40 Years Ago, the St. Louis Cardinals Should Have Won It All

So close yet so far away. The 1985 St. Louis Cardinals were one of the best teams in the franchise's storied history and provided some of the most iconic moments in the history of the sport. However, it will always be remembered as the team that should have won it all, but didn't. 40 years later, we remember what could and should have been.

Baseball Reference has some remarkable numbers for that 1985 St. Louis Cardinals team:

• Regular season record of 100-62
• 314 stolen bases
• Only 87 home runs
• Willie McGee voted MVP
• John Tudor 2nd in Cy Young voting

I could make an argument that the true reason behind the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals failure to win the World Series was the freak injury that Vince Coleman suffered prior to game 4 when his leg was accidentally caught up in the unrolling tarp by the grounds crew. Vince was a disruptive player for the Cardinals offense all season thanks to his speed. Even when he was not stealing bases, the defense had to be focused on Vince when he was on base and it's impossible that he would not have had some kind of impact during the series against the Royals.

Unfortunately, many memories of that 1985 St. Louis Cardinals center on that infamous call at first base in the 9th inning of Game 6 by Don Denkinger. Not many remember that the Cardinals still had multiple chances to put that game away and become World Series champions again. Jack Clark dropped a routine pop-up and catcher Darrell Porter allowed a passed ball. Then, there was Game 7 which John Tudor started and Joaquín Andújar came in for relief. The Royals pounded the Cardinals 11-0 in a game the Cardinals seemed destined to lose. Whitey Herzog was ejected for berating Denkinger constantly and would later give him a braille watch as a gift in jest as a reminder of the call he missed. Denkinger, to his credit, admitted missing the call and expressed regret for years to come. The truth is the Cardinals should never have allowed themselves to be in a spot where one call could derail their season. It was the team that could and should have been the champions of baseball. Instead, it's the St. Louis Cardinals team that let it all slip away 40 years ago.