1944 National League Champions – Cardinals

I’m calling on all available Saint Louis Cardinal mojo. By all accounts, we’ll need every scrap of it tonight. The Redbirds are facing the Chicago Cubs tonight in Wrigley Field, but what’s worse is that we are also facing their ace pitcher, Jake Arrieta. A Cardinal victory tonight is not required, but it sure would be nice. Whoever wins tonight will be up 2-to-1 in the series, putting a lot of pressure on the other team to win then next two games. All the pundits are expecting Arrieta and the Cubs to win, but I’m hoping otherwise. If the Birds do manage to pull out a win, it will almost be like a double victory, beating both the Cubs and Arrieta. Pitching for Saint Louis will be Wacha-Wacha, who Anne and I saw win in the Cardinals last regular season home stand. Maybe this personal connection will add that last bit of mojo needed for a Redbirds win. Go Cardinals!

The graphic is a poster celebrating the 1944 Cardinals National League Pennant victory. In the subsequent World Series match there was no way that Saint Louis could lose, because the American League Pennant winners were the Saint Louis Browns, which for at least this one year were able put lie to the old saw about Saint Louis, “First in booze, first in shoes and last in the American League.” WW II was raging throughout 1944 and the draft had severely depleted the ranks of Major League Baseball, which might explain the success of the Browns that year. Their team boasted a number of 4-Fs including a one-armed pitcher. The Cardinals eventually won the series. That same year, MGM released the movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis”. So, all-in-all 1944 was a pretty good year in Saint Louis, especially if you ignore that pesky little war that was going on. Other than New York, which we will ignore, the only other city to boast a crosstown series would be Chicago, in 1906, which the White Sox won. Interestingly, the Cubs were the 1945 NL Pennant winners, but lost the series.