The 1982 St. Louis Cardinals are coming together this weekend at Busch Stadium and FOX Sports Midwest will feature extensive coverage of the legendary club’s World Series Championship Reunion. The Cardinals will be entertaining their 1982 World Series rival, the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday through Sunday, August 3 – 5.
The three day-celebration kicks off Friday as the Cardinals Live pre-game show will include features related to the reunion. 1982 closer and Baseball Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter is the guest of honor that evening. Engine #42, who collected the final out of the 1982 Series, is scheduled to be interviewed on-air during the third inning and some of his teammates may appear on the broadcast as well.
The weekend’s highlight will be before Saturday’s game when members of the championship club enter Busch Stadium in a special parade similar to the opening day motorcade and are celebrated in an on-field ceremony. Among the 1982 Cardinals scheduled to appear are Sutter, Ozzie Smith, Whitey Herzog, Red Schoendienst, Keith Hernandez, Ken Oberkfell, Dave LaPoint, Jim Kaat, John Stuper, Jeff Lahti, Steve Mura, John Martin, Doug Bair, Jeff Keener, Tito Landrum, David Green, Gene Roof, Dane Iorg, Mike Ramsey, Glenn Brummer, Joe McDonald and Gene Gieselmann.
On Saturday, Dan McLaughlin will host a roundtable discussion with members of the 1982 Cardinals at Lumiere Theater. FOX Sports Midwest will tape the proceedings with plans to air the show at a later date.
FOX Sports Midwest’s Saturday pre-game show will begin 30 minutes early, at 5 p.m. CT. The pre-game ceremony honoring the 1982 Cardinals will be shown live and commercial free to ensure fans don’t miss anything.
The weekend environment will be very much “1982.”
As the images provided by FOX Sports Midwest indicate, the game opening and pre-first pitch graphics will be modeled after those used during televised baseball in 1982. To celebrate the occasion, the Cardinals will wear replica 1982 “home” white uniforms Saturday while the Brewers will wear 1982 powder blue “road” uniforms.
During Saturday’s game, live interviews with members of the 1982 Cardinals will be featured. The live post-game show will air from Lumiere Place, where 1982 Cardinals players are expected to be in attendance.
Even before Saturday, be sure to follow @FSMidwest on Twitter for giveaways for correct answers to 1982 Cardinals trivia. Watch for additional information on how to interact via Twitter as part of the Reunion Weekend.
Footnote: The 1982 team became the first Cardinals club to reach the post-season in 14 seasons and ended a 15-year title drought. The club went 92-70 during the regular season, winning their first-ever National League East Division title by three games over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cards defeated the National League West champion Atlanta Braves in three straight to claim the pennant. The World Series went a full seven games before the Cardinals vanquished the American League champion Brewers. The late Darrell Porter was named the Most Valuable Player in both the NL Championship Series and World Series.
24 more seasons would elapse until the Cardinals’ next title, with 1982 being their last in Busch Stadium II.
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