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As a boy, Matt Holliday saw what made the Cardinals the Cardinals at old Busch Stadium, during a family road trip from Oklahoma.

“I just think about the matchup of how much I loved baseball with this baseball-crazy town,” he said.

As a rookie, Holliday saw what made the Cardinals the Cardinals from left field of that same stadium, fielding his position in his 2004 big-league debut.

“That sort of began my love affair with dreaming of someday being a ��ѿ��ý Cardinal,” he said.

As an All-Star, Holliday saw what made the Cardinals the Cardinals from his couch, taking in the 2006 World Series.

“I was sitting with my wife (Leslee) in Denver, after another losing season with the Rockies, watching the Cardinals win the World Series,” he said. “And I remember saying to her, ‘I would someday like to experience that. It looks so awesome. I would love to be part of a championship organization.’”

He would.

And he would exude what made the Cardinals the Cardinals.

On Saturday afternoon — so hot that he joked his sweat might make his new threads maroon — Holliday received his red jacket.

The great slugger was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame, along with base-burglar Charles Comiskey of the 1880s teams and Julian Javier, he of fielding flair and an integral part of three pennant winners during the 1960s. Javier won a ring with ��ѿ��ý in 1964 and 1967. Holliday won one in 2011.

“I’ve had a very blessed baseball life,” said Holliday, 42. “As a kid, if you’d told me I get a chance to do all the things that I’ve been able to do, or be part of, I would’ve been pretty excited.”

And that same kid from the old Busch stands returned to town Saturday, as thousands cheered for him from the stands at new Busch. Before the game, alongside Javier and Charles Comiskey III, Holliday stood near the right-handed batter’s box where he did his damage from 2009-2016. There are many ways to capture Holliday’s excellence with ��ѿ��ý. This way is quite simple: He played eight seasons and made six postseasons with an overall OPS of .874.

He was an October-maker.

And in the postseason, he contributed numerous times, be it a homer in the first-ever wild-card game, three RBIs in the Game 3 win of the 2013 World Series or, really, the entire 2011 National League Championship Series. While David Freese is forever remembered as the MVP of the NLCS (and the following series, too), Matt mashed — Holliday hit .435 with a .652 slugging percentage in the six-game series against the hated Brewers.

But Javier’s greatest postseason moment became part of local lore.

Game 7, 1967 World Series.

Cards on the road at Boston.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, a Javier throwing error allowed a Red Sox runner to score.

The Cards still led, 4-1, but the game was tight and Triple Crown winner Carl Yastrzemski was still in line for two more plate appearances.

Javier hadn’t homered since Aug. 22.

But in the bottom of the sixth, he thwacked a three-run homer off Jim Lonborg, the Cy Young winner. And 4-1 became 7-1.

The Cards, of course, went on to win the game.

It was the only homer Javier ever hit in the postseason (in 58 plate appearances).

Asked on Saturday to describe the moment, Javier said: “I felt happy!”

Now 86, Javier described the famous “El Birdos” team as “a great team with great people — everybody was so nice to each other. And we played so hard.”

The Hall of Fame ceremony is annually a special day on the Cardinal calendar, but this year’s soiree was particularly special, because of how Holliday and Javier genuinely appreciated the honor. Holliday was always a larger-than-life hitter, but he epitomized his down-to-earth-ness on Saturday, speaking humbly and proudly about his career — and about those who guided him through it.

And the beaming Javier had more than 30 family members of multiple generations in town, including his son, the former big-leaguer Stan Javier — named after dad’s beloved teammate from the early 1960s.

Julian was traded by the Pirates organization to ��ѿ��ý in 1960. A dozen years later, he was traded to Cincinnati.

“I got lucky and we won the pennant,” he said of the 1972 Reds during Saturday’s induction speech. “Wherever I go, we win the pennant. So, I’m here — we’re going to win this year, too!”