St. Louis Cardinals All-Time Team

Welcome to Part Four in Baseball Digest’s All-Time team series. Over the course of nearly 25,000 words and thanks to countless hours of research, legends have been marginalized and mediocrities have been elevated. We’ve found it necessary to eschew Mickey Mantle and Cy Young while also delving into the historical merits of Ron Cey and Jason Giambi. As the immortal John Sterling would say, “That’s baseball for you!”

Or something like that.

Now, we move onto the St. Louis Cardinals, a franchise whose name is revered, its history lauded and its logo classy. Just like the three teams we have already discussed (the Yanks, Sox and That Team That Frank McCourt Kinda Owns), they have maintained their status as a relevant cornerstone franchise into the second decade of the Aughts. While the Dodgers teeter on the edge of financial and baseball ruin, the Cardinals continue to be as competitive and respected as always, with their recent World Title and present pennant race in the NL Central serving as collateral against any potential drama.

That this aura of respect and reverence that has always connected with the Cardinals is no accident. They field what is perhaps the best All-Time team yet—at the very least within striking distance of the Almighty Yanks. And they do that thanks to a first for our All-Time teams feature: the team’s franchise player almost not being chosen as best player at his respective positions.

Confused? The proof is in the plural. Read on.

Franchise Player: Stan Musial

Among franchise players thus far, Stan the Man receives the strongest challenge from fellow All-Timers. That’s what tends to happen when your franchise has seen greatness range from the Dead Ball Era and Rogers Hornsby to the Steroids Era and Albert Pujols.

Yet another '40s star whisked off for war service, Musial was less impacted than some of his not-as-fortunate peers. He missed just one full season of games, unburdened by multiple turns of service and repeated interruptions to ongoing campaigns. And when he returned after not playing in the 1945 season, he was just as impressive and as legendary as always.

Perhaps the most consistent hitter in the history of the sport, Musial comes in at ninth all-time in WAR. He is the proud owner of a .331/.417/.559 line, 475 HR and 3,630 hits. Never once in his first 14 full seasons was he worth less than five wins. In that 15th year, he posted a 4.9 mark for WAR.

It always seems surprising to see that Musial—largely considered one of the best pure hitters in the history of the game—never reached 500 home runs. Many would point to that lost ’45 season as proof. In all likelihood, they’d be wrong. From Musial’s first season in 1942 to 1947, he never once topped 20 home runs. He did post a 10.5 WAR, MVP-winning campaign in his sophomore campaign, but only managed to drive 13 home runs into the grandstands.

Enter the seemingly all-powerful age-28 season, and Musial would quickly evolve into one of the best the game has ever seen. In his prime years and physique, Stan the Man posted a .376/.450/.702 line with 39 HR, 113 R and 95 RBI in 1948. Musial would watch the World Series from his couch yet again in '48, but his second of three MVP trophies would be there to keep him company. That’s not to say the Musial-led Cards were losers. They would win three World Series in Musial’s first five seasons while also falling to the all-powerful Yankees in the 1943 Fall Classic.

Yet for all his achievements and lofty statistics, Musial’s Cardinals supremacy is met with strong competition. Rogers Hornsby and his .359 career AVG (second all-time) and 95.6 WAR (best ever among 2B) have more than a few words to say. Albert Pujols has already surpassed him as the franchise’s premier first baseman, and may one day usurp Musial’s long-tenured throne atop any and all Cardinals, past or present—nine-digit contract pending, of course.

How can Musial be the franchise’s best player but not its best 1B? While he played more than 3,000 games with St. Louis, he spent just around a third of his career at first base. This wasn’t a familiar example of sticking an aging star at an immobile position—Musial was a legitimate Hall of Fame corner infielder and outfielder. He came up as a first baseman and rode into the sunset as a left fielder, but not before he racked up a sizeable amount of innings at both spots in between.

It’s a good thing for him that his career was so lengthy and illustrious, or he would have the somewhat-dubious honor of being the best player in the history of his franchise without being its best at any singular position. Lou Brock and his 50+ win Cardinals stint gives Stan the Man a strong run for his money in left field as well, but the former stolen base champ posted just five four-win seasons with St Louis. Musial, platoon status notwithstanding, topped that figure 17 times. He would finish above eight wins on nine separate occasions.

Still going strong at 90 years old, Musial is baseball’s third oldest living HOFer, behind fellow All-Time team member Bobby Doerr and Negro Leagues and Giants star Monte Irvin.

Jesse Golomb researches and writes for BaseballDigest.com. He is also the creator and writer of SoapBoxSportsByte, a blog that incorporates statistical analysis as well as fan perspective into daily pieces on the MLB, NFL and NBA. He can be followed on Twitter @SoapBxSprtsByte, or contacted by email at golombjesse@gmail.com.