Go Crazy Folks, He is the Rally Squirrel!

I haven't posted anything here for quite a while, but with the appearance of (and excitement about) the Rally Squirrel, I thought perhaps this was the time.

In the Cardinals' two home playoff games this week, a squirrel appeared, making mad dashes across the field.  "The Rally Squirrel" has rapidly picked up somewhat of a cult following in St. Louis, and has been adopted as something of a mascot.

Randy Mayfield, one of the pastors at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis has even put together a song honoring the squirrel.  Here's the video.

I'm Sold on St. Louis!

The summer of 1987 was an especially wonderful one for me. I had a job working about one hour per day cleaning a local drug store which netted me paychecks of about $42 twice per month. Almost every penny I earned that summer went to one of two things: baseball cards or baseball tickets.

It was a great season to be a Cardinals fan. The Running Redbirds would win their second National League Pennant in three years (in addition to a World Series victory in 1982) as Whiteyball reigned in St. Louis. It seemed that my friend Craig and I lived at Busch Stadium that summer. Even though we were only 15 at the time (I turned 16 the final weekend of the season), I managed to get to 25 games that season.

The other day, I found the following video of Ralph Butler and "I'm Sold on St. Louis," produced in 1987. It reminded me of what a wonderful era it was to be a Cardinals fan.

The Utility Man

This has nothing to do with my collection of memorabilia, but if you like the 1980s Cardinals, you'll probably like this. If you like the Sklar Brothers, you'll probably like this. And if, like me, you like both the 1980s Cardinals and the Sklar Brothers, then you'll definitely like this.

Rick Ankiel

This is another one of my very favorite pieces of memorabilia...for many reasons. First of all, the picture is of Rick Ankiel. I don't know that there has ever been a baseball player that I've rooted harder for than I've rooted for Ankiel.


Secondly, it's one of my favorite pieces because it's actually a picture that I took. I had seats one night right down by the field. I took my camera and my zoom lens and...voila! There you have it. I had it blown up to an 8x10 and waited for the opportunity to have Ankiel sign it, an opportunity that came a year or so later when I was working at Enterprise and Ankiel rented a car.

If you're reading this, you're probably a baseball fan. And if you're a baseball fan, you probably know Ankiel's story. At one time the top pitching prospect in baseball, Ankiel burst onto the scene at the end of the 1999 season. I was seated down low, behind home plate at a game against the Padres late that season when Ankiel pitched two innings of relief, striking out six. I've NEVER seen a pitcher have more electric stuff than he had that night. The only batter to reach base against him was Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, but even that comes with an asterisk. A pitch before Gwynn singled, Ankiel actually froze him on a 2-2 curve ball that I will go to my grave saying was a strike, but 19-year old rookies don't get called third strikes against the likes of a Tony Gwynn. In my mind though, that was the evening Ankiel actually struck out seven in two innings!

Ankiel's 2000 season was highly successful. Then, inexplicably, he completely lost the ability to control where he was throwing the ball. I was at game 1 of the 2000 NLDS when it all began with six walks and five wild pitches in less than three innings. It is to this day one of the most mystifying things I've ever seen.

The next season, Ankiel's wildness continued. He would end up falling to the lowest levels of the minor leagues, only to eventually work his way back to the majors almost four years later at the end of the 2004 season. Ankiel pitched well, walking only one batter in 10 innings pitched, and hopes were high for him coming into the 2005 season.  

During spring training of 2005 though, Ankiel abruptly announced to the team that he was going to retire. The mental strain of pitching in the big leagues was more than he wanted to bear. The Cardinals management asked Ankiel to consider trying to be an outfielder instead. He agreed to the plan and returned once more to the lowest levels of the minor leagues.  

After spending nearly three more years in the minor leagues, Ankiel made it to the majors for the third time. On August 9, 2007 he made his big league debut as an outfielder. I am not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two when, in the seventh inning, he hit a three run homer off Doug Brocail.

Now, four seasons later, Ankiel is the starting center fielder for the Washington Nationals, who happen to be in St. Louis playing the Cardinals. This morning Rick Ankiel took out this ad in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It prompted me to think about what a classy guy he is and what a wonderful example he is of perseverance. And it prompted me to think of the autographed photo that appears at the top of this entry. Good luck, Rick, with the rest of your career, and thank you too!

UPDATE (May, 2017): Make sure to check out Rick's book, The Phenomenon, authored with Tim Brown.

Seat Cushion Night

If you are unaware of what the above pictures are, it's a pretty safe bet you weren't a Cardinal fan in the 1980s.  From 1985-1988, the Cardinals and the Mets each won the NL East twice. It was an incredibly heated rivalry as the two teams battled for divisional supremacy.

On April 18, 1987, the two teams did battle in St. Louis. The Cardinals fell behind 5-0, only to score five in the fourth inning, capped off by a bases loaded walk to Tom Herr. Fans rejoiced at the Cardinal comeback by littering the field frisbee-style with the seat cushions given out as promotional souvenirs. There were so many thrown on the field that there was actually an announcement made that the Cardinals would have to forfeit the game if it continued.

After the field was cleaned up, the Cardinals took the lead in the sixth on an RBI double by Herr, only to see the Mets score two in the top of the ninth to take an 7-6 lead. The Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the ninth in typical Whiteyball fashion as Ozzie Smith walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Herr, stole third and scored on the wild throw by the catcher.

In the tenth, the Mets took the lead once more, only to see the Cardinals tie the game on a Tom Pagnozzi single, load the bases, and, well, that's when this happened.

A little trivia here...Question: How many home runs did Herr hit in his career? Answer: 28 (which also was Herr's uniform number). I'm not sure how many of those I saw in person, but I know I saw at least one of them. And unlike just about everyone else who was there, I still have the seat cushion to prove it!

The Baseball Card Show

Yesterday my son and I did something I hadn't done for at least a few years...we went to a baseball card show.  While he was most concerned with insert cards containing either autographs or a scrap of player's jersey, what I found most fun was seeing (and purchasing) some of the cards that I collected when I was his age and younger.

We both came away from the show a little poorer but with smiles on out faces. He got a couple autographed cards (Jack Morris and Mizzou alum Max Scherzer) and a Tony Gwynn jersey card.  I was proud of him for his good taste in players to collect as well as the good bargains he got on all three.

As for me, I found a bunch of fun cards that brought back memories from my youth.  My favorite vendor was one who was selling cards from the 70s that were in less than mint condition.  He had an album full of cards and was selling them four for a dollar.  Below is a sampling of some of what I was able to get at a quarter a pop.

Shoeless Joe Novel Signed By Bill Kinsella

Today I want to look at a slightly different item than I'll regularly focus on in this space.  My all-time favorite movie is Field of Dreams.  I'm not saying it's the best movie ever made (that would be Casablanca), but it's my personal favorite.  I don't have time to go into all the reasons why this is true, but in the end it is because of what the movie is about: fathers and sons, dreams and opportunities, and (of course) baseball.

It is based on the novel Shoeless Joe, written by Bill Kinsella.  A number of years ago, a friend of mine named Jon Blackwell went to a book signing by Kinsella.  To my surprise and excitement, he got a copy of the book for me and had it autographed.  To this day it is one of my favorite autographs, not just for what the item is, but for the message included in the author's signing of it.

Sid Bream's Bat

Sid Bream was never a superstar, but he is remembered by most for his part in one of the most exciting moments in baseball history. The Braves trailed the Pirates by one in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh and deciding game of the 1992 NLCS. Francisco Cabrera came to the plate with the bases loaded, the not-so-fleet-of-foot Bream representing the pennant-winning run. Cabrera laced a single to left field to tie the game and Bream rounded third, headed for home in an effort to beat the throw of Pirate left fielder Barry Bonds. Bream did indeed beat that throw by the narrowest of margins, and the Braves returned to the World Series.

But that is not my foremost memory of Bream. Earlier in his career he actually played for the Pirates. And in one game I attended, he broke his bat. We would often sneak down into the field boxes late in the game, and on this night that was the case. After the game I noticed the visiting team's batboy handing a bat to another kid about my age (probably 15 or 16 at the time), who I assumed was his friend. 

About a half hour later as we stood outside the stadium waiting for players in an effort to get autographs, I noticed the same kid with the bat. I stopped him and asked him if he'd be willing to sell the bat.  He was, and for the price of $10, I had a souvenir.

We then placed ourselves across the street from the hotel at which visiting teams stayed, and waited until Bream approached. I asked him if he would sign my souvenir, and though he was surprised to see that I had his bat, he was happy to sign it. Beneath his autograph he added the bible reference "Romans 5:8," which reads, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

A "Hall of Fame" Ballot

Here is an item that I didn't even remember I had when I began this project. When I was looking through my things, I came across this 1987 All Star ballot.  The first thing I noticed was Jack Buck's autograph.

By the time I started listening to Cardinal games on the radio, Buck was already two decades into a Hall of Fame career. He would be in the KMOX booth for all of my childhood and well into my young adulthood as well.  He, as much as any player, was truly my idol and my favorite Cardinal.

When I recently took my son by Busch Stadium, I made sure to take him by the Jack Buck statue standing outside.  It's been almost a decade now since Buck passed away, and I still miss his gravelly voice and detailed descriptions.

As I looked more closely, I noticed that right below Buck's autograph is that of Joe Torre. After a very successful career that included the 1971 NL MVP, Torre is bound for Cooperstown on the strength of his managerial success which has included six AL Pennants, four World Series Championships, and over 2300 victories.

So I have autographs of two Hall or Famers here, right? No. I actually have three. Right above Buck's signature, notice the scrawl of Hall of Famer and 1967 NL MVP Orlando Cepeda. After having most of his best years with the Giants, "Cha-Cha" was traded to the Cardinals and led the Cardinals to back-to-back NL Pennants in 1967 and 1968, winning the World Series in 1967, with Cepeda taking home the hardware for the NL MVP that season. After the 1968 campaign, the Cardinals traded him to Atlanta for none other than Torre!

In order to win the 1967 Series, the Cardinals needed to defeat Red Sox ace Jim Lonborg in game 7 in Boston. Well, who else's autograph do you think can be found near the top of this ballot?  You guessed it...that of the 1967 AL Cy Young Award winner!

Tommie Agee was one of the stars of the 1969 Miracle Mets (he finished 6th in the NL MVP voting), and he also signed my ballot. Agee had one of the great games in World Series history when in game 3 of the 1969 October Classic, he hit a leadoff homer in the first off Jim Palmer, and later made two spectacular catches, likely saving five runs. The Mets would win the game 5-0 en route to defeating the highly favored Orioles in five.

You may also note that one of the more legible signers was long-time baseball man, Billy DeMars, who Pete Rose once called the best hitting coach he'd ever worked with.  There's one more at the bottom that I can't quite figure out.  Heck, I can't even tell which way to read it, so it's going to be tough, but if anyone has any ideas on who it is, I'd love to hear!

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Related story: The day I had that ballot signed was the same day I write about here.

The Wizard of Oz

Of all the Cardinals of my youth, none were as entertaining as Ozzie Smith.  The Wizard came to St. Louis as a light-hitting, slick-fielding shortstop in 1982, and immediately helped lead the Cardinals to a World Series victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.  

He is remembered for his acrobatic fielding exploits, as well as his pre-game backflips at season openers and other select big games.  He eventually became pretty handy with the bat as well, collecting nearly 2500 hits in his career.  And he of course hit the famous "Go crazy folks!  Go crazy!" home run in the game 5 of the 1985 National League Championship Series, a game my father pulled me out of school to take me to.

I vividly remember the day I got this card signed.  While the rest of the autograph seekers were waiting by the doors where the players normally exited the stadium, I noticed Ozzie walking by himself across the bridge up above us from the stadium to the parking garage.  I ran up and met him, and he cheerfully signed the card and engaged me in chit chat.  Before long, everyone else noticed us and the crowd raced over to join us.  But not before I got about a moment of one-on-one time with the Wizard.  

Luis Aguayo

If you are wondering why I would have a post dedicated to a week-hitting middle infielder like Luis Aguayo, let me just say this: That is a very good question.  But it's a question to which I also have some very good answers.

First of all, as evidenced by the fact that on three different occasions I got his autograph, Luis Aguayo must have been a generous autograph signer.  That was not the case for all players...many preferred not to sign at all and some were downright rude about it.  Of course, if (like Aguayo) my career batting average was .236, I probably would be happy that anyone wanted my autograph in the first place!

Secondly, some years ago, I went through the cards I had gotten autographed as a kid and put them in alphabetical order.  As a result, Aguayo ended up on the top of the pile (unfortunately Hank Aaron never came to town).

Finally though, and most importantly, Aguayo is linked to a very memorable moment for me at Busch Stadium...though he wasn't even there!  The date was September 30, 1987.  I was at the ballpark for the second straight day.  On the 29th, the Cardinals swept double header against Montreal, on the strength of shutouts by pitchers Joe Magrane in game one and Greg Matthews game two.  That, coupled with a loss by the second place Mets had dropped our magic number from 5 to 2 over the course of six hours.

The Cardinals would lose on the this night, but somewhere around the 7th inning, I remember a message being placed on the scoreboard.  It announced that in Philadelphia, Luis Aguayo had hit a game-winning pinch hit home run off of Mets closer Jesse Orosco.  However popular Aguayo was with Phillies fans at that moment, he was even more so with Cardinal fans such as myself! 

The Cardinals would win the next night against Montreal to clinch the NL East championship.  The Mets were the Cardinals' heated rivals of that era, and would close out the season in St. Louis.  That night,, they were already in town, helplessly watching the action from the press box.

The Cardinals would go on to defeat the San Francisco Giants in seven games to win the NL Pennant.

Lou Brock/Enos Slaughter Baseball Digest

As I mentioned in my welcome note to this blog, Lou Brock was my favorite player. Very likely, this is the first of many entries that are related to him. In 1985 he was elected to the Hall of Fame, along with Cardinal great Enos Slaughter, Arky Vaughan and Hoyt Wilhelm (who also spent the 1957 season with the Cardinals).

As I recall, this commemorative issue of Baseball Digest was given out at the ballpark on at least one occasion (if not a number of them).  You may notice an autograph in its lower left hand corner. Interestingly, I had this magazine signed by Pittsburgh Pirates catcher, Tony Pena, who would two years later come to St. Louis, where he would be the Cardinals' starting catcher for three years, including for the winners of the 1987 National League Pennant.

Autographed 1986 Pocket Schedule

Here is a pocket schedule from the 1986 season.  Note that season's theme of "Catch Us If You Can."  The Cardinals were coming of a 1985 season in which they had won the National League Pennant, largely by running, running and running.  They stole an amazing 314 bases (132 more than any other team in baseball that season).  Jack Clark was the team's one "big bat," hitting 22 home runs.  That figure accounted for more than 25% of the team's total.

The autographs on the schedule are from the following players:

• Clint Hurdle - 1986 was his only year with the Cardinals.  He would later manage the 2007 Colorado Rockies to an improbable National League pennant.
• Bob Forsch - One of my favorites as a kid, he is the only Cardinal pitcher to throw two no-hitters.  He was an all-around nice guy, seemingly never willing to say "no" to young autograph seekers. 
• Andy Van Slyke - Just before the 1987 season, Van Slyke would be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tony Pena.  He would help lead them to NL East crowns in 1991-1993, which were also their last three winning seasons.  On a personal note, after he retired, Van Slyke and I actually attended the same church for a while.
• Tom Herr - Another Christian (note the "John 3:16" beneath his autograph), Herr accomplished the amazing feat of getting 110 RBIs in 1985 despite hitting only 8 home runs.

I get especially nostalgic when I look at the ticket prices on the schedule.  Bleachers were $3, General Admission was $4, Reserved Seats were $7 and Box Seats $9.50.  Every seat in the park was less than $10.  Those were the days!

Welcome to Polyester and Astroturf

I have been a sports fan in general and a baseball fan in particular for as long as I can remember.  One of my most distinct early childhood memories is of my mom taking me to Busch Stadium, where we would sit in the left field bleachers and watch our favorite player, Lou Brock.  

Sunday afternoon games were when they'd have the giveaway games for kids such as Hat Day, Ball Day, or Bat Day (a lawsuit waiting to happen), so that's when we usually went.  We would go to the 8:00 church service, make a sack lunch, and go wait for the gates to open so that we could be among the first to enter, ensuring us a front row seat.

I suppose it was these experiences that birthed my love for baseball as well as my love for baseball memorabilia.  In later years, as teenagers, my friend Craig and I would spend the entire day at the stadium, getting autographs of players before and after the game.  We waited for the Cardinals in the parking garage or we'd go down the street and stake out the visiting team's hotel lobby.

Over the years, I added to these mementos various souvenirs and other items.  When my wife and I bought our first house, I had a room in the basement that she graciously allowed me to turn into my "sports room."  In it I displayed much of the memorabilia I had collected over the years.  Most of it had only sentimental value, but it was fun to relive the memories every time I entered the room.

In 2006, we moved to Flint, Michigan. Unfortunately for me, the house we purchased did not have an extra room for my stuff, and as a result, most of it has remained boxed in our basement ever since.  I started this blog as a means of remembering and sharing.  Remembering what I had, and remembering the events connected to those items; and sharing in this space both those items as well as my thoughts about them.

The color scheme of the blog is very intentionally patterned after the Cardinal road uniforms of the late 70s and early 80s.  For some reason, baby blue was in vogue, and the color always evokes memories of this era for me.  Much the same, polyester and astroturf were staples at the time, hence the title of the blog.

I hope you enjoy my trip down memory lane...I know I will.  And please feel free to share your comments as well.