Day Six: Cardinals/Mariners

Please see I’m Just Sayin…for what is going on with our posts for the next month or so.

The Cardinals of the 1980’s played a style of baseball that I love. They had speed, great pitching and defense, and timely hitting. I could make a top four just from those teams in the ‘80s. However, the Cardinals organization has had many, many great players over the years. They have more World Series championships than any other National League franchise. Picking a top four was tough.

Cardinals

Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Rogers Hornsby, Ozzie Smith

Stan “The Man” - Position: Outfield and First Base
Time with Cards: (1941-1944, 1946-1963)

Stan is indeed, the man. He is the best St. Louis Cardinal of all time. He tops an unbelievable cast of Red Birds with his all-around dominance. Musial leads the Cardinals all-time list in ABs, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI and walks. He finished his career with a .331 batter average, 3,630 hits, 725 doubles, 475 home runs, 1,951 RBI and .559 slugging percentage. Stan Musial stands alone. His ability and determination towards the game were unmatchable. He did not just have a few great years; he dominated for three decades only missing time to fight in the war. Stan-the-man is a 24-time All Star selection, 3-time NL MVP and 3-time World Series Champion. He also is a member of the All-Century Team. Musial's number was retired by the Cardinals right after he retired from baseball in 1963. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969 receiving 93% of the first ballot vote.

Rogers Hornsby - Position: Second Base
Time with Cards: (1915-1926, 1930); As Manager: (1925-1926)

Rogers Hornsby, or "The Rajah", is one of the best all around players ever. He is a member of the All-Century Team and is the only player to ever win the Triple Crown twice. Hornsby holds the record for batting average in a season at .424; a mark nobody has gotten close to beating. He won the Triple Crown that season and again in 1925 when he batted .403 with 39 HRs and 143 RBI. He is perhaps the best slugger of the 20th Century. As a Cardinal, The Rajah won two NL MVP awards and a World Series title. He won the title as a player/manager, providing the team with his skills both on and off the field. He is the best hitter in Cardinals history with a .359 lifetime batting average. That is good for second best of all-time, behind only the great Ty Cobb.

Hornsby's was honored with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937, before numbers were used and retired. His name still remains on the wall at Busch Stadium. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942. He died in 1963 at the age of 66.

Bob Gibson - Position: Starting Pitcher
Time with Cards: (1959-1975)

Bob Gibson is the best pitcher to ever play for the Cardinals. Better yet, he is one of the best pitchers to ever play the game. Gibson was an absolute gun slinger and managed to strikeout batters in high volume. He has a record of (251-174) with a 2.91 ERA and 3,117 strikeouts all-time. Gibson holds many records, including all the Cardinals pitching records. He holds the MLB record for lowest ERA in a single season with 1.12 earned run average in 1968. Put simply, the guy was unhittable. Gibson pitched a no-hitter in 1971. He is an 8-time All Star, 9-time Gold Glover, 2-time Cy Young winner and a member of the All-Century Team. He also has won two World Series Championships, both of which he was the MVP. No pitcher will ever dominate the mound at Busch the way Gibson did. His ability to strikeout batters and work a high pitch count was unreal. His number, #45, was retired by the Cardinals in 1981. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Ozzie Smith - Position: Shortstop
Time with Cards: (1982-1996)

Ozzie Smith was dubbed, "The Wizard", because of his incredible defensive ability. He sometimes looked like an acrobat out there at shortstop, doing flips and grabbing balls between his legs. He is undoubtedly the best defensive Cardinal of all time. Being a speedy guy, he also had a great ability to reach base and steal second. He is a member of the 2,000 hit club as well as the 500 SB club. The Wizard is a 15-time All Star selection, 13-time Gold Glove Award winner, NLCS MVP and World Series champion (1982). His number, #1, was retired by the Red Birds in 1996. Smith would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002, receiving 92% of the first ballot. He will always be remembered as "The Wizard" who stole hits and made the Cardinals the best defensive team in baseball.

(http://bleacherreport.com/articles/401490-the-10-greatest-st-louis-cardinals-of-all-time)

Honorable Mention:

Albert Pujols, Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Willie McGee

Albert Pujols – He is more than an honorable mention player. If Albert had stayed with the Cards, he may very well have become the greatest of them all. When you look at the top four I have right now, to think that he would be considered better than any of those shows how good he really is. In fact, if he were still with the team, I may have had to include him on the list. I am not a big fan of including current players on these lists, but he will one day be in the discussion of the greatest ever if he continues this pace with the Angels.

The Mariners had some good teams in the ‘90s. They had a lot of talent that unfortunately left for greener pastures. A-Rod (PED’s aside) was really good for them during this stretch but if I am leaving Pujols of the list I’m certainly not putting him on.

Mariners

Ken Griffey, Jr., Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Ichiro Suzuki

Ken Griffey Jr. (1989-1999; 2009-2010)

Ken Griffey Jr. was easily the best player in baseball when he was traded in 1999, but before that he put up some of the best statistics the game has ever seen. He has hit 417 home runs, driven in 1,216 runs, and hit safely 1,843 times for the Mariners during his time with the team. He will definitely go into the Baseball Hall of Fame with his combined statistics, and what he did on the field defensively puts him in a class almost all by himself when it comes to all-around players.

Edgar Martinez (1987-2004)

Edgar Martinez put up amazing stats during his storied career with the Seattle Mariners, playing his entire time in the Major Leagues just for Seattle. Edgar finished with a .312 career batting average, a .418 on base percentage, 2,247 hits, 514 doubles, 309 home runs, and 1,261 RBI. His on base percentage is one of the highest in the history of baseball, and his career was so positive that Major League Baseball named the annual best designated hitter in baseball award in his name.

Randy Johnson (1989-1998)

Randy Johnson, otherwise known as "The Big Unit" while he pitched in Seattle was one of the best pitchers in baseball during the time he spent with the team. He won 130 games before he was traded, but also struck out 2,162 hitters during his 266 starts for Seattle. He was in Seattle during some of the lean years for the team, but still managed to throw a no-hitter, pitch 19 shut-outs, and win a Cy Young Award along the way. In the 1995 season, Johnson went 18-2 with a 2.48 ERA, and then in 1997 Johnson went 20-5 with a 2.28 ERA and 291 strike-outs.

Ichiro Suzuki (2001-2010)

Ichiro Suzuki has had a short Major League career when compared to players that have been around for 20 years, but in that time he has been simply amazing. Coming into the 2010 season, Ichiro had 2,030 hits in just nine seasons. His career batting average of .333 puts him among the all-time leaders, and his 343 stolen bases show just how much he can open up the game. He is also considered one of the best outfielders in the game right now when it comes to defense, racking up many Gold Gloves already. There is no telling how great his stats will be when he finally retires.

(http://voices.yahoo.com/the-10-best-seattle-mariners-all-time-6132878.html)

Honorable Mention:

Jay Buhner, Jamie Moyer, Dan Wilson, Alex Rodriguez