Cardinal Madness! Match-ups 11 and 12

We are three days away from the end of the first round! Today we will see the 10 seed 1926 team against the 23 seed 1935 team and the 7 seed 2011 team against the 26 seed 1996 squad. Details for both match-ups after the jump.

1923

The 1923 Cardinals won 89 games, good enough to take the National League, and then defeated the Yankees in the World Series in seven games. This was the only full season of managerial work for player-manager Rogers Hornsby. Catcher Bob O’Farrell won the MVP award. Interestingly, Tommy Thevenow would begin a record this season. The home run he hit on September 22 would be the last of his career, as he would finish his career with 3,347 homerless at bats. This team featured six future Hall of Famers in Hornsby, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Jim Bottomley, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, and Billy Southworth.

1935

The 1935 Cardinals won 96 games, which was only good enough for a second place finish. It was a historic season, as Dizzy Dean’s 25 wins were the last time a Cardinals pitcher would have that many in the 20th century. The ’35 Birds featured four future Hall of Famers in addition to Dean, including Leo “The Lip” Durocher, Frankie Frisch, Jesse Haines, and Joe “Ducky” Medwick.

Tale of the Tape

1926		1935
Batting Order		Batting Order
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Ray Blades	LF	81	8	43	0.305	0.871	130	1	Pepper Martin	3B	121	9	54	0.299	0.789	107
2	Taylor Douthit	CF	96	3	52	0.308	0.752	100	2	Jack Rothrock	RF	76	3	56	0.273	0.694	84
3	Rogers Hornsby	2B	96	11	93	0.317	0.851	124	3	Frankie Frisch	2B	52	1	55	0.294	0.714	89
4	Jim Bottomley	1B	98	19	120	0.299	0.870	128	4	Joe Medwick	LF	132	23	126	0.353	0.962	151
5	Les Bell	3B	85	17	100	0.325	0.901	137	5	Ripper Collins	1B	109	23	122	0.313	0.915	139
6	Billy Southworth	RF	76	11	69	0.317	0.853	124	6	Bill DeLancey	C	37	6	41	0.279	0.788	108
7	Bob O’Farrell	C	63	7	68	0.293	0.804	112	7	Terry Moore	CF	63	6	53	0.287	0.729	91
8	Tommy Thevenow	SS	64	2	63	0.256	0.602	59	8	Leo Durocher	SS	62	8	78	0.265	0.681	79
9	P								9	P

Bench		Bench
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Ernie Vick	C	6	0	4	0.196	0.476	26	1	Spud Davis	C	28	1	60	0.317	0.802	112
2	Specs Toporcer	IF	13	0	9	0.250	0.656	74	2	Burgess Whitehead	IF	45	0	33	0.263	0.593	57
3	Chick Hafey	OF	30	4	38	0.271	0.738	94	3	Charlie Gelbert	IF	24	2	21	0.292	0.750	98
4	Heinie Mueller	OF	36	3	28	0.267	0.733	93	4	Ernie Orsatti	OF	28	1	24	0.240	0.618	63
5	Wattie Holm	OF	18	0	21	0.285	0.698	86	5	Charlie Wilson	U	1	0	1	0.323	0.686	83

Starting Rotation		Starting Rotation
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
1	Flint Rhem	258.0	20	7	3.21	72	75	123	1	Dizzy Dean	325.1	28	12	3.04	190	77	135
2	Bill Sherdel	234.2	16	12	3.49	59	49	113	2	Paul Dean	269.2	19	12	3.37	143	55	122
3	Jesse Haines	183.0	13	4	3.25	46	48	122	3	Bill Walker	193.1	13	8	3.82	79	78	108
4	Vic Keen	152.0	10	9	4.56	29	42	87	4	Bill Hallahan	181.1	15	8	3.42	73	57	120
5	Pete Alexander	148.1	9	7	2.91	35	24	136	5

Bullpen		Bullpen
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
CP	Art Reinhart	143.0	10	5	4.22	26	47	94	CP	Ed Huesser	123.1	5	5	2.92	39	27	141
RP	Hi Bell	85.0	6	6	3.18	27	17	125	RP	Jesse Haines	115.1	6	5	3.59	24	28	115
RP	Bill Hallahan	56.2	1	4	3.65	28	32	109	RP	Phil Collins	82.2	7	6	4.57	18	26	90
RP	Syl Johnson	49.0	0	3	4.22	10	15	94	RP	Ray Harrell	29.2	1	1	6.67	13	11	62
RP	Allan Sothoron	42.2	3	3	4.22	19	16	94	RP

2011

This season is obviously still fresh in the minds of a lot of people, given that it was only last year. It featured a blockbuster eight player deal centered around former Cardinals top prospect Colby Rasmus. The 2011 season may have been the most exciting in Cardinals history, as the Cardinals were 10.5 games back of the Wild Card leading Atlanta Braves on August 24th, but surged ahead to win a playoff spot on the very last day of the season. They then beat the Phillies, Brewers, and Rangers en route to their eleventh World Series. Catcher Yadier Molina won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove.

1996

The ’96 Cardinals won the first NL Central title in Cardinals history with an 88-74 record. They defeated the Padres in the NLDS but lost to the Atlanta Braves in seven games. The team featured future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley and was the final season for future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith. Manager Tony LaRussa was named the National League Manager of the Year

Tale of the Tape

2011		1996
Batting Order		Batting Order
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Rafael Furcal	SS	29	7	16	0.255	0.735	104	1	Royce Clayton	SS	64	6	35	0.277	0.692	83
2	Jon Jay	CF	56	10	37	0.297	0.768	114	2	Ray Lankford	CF	100	21	86	0.275	0.852	123
3	Albert Pujols	1B	105	37	99	0.299	0.906	150	3	Ron Gant	LF	74	30	82	0.246	0.862	125
4	Matt Holliday	LF	83	22	75	0.296	0.912	153	4	Brian Jordan	RF	82	17	104	0.310	0.833	118
5	Lance Berkman	RF	90	31	94	0.301	0.959	166	5	Gary Gaetti	3B	71	23	80	0.274	0.799	108
6	David Freese	3B	41	10	55	0.297	0.791	120	6	John Mabry	1B	63	13	74	0.297	0.773	103
7	Yadier Molina	C	55	14	65	0.305	0.814	126	7	Tom Pagnozzi	C	48	13	55	0.270	0.734	92
8	Daniel Descalso	2B	35	1	28	0.264	0.687	93	8	Luis Alicea	2B	54	5	42	0.258	0.731	94
9	P								9	P

Bench		Bench
	Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+		Player	Pos	R	HR	RBI	BAA	OPS	OPS+
1	Gerald Laird	C	11	1	12	0.232	0.660	84	1	Danny Sheaffer	C	10	2	20	0.227	0.605	59
2	Skip Schumaker	U	34	2	38	0.283	0.685	93	2	Ozzie Smith	IF	36	2	18	0.282	0.728	93
3	Ryan Theriot	IF	46	1	47	0.271	0.662	86	3	Mike Gallego	IF	12	0	4	0.210	0.499	34
4	Allen Craig	OF	33	11	40	0.315	0.917	153	4	Willie McGee	OF	52	5	41	0.307	0.766	102
5	Nick Punto	U	21	1	20	0.278	0.809	127	5	Mark Sweeney	OF	32	3	22	0.265	0.758	102

Starting Rotation		Starting Rotation
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
1	Chris Carpenter	237.1	11	9	3.45	191	55	105	1	Andy Benes	230.1	18	10	3.83	160	77	110
2	Jaime Garcia	194.2	13	7	3.56	156	50	102	2	Todd Stottlemyre	223.1	14	11	3.87	194	93	109
3	Kyle Lohse	188.1	14	8	3.39	111	42	107	3	Donovan Osborne	198.2	13	9	3.53	134	57	120
4	Jake Westbrook	183.1	12	9	4.66	104	73	78	4	Alan Benes	191.0	13	10	4.90	131	87	86
5	Edwin Jackson	78.0	5	2	3.58	51	23	102	5	Mike Morgan	103.0	4	8	5.24	55	40	81

Bullpen		Bullpen
Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	Pos	Pitcher	IP	W	L	ERA	K	BB	ERA+
CP	Fernando Salas	75.0	5	6	2.28	75	21	160	CP	Dennis Eckersley	60.0	0	6	3.30	49	6	129
RP	Kyle McClellan	141.2	12	7	4.19	76	43	87	RP	TJ Matthews	83.2	2	6	3.01	80	32	141
RP	Jason Motte	68.0	5	2	2.25	63	16	162	RP	Cory Bailey	57.0	5	2	3.00	38	30	142
RP	Lance Lynn	34.2	1	1	3.12	40	11	118	RP	Rick Honeycutt	47.1	2	1	2.85	30	7	149
RP	Mitchell Boggs	60.2	2	3	3.56	48	21	103	RP	Tony Fossas	47.0	0	4	2.68	36	21	159

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