The 5 youngest players to play for the Cardinals in each of the past 3 centuries

It is always exciting as a fan to see a player make his major league debut, regardless of the age of that player. But what makes it more impressive is seeing a player quickly rise through the minor league system, or skip the minor leagues entirely and get to the big leagues at such a young age.

Having young talent is as important as it has ever been in the history of baseball, and continuing to develop young players can either help a team stay relevant or help a team evaluate who they can build their franchise around to have long-term success.

Looking back at the history of the St. Louis Browns/Cardinals, there have been several players who debuted with the team while still in their teens. Some players were regulars, some were late-season call-ups, and a handful were seen as " emergency replacements " to play just for maybe a day or two before Minor League Baseball was created. In the early days of baseball, players would be signed from independent leagues and teams and there would be no other option than give them to another team or release them.

Thanks to Branch Rickey, major league teams were able to purchase minor league teams so that they could create their own minor league development systems. Rickey was with the Cardinals at the time, and his doing this allowed the Cardinals to have multiple lower-level teams for developing players so they could be ready to come to the big leagues when they were needed. This led to instant success for the Cardinals, as they won their first World Series championship shortly after purchasing minor league teams in 1926.

Before teams were buying minor league teams, and before the minor leagues were invented, it was common to see very young players play for Major League teams in the bright and early days of baseball. Here were the 5 youngest players who appeared for the then St.Louis Browns during the seasons spanning from 1882-1899.

5. Pitcher Pink Hawley (1892) 19 years, 252 days

Hawley had a 10-year career in the big leagues with the Browns, Pirates, Reds, Giants, and the original Brewers team in 1901.

He did not pitch particularly well in his three seasons in St. Louis, going 30-58 with a 4.45 ERA in 108 appearances with the team, including leading the league with 27 losses in 1894. That following season the Browns traded him to Pittsburgh.

4. Third basemen Kohly Miller (1892) 19 years, 251 days

Miller only played five major league games and just one in St. Louis. In 18 professional at-bats, he had 2 hits and 1 RBI. Understandably with how long ago Miller played, and how brief his career was, the information regarding Miller is very bleak. So bleak in fact that it is unknown what handedness he hit and threw with.

3. Pitcher Silver King (1887) 19 years, 95 days

King appeared in his first major league game with the Kansas City Cowboys as an 18-year-old before playing for the St. Louis Browns. He would go on to play 3 seasons with St. Louis where he saw his most success, especially in 1888.

That year he put up stats that we will never see again with how drastic the game has changed. He started a mind whopping 64 games in 1888 (all of them complete games) won 45 of those starts, and had a 195 ERA+, he threw 584.2 innings and tossed 6 shutouts, all of those stats led the league that season.

His 1.63 ERA in 1888 was the first of two ERA titles King won in his career, doing it again with the Chicago White Stockings two years later.

2. Pitcher Willie McGill (1891) 17 years, 174 days

Imagine playing in the big leagues before graduating high school. McGill actually made his MLB debut in 1890 with a team called the Cleveland Infants at just 16 years old.

The Browns purchased McGill from a team that was only in major league baseball for one season known as the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers in 1891. This was McGill's only season with the Browns as he won a career-high 18 games with a 2.70 ERA in 29 starts and 33 appearances.

1. Pitcher/Outfielder Nat Hudson (1886) 17 years, 96 days

Now there is some dispute about when Hudson was actually born, but based on the current date of birth that is found on Baseball Reference, Hudson was the youngest player to ever play a game for the St. Louis Browns in the 19th century.

In his age 17 season, he went 16-10 with a 3.03 ERA and won the pivotal game 5 of the World Series against the Chicago White Stockings, which led to the Browns winning the championship in 6 games. Hudson was also a part-time position player on days he did not pitch, as he appeared in the outfield, first base, and even shortstop during his career. He hit .247 with 3 home runs and 58 RBI in his hitting career.

Despite getting his career off to a good start at such a young age, he was out of baseball by the age of 20. During the 1890 season, Hudson was suspended by the team for insubordination and when he tried to dispute it, he was traded to Louisville and never played in the MLB again. The story about this and an overall biography of Hudson is explained in depth here. Let's now look at the 5 youngest players to appear in a game for the Cardinals in the 20th century.

5. Catcher Frank Snyder (1912) 18 years, 83 days

Snyder was brought in late in the season as a backup catcher in his first two seasons before becoming a regular. He played parts of nine seasons with St. Louis where he hit .251 with a .611 OPS.

After the Cardinals traded Snyder in the middle of the 1919 season to the New York Giants, he appeared in 4 consecutive World Series with the Giants, winning two of them.

4. Pitcher Von McDaniel (1957) 18 years, 56 days

The young right-hander spent most of the second half of the 1957 season in the Cardinal rotation and he was very productive. In 17 games (13 of them starts) he went 7-5 with a 3.22 ERA in what was his age 18 season, headlined by his first major league start, when he tossed a complete game 2 hit shutout against the juggernaut Dodgers.

His career wasn't as lengthy as you would expect with how his first season went. McDaniel would only make 2 appearances with the Cardinals in 1958 he gave up 5 walks and 3 earned runs in 2 innings and it ended up being his last season in the big leagues, just a few months after turning 19. His control became a severe problem that could not be corrected. He ended up playing out the rest of his professional career attempting to come back as a position player.

McDaniel was the younger brother of Lindy, who also pitched for the Cardinals in the late 50's and also made his MLB debut with the Cardinals as a teenager.

3. Catcher Tim McCarver (1959) 17 years, 329 days

McCarver had one of the greatest playing and announcing careers ever. His time in Major League Baseball began early on as he was called up by the Cardinals late in 1959 at just the age of 17. He only played 40 games total in his first 4 seasons with the Cardinals, but then he became the starting catcher in 1963.

In his 11-plus seasons with St. Louis (1959-1961, 1963-1969,1973-1974) he played over a thousand games and had over a thousand hits. He was a two-time All-Star, and MVP runner-up in 1967, and won 2 World Series titles.

Cardinal fans got to listen to McCarver for over 2 decades after his playing career calling games on FOX with Joe Buck, and then from time to time calling Cardinal games on Fox Sports Midwest. We sadly lost the great Tim McCarver earlier this year.

2. Outfielder/Pitcher Ed Clough (1924) 17 years, 305 days

Clough played 7 games for the Cardinals at the end of the 1924 season, getting one hit in 14 at-bats. In the next two seasons, Clough was used as a pitcher for just four games but was still on the roster for the 1926 World Series against the Yankees (he did not pitch in the series).

1926 was his final season in the MLB, and just like with McDaniel, his major league career started and ended as a teenager. He finished his career with a .071 batting average and a 10.50 ERA.

1. Catcher Coonie Blank (1909) 16 years, 301 days

Blank appeared in a game for the 1909 Cardinals 2 months before his 17th birthday. He replaced Jack Bliss at the catcher position, went 0 for 2 at the plate, and also committed an error behind the plate.

He is a member of the " Cups of Coffee Club" because that was the only major league game that Blank played in. And despite only playing one game, he is the youngest player to appear in a game in Cardinals history. Now who are the five youngest players to appear in a game for the Cardinals in this current century?