Baseball is bejeweled with delightful little gems, which give it luster and lore. A fun one is the ol' “as so often happens,” a phrase said when a guy makes a great play to end an inning -- and then that guy leads off the next inning. In a 2004 Sports Illustrated piece, the writer Roy Blount Jr., described it as such: “The pitcher finishes his warmup, the honored defender steps into his offensive role, his glove hand perhaps still tingling a bit, and the game goes on, a part of its mythos reaffirmed.”
The Cards' led 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth.