(Updated July 4, 2020)
Cardinals players who have taken center stage on Independence Day range from the franchise’s greatest, Stan Musial, to debuting rookies such as Keith McDonald.
The top 7 most noteworthy Cardinals performances on July 4:
1. STAN MUSIAL
_ On July 4, 1953, in the ninth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Cubs at Chicago, Stan Musial hit a three-run double off the left-field wall against Johnny Klippstein, highlighting a six-run inning and lifting the Cardinals to a 7-3 victory. Boxscore
The double made Musial the Cardinals’ career leader in hits at 2,111, one more than Rogers Hornsby. Musial still holds the Cardinals hits record, with 3,630. No. 2 on the franchise list is Lou Brock at 2,713.
Musial went on to have a sizzling second half of the season for the 1953 Cardinals. Batting .251 in mid-June, he hit .362 in July, .330 in August and .425 in September, finishing at .337 for the season.
2. AUGIE BERGAMO
_ Substituting for injured Johnny Hopp, Augie Bergamo, the Cardinals’ 5-foot-9 leadoff batter and right fielder, had five hits in six at-bats, drove in eight runs and scored four times in the second game of a doubleheader against the Giants at New York on July 4, 1945. Bergamo had three singles and two home runs in the Cardinals’ 19-2 victory. The first of the home runs was a two-run shot off starter Slim Emmerich and the second was a grand slam off rookie Loren Bain. Boxscore
In the opener, an 8-4 Cardinals triumph, Bergamo was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI. Boxscore
For the doubleheader, Bergamo was 8-for-11 with nine RBI and six runs scored. He produced more RBI in the two games than the entire Giants team did.
At one point, a flag, or bunting, draped on a railing along the third-base seats burst into flames because of a careless fan’s cigar, the New York Daily News reported, and the Cardinals “rushed to the rescue with water-soaked towels.”
3. ROYCE LINT
_ A 33-year-old rookie making his first major-league start, Royce Lint had the best performance of his brief Cardinals career in the second game of a doubleheader against the Cubs at Chicago on July 4, 1954.
Lint pitched a complete-game shutout and drove in two runs with a double in the Cardinals’ 7-0 victory. Boxscore
“Royce rolled like a Rolls-Royce,” the St. Louis Globe-Democrat declared.
The left-hander yielded nine hits (eight singles and a double) and two walks. The Cubs hit into three double plays and stranded eight.
Lint’s two-run double off Jim Brosnan was his only hit in 10 big-league at-bats. The shutout was his only complete game in 30 appearances with St. Louis.
4. KEITH McDONALD
_ In his first big-league at-bat, Keith McDonald, a catcher pinch-hitting for shortstop Edgar Renteria, hit a solo home run off reliever Andy Larkin in the eighth inning of the Cardinals’ 14-3 victory over the Reds on July 4, 2000, at St. Louis. Boxscore
“What a thrill that must be,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Said McDonald: “I just kept running, hoping I’d touch every base so I wouldn’t get called out.”
McDonald, 27, became the third Cardinals player, and first in 46 years, to hit a home run in his first major-league plate appearance. The others: Eddie Morgan on April 14, 1936, and Wally Moon on April 13, 1954.
With the count 2-and-2, McDonald, using a bat that belonged to minor-league pitcher Rick Heiserman, hit the home run 382 feet over the left field fence. “The best thing was the way the fans responded,” said Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny. “That’s something he’ll always remember.”
McDonald had three hits in his big-league career and all were home runs for the Cardinals.
5. ADAM WAINWRIGHT
_ After being informed before the game that he had been selected to the National League all-star team for the first time, Adam Wainwright pitched a five-hitter and hit a three-run double, leading the Cardinals to a 7-1 victory over the Brewers on July 4, 2010, at St. Louis. Boxscore
Wainwright limited Milwaukee to four singles and a Corey Hart solo home run. He struck out nine and walked none.
“I’m just impressed with how well he pitches,” Tony La Russa said. “Understand that that’s more important than stuff. His stuff is fine. But he pitches.”
In the third inning, Wainwright drove a two-out double to center, scoring Jon Jay, Skip Schumaker and Yadier Molina, against starter Yovani Gallardo.
6. MARK HAMILTON
_ Chris Carpenter and Fernando Salas combined to shut out the Reds in a 1-0 Cardinals victory on July 4, 2011, at St. Louis.
The Cardinals broke a scoreless tie in the eighth when Mark Hamilton, batting for Carpenter, singled off Johnny Cueto, scoring Colby Rasmus from third with two outs.
Hamilton sliced a spinning grounder along the third-base line. Reds third baseman Scott Rolen, playing off the line for the left-handed batter, raced over and made a sliding stop of the ball as his momentum carried him into foul territory. Rolen righted himself and gunned a throw to first baseman Joey Votto. The ball arrived a split second after Hamilton dived head-first and belly-flopped across the bag for an infield single.
Tony La Russa told the Post-Dispatch, “That play Scott made may have been the greatest play by a third baseman I’ve ever seen.” Boxscore
7. YADIER MOLINA
_ Yadier Molina hit a three-run home run off former teammate Fernando Salas in the Cardinals’ 8-4 victory over the Diamondbacks at Phoenix on July 4, 2018.
The Cardinals also got big performances from Tommy Pham, who was 3-for-5 with a double, three RBI and a run scored, and Matt Carpenter, who was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a RBI and a run scored.
The Cardinals, trailing 2-1 after six innings, scored five times in the seventh and twice in the eighth. Boxscore
“We had good at-bats,” Pham told the Associated Press. “Even when the results weren’t there, we made guys throw pitches. That’s key. If a guy is taking four or five plus pitches to get outs, that means you are grinding as a hitter. When you put that together as a team, it wears out pitching staffs.”
A more somber 4th of July memory: 1972, at Cincinnati. Scipio Spinks’ major league career effectively ended when he slid into Johnny Bench at home plate. His record was only 5-5, but he was among the league leaders in earned run average and strikeouts.
Thanks. Here is a look at what happened: https://retrosimba.com/2010/11/08/5-memorable-reds-cards-games-of-1970s/