Outfielder Matt Holliday has been a key player for the St. Louis Cardinals since 2009, making four All-Star Games and helping the Redbirds to a World Series title during his 7.5 seasons with the team. But after fracturing his thumb earlier this season, Holliday missed most of August and all of September. Meanwhile, the Cardinals also announced that they were not planning to renew his contract for next season. So late last month, with only a few games remaining in the season, the team took the 36-year-old Holliday off the disabled list so he could play in one more series in front of the home fans at Busch Stadium. On Friday Sept. 30, with the Cardinals leading the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Holliday came in as a pinch hitter. What happened next was like it was written in a storybook. Holliday took two pitches and then blasted the third into the right-field bullpen for a home run. Although the Cardinals fell short of the playoffs this season, the moment gave fans an opportunity to celebrate one of their biggest stars in the modern era.
Read more about Matt Holliday’s home run in one of his last games as a St. Louis Cardinal.