1982 World Series

1982 World Series

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team are no strangers to the Fall Classic. As a matter of fact they have won a National League record 10 World Series championships, however, the 1982 World Series was one of the most famous in my book.

This particular series pitted the Cardinals against the Milwaukee Brewers.

During this time the Cardinals team was lead by the famous Whitey Herzog who managed the team from 1980 to 1990 and also saw them to two more World Series in 1985 and again in 1987. For this reason the St. Louis Cardinals style of playing was affectionately dubbed Whiteyball.

Old Busch Stadium

Perhaps what made this particular series so famous was the fact that the Cardinals didn’t have big hitters that year. During the regular season they only had 67 home runs as opposed to the Brewers record of 216 home runs in 1982. It was the amazing pitching, base running and defense which led them to the 4 to 3 Series victory over the Brewers.

Game 7 of the 1982 World Series was held at the old Busch Stadium with 53,723 people in attendance.

New Busch Stadium

I can still remember it like it was yesterday. The Cardinals were actually losing game 7 by a score of 3 to 1 in the top of the 6th inning but their famous shortstop, Ozzie Smith, singled in the bottom of the 6th and then Lonnie Smith hit a double moving Ozzie to third base. The Cardinals then brought in a pinch hitter by the name of Gene Tenace who was intentionally walked by the Brewers organization which effectively loaded the bases for the Cards. The next batter was Cardinals first baseman Keith Hernandez who tied the game with a two run single and then George Hendrick put the Cards in the lead with an RBI single. Later on in the 8th inning the Cardinals strengthened their lead with 2 more runs. Joaquin Andujar pitched 7 strong innings holding Milwaukee to only 3 runs and the Cardinals ace reliever Bruce Sutter was brought in to pitch the 8th and 9th. They were both perfect innings for Sutter and the Cardinals finished it clinching their 9th World Series title.

The 1982 World Series brought millions of dollars in revenue to St. Louis along with additional fame for the Cardinals organization as well as the city itself.

We St. Louisans are not ashamed to say that we adore our Cardinals and we love our great city.

1982 World Series Interviews after game 7 on YouTube