St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day 1985 – Looking at the Last 50

Attendance: 46,781, Time of Game: 3:42

Umpires: HP – Bob Engel, 1B – Jim Quick, 2B – Paul Runge, 3B – Dave Pallone

Joaquin Andujar will start for the Cardinals and will face the fireballing Dwight  Gooden who just completed his rookie season in ’84 with a 17-9 record and a 2.60 ERA.

Steve Braun
Jack Clark
Bob Forsch
Tom Herr
Mike LaValliere
Willie McGee
Terry Pendleton
Ozzie Smith
Andy Van Slyke

Wally Backman

Mookie Wilson

Keith Hernandez

Gary Carter

Daryl Strawberry

George Foster

Howard Johnson

Rafael Santana

Dwight “Doc” Gooden

The Mets got to Andujar in the 1st inning with the aid of two hits and two walks and march in front 2-0 after one inning. Jack Clark leads off the second inning with a long blast to make it 2-1 Mets. The Cardinals tie it in the 3rd with a Lonnie Smith single, double by Tom Herr and a passed ball.

George Foster homers in the 3rd and a single, error and single in the fourth inning finds New York up 4-2. Santana doubles home Foster in the 6th and the Mets lead 5-2. The Cardinals keep chipping away.

Lead off singles by Van Slyke and chases Gooden out of the game and Doug Sisk relieves him. He gets two outs but then Herr singles home two runs and now it is a 5-4 Mets lead. In the top of the 9th inning Willie McGee pinch hits and raps a single. The Birds load the bases with a hit-by-pitch and a single to face Jack Clark. He walks to allow the tying run to come across the plate. No more scoring happens and we got o extra innings.

Neil Allen pitched the 9th and now faces Gary Carter with one out in the 10th inning. On a 2-1 fastball the game is over as the Mets catcher crushes it for a walkoff home run.

2B: T Herr (1, off D Gooden); O Smith (1, off T Gorman).
HR: J Clark (1, off D Gooden, 2nd inn, 0 on, 0 outs).
HBP: L Smith (1, by D Sisk).
TB: T Herr 4; J Clark 4; O Smith 3; J Andujar; S Braun; W McGee; A Van Slyke; L Smith.
RBI: T Herr 2 (2); J Clark 2 (2).
2-out RBI: T Herr 2; J Clark.
Team LOB: 10.
With RISP: 2 for 10.
Fielding
E: T Herr (1); J Andujar (1).
Baserunning
SB: J Andujar (1, 2nd base off D Gooden/G Carter)

2B: R Santana (1, off J Andujar); G Carter (1, off K Dayley).
HR: G Foster (1, off J Andujar, 3rd inn, 0 on, 2 outs); G Carter (1, off N Allen, 10th inn, 0 on, 1 out).
IBB: K Hernandez (1, by B Campbell).
HBP: G Carter 2 (2, 1 by B Campbell, 1 by J Andujar).
TB: G Carter 6; G Foster 5; K Hernandez 3; R Santana 2; M Wilson 2; D Gooden; W Backman; H Johnson.
RBI: K Hernandez 2 (2); R Santana (1); G Foster (1); H Johnson (1); G Carter (1).
2-out RBI: R Santana; H Johnson; K Hernandez; G Foster.
Team LOB: 15.
With RISP: 2 for 11.
Fielding
PB: G Carter (1).
Baserunning
SB: M Wilson 2 (2, 2nd base off B Campbell/D Porter, 2nd base off J Andujar/D Porter)

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With the 1985 season complete we will do a quick look back at it.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ 1985 season was the team’s 104th season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 94th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 101-61 during the season and finished in first place in the National League East division by three games over the New York Mets. After defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in the NLCS, they lost in seven games in the World Series to their cross-state rivals, the Kansas City Royals in the I-70 Series. The World Series is known, somewhat unfortunately, for the infamous “safe” call on the Royals’ Jorge Orta by umpire Don Denkinger.
The Cardinals switched back to their traditional gray road uniforms for the first time in ten seasons.
Outfielder Willie McGee won the National League MVP Award this year, batting .353 with 10 home runs and 82 RBIs. Outfielder Vince Coleman won the National League Rookie of the Year Award this year, batting .267 with 107 runs scored and 110 stolen bases. Shortstop Ozzie Smith and McGee both won Gold Gloves this year.
During the 1985 playoffs, the Cardinals used the slogan The Heat Is On, in reference to the song that was released earlier that year.