My all-time top 20

The talk about Jim Edmonds and Matt Morris being at the end of the line inspired me to think about my all-time favorite Cardinals. For what it's worth, here are the top 20.

My all-time favorite Cardinals (who I personally saw play):

1) Albert Pujols - best hitter I have seen in my lifetime.
2) Jim Edmonds - It's hard to think of a guy who is more clutch. And I LOVED watching him make great catches and throw people out at the plate. Like Ozzie, he made a lot of great plays seem routine. Even if he had a flair for the dramatic.
3) Bob Gibson - He was at the end of his career when I was becoming a baseball fan. But Gibson was the best pitcher to ever wear a Cardinals uniform.
4) Ozzie Smith - Greatest. Shortstop. Ever.
5) Willie McGee - The most underrated player of his era.
6) Scott Rolen - The most complete baseball player I ever saw. He had power, remarkable speed for a big guy, great range on defense, a great throwing arm, was tough as nails and wanted to play more than anything. Too bad he couldn't hold in his inner jerk.
7) Larry Walker - I wish we had this guy in his prime. He was to right fielders what Edmonds was to centerfielders and Rolen was to third basemen. It breaks my heart that he said if he knew what it was like to play in St. Louis when he was younger, he would have come here as a free agent years earlier.
8) Yadier Molina - What a great young player. I think he could end up being the next great leader of the Cardinals if he plays here his whole career.
9) Bruce Sutter - When Sutter came in, sometimes with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, you knew the game was over.
10) Chris Carpenter - What a gutsy competitor with the talent to go along with it.

11) Mike Matheny - Supreme defensive catcher and tough as can be. Unfortunately, we got him on the back nine of his career. I wish we would have had him for all of it.
12) Adam Wainwright - He had a whole career worth of highlights and memories in the second half of 2006. He ought to be a top Cy Young candidate this season, but the bullpen blew three of his late inning leads. No wonder he wants to pitch entire games.
13) Edgar Renteria - Not quite Ozzie in the field. But if Ozzie had Edgar's bat, the combined player would have been the greatest weapon in the history of the game.
14) John Tudor - Have you ever see a guy who looked so much like an accountant who was so scary?
15) Matt Morris - He had a lot of injuries when he was here. But he was one bulldog of a competitor and he gave you every single thing that he had. Also a great mentor to younger players.
16) Mark McGwire - Boy he gave us some great times. But I still have a bitter taste in my mouth about what has happened since he retired. I hope he bothers to invest some time in the Cardinals in the future as a coach or at least to acknowledge the fans who supported him through his years here. It would do a lot to mend fences.
17) Will Clark - I know, he was with the Cardinals for a cup of coffee. But what a cup of coffee it was! I always admired him from afar when he was a hated Giant. It was nice to admire him from up close.
18) Vince Coleman - I loved it that everybody in the park knew he was going to steal second every time he got on base. And that there wasn't a darn thing that anybody could do to stop him.
19) Terry Pendleton - What a great third baseman. Too bad we let him get away.
20) Jose Oquendo - I was there when he deserved the win as a pitcher. How great would a guy who could play all nine positions be on the 2008 Cardinals roster?

Comments

[Bowen]

No.

No. You didn't.

You. Did. Not. just create a "20 Favorite Cardinals" list that omits #20.

Recalibrate! Recalibrate!

PS: You forgot One Tough Dominican, too.

[View From the Cheap Seats]

I don't know why. But I really have no memory of seeing Brock play. I guess that's not an excuse because I don't specifically remember seeing Gibson play, either. I think Gibby made more of an impession because I have had the chance to talk to him a couple of times and I've never really chatted with Brock.

Although I saw a few games in my younger years, it was at the beginning of the Whitey Herzog era that I really started to know who the players were.

I remember going to a game and filling out a scorecard for a game in which Ted Simmons was the Cardinals catcher, for example. But the only moments I remember specifically about his play came in the 1982 World Series when he had the gall to hit a homer against the Redbirds.

I thought about Andujar. He was close to the top 20, but not quite there.

[Gary]

What about Ray King? Jorge Sosa? Joe McEwing? You know this list has no credibility when #7 on the list is a guy who was only here a couple of years, and was well past his prime most of that time. Walker more than any player probably cost the Cardinals from advancing in the playoffs in 2005. And then you follow that up with #8 Molina? Where's McCarver? Simmons? Pags? This list is laden with current or recent players and not enough legends from the past. I thought you were a better Cardinals historian than this.

[Jesse]

Mark McGwire is #1 for me because he is what made me a Cardinals fan. He didn't deserve being singled out for alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. Plus what he did or didn't do was legal both in and out of baseball. This guy along with Sammy Sosa are responsible for bring back baseballs popularity, and deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

[ChuckSmith]

Well said.. I'm sick of the people who turned on McGwire. He was being put in a position no murder suspect would be put in.. out of the game for 5 years.. and on one week's notice, you have to appear on national tv. He should have just pleaded the fifth, but why open your mouth when the goal was to get him to rat on former teammates and name names. I'm sorry but I don't really want my tax dollars going to put Barry Bonds or McGwire or Martha Stewart in prison for trophy hunting prosecutors when dangerous people leave prison early. I hope the Pharisees lay off and McGwire can find himself in the HOF

[k Wimpe]

What?? No Tewksbury??
just kidding

[Jarrod]

It's all personal opinion but one player I would certainly add to the list is Ray Lankford. All time home run leader at old busch. Football player mentality on a baseball field and certainly a five tool player. It's a shame he played in the franchise's lul of the '90's

[k Wimpe]

Gary, you didn't read between the parentheses. That's why Musial isn't on the list or Boyer or Horsnby or Dean, etc

[k Wimpe]

We were at that game when Clark, Oquendo, and Ozzie battled it out. AND, you freakin' called it. Cards were down 5-0, Clark slides hard into second, Oquendo takes offense, and then all Hell breaks loose. What was that comment you made on the way to the garage after the game when we walked passed some guy in a Porsche with his "date"? "Gee, the new Volkswagens really do look different this year!" Priceless.

[Fred McTaggart]

Well, I've been around a lot longer than most of you here, but my list includes:

1. Albert.
2. Stan the Man.
3. Red.
4. Curt Flood.
5. Gibby.
6. Lou Brock.
7. Kenny Boyer.
8. Steve Carlton (sorry. I never gave up my loyalty to lefty, in part because I saw him sitting on the bench (along with Nelson Briles) so long as a "bonus baby."
9. Renteria (same as with Carlton).
10. Willie McGee.

I've probably forgotten some biggies so I reserve the right to alter 8-10.

[Kyle]

Wimpe got it right. I read this whole list, and have to agree with most of the guys on it... but Ray Lankford was the one bright spot for a huge ten year gap between good Cardinal teams. The rest of it seems a bit weighted toward the 2004-06 teams.

Also, Will Clark? I met Will at the game 4 of the 04 World Series, when I fell into some amazing seets by accident. We talk for a while after the game, and he seemed like a real good guy. But after 30 years as a Cardinal fan, I can't see putting him on my top 20.

My top 10:
1. Willie McGee
2. Ray Lankford
3. Scott Rolen (I grew up in Jasper watching Scotty play. He's still the best high school basketball player I've ever seen.)
4. Ozzie Smith
5. Albert Pujols
6. Jose Oquendo
7. Brian Jordan
8. Adam Wainwright
9. Jack Clark
10.Lee Smith

[Bowen]

I was assuming that if you saw Gibby play, you had to see Brock play. If Gibby was on the mound, it's safe to assume Brock was in left.

I'd rate Andujar above some of the newer guys, or guys who were only around for a cup of coffee (Will Clark). Joaquin was tough as nails and oh-so-colorful. His grand slam alone makes him a legend.

On the 80s teams I always liked Tommy Herr. He played hurt a lot - he was really a team leader.

I also still have a soft spot for ol' Hurricane Hudler. His face-in-the-dirt hustle was the only reason to watch those hideous early 90s teams.

Another fun list would be "best Cardinal moments/performances." You could include things like Mike Laga hitting a foul ball out of old Busch, or Mark Whiten hitting 4 home runs against the Reds.

[Gary]

True, I didn't see Musial, Dean, Hornsby and the rest either. That includes Red and Marty Marion. But I thought the Blogger was old enough to remember and appreciate players from the 60s and 70s. I guess I was wrong. Other than Gibson, of course.

[Gary]

In response to Bowen, some other great moments are Albert's HR off Lidge, the Edmonds and Rolen HRs in 2004, and (in my best Shannon voice) ... "Brummer's stealing home!"

[Fred McTaggart]

Of all the great moments from the past, one that's very close to the top for me is Wainwright's strikeout of Beltran to win the pennant in 2006. But then there was Ozzie's famous HR ("on a home run by the Wizard!") and Jim Edmonds' catch. Stan hitting five HR in a doubleheader. And Matt Morris' classic duels with Curt Schilling in the playoffs--even though he lost both of them. The ninth inning comebacks against the Cubs in 2004 and the Reds in 2005.

Ankiel's throws the other night were pretty special. Will I still remember them 10 years from now?

[Fred McTaggart]

More memories: Red's home run to win the All Star game in extra innings (1952?) and Timmy's HR to win the All Star game in Busch II in 1966 (I was there in person for that one).

[Jim]

For greatest moments consideration:

Fernando Tatis hitting two Grand Salami's in one inning. I would love to have been at that game.

I live in Houston, and I try to catch the Birds when they are in town. I saw Albert taking batting practice. People get there early to stand in the Crawford Boxes to catch a ball. When Albert walked into the cage everyone cleared out. It was out of respect(and fear)of his power.

He hit one over the train tracks in straight away center. Right were the train tracks start. If you have never been to Minute Maid that is an amazing shot even in batting practice.

[Fred McTaggart]

One of my memorable moments was watching Willie Mays take batting practice at the old Sportsman's Park in the late 1950s. I wasn't paying attention until I heard the murmur from the crowd. Then I started watching as he hit pitch after pitch out of the park--to all fields--then sort of bowed his head shyly to the crowd.

[Gary]

A great ex-Cardinal who's often overlooked is Joe Torre in the 70s. I think he won the batting title in '73, or maybe MVP, I don't remember. But I always remember him fondly from an otherwise forgetable decade.

[Bowen]

Since Fred has invoked the name of Willie Mays, I have been pondering Scott's comment above:

"But if Ozzie had Edgar's bat, the combined player would have been the greatest weapon in the history of the game."

Willie Mays was as good in center field as Ozzie was at shortstop, and Mays was way, way, way better than Renteria at the plate.

So if you offered me a choice between a hypothetical Ozzie/Edgar hybrid and Willie Mays, I'd take Mays every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

[Fred McTaggart]

Well, Mays was one of the greatest. Stan and Gibby belong in the same class and Albert will be there when all is said and done. But really, it's a select class. And as much as I like Brock, Ozzie and Edgar, they are a couple of steps below that level.

It's true, though, that when Mays and Aaron were playing, it was easy to take them for granted. Maybe that's because they were the enemy.

I think Jackie Robinson stole home in the first game I ever saw in person. But it's a vague memory--far behind that of Chuck Dehring making a NEAR catch of a Duke Snider drive in CF in that same game.

[View From the Cheap Seats]

Jarrod,

I was a huge Lankford fan. He was strongly considered but just missed the cut for the top 20 in my book.

If there is a player I regret not adding in retrospect, it's Brian Jordan.

[Suckringhausen]

Forget the 20 top players..
The 20 blown save leader will be Izzy

[Joe]

Rolen was a great 3Bmen, but he was anything but tough. still trying to figure out how he got hurt running into guys. lol