Cardinals radio call of Tommy Pham's 'career' moment proves how much he was missed

The second half of the St. Louis Cardinals trade for Erick Fedde included adding some much-needed outfield depth, or in John Mozeliak's case, some familiar outfield depth. The Cardinals traded for Tommy Pham, a player they most recently employed in 2018.

Pham had some of his best seasons in St. Louis, including a 2017 campaign in which he slashed .306/.411/.520 with a .931 OPS. While he was eventually shipped off to Tampa Bay, St. Louis has long considered Pham one of their own, often times just as whacky and argumentative as they are. Pham embodies Cardinals fans on the field, but he's actually good at baseball.

After trading for Pham, the Cards quickly shipped Dylan Carlson out of town, opening up a regular spot for the recently-acquired former White Sox player in their outfield. Pham played in his first game back with the Cardinals on Tuesday night, and let's just say it was memorable. The 36-year-old had two at-bats, including a grand slam to extend the St. Louis lead.

Tommy Pham hits a grand slam in return to the Cardinals

Pham hit a grand slam and ran around the bases like he had just won a World Series, rather than increase the Cardinals lead against the Kansas City Royals in the fifth inning. The veteran outfielder wasn't alone in his excitement, though, as the radio call on KMOX was just as epic.

St. Louis won the contest running away, and after the game Pham had plenty to say about his return to Busch Stadium wearing Cardinal red.

“It was different because of the ovation and that’s probably my best moment here and one of the top moments of my career,” Pham said, per MLB.com. “There were guys [in the dugout] pulling for one another. When a team comes together with that kind of togetherness, it’s a dangerous team.”

Dangerous is one word for it. It has, of course, only been a single game. St. Louis was considered a trade deadline winner for a reason, but they also have a long way to go. Upon dealing for Pham, the top of the rotation was struggling (see Sonny Gray), the lineup failed to deliver at a consistent clip and then some.

However, the injection of new talent into the clubhouse -- especially the right personalities -- can make a significant difference if done right. So far, Mozeliak's additions have received rave reviews.

“We’ve got a right-handed bat that we can use, man, so welcome back, Tommy,” manager Oli Marmol said. “There’s not a moment that’s going to scare him. He loves competition and he loves the big stage. The bigger the better and that’s part of the reason we wanted him here. He loves to win. To be able to do that on your first at-bat, that’s big.”

Marmol hopes there's a lot more where that came from moving forward.