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St. Louis Cardinals: The 2017 Cardinals Hall of Fame Class

By Ethan Carter |
Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales run on the warning track prior opening night between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales run on the warning track prior opening night between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
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Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales run on the warning track prior opening night between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales run on the warning track prior opening night between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

A few days ago, the St. Louis Cardinals announced the three players being selected as the 2017 Class for the Cards Hall of Fame. With how storied the Cardinals franchise is, this is an honor for players.

The class is headlined by Mark McGwire, followed by Tim McCarver and Pepper Martin. The leading vote getters were McGwire and McCarver, after over 40,000 votes were casted. McGwire, known for his power hitting in St. Louis, while Martin and McCarver are known for their World Series performances with the St. Louis Cardinals.

As I mentioned how big of an honor this is for players, here is proof: McGwire said he was “speechless,” when hearing the news that he would be apart of the class. McGwire also stating how honored he is to wear the red jacket, and being in a class of Cardinals legends.

McCarver is the only Cardinal to catch two World Series Winning Game sevens in the organization. Also, a two-time All-Star with the Cardinals. To say the least, he was an integral part of the Cardinals in the 1960’s.

Martin was a good player for the Cardinals in their early World Series runs. Kind of a similar situation to McCarver, although all three of these guys have different cases entirely. One thing that Martin did do that the other two didn’t is spend his entire career with the Cardinals, very loyal for thirteen seasons.

This year’s class is smaller and much different from the Class in 2016. The 2016 Cards HOF included Chris Carpenter, Joe Torre, Terry Moore, and Sam Breadon. This year’s class has a couple of old timers and only three guys total, as well as a power hitter who only played five seasons in St. Louis.

Overall, these classes are always prestigious due to how great the organization has always been over the years. And there are many more guys who are eligible for years to come, and some who will be eligible for it soon, fun classes to come for the Cards HOF.

Sep 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; A general view of Busch stadium as the Chicago Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 13, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; A general view of Busch stadium as the Chicago Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Pepper Martin, was a part of the Cardinals from 1928-1944, but didn’t play in 1929, 1941, 1942, or 1943. He had a thirteen-year major league career, all of which with the Cardinals. He was a four-time All-Star and a two-time World Series Champion. The World Series teams he was a part of with the Cardinals were the 1931 and 1934 teams, winning the Cards’ second and third titles.

Let’s not forget how big he was for the Cardinals in their two World Series runs in the thirties. His World Series numbers are off the charts: a .418 average in sixty plate appearances and he also had twenty-three hits in the World Series total, and don’t forget his .467 on-base percentage. These stats speak for themselves.

His best single season in St. Louis included 189 hits and an average of .316, nearing his career average of .298. He also finished fifth in MVP voting that season, which was the 1933 season. If we talk about advanced stats, he had a WAR of 5.2 overall in 1933 and an oWAR of 5.3 in that season, offensively speaking.

Martin, was quite fast himself; his size helped with that, as he was only 5’8″ and 170 pounds in his playing days. He had 146 stolen bases in his seasons with the Cardinals. Back to the advanced statistics, he had a career WAR of 17.6 total.

Many people likely forget about how good Pepper Martin actually was for the St. Louis Cardinals organization, most of that because he played in the thirties and a couple seasons in the forties. But he was a key part to many good Cardinals teams, including two of the Champion teams.

I think that he deserves this a lot, and is one of the key Cardinals in the team’s history. Although he has passed, it is great to see him get the recognition he deserves.

Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales run on the warning track prior opening night between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The Anheuser Busch Clydesdales run on the warning track prior opening night between the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

Many know McCarver as the TV analyst who did World Series games with FOX until switching over to FOX Sports Midwest to do St. Louis Cardinals games with Dan McLaughlin. But many Cardinal fans remember him as a great catcher, who was an instrumental part of two World Series teams in the sixties.

He spent twenty-one years in the big leagues, twelve of those being with the Cardinals. He is one of the best catchers in Cardinals history. There is only one guy I can think of who is better than him: Yadier Molina. Both of those guys, McCarver and Molina, are and have been very loyal to the Cardinals organization. Who doesn’t love loyalty in a player?

McCarver was a two-time All-Star in back-to-back seasons in 1966 and 1967. He also had a breakout year with the St. Louis Cardinals where he was extremely close to winning MVP in 1967. He hit .295 that season and had an on base percentage of .369.

In his St. Louis Cardinals career, he batted .272, and had sixty-six home runs, to go along with 453 runs batted in. He had a total WAR of 20.5 in St. Louis, most of that because of his oWAR, which was a total of 20.3 overall. He had 1,501 hits in his whole career; 1,029 of those with the St. Louis Cardinals.

After St. Louis, he went on to have a pretty solid career in Philadelphia, but did enough in St. Louis, obviously. He never did win an award in his long career, but did enough to be an above-average catcher in his Cardinals career.

I definitely agree with the voters on putting McCarver in. He was a good player for the Cardinals. Loyalty is clearly a key in being a Cardinals HOFer, and twelve seasons in St. Louis proves just that. Congats to Tim McCarver on being a part of the 2017 Cardinals HOF class; well deserved.

Apr 25, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres bench coach Mark McGwire against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres bench coach Mark McGwire against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Steroids or not, McGwire was a big part of the St. Louis Cardinals during his years in St. Louis, there weren’t that many though. Many people disagree with McGwire getting into the Cards HOF, I can’t really disagree with them either. He did have some questionable things go on in St. Louis and he did only spend five seasons with the club.

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In those five years in St. Louis, he hit 220 home runs, including seventy then sixty-five in his second and third seasons with the Cardinals. He finished second in MVP voting in 1998 and then fifth in it in 1999, but made the All-Star in both of those seasons and another. He batted. 270 in his five seasons with the Cardinals, really only having three breakout years in ’98, ’99, and ’00.

McGwire was very famous and well-liked when playing for the Cardinals. Although he was only a three-time All-Star in STL, he was a nine-time All-Star in his years with the Athletics. He drew 162 walks in 1998. That is insane and tells you that  nobody wanted to face him and give up a home run that season. He still hit seventy home runs in that season. He also had 147 runs batted in that season.

He got the Silver Slugger award in 1998. He had three of those to go along with a gold glove award he received in Oakland. He was a good hitter and good fielder in his career, he did a good job overall really. His oWAR in 1998 was 9.2, which is insane due to his home run number and runs batted in total. His WAR in 1998 total was 7.5, still good.

I think the Cardinals having him in the HOF is not the best decision, due to all of the controversy, but we’ve seen worse things happen before. This is the one that I disagree with them putting in. I love the additions of McCarver and Martin in the Cardinals HOF. A good class overall.

Next: The Awakening of Dexter Fowler

The class of 2017 for the Cardinals Hall of Fame is pretty solid this year, as they have three guys entering it. Two great World Series Legends for them and a controversial power hitter. What a year of Cards HOF it has been. Hopefully the Class of 2018 is just as good, or even better.

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