On September 15, 2018, the Memphis Redbirds defeated the Fresno Grizzlies to win their second consecutive Pacific Coast League (PCL) championship.
“It was phenomenal to watch,” said 2018 batboy and current Redbirds Clubhouse Manager Jake Rich. “The 2018 team was an amazing group to be around.”
Just over six years later, former Redbirds are battling it out in the MLB playoffs.
With the Championship series now finished, a former Redbird is guaranteed to win the World Series.
The Yankees have found their way to their first Fall Classic since 2009 thanks in large part to their bullpen. Coming in to close out games for the Bronx Bombers is 2017 PCL champ Luke Weaver. Weaver started eight games for the Redbirds in 2017, before establishing himself as a big-league arm in St. Louis.
On the other side, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired two former Redbirds mid-season on their way to the World Series.
Jack Flaherty started game one of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) for the Dodgers, pitching seven scoreless innings. Flaherty compiled 11 wins between the 2017 and 2018 seasons in Memphis.
In game six of the NLCS, Tommy Edman drove in four runs, including a two-run homerun to propel the Dodgers to the World Series.
Edman played on both the 2017 and 2018 PCL championship teams in Memphis, and he earned NLCS Most Valuable Player this season.
“Seeing Edman, Flaherty and Weaver get an opportunity on their current teams on biggest stage in baseball is going to be fun to watch,” said Rich. “I don’t care who wins the series, I just want to see those three play well.”
These performances are just the most recent in a disturbing trend for St. Louis Cardinals fans.
Famously, Randy Arozarena was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays following the 2019 season. In 2020, he won ALCS MVP honors in his first year away from St. Louis.
Then, last year, in 2023, another 2017 Redbird, Adolis Garcia won ALCS MVP for the Texas Rangers. His Rangers went on to win the World Series a season ago.
In the last five seasons, 30% of MLB’s Championship Series MVP awards have been won by 2018 Memphis Redbirds. Perhaps more remarkably, none of them won the award with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Maybe it’s a coincidence that the Cardinals have not won a playoff series since 2019, but then again, maybe it isn’t.
For decades, the Cardinals found success without spending the same money as teams like Los Angeles and New York. They were so successful in fact that the organization was looked to as an example for small-market teams.
“The Cardinal Way” embodied hustle and effort. Bunting, base-stealing, and defense were pillars of St. Louis’ teams.
Can “The Cardinal Way” still bring success in today’s baseball? That’s the question in St. Louis.
But, for baseball fans in Memphis, some of the game’s biggest stars, including three players competing in the World Series, have spent a summer in the Bluff City, working towards where they are today.
