All the players over the last 25 years that made you say “oh yeah, I forgot about him.”
Jayson Stark of “The Athletic” put out his version of the “Quarter Century” team. Several different outlets have done their team related version. Including Katie Woo who created her controversial Cardinal version. So, I felt like just doing the best players would have been redundant. So, here is a roster of the last 25 years of Cardinals teams and the most obscure players you may or may not remember.
Catcher: A.J. Pierzynski
Pierzynski had his fair share of stops around the league, and in 2014, that included the St. Louis Cardinals for a 30-game stretch. AJ only had 1 HR in his brief time in STL with a .600 OPS and a 69 OPS+ (nice) as shown in the highlight above. Certainly one of those “oh yeah, I forgot about that” players.
1st base: Will Clark
“Will the thrill” gave Cardinals fans plenty to cheer about in the 2000 season batting .345/.426/.655 with a 1.081 OPS and a 167 OPS+ in a 51-game stretch. After an extensive career with the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers the Cardinals were the beneficiaries of the last ounce of thrill that Will had left in him.
2nd base: Bo Hart
Before Jeremy Hazelbaker the Cardinals had Bo Hart! Hart embodied Cardinal “devil magic” as a mostly unheralded player made the most of his opportunity. In 2003 Hart’s first 10 games resulted in a .460/.481/.660 for an 1.141 OPS. He had 23 hits in his first 50 AB’s. Though Hart wasn’t able to follow up his 2003 performance in 2004 going 2-13 with a -2 OPS+ his 2003 run will forever live in Cardinals lore!
3rd Base: Troy Glaus
In 2008 Troy Glaus had one of the most underappreciated 4-win seasons in recent Cardinals memory. This was also the season that Albert Pujols won his first of back-to-back MVP’s and Ryan Ludwick went off and had his career year. Glaus primarily is known for his time in Anaheim winning a World Series in 2002. In 2008 Glaus slashed .270/.372/.483 for a .856 OPS and a 125 OPS+ hitting 27 HR and driving in 99 RBI. Incredible that a season like that can go so underappreciated but when you have M-V-Pujols putting up 9 WAR you sort of understand.
Shortstop: Khalil Greene
I’m not sure how much more obscure it can get than only being able to find a throwing highlight from 3rd base for my primary shortstop pick. Khalil Greene was the earliest example I remember hearing about where mental health was a real issue for professional athletes. In 2009 Greene had 6 HR and 24 RBI with a .619 OPS in 77 games. 2 seasons prior with San Diego, Greene, hit 27 HR and drove in 97 RBI and posted a .759 OPS. So, you could understand the buy low opportunity by Mozeliak at the time, but I don’t think anyone anticipated Greene to struggle with his mental health as bad as he did and it’s worth mentioning just how difficult this game is from a mental perspective. Understanding that you can fail 7 out of 10 times and still be a HOF caliber player highlights that aspect about as well as I’ve ever heard.
Left Field: Preston Wilson
Forever a World Series Champion, Preston Wilson, in 2006 Wilson was picked up on a waiver trade in August of that season and hit 8 HR and drove in 17 RBI producing a .786 OPS in 33 games in route to the playoffs. Though, Wilson, only hit .200 in the playoffs he did drive in a run in game 5 of the NLCS against the Mets and game 4 of the World Series against the Tigers.
Centerfield: Peter Bourjos
In 2 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Peter Bourjos hit .218/.292/.342 good for a .634 OPS and was the epitome of speed and defense. Though, he was the under the radar piece that brought back Randal Grichuk, Bourjos was the starting centerfielder for 2 playoff teams that were built on pitching and defense.
Right Field: Juan Encarnacion
No video available for Juan as the only video options that pop up on YouTube or FilmRoom related to Encarnacion as a Cardinal is him being hit in the face by an Aaron Miles foul ball. Nobody wants to see that again. So we’ll make him the thumbnail for the article. Before that injury ended Encarnacion’s career he hit .280/.319/.444 for a .763 OPS hitting 28 HR 126 RBI in 231 games for the Cardinals and was a World Series Champion with the 2006 team as their everyday RF.
Starting Pitcher: John Smoltz
Long time Braves pitcher and part of the big 3 in the 90’s, John Smoltz joined the Boston Red Sox in the Winter of 2009, which he was released from in August and the Cardinals picked him up for the stretch run after adding Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa at the Deadline before being eliminated by the Dodgers in the NLDS. Smoltz went 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA in 7 starts for the Cardinals but had a 2.73 FIP in that stretch as well, so he was quite a bit better than his surface numbers indicated.
Relief Pitcher: Troy Percival
Percival was the primary set up man for the Cardinals in 2007 after being the long time closer for the Anaheim Angels. Another interesting fact about Percival is that he is one of 3 pitchers that pitched to all 3 of the Molina brothers along with Brian Tallet and John Lackey. In 2007 Percival pitched to a 1.80 ERA in 34 appearances and was 3-0 on the season that he used to parlay himself a deal to the Tampa Bay Rays to be their primary closer in their run to the World Series against the Phillies in 2008.
-Thanks for reading