The Rise and Fall of Garry Templeton with the St. Louis Cardinals

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Garry Templeton #1 of the St. Louis Cardinals looks on during batting practice before an Major League Baseball game against the New York Mets circa 1981 at Shea Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City. Templeton played for the Cardinals from 1976-81. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

The Rise of Garry Templeton

Garry Templeton was drafted by the Cardinals in the First Round of the 1974 June MLB Amateur Draft as the 13th overall pick. Templeton proceeded to fly through the Cardinals minor-league system and made his major league debut on August 9th, 1976.

The switch-hitting Templeton quickly displaced Don Kessinger as the starting shortstop. In 1977, his first full year in the majors, Templeton hit a slash line of .322/.336/.449, had 200 hits, led the league in triples and made his first All-Star appearance.

But it was in 1979 when the California-native made the record books. Templeton, became the first major leaguer the history of the game to collect 100 or more hits from each side of the plate. To this day, he still the only NL player to hold this record.

In his six years with the Cardinals, Templeton had a slashline of .305/.325/.418 with a 104 OPS+. He led the NL in triples three years in a row(’77, ’78. and’79), named to two All Star teams, won a Silver Slugger Award(1980), and stole 138 bases.

As a defensive player, Templeton was definitely a mixed bag. He led the league for two years in Putouts (’78 and ’79), two years for double plays turned (’78 and ’79), and Range Factor at Shortstop for three years (’78, ’79 and ’80). But he also led the league in errors committed in ’78, ’79, and ’80, and was third in 1977.

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