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The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball and in all of professional sports. Their success is only matched by other iconic franchises in bigger markets, making their 11 World Series Championships and 19 National League pennants all the more impressive.
With that rich tradition as a team comes an equally strong history of individual players to wear the Birds on the Bat. So many Hall of Famers, MVPs, Cy Young Award winners, and other All-Stars and iconic players have made their home with the Cardinals, making creating a list like that extremely difficult. This is our attempt to rank the 25 best individual seasons in Cardinals history, a list that many wise baseball historians can debate and never truly land the plane on.
Here's some information on how the list was formulated before we begin. We are ranking individual seasons by a player, not their careers. And because the Cardinals' history is so strong, there are multiple Hall of Famers and MVPs who don't even make the list because of how strong other campaigns were. Players repeat on this list if they had multiple seasons worthy of the ranking.
When determining placement on the list, eras were taken into account, but it is truly hard to determine how to weigh a season in 1948 compared to 1985 compared to 2025. We can level the playing field a bit by looking at era-adjusted stats, but it's still a matter of opinion at the end of the day. Pitchers and position players both appear on this list, so again, you'll have to weigh your opinion on how to rank a great season from an ace vs. a middle-of-the-order bat.
These are the 25 greatest individual seasons in the Cardinals' storied history
#25. Jim Edmonds - 2004
This was the year that the "MV3" truly earned their nickname, as Jim Edmonds, joined by Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen, set the world on fire on their way to a 105-win season and World Series appearance.
2004 was the best season of Edmonds' career, slashing .301/.418/.643 with 42 home runs and 111 RBI while playing Gold Glove defense in center field. His campaign also included multiple iconic playoff moments, from his walk-off home run in Game 6 of the NLCS to his amazing catch in Game 7, further emphasizing how impactful a player he was.
That blend of powerful production at the plate and game-changing defense in center field is rare in baseball history, making Edmonds Hall of Fame snub as of writing all the more confusing.
#24. John Tudor - 1985
Cardinals fans love themselves a workhorse starter, and John Tudor paired that length and dependability with top-end production for a magical 1985 campaign.
Making 36 starts, Tudor posted a 1.93 ERA over 275 innings of work, leading Major League Baseball in complete-game shutouts (10) and WHIP (0.938). It feels like eons ago since starting pitchers were allowed to perform like that. Unfortunately, Tudor's career year came in the same season that Dwight Gooden posted a 1.53 ERA in 276.2 innings of work.
Tudor followed that up with a strong postseason as well, putting up a 2.93 ERA in five starts, but the Cardinals came up short to the Royals in the World Series.
#23. Stan Musial - 1951
As you can probably guess, this is just the first of many entries from Stan Musial on this list. Arguably the greatest Cardinal ever, his 1951 campaign was a historic performance, but given how special he was, it isn't even among his best campaigns.
A 24-time All-Star, it's hard to put into words how consistently great Musial was, and that's going to become evident as this list goes on.
#22. Frankie Frisch - 1927
Back in 1926, the Cardinals' relationship with Rogers Hornsby had soured, leading them to flip him to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch, a move that allowed the Cardinals to replace one Hall of Fame second baseman with another.
In his first season with St. Louis, Frisch finished second in NL MVP voting, just ahead of Hornsby, with a .337/.387/.472 slash line to go with 52 extra-base hits and 48 stolen bases that season. Frisch was an incredible defender as well, leading to his eye-popping 9.3 fWAR that year.
Frisch could go on to win an MVP with St. Louis in 1931, having an incredible 11-year career with the Cardinals.
#21. Yadier Molina - 2012
Sure, there were other seasons on this list that may look better on the back of a baseball card, but Yadier Molina's incredible 2012 campaign was arguably the peak of this catcher's powers, blending top-end offensive production, historic defensive prowess, and a legendary ability to manage a pitching staff.
Some would argue 2013 was even better, when he finished third in NL MVP voting and led the Cardinals back to the World Series, but 2012 saw the Cardinals return to the NLCS while Molina slashed .315/.373/.501 with 22 home runs and 76 RBI in 138 games. His 7.2 bWAR that season was the highest of his MLB career, and it was easily the best offensive season of his career as well.
Molina won his fifth consecutive Gold Glove that season and finished fourth in NL MVP voting. But the numbers and accolades just do not do him justice. From 2005 to 2022, opponents attempted to steal on the Cardinals just 1,367 times, 510 fewer attempts than the next closest team. Molina garnered the ultimate respect of his opponents on the basepaths, and he was the best there ever was at guiding pitching staffs to the best possible results.
Because of those things we can't measure, you could make an argument that Molina's best season should be even higher on this list, but clocking in at #21 on this list is no small feat.
#20. Rogers Hornsby - 1920
Tied with Stan Musial for the most appearances on this list, it's widely debated which of Musial, Albert Pujols, Bob Gibson, and Rogers Hornsby was the greatest player to play for the St. Louis Cardinals. Hornsby's 1920 season, like the others on this list, makes a pretty good case in his favor.
That year, Hornsby slashed .370/.431/.559 with nine home runs and 94 RBI on the season. This also marked his permanent transition to second base, the position he would call home for the rest of his playing career. There's a strong argument to be made that Hornsby is the greatest second baseman in baseball history.
While the Cardinals championship success did not come until the end of Hornsby's tenure with St. Louis, 1920 was in the midst of some truly historic individual season from all-time great.
#19. Dizzy Dean - 1934
One of the best individual seasons by a Cardinals pitcher in franchise history, Dizzy Dean was the 1934 NL MVP on his way to an MLB-leading 8.9 bWAR season as the face of the "Gas House Gang".
In 50 games (33 starts), Dean went 30-7 with a 2.66 ERA, throwing 311.2 innings of work while striking out 195 batters. He was instrumental in leading St. Louis to their third World Series title over the Detroit Tigers that season.
Perhahps the wildest part of Dean's season was his doubleheader sweep - throwing a two-hit shutout in Game 1 and then no-hitting the Brooklyn Dodgers later that day in Game 2 of their set. There'll never be another Dizzy Dean!
#18. Stan Musial - 1949
This first in his run of three straight runner-up seasons in NL MVP voting, Musial's 1.062 OPS campaign was bested by Jackie Robinson's 9.3 bWAR season, but it still goes down as an all-time great campaign from the left-handed slugger.
Musial slashed .338/.438/.624 with 36 home runs and 123 RBI while leading baseball again in many offensive categories as well as fielding percentage among right fielders. Musial also spent time out in center field, finding so many different ways to produce for the Cardinals.
Robinson was a deserving MVP that season, but you could argue that Musial should have collected a few more during this stretch from 1949 to 1951, though coming away with three career MVPs is not too shabby!
#17. Scott Rolen - 2004
The third member of the "MV3", Scott Rolen, had the best year of his Hall of Fame career in 2004, posting 9.2 bWAR while finishing fourth in MVP voting, sandwiched in between Pujols and Edmonds.
Rolen slashed .314/.409/.598 with 34 home runs and 124 RBI in just 142 games played. His incredible defense landed him his sixth career Gold Glove award, and if it wasn't for his all-around stardom, the Cardinals would not have made the World Series run that they did in 2004.
#16. Albert Pujols - 2006
Albert Pujols went on one of the best 11-year runs by an individual player in MLB history from 2001 to 2011, with 2006 being the best combination of individual and team success.
Fresh off his first career MVP, Pujols was robbed of his second, as he led all of Major League Baseball in bWAR (8.5), slugging percentage (.671), and OPS (1.102) while slugging a career-high 49 home runs that season. Pujols also secured his first career Gold Glove, making highlight-reel plays at first base on a frequent basis.
That same magic continued in October, as Pujols slashed .288/.439/.519 with three home runs and three doubles while leading the Cardinals to their first World Series title since 1982. Pujols was already well on his way to being one of the best players to play the game, but this year cemented him as a Cardinals legend.
#15. Joe Medwick - 1937
Joe Medwick doesn't get the same fanfare as other Cardinals greats, but his Triple Crown campaign in 1937 cemented his status as a St. Louis legend and Hall of Famer.
Medwick led the National League in average (.374), home runs (31), and RBI (154) on his way to winning MVP that season. He's one of the best position players to ever play for the Cardinals.
#14. Stan Musial - 1943
In just his second full big-league season, Musial announced himself as a future all-time great, winning his first MVP on his way to one of the best individual seasons of his career.
Musial led all of baseball that year with 9.5 bWAR, one of the highest marks in MLB history by a 22-year-old, on his way to slashing .357/.425/.562 with 13 home runs and 81 RBI. Early in Musial's career, he did not put the ball over the fence all that often, but that did not stop him from being one of the most feared hitters in the sport, and he still came away with 48 doubles and 20 triples that year.
The Cardinals won the World Series in Musial's first full season, but they fell short to the New York Yankees in 1943.
#13. Bob Gibson - 1970
The second Cy Young winning campaign of his career, Bob Gibson went 23-7 with a 3.12 ERA in 34 starts, and his 2.29 FIP indicated that he was even better than the traditional stats let on.
Already in his mid-30s at this point, Gibson continued to be a force on the mound, and he led all of baseball in bWAR with 8.9 that season.
A fun little addition to that line - Gibson batted .303 during the 1970 campaign with a .751 OPS. Take that, Shohei Ohtani!
#12. Albert Pujols - 2003
There's something about legends and putting together all-time great seasons around year three or four of their career, and that's what Pujols did in 2003.
Pujols led all of baseball in average (.359), doubles (51), runs (137), and total bases (394) on his way to a 1.106 OPS and 187 OPS+. His 8.7 bWAR was tied for the third-highest mark of his career, and Pujols finished runner-up in NL MVP voting for the second consecutive season, trailing only Barry Bonds during his unreal stretch that also coincided with his PED usage.
Everyone knew Pujols was special as soon as he made his debut in 2001, but baseball history has had a number of players who have put up incredible one-off seasons but never were able to sustain that success. 2003 was Pujols' third straight top-four MVP finish in his first three seasons, showing just how special of a career he was about to have with St. Louis.
#11. Bob Gibson - 1969
Just one year after Major League Baseball made a significant rule change because of Gibson (more on that later), the legendary right-hander went 20-13 with a 2.18 ERA in 314 innings of work, posting an eye-popping 10.4 bWAR in the process.
Gibson continued his bulldog mentality by leading baseball with 28 complete games, and while he only finished 30th in MVP voting, he did secure his second career Gold Glove and one of the best FIPs of his career (2.30).
#10. Stan Musial - 1946
One of the things that made Musial so great was how consistent he was. From 1943 to 1957, he was top 10 in MVP voting every single year, and 1946 was the second of his three MVP-winning seasons.
After missing the entire 1945 season due to military service, Musial was able to return to the Cardinals following the end of World War II, and he picked up right where he had left off at the plate. Musial slashed .365/.434/.587 wih 16 home runs and 103 RBI that season, powering the Cardinals to one of their best seasons in franchise history in the second best season of his career.
This would also mark Musial's third World Series victory and the final appearance in the Fall Classic in his big-league career. St. Louis bested the Red Sox in seven games, with Musial driving in four runs on a .767 OPS in that series.
#9. Mark McGwire - 1998
The 1998 home run chase will go down as one of the best streches in baseball history, as the whole country stopped to watch or listen any time Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa stepped up to the plate.
McGwire ended up setting a then-MLB record with 70 home runs during the 1998 season, helping to breathe life back into baseball after the 1994 lockout really harmed fan interest around the country.
McGwire was virtually impossible to pitch to that season, and he hit mammoth home runs left and right that left fans speechless as they watched. It is very unlikely that we'll ever see another Cardinal with 70 home run power in a season.
#8. Albert Pujols - 2009
Choosing Pujols' best individual season is a tough task. Many would argue that 2009 was actually his best campaign, and his career-high 9.7 bWAR that season certainly points in that direction as well.
2009 was Pujols' third and final MVP award of his career, winning the award unanimously after slashing .327/.443/.658 (1.101 OPS) with 47 home runs and 135 RBI in 160 games played. Pujols led all of baseball in 10 different offensive categories and the National League in 11, demonstrating just how dominant he was over the competition.
2009 is quietly one of the biggest "what if" seasons by a Cardinals team, as St. Louis got one of the best Pujols seasons of his career, two top-three Cy Young finishes from Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, and Matt Holliday had one of the best second-half runs by a trade deadline acquisition in baseball history. Had they not had a dissapointing exit at the hands of the Dodgers, the Cardinals may have 12 World Series championships right now.
#7 - Albert Pujols - 2008
It was a tough call, but 2008 was an incredible campaign from Pujols and goes down as his best season as a Cardinal on our list.
Putting up 9.2 bWAR that season, Pujols won his second career MVP award as he slashed .357/.462/.653 with 37 home runs and 116 RBI in 148 games played. Had he not been sidelined for about three weeks with a calf strain, those numbers would have been even more eye-popping for The Machine.
While Pujols' counting stats were higher in 2009, his 1.114 OPS and 192 OPS+ were both career highs, so this was arguably the year Pujols was at the top of his game offensively. It would be so fun to go back in time and relive this run from Pujols, as for over a decade, he was truly unstoppable at the plate. Luckily, we got a taste of that one more time in his return to St. Louis back in 2022.
#6. Rogers Hornsby - 1921
Hornsby's first appearance on this list came all the way back in 20th, but his four best seasons all fall in the top six individual seasons by a Cardinal in franchise history.
1921 was the first of nine big league seasons in which Hornsby posted an OPS north of 1.000 (1.097), slashing .397/.458/.639 with 21 home runs and a career-high 152 RBI to go along with it. This was the first season that Hornsby eclipsed that 20 home run mark, and he would remain a major power hitter for the next decade of his career.
Hornsby barely missed out on the Triple Crown this season, a feat that he would accomplish multiple times in his career.
#5. Rogers Hornsby - 1925
Batting over .400 with an OPS north of 1.200 wasn't even a top-two season of his career? Insane, but true.
In 1925, Hornsby won the second Triple Crown of his career and his first and only MVP of his Cardinals tenure. It may seem like a controversial take to say it wasn't even the best year of his career, but that's how truly special he was in the two other campaigns we'll talk about.
Hornsby slashed .403/.489/.756 with 39 home runs and 143 RBI that season, playing a great second base and putting up 10.2 bWAR up in the process.
One really fun fact of this season was that on May 30th, Hornsby was named the player-manager of the Cardinals, a role that he'd also fill during the 1926 season, a season in which he managed the Cardinals to their first World Series title. It's already insane to see the kind of numbers he put up in 1925, but to do so while managing the club for most of the season as well is truly bonkers.
#4. Rogers Hornsby - 1922
Hey, it's Rogers again!
Putting up another one of the greatest individual seasons in MLB history, Hornsby snagged his first National League Triple Crown by leading the NL in batting average (.401), home runs (42), and RBI (152). The first of three full seasons in his career where he batted over .400, Hornsby's .401/.459/.722 slash line feels like an impossible achievement, but he did it!
No only did Hornsby out homer Babe Ruth that season, but he also set the Cardinals franchise hit streak record at 33 games. This is a season that would rank as the top in most franchise histories, but for Hornsby, it was only runner up to himself and two other Cardinal legends.
#3. Stan Musial - 1948
Stan was literally "The Man" in 1948, putting up one of the greatest individual seasons in baseball history that cemented himself as an all-time great and probably the greatest Cardinal in franchise history.
Musial played in 155 games that season, slashing .376/.450/.702, good for a 1.152 OPS to go along with 36 home runs, 41 doubles, 13 triples, and 123 RBI that season. Musial set many career highs for himself that season and, at age 27, was clearly in the prime of his career, falling just one home run short of the NL Triple Crown that season.
Stan the Man is one of the best left-handed hitters to ever play the sport, and the St. Louis Cardinals were incredibly lucky to have him as a star for 22 seasons and a lifelong ambassador of the club. Musial lived in St. Louis for the rest of his life, and his legacy will live in the city and Cardinals franchise forever.
#2. Bob Gibson - 1968
Any time a player is so good that MLB literally has to change rules, it will go down as a historic season. 1968 may be the single greatest pitching season by any player in the sport.
Gibson's 11.2 bWAR came on the back of a 1.12 ERA in 304.2 innings of work, going 22-9 in the 34 starts he made. Gibson struck out 268 batters over the course of the season and felt unhittable by opposing teams. Gibson secured his first NL Cy Young and his only career MVP award for his efforts.
In response to Gibson's dominance, MLB decided to lower the pitching mound from 15 inches to 10 inches as well as shrink the strike zone to make things more difficult on pitchers. Gibson was just that good!
#1. Rogers Hornsby - 1924
Truly one of the greatest seasons in Major League Baseball history, Rogers Hornsby made his competition look like complete amateurs this season as he secured a 12.1 bWAR season in his best all-around campaign as a major leaguer.
Hornsby won six consecutive National League batting titles from 1920 to 1925, and while he did not win the Triple Crown or MVP this season, it's hard to argue against it being the peak of his powers. If you prefer his 1922 or 1925 campaigns, that's totally understandable, but 1924 is one of the best all-around seasons in baseball history, with Hornsby's 12.1 bWAR ranking fifth all-time behind just three Babe Ruth seasons and Carl Yastrzemski's 1967 campaign.
Hornsby is one of the best players to ever play the sport, and this is the best individual season in Cardinals history.
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