The American Association is reorganized in 1885 with clubs from St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Louisville, New York and Baltimore.
The Cardinals purchased Wally Gilbert from the Cincinnati Reds in 1933.
The Boston Red Sox, in 1948, purchased Tommy O’Brien from the Cardinals.
In 1997, former outfielder Curt Flood, who played most notably with the Cardinals, dies of throat cancer at the age of 59. After being traded to the Phillies in 1969, the baseball pioneer refused to play for Philadelphia and challenged the owners’ reserve clause, taking the matter as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, where he lost the case, but laid the groundwork which would lead to free agency in professional sports.
Birthdays
Carl Taylor 1944 -batted under .250 for four of his six Major League seasons. But in 1969, he bested his career season high by 83 points, with a .348 batting average as a utility player for the Pirates. The Bucs then shipped him to the Cardinals in an offseason trade — although they would reacquire Taylor in September 1971 for their pennant drive. He was not eligible to play in the 1971 World Series, won by Pittsburgh in seven games over Powell’s Orioles. Overall, Taylor batted .266 in 846 Major League at bats; his 225 hits included 31 doubles and ten triples.
David Eckstein 1975 -At the end of the 2004 season, Eckstein was part of a “shortstop merry-go-round,” in which three free agent shortstops swapped teams: Édgar Rentería went from the Cardinals to the Boston Red Sox, Orlando Cabrera went from the Red Sox to the Angels, and Eckstein went from the Angels to the Cardinals. Eckstein signed a three-year, $10.25 million contract with the Cardinals on December 23, 2004.
In his first seven seasons, he amassed 1,079 hits while batting .286. He was voted to the National League All-Star team in 2005, along with teammates Chris Carpenter, Albert Pujols, Jason Isringhausen, and Jim Edmonds. He was a late addition to the 2006 All-Star team. In 3,772 regular season at-bats, Eckstein struck out only 305 times, with a total of 22 in 2007.
Cardinals shortstop Eckstein signs autographs before a game against the Houston Astros on May 30, 2006.
Eckstein was a fan favorite in St. Louis, who considered him to be a “pesky” hitte] (he choked-up on the bat about two inches[14]). On Mother’s Day, May 14, 2006, Eckstein was one of more than 50 hitters who brandished a pink bat to benefit the Breast Cancer Foundation.
A member of the 2006 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, Eckstein was named the World Series MVP. Following a 0-for-11 start in the first two games of the World Series, Eckstein went 8-for-22 with four RBI and scored three runs in the series, including going 4-for-5 with three doubles in Game 4. The World Series victory with the Cardinals made Eckstein one of few[quantify] starting shortstops who have won a World Series in both the American and National Leagues.
Eckstein was brought back in front of over 47,000 fans to throw out the first pitch of Game 6 of the World Series in St. Louis on October 27, 2011.
John Rodriguez 1974
Deaths
- Emmet Heidrick 1917
- Curt Flood 1997
- Vern Benson 2014