Seat Cushion Night

"Seat Cushion Night" is the name of two famous St. Louis Cardinals baseball games at which fans were given seat cushions as a promotion. Both games were dramatic come from behind walk-off victories for the Cardinals that caused the fans to throw the seat cushions they had been given on to the field in celebration.

April 18, 1987

The first "seat cushion night" occurred during a wild game befitting what was then one of the game's best rivalries, the Cardinals and the New York Mets. The game featured a seat cushion promotion for fans, and the giveaways were tossed on the field repeatedly over the course of the night. But the most memorable moment would come at the end. With the score tied at 8 in the bottom of the 10th inning, Cardinals second baseman Tom Herr hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game. As Herr rounded the bases, the seat cushions began raining down out of the stands as thousands of them were thrown onto the field. What's sometimes forgotten is how remarkable the game itself was. The Cardinals led, 6-5, going into the ninth before RBI singles from Kevin McReynolds and Howard Johnson put New York ahead. Ozzie Smith tied it in the bottom of the inning when he stole third and scored on Gary Carter's error. The Mets led again in the 10th on a wild pitch, and Tom Pagnozzi tied it with a single in the bottom of the 10th before Herr's grand slam. Herr later commented on the game saying,

Because the game was so intense, the Mets and Cardinals swapped leads multiple times. Frustrated (and excited) at every sway of the score, fans began throwing their seat cushions. On a few occasions the game had to be stopped to clean up the cushions, and at one point the announcer came on to announce that if anymore cushions were tossed onto the field, the game would be forfeited by the Cardinals. From then on the cushions were held onto, until the 10th. As soon as Herr hit his famous grand slam, almost all of the remaining seat cushions were thrown and rained down onto the field in celebration of the Cardinals' victory.

June 28, 2006

Indeed, it would be nearly 20 years before the next time the Cardinals gave away seat cushions at a game. That would occur at an inter-league game between the Cardinals and the Cleveland Indians. This game occurred while the Cardinals were on an 8-game losing streak, their longest since the 1988 season. After blowing a 3-1 lead in the 8th inning, the Cardinals trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the 9th and looked well on their way to losing their 9th straight. So Taguchi would lead off and end up on second after catcher Kelly Shoppach dropped his pop-up in front of home plate. Taguchi would then score to tie the game on an RBI double by Aaron Miles. Then David Eckstein hit what appeared to be an inning ending ground ball to shortstop Jhonny Peralta, but his throw to first was in the dirt and Eckstein would be safe allowing Miles to score the winning run on the Indians' second error of the inning. Again, seat cushions rained down from the stands as fans threw them onto the field, ecstatic that the losing streak was finally over.

Links

* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260628124 Cardinals vs Indians Recap June 28, 2006]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHZ-TnxcDN4 YouTube of 2006 Game]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6GUnX7qMGk YouTube Jack Buck Tribute, Includes Herr's Grand Slam]
* [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051002&content_id=1235291&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Famous Busch Moments]