…the Cardinals parted ways with closer Bruce Sutter, dealt a package of four players for power-hitting first baseman Jack Clark and traded key outfielder Lonnie Smith in May. Those moves, combined with a very big rookie outbreak and some good pitching put the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals back into the World Series
Two dramatic home runs punctuated the 1985 NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers. The broadcast call of one is remembered in a lot of baseball montages to this day—and that wasn’t even the home run that won the pennant. Another dramatic shot was the final big blow of a competitive six-game series.
It was the “Suds Series”, as the 1982 World Series brought together two of the great brewing cities in America, with the St. Louis Cardinals meeting the Milwaukee Brewers. And the Suds Series produced seven games, complete with good back-and-forth battles, as each team trailed the Series by a game at one point before rallying to take the lead. It was St. Louis who traded their beer for champagne in the end.
The 1982 St. Louis Cardinals inherited the legacy of the National League’s proudest franchise, but one that was—relatively speaking—a dry spell. After going to consecutive World Series in 1967-68 and winning one, this great baseball city had been quiet in October. Baseball expanded in 1969, the leagues split into two divisions each, but St. Louis didn’t win the new NL East.