Listening to radio and television broadcasts of Cardinals games can be a torturous experience these days. There seems to be approximately 1,500 people changing roles during any one game, so the fans never develop a solid attachment to any of them.

Even worse, the broadcasters currently handling the television duties – mostly Al Hrabosky and Rick Horton – are sackless shills who would give Bill DeWitt a handjob for a wooden nickel. They are nothing more than the broadcasting versions of beer vendors, screaming the organizational sales pitch into our ears in the hopes that we’ll buy its product. They make Dan McLaughlin look like Bob Costas.

It’s a shame that Cardinals broadcasts have been overtaken by such talentless, integrity-free hacks, since older fans can remember a glorious era in Cardinals history when we enjoyed the best team of broadcasters in the sport. Led by Jack Buck and Mike Shannon, the Cardinals broadcasts of the time were informative, funny, and best of all – thrilling. 

I unearthed this wonderful recording from around the time of the 1982 World Series. The record, which recounts the ’82 season, was released by Anheuser Busch following the Cardinals’ improbable Series victory. I owned this and listened to it countless times in the years that followed, reliving those amazing baseball moments through the rich, enthusiastic voices of Buck and Shannon.

Here is the entire recording, hosted by Jack Buck. Enjoy!

THAT’s A WINNER!! WHAT MEMORIES!!!