St. Louis Cardinals 10 best individual seasons of the quarter century

6. 2004 Jim Edmonds

Jim Edmonds is known as a superb defender, and for good reason. He has eight Gold Gloves to his name. Edmonds's best season — one in which he wasn't even an All-Star — came in 2004, and it belongs on this list without a doubt.

In 2004, Jim Edmonds had a slash line of .301/.418/.643 for a 1.061 OPS. He hit 42 home runs and drove in 111 RBIs for a 171 OPS+, hands down the best mark of his career. He was a Gold Glove recipient and a Silver Slugger winner. Edmonds's 7.2 bWAR and 8.3 fWAR are both among the best marks of the 21st century for the Cardinals.

Edmonds wasn't an All-Star in 2004 despite finishing fifth in NL MVP voting that year. Edmonds hit 26 home runs in the second half of the season, and other outfielders including Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Lance Berkman had far better first halves. However, Jimmy turned it on in the second half and posted one of the most complete seasons for the Cardinals in the first quarter of the century.

5. 2005 Chris Carpenter

The second and final pitcher on this list is Chris Carpenter, one of the best pitchers in St. Louis Cardinals history.

2005 was Carp's second season in St. Louis, and he didn't disappoint that year. He finished the year with a 21-5 record, a 2.83 ERA, and 213 strikeouts across 33 starts and 241.2 innings. He was an All-Star, and he won the National League Cy Young that year.

Wainwright's 5.8 bWAR total was the second-highest of his career, and his 6.3 fWAR total was the best of his career. His 2005 season was the best for any Cardinals pitcher this century according to FanGraphs WAR rankings. Carp was one of the primary reasons why the Cardinals were able to win 100 games in 2005 and make it to the NLCS for the second of three consecutive seasons. His 2005 season was masterful, and it belongs near the top of the best individual seasons in Cardinals history since the year 2000.

4. 2003 Albert Pujols

Let the reign of Albert Pujols begin.

2003 wasn't Pujols's first year in the majors, but it was certainly one of his best. He finished the year with an MLB-best .359 batting average. His .439 on-base percentage and .667 slugging percentage weren't half bad either. Add it all up and you have a 1.106 OPS and a 187 OPS+ for a player who also smashed 43 home runs and drove in 124 runners.

Pujols was elected to the All-Star Game, he won a Silver Slugger, and he finished second in NL MVP voting in 2003. His 8.7 bWAR total was bested by only two other years of his career (2007 tied it), and his 9.5 fWAR total in 2003 was the best mark of his career. Once again, Albert walked more than he struck out.

At that point in his career, Pujols was still splitting time between left field and first base, so he wasn't able to snag a Gold Glove at either position despite being reliable in both spots with the glove. The 2003 season was amazing for The Machine, but it still wasn't close to his best season with the Cardinals, nor was it the best season in the 21st century.