10 of the most thrilling moments in Cardinals history

ST. LOUIS -- Every Cardinals fan who has followed the team for most of their lives has their own list of favorite moments while watching the club win big games, but this list is very personal to me for a lot of reasons.

Most of them, you see, were shaped between myself and my late father and grandfather. Long before covering the Cards for MLB.com as an unbiased journalist, I grew up in a Cardinals family with my father loving the Redbirds and his father doing the same. I’ve heard all the stories of them making the four-hour drive from West Tennessee to St. Louis only to see Bob Gibson dispose of a foe in less than two hours.

The following is a list of my favorite plays in Cardinals’ history, covering the past 55 years. It is a list that is very special to me, and I hope that somewhere at that big ballpark in the sky my dad, Danny Denton, approves of it. In fact, we witnessed many of these moments together at Busch Stadium, including No. 1 on the list:

1. David Freese’s two-out, two-strike, two-run triple in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series

To this day, Oct. 27, 2011, remains one of the most unforgettable and unfathomable dates in Cards history. With the Cardinals trailing, 7-5, in the bottom of the ninth and down to their final strike, Freese hit a two-run triple that just eluded Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz and careened off the wall and back toward the infield. It tied the game at 7-7, and Freese later won it in the 11th inning with a walk-off solo homer. As crazy as it sounds, the clutch homer -- and the Cards’ Game 7 win -- almost felt anticlimactic because of Freese’s heroics in the ninth.

2. Ozzie Smith’s “Go crazy, folks” home run in Game 5 of the 1985 NLCS

Smith hit the first left-handed home run of his career off Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer to win Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, 3-2, in the bottom of the ninth inning on Oct. 14, 1985. Smith, who had never hit a home run in his previous 3,009 left-handed Major League at-bats, pulled an inside fastball down the right-field line for a walk-off home run. As Smith circled the bases with his right index finger in the air, Jack Buck's legendary call was: “Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!”

3. Adam Wainwright’s epic curveball to catch Carlos Beltran looking and send the Cards to the 2006 World Series

Wainwright, then the club’s rookie closer, struck out Carlos Beltran looking on a curveball with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. That epic “Uncle Charlie” gave the Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the Mets in Game 7 of the NLCS on Oct. 19, 2006. Hall of Famer John Smoltz, broadcasting for Fox at the time, called it "the perfect pitch at the perfect time to the perfect place.” According to FanGraphs, Wainwright's curveball was the most effective curve among MLB pitchers for the 10-year period from 2006-16, with 109.7 curveball runs above average (wCB). The Cards went on to defeat the Tigers in five games to win the 2006 World Series.

4. Mark McGwire’s 62nd home run to break Roger Maris’ 37-year homer record

McGwire’s home run chase, along with Cubs’ slugger Sammy Sosa, in 1998 breathed life back into the game following a messy labor dispute a season earlier. McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season off Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel on Sept. 8, breaking Roger Maris' single-season record of 61 home runs, set in ‘61. The home run barely cleared the wall in left field and was estimated to have traveled just 341 feet -- believed to be McGwire's shortest of the season. McGwire finished with 70 home runs, a record that was later broken by Barry Bonds, who hit 73 in 2001.

5. Albert Pujols’ 699th and 700th home runs in 2022

In his final MLB season, Pujols capped a stirring, homer-happy second half by becoming the fourth player in MLB history to hit 700 home runs. He joined Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). Pujols hit home run No. 699 off Dodgers left-hander Andrew Heaney in the third inning on Sept. 23, and then smashed No. 700 off Phil Bickford in the fourth inning. Fittingly, the first homer of the night was his 200th off a lefty and the second was his 500th off a right-hander. Following the 700th blast of his career, Pujols knelt in the dugout tunnel and openly wept.

6. Willie McGee’s homers and home-run robbery in Game 3 of the 1982 World Series

McGee not only hit two home runs, but he also made a leaping catch of a would-be ninth-inning homer to rob Brewers slugger Gorman Thomas and preserve a 6-2 Cards win on Oct. 15. At that time, McGee became just the third rookie to hit two home runs in a World Series game, joining Charlie Keller (1939) and Tony Kubek (1957). Said Cards manager Whitey Herzog afterward: "I don't know if anyone has ever played a better World Series game than Willie.” The Cards went on to win the World Series, 4-3.

7. Jack Clark’s go-ahead three-run home run in Game 6 of the 1985 NLCS

With two outs in the top of the ninth and the Cardinals trailing, 5-4, on Oct. 16, “Jack the Ripper” hit a three-run homer off Niedenfuer, who had surrendered Smith’s walk-off blast one game earlier. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda had the option to intentionally walk Clark with first base open to pitch to Andy Van Slyke, but he chose not to. Clark, who certainly took his time rounding the bases, blasted the ball deep into the left-field bleachers. It was punctuated by Dodgers left fielder Pedro Guerrero frustratingly spiking his glove as the ball sailed over his head.

8. Pujols’ three-homer night in Game 3 of the 2011 World Series

Pujols smacked three home runs in Game 3 of the World Series against the Rangers on Oct. 22, joining Babe Ruth (1926 and ‘28) and Reggie Jackson (1977) as the only players to accomplish the feat at that time. Incredibly, Pujols went 5-for-6 with six RBIs and set a World Series record with 14 total bases. Said manager Tony La Russa following the 16-7 win that put the Cards up 2-1 in the series: “There it is, the greatest night in World Series history, and we saw it."

9. Tom Lawless’ home run -- and bat flip -- in Game 4 the 1987 World Series

Lawless, a utility infielder who had hit just one career home run before that night, smashed a three-run homer off Twins ace Frank Viola in the fourth inning on Oct. 21. As the ball was ricocheting off the second deck in left field, Lawless executed a dramatic bat flip, throwing the bat high in the air over his shoulder. The Cardinals won, 7-2, but they ultimately lost the World Series to the Twins in seven games. Said Lawless: "When it went over the wall, I thought, 'Holy cow, it went out.' I went blank, and I don't remember flipping the bat."

10. Pujols’ game-winning three-run home run off Brad Lidge in 2005

With apologies to Matt Adams’ epic home run off Clayton Kershaw in Game 4 of the 2014 NL Division Series, I had to go with this breathtaking moment from Pujols on Oct. 17, 2005. With the Astros two strikes from their first NL pennant, Pujols hit a dramatic, titanic ninth-inning homer that bounced off the side of the closed Minute Maid Park roof before landing on the railroad tracks in left field.

“He threw me that pitch earlier in the at-bat, and once I saw it, I had it,” Pujols said, pointing to his head.

The Astros would go on to win Game 6 -- advancing to the World Series -- in the final game at Busch Stadium II, but the legend of Pujols’ homer has lived on for decades.