Rendering courtesy of The Cordish Companies
The St. Louis Cardinals are set to open the doors of the long-awaited Ballpark Village and open the 2014 season as defending National League champions.
Blessed with a stockpile of excellent young pitchers and a veteran lineup, the Redbirds are heavily favored to repeat as NL Central champions and battle for another World Series berth.
With everything seeming so rosy for the Cardinals, why would the franchise set itself up for a potential embarrassment? That’s what it may have done, however, by including Mark McGwire on its inaugural ballot for the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame at Ballpark Village.
The admitted steroid user set a tainted single-season home run record as a Cardinal when he hit 70 home runs in 1998. He would later return as former manager Tony La Russa’s batting coach, but he skipped town for the same job with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, he’s right there on the Cardinals Hall of Fame ballot, along with seven other candidates.
Fan voting started last Friday and will continue through April 22. The two leading vote-getters will be named to the Hall of Fame in August. Here's a rundown of the candidates and some of their on-field achievements:
Jim Edmonds (.285 BA, 241 HR, 713 RBI): The winner of six straight Gold Gloves, from 2000 to 2005, Edmonds was a member of the 2006 World Series title team.
Bob Forsch (163-127, 3.67 ERA, 1,079 K): The only player in team history with two no hitters, Forsch is third in franchise history with 163 wins.
Keith Hernandez (.299 BA, 265 2B, 662 R): The NL MVP co-winner in 1979 and member of 1982 World Series champions was also a five-time Gold Glove winner and two-time All-Star.
Willie McGee (.294 BA, 301 SB, 255 2B): McGee spent 13 seasons with the Cardinals. He was the 1985 MVP recipient, after hitting .353 and stealing 56 bases. The three-time Gold Glove winner played one of the best World Series games in history, during Game Three in 1982 against Milwaukee, hitting two home runs and making two incredible catches in the outfield. He won NL batting titles in 1985 and 1990.
Mark McGwire (1.111 OPS, 220 HR, 473 RBI): Besides breaking Roger Maris' single-season record in 1998 with 70 home runs, the three time All-Star led the National League in homers in '98 and '99, driving in 147 each season.
Matt Morris (101-62, 3.61 ERA, 986 K): The two-time All-Star pitched for the Cardinals from 1997 to 2005 and led the NL with 22 wins in 2001.
Ted Simmons (.298 BA, 172 HR, 929 RBI): A six-time All-Star during 13 seasons in St. Louis, Simmons set an NL record with 188 hits as a catcher in 1975 and was named the Silver Slugger winner in 1980.
Joe Torre (.308 BA, 558 RBI, 161 2B): The former Cardinals manager played catcher, first base, and third base from 1969 to 1974. He earned National League MVP honors in 1971, after batting .363 with 230 hits and 137 RBIs.
The idea that McGwire could be enshrined before any of the other candidates should be enough reason for sensible fans to flock to cardinals.com/HOF and make sure it doesn't happen. But alas, there are many Cards fans who still believe in McGwire; when there is a story about him—for whatever reason—there are as many favorable comments as negative ones. I don’t get it, but it really didn’t matter to me until the Hall of Fame voting was announced.
Personally, here are my top four votes:
Willie McGee: The Cardinals should drop the pretense of his not being in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and retire his No. 51. McGee is more than a fan favorite; he is probably the most beloved living Cardinal, now that the great Stan Musial has passed away.
Ted Simmons: He should be enshrined in Cooperstown as well as the Cardinals Hall of Fame.
Bob Forsch: Two no-hitters for the same franchise is enough for me. I interviewed Forsch for Whitey’s Boys, a book that I co-authored about the 1982 Cardinals. He was truly a nice man who looked like he still could have pitched in 2002. It’s a shame that he passed away in 2001, at the age of 61.
Joe Torre: His 1971 MVP award gets him into my top four. Yes, he had a losing record as the Redbirds’ manager (351–354), but he did well with what he had to work with. From here, he went to the New York Yankees, and we all know how that turned out.
If you’re wondering why Edmonds isn't in my top four, it's because I feel that he's a creation of the ESPN SportsCenter era: He was a great outfielder and clutch hitter, but his fame is based as much on highlight-reel catches as overall success.
With all of that being said, I worry that younger fans will dictate who enters the Cardinals Hall of Fame in August, which means Edmonds and McGwire could be the first two enshrined. I can live with Edmonds, but McGwire’s selection would cause us all to look like fools.
Commentary by Alvin Reid
