Redbirds Rap

Pujols, Hornsby, Musial and Ruth compared updated

How does Albert Pujols compare to the other great Redbird hitters of all-time? Those two being Stan Musial and Rogers Hornsby.  Musial and Hornsby both played for 23-24 years and with Albert 9 years into his career we can sort of project where he could end up if he doesn't have any major injuries.  Of course over time he will age and slow down and have some sort of injuries, but even with that considered his total lifetime numbers could be staggering.

But, we are here to compare his numbers to the two greatest hitters in Cardinals history.
Comparing his totals for the first 9 years for hits he has 1717 compared to Musial's 1624 and Hornsby's 1486.  Home Runs we know Pujols is way ahead of the pack here in the first 9 years.  In RBIs Pujols has 1112 in his first 9 years compared to Musial's 815 and Hornsby's 721 .  So far Pujols is ahead of these two greats in his first 9 years in MLB. 

Now we can compare numbers that are career to see how they stack up.  In Batting Average Hornsby leads with a .358 lifetime average with Pujols at .334 and Musial at .331.  In Slugging Pct. Pujols leads here with a .628 with Hornsby at .577 and Musial at .559.  OBP has Hornsby in the lead with .434 followed by Pujols with .427 then Musial at .417.  This season pulled Pujols within striking range of Hornsby.  In OPS  Pujols leads with 1.055 to Hornsby 1.011 and Musial's .976.  OPS + has Hornsby with 175 with Pujols just behind at 172 and Musial with 159.  All great numbers by the way.  But, Albert Pujols is in some very big company with the numbers he has put up so far.

With these numbers it is not going out on the limb to call him the greatest hitter in Cardinals history. Something us present day Redbird fans should savor for he is definitely the greatest all-round hitter I've seen in my lifetime (all-round means putting all his numbers together).  Below are his numbers compared to Musial and Hornsby.  Just to set the record straight, I consider Hornsby to be the greatest all-time Cardinal hitter but as time progresses and if Pujols keeps this up I will definitely and gladly change my mind. :) However, I just give Hornsby the nod by a edge for I am becoming convinced that Albert is one of the greatest ever.  So, what is your opinion?  Who is the greatest Redbird with the bat?

Yrs.-   Player-  total yrs.-  H-      HR-     RBI-      BA-      SLG-    OBP-   OPS-     OPS+

41-63  -Musial-   24-      3630-   475-   1951-    .331-   .559-    .417-    .976-    159

15-37   -Hornsby 23-     2930-  301-    1584-   .358-   .577-    .434-    1.011-  175

01-09    -Pujols      9-     1717-  366-    1112-     .334-   .628-    .427-   1.055-  172

Before I close I wanted to compare Pujols with what most consider to be the greatest hitter of all-time, Babe Ruth.  The first 9 years can't be done since Ruth was a pitcher for part of his first nine years.  But how about lifetime numbers?

In Batting Average Ruth had .342 with Pujols at .334.  In Slugging Pct. Ruth had .690 with Pujols at .628.  OBP has Ruth at .474 with Pujols at .427.  OPS has Ruth at 1.164 with Pujols at 1.055.  OPS+ has Ruth at 207 with Pujols at 172.  While not quite Ruthian yet (although he is close), Pujols is coming upon his peak years and he could put up numbers big enough to catch or even surpass Ruth.  But, even at that, will his declining years bring him back under Ruth if he does catch him in lifetime stats?  It will be fun to watch! 

 

The Gashouse Era, part 3

1936 came and the Redbirds were again one of the powerhouses of the NL.  With tons of hitting and aggressive base running they ruled the NL for 85 days before succumbing to the lack of pitching in the end.  The Cardinals finished the season in 2nd place 87-67 .565 -5.  The team led the NL in Slg. Pct. with a .410 and in Stolen Bases with 69. 

The offense was once again led by Ducky Medwick with a .351 BA, a .577 SLG PCT (Tied with Mize), 138 RBIs  with Mize (who was in his first year in MLB) leading the team with 19 dingers, and a OBP of .402. Pepper Martin led the team with 121 Runs and 23 SBs. 

The pitching as noted was another story. Ranked 7th out of 8 teams in most categories the only bright spot was the ever loveable and crazy Dizzy Dean who had 24 wins, 195 Ks and a 3.17 ERA which made him the Ace of the pitching staff.

Highlights during the season included Leo Durocher fighting with the Dodger Manager, Casey Stengel, under the stands after a game, Medwick goes 7 for 7 during a doubleheader against the Braves, Dizzy Dean wins the first game of a DH and loses the second game and Medwick set the then NL record of 64 doubles.

It was another great year for the Cardinals but what would 1937 bring?  Come back for the next part of this series...

1930s Gashouse era, part 2

1934 came and the Cardinals got off to a slow start. But, the Redbirds won 25 of their last 30 games to win the NL pennant by 2 games with a 95-58 ,621 record.  Dizzy Dean won 30 games and the Redbirds led the NL with a .288 Ba, a .425 SLG PCT., 69 SB, and 799 runs scored.  The Cardinals then met the Tigers in the Series and won it all in 7 games.

1935 came and the defending World Champion Cardinals got off to another slower start.  They roar back in August to move back into first but end up losing the pennant to the Cubs by 4 games with a 96-58 .623 record.  The only category the Redbirds led the league in was fielding pct with a .972 pct.   Dean won 28 games this season and Medwick led the team with a .353 BA.  

What would 1936 bring?  Come back and check it out in our next post....

1930's The Gashouse era, part 1.

The Redbirds started winning in the 1920's and this grew into the 1930's.  This era had the 1934 Redbirds now known as the Gashouse Gang.  A rollicking, innovative, hard playing roughhouse bunch who won it all in '34.  But, how did the Cardinals fare in the rest of the decade? 

The Cardinals won the NL pennant in 1930 with a 92-62 .597 +2 record. They faced Mack's great A's Dynasty of the late 20's and were beaten by the A's 4 games to 2.  Highlights in '31 consisted of the Redbirds scoring 1,004 runs to lead the NL, batting .314 as a team to finish 3rd in the NL and Frisch scoring 121 runs on the season.

1931 saw the Cardinals repeat as NL Champions with a 101-53 .65 +13 record. This time they took apart the A's dynasty being led by Pepper Martin winning 4 games to the A's 3.  Besides Martin's great World Series, the Redbirds led the NL is stolen bases with 114, were led in BA by Chick Hafey with a .349 and scored 815 runs to finish second in that category in the NL.

1932 was a rough year with the Redbirds finishing 72-82 .469 -18 in 6th place.   Highlights include the team leading the NL with 92 stolen bases, Dizzy Dean winning 18 games and the arrival of new stars  Dean, Medwick, Sherdel, and Bressler as the rebuilding begins.  This club had the most losses of any Cardinals team from 1924-1954.

1933 saw the rebuilding continue with the Redbirds finishing 82-71 .536 -9.5 in 5th place.  The Redbirds led the NL with 99 Stolen Bases and 687 runs scored while Dizzy Dean won 20 games.  Leo Durocher showed up this season and many of the pieces were in place for what was to come in 1934.

Next... 1934.....

How we did in our pre-season predictions.....

Well, the post-season is here and since I have no Redbirds games or activity to cover other than LaRussa will be back for next season (YAY!!!) and that McGwire will be the hitting coach (I have to think about this one a bit before I react), I thought I would go back to my April 1rst predictions on the outcome of the NL Central races. 

Now that the season is done and we have the season results here is what I predicted;

2009 NL Central Division Predictions

1. Cardinals
2. Cubs
3. Reds
4. Brewers
5. Astros
6. Pirates

2009 NL Central Division Actual Standings

1. Cardinals
2. Cubs
3. Brewers
4. Reds
5. Astros
6. Pirates

Not too bad actually.  I got 4 out of the 6 right and the Brewers and Reds were just flip-flopped in their positions.  I'm pretty pleased with the results of my predictions.  I never take them too seriously for the season is long and too many things can happen to change things.  But, 4 out of 6 is not bad. :)

In my notes I did however predict the Cardinals and Cubs would finish in a dead-heat and the Cardinals would win the tie-breaker in one of the greatest division races in history.  Well... I am glad to say the race wasn't close and the Redbirds did win the division! :)

I had picked the Reds to pass the Brewers since I felt their pitching would make great strides this year and that the Brewers had given up and lost too much in the Starting Pitching area.  While the Reds did improve in pitching in many ways, they didn't improve as much as I had envisioned and the Brewers were stronger than I though they would be.  So, those are my major miscues in my predictions.

I did predict the Pirates in last but that they would make life exciting.  Well, they did and it looked like they might make a run towards .500 early on.  But, then the Pirates ownership decided to dump all their talent and cement the Pirates into last place for at least another 3 years to come.  Who could've seen that coming? 

So, those were my predictions and I think I did okay.  Better than some of the "experts" out there, but not as good as some of the experts out there.  I am pleased with the results and can't wait till I can do this again next year. :)

We will soon go over our post-season predictions of April 3rd here.  In some ways I did good, in others... not at all.  But, that is for another post.  Thank you for reading Redbirds Rap!

GO CARDINALS!!!!!

Awards and your chance to vote

Ryan Franklin was awarded the Sporting News National League Reliever of the Year award!  His 4-3 1.92 38 saves with 44 Ks was indeed a great effort and he earned this award with the nice numbers he put up in the 09 season.

Albert Pujols picked up what should prove to be a lot of awards this off-season with a Oscar Charleston and a Josh Gibson award for his offensive and home run numbers this last season.  Chris Carpenter won the Bullet Rogan award for being pitcher of the year. These awards are the Legacy awards given by the Negro League Baseball Museum.

How would you like to vote for the best offensive seasons at each position in Cardinals history?  Well you can do so at the Cardinals website and it is really interesting to look at the best seasons with the bat at each position and then try to vote for the one you think is the best.  Its thought provoking and a lot of fun. To vote for the all-time 9 go to;

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/fan_forum/all_time_nine/index.jsp?c_id=stl

GO CARDINALS!!!!

Highlights from a hundred years ago

Well, the 2009 season came to a end for us Redbirds fans and now the post-season pursuits are on.  One of mine is baseball history.  We all know what we are enjoying right now from the 2009 season.  However, when the 1909 season ended what were Redbird fans relishing then?

Well it wasn't the post-season for the Cardinals finished the 1909 season in 7th place with a 54-98 .355 -56 record.  Yup, 56 games back! Konetchy was the only bat the Cards had that year leading the team in all hitting categories.  His .286 BA, 4 HRs, 80 RBIs, 88 Runs and 25 SBs led the team.  Beebe led the team with 15 wins.

There were a few highlights to the 1909 season.  Fred Beebe threw a 2 hitter against the Dodgers to win 10-0 on May 12th.  On May 30th the Redbirds take a 11-0 lead in the first beating the Reds 12-2.  Fred Beebe throws another 2 hitter on July 13th beating the Phillies 3-1. 

Those are the highlights and results of the 1909 season.  Feel better about the 2009 season now?  I know I do! :) 

The Post-Season

As a Redbirds fan I have to admit I really am not happy sitting here watching other teams battling it out when I really feel this team should've been there.  I had very high expectations for this team and while I think next year will be another great season, it doesn't make this off-season any easier to live with.

However, as Cardinal fans we have a lot of questions.  What about Albert?  Will he be resigned, traded or will nothing happen till the end of next season?  What about Matt Holliday?  It seems to me if we get Albert whats the point without Holliday?  I wonder, will the Cardinals finally spend more money and quit acting like a small-market ball club?  I am not criticizing but merely pointing out that the Cardinals keep tight strings on their purse and claim they don't have money to spend when they have one of the largest and most loyal fan bases in MLB.  Look at their yearly attendance..... small market.. I don't think so.

There are lots of questions for the off-season.  Piniero is another.  Somehow the Redbirds let go of pitching and yet find more readily available.   What will happen here? 

While I think the Redbirds are one of the better run clubs in MLB I do wish they would spend a bit more money for this club if returned to the field next year with perhaps a few minor tweaks could be in the hunt for the World Championship.  So, that is the biggest question to me.... will they spend? Will they not spend?  While money and spending doesn't ensure a championship, it can in this case ensure a return to the post-season and that is the first step needed in the quest to win it all.  Keep yer fingers crossed and lets hope the Redbirds make the right moves to get back into the post-season next year.  This is what I, as a Redbirds fan, I am rooting for during the off-season. 

GO CARDINALS!!!!

What a Season!

Let me start with a apology to the readers of this blog.  During the Summer I became very ill with a stomach problem which was only the beginning of a series of problems that have plagued me to this point.  Some were health issues, others problems caused by a employer who thinks of us employees as cannon fodder instead of humans. 

I am back, finally, and I hope I can rebuild the numbers and following this blog had grown too at one time.  It is rather depressing to know I have to start over, but I love doing this and really enjoyed the opportunity given to me by Bill to do this blog.  On to the Cardinals.

As we all know the Redbirds made a series of moves this summer that let them catch fire offensively to propel them to the 2009 Central Division Championship!  It was great to watch the Redbirds take the crown.  Like most of you I had great hopes for the playoffs. 

Alas, we all know what happened.  We saw the Redbirds, fumble, bumble and not quite play up to their potential against the Dodgers and it was hard to watch at times.  However, unlike some, I do not criticize those who made mistakes in the field, or perhaps didn't pitch quite as well as they have or may not have hit as well as in the past.  No, I am so grateful for the great season, so grateful the Redbirds made it to the post-season beating out the flubs  by a good length to get there. 

No, I don't criticize them for without each of them this ball club wouldn't have made it to the post-season.  Disappointed yes, but still a Redbird fan for life.  I wore my Cardinal hat the next day proudly for this is one great ball club who will be in the hunt again next season. I wish they would've done better, but there is nothing to be upset about for after all only 4 teams in the NL made it to the post-season and our Cardinals were one of them.

No, I am eagerly awaiting next season, for this club is going to be tough again next year and with a few moves they may catch that lightning in a bottle.  No, I am waiting for the snow to end and to hear that call.. "Play Ball!"  I can;t wait to see Albert hit his first dinger, to see Carp get his first K and for that first trouncing they will give the bankrupted in more ways than one Flubs. 

Finally, all I can say is GO CARDINALS!!!!

Look for more regular posting here and thank you for reading. God Bless You All!

Colby! DeRo, Glaus, Wainwright

Wow!  Was last night's game great or what?  Our 2nd place 42-38 .525 -1 Redbirds won a 2-1 10 inning decision last night when Colby Rasmus hit a shot to Right-Center that left the park and left the fans roaring, the Cardinals pouring onto the field and me cheering.  This was one heck of a hard fought game. I have to admit I was grumbling when the Redbirds blew the lead in the 8th, but admired Wainwright's pitching through it with only one run being scored.  But, it all worked out okay in the end.

Wainwright had one heck of a night!  Going 9 innings while throwing 122 pitches with one run on 6 hits with 3 walks and 12 Ks was exactly what this team needed.  Rest for the pen, a great outing by the starter, a big walk-off win and even a stolen base by Albert added up to one good win.  The win by the way went to Franklin 2-0 0.97 who threw a excellent 10th inning with a K to hold the Giants scoreless and set up Colby's dramatic's in the 10th. 

The Redbirds hope to split the series with the Giants when they take them on tonight at 7:15 pm ET with the starters being Wellemeyer 6-7 5.68 vs. Zito 4-7 4.55.  Wellemeyer is 2-0 3.00 against the Giants lifetime.

In other news the Cards called up Jarrett Hoffpauir a IF and optioned Mortenson to Memphis.

In Tuesday night's game DeRosa hurt his wrist during a swing and had it x-rayed.  Good news is he has a strained tendon in his right wrist and will miss a few days. The bad news?  Well, he will miss a few days.  Could've been worse but sure don't like to see these things.

Albert has 30 homers before the All-Star break.  He is on track to break 60 if he can keep it up the second half of the season.  Keep yer fingers crossed.

Glaus could be playing in the minors as early as next week.  Reportedly, he is swinging freely and with no pain.  This is great news for if Glaus can come back we have another big bat in the lineup and that can't be anything but a plus for this club.  If all goes well Glaus could be back for the stretch drive as the Cardinals, who are in the thick of the red hot NL Central race, look to take the division title.

Lohse makes a minor league start tonight in his rehab.  A great outing by him could see him back in a Redbirds uni soon.  With Wellemeyer struggling the Cardinals need to get another solid starter on the mound and Lohse may be that guy.  Lets hope for a great start tonight.

Go get 'em Redbirds!!!

San Francisco	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0		1	6	3
St. Louis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1		2	8	0