To Cardinals’ veterans, the sting of celebratory champagne ‘never gets old’
The St. Louis Cardinals have waited since 2015 to engage in the kind of wild celebration that follows major achievements in Major League Baseball.
After clinching at least a spot in the Wild Card game a week ago at Wrigley Field, Adam Wainwright assured anxious reporters that they didn’t need to be prepared for anything beyond a respectful toast.
So, the team waited, suffered through a swoon in the desert, and saw their lead in division dwindle to a single game.
On Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, however, the wait came to an end. The Cardinals’ offense popped off and then the players popped bottles as they secured their 11th National League Central title, defeating the Chicago Cubs 9-0 in their 91 st win of the season.
The bottles of beer and champagne lasted several minutes as the soundtrack thumped on.
Appropriate for a season that came down to the last day, the celebration kicked off with “Thriller.”
As the music lasted longer than the alcohol, the ice cubes hit the air. The party was not to be denied any more than the team itself.
“You can’t script it much better,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “We can’t think our fans enough. I know how much it means to them too, and we’re excited to move forward as well.”
The franchise’s 11th division title brought some long-awaited closure to members of the organization – Shildt and catcher Yadier Molina among them – who expressed frustration at watching opponents celebrate at Busch Stadium in recent years.
Both the Chicago Cubs (2017) and Milwaukee Brewers (2018) have had celebrations in the visitors’ clubhouse as the Cardinals waited their turn. With the opportunity in front of them to clinch on Sunday, Jack Flaherty and the Redbirds decided that they were done waiting in line.
Flaherty threw seven stellar shutout innings on Sunday, allowing just two hits and facing one batter more than the minimum. Outfielder Dexter Fowler challenged Flaherty before Sunday’s action – “show me something,” Fowler said.
Flaherty vowed that he would, and he did.
“Once we had another chance [on Saturday], we were gonna take advantage of it,” Flaherty said. “You don’t give us a second chance.”
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt said Flaherty is “born for moments like these.”
Molina called him “our horse” and “a Cy Young winner.”
Though Flaherty’s almost certain not to win the award, his Sunday dominance capped a second half which saw him record a 0.91 ERA, the second lowest in the modern era for a starter, following Jake Arrieta’s 2015 performance for the Cubs.
Shildt spoke of the team’s commitment to excellence and its ethos for acting as a group.
“Right when the (2018) season ended, the guys didn’t want to go home after a long season and disappointment,” Shildt said. “They felt unfulfilled. ... They absolutely did every single thing they could do on a daily basis to do something for the greater good, and that’s this team.”
There was perhaps no better symbol of that team mentality than Patrick Cramer, a clubhouse attendant who’s one of the first people who greets the media on an average day at Busch Stadium. Invariably Patrick will respond “I’m blessed” when queried about his mood, and he means it.
After working for several years through the Cardinals’ minor league system, this is his first season in a Major League clubhouse. On Sunday, as he hustled to keep coolers stocked and the floor clear, a circle of players coalesced around him and doused him in beer, chanting “PAT-RICK” the whole time.
Cramer quickly found himself unable to see. He didn’t seem to mind.
Wainwright, who fought back through injuries and ineffectiveness to once again become a stalwart force in the Cardinals’ rotation, was himself the center of celebration. Matt Carpenter, Andrew Miller, and Matt Wieters danced around him, pouring drink after drink over his head.
Wainwright smiled wide and said, simply, “I missed it so bad.”
Goldschmidt’s natural Texas accent has eased out of his voice after years of playing baseball in Arizona. In the midst of this celebration – “my fondest memories in baseball,” he called them – the drawl crept back in, as thick and syrupy as the sugary remnants of alcohol which clung to every surface.
Carlos Martínez, the starter-turned-closer who pitched the ninth inning on Sunday in a distinctly non-save situation, frog marched through the clubhouse with a beer in each pocket of his pants and in each of his hands. Whether they were consumed, sprayed, or a combination thereof is impossible to tell.
Reliever Tyler Webb, off to his first Major League postseason, walked around distributing packets of aspirin to teammates in the midst of their consumption. One fell to the floor and when it was offered back to him, he smiled wide and said, “I don’t need it, but I might later.”
Marcell Ozuna, too, will be playing in his first playoffs after seven years in the majors. Before the clubhouse was opened to the media, Ozuna addressed the group and said, “thank you for letting me in.” He then became part of a conga line led by José Martínez, directing his Bench Mafia all the way.
The line moved past Molina, the venerable leader of the franchise, who reached so deep for motivation that he sparked a bench-clearing incident of dubious origin early in Saturday’s game.
He was relaxed, ebullient, with a champagne bottle clutched in his fist as he was asked if the burn in his eyes felt the same as he remembered it.
“Never gets old,” Molina grinned. “Tastes the same, feels the same, never gets old. I love it.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2019 at 7:52 PM.