Similar to last week’s 1983 Throwback Thursday post, spring training 1986 was a good time for the St. Louis Cardinals. They were the National League pennant winners (and should have been World Series champs again) as they prepared for the season ahead in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Their biggest rival at the time? The New York Mets, of course, who the Cardinals faced in a 1986 spring training game at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg that was on WOR-TV in New York. Greg Mathews started for St. Louis against 1985 Cy Young Award winner Dwight Gooden.

Here’s another trip down memory lane back to the days of tight pants, pullover jerseys and stirrup socks — though not blue road uniforms. Plus it’s a chance to see Jose Oquendo at shortstop for the Cards.

Please note the audio is not the best — it’s low and muffled as the game was originally on a videotape. And while the game’s outcome may not necessarily be enjoyable, the stroll back in time certainly is.

Enjoy!

Also, in one other Throwback Thursday note, today marks 10,000 days since the Vince Coleman tarp machine injury during the 1985 NLCS — read more from Chris Jaffe at The Hardball Times.