Let me know your favorite Opening Day moments!
There are storms in the forecast for later today, right around when the St. Louis Cardinals are scheduled to play baseball against the Minnesota Twins at 1:15 pm. It is a bit up in the air (pun intended) on when and if that game will take place, but I thought I might make this post short and sweet anyway. There is actual baseball to watch! Until then, though, I have something to occupy your time if you so wish.
Opening Day was on Thursday, March 27. The Cardinals won their first game of the season 5-3 over the Twins. In that win, the Cardinals hit a home run — specifically Lars Nootbaar hit a home run — which made it nine consecutive years the Cardinals have homered on Opening Day.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!! pic.twitter.com/mVWfTGrTxP
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 27, 2025
In the team’s 144 seasons of existence, there have been some memorable Opening Day moments. In the spirit of kicking off a new season, it felt right to look back on some of those moments. And if the game gets rained out, maybe this can help take away the sting of no baseball. (I do think they are going to get to play, just maybe a bit delayed.)
April 13, 1954: Stan Musial hits fourth consecutive Opening Day home run
The 1954 season is not one that is remembered fondly among Cardinals fans; the Birds went 72-82 and finished sixth in the National League that season. Stan Musial was headed into his thirteen season with the Cardinals and at age 33 was still topping the leaderboards in several offensive categories. He was one of the few bright spots on that team and in the ninth inning of a game the Cubs led 13-3, Musial extended his Opening Day home run streak to 4 with a solo shot of Paul Minner. Of course, video of that home run is pretty hard to find, but I did find a nice compilation of a few Musial homers that I though you all might enjoy!
April 11, 1967: Bob Gibson pitches a shutout
Bob Gibson pitched 56 regular season shutouts in his career. One of the most notable of them might have been his performance from Opening Day in 1967. In the Cardinals 6-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants, Gibson was dominant. He of course pitched all nine innings and allowed no runs on no walks, five hits, and 13 strikeouts for a Bill James game score of 90 — a pitching scoring system designed with the maximum score of 100 that in the words of James is “a kind of garbage stat that I present not because it helps us understand anything in particular but because it is fun to play around with.” Again, it is hard to find video from that particular day, but I did find this vintage video of Gibson in 1987 talking about the 1967 season:
April 26, 1995: Ozzie Smith does his final Opening Day backflip
At 40 years old, after 15 seasons with the Cardinals, Smith took the field in 1995 for his thirteen and final Opening Day start at shortstop wearing the Birds on the Bat. Ozzie of course had to honor the occasion with one of his iconic backflips. The Cardinals won the game 7-6 over the Philidelphia Phillies. Smith went 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.
March 31, 1998: Mark McGwire hits an Opening Day grand slam
The Cardinals finished third in the National League Central in 1998, but that wasn’t really what that season was about. The 1998 season was Marked (heh) by one thing: the road to 70 home runs. Mark McGwire made his first step toward chasing down that goal on Opening Day with a fifth inning grand slam off Ramón Martínez to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
March 30, 2023: Adam Wainwright sings the National Anthem
I mean, is there anything this man can’t do?
Honorable mention: April 6, 2001 Albert Pujols hits his first home run
Technically this isn’t Opening Day — it is the first game of the season in St. Louis, but not the first game of the season. But I cannot just omit the start to one of the greatest seasons of all time.
Of course, these are just what I could think of (I have a few more I held back as to not go completely overboard), but I know you all will have more — share your favorite Opening Day moments in the comments!
Happy Sunday!