7/14/2016 '80s-Era Cardinals on Team Legacy - 101Sports.com
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’80s-Era Cardinals on Team Legacy Posted by: Zoe Wolkowitz in Major League Baseball July 16, 2014
Flashback Week has provided 101ESPN the opportunity to relive one the greater decades the Cardinalshave ever known. The 1980s saw a transition for baseball, with offensive power numbers having dropped.The Cardinals triumphed during this time, however, with three National League pennants and a WorldSeries title.
’80s MLB stars weren’t reliant on the home runs or recognition by thepress. Baseball was changing and began to revolve around speed andrelief pitching. If a team won, it was a team effort; not one big name orbig hit. In fact, nine different teams won World Series championshipsduring that decade.
“One of my favorite things about the ’80s was the variety there was in agame,” said 101ESPN’s Kevin Wheeler. “In the ’80s it seemed like everyteam had their own style and an era when there weren’t repeatchampions, there weren’t individual franchises dominating the entiredecade. I find that time just to be a great time in baseball history.”
During the 80’s era, teams began to change their lineups to focus onspeed. Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog implemented this strategy and
used “Runnin’ Redbirds” players like Ozzie Smith, Willie McGee, Lonnie Smith, and Vince Coleman. Afterpiling up stolen bases and countless RBI’s, this style of play was dubbed by the media and fans as “WhiteyBall.”
“I think the two things that are crazy when I look at the team from ’85 is Tom Herr with 100 RBIs butonly eight home runs and Vince Coleman with 110 stolen bases. Just a completely different style of baseballback then,” said Anthony Stalter on 101ESPN’s “The Turn.”
The ’82 Cardinals hit a majorleague low of 67 home runs, but stole 200 bases on the way to their ninthworld championship.
“We weren’t a home run hitting team but I think that in 1982 we were a very fundamentally soundteam,” said Ozzie Smith on “The Kevin Wheeler Show.” “One of the things that made us very successfulwas the fact that we moved as a unit and people don’t realize that when you play the game of baseball youmove as a unit. When one guy moves, it starts a chain reaction and that was one of the things that wasvery special about our team because we were a total unit as far as defense was concerned, we had realquality pitching, we had veterans that understood what there job was.”
Another change the ’80s era introduced was the rise of relief pitching and the role of the closer. TheCardinals ruled the league with strong and consistent pitching performances.
“I was so excited to be sitting out in the bullpen on our bench watching that speed than being on themound watching that speed because I just watched pitcher, after pitcher, after pitcher come unraveled onthe mound and worry so much about someone peeping at first or stealing a base that they forget abouthome plate,” said Ken Dayley, former Cardinals relief pitcher, on 101ESPN’s “The Turn.”
“I’ve had some wonderful years in St. Louis but that 1982 was a magical year for us because it all workedand it all came together” said Smith. “We had guys that could run the ball down and pitchers that couldpitch to our defense. It made it a very easy trip to the ballpark everyday knowing that we were going tohave a chance to win because of how we went about our work.”
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Tagged with: BASEBALL CARDINALS KEN DAYLEY MLB OZZIE SMITH WHITEY HERZOG
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