Evaluating the St. Louis Cardinals’ draft classes (1965-1984)

Here’s a look at the St. Louis Cardinals top signed pick and career bWAR leader in every draft from 1965 to 1984.

When one looks at the years immediately following the implementation of the MLB draft, it’s easy to see that scouting wasn’t quite up to snuff. Sabermetrics were decades away, and even the most analytical of scouts could only go off of surface-level stats such as batting average, earned run average, and, yes, wins and losses. Because of the limited stats available to them, the St. Louis Cardinals and other teams were lucky if even three players in their drafts ever made it to the major leagues. While baseball drafts today are still seen as more of a guessing game than other sports’ drafts, this was even more true in the draft’s early years.

While nobody’s quite sure what the famous “Cardinal Way” precisely entails, it appears that a part of it comes from drafting and developing successfully. With that in mind, I’m going to attempt a massive undertaking: I’m going to take a look at every Cardinals draft since its inception in 1965 until 2014 (to make a nice, even 50 years) and see how each one turned out regarding its first selection and the bWAR leader in picks the Cardinals signed each year. The first article will cover the first 20 years of Cardinals drafts.

1965 MLB draft

Top pick: Joe DiFabio, RHP (N/A)

(Round 1, Pick 20)

Joe DiFabio had a 7-0 record and an 0.55 ERA at Delta State University in 1965, and he spent six seasons in the Cardinals’ system. His high mark was a 2.17 ERA with Double-A Arkansas in 1968, a year where he led the Texas League in ERA. His performance in Triple-A with the Cardinals and later the Cincinnati Reds didn’t go well, and he was out of baseball by 1971.

WAR leader: Harry Parker, RHP (2.3)

(Round 4, Pick 73)

Harry Parker pitched 27.1 innings for the Cardinals before being dealt to the New York Mets in 1971. 1973 was Parker’s best season, as he helped the Mets win the National League pennant and had a 3.35 ERA in 96.2 innings. The Cardinals reacquired him off waivers in 1975, but they flipped him to the Cleveland Indians after 18.2 innings. Parker retired in 1976 and then attended the University of Tulsa.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Jerry Robertson, RHP (1.1)

1966 MLB draft

Top pick: Leron Lee, OF (2.1)

(Round 1, Pick 7)

The uncle of former Chicago Cubs All-Star Derrek Lee, Leron Lee hit .222 in parts of three years with the Cardinals, but he had his best years in the major leagues with the San Diego Padres, where he hit .271 over three years.

Lee’s real fame came across the Pacific Ocean, where he played in Japan for 11 seasons and set the Nippon Professional Baseball record for batting average for players with more than 4,000 at-bats, hitting .320. The record stood from 1987 to 2018, when it was broken by Norichika Aoki.

WAR leader: Clay Kirby, RHP (7.0)

(Round 3, Pick 47)

While the Cardinals drafted and signed Clay Kirby, the San Diego Padres snagged him in the 1968 expansion draft. What was likely his most well-known moment was in 1970 when Padres manager Preston Gomez removed him for a pinch-hitter after Kirby had thrown eight no-hit innings but was down 1-0. The Padres then surrendered three hits and lost the game. While this is common today, it was almost unfathomable at the time to replace a pitcher throwing a no-hitter.

Despite this, Kirby had a solid albeit brief career, going 12-9 with the Cincinnati Reds in 1974 and winning 10 games for the “Big Red Machine” World Series winners the next year. But he never recovered from a shoulder injury sustained in early 1976, and after a troublesome year with the Montreal Expos, he retired after an unsuccessful Spring Training tryout with the Minnesota Twins in 1978.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

N/A

1967 MLB draft

Top pick/WAR leader: Ted Simmons, C/1B (50.3)

(Round 1, Pick 10)

One of the greatest catchers in Cardinals history, Ted Simmons holds a career batting average of .285, which ties him with another legendary backstop, Yogi Berra. The eight-time All-Star hit over .300 seven times in his career and won the Silver Slugger Award in 1980. New general manager Whitey Herzog wanted to reconstruct the team, and he dealt Simmons to the Milwaukee Brewers in a blockbuster deal after the 1980 season. Simmons continued to excel during much of his time in Milwaukee, where he played for five seasons. He wrapped up his career with the Atlanta Braves.

Simmons spent most of his years as a star for mediocre Cardinals teams, and he played in an era with three other outstanding catchers in Johnny Bench, Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk, which likely contributed to his name dropping off the Hall of Fame ballot in his first year of eligibility. The Veterans Committee finally elected Simmons to the Hall in 2019.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Jerry Reuss, LHP (35.1)

1968 MLB draft

Top pick: Butch Hairston, OF (N/A)

(Round 1, Pick 19)

Butch Hairston never made it past A-ball for the Cardinals in five seasons. He hit .323 in his first season, but he never matched that success in his next four years. He had almost no power, hitting seven home runs in 927 at-bats in his minor league career.

WAR leader: Bob Forsch, RHP (24.6)

(Round 26, Pick 594)

Bob Forsch pitched in the major leagues for 16 years and threw two no-hitters. He was a stalwart in the Cardinals’ rotation from 1975 to 1988, although manager Whitey Herzog opted to use him out of the bullpen and as a spot starter for much of 1985. Forsch was a 20-game winner in 1977 and has the fourth-most wins of any pitcher in Cardinals history, with 168. Forsch was also a solid hitter, winning two Silver Slugger Awards and owning a career average of .213.

Forsch pitched in three World Series, but apart from a brilliant outing in the 1982 NLCS where he pitched a three-hit shutout, he struggled in most postseason appearances, holding a playoff ERA of 5.79.

Forsch was traded to the Houston Astros at the end of his career but performed poorly. He retired in 1989, and he was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2015, four years after his death.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Tom Heintzelman, 2B/3B (0.7); Tim Plodinec, RHP (-0.1)

1969 MLB draft

Top pick: Charles Minott, LHP/OF/1B (N/A)

(Round 1, Pick 20)

Charles Minott accumulated a 4.31 ERA in 48 innings between Rookie and Low-A ball. He showed more promise at the plate, hitting .304 over two seasons. However, Minott became ill with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Spring Training of 1972. He retired from baseball and died in 1979 at age 27.

WAR leader: Bill Stein, 3B/2B/1B (5.4)

(Round 4, Pick 90)

A utility man who spent time at every position except pitcher, catcher and center field, Bill Stein served mostly as a pinch-hitter in his two seasons with the Cardinals. He stayed in that role for much of his career and amassed a pinch-hitting average of .282. The Seattle Mariners took him in their expansion draft in 1976, and Stein found the bulk of his starting time in his three years with Seattle. He retired in 1985 with an average of .267. Stein later managed for the Little Falls Mets and the Columbia Mets in the minor leagues.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Mick Kelleher, SS/3B/2B (-2.4); Ken Reitz, 3B (-3.1)

1970 MLB draft

Top pick: Jim Browning, RHP (N/A)

(Round 1, Pick 11)

Jim Browning spent six seasons in the minor leagues, peaking at Double-A in 1972-1973 with the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He had a career 3.64 ERA and retired after 1975.

WAR leader: John Denny, RHP (32.2)

(Round 29, Pick 679)

John Denny won 51 games in five seasons with the Cardinals He enjoyed his best Cardinals season in 1976, when he led the National League with a 2.52 ERA but went only 11-9 because of poor run support. The Cardinals traded him to the Cleveland Indians after 1979 in the Bobby Bonds deal. Denny’s strongest year was 1983 with the Phillies, where he won the National League Cy Young Award with a 2.37 ERA and a league-high 19 games won. Injuries befell him later in his career, and he retired after an 11-win year with the Cincinnati Reds in 1986.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Bake McBride, OF (22.6); Marc Hill, C (2.3); Greg Terlecky, RHP (0.1); Don Durham, RHP (-0.9)

1971 MLB draft

Top pick: Ed Kurpiel, 1B/OF (N/A)

(Round 1, Pick 8)

Ed Kurpiel never appeared in a major league game, although he was called up briefly in 1974. He played in Triple-A for five years, his last two with the New York Mets organization, hitting .252 with 100 home runs. He played the last two years of his career in Mexico.

WAR leader: Keith Hernandez, 1B (60.3)

(Round 42, Pick 785)

One of the greatest defensive first basemen of all time, Keith Hernandez, an 11-time Gold Glover, became a very good hitter in 1979, leading the major leagues with a .344 average and sharing the National League MVP Award with Willie Stargell. After a career Cardinals average of .299 from 1974 to 1983, Hernandez was traded to the New York Mets because of squabbles with management, much of which involved cocaine use.

He continued to perform very well with New York and played a large part in their 1986 World Series championship, hitting .310 that year. While slightly more productive with the Cardinals than the Mets, Hernandez is more closely affiliated with the latter team, likely in part because of the cocaine controversy and his unceremonious exit from St. Louis. Hernandez is currently a TV broadcaster for the Mets.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Jerry Mumphrey, OF (22.3); Larry Herndon, OF (15.2); Jim Dwyer, OF/1B (6.0)

1972 MLB draft

Top pick: Dan Larson, RHP (-0.8)

(Round 1, Pick 21)

The Cardinals traded Dan Larson to the Houston Astros two years after drafting him, while he was still in the minor leagues. Larson’s first year with Houston, in 1976, saw him go 5-8 with a 3.02 ERA. After a subpar 1977 season where he struggled to a 5.81 ERA, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies and bounced between the majors and minors for the rest of his career, ending in 1982.

WAR leader: Mike Proly, RHP (8.6)

(Round 9, Pick 213)

Mike Proly had a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings out of the bullpen with the Cardinals in his rookie year of 1976. The Minnesota Twins took him from the Cardinals in the 1976 Rule 5 draft, and he was a serviceable relief pitcher for most of his career, with an ERA of 3.23 between the Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

N/A

1973 MLB draft

Top pick: Joe Edelen, RHP (-0.9)

(Round 1, Pick 12)

Joe Edelen pitched in the minor leagues from 1975 to 1981 and had very little success when he reached the major leagues, surrendering 18 runs in 17.1 innings for the Cardinals. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in September and finished the season well there, giving up only 1 run in 12.2 innings, but his issues returned in 1982 with an 8.80 ERA, and he was out of baseball shortly after.

WAR leader: Eric Rasmussen, RHP (5.0)

(Round 32, Pick 676)

Eric Rasmussen threw a shutout in his major league debut with the Cardinals in 1975 and had his best year in 1977, with an ERA of 3.48 but an 11-17 record. He was traded to the San Diego Padres for George Hendrick in 1978 and pitched mostly out of the bullpen.

Later in his career, Rasmussen pitched in the Mexican League and an independent league and returned to the Cardinals in 1983, but the Cardinals found little use for him. Rasmussen retired in 1987 and now works as a minor league pitching coordinator for the Minnesota Twins.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Randy Wiles, LHP (-0.2); John Tamargo, C (-0.3)

1974 MLB draft

Top pick/WAR leader: Garry Templeton, SS (27.8)

(Round 1, Pick 13)

Probably best known in Cardinals circles as the main player traded to the San Diego Padres for Ozzie Smith, Templeton was nevertheless a solid contributor for the Cardinals in his six years with St. Louis. He hit .305 during his tenure and made the All-Star team twice. In 1979, he collected 100 hits from both sides of the plate, the first switch-hitter to earn this distinction. His defense was a mixed bag, as he often finished at or near the top of the league in errors, but his range factor showed him to be elite.

Templeton’s threat to sit out the season if he were not given a raise and an incident in 1981 where he flipped off the home fans led to a strained relationship between him and the fanbase, and Templeton was traded after the 1981 season. For the rest of his career, Templeton battled knee injuries and underwent seven operations on one of his knees, but he did make another All-Star appearance with San Diego in 1985. Thirty years later, he was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame. Templeton managed several minor league and independent league teams from 1998 to 2011.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Bill Caudill, RHP (11.1)

1980 MLB draft

Top pick: Don Collins, RHP (N/A)

(Round 1, Pick 15)

Don Collins never rose above Single-A in his four minor league seasons, holding a record of 21-16 in A-ball and an ERA of 3.57. He played in the Milwaukee Brewers organization in his final year.

WAR leader: Ricky Horton, LHP (4.9)

(Round 4, Pick 93)

Ricky Horton had a 3.44 ERA in his rookie year with the Cardinals, where he went 9-4. His ERA was 3.17 in his first go-around with the Cardinals, which lasted four seasons, and he played in the 1985 and 1987 World Series. He also pitched in the 1988 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Horton returned to the Cardinals in 1989 and played his last major league season with them in 1990. He now works as a Cardinals radio broadcaster.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Jim Adduci, OF/1B (-0.5)

1981 MLB draft

Top pick: Bobby Meacham, SS (3.9)

(Round 1, Pick 8)

Meacham’s poor defense at shortstop in the minor leagues resulted in a trade to the New York Yankees after the 1982 season. He became the Yankees’ starting shorstop in 1985 after a few years serving in a reserve role, but he hit only .218. Meacham’s final year in the major leagues was in 1988. The Yankees traded him to the Texas Rangers after the season, and he bounced around for a few years after that but never reached the majors again.

WAR leader: Danny Cox, RHP (9.3)

(Round 13, Pick 319)

Danny Cox played a major role in helping the Cardinals win the 1985 National League pennant, pitching 241 innings with an ERA of 2.88. He was remarkably durable, as he pitched 220 and 199.1 innings in 1986 and 1987. He pitched well in the World Series in the same year, allowing two runs in 14 innings, although the Cardinals lost the series to the Kansas City Royals in seven games.

Cox played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays later in his career and won a ring with the Blue Jays, but most of his success was with the Cardinals. While not in the Cardinals Hall of Fame, Cox was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Curt Ford, OF (1.6); Jeff Keener, RHP (0.1); Tom Nieto, C (-2.3)

1982 MLB draft

Top pick: Todd Worrell, RHP (10.9)

(Round 1, Pick 21)

While initially a starter in the minor leagues, Todd Worrell failed to gain traction in the role, and Triple-A manager Jim Fregosi moved him to the bullpen. That proved to be a good decision, as Worrell served as a top-notch closer for the Cardinals from 1986 to 1989. He won the 1986 NL Rookie of the Year Award after a league-leading 36 saves.

Worrell was an All-Star in 1988, but near the end of the 1989 season, he tore his rotator cuff and missed the 1990 and 1991 seasons. The Cardinals released Worrell after the 1992 season, and he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He pitched there for five more seasons and made two more All-Star teams before retiring.

WAR leader: Terry Pendleton, 3B (28.4)

(Round 7, Pick 179)

Terry Pendleton played well in seven seasons with the Cardinals, especially defensively at the hot corner. He hit .259 with 44 home runs with St. Louis, but the bat didn’t really catch up to the glove until the Cardinals traded him to the Atlanta Braves to make room at third base for the young Todd Zeile.

In 1991, Pendleton’s first season with Atlanta, he won the NL MVP Award after leading the league with a .319 average. He won his third Gold Glove and made his only All-Star appearance the following year, where he led the National League with 199 hits. Pendleton retired in 1998, having played in five World Series but losing them all.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Vince Coleman, OF (12.5)

1983 MLB draft

Top pick: Jim Lindeman, OF/1B (-0.2)

(Round 1, Pick 24)

Jim Lindeman’s career highlight was probably the 1987 postseason, where he batted .321 while filling in for an injured Jack Clark despite hitting only .208 in the regular season. The Cardinals traded Lindeman to the Detroit Tigers after the 1989 season, and the most success he found outside the postseason was with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1991, where he hit .337 in 95 at-bats.

WAR leader: Tom Pagnozzi, C/1B (7.7)

(Round 8, Pick 208)

A strong defender behind the plate who could also handle the bat a bit, Tom Pagnozzi played his entire career with the Cardinals, winning three Gold Gloves and earning an All-Star berth in 1992. Pagnozzi replaced catching prospect Todd Zeile in 1990, and he was the Cardinals’ starting catcher until 1996, hitting .259 over that span. The Cardinals released him two years later after he hit only .219 in 1997 and 1998, and Pagnozzi subsequently retired.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

John Costello, RHP (0.9)

1984 MLB draft

Top pick: Mike Dunne, RHP (0.1)

(Round 1, Pick 7)

Mike Dunne pitched in the minor leagues for the Cardinals until 1987, when he was included in the Andy Van Slyke package sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tony Pena. Dunne’s rookie season showed promise, as his 3.03 ERA and second-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting indicated. But he couldn’t shake off injuries for the rest of his career, hurting his effectiveness. Dunne ended his career in 1992, holding a 4.08 ERA.

WAR leader: Lance Johnson, OF (30.2)

(Round 6, Pick 139)

Lance Johnson was a burner on the basepaths, but Willie McGee had center field occupied for the Cardinals, so they traded Johnson to the Chicago White Sox before the 1988 season. He proceeded to lead the major leagues in triples three times, and he made the All-Star team in 1996 with the New York Mets, a year where he hit .333 and led the major leagues with 227 hits.

Johnson retired in 2000 after three and a half more years, playing for the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. He finished his career with a .291 average and 327 stolen bases.

Other signed draftees who made the major leagues

Jeff Fassero, LHP (23.7); Greg Mathews, LHP (3.4); Scott Arnold, RHP (-0.1); Craig Wilson, 3B/2B (-0.6); Matt Kinzer, RHP (-1.5)