With the Cardinals sliding back into our lives with the season opener this week, let’s have some fun and rank the 25 greatest slides in Cardinals history. These slides were chosen based on a combination of importance, history made, unique elements to the slide and actual intensity and flair provided by the slider.
We’re only ranking actual slides while running on the base paths, so we won’t include Chris Carpenter’s head-first defensive dive into first base in the 2011 World Series. Meanwhile, a Cardinals pitcher will make the list (Dizzy Dean), even though he lives in slide infamy for, as a broadcaster later in life, popularizing the word “slud.â€
And these slides on the list will only be made by Cardinals themselves. See, you could actually make a case that the most-significant slide in Cardinals history was in Game 7 of the 1926 World Series ... when a sliding Babe Ruth was thrown out trying to steal second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
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1. The greatest hit in Cardinals history fittingly provided the greatest slide. In the 2011 World Series, the Cardinals trailed Texas 7-5 in Game 6 at Busch Stadium. The Rangers were one strike away from their first title. There were two outs, two on and two strikes on ºüÀêÊÓƵan David Freese, who drove in two with his miraculous triple. And as he slid heroically head first into third base, he instantly and triumphantly popped up onto his knees (one upon the bag) and stared like a stoic statue. It would’ve been the coolest slide if it was in a June game against Pittsburgh, let alone after a season-saving World Series triple.
2. This slide actually did become a statue. Enos “Country†Slaughter’s “Mad Dash†is immortalized outside Busch Stadium. In Game 7 of the 1946 World Series, Slaughter was on first in the bottom of the eighth. Tie game. Two outs. With Slaughter running on the pitch, Harry Walker swatted a line drive to left-center. And Slaughter just kept running. He daringly rounded third and rumbled home, sliding for the go-ahead run.
3. Entering 1974, the most bases Lou Brock ever stole was 74. But National League officials, hoping to grow excitement in the game (and in the year of Hank Aaron’s 715th homer), suggested Brock go for the record. Could be captivating. But Brock was 35. And the record was ... 104! Yet the great Cardinal pulled it off. On Sept. 10, 1974, he chugged toward second, sliding hard into the base for his 105th burglary. He finished with 118.
4. Opposing fans were so mad about a slide in 1934 that they threw fruit at the Cardinal. In Game 7 of the 1934 World Series, the Cards took a 9-0 lead as Joe “Ducky†Medwick slid viciously into third base, feet first. As dust flew, a dust-up occurred between “Ducky†and the Detroit third baseman, Marv Owen. When Medwick went out to left field the next inning, fans pelted him with fruit and insults. It got so wild, the commissioner of baseball actually removed Medwick from the game. ºüÀêÊÓƵ won 11-0.
5. Who? Did what? Cardinals backup catcher Glenn Brummer, sliding head first, stole home in the 12th inning to win a 1982 game — with two outs. Mike Shannon’s radio call from August of that World Series season became part of local lore: “BRUMMER’S STEALING HOME! He is SAAAAFE! ... You wouldn’t believe it! Glenn Brummer!â€
6. Does this count as a slide? Yeah. Let’s count it. In 1991, rookie Ray Lankford — who played football at Modesto Junior College — was on second base in the bottom of the 10th. A teammate was on first. With one out, the Phillies’ first baseman fielded a grounder and threw to second. Lankford rounded third and kept going. An infielder’s throw came home in time — caught by catcher Darren Daulton — but Lankford leveled him like a linebacker would. Daulton fell back hard and dropped the ball. The Cards won the game.
7. He slid twice on the play, but the second slide, officially, never happened. Allen Craig was on second, Yadier Molina on third. Game 3 of the 2013 World Series. Bottom of the ninth, tie game. On a grounder to second, “Yadi†was thrown out at home. But Craig scurried and slid safely into third. The ball got away, and third baseman Will Middlebrooks’ feet got tangled with Craig’s. A stumbling Craig regained his footing, slid into home and was tagged by the catcher. But — Middlebrooks was called for obstruction, so Craig officially was granted home ... thus earning the game-winning run. And 3,802 days later, it’s the last World Series game won by ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
8. They called him “The Wild Horse of the Osage.†Pepper Martin stole two bases in Game 2 of the 1931 World Series, but his triumphant slide was that of the hook variety on a squeeze play. With ºüÀêÊÓƵ up 1-0 in the seventh, Martin hustled home and eluded Mickey Cochrane’s reaching tag in a pivotal play. The Cards went on to win the game and the title.
9. Did you know that in the sixth inning of Game 7 in the 1982 World Series, the Cardinals were losing? By two runs, too?Â
But the Cards’ Keith Hernandez — with his team down, 3-1 — singled off his former high school teammate Bob McClure of Milwaukee. Ozzie Smith scored! Lonnie Smith scored! And the mustached Mike Ramsey’s slide into third — just beating the tag — was more of a belly-flop. His puffy, curly hair went flying every which way.
Covered in caked dirt, Ramsey then scored the go-ahead run on a George Hendrick hit. ºüÀêÊÓƵ went on to win, 6-3, as Jack Buck announced on KMOX: "That's a winner! That's a winner! A World Series winner for the Cardinals!"
10. In the 1934 World Series, the legendary pitcher Dean was used as a pinch runner in Game 4. His heads-up slide literally broke up a potential double play with his actual head. But — the star pitcher and beloved bumpkin remained unconscious on the field. A nation awaited the results of his hospital tests. And as the old baseball tale goes, headlines the next day read: “X-RAY OF DEAN’S HEAD SHOW NOTHING.â€
He proceeded to pitch the next day in Game 5 (losing 3-1). But he threw a shutout in the Game 7 victory.
11. This one earned its status not only because of the slide itself, but also because of the photo capturing it. In Game 6 of the 1967 World Series, Brock lost his helmet and sprinted home on a Curt Flood hit. Lou dove head first on the back side the plate, using his reaching left arm to score. Boston catcher Elston Howard, a ºüÀêÊÓƵ native, couldn’t apply the tag in time. And Boston Globe photographer Frank O’Brien took just a wonderful photo — Howard holding up his glove, Brock looking at him and the umpire above both screaming: “SAFE!â€
12. In the final month of Ozzie Smith’s final regular season, “The Wizard†transported his 1982 self to ºüÀêÊÓƵ. He led off at second in the 10th inning of a Sept. 2, 1996 game against Houston — the Cards were in a race for the division, trying to return to the postseason for the first time since 1987, when Smith finished second in the MVP voting.
And the batter that 1996 day? Willie McGee.
Smith’s dear friend chopped a single to center. Ozzie grimaced as he rambled around third. And his feet-first slide beat the throw — and the Cards beat the rival Astros.
13. Miguel Mejia, age 21, was a Rule 5 player in 1996 who had to be on the big-league roster or the Cardinals would lose his rights. As a player, Mejia couldn’t, if you will, hit. But he could run. Tony La Russa sometimes used him as a pinch-runner. And such was the case on a Los Angeles night, 11 days after Ozzie’s walk-off slide (or, perhaps it was a "slide-off"?)
This game in L.A. was scoreless in the ninth. The Cards had two on — Mike Gallego on first and pinch-runner Mejia on second. Danny Sheaffer bunted the runners over. Here's how the Post-Dispatch's Rick Hummel captured the scene:
Mejia was running with the pitch, on a sign he said he had from Tony La Russa. … But, like Enos Slaughter in the 1946 World Series, Mejia didn't stop at third. He roared past coach Tommie Reynolds and slid into catcher Mike Piazza. …
"My (jaw) sank to my stomach, " Tommie Reynolds said in the aftermath. "I said, `Holy cow, there's no way he can score on that.' " …
But umpire Gary Darling said Mejia bounced off Piazza's shin guard with no tag being made. When Mejia finally touched the plate with his hand, he was called safe and the Dodgers went ballistic, losing manager Bill Russell and two players, who were ejected in the debate.
After Mejia's own mad dash, the Post-Dispatch headline stated: CARDS HEAR THE CALL, WIN 2-0 - `COUNTRY'Â MEJIAÂ SCORES IN 9TH.
14. In 1985 game at Wrigley Field, rookie Vince Coleman stole third with a head-first slide … but overshot the base. Wisely, instead of lunging back toward third and likely getting tagged, Coleman just popped up and started toward home. But he jogged, in efforts to get caught in a run-down and, if anything, buy time for McGee to get to third. But after a couple tosses, the Cubs didn’t have anyone covering home. “Vincent Van Go†stole home. He finished the year with 110 stolen bases and the rookie of the year honors.
15. A young ºüÀêÊÓƵan named David Freese was in the 1996 Busch Stadium stands to witness one of the greatest postseason triples in Cardinals history … until Freese himself hit the undeniable greatest in 2011. In the 1996 NLCS against Atlanta, the Cardinals took a 3-1 lead in Game 4, thanks in part to rookie Dmitri Young’s pinch-hit triple, capped off with an epic head-first slide.
16. Mark Hamilton had only four RBIs in his MLB career. But one drove in the only run of a Chris Carpenter-Johnny Cueto pitchers’ duel on the Fourth of July. That 2011 day at Busch, Hamilton came to bat as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth. The lefty-swinging Hamilton his a weird ball the other way to third base. Old friend Scott Rolen, then with Cincinnati, made a vintage Scott Rolen play on the ball. But Hamilton took what the Associated Press called “a curious wide turn and belatedly slid head first into the bag.â€Â He was safe, a runner scored and the Cards went on to win, 1-0. They sure needed the “W.†They made the playoffs on the very last day of the season.
17. On the FOX broadcast of the 2012 NLCS, Tim McCarver pointed out that Matt Holliday was one of the "toughest sliders in the National League." On a Game 2 play at second at San Francisco, Holliday leapt late — and his hard slide went past the bag, taking out infielder Marco Scutaro. The play encapsulated the physical impact Holliday would make on games in his great ºüÀêÊÓƵ career.
But the Giants went on to win Game 2 and the series, while Scutaro, of all players, went on to win the NLCS MVP.
18. The longest game in Cardinals history was capped off by a slide from that season’s rookie of the year. One September night in 1974, the Cardinals-Mets game went 25 innings — and lasted seven hours and four minutes. In the ninth, the Cardinals tied the game at 3-3. Nobody scored a run until the top of the 25th. Bake McBride, who went 4 for 10 on the night (and into the morning), was on first when a pickoff throw went wild. Bake just kept on running, all the way home. His didn’t see the stop sign from the third base coach — or, as the manager Red Schoendienst joked to the Post-Dispatch, “Bake was running so fast that he couldn't see the sign.â€
McBride slid home for the go-ahead run. The Cards would win, 4-3. Â
19. In Game 2 of the 2013 World Series, Matt Carpenter ripped a deep sacrifice fly RBI. Sliding Pete Kozma tied the game, 2-2. But the ball got away, so Jon Jay sped over to third from second.
But then, the throw got away and the second error on the play allowed Jay to score. ºüÀêÊÓƵ took the seventh inning lead, 3-2, and won the game.
20. On April 4, 2017, Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty was hit by a pitch.
On a passed ball, he hustled to second … but the throw hit Piscotty during his slide.
Then, Piscotty ran to third on an ball hit in the infield — and after the fielding was botched, Piscotty headed home. His slide was perfect — the throw was not.
It hit him right in the head.
Three times in one inning.Â
21. The 1942 season was Stan Musial’s first full one in the bigs. Sure enough, the Cards made the World Series.
With ºüÀêÊÓƵ up on the Yankees, two games to one, New York took an early lead in Game 4. But in the fourth, Musial got on, actually via a bunt. And then, “The Man†ran from first to third on a Walker Cooper hit, sliding feet-first. It was a close play at third, but Stan was safe.
He’d score on a Whitey Kurowski single ... and the Cards tallied six total runs in the inning. They cruised to a Game 4 win. And won the title in Game 5. Â
22. On August 29, 1977, Brock slid into history. It was his 893rd stolen base, surpassing Ty Cobb’s career total for first all-time in the modern era. The Cardinals, in their baby blue V-necks, rushed the field in San Diego to celebrate.
After the fact, historians discovered that Cobb actually had five uncredited steals. But Brock finished his career with 938, thus surpassing Cobb’s revised total, as well as the total of 1800s player Billy Hamilton (914). Brock’s total stands as the National League’s record for most stolen bases.
23. The 1944 World Series was ºüÀêÊÓƵ vs. ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Game 6, as all of the games were, was played at Sportsman’s Park at the corner of Grand and Dodier. With the score tied 1-1 in the fourth, a Cardinal by the name of Emil Verban hit a sacrifice fly. Teammate Ray Sanders sprinted home and slid in for the go-ahead run. The Cardinals didn’t relinquish the lead and won the World Series that day.
24. The Cardinals needed to win Game 6 of the 1987 NLCS to stay alive. On a Jose Oquendo sacrifice fly, slow-footed Tony Pena was nearly tagged out by his catching cohort. But Pena eluded a tag and sort of lunged and plopped onto home plate. It was the game’s only run. ºüÀêÊÓƵ went on to win the pennant.
25. In August of 2018, hair-raising Harrison Bader slid hair-first into third base. His body whipped around the bag. He was sprawled on his stomach, touching the base without his helmet on, while looking up at the dugout with a huge smile. Just a of sliding glee.