It’s silly but somehow I can’t help but think the Cardinals won the World Series this year for my dad. He was a huge fan and a little urchin in the streets of St. Louis in the 1940’s, hitchhiking or taking the streetcar down to old Sportsman’s Park to see the Cardinals or the Browns. He passed along his love for baseball and the Cardinals to me, and my fondest memories of growing up center on listening to games on KMOX, and going to games at the old Busch Stadium.

I love this book because it celebrates both the good times and the bad; it highlights a single game from each season from 1882 to 1981, one hundred years of baseball in St. Louis. The games chosen are meant to symbolize that particular season; standings at the time are given, as well as a two-page write-up on the game and its box score.

As an example of the “bad”, the game chosen for 1972 was September 20; with the Cardinals mired in mediocrity, they lost for the 4th time that year to Steve Carlton, who they had unwisely dealt to the Phillies, and then watched as he won 27 games for the 59-97 Phillies.

As an example of the “good”, the game from 1979 was May 1, with the Cardinals playing the Astros into extra innings. The Astros scored three in the top of the 11th, but the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs, and Roger Freed hit a pinch-hit grand slam to win it on a 3-2 count. This one is of particular interest as I remember listening to Jack Buck and Mike Shannon broadcast that game, and erupting when they won; my older brother and I still talk about that game.

Bigger moments are highlighted: Musial’s 3,000 hit in 1958, Gibson’s no-hitter in 1971, Dizzy Dean three-hitting the Dodgers in the first game of a double-header followed by his brother Paul no-hitting them in the second game, yes, the time he quipped, “I wished I'da known Paul was goin' to pitch a no-hitter; I'da pitched one too." The decisive games from each World Series they were in are also added.

Sports lore and these games are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but isn’t everything? There is a thread of memory in baseball, an unpredictability in what will happen, and a human drama that continues to draw me to it, even as I get older and don’t have the time or inclination to follow as rabidly as I once did. Thirty years have gone by since this book was published and more have gone by since these games were played, yet the box scores and names of players bring back memories and smiles, just as this year’s incredible season will years from now for Cardinals fans. ( )