A Collection of (St. Louis) Cardinals Baseball Players

Albert Pujols, born January 16, 1980 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, had his MLB Debut: 4/2/2001 with the St. Louis Cardinals where he has played his entire career. As the 2011 MLB Season winds down, we find Pujols as a 'Free Agent' and us 'Redbirds' fans are dearly hoping he will 're-sign' in St. Louis and 'remain' a Cardinals player!

*UPDATE: Sadly (for STL Cardinals fans) Pujols decided to join the Los Angeles Angels as their new First Baseman. Us Redbird fans will miss him, but we wish him well with his new team. He remains a favorite of us fans of the all-time St. Louis Cardinals players.

In May, 2001 he was named National League Rookie of the Month. In June, he was named to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the first Cardinals' rookie selected since 1955. By the end of his Rookie season in major league baseball, Pujols helped the Cardinals tie for the National League Central Division title and he was named the National League Rookie of the Year.

One of the very 'best of the best' players in baseball today, Albert Pujols continues to win awards and break records with his fantastic skills as a First Baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. The story of Pujols is well-told in the featured lens listed below.

Rogers Hornsby (April 27, 1896 - January 5, 1963) was a Major League Baseball second baseman and manager. He spent short stints with 3 other clubs during his baseball career, but the majority of his playing career was with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Hornsby's 289 career homers are second among second basemen, and his 1922 season was incredible. He had a 33-game hitting streak and batted .401 with 42 homers and 152 RBI at age 26.

Rogers Hornsby is among the greatest hitters in baseball history. He is the only player to win the National League Triple Crown twice. His career batting average of .358 is the highest in National League history, and also the highest in major league history for any right-handed hitter. He was elected to The Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942. He has also been given a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

DID YOU KNOW? Rogers Hornsby was so obsessed with hitting that he refused to watch movies or read newspapers (except to check his batting average) for fear of corrupting his eyesight. (from Fast Facts on the Official Site of Rogers Hornsby)

Scott Rolen (born April 4, 1975) is an MLB Third Baseman who made his debut on August 1, 1996 for the Philadelphia Phillies. He played Third Base for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2002 to 2007. Afterwards, Rolen played two seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and is currently the third baseman for the Cincinnati Reds.

Scott Rolen was named NL Rookie of the Year in 1997. He has been award the National League 3B Gold Glove Award 7-times and has been an NL All-Star 5-times.

Rolen's 2004 season was probably his best season to date. For much of the season, he led the National League in RBIs, often ranked among the league leaders in most offensive statistics, and had the highest vote total of any player for the All-Star Game. Despite being injured for the last stretch of the season, he finished the year with a career-high .314 batting average, 34 home runs, and 124 RBIs

Scott Rolen now plays 3rd Base for the Cincinnati Reds. He's still in a Red uniform, like his days as a 'Cardinal'. :-).

James Patrick "Jim" Edmonds (born June 27, 1970 in Fullerton, California) is a left-handed Major League Baseball center fielder whose major league debut was 9/9/93 for the California Angels. Jim played for St. Louis Cardinals from 2000 to 2007, and he was affectionately known by Cardinals fans as "Jimmy Baseball," "Jimmy Ballgame," "Lassie," and "Hollywood." He has received eight Gold Glove Awards in his career at center field, most of them coming as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Two of Edmonds' most spectacular defensive plays came while on the Cardinals and the Angels. In June 1997, while playing center field for the Anaheim Angels, Edmonds ran straight back towards the center field wall of Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, and dove outstretched for a fly ball over his head, making the catch on the warning track. His other memorable catch came when on the St. Louis Cardinals on July 16, 2004, while covering center field against Reds batter Jason LaRue. LaRue hit a deep shot to center field that surely would have been enough to be a home run. On a dead run, Edmonds scaled the wall, reached his entire right arm over the fence, and caught the ball; ending the game.

Jim Edmonds is one of my all time favorite baseball players. I loved watching him play while a member of the Cardinals, but it doesn't matter what team he's on ... I just like watching him play. He has made some of the most spectacular catches in Center Field I have ever witnessed and is just a 'joy' to watch. I was so disappointed when he left the Cardinals, and delighted to see him again in 2008 with the Chicago Cubs. I missed him last year, but am so glad to know that, after sitting out the entire 2009 season, Edmonds returned to the major leagues for the 2010 season with the Milwaukee Brewers. On August 9th, Jimmy was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. At age 40, this veteran isn't an everyday player anymore, but he gets his share of time in the outfield. He received an injury this past week (9/21/10) while jogging around the bases after a Home Run. Hopefully he will be back and I 'sincerely' hope he won't decide to 'retire' after this season. I, for one, would greatly miss watching him play!

*Update: During Spring Training 2011, Jim Edmonds announced his 'retirement' from baseball. St. Louis Cardinal manager, Tony La Russa, states he wouldn't be surprised if Edmonds returns to baseball as a coach at some point.

Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial (born November 21, 1920) played his entire baseball career with the St. Louis Cardinals from his debut in September 1941 to his final appearance on September 29, 1963. Stan is 'beloved' by Cardinals fans everywhere to this day!

Stan received his nickname of "The Man" from Brooklyn Dodger fans in 1946. During the June 23 game against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Bob Broeg heard Dodger fans chanting whenever Musial came to bat, but could not understand the words. Later that day over dinner, Broeg asked Cardinals traveling secretary Leo Ward if he had understood what the Dodger fans had been chanting. Ward said that, "Every time Stan came up they chanted, 'Here comes the man!'" "'That man,' you mean," Broeg said. "No, the man," replied Ward. Broeg mentioned this story in his Post-Dispatch column, and Musial was thereafter known as Stan "The Man"

In 1989, while at a broadcasting convention, we had the opportunity to meet Stan Musial in person. We treasure this photograph taken of us with "The Man".

Musial's career statistics include 3,630 hits, 725 doubles and 475 home runs. After playing nearly 22 years with the Cardinals, with a year out during WWII when he was in the U.S. Navy, Stan Musial became a Vice President with the team for 3 years. Between 1964 and 1967, he served as President Lyndon Johnson's physical fitness adviser, a part-time position originally created to spur better fitness among United States citizens. In 1967 the Cardinals named Musial the team's general manager, where he oversaw the team's 1967 World Series championship.

Stan Musial was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1969. On August 4, 1968 a statue of Musial was erected outside of Busch Memorial Stadium on the northeast grounds of the stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The statue was later moved from its original location to the west side of the new Busch Stadium for the first season in 2006. Musial's statue is inscribed with a quote attributed to former baseball commissioner Ford Frick: "Here stands baseball's perfect warrior. Here stands baseball's perfect knight."

Tony Pena (born June 4, 1957) from the Dominican Republic, was a catcher for the Cardinals for only two years (1987-1989), but is well remembered by Redbird fans.

As a player, Peña was known for his defensive skills. He won four Gold Glove Awards and was a five-time All-Star. He was known for his habit of sitting on the ground when there were no runners on base, one leg splayed out to the side, in an arrangement some call the hurdler's position. Pena was the first catcher in the big leagues to use the leg-extended stance behind the plate in his catching position. This enabled him to spring to his feet quickly and throw, or get to bunted balls quickly, and to help his pitchers keep their pitches low in the strike zone.

After the end of his playing career in 1997, Tony became a coach and eventually managed the Kansas City Royals for parts of four seasons. He was named AL Manager of the Year in 2003 after taking The Royals to their first winning season in nine years. From 2006-2008, Tony was the NY Yankees' first base coach and currently serves as a Yankees bench coach.

He is the father of pitcher Tony Francisco Peña (mistakenly known as "Tony, Jr."), as well as New York Mets minor league player Francisco Peña, a prospect for the New York Mets.

Bob Gibson (born November 9, 1935) pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals his entire career, from 1959 to 1975, and is considered the greatest pitcher in the history of the St Louis Cardinals. He ranks first in wins (251), complete games (255), shutouts (56), innings pitched (3,884.1) and strikeouts (3,117).

Bob Gibson also holds the Cardinals single season record for lowest ERA (1.12 in 1968), shutouts (13 in 1968) and strikeouts (274 in 1970). His awards and honors are numerous, including 9X Gold Glove Award and 2X World Series winner and MVP, making him one of the most dominant pitchers in postseason history. His career postseason record is 7 and 2 with a 1.89 ERA including going 3 and 0 in the 1967 World Series with a 1.00 ERA.

Bob Gibson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981 and had his number 45 retired by the Cardinals in 1975.