The Baseball Scholar

St. Louis Cardinals Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

These are the greatest individual seasons in St. Louis Cardinals history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Yadier Molina – 2012

    Yadier Molina Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 138 138 563 505 65 159 28 0 22 76 45 55 12 3 .315 .373 .501 .874

    • First Base

  • Mark McGwire – 1998

    Mark McGwire Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.5 205 155 681 509 130 152 21 0 70 147 162 155 1 0 .299 .470 .752 1.222

    • Second Base

  • Rogers Hornsby – 1924HOF

    Rogers Hornsby Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    12.1 214 143 640 536 121 227 43 14 25 94 89 32 5 12 .424 .507 .696 1.203

    • Third Base

  • Scott Rolen – 2004HOF

    Scott Rolen Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.2 159 142 593 500 109 157 32 4 34 124 72 92 4 3 .314 .409 .598 1.007

    • Shortstop

  • Rogers Hornsby – 1917HOF

    Rogers Hornsby Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.9 164 145 589 523 86 171 24 17 8 66 45 34 17 .327 .385 .484 .868

    • Outfield

  • Stan Musial – 1948HOF MVP

    Stan Musial Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    11.3 198 155 694 611 135 230 46 18 39 131 79 34 7 .376 .450 .702 1.152

    • Outfield

  • Albert Pujols – 2003

    Albert Pujols Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.7 184 157 685 591 137 212 51 1 43 124 79 65 5 1 .359 .439 .667 1.106

    • Outfield

  • Stan Musial – 1949HOF

    Stan Musial Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.1 177 157 721 612 128 207 41 13 36 123 107 38 3 .338 .438 .624 1.062

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Bob Gibson – 1968HOFMVPCy Young

    Bob Gibson Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    11.2 38 34 34 22 9 1.12 304.2 28 13 0 49 38 62 268 23.1% 0.85

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Bob Gibson – 1969HOF

    Bob Gibson Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    10.4 61 35 35 20 13 2.18 314 28 4 0 84 76 95 269 21.2% 1.10

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Harry Brecheen – 1948

    Harry Brecheen Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.7 55 33 30 20 7 2.24 233.1 21 7 1 62 58 49 149 16.0% 1.04

    • Starting Pitcher

  • John Tudor – 1985

    John Tudor Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.1 55 36 36 21 8 1.93 275 14 10 0 68 59 49 169 15.9% 0.94

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Chris Carpenter – 2009

    Chris Carpenter Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    6.5 55 28 28 17 4 2.24 192.2 3 1 0 49 48 38 144 19.2% 1.01

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Kevin Siegrist – 2013

    Kevin Siegrist Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    2.0 12 45 0 3 1 0.45 39.2 0 0 0 2 2 18 50 32.9% 0.88

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Lindy McDaniel – 1960

    Lindy McDaniel Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    5.9 52 65 2 12 4 2.09 116.1 1 0 26 28 27 24 105 23.4% 0.94

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Bruce Sutter – 1984HOF

    Bruce Sutter Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    4.5 43 71 0 5 7 1.54 122.2 0 0 45 26 21 23 77 16.1% 1.08

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Ted Simmons, 1978
  • First Base – Albert Pujols, 2009
  • Second Base – Rogers Hornsby, 1925
  • Third Base – Joe Torre, 1971
  • Shortstop – Dick Groat, 1963
  • Outfield – Stan Musial, 1951
  • Outfield – Stan Musial, 1943
  • Outfield – Joe Medwick, 1937
  • Starting Pitcher – Bob Gibson, 1970
  • Starting Pitcher – Steve Carlton, 1969
  • Starting Pitcher – Mort Cooper, 1942
  • Starting Pitcher – Bob Tewksbury, 1992
  • Starting Pitcher – Adam Wainwright, 2010
  • Relief Pitcher – Bruce Sutter, 1984
  • Relief Pitcher – Ryan Helsley, 2022

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

    2 responses to “St. Louis Cardinals Best Single Seasons”

    1. Joe Dayan Avatar
      Joe Dayan

      Edgar Renteria’s numbers are superior to Dick Groat’s performance. Edgar hit .330 in 2003 with 47 dbls, 34 stolen bases, 13 HRs and 874 OPS. Why did you ignore him?

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    2. Garry Harris Avatar
      Garry Harris

      C 1975 Ted Simmons, 2013 Yadier Molina
      1B 2003 Albert Pujols, 1939 Johnny Mize
      2B 1922 Rogers Hornsby, 1927 Frankie Frisch
      3B 1971 Joe Torre, 1961 Ken Boyer
      SS 1979 Garry Templeton, 1963 Dick Groat

      LF 1937 Ducky Medwick, 1887 Tip O’Neill, 2001 Jesse Burkett
      CF 1929 Taylor Douthit, 1985 Willie McGee
      RF 1948 Stan Musial, 1942 Enos Slaughter

      1968 Bob Gibson
      1942 Mort Cooper
      1914 Bill Doak
      1985 John Tudor
      2010 Adam Wainwright

      1984 Bruce Sutter
      1975 Al Hrbosky
      1968 Joe Hoerner
      2001 Steve Kline
      2002 Mike Crudale

      1885 Bob Caruthers
      1886 Dave Foutz
      1899 Cy Young
      1934 Dizzy Dean

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