"Joe-vial" '71 Cards upset '85 Mets in 4

1971 Cardinals Upset 1985 Mets

Game 1 at St. Louis – The Cardinals batter around Doc Gooden (did he find Keith Hernandez dealer in the Gateway City) for 7 runs on 9 hits in 4 innings. Joe Hague crushed a 3-run homer run off Gooden in the 1^st for an early lead. Joe Torre banged a 2-run shot in the 3^rd and the Redbirds never looked back on their way to an 8-2 win in the opener. Steve Carlton (1-0) went the distance for St. Louis.

Game 2 at St. Louis – The Mets return the favor against Cardinals legend Bob Gibson, sending him to the showers after surrendering 5 runs and 6 hits in 4 innings. Mets even the series with a 6-1 victory. Daryl Strawberry was the offensive star with 2 hits (HR), 2 runs and 2 RBI. El Sid Fernandez (1-0) tossed 6 innings, yielding a single run on 7 hits. Rick Aguilera (1) added the iron-man save with 3 innings of work.    

Game 3 at New York – St. Louis put up large crooked numbers in 3 innings and cruised to an 11-6 win in Gotham. The Cardinals plated 4 runs in the 1^st highlighted by a 2-run homer by The Hague. They scored 3 in the 6^th highlighted by a 2-run Joe Torre single. Torre’s 3-run bomb highlighted a 4-run 8^th. The ’71 NL MVP finished with 3 hits and 5 RBI. Interesting strategy by Mets manager Justin Ryan; intentionally walking Matty Alou in front of all 5 Torre ribbies. Jerry Reuss (1-0) was the beneficiary of the Redbird batting display.

Game 4 at New York – The only tight game of the

series saw St. Louis hold on for a 3-2 win to advance to the second round of the Holiday Festival. The Redbirds jumped to an early lead again when Torre and Ted Simmons came through with RBI singles in the 1^st. The Mets got 1 back in the 5^th when Mookie Wilson tripled in PR Kelvin Chapman. St. Loo answered in the 6^th with what proved to be the game winner as Lou Brock singled home Jose Cruz. Strawberry scored George Foster with a double in the 8^th, but Frank Linzy (1) took the ball for the final four outs to preserve the win for Reggie Cleveland (1-0).

St. Louis now advances to play the 1946 Tigers

--submitted by Bruce Thomas--