Three former Cardinals that should be in the Hall of Fame

The Cardinals are without a doubt one of the most storied franchises in the history of Major League Baseball. Founded in 1892, the Cardinals own 11 World Series rings and 19 National League pennants. On top of that, they have won 12 NL Central titles.

Each generation of fans has seen more than their fair share of truly legendary players, many of which have made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Stars such as Ozzie Smith, Scott Rolen, Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Bruce Sutter, Joe Torre, Rogers Hornsby, and Ted Simmons are already enshrined in Cooperstown, while other stars such as Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina are on the way.

However, not every Cardinals great is in the Hall of Fame. There are several players that actually have not made it to Cooperstown just yet, despite historic careers.

These players, just like many of the stars listed, provided Cardinals fans with memories of a lifetime and were part of some truly special teams. Sadly, they have not been given their place in Cooperstown along with some of the other Cardinals greats.

The truth is that some of these players have simply been swept under the rug. They all had great careers, but for whatever reason have not been given a chance to be enshrined in Cooperstown and get a taste of baseball immortality.

In this piece, we will discuss three former Cardinals stars who are not in the Hall of Fame but are more than deserving of a chance to be enshrined.

Keith Hernandez

Keith Hernandez made his Major League debut back in 1974 and immediately became a fan favorite in St. Louis. He even won an MVP Award in 1979.

Hernandez had a career-best .344 batting average and posted a .930 OPS that year. Interestingly enough, despite his 105 RBI, Hernandez only hit 11 home runs.

The star first baseman was a key piece of the 1982 World Series championship team. The following year he was traded to the Mets for pitcher Neil Allen in one of the more lopsided deals in Cardinals history.

Hernandez has two World Series rings, five All-Star selections, two Silver Slugger Awards, a batting title, and 11 Gold Gloves to his name in addition to his MVP season.

For his career, he posted a WAR of 60.3 and collected a total of 2,182 hits. He also hit for a career .296 average, which makes his denial to Cooperstown quite shocking.