The Top St. Louis Cardinals Games of the Quarter Century (Maybe)

Let's jump on the Quarter Century train...with a little bit of a twist.

It’s all Jayson Stark’s fault.

OK, maybe it’s more the fault of The Athletic as an entity, but they’ve decided to look at the last quarter century and start putting together some lists between 2000 and 2024. Stark took the MLB All-Stars for the period while many writers, including our own lovely and talented Katie Woo, did team-specific versions. Tim Britton came out with a list today of the top 25 games from this period, which unsurprisingly 1) is heavily playoff focused and 2) has a few Cards games on there. (All links are subscription required, but you really should be a subscriber over there.)

That got me thinking about doing a version that listed out the top 25 Cardinals games. However, there’s not exactly a lot of drama there. Game 6 is going to be #1 or #2, NLCS Game 5 is probably the other one, then you have 2012 NLDS Game 5 up there. You’ve got Albert Pujols’s three-HR World Series game and suddenly this list is really heavily weighted toward October.

But what if….we took those out?

After all, there have been a lot of regular season games that stand out over the past 25 years. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to come up with all of them, so I put out a call on Twitter to see if there were others that people would bring up.

Between those responses and what I had in my head, we’ve got a pretty solid list of games. As our friend Kyle Reis said, you probably could separate some of these into “moments” vs. “games”, because some of the games aren’t entirely memorable outside of a player performance. These are also just my personal thoughts and I’m not giving the ranking a whole lot of thought. If you’d move things around or have other games you’d like to mention, put them in the comments!

This has the potential to be pretty long but I’ve not thought it out well enough to make it a series. So we’ll try to keep the discussion of each game to a minimum. There were a few mentioned on Twitter I didn’t get here for space issues as well, but you can see the responses here if you want.

---

Honorable Mentions

Tyler O’Neill keeps the winning streak going (September 18, 2021); consecutive win #17 (September 28, 2021); Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina pitching (May 15, 2022; May 22, 2022; June 8, 2022); Cards/Cubs slugfest (May 4, 2015); Rick Ankiel’s last win (April 8, 2001); The Brawl (August 10, 2010); Jack Buck’s poem (September 17, 2001); Matt Holliday’s moth (August 22, 2011); Yadi throws out Jose Siri (March 7, 2021)

This really tips more toward the “moments” side of things that Kyle was referring to. Three of the last four don’t even relate to a game and the last is in spring training. The legends pitching is fun but that immediately tells you that the game wasn’t dramatic at all.

I put Ankiel’s last win on here because it’s a game that really stands out to me. One, because Ankiel was able to put together five passable innings and there was some hope that things were improving, but more because I still remember a rookie being down 0-2 against Randy Johnson and then stinging a double, which is when I knew that Pujols was for real.

#25: Nolan Arenado hits for the cycle (July 1, 2022)

It’s still more on the moment side of the equation but it wasn’t the worst of games either, though unlike most of the games on this list, the Cards did lose this one. It’s not the highlight of his Cardinal career but it’s probably pretty close to the top.

#24: Arenado homers in his Cardinal home opener (April 8, 2021)

A 1-1 game in the bottom of the eighth inning with the offseason’s biggest acquisition, a future Hall of Famer, providing a winning home run? Yeah, that’ll be a game you remember.

#23: Matt Holliday homers in his final weekend as a Cardinal (September 30, 2016)

There was so much leading up to this. Holliday had been injured and was activated for the final weekend because the club had already told him they wouldn’t be bringing him back. The game wasn’t in doubt but the emotions that came with this homer were real. Maybe more impressive: he singled in the winning run the next day.

#22: Adam Wainwright gets his tenth career shutout (July 16, 2016)

We saw a lot of dominant pitching performances, but this one was pretty special. Not only did Wainwright only allow three hits, the first one not coming until the sixth, but he did so on the night the 2006 team was honored. He was completely in control and it was a fun night all around.

#21: Paul Goldschmidt hits three home runs (March 29, 2019)

Two games into his Cardinal career, it looked like the trade to bring him in was a, well, home run. He smoked the Brewers for three long balls, the last of which provided some much needed insurance.

#20: Rick Ankiel lets loose (May 5, 2008)

In fairness, I don’t know that I remember anything about this game outside of these two laser bolts but my goodness they stand out.

---

#19: Matt Carpenter demolishes Wrigley Field (July 20, 2018)

Anytime the Cards beat the Cubs by almost two touchdowns, it’s a good game. You wonder if they might have gotten to 20 runs had Mike Shildt not pulled Carpenter after his fifth at bat.

#18: Darryl Kile’s last start (June 18, 2002)

The game wasn’t dramatic. The Cardinals built a 7-0 lead behind their ace pitcher, who walked off the mound an out shy of eight innings. It wouldn’t be a game we would think of was it not for the next few days. That night, long-time broadcaster Jack Buck succumbed to his health issues. Then, five days later, DK was found in a Chicago hotel room, dead from a heart attack. St. Louis was shaken to the core and the final memory of DK was him walking off the Busch Stadium mound.

#17: Cards go back-to-back…to back…to back (July 2, 2022)

With two outs and a runner on in the first inning, Nolan Arenado hit a home run against the Phillies. Then Nolan Gorman did. Then Juan Yepez did. Then Dylan Carlson did. A five run lead in the first shouldn’t have turned into a save opportunity for Ryan Helsley, but he was able to make sure it didn’t all go to waste.

#16: Cards play 20 (April 17, 2010)

When the Cards hosted the Mets that Saturday afternoon, nobody knew that it was two for the price of one day, with a little bonus baseball to boot. Nobody knew that they’d see the equivalent of four shutouts between the two teams before a run crossed the plate. Nobody expected Joe Mather to get the loss and for him to be the second position player to pitch. Ubaldo Jimenez started a no-hitter in like the fourth inning of this one and finished it off well before these two teams were done. A wild one with a sad finish.

---

#15: Chris Carpenter one-hits his former team (June 14, 2005)

In the midst of his Cy Young season, Chris Carpenter got a chance to go north of the border and face the team that had drafted him. It’s possible he had a chip on his shoulder, because he struck out 10 batters and allowed only a walk to Gregg Zaun and a sixth-inning double to Russ Adams.

#14: Rick Ankiel the Outfielder makes his debut (August 9, 2007)

The story of Rick Ankiel is well known. The pitcher who lost his command and never got it back, but was talented enough to switch to becoming a full time outfielder. Nobody knew for sure if he would make it back to the big leagues, yet he pounded his way through the minor league and made it back to St. Louis late in 2007, where he put an exclamation point on his journey.

#13: Mark Mulder outduels Roger Clemens (April 23, 2005)

Mark Mulder was supposed to be the piece that would put the Cardinals, a team that had been in the World Series the year before, over the top. In his third start with the club, he gave up just two hits over eight innings against the Pirates. It would have been hard to top that, and yet he did. Matching up against a baseball legend, the two sides posted zeros until Clemens left the game after seven. Mulder kept going, though, and threw 10 scoreless innings and was rewarded when Larry Walker drove in Reggie Sanders in the bottom of that frame to put the only run of the game on the board.

#12: Wainwright wins his 200th (September 18, 2023)

It wasn’t assured that he’d make it there. If 2023 hadn’t been the worst season of the past 30 years, he might not have. Yet he reached late September needing just one win for the milestone and, for one night, Uncle Charlie was at the top of his game. He threw seven scoreless with the game always hanging in the balance. The bullpen did the rest and Waino finished his career with a nice round number.

#11: Albert Pujols hits #699 and #700 (September 23, 2022)

The return of Albert to St. Louis was almost mythical. After a slow start, Pujols flipped on the burners and tore through the league as he chased down his own round number. In Los Angeles, a town that had its own claim on him, he did it in style.

---

#10: Miles Mikolas misses a no-hitter (June 14, 2022)

When Mikolas looks back at his Cardinals career, there are going to be a few highlights but probably nothing like this one. While the score wasn’t close, the tension was palpable. Contact pitchers have an extra degree of difficulty in trying to get a no-no. Mikolas had hit a batter and walked a batter, but got 26 outs without a hit and then saw the ball hit to Harrison Bader. However, it was somehow just out of the rangy centerfielder’s reach and Mikolas was unable to unseat Bud Smith as the most recent author of a no-hitter.

#9: Edgar Renteria walks off the Cubs (July 28, 2002)

There are so many classic Cards/Cubs games that it’s hard to narrow it down. You could make a whole list of great games between the two teams over their history and this one would make every list. The Cards got down 6-0, then after closing the gap to do, found themselves down 9-4 in the ninth inning. That’s when they got to work. Seven batters came to the plate and only one (J.D. Drew) made an out. It was capped off by Renteria launching an Antonio Alfonseca pitch deep into the night, creating happy chaos in Busch.

#8: Michael Wacha loses no-hitter (September 24, 2013)

It was the end of his first full season in the big leagues and Wacha was looking sharp. He had struck out nine and walked just two, but no National had gotten a clean hit. Ryan Zimmerman was Washington’s last hope and he hit a chopper off the plate, a chopper that somehow got over his 6'6” frame. So close and yet so far.

#7: A rally in Cincinnati (May 2, 2005)

The Cardinals have had some good battles with the Reds since the two teams landed in the same division in 1994. Most often, the Redbirds have outdone the Redlegs. However, it looked like Cincy would have the upper hand here as they led 9-3 with just three outs to go. David Weathers, though, started it off with two walks and things snowballed. Jim Edmonds launched a home run off of Danny Graves that made it 9-8 and, after an error, John Mabry did the same to give St. Louis the lead.

#6: Shelby Miller is almost perfect (May 10, 2013)

Many know the story of Ernie Shore, who took over for Babe Ruth after Ruth had walked a batter and, after that batter was caught stealing, retired the next 26. In 2003, Shelby Miller had a game that echoed Shore. Eric Young Jr. led off with a signal. Miller then set down the next 27 hitters in a row, striking out 13 of them in the process. The Cardinals have had a lot of dominant pitching performances but this one is close to the top.

---

#5: Pujols celebrates Easter (April 16, 2006)

We know how Pujols’s faith drives him. We also know how much he enjoys the kids that are helped by his foundation. Put a “Buddy Walk” on Easter and look out. Three home runs is a huge day, of course, but all three were big ones, including the two-run walk-off that brought a big red W home for the holiday.

#4: Paul DeJong and Yadi crush the Cubs (September 21, 2019)

Winning games in Wrigley in September is delicious. The Cards had already posted two wins in the series, including an extra-inning win in the first game when Matt Carpenter took Craig Kimbrel deep. The third game was a back-and-forth affair but the Cubs had Kimbrel back on the mound to try to close out a win and stop some Cardinal momentum. DeJong and Yadi had completely different ideas.

#3: Scott Speizio triples (September 30, 2006)

The 2006 squad is an underrated squad in part because of the losing streak that they went on at the end of the season, allowing the Astros to have a shot at knocking them out of the postseason. The Cards were 2-8 and they were just 1 1/2 games up on Houston going into this game. With Houston winning, things looked dire for the Redbirds when Milwaukee took a two run lead in the seventh. In the eighth, though, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs. Scott Spiezio, he of the red goatee, pinch-hit (for a very young Yadier Molina) and came through with the hit that saved St. Louis’s season.

#2: Carlos Marmol provides (September 24, 2011)

There were so many times the magic carpet ride of 2011 could have run into a brick wall. Even if the Cards win two games less that September, it would have been a great but incomplete story. Yet the magic continued and the most telling moment was in Game 158. The Cardinals had all of four hits on the day and went to the bottom of the ninth trailing 1-0 against the Cubs’ closer Carlos Marmol. Marmol was erratic, though, and with two outs walked three straight batters to force in a run, then uncorked a wild pitch. Adron Chambers scampered home and the magic continued.

#1: Pujols rallies Cards past Cubs (July 20, 2004)

This is the game that always comes to mind when I think of great games. It’s not a taut, well-played game or anything, but it was still a legendary performance. Matt Morris gives up seven in the second but the bullpen gives up just one more and then the hitters get to work. AP goes yard three times but it’s So Taguchi’s homer that tied it up that sticks out.

---

Like I said, this is just something I thought of this afternoon and worked on as the Cards were getting crushed by the Rangers this evening. I doubt anyone will agree with me, but that’s the fun of baseball talk, right? Again, you have differences, hit the comments!