A Pennant-Winning Pennant

We’ve been cleaning out our basement, and in the process have uncovered some items that I’ve had tucked away. One of them is this fun pennant that I remembered I had, but hadn’t been able to locate for over a decade! As you can probably see, it had something spill/drip on it (that happened long ago when we still lived in St. Louis), but I still think it’s a fun item.

1985 was the summer between 7th and 8th grade, and I think it was one of the first summers that my friend Craig and I went to games by ourselves and tried to get players’ autographs before and/or after the games. It was a magical season as the Cardinals won 101 games on their way to the National League Pennant. Perhaps it was the style of ball they played (stealing over 300 bases) and perhaps it was the age I was at the time, but even though they fell one game short of winning the World Series, all these years later, the '85 Birds are still my favorite team ever! In fact, I even administer a Twitter account that recaps their season day-by-day!

Anyway, the pennant above was one that I got signed by a many of the players on that team (in addition to a couple Cardinals legends). While many of the signers played multiple seasons with the Cardinals, two of them (Ivan DeJesus and Bill Campbell) played for the team only in 1985. And one of the signers (Todd Worrell) only joined the club for the last six weeks of the season, so I must have gotten at least some (if not all) of the autographs relatively late in the season.

Two Hall of Famers signed my pennant back in 1985: 

• Lou Brock (who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in '85, and is my all-time favorite)
• Red Schoendienst (who was a coach for the ‘85 Cardinals)
  

And here are the ten players from the 1985 Redbirds signed it:

• Terry Pendleton
• Willie McGee
• Jack Clark
• Andy Van Slyke
• Vince Coleman
• John Tudor
• Todd Worrell
• Ivan DeJesus
• Bill Campbell
• Tom Herr

I have no idea how much something like this is "worth." Probably not a whole lot, given the condition. But for the memories it evokes of a 13-year old kid getting those autographs, it is absolutely priceless to me! And 35 years later, it makes me want to track down Ozzie Smith and Tom Nieto to sign it so I could have a whole starting lineup's worth! 

Connections: Eric, Trades, and the 1984 Olympics

I've written about Jeff Reardon on a previous occasion, when I chronicled my baseball trip 25 years after the fact. A couple months ago, I sent him 8x10 enlargements of a picture my friend Eric Hendrickson had taken when we were at Reardon's MLB record-setting performance for career saves. I included his 1987 Topps card as well, hoping to also get it signed. He either misplaced it or forgot to include it, because I got the the photo back signed, but no card! As it turns out, I later  decided to try to get the 1987 Topps Traded Set cards signed too, so I had a pair I needed to send him. He promptly signed them and sent them back to complete my Reardon collection!

With the evolution of the way relievers are used, Reardon has long since been passed by nine others on the career saves list. That fact notwithstanding, Reardon had an excellent 16-year career, being recognized four-times as an All Star, twice finishing in the top 10 of the Cy Young Award voting, and three times finishing in the top 20 for MVP.

I'll never forget the day. It was April 1st, 1987, and I had just heard the most amazing news on KMOX. Eric and I were going to go shoot baskets on the outdoor courts at Holy Redeemer Catholic School, so I jumped on my bike, rode over to Eric's house and he met me at his back door. I shared this almost unbelievable news with him: The Cardinals had traded for Tony Pena. When I told Eric, he thought it was an April Fool's joke. Cardinals fans had long felt we needed an upgrade at catcher, and Pena was the constant object of trade proposals on the KMOX's Sports Open Line program.

In the deal, they were giving up a serviceable young catcher in Mike Lavalliere, but this definitely was going to be an upgrade! To make the exchange of receivers, the Birds had to include somewhat promising pitching prospect (and 1984 U.S. Olympian) Mike Dunne, but the key to the deal was right fielder Andy Van Slyke.There was no denying Van Slyke's potential, but the Cardinals were willing to part with him because it opened up a space for 1983 first round draft pick Jim Lindeman. Lindeman hit around .400 with 8 home runs in spring trainingthat year, and appeared ready to give the Cardinals a second power bat to go along with Jack Clark.

Unfortunately Lindeman collided with the Mets' Rafael Santana on the second-to-last day of spring training, spraining his back. A month later, spasms returned and landed him on the disabled list. When he returned, it was only a week until the spasms placed him back on the DL once more. In addition to that, he was twice sidelined by hamstring injuries. Battling injuries all year long, Lindeman played in just 75 games, batting only .208 and hitting 8 home runs (the same total he had hit in spring training). He did however hit .321 in 28 postseason at bats, hitting one of the teams' two home runs in the NLCS and starting games 1, 4 & 7 in the World Series. The next two years would again find him playing sparingly though, as he batted .209 (in 43 at bats) & .111 (in 45 at bats). He was traded to the Tigers, and after that bounced around for a few years with Philadelphia, Houston, and the Mets. As it turned out, he never would reach the "heights" he had in 1987, as his 8 home runs and 28 RBIs that season ended up his career highs.

In 1984, Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics under the leadership of Peter Ueberroth. The Games proved highly successful, despite that fact that they were were boycotted by a bloc of  nations led by the Soviet Union. The first ever privately-financed Olympics, the 1984 Games resulted in a surplus of $250 million. As a result, Time Magazine's Man of the Year was  Ueberroth, who coincidentally was born the very same day that Pierre de Cubertin (founder of the modern Olympic Games) died.

After his success with the Olympics, Ueberroth took office in October of 1984 as the sixth commissioner of Major League Baseball. Though MLB experienced success under his leadership, the most notable facet of his tenure was probably the fact that under his leadership, owners colluded to suppress free agency, a move that ended up costing them $280 million in fines. He stepped down before the start of the 1989 season, being replaced by A. Bartlett Giamatti.

A tip of the cap to fellow 1987 autograph collector (and recent trading partner), Ryan Schear for giving me the idea of getting baseball folks such as Ueberroth to sign the checklists!

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!