The St. Louis Cardinals’ 50 greatest players

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#21 Harry Brecheen

Brecheen has been talked about quite a bit through this series, making both the 28 man roster and the top ten pitchers list. Brecheen pitched with the Cardinals from 1940-1952.

He didn’t become a full-time member of the rotation until 1946 really, as he started under 25 games in his first three full seasons with the club, still posting an fWAR of 8.8 in that time.

As a Cardinal, Brecheen was 128-79 with a 2.91 ERA (3.22 FIP). During that time he was worth a total of 33.7 fWAR and was a two time all-star. Brecheen’s best season came in 1948, when he led the league in almost every pitching category, finishing with a record of 20-7 and 2.24 ERA (2.37 FIP), and a fWAR of 7.9.

Brecheen had a record low ERA in the World Series of 0.83, a record that stood for 30 years from 1946-1976. Making him one of the best clutch pitchers in league history.

Brecheen could be higher on this list, but as you already know this is a tough list to make and although Brecheen was great in his career, there were pitchers who were better.

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