RetroSimba

(Updated Sept. 8, 2022)

Looking to regain a role as a reliable run generator for the Cardinals, Todd Zeile took a step in the right direction with a key hit in an unusual game.

On Sept. 24, 1992, Zeile gave the Cardinals a walkoff 4-3 win over the Mets with a RBI-single in the 14th inning at St. Louis.

The game had been scoreless for 13 innings. All seven runs came in the 14th. The Mets scored three in the top of the inning and the Cardinals responded with four in their half.

Missed opportunities

Zeile, the Cardinals’ third baseman, was having a subpar 1992 season.

After producing 81 RBI and batting .304 with runners in scoring position in 1991, Zeile would finish with 48 RBI and bat .214 with runners in scoring position in 1992.

Entering the Cardinals’ game against the Mets, Zeile hadn’t driven in a run in more than a week.

Batting in the cleanup spot, Zeile stranded a runner in the first inning. In the 13th, he batted with runners at second and third, one out, and struck out.

“It was a weird game,” Zeile said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It seemed like it would never end.”

Action inning

In the 14th, Mets rookie Jeff Kent hit a three-run home run against Bryn Smith with two outs, giving New York a 3-0 lead.

Bernard Gilkey led off the bottom half of the inning with a single against Mark Dewey. Luis Alicea struck out and Rich Gedman singled, moving Gilkey to second.

With the pitcher due to bat next, Cardinals manager Joe Torre called on Felix Jose to pinch-hit. His single drove in Gilkey and made the score 3-1.

Mets manager Jeff Torborg lifted Dewey and brought in Wally Whitehurst. The first batter he faced, Chuck Carr, walked, loading the bases.

Ozzie Smith, 0-for-5 in the game, singled to center, driving in Gedman and Jose and tying the score at 3-3.

Another chance

Carr was on third and Smith on first, with Ray Lankford at the plate. With Carr representing the winning run, the Mets paid no attention to Smith. So he advanced to second uncontested.

With first base open, Whitehurst elected to issue an intentional walk to Lankford, loading the bases, and take his chances with Zeile.

“I was just happy to get another chance,” Zeile told the Post-Dispatch. “Real happy.”

Zeile lined a single to left, scoring Carr with the winning run. Boxscore

“I went from goat to hero,” Zeile said to the Associated Press. “That just goes to show how things can change in this game. I would have liked to have ended it an inning earlier.”

Regarding the Cardinals’ comeback, Torre said, “They don’t die. I love it.”

Zeile bounced back in 1993 and had a career-high 103 RBI for the Cardinals. He hit .270 with runners in scoring position, a mark more in line with his final career average of .267 in those situations.

Previously: The day Cardinals fired Joe Torre, traded Todd Zeile