Cardinal Madness! Match-ups 5 and 6

Hello friends! Today we have two very exciting Cardinal Madness Match-ups as the number 4 seed 1946 team against the 29 seed 1927 team and the 13 seed 2004 Cardinals against the 20 seed 2002 team. As we saw yesterday, upsets are very possible in these tournaments. Is today the day that a lower seed Cardinals team advances? Details after the jump.

1946

The 1946 World Series champion Cardinals are known for what has become a historic moment in baseball. In game seven against the Red Sox, Enos Slaughter hit a single in the bottom of the eighth. Neither of the next two hitters could advance him, but on a liner to center field by Harry Walker, Slaughter tagged second and rounded third on a bee line for home plate. Red Sox shortstop Johnny Pesky assumed Slaughter wouldn’t run for home, so he checked Walker at first before throwing home. Slaughter scored the winning run and the “mad dash” became a historic moment in baseball. Joining Slaughter as future Hall of Famers from the ’46 season were Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst.

1927

The 1927 Cardinals are the perfect example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were a strong team on paper, but the Yankees in this era were a juggernaut, and the Pirates were a force in the National League. As such, the Cardinals strong play was overshadowed. The ’27 roster featured future Hall of Famers Pete “Grover Cleveland” Alexander, “Sunny Jim” Bottomley, Frankie Frisch, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, Rabbit Maranville, and Billy Southworth. It was the first season as a Cardinal for Frisch as the Cardinals traded Rogers Hornsby for him in the offseason in a very controversial move.

Tale of the Tape

1946		1927
Batting Order		Batting Order
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Red Schoendienst	2B	94	0	34	0.281	0.665	86	1	Taylor Douthit	CF	81	5	50	0.262	0.713	87
2	Harry Walker	CF	53	3	27	0.237	0.638	78	2	Billy Southworth	RF	52	2	39	0.301	0.752	97
3	Stan Musial	1B	124	16	103	0.365	1.021	183	3	Frankie Frisch	2B	112	10	78	0.387	0.858	124
4	Enos Slaughter	RF	100	18	130	0.300	0.838	133	4	Jim Bottomley	1B	95	19	124	0.303	0.896	133
5	Whitey Kurowski	3B	76	14	89	0.301	0.853	137	5	Les Bell	3B	48	9	65	0.259	0.746	94
6	Dick Sisler	LF	17	3	42	0.260	0.668	86	6	Chick Hafey	LF	62	18	63	0.329	0.990	157
7	Joe Garagiola	C	21	3	22	0.237	0.620	73	7	Frank Snyder	C	7	1	30	0.258	0.590	55
8	Marty Marion	SS	51	3	46	0.233	0.643	80	8	Tommy Thevenow	SS	23	0	4	0.194	0.484	28
9	P								9	P

Bench		Bench
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Clyde Kluttz	C	8	0	14	0.265	0.631	76	1	Johnny Schulte	C	35	9	32	0.288	0.994	160
2	Erv Dusak	OF	38	9	42	0.240	0.700	95	2	Heinie Schuble	IF	29	4	28	0.257	0.641	67
3	Terry Moore	OF	32	3	28	0.263	0.665	85	3	Specs Toporcer	IF	37	0	19	0.248	0.635	67
4	Buster Adams	OF	21	5	22	0.185	0.619	73	4	Wattie Holm	OF	55	3	66	0.286	0.737	92
5	Del Rice	C	10	1	12	0.273	0.680	89	5	Ray Blades	OF	33	2	29	0.317	0.864	127

Starting Rotation		Starting Rotation
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
1	Howie Pollet	266.0	21	10	2.10	107	86	165	1	Jesse Haines	300.2	24	10	2.72	89	77	147
2	Harry Brecheen	231.1	15	15	2.49	117	67	139	2	Pete Alexander	268.0	21	10	2.52	48	38	159
3	Murry Dickson	184.1	15	6	2.88	82	56	120	3	Bill Sherdel	232.1	17	12	3.53	59	48	113
4	Johnny Beazley	103.0	7	5	4.46	36	55	78	4	Flint Rhem	169.1	10	12	4.41	51	54	91
5	Ken Burkhart	100.0	6	3	2.88	32	36	120	5	Bob McGraw	94.0	4	5	5.07	37	30	79

Bullpen		Bullpen
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
CP	Ted Wilks	95.0	8	0	3.41	40	38	102	CP	Hi Bell	57.1	1	3	3.92	31	22	102
RP	Al Brazle	153.1	11	10	3.29	58	55	105	RP	Art Reinhart	81.2	5	2	4.19	15	36	96
RP	Red Barrett	67.0	3	2	4.03	22	24	86	RP	Carlisle Littlejohn	42.0	3	1	4.50	16	14	90
RP	Max Lanier	56.0	6	0	1.93	36	19	180	RP	Vic Keen	33.2	2	1	4.81	12	8	84
RP	Red Munger	48.2	2	2	3.33	28	12	105	RP	Fred Frankhouse	50.0	5	1	2.70	20	16	149

The next matchup features two similar teams as the 2004 Cardinals take on the 2002 Cardinals.

2004

After doing research, I really wish these two match-ups were scrambled, as the ’04 Cardinals had the same “wrong place, wrong time” issue as the ’27 Birds. On paper, the ’04 Cardinals were the best team in the league, but in the World Series they came head to head with the Red Sox team of destiny. The front office made a trade for Larry Walker mid-season to join the MV3 group of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen, who had possibly their best season as a group. Edmonds, Rolen, and catcher Mike Matheny won Gold Gloves.

2002

2002 was a dark season for the Cardinals. The team lost long-time broadcaster Jack Buck and, four days later, starting pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in his hotel room before a game against Chicago. The team rallied around the tragic losses to win the division. They defeated the Diamondbacks, but lost to the Giants in five in the NLCS. Second baseman Fernando Vina, shortstop Edgar Renteria, third baseman Scott Rolen, and outfielder Jim Edmonds all won Gold Gloves.

Tale of the Tape

2004		2002
Batting Order		Batting Order
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Tony Womack	2B	91	5	38	0.307	0.735	91	1	Fernando Vina	2B	75	1	54	0.270	0.670	79
2	Larry Walker	RF	29	11	27	0.280	0.953	143	2	JD Drew	RF	61	18	56	0.252	0.778	106
3	Albert Pujols	1B	133	46	123	0.331	1.072	172	3	Jim Edmonds	CF	96	28	83	0.311	0.981	158
4	Scott Rolen	3B	109	34	124	0.314	1.007	157	4	Albert Pujols	LF	118	34	127	0.314	0.955	151
5	Jim Edmonds	CF	102	42	111	0.301	1.061	170	5	Scott Rolen	3B	37	14	44	0.278	0.915	139
6	Edgar Renteria	SS	84	10	72	0.287	0.327	88	6	Tino Martinez	1B	63	21	75	0.262	0.776	105
7	Reggie Sanders	LF	64	22	67	0.260	0.797	103	7	Edgar Renteria	SS	77	11	83	0.305	0.803	113
8	Mike Matheny	C	28	5	50	0.247	0.640	65	8	Mike Matheny	C	31	3	35	0.244	0.630	68
9	P								9	P

Bench		Bench
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Yadier Molina	C	12	2	15	0.267	0.684	78	1	Mike Difelice	C	17	4	19	0.230	0.660	75
2	Marlon Anderson	IF	31	8	28	0.237	0.649	66	2	Eli Marrero	IF	63	18	66	0.262	0.777	104
3	Ray Lankford	OF	36	6	22	0.255	0.774	99	3	Miguel Cairo	IF	28	2	23	0.250	0.660	75
4	John Mabry	OF	32	13	40	0.296	0.867	122	4	Kerry Robinson	OF	27	1	15	0.260	0.660	75
5	So Taguchi	OF	26	3	25	0.291	0.756	95	5	Eduardo Perez	OF	22	10	26	0.201	0.744	94

Starting Rotation		Starting Rotation
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
1	Matt Morris	202.0	15	10	4.72	131	56	91	1	Matt Morris	210.1	17	9	3.42	171	64	117
2	Jason Marquis	201.1	15	7	3.71	138	70	115	2	Jason Simontacchi	143.1	11	5	4.02	72	54	100
3	Woody Williams	189.2	11	8	4.18	131	58	102	3	Woody Williams	103.0	9	4	2.53	76	25	159
4	Jeff Suppan	188.0	16	9	4.16	110	65	103	4	Andy Benes	97.0	5	4	2.78	64	51	144
5	Chris Carpenter	182.0	15	5	3.46	152	38	124	5	Darryl Kile	84.2	5	4	3.72	50	28	108

Bullpen		Bullpen
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
CP	Jason Isringhausen	75.1	4	2	2.87	71	23	150	CP	Jason Isringhausen	65.1	3	2	2.48	68	18	162
RP	Cal Eldred	67.0	4	2	3.76	54	17	114	RP	Dave Veres	82.2	5	8	3.48	68	39	115
RP	Julian Tavarez	64.1	7	4	2.38	48	19	181	RP	Steve Kline	58.1	2	1	3.39	41	21	118
RP	Ray King	62.0	5	2	2.61	40	24	164	RP	Mike Crudale	52.2	3	0	1.88	47	14	214
RP	Steve Kline	50.1	2	2	1.79	35	17	241	RP	Mike Timlin	61.0	1	3	2.51	35	7	160

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