Picking the five best St. Louis Cardinals third basemen since 1967

Who are the St. Louis Cardinals’ best third basemen since 1967? In my opinion, these are the best five.

Why the five best Cardinal third baseman since 1967, and not the best five in their history?  Because I have either seen in person or watched on TV every St. Louis Cardinals third baseman since 1967, when I became a fan.

Therefore, this list won’t include any third basemen before 1967, such as five-time Gold Glove winner and 1964 NL MVP, Ken Boyer, or five-time All-Star, Whitey Kurowski. Great third basemen, but both played in St. Louis before 1967.

In a piece earlier this year, Anne Rogers of MLB.com, picked her top five third basemen in Cardinal history, which includes Boyer and Kurowski.

I must say though, picking the five best Cardinal third basemen since 1967 was a more complicated process than I thought. Trying to measure offensive production vs defensive prowess and determine the weight each should play was a challenge.

Some of the third basemen since 1967 were standouts offensively but had some defensive shortcomings. At the same time, I found some who were solid on the defensive side but were not particularly great offensive weapons while they played for the Cardinals.

Only one really excelled both offensively and defensively. Accordingly, he makes the top of the list. The challenge was picking two through five.

I used Baseball Reference as my sabermetrics tool because it measures players as far back as 1967, not all sabermetric sites go as far back. As I said earlier, I’ve seen all these players on the field, so the eye test was my other tool.

So there it is, this will be a combination of sabermetrics and basically my own judgement call. Let’s get started.

4. Joe Torre

Many Cardinal fans may only remember Joe Torre as the Hall of Fame skipper of the Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Yankees, and Dodgers. However, Torre was one darn good ballplayer during his day, especially, his six years in St. Louis where he made four All-Star appearances.

The right-handed Torre came up as a catcher with the Twins, but by the time he arrived in St. Louis in 1969, he also played first and third. In fact, he had the best year of his career playing 161 games at third base for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971.

It was in 1971 where Torre had a monster year and captured the NL MVP Award. Additionally, he won a batting title (.363), led the league in hits (230), RBI (137), and total bases (352). He also led the league in runs created (145), times on base (297), and offensive WAR (8.6).

In 1972, he was still the Cardinals’ primary third baseman and played 117 games in the position. Although he didn’t repeat his 1971 performance, Torre still managed a slash line of .289/.357/.419 with 11 homers, 81 RBI, and a 122 OPS+.

However, no one would mistake Torre defensively for one of the better defenders in Cardinal history. Not a potential Gold Glove winner at third, he never was one of the league leaders in Defensive WAR or fielding percentage. In fact, the only stats he led the league at third in 1971 was errors (21, not good) and putouts (136, not bad).

3. Terry Pendleton

Terry Pendleton is another often forgotten star of the 80s Cardinals who was a member of the ’85 and ’87 National League Pennant teams. The switch-hitting Pendleton made his major league debut in July of 1984 and over the next seven years played nearly all his games at third for the Cardinals.

Pendleton was a defensive standout while in St. Louis, winning two Gold Gloves (’87 and ’89), leading the league in putouts (1986), assists (’86, ’87, and ’89), double plays turned (’86), range factor (’86, ’87, ’88, and ’89), total zone runs (’85), and fielding percentage (’89).

With his bat, he became a solid presence in the Cardinal lineup. He had a seven-year slash line of .259/.308/.356 while stealing 99 bases. Pendleton’s best year at the plate was in 1987 when he hit a slash line of .286/.360/.412 with 12 homers and 96 RBI.

Terry Pendleton left St. Louis after the 1990 season for Atlanta, where he would win an NL MVP award, a batting title, and another Gold Glove. Nevertheless, Pendleton was one of the best third basemen I’ve seen wearing a St. Louis Cardinals uniform.

2. Ken Oberkfell

Ken Oberkfell is one of the most forgotten stars of the 80’s Cardinals. Nevertheless, Oberkfell was an important cog in the wheel of the early Whiteyball era of Cardinal baseball. Never spectacular, Oberkfell could be described as steady, solid, and reliable during his years playing third for the Cardinals.

Oberkfell, who originally came up as a second baseman, was moved to third in 1981 to make room for Tommy Herr at second. Third base was where he stayed until he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 1984.

At third, he was no defensive slouch and was often overshadowed in the infield by Gold Glovers Ozzie Smith and Keith Hernandez. However, at third base, he led the National League twice in Fielding Percentage (’82 and ’83) and double plays turned once (’81).

Never a prolific batter, his performance at the plate was often overlooked because of the likes of Hernandez, Willie McGee, Lonnie Smith, and George Hendrick. However, he had an eight-year slash line .292/.364/.381, with an OPS+ of 107.

As a Cardinal, he never hit less than .269 and as the third baseman, he was always in the top five in fielding percentage. When Ken Oberkfell walked on the field, he could be counted on with his glove and his bat and that consistency puts him high on this list.

1. Scott Rolen

This was a no-brainer for me. Scott Rolen is the best third baseman I’ve ever seen in a Cardinal uniform. He brought to St. Louis not only his Gold Glove-caliber defensive skills but a middle-of-the-order offensive aptitude for a third baseman the Cardinals haven’t seen, well…since Scott Rolen left in 2008.

The right-handed Rolen won four of his eight Gold Gloves, earned four All-Star spots, a Silver Slugger Award, and had a six-year slash line of .286/.370/.510 while in St. Louis. Additionally, he had a 25.9 WAR and a 127 OPS+ during that time.

While in St. Louis, Rolen had his career year in 2004 as a member of the MV3. Along with Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds, Rolen helped lead an offensive juggernaut that won 105 games, captured the NL Pennant, and was a part of, arguably, one of the greatest teams in St. Louis Cardinals history.

Rolen’s contribution to this team was a slash line of .314/.409/.598 with 34 homers and 124 RBI. Defensively, he led the league in dWAR (3.3), assists at third (325), and second in range factor at third (2.96).

Finally, during game seven of the 2004 NLCS against the Houston Astros, Rolen hit a 6th inning two-run homer which led the Cardinals to the World Series.

Others to consider

First of all, I’m not mad at Matt Carpenter. I did give him serious consideration for the top five. But the issue I ran up on was, ‘what is Matt Carpenter?’ A third baseman? A first baseman? Or a second baseman? Carpenter has played more games at third (665) than first (319) or second (212). However, some of his best years as a hitter were actually at second, which included a Silver Slugger Award in 2013. In the end, I just didn’t feel like Carpenter was in the top five.

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Most only remember Mike Shannon as a Cardinal broadcaster, but he was also played third base for the 1967 World Series Champs and the 1968 NL Pennant Champs. Shannon was converted from right field to third base in 1967 when Roger Maris arrived, playing 478 games at third for the Cardinals between ’67 and ’70. Personally, I always felt Shannon was much better in right than third.

Todd Zeile came up as catcher in 1989 but took over third base in 1991 when Terry Pendleton left for Atlanta. Zeile was the Cardinals’ primary third baseman through 1994, with 1993 being his best year when he hit 17 homers and 103 RBI with a .277 BA. However, defensively, he never led in any category except errors at third base.

I didn’t forget about David Freese. Who could? The 2011 postseason and GAME SIX. But if it wasn’t for the 2011 postseason and Game Six, where would David Freese fit in Cardinal lore? His best season was in 2012 when he hit a slash line of .293/.372/.467 with 20 homers and 79 RBI in 144 games. Freese was a capable third baseman, but I couldn’t put him in my top five.

Some final thoughts

This is list isn’t meant to be the final word on the top five. After all, Ann Rogers has Matt Carpenter third in the top five third baseman in Cardinal history. She only names Terry Pendleton as an honorable mention and says nothing of Joe Torre and Ken Reitz.

I just wonder if Torre and Reitz would be more remembered by Cardinal fans if they had played for a championship team, instead of playing in the drought era of the 70s? Of course, the same could be said of Todd Zeile in the 90s.

As I stated earlier in this piece, I tried to balance offense and defense, along with the overall impact on the teams they played for, in putting this list together. In the end, it was basically a judgment call on my part. With that, I understand opinions will vary.