FanNation - The Republic of Sport

So, while watching the All-Star game over many a brew, my buddies and I got into some baseball discussions. We started talking about the greatest players by position of all time, which proved to be nearly impossible at some positions (first base would require a book by itself). But then we started thinking about each team's history and how well each of their best players would do against another team's all-time lineup.

Being that we're from St. Louis, we started coming up with a lineup for the ages for the Redbirds. We had some general consensus for most of the players, but had a tough time with a starting rotation. For this edition, I'm choosing who I thought had the best overall career with St. Louis, then taking the best year. Some of them are a little controversial, and on the ones I thought were so, I tried to explain a little bit.

 Without further adieu, my all-time Cardinals lineup.

LF - Lou Brock

1974 - .306 BA, .368 OBP, 105 R, 3 HR, 48 RBI, 118 SB

Sweet Lou was one of the best to ever patrol the outfield at old Busch, and although he had other years he hit more home runs, including 21 in 1967, this was his best all-around year, as he finished second in MVP-voting and earned the MLB Player of the Year honors. Lou became the second person to ever steal 100 bases in a year, and held the record for most SB in a career until Ricky "Hey I'm Still Relevant" Henderson came along.

SS - Ozzie Smith

1987 - .303 BA, ,392 OBP, 104 R, 0 HR, 75 RBI, 43 SB, Gold Glove

Obviously, Ozzie's the greatest shortstop in Cardinals history, and the greatest defensively of all time. While he wasn't as dangerous a hitter as some of his contemporaries, he managed to become a pretty good hitter, collecting more than 2,600 hits in his career. 1987 was perhaps his best all-around year, home runs notwithstanding. Edgar Renteria had several better offensive years, but Ozzie gets the nod for his all-round legacy.

1B - Albert Pujols

2006 - .331 BA, .431 OBP, .671 SLG, 119 R, 49 HR, 137 RBI, 7 SB

Even better than the year he won MVP honors, had he not missed two weeks in the middle of the season, when he was absolutely crushing pitching, he would have had over 50 home runs and perhaps 150 RBI. He gets the nod over McGwire's '98 season because it's pretty obvious in the end whose career will be more revered in St. Louis.

2B - Rogers Hornsby

1922 - .401 BA, .459 OBP, .722 SLG, 141 R, 42 HR, 152 RBI, 17 SB, Triple Crown

Some purists might scoff at putting Hornsby ahead of Musial in the lineup, but the numbers speak for themselves. Winning the first of his two triple crowns in 1922, he hit over .400 three times in five years. Hornsby wasn't regarded as much of a team player, but his talent and dedication were unmatched, and he's got to garner serious consideration as best 2B of all time, along with Eddie Collins.

RF - Stan Musial

1948 - .376 BA, .450 OBP, .702 SLG, 135 R, 39 HR, 131 RBI, 7 SB, MVP

Perhaps the best all-round season anyone's ever had, Stan the Man came 1 home run shy of winning a Triple Crown. That is truly a shame, as he led the league in just about every other relevant category: average, on base, slugging, hits, runs, doubles, triples, runs batted in, total bases, extra base hits, and so on. Stan the Man is the greatest Cardinal of all time, and this was the year it all came together for him, garnering him his third MVP in five years.

CF - Jim Edmonds

2004 - .301 BA, .418 OBP, .643 SLG, 102 R, 42 HR, 111 RBI, 8 SB, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger

The first half of this decade, there wasn't a better center fielder in baseball. A crucial part of the MV3 in '04, he's made more amazing catches than anyone else I've ever seen. I truly wish he could have finished his career a Redbird.

3B - Ken Boyer

1960 - .304 BA, .370 OBP, .562 SLG, 95 R, 32 HR, 95 RBI, 8 SB, Gold Glove

This was by far the toughest decision for me, first choosing him over Scott Rolen and his terrific '04 campaign, then deciding which year was his best. Although he won the MVP in '64, his numbers were stronger overall in 1960. It's hard to imagine that the Cardinals of the '50s, anchored by Boyer and Musial, didn't contend more.

C - Ted Simmons

1975 - .332 BA, .396 OBP, .491 SLG, 80 R, 18 HR, 100 RBI, 1 SB

Never won a Gold Glove, so his name isn't mentioned among some of the contemporary defensive greats like Pagnozzi, Molina, or Matheny, but he was a solid catcher for over a decade and hit pretty well. He should merit some serious Hall consideration, but for some reason or other is overlooked by the Veterans committee.

So how do the numbers add up? All told, those eight would have batted 1544 for 4635, good enough for a .333 composite batting average. A total of 881 runs were scored among those 8, with 225 home runs and 849 RBI. 209 stolen bases is pretty respectable too, although the majority of those were obviously from Brock. What's truly astonishing is that as good as that lineup is,881 runs scored wouldn't even come close to the best Cardinals offensive team in history. That would happen to be the 1930 Cardinals, who managed to bat .314 as a team and score 1004 runs, the modern-era NL record. Still though, I would say that with the exception of the Yankees, this could be the deepest all-team lineup in history. Defensively, they wouldn't be too bad either, with three gold glove winners, and a fourth past winner in Pujols.

Well, I think I've wasted enough time on here. Next time, I'll attempt to do a starting rotation and bullpen. And if you've managed to read this entire post, thanks for reading.