St. Louis Cardinals: Top Ten Free Agent Signings

#1 Bob Tewksbury

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Bob, was signed in the winter after the 1988 season. When Bob was signed the team was coming off of a year in which they finished with a record of 76-86 (5th in the NL East) under manager Whitey Herzog, this a year after losing the World Series to the Minnesota Twins. Tewksbury had previously been with the Cubs and Yankees in his career, having only one good season (injury riddled 87-88) when he went 9-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 20 starts and three appearances out of the bullpen, as a rookie in 1986.

In Tewksbury’s first season as a Cardinal he struggled with injuries again, only appearing in seven games (four starts) in 1989 and totaling an ERA of 3.30. The next season Tewksbury finally put a full season, appearing in 28 games with 20 of them being starts. He finished that year with good numbers, despite his 10-9 record he had an ERA of 3.47 (3.12 FIP), and a WHIP of 1.142.

This started a stretch of four seasons in which Tewksbury was a really good member of the rotation. His best year came two years later in 1992, when he finished the year with a record of 16-5 with a 2.16 ERA (3.12 FIP), 1.017 WHIP, and an average of 0.8 walks per nine innings. This was Tewksbury’s only all star season and was a year in which he finished third in CY Young voting.

Tewksbury went on to spend two more seasons with the Cards before leaving after the 1994 season to finish his career with the Rangers, Padres, and Twins, before hanging it up after the 1998 season.

Tewksbury’s overall numbers for the Cardinals? 67-48 with a 3.48 ERA, which is pretty good for the Cardinals’ first real significant free agent contribution.

Next: Tom Henke