St. Louis Cardinals: Top five batting seasons of the decade

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 18: Luis Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 18, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 7-3. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 18: Luis Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 18, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 7-3. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
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MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 7: Lance Berkman #12 of the St. Louis Cardinals reacts after striking out during the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on April 7, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo by Brian Kersey/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 7: Lance Berkman #12 of the St. Louis Cardinals reacts after striking out during the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on April 7, 2012 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo by Brian Kersey/Getty Images)

Lance Berkman, RF, 2011 – 587 PA, .301/.412/.547, 31 HR, 92/93 BB/K, 164 OPS+

Berkman played just two seasons in St. Louis towards the very tail end of his career, but boy were they fantastic. Coming off the worst season of his 12-year career, he signed in St. Louis on just a one year, $8 million deal. This ended up being one of the best signings of the John Mozeliak era.

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Judging solely by OPS+, Berkman actually had the best statistical season of his career at age 35 in St. Louis in 2011. He posted a very solid 31 long balls, walked almost exactly as much as he struck out, and added a third deadly bat with Pujols and Holliday.

To top it all off, his postseason performance that year was incredible. Hitting .423 in the World Series, if it weren’t for David Freese morphing into Babe Ruth all postseason, the memory would be of Berkman’s legendary performances, not Freese.

He set the stage for a number of Freese’s heroic moments, including this game-tying,10th inning RBI single down to the last strike of the season, which Freese promptly ended next inning with his home run.

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