That Day
I was supposed to be in St. Louis for only one day in August 1995. I ended up there for 3 days, so I had time to see a Cards game. They played the Houston Astros that evening, August 1. The starters were Danny Jackson (2-10) and Mike Hampton (6-3). Craig Biggio hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 1st and a solo shot in the 9th. The big inning for the Astros was the 5th, in which they scored 4 runs. With the score 7-1 in the 8th, the Cards began to come to life. Bernard Gilkey, who drove in the Cards� first run in the 1st with a sac fly, singled and scored on a Brian Jordan home run. Ray Lankford walked, and Hampton was lifted for Doug Brocail. Brocail got John Mabry, pinch-hitting for Darnell Coles, to hit into a DP. Catcher Danny Sheaffer homered, but 3B Scott Cooper popped up to end the inning. Gilkey and Lankford drove in runs in the 9th, but the Cards came up short, losing 8-6.
I have the sports section from the following day. The Cards had the second worst winning percentage in the NL, at .416. The worst team, I�m sad to say, was the Mets, at .398. Future Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn was leading the league with a .362 average. The big headline that day: "Mantle Has Lung Cancer." |
