April 19 in Cardinals History

Transaction Wire

  • Lee Meadows, a pitcher, makes his major league debut in 1915 and becomes the first player since 1886 to wear eyeglasses regularly on the field. His nickname is Specs.
  • The Boston Braves purchased Jack Smith in 1926 from the Cardinals.
  • The Cardinals purchased Art Shires from the Boston Braves in 1933.
  • In 1945 the Cardinals released Vic Raschi.
  • In the first major league game ever (1997) played in Hawaii, the Cardinals edge the Padres, 1-0, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The three-game set, known as Padres Paradise Series, find the hosts dropping two of three contests to the Redbirds.
  • The Cardinals signed Jed Hansen as a free agent in 2003.
  • The Cardinals, in 2003, released Ivanon Coffie.
  • In 2017 the Cardinals defeat the Pirates 2-1. It was the first time in Cardinals history where they won a game where the only runs scored came via two solo home runs by the same player. The home runs were by Dexter Fowler. 
  • In 2019, Lane Thomas hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. He had to wait a bit as it was reviewed and deemed it went over the fence.

Birthdays

Whitey Kurowski (April 19, 1918 – December 9, 1999) played third base for the Cardinals from his debut on September 23, 1941, to his last game on October 1, 1949. His best season was 1947 when he hit .310, slugged 27 home runs, drove in 104 runners, smacked 27 doubles and had a .544 slugging percentage. He played in four World Series with a .253 average, one home runs and nine runs batted in for 23 postseason games. 

Dennys Reyes was born in 1978. On March 5, 2009, Reyes signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in a reported two-year deal worth approximately $3 million. In his Cardinals brief career, he was 3-3 with a 3.42 ERA. He walked 42 and fanned 58 batters. 

 

Debuts

Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown 1903 (15 years and 2 days have losing two fingers in a farm machinery accident)

Moose Baxter 1907

Charlie Enwright 1909

Lee Dressen 1914

Lee “Specs” Meadows 1915

Enos Slaughter 1938

Tommy Glaviano 1949

Fred Hahn 1952

Willard Schmidt 1952

Nelson Briles 1965

Josh Lucas 2017

Tyler O’Neill 2018

 

Deaths

Chris Zachary 2003

Chuck Harmon 2019