Imagining an all-time St. Louis Cardinals alliteration team

Placido Polanco, Jon Jay, and Skip Schumaker

While he only played four and a half seasons as Cardinal, and only five games in the outfield (all as a Phillie in 2005), the starting left fielder for our alliterative bunch is Placido Polanco. Polanco is known among many Cardinal fans for being part of the Scott Rolen trade, but he was also quite a productive player.

In 2001 (the year before the trade), Polanco hit .307 and finished with a very respectable 4.5 WAR. After signing with the Detroit Tigers in 2005, Polanco would end up making two All-Star games, win three gold gloves, and win a silver slugger. Polanco had a solid 16-year career. Although he isn’t the strongest member of this team, Polanco is an above-average major leaguer who can contribute with both his bat and his glove.

In centerfield, the alliteration squad finally gets a natural outfielder: Jon Jay. As an often underrated member of many successful St. Louis Cardinal teams, Jay brings another left-handed bat to our lineup and provides some much-needed experience for the outfield.

Since he made his debut in 2010, Jon Jay spent six seasons earning the Cardinals’ centerfield position. While never the star of the team, Jay posted a consistent .287 average with an OPS of .738 in a Cardinal uniform.

Defensively, he was extremely reliable, both with his glove and his arm. Jay also knew how to perform in big moments, as he scored the tying run after a single in the 10th inning of Game 6 in the 2011 World Series. Every team needs role players to complement its stars, and Jon Jay is exactly the type of consistent performer that fills out this team nicely.

It’s only fitting that our last batter is another middle infielder. This time, however, we have someone with real experience in the outfield. That’s right, our starting right fielder is none other than Skip Schumaker.

Skip Schumaker spent eight years with the St. Louis Cardinals and won two World Series rings. He wasn’t a star player– he never had a season with over 600 plate appearances, and only appeared in 150 games twice– but Schumaker was someone you could count on to make the hustle plays and do whatever was best for the team. There was something about the way that Skip Schumaker played the game that made you want to cheer for him, and we welcome that to this squad.