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10/15/2005: Great days in baseball history:
Today is the 59th anniversary of one of the great incidents in St. Louis Cardinals history: "The Mad Dash Home". I steal this description from a capsule biography of Cardinals player/coach (and, for brief periods, manager), Mike Gonzalez which was my maiden post at the Cardinals blog The Birdwatch:
But if Mike didn't make history for the rest of his coaching career, at least he was a participant in one of the more historic events in Cardinals history. It was, fittingly enough, Mike's last game as a coach for the Cardinals, and it was October 15, 1946. Sportsman's Park, St. Louis. Game Seven of the World Series between the Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, bottom of the eighth inning, two out, and the score tied at 3 apiece. Enos Slaugher was at first base when Harry Walker lined Boston pitcher Bob Klinger's pitch into left-center field for a sure single, and "Country" commenced what has since become immortalized in Cardinals history as "The Mad Dash Home". To achieve it, he blew right past Gonzalez's frantic "stop" sign. Fortunately (for Slaughter and St. Louis), Boston center fielder Leon Culberson bobbled the ball slightly before throwing to shortstop Johnny Pesky. Then, Pesky either checked Walker on base or had a momentary brain spasm when faced with Slaughter's sheer audacity (the point will probably be argued by die-hard fans forever). In any event, the Cardinals took the lead and never relinquished it, and Mike Gonzalez was there to see it happen.
Len on 10.15.05 @ 05:01 PM CST
