This story was excerpted from John Denton¡¯s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. LOUIS -- Willie McGee, who is still seen by many Cardinals fans as the fresh-faced rookie who made the World Series-saving catch in 1982, can certainly attest to the old clich¨¦ that time stops for no man. McGee, for one, can¡¯t believe that it¡¯s been four decades since the biggest moment of his baseball career took place.

¡°Time is crazy, and it¡¯s just flying by all the time,¡± McGee said, while shaking his head. ¡°You put your head down and you look up and it¡¯s been 10 years. Then, you put your head down again and look up and it¡¯s been 40. How does that happen?¡±

That happens when you stay as busy as McGee, now 63 years old and the outfield coach of the Cardinals. Rarely, if ever, is there a day when McGee isn¡¯t using his fungo bat to hit fly balls to Cardinals outfielders in the pregame, or positioning players during the game. Two of those players, Tyler O¡¯Neill and Harrison Bader, have won Gold Glove awards, and a third, Dylan Carlson, is thought of as a future Gold Glove candidate. Those players rave about the understated coaching style of McGee, who knows a thing or two about defense from when he won Gold Gloves in 1983, ¡¯85 and ¡¯86.

¡°If you lose that [respect], you might as well go home,¡± McGee said when asked about his close relationship with several of the Cardinals outfielders. ¡°It¡¯s not about me; it¡¯s about them. These guys are awesome athletes, and they were great players before they ever got here, so I just try to use my experience to give them ideas. I try to teach them the importance of establishing a routine and how that can help them. But it can¡¯t be my way. My way worked for me, but they have to come up with a way that works for them and makes them comfortable. I¡¯m lucky because we have a group of guys in the outfield who work their butts off and they want to get better.¡±

It¡¯s hard to imagine a rookie season going any better than McGee¡¯s did in 1982, when he helped the Cardinals defeat the Milwaukee Brewers for the franchise¡¯s ninth World Series title. As a rookie who was ¡°thrown in the fire¡± by manager?Whitey Herzog, McGee had six hits, five RBIs, six runs and two home runs in the 1982 World Series. However, it was the Game 3 catch made by McGee -- when he scampered to left-center and went high above the yellow line to rob a potential?Gorman Thomas?home run -- that Cardinals fans remember most.

¡°They always talk about the catch,¡± McGee says of the nearly 40-year-old memory. ¡°That¡¯s what people really remember the most. I guess that would be the staple to remember because they still show it a lot. That moment still seems like it was slow motion to me. Luckily, I had time to set up, gauge it and then make the jump. That¡¯s what I tell these guys all the time -- being in the right position allowed my timing to be great. That¡¯s what always stuck in my mind -- how the play seemed like it was in slow motion. When you have great moments like that, it just seems like things slow down for you.¡±