hit .346 and drove in a club leading 114 runs – a bit of a foreshadowing of the team 55 years later where a second baseman drove in over 100 runs without being a power hitter; The Flash homered only 10 times, but he added 46 doubles and nine triples to his ledger.

Every regular hit over .300, and even the supporting cast showed lofty batting records. Backup catcher Gus Mancuso checked in at .366, and veteran Ray Blades sported a .396 batting mark, albeit in only 101 at bats.

Pitching was an adventure in 1930, and it was no different with this team although five Cardinals won in double figures. But only one had an ERA under 4, that being grizzled veteran Burleigh Grimes at 3.10.  The team ERA of 4.39 was good enough to place second in the league.

This first round match-up will feature a couple of powerful offenses as these guys square up with Tony La Russa’s 2004 team.

8. 

   1987 Cardinals (.586 winning percentage, +105 run differential). Our final competitor in the Losers Bracket is Whitey Herzog’s final pennant winner. After the Cardinals’ disappointing end to 1985, the New York Mets featured an outstanding team that won 108 games and the World Series in ’86. But the Runnin’ Redbirds came back in ’87 to beat the Mets by three games, then ousted the Giants in the NLCS to return to the World Series. However, in a Series in which the home team won every game, the Cardinals only had three home games.

Like the ’85 group, this team was built on speed and defense. Vince Coleman again ran wild, stealing 109 bases, while Ozzie Smith swiped 43. Tommy Herr and Terry Pendleton took 19 each. Surprisingly Ozzie led the club in hitting at .303. Jack Clark provided the power, hammering 35 homers despite missing 31 games. It was Willie McGee’s turn to be the run producer who did not hit many homers, driving in 105, one behind Clark’s team-leading 106, and homering 11 times. Willie doubled 37 times and added 11 triples as well.

Danny Cox emerged as the staff ace, one of three 11-game winners that included lefty Greg Mathews and veteran Bob Forsch. 1985’s ace John Tudor was injured much of the year, starting only 16 times but he turned in a 10-2 record.

Closer Todd Worrell notched 33 saves, with Rick Horton and Ken Dayley providing their usual good left-handed work in the bullpen. Horton also started six games.

We will see if this squad can score enough runs against the excellent 1943 pitching staff to pull an upset and get into the field of 16.

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What is next

Next up will be the results of the Losers Bracket series and a look at the field of 16 matchups. Plus, I will summarize the 11 teams that won World Series titles and take a little deeper look at our lone St. Louis Browns entry.

Also, stop by The Cardinal Nation’s free forum and join the special discussion on this tournament or any of the many other active threads about St. Louis Cardinals baseball!

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