In 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals seemed to pull off the impossible: come back from 10.5 games back in the wild card chase, then make the playoffs, then win the World Series. Images such as the Rally Squirrel and the "Happy Flight" will live on. But the story of the impossible come from out of contention, make the playoffs on the last day of the season, then beat the best-in-MLB Phillies, then beat the best-at-home Brewers, then beat the heavily favored Rangers was a movie ending that will take time to sink in for some people, and will leave the "baseball braintrusts" scratching their heads for years.
It might surprise you to know that a similar incident ocurred in 1964 to the Cardinals. That year, there is no reason to assume the Cardinals were going to make an impact. The previous trip to the World Series was in 1946, where they'd won the World Series against the Red Sox in 7 games. Before 1963, the last Cardinals team to even get close to the postseason was the 1949 team. The 1963 team finished with a record of 93-69. However, the grestest Cardinal of them all decided to call it a career at the end of the 1963 season; after 22 seasons, Stan Musial retired. This led many to doubt how the 1964 season would be any improvement.
However, the small signs were pointing to a positive year. Bob Gibson had his first big season in 1963, going 18-9. Tim McCarver was emerging as a great catcher. Ken Boyer and Bill White had great seasons each. Pitchers Ray Sadecki and Curt Simmons were on the way to helping the fold. The team was actually stronger than most people realized. The biggest deal of the 1964 season was trading Ernie Broglio to the Cubs in June for Lou Brock. This added speed to the lineup and a new life. Most sportswriters and players thought this was a great move for Chicago, but Broglio had a bad second half, and went on to have two injury-plagued seasons.
The pieces were falling into place. But there was one major setback that would have made most ballclubs fall to pieces. On August 16, 1964, with the Cardinals 9 1/2 games out of first place, the owner Gussie Busch fired the General Manager Bing Devine, architect of the trade Broglio/Brock trade. The manger Johnny Keane knew that he would probably be gone at the end of the season. He had nothing to lose. On August 23, the Cardinals were 11 games back of the first place Phillies.
But then something strange happened: they began to win games. The Phillies continued to win also, but the Cardinals slowly began to gain ground. On September 20, the Cardinals and Reds were tied for second place: both 6 1/2 games back of the Phillies. Everyone counted the Cardinals out of the race, even though they won, it couldn't be enough. Or could it? The problem with the Phillies was two-fold: they were pushed too hard and their injuries were too numerous. The starting pitchers were forced to pitch with short rest at least 6 times down the stretch, causing their quality to deteriorate drastically. The amount of injuries also forced losses at the worst possible time. There were 12 games to go when the infamous "Phillie Phold" happened.
Starting a three-game series against the Reds on September 21, the Phillies were swept. The next series was a four-game series against the Milwaukee Braves, who also swept the Phillies (that's 7 losses in a row, if you're counting). On September 27, the Reds were in first place, with the Phillies a game behind, and the Cardinals 1 1/2 games behind first place. The following day, the Phillies and Cardinals met for a crucial three-game series. The Cardinals swept the Phillies (which makes the Phillies 10 losses in a row at that point). The Reds lost to Pittsburgh, allowing the Cardinals to take over first place. There was one last series to go before the season ended. The Cardinals took on the Mets (who were terrible, of course), and the Reds and Phillies squared off. The Cardinals won only one of the three games against the Mets, but at that point, the Reds were more of a contender than the Phillies. The Phillies ended up beating the Reds, causing the Cardinals to finish the season one game ahead of the Reds and Phillies.
The "Phillie Phold" is considered by many to be one of the (if not the) worst sports collapses in sports history. Many incidents contributed to the collapse of the monumental Phillies team. But in the end, sometimes it's just who gets lucky. The Cardinals would go on to win the World Series in 7 games against the Yankees. The 2011 Cardinals will be remembered for an equally amazing come from behind story, epic in nature and memorable for all sports fans. Both the 1964 and 2011 Cardinals prove to all fans that a team is never out of the race unless it is mathematically impossible, but if there is 1 game left, then there is still a chance.
Bet you didn't know that!
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