January 11th in Cardinals History
- In 1955, the Cardinals trade P Ben Wade to the Pittsburgh Pirates for P Paul LaPalme.
- The Cardinals traded Alex Johnson in 1968 to the Cincinnati Reds for Dick Simpson.
- Major League owners approve one of the game’s most controversial rules: the designated hitter in 1973.
- In 2010-Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998, apologizes for his decade-long on-and-off use of performance-enhancing substances that started prior to the 1990 season. The former St. Louis and Oakland slugger, recently hired to be the Cardinals hitting coach, had been in a self-imposed exile since repeatedly telling a congressional committee in 2005, “I’m not here to talk about the past,” a remark which seriously hurt his popularity and irrevocably damaged his reputation.
Birthdays
- Skipper Roberts 1886 – a catcher that played in 82 career games. He made his MLB debut
June 12, 1913, for the St. Louis Cardinals. - Cody McKay 1974 – primarily a catcher that finished his career with the Cardinals. His dad was a first base coach under Mgr. La Russa. Cody’s final game was on October 2, 2004. He was implicated in the Mitchell Report on the use of banned substance. Had a .247 lifetime batting average.
Deaths
- Walt Goldsby (1914)
- Joe Sprinz (1994)
- Stu Martin (1997)