My Cardinals Dream Team: 1995-2020
Coronavirus has derailed everyone’s life and sports have suffered through the pandemic as well. The MLB announced a 60 game season that is planning to start on July 23rd. This got me thinking about all of the great Cardinals players and teams I have gotten to see during my lifetime (1991-present). What if we took all those teams put the players into a pool and got to draft to create the “best Cardinals team from my lifetime?”
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri on June 3rd, 1991 into a Cardinals family. I remember when I was a kid, having the opportunity to go to games with my family and those being some of my favorite times. I have been a baseball lover ever since. I have had the opportunity to see some great players come through the Cardinals franchise, from Mark McGwire to Albert Pujols to Yadi to Chris Carpenter. In this blog I am going to form a full Cardinals team from my lifetime. We will have a starting nine, a pitching rotation, a bench, a bullpen and a manager. I will list out potential players at each position and why I ended up choosing the guy I did. Most of the time it will be because that player was the best of the group but I had to slip in some of my personal favorites. Let’s get started!
Catchers
Nominees: Tom Pagnozzi (87-98), Eli Marrero (97-03), Eli Marrero (97-03), Yadier Molina (04-present)
C: Yadier Molina: .282 Avg, 156 HR, 916 RBI, 9 Gold Gloves, 9 All Star Games, 2 World Series
Maybe the easiest choice in this piece and one of the greatest Cardinals ever. He should be a sure fire Hall of Famer when he retires solely based on his defensive metrics. Has been the anchor for us since 2004, barely misses games, and always comes through in the clutch.
First Base
Nominees: Mark McGwire (97-01), Tino Martinez (02-03), Albert Pujols (01-11)
1B: Albert Pujols: 328 Avg, 445 HR, 1329 RBI, 3 MVPs, 10 All Star Games, 2 World Series, 2 Gold Gloves
Easily one of the greatest players I will ever see in my lifetime. There is a reason his nickname is the machine. An all around incredible player and does so much for the community. I will never forget the homerun he hit off Brad Lidge. The stats and accolades are even to much to post here; check out his baseball reference page.
Second Base
Nominees: Delino DeShields (97-98), Fernando Vina (00-03), Skip Schumaker (05-12), Kolten Wong (13-present)
2B: Kolten Wong: .260 Avg, 83 SB, Golf Glove
We have not had many great second basemen but I am a big Wong fan and think he is the best of the bunch. A stellar defensive player with one gold glove and hopefully more on the way. Last year was his best offensive year with a good average and stolen base numbers. I think he fits our squad perfectly.
Third Base
Nominees: Gary Gaetti (96-98), Fernando Tatis (98-00), Scott Rolen (02-07), David Freese (09-13)
3B: Scott Rolen: .282 Avg, 128 HR, 519 RBI, 5 All Star Games, 4 Gold Gloves, 1 World Series
Rolen was a magician at the hot corner and, I think, one of the most underrated third basemen ever. Defensively he was incredible and no slouch at the plate either; he absolutely does not get enough credit for the player he was. It’s a shame how his tenure in STL ended.
Shortstop
Nominees: Royce Clayton (96-98), Edgar Renteria (99-04), David Eckstein (05-07)
SS: Edgar Renteria: .290 Avg, 451 RBI, 148 SB, 3 All Star Games, 3 Silver Sluggers, 2 Gold Gloves
Edgar was a staple for the Cardinals from 99-04 and one of the best players we had during those years. We always knew we could count on him in the big moments. I completely forgot just how good he was until I looked at his accolades. Another very underrated star for the Cards.
Leftfield
Nominees: Ray Lankford (90-01), So Taguchi (02-07), Matt Holliday (09-16)
LF: Ray Lankford: .274 Avg, 226 HR, 254 SB, 1 All Star Game
Personally one of my favorite Cardinals ever and he always played like it was his last game. It was a bummer he played for us when he did because we had some lousy teams and Ray was one of the lone bright spots. It would be nice to get him on a team with some potential.
Centerfield
Nominees: Jim Edmonds (00-07), Colby Rasmus (09-11), Jon Jay (10-15)
CF: Jim Edmonds: .285 Avg, 241 HR, 713 RBI, 6 Gold Gloves, 3 All Star Games, 1 World Series
Arguably one of the greatest defensive outfielders ever that made some of the most spectacular plays you will ever see. He won the Gold Glove every year he was in STL and was a fan favorite. He also had a couple really great offensive years that I totally forgot about.
Rightfield
Nominees: Brian Jordan (92-98), JD Drew (98-03), Ryan Ludwick (07-10), Carlos Beltran (12-13)
RF: Brian Jordan: .291 Avg, 84 HR, 367 RBI, 86 SB
Jordan played during the same years as Lankford when the Cards were just not very good so his numbers are not great. You can argue this spot should go to Ludwick but I loved Jordan when he played. Any guy that can play in the MLB and NFL should make the squad. No one ever brings him up when talking about two-sport athletes.
Starting Pitchers
Nominees: Andy Benes (96-97, 00-02), Matt Morris (97-05), Kent Bottenfield (98-99), Darryl Kile (00-02), Woody Williams (01-04), Chris Carpenter (04-12), Adam Wainwright (05-present), Jaime Garcia (08-16), Lance Lynn (11-17), Jack Flaherty (17-19)
Rotation: 1. Chris Carpenter: 95-44, 3.07 ERA, 1085 K, 3 All Star Games, 1 Cy Young, 2 World Series
2. Adam Wainwright: 162-95, 3.39 ERA, 1776 K, 3 All Star Games, 2 Gold Gloves, 4 Top 3 Cy Young finishes, 1 World Series
3. Matt Morris: 101-62, 3.61 ERA, 986 K, 2 All Star Games, 1 Top 3 Cy Young finish
4. Darryl Kile: 41-24, 3.54 ERA, 421 K, 1 All Star Game, 1 Top 5 Cy Young finish
5. Woody Williams: 45-22, 3.53 ERA, 412 K, 1 All Star Game
The rotation is definitely carried by Carpenter and Wainwright but the other 3 are no slouches either. Kile’s numbers would be higher but sadly, he passed away during the 2002 season. Morris and Woody were always solid guys and we would perfect for middle to the end of a rotation. (Random side bar, I met Woody Williams at Six Flags in St. Louis. He was there in “disguise” but my Dad recognized him. He was there with his family while he was rehabbing an injury. We said hello and spoke for a minute before drawing too much attention but it was still a cool moment.)
Bullpen
Nominees: I did not go through every Cardinals team since 1995 so I just picked some of the guys I remembered and really liked.
Bullpen: 1. Steve Kline (01-04): 2.69 ERA, best hat in the game
2. Jason Isringhausen (02-08): 2.98 ERA, 217 SV, 1 All Star Game
3. Jason Motte (08-14): 3.03 ERA, 60 SV, 1 World Series, phenomenal beard
4. Trevor Rosenthal (12-17): 2.99 ERA, 121 SV, 1 All Star Game
5. Joe Kelly (12-14): 3.25 ERA
6. Jordan Hicks (18-present): 3.47 ERA, 20 SV
Most of these guys were players that I really liked and immediately came to mind while thinking of Cardinals bullpens. Kline for the dirty hat, Motte for the beard, Rosenthal and Hicks for the velocity. Joe Kelly is one of the biggest characters in baseball. I will never forget the stand off he had against a Dodgers player after the National Anthem of the NLCS Game 6. It ended with the umpire yelling at both guys to go back to their dugouts. This would be a fascinating group of guys to get together and see how they interacted.
Bench
Nominees: I used the pool of position players that did not get selected above to round out our bench
Bench: 1. Mark McGwire, 1B (97-01): .272 Avg, 196 HR, 431 RBI, 3 All Star Games, 2 Top 5 MVP finishes
2. Fernando Tatis 3B/OF (98-00): .279 Avg, 63 HR, 229 RBI, only player in history to hit two grand slams in the same inning
3. Delino DeShields, 2B/LF (97-98): 296 Avg, 81 SB
4. J.D. Drew, OF (98-03): .282 Avg, 86 2B, 280 RBI
5. Mike Matheny, C (00-04): .245 Avg, 221 RBI, 3 Gold Gloves
6. Ryan Ludwick, OF (07-10): .272 Avg, 90 HR, 331 RBI, 1 All Star Game, 1 Silver Slugger
7. So Taguchi, OF (02-07): .283 Avg, 36 SB
McGwire is a no brainer but I feel like the rest of these guys are interesting choices. I always remembered Tatis for having a better career but looking at this stats it wasn’t that impressive; except for the 2 grand slams in one inning, of course. Delino was a solid guy and pretty fast from what I remember so he would be a good base stealer. J.D. never lived up to the hype and a lot of STL fans hated him. Matheny was a great defensive catcher and would be a reliable back up for Yadi. Ludwick was an interesting case; he had a monster year in 08 (.299. 40 HR, and 113 RBI) and then fizzled out. Taguchi is one of my all time favorite Cardinals. The guy just loved playing baseball and always had a huge smile on his face.
Manager
Nominees: Tony LaRussa (95-11), Mike Matheny (12-18), Mike Shildt (18-present)
Manager: Tony LaRussa: 1408-1082, 3 National League Pennants, and 2 World Series
