The end of the National League pennant chase in 1964 goes down as one of the most remarkable comebacks of all time. After splitting a doubleheader on September 10, the Cardinals remained six games behind the Phillies with just 22 games to play. On September 21, the Redbirds were 6 1/2 games out with 13 games left to play.

But then the Phillies went into a losing streak while the Cardinals began winning. On the final day of the season, the Cardinals and Reds were tied for first place with the Phillies looming one game back. The Phillies finally got back on the winning track by clobbering the Reds 10-0 and prayed for the woeful Mets to upend the Redbirds, but at the end of the final game, Harry Caray screams over the airwaves over and over, "The Cardinals win the pennant! The Cardinals win the pennant! The Cardinals win the pennant!"

It was a June 13 trade that turned out to be the key ingredient for the Cardinals success in 1964 and for the rest of the decade--a trade that will forever go down as the best the Cardinals ever made (and the worst for the Cubs): the Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio deal. Ironically, general manager Bing Devine, who had engineered the deal, was fired in mid August when owner Gussie Busch was disgusted with the team's fifth-place standing at the time. This firing would lead to one of the most bizarre post World Series events in baseball history, as victorious manager Johnny Keane resigned his post (in anger over the treatment of his friend, Bing Devine) and accepted the manager's job with the Yankees after they fired Yogi Berra.