St. Louis Cardinals worst lineup of all-time by WAR

It is well documented by this point that the season the St. Louis Cardinals are currently having is without question one of the worst seasons they have had in recent memory. It isn't just their record which currently sits at 15 games below .500 a week into August. It isn't just the record because every franchise has rough seasons. It is that the expectation was that the Cardinals would be a clear playoff contender coming into the season and they have been anything but that in 2023.

Some of it has been a roster construction problem that many saw coming a mile away as there just wasn't a proper focus on the starting rotation. Some of it has been underperformance from some key players at the worst possible time. The rest of it, well, has been plain crummy luck as the Cardinals have underperformed their expected W-L record by a full five games.

However, one does wonder how much worse it could have been. For help there, we look back into the annals of Cardinals history for some of the worst position players to ever play in a St. Louis uniform.

Here is the Cardinals' all-time worst lineup by WAR

For the sake of clarity, here are the qualifications. First and foremost, this list is going strictly by Baseball-Reference's WAR measure. This isn't a value judgment as to which WAR calculation is better, but an acknowledgment that B-Ref's database is really powerful and easy to search for this sort of thing. Also, the WAR accumulated by each player is only the WAR they earned while playing for St. Louis.

Finally, to filter out guys that only played for a little while in the big leagues, only players that put up 1,000 or more plate appearances are eligible and they had to play 50% of the time or more at each given position. The goal is to find lineup staples that truly stunk it up, not just to identify a bunch of bad one-and-dones. Without further delay, let's take a look at the all-time worst Cardinals lineup by WAR.

Catcher - Jack Boyle: 1.2 WAR

Taking the top/bottom spot at the catcher position is Jack Boyle who played for St. Louis from 1887-1889. You are forgiven if you don't remember his illustrious -0.4 rWAR 13 year MLB career. He hit a total of 11 home runs for the Cardinals with a .618 OPS in 1510 plate appearances. "Honest Jack" was actually pretty well regarded for his fielding, so one wonders if he would be appreciated more if there was better data available for him.

Mike Matheny actually made a real run at the catcher spot for his tenure with the Cardinals from 2000-2004 as he managed just 1.6 rWAR to come in second place. Hal Smith and Bill Sarni tied for third with 2.0 rWAR and both of them caught for the Cardinals in the 1950's.

First Base - Nippy Jones: -1.3 WAR

Getting the "honor" at first base is Nippy Jones with his -1.3 rWAR from 1946 to 1951. Despite having a very funny name for a baseball player, Nippy was decidedly unproductive player with just 22 homers and four stolen bases across over 1,300 plate appearances for St. Louis. To the surprise of no one, Jones did not play much in the big leagues after he left St. Louis, although he did work his way back to the big leagues and managed to help the Braves win a World Series game after successfully showing the home plate umpire shoe polish on the ball that he argued hit him in the foot.

Gene Paulette took home third place, who was a Cardinals' first baseman from 1917-1919 and barely qualified for this list at 1022 plate appearances, with 1.7 rWAR Tino Martinez and Matt Adams rounded out the top/bottom five which is somewhat surprising.

Second Base - Joe Quinn: -0.5. WAR

The first negative total WAR player to make the list is Joe Quinn who played second base for the Cardinals from 1893-1900. Over the course of his 2339 plate appearances with the Cardinals, Quinn posted just a .645 OPS. Against all odds, Quinn put together a 17 year career in the big leagues which is a reminder that baseball was a very different game back then.

Coming in second place in this hall of dishonor is Mike Tyson (no, not that Mike Tyson) at 1.2 rWAR for his time with St. Louis from 1972-1979. Pug Miles who just snuck into eligibility with 1,035 plate appearances in 1906 and 1907, took home bronze with 1.6 rWAR. Aaron Miles was a modern entrant into the fray at fourth place with 1.9 rWAR from 2006-2010.

Shortstop - Arnold Hauser: 1.0 WAR

The starting shortstop on this "squad" was a closely fought pillow fight to the death, but Arnold Hauser gets the nod at 1.0 rWAR from 1910 to 1913. Hauser hit just six home runs in his 410 games with St. Louis and his .609 OPS for the Cardinals certainly leaves a lot to be desired. However, Hauser's story was a sad one as he had his career derailed by the deaths of most of his immediate family including his wife and two children during his playing career.

Bones Ely, which is a pretty sweet name at the very least, put up 1.2 rWAR from 1893-1895 with Leo Durocher coming in third with 1.3 rWAR despite the fact that he somehow got named to an All-Star team with the Cardinals in 1936. Royce Clayton and David Eckstein were the closest "modern" players to inclusion at 9th and 11th respectively.

Center Field - Luis Melendez: -0.9 WAR

Things are looking pretty rough for the outfield as Luis Melendez easily takes home first place in center field at -0.9 rWAR from 1970-1976. Based on this list, it is not that surprising that the Cardinals did not win a division title in the 1970's. In almost 1,500 plate appearances for St. Louis, Melendez managed just nine home runs and 17 stolen bases.

For the rest of the podium of shame, one has to go way back in Cardinals history again. Rebel Oakes comes in second with 1.4 rWAR from 1910 to 1913 despite stealing 91 bases for St. Louis. Steve Brodie take home third with 2.6 rWAR from 1892-1893 even though he hit .282 in his time with the Cardinals. Rick Ankiel is a modern player in the top/bottom 10 with his 4.1 rWAR.

Right Field - Charlie James: -1.1 WAR

Finally, we come to right field and again we find another negative number with Charlie James and his -1.1 rWAR from 1960 to 1964. James did at least hit 29 homers for the Cardinals, but his 47 walks in 1438 plate appearances was too much to overcome. At least James got a World Series ring after St. Louis traded for Lou Brock and promptly gave James' job to him.

Max Flack takes home second place here with his miniscule 0.3 rWAR in four season in the 1920's. We finally have another modern example of ineptitude as Dexter Fowler's 1.8 rWAR during his 2017-2020 run with the Cardinals took home the bronze. It is probably best not to think about how much the Cardinals paid Fowler for that production.

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