Cardinal Madness! Match-ups 9 and 10

In today’s match-ups, we will see the 2 seed 1944 team against the 31 seed 1947 team. It will be interesting to see the roster composition as, unlike today’s game, there wasn’t a lot of team swapping back in the 40s. The second pairing is the 15 seed 1928 team against the 18 seed 1987 team. Remember that you can vote on all match-ups until the end of this week and round two will start on Monday. Details for today’s match-ups will follow after the jump.
1944
The 1944 Cardinals led the league in 105 games and beat the St Louis Browns in six games in the World Series. Shortstop Marty Marion won the MVP, marking the third year in a row that a Cardinal won the award following Mort Cooper and Stan Musial. Marion was also the first shortstop to ever win the award. Surprisingly from a team so good from top to bottom, Stan Musial was the only future Hall of Famer.
1947
The 1947 Cardinals won 89 games and took second place in the National League. What a difference three years makes. The Cardinals went from a juggernaut top to bottom lineup to a lineup anchored by the 2-5 hitters. There were no award winners on this team, but Stan Musial, Joe “Ducky” Medwick, Red Schoendienst, and Enos “Country” Slaughter went to become Hall of Fame players.
Tale of the Tape
1944 | 1947 | |||||||||||||||||
Batting Order | Batting Order | |||||||||||||||||
Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | |||
1 | Johnny Hopp | CF | 106 | 11 | 72 | 0.336 | 0.903 | 150 | 1 | Red Schoendienst | 2B | 91 | 3 | 48 | 0.253 | 0.636 | 66 | |
2 | Ray Sanders | 1B | 87 | 12 | 102 | 0.295 | 0.812 | 125 | 2 | Ron Northey | RF | 52 | 15 | 63 | 0.293 | 0.908 | 135 | |
3 | Stan Musial | RF | 112 | 12 | 94 | 0.347 | 0.990 | 174 | 3 | Stan Musial | 1B | 113 | 19 | 95 | 0.312 | 0.902 | 134 | |
4 | Walker Cooper | C | 56 | 13 | 72 | 0.317 | 0.855 | 136 | 4 | Whitey Kurowski | 3B | 108 | 27 | 104 | 0.310 | 0.964 | 150 | |
5 | Whitey Kurowski | 3B | 95 | 20 | 87 | 0.270 | 0.790 | 118 | 5 | Enos Slaughter | LF | 100 | 10 | 86 | 0.294 | 0.818 | 113 | |
6 | Danny Litwhiler | LF | 53 | 15 | 82 | 0.264 | 0.755 | 109 | 6 | Terry Moore | CF | 61 | 7 | 45 | 0.283 | 0.708 | 85 | |
7 | Marty Marion | SS | 50 | 6 | 63 | 0.267 | 0.686 | 90 | 7 | Marty Marion | SS | 57 | 4 | 74 | 0.272 | 0.686 | 79 | |
8 | Emil Verban | 2B | 51 | 0 | 43 | 0.257 | 0.580 | 62 | 8 | Del Rice | C | 28 | 12 | 44 | 0.218 | 0.722 | 87 | |
9 | P | 9 | P | |||||||||||||||
Bench | Bench | |||||||||||||||||
Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | |||
1 | Ken O’Dea | C | 35 | 6 | 37 | 0.249 | 0.717 | 99 | 1 | Joe Garagiola | C | 20 | 5 | 25 | 0.257 | 0.814 | 113 | |
2 | Augie Bergame | OF | 35 | 2 | 19 | 0.286 | 0.779 | 117 | 2 | Dick Sisler | IF | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0.203 | 0.491 | 28 | |
3 | George Fallon | IF | 16 | 1 | 9 | 0.199 | 0.547 | 53 | 3 | Erv Dusak | OF | 56 | 6 | 28 | 0.284 | 0.756 | 98 | |
4 | Debs Garms | IF | 17 | 0 | 5 | 0.201 | 0.487 | 36 | 4 | Joe Medwick | OF | 19 | 4 | 28 | 0.307 | 0.840 | 118 | |
5 | Pepper Martin | OF | 15 | 2 | 4 | 0.279 | 0.781 | 118 | 5 | Chuck Diering | OF | 22 | 2 | 11 | 0.216 | 0.748 | 96 | |
Starting Rotation | Starting Rotation | |||||||||||||||||
Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | |
1 | Mort Cooper | 252.1 | 22 | 7 | 2.46 | 97 | 60 | 145 | 1 | Murry Dickson | 231.2 | 13 | 16 | 3.07 | 111 | 88 | 134 | |
2 | Max Lanier | 224.1 | 17 | 12 | 2.65 | 141 | 71 | 135 | 2 | Red Munger | 224.1 | 16 | 5 | 3.37 | 123 | 76 | 122 | |
3 | Ted Wilks | 207.2 | 17 | 4 | 2.64 | 70 | 49 | 135 | 3 | Harry Brecheen | 223.1 | 16 | 11 | 3.30 | 89 | 66 | 125 | |
4 | Harry Brecheen | 189.1 | 16 | 5 | 2.85 | 88 | 46 | 126 | 4 | Howie Pollet | 176.1 | 9 | 11 | 4.34 | 73 | 87 | 95 | |
5 | Red Munger | 121.0 | 11 | 3 | 1.34 | 55 | 41 | 268 | 5 | Jim Hearn | 162.0 | 12 | 7 | 3.22 | 57 | 63 | 128 | |
Bullpen | Bullpen | |||||||||||||||||
Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | |
CP | Freddy Schmidt | 114.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.15 | 58 | 58 | 114 | CP | Ted Wilks | 50.1 | 4 | 0 | 5.01 | 28 | 11 | 83 | |
RP | Al Jurisch | 130.0 | 7 | 9 | 3.39 | 53 | 65 | 106 | RP | Al Brazle | 168.0 | 14 | 8 | 2.84 | 85 | 48 | 145 | |
RP | Bix Donnelly | 76.1 | 2 | 1 | 2.12 | 45 | 34 | 169 | RP | Ken Burkhart | 95.0 | 3 | 6 | 5.21 | 44 | 23 | 79 | |
RP | Bud Byerly | 42.1 | 2 | 2 | 3.40 | 13 | 20 | 106 | RP | Gerry Staley | 29.1 | 1 | 0 | 2.76 | 14 | 8 | 151 | |
RP | Harry Gumbert | 61.1 | 4 | 2 | 2.49 | 16 | 19 | 144 | RP | Johnny Grodzicki | 23.1 | 0 | 1 | 5.40 | 8 | 19 | 77 |
1928
The 1928 Cardinals led the league with 95 wins but were swept by the Yankees int he World Series. “Sunny Jim” Bottomley won the league’s MVP award and went on to become a Hall of Famer. Joining Bottomley in the Hall of Fame were Pete “Grover Cleveland” Alexander, Frankie Frisch, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, and Rabbit Maranville.
1987
The 1987 Cardinals won the National League East with 95 wins. They defeated the Giants in the NLCS before losing to the Twins in seven games in the World Series. It would be their last World Series appearance until 2004. Infielders Ozzie Smith and Terry Pendleton won Gold Gloves and Smith and Jack Clark won Silver Slugger awards. The team featured a future Hall of Famer in Ozzie Smith and fan favorites Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, and “The Secret Weapon” Jose Oquendo who went on to become the Cardinals third base coach.
Tale of the Tape
1928 | 1987 | |||||||||||||||||
Batting Order | Batting Order | |||||||||||||||||
Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | |||
1 | Taylor Douthit | CF | 111 | 3 | 43 | 0.295 | 0.756 | 96 | 1 | Vince Coleman | LF | 121 | 3 | 43 | 0.289 | 0.721 | 91 | |
2 | Andy High | 3B | 58 | 6 | 37 | 0.285 | 0.744 | 92 | 2 | Ozzie Smith | SS | 104 | 0 | 75 | 0.303 | 0.775 | 105 | |
3 | Frankie Frisch | 2B | 107 | 10 | 86 | 0.300 | 0.815 | 110 | 3 | Tommy Herr | 2B | 73 | 2 | 83 | 0.263 | 0.677 | 80 | |
4 | Jim Bottomley | 1B | 123 | 31 | 136 | 0.325 | 1.030 | 162 | 4 | Jack Clark | 1B | 93 | 35 | 106 | 0.286 | 1.055 | 176 | |
5 | Chick Hafey | LF | 101 | 27 | 111 | 0.337 | 0.990 | 152 | 5 | Willie McGee | CF | 76 | 11 | 105 | 0.285 | 0.746 | 94 | |
6 | George Harper | RF | 41 | 17 | 58 | 0.305 | 0.955 | 145 | 6 | Terry Pendleton | 3B | 82 | 12 | 96 | 0.286 | 0.772 | 103 | |
7 | Jimmie Wilson | C | 45 | 2 | 50 | 0.258 | 0.678 | 75 | 7 | Curt Ford | RF | 32 | 3 | 26 | 0.285 | 0.733 | 92 | |
8 | Rabbit Maranviille | SS | 40 | 1 | 34 | 0.240 | 0.652 | 68 | 8 | Tony Pena | C | 40 | 5 | 44 | 0.281 | 0.589 | 55 | |
9 | P | 9 | P | |||||||||||||||
Bench | Bench | |||||||||||||||||
Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | Player | Pos | R | HR | RBI | BAA | OPS | OPS+ | |||
1 | Bob O’Farrell | C | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0.212 | 0.600 | 58 | 1 | Steve Lake | C | 19 | 2 | 19 | 0.251 | 0.636 | 67 | |
2 | Wattie Holm | IF | 61 | 3 | 47 | 0.277 | 0.728 | 87 | 2 | Jose Oquendo | IF | 43 | 1 | 24 | 0.286 | 0.743 | 99 | |
3 | Tommy Thevenow | IF | 11 | 0 | 13 | 0.205 | 0.575 | 49 | 3 | Dan Driessen | IF | 5 | 1 | 11 | 0.233 | 0.625 | 65 | |
4 | Wally Roettger | OF | 27 | 6 | 44 | 0.341 | 0.878 | 125 | 4 | Jim Lindeman | OF | 20 | 8 | 28 | 0.208 | 0.640 | 66 | |
5 | Ray Blades | OF | 9 | 1 | 19 | 0.235 | 0.769 | 99 | 5 | John Morris | OF | 22 | 3 | 23 | 0.261 | 0.721 | 88 | |
Starting Rotation | Starting Rotation | |||||||||||||||||
Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | |
1 | Bill Sherdel | 248.2 | 21 | 10 | 2.86 | 72 | 56 | 143 | 1 | Danny Cox | 199.1 | 11 | 9 | 3.88 | 101 | 71 | 108 | |
2 | Pete Alexander | 243.2 | 16 | 9 | 3.36 | 59 | 37 | 121 | 2 | Greg Matthews | 197.2 | 11 | 11 | 3.73 | 108 | 71 | 112 | |
3 | Jesse Haines | 240.1 | 20 | 8 | 3.18 | 77 | 72 | 128 | 3 | Bob Forsch | 179.0 | 11 | 7 | 4.32 | 89 | 45 | 97 | |
4 | Flint Rhem | 169.2 | 11 | 8 | 4.14 | 47 | 71 | 99 | 4 | Joe Magrane | 170.1 | 9 | 7 | 3.54 | 101 | 60 | 118 | |
5 | Clarence Mitchell | 150.0 | 8 | 9 | 3.30 | 31 | 38 | 124 | 5 | John Tudor | 96.0 | 10 | 2 | 3.84 | 54 | 32 | 109 | |
Bullpen | Bullpen | |||||||||||||||||
Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | Pos | Pitcher | IP | W | L | ERA | K | BB | ERA+ | |
CP | Hal Haid | 47.0 | 2 | 2 | 2.30 | 21 | 11 | 179 | CP | Todd Worrell | 94.2 | 8 | 6 | 2.66 | 92 | 34 | 157 | |
RP | Syl Johnson | 120.0 | 8 | 4 | 3.90 | 66 | 33 | 105 | RP | Ricky Horton | 125.0 | 8 | 3 | 3.82 | 55 | 42 | 110 | |
RP | Fred Frankhouse | 84.0 | 3 | 2 | 3.96 | 29 | 36 | 103 | RP | Bill Dawley | 96.2 | 5 | 8 | 4.47 | 65 | 38 | 94 | |
RP | Art Reinhart | 75.1 | 4 | 6 | 2.87 | 12 | 27 | 143 | RP | Pat Perry | 65.2 | 4 | 2 | 4.39 | 33 | 21 | 96 | |
RP | Carlisle Littlejohn | 32.0 | 2 | 1 | 3.66 | 6 | 14 | 113 | RP | Ken Dayley | 61.0 | 9 | 5 | 2.66 | 63 | 33 | 158 |
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