Three former MLB stars you didn't know were Cardinals

The Cardinals have a long history of success which has featured several great teams and players.

Each generation of Cardinals fans has seen more than their fair share of great players who graced the franchise and provided lasting memories.

Players such as Rogers Hornsby, Dizzy Dean, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ted Simmons, Bruce Sutter, and Ozzie Smith were around for previous generations of fans, while today's generation of fans has seen other stars such as Mark McGwire, Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Matt Holliday, Jason Isringhausen, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Chris Carpenter, and Adam Wainwright.

Each one of the players listed has left a lasting impact on the Cardinals organization and the City of St. Louis. For example, Wainwright is the last holdover from either of the Cardinals' two World Series championship teams since the turn of the century. He closed out the NLCS and World Series in 2006 and helped guide the team back to the Fall Classic in 2013, where they unfortunately fell short against the Red Sox.

But one thing we must consider is the fact that there have been some legendary players who made names for themselves with other organizations but made brief stops in St. Louis.

These players are obviously not known for their contributions to the Cardinals. Still, they are forever part of the Cardinals family.

Fans may forget some of these players, as their time in St. Louis was not terribly notable. But in this piece, we will discuss three MLB legends that you may have forgotten were Cardinals at one point.

John Smoltz

Late in the 2009 season, after the Cardinals had acquired Matt Holliday, there was one other piece that was added to the roster to help them make a final push to the postseason.

His name? John Smoltz. The Hall-of-Famer didn't join the Cardinals until August 19th of 2009, but made his team debut four days later. He struck out nine batters against the Padres and even set a franchise record for seven consecutive punchouts.

In seven starts for the Cardinals, Smoltz went 1-3 with a 4.26 ERA and helped push the team to their first NL Central title since 2006.

Fernando Valenzuela

Fernando Valenzuela is obviously best known for what he did with the Dodgers, which included a no-hitter against the Cardinals back in 1990.

However, he would make a brief stop in St. Louis and would ultimately retire as a Cardinal like Smoltz did. Sadly, his time in St. Louis was unremarkable, as he went 0-4 in five starts with an ugly 5.56 ERA during the 1997 season.

Valenzuela had a career ERA of 3.54 over his 17 seasons, but his time in St. Louis was forgettable, to say the least.