Cardinals To Celebrate 40th Anniversary Reunion of 1985 NL Championship Team

CARDINALS TO CELEBRATE 40^th ANNIVERSARY REUNION OF 1985 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM

Organization to Honor 14^th NL Championship Squad by Bringing Back Over 20 Former Players on Friday, September 5

ST. LOUIS, Mo., August 8, 2025 – The St. Louis Cardinals announced they will host a 40-year anniversary reunion of the 1985 National League Championship team at Busch Stadium on Friday, September 5, presented by Heartland Coca-Cola.

Over 20 former players and coaches from the 1985 team, including National Baseball Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, and Cardinals Hall of Famers Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, John Tudor & Tom Herr are scheduled to take part in a pregame ceremony beginning at 6:30 PM before that evening’s 7:15 PM game against the San Francisco Giants.

Others scheduled to attend the reunion include Terry Pendleton, Danny Cox, Ricky Horton, Andy Van Slyke, Kurt Kepshire, Ken Dayley, Tom Nieto, Todd Worrell, Tom Lawless, and more. Family members of the late Cardinals Hall of Famer Bob Forsch, 20-game winner Joaquín Andújar, and Darrell Porter are also scheduled to be on hand.

That night, 20,000 fans, age 16 and older, will take home a Mystery 1985 Triple Bobblehead featuring a trio of either Smith-McGee-Coleman or Tudor-Cox-Andújar, presented by Coca-Cola and Dierbergs.

The club will also host an 80s Theme Night at the ballpark that evening. With the purchase of a special Theme Ticket, fans will take home a throwback 1985 NL Champs crewneck sweatshirt.

After getting off to a slow 16-19 start, the 1985 Cardinals turned on the heat by going 85-42 the rest of the way to clinch their first 100-win season since 1967. McGee finished as the league batting champion and Most Valuable Player; Coleman took Rookie of the Year; Whitey Herzog earned Manager of the Year; and Tudor and Andújar each won 21 games, while Cox took 18. Willie and Ozzie won Gold Gloves again, and great seasons by Herr (.302 AVG, 110 RBI) and Jack Clark (22 HR, 87 RBI) led the offense. Rookie pitcher Todd Worrell was called up in late August and quickly assumed the role of closer for the final month.

In a great NLCS, the Cards dropped the first two games and then won four straight. Ozzie won Game 5 with a dramatic bottom-of-the-ninth home run off Tom Niedenfuer, his first ever homer batting left-handed. Down 5-4 with two out in the top of the ninth of Game 6, Jack Clark tagged Niedenfuer for a three-run homer to take the game and the series. The team fell short of capturing the organization’s 10^th World Series title, falling to the Kansas City Royals in seven games in a series remembered for first base umpire Don Denkinger’s blown call in the top of the ninth inning of Game 6.

Tickets for the 40^th anniversary reunion are on sale now at cardinals.com, via phone at 314-345-9000 or at the Busch Stadium Box Office. Fans can visit cardinals.com/85 for more information.

— STL —