The Cardinals have plenty of heroes to thank for their late charge into playoff contention. Albert Pujols‘ .388/.463/.626 slash line since August 11th. Jamie Garcia’s dominance since August 25th. And so on. One of the unsung heroes of this season has been Yadier Molina. Molina has had a down year defensively but has made up for it with a career year at the plate.

During Thursday’s game Molina knocked in his 62nd and 63rd runs on the year, the latter setting a new personal best for RBI in a season. Since RBI are more a measure of how well the hitters ahead of you in the order get themselves into scoring position, let’s also look at his OPS+. Molina has posted a 121 OPS+ this season, his best by 21 points, and fourth on the club among those with 450+ PA, behind the usual subjects (Lance Berkman (169), Pujols (156), Matt Holliday (154)). A big part of that has been newfound power – his 13 HR this season is almost double his previous high (7, in 2008).

His batting average is also up, sitting right at .300 going into yesterday. That is a bounce-back from the .263 he posted in 2010, and in line with the two seasons before that (.293 and .300, respectively, for 2009/2008). Sometimes when a player’s batting average ticks up we see a corresponding increase in Batting Average on Balls In Play, indicating the player is having a little better luck than other hitters. Not so with Molina – his BABIP in 2011 is .307. Yes that is the second highest he’s ever posted, but not out of line with his last 5 seasons, where it hovered between .281 and .310.

So what has changed? Well, his ground ball rate is down and his fly ball rate is up as compared to his two previous seasons. He is getting more loft on the ball, meaning he is driving the ball better. Both rates are right where they were in 2007, his previous best season. It appears he has re-discovered what he did well at the plate 4 years ago, with excellent results.

Molina’s year also puts him on the short list of current catchers who can hit. His wRC+ 0f 117 is almost identical to Miguel Montero‘s (119), the cleanup hitter for the pending NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. His fWAR of 3.7 places him in a virtual dead heat with Carlos Santana of Minnesota (3.7), Brian McCann (3.8), and Matt Weiters of Baltimore (4.0), three guys who came into the league with well-deserved reputations for superior offense.

It’s been a long time since St Louis had a catcher who put up this kind of offensive season. Since 1901, only 6 Cardinals have played 130 games or more at catcher and posted an OPS+ of 110 0r better. Molina is the first to do it since Darrell Porter in 1983. The other 4 names are a who’s who of great Cardinal Catchers: Ted Simmons, who did it six times; Tim McCarver, Bob O’Farrell, and Frank Snyder.

A lineup featuring Berkman, Pujols, and Holliday is imposing enough. Having a threat from behind the plate is a welcome luxury. Yadier Molina is having a fantastic year with the stick. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge it.

Mike Metzger is a life-long Cardinals fan still with his fingers crossed in San Diego. He also blogs about the Padres. Follow him on Twitter.

There’s nothing like lots of business travel to allow one an opportunity to catch up on some baseball reading. Recently I’ve been working through Bill Nowlin’s ‘Ted Williams at War’, which looks at the Boston legend’s military service years. Not from the perspective of what his statistics might have been had he played the 4.5 seasons he lost, but a chronicle of his day-to-day life while in the United States Marine Corps.

Williams trained in WWII but never saw combat. He saw lots of combat, however, during the Korean War. He had a one narrow escape from death on his third combat mission, and he returned to play almost 8 full seasons in Boston. No player with major league service time died in Korea, but some with minor league service did. As the book finished its ramp up to Williams’ 6 months in-theater, it listed a few of the many who gave their lives in defense of South Korea. Three of those men had ties to St Louis baseball, two to the Cardinals.

John Lazar was a pitcher in the St Louis Browns organization who joined the US Army. He died in Korea on 7 September 1951. I was not able to find any information regarding the circumstances of his death, and no statistical information for his playing days is contained on Baseball-Reference’s minor league page.

Edwin Adamcewicz was born in Norwich CT on 8 November 1929. He was signed by the Cardinals as an outfielder in 1947 at the age of 17, and played 4 minor league seasons for the organization; 3 in class D-ball, one at class C. He entered the US Army sometime during 1951 and was eventually assigned to 45^th infantry division, 179^th infantry regiment. On 5 May 1952 Corporal Adamceiwcz was severely wounded in action against North Korea (this website offers some details). He survived that day and was evacuated stateside, where he was brought to the military hospital at Fort Devens Massachusetts. Sadly he did not recover from his wounds, passing away on 21 November 52.

Raymond Jankowski was born in Locust Township (northeastern Pennsylvania, near Wilkes-Barre) on 23 June 1929. He was a left-handed pitcher and was signed by the Cardinals as a 19-year old in 1948, and played two seasons for the Cardinals in Class D. Minor league baseball was a lot different in the 1940s and 1950s than it is today. The Cardinals had multiple teams playing in at the D level; Jankowski and Adamcewicz did not play together. It appears he either joined the military in 1950 or had washed out of the Cardinal system in 1950, the data is somewhat sketchy. Jankowski joined the US Army and became an Aviation Engineer, meaning he was to help in the construction of airfields overseas where they were needed to support combat operations (it would seem these troops provided a service for the Army much like what Navy Seabees did during the Pacific island-hopping campaign in WWII). He was stationed at Fort Huachuca in 1951, but was involved in a training accident while at the Fort and died from his injuries on 5 November 1951.

The Major League players who served in the armed forces during WWII and Korea are well-known. Minor-league ballplayers that did the same are less so. I found some great websites beyond those linked above attempting the tough job of listing these men by name and what happened to them. Veteran’s Day is the Country’s way of formally recognizing the sacrifice our servicemen and women have made over the years, but remembering them doesn’t need to be limited to one day.

I’m sure there are other men who played for the Cardinal organization that did not return from the wars of 1941-1953. These men’s names happened to cross my path, and I thought they should be remembered.

On October 3rd, Jeff Suppan made his last 2010 start for the St Louis Cardinals. It may also have been his last start in the majors. Suppan was a key figure in the last Cardinal title run, so as he rides into that sunset here’s an appreciation of his time as a Cardinal.

Suppan was drafted right out of high school in 1993 (second round), but by the time the Cardinals signed him as a free agent 10 years later, he had bounced around on 4 different teams. He was primarily known as an innings eater, having thrown 200+ innings in his previous 5 seasons. He would thrive, however, in St Louis.

2004 – Beginnings

Based solely on won/loss record, 2004 was the finest season of Suppan’s career. The most remarkable thing about this season was his success on the road. The Cardinals lost only 2 of his 14 road starts; in one of those losses, he allowed 1 run in 8 innings. He continued his magic in the post-season, beating Los Angeles in Los Angeles to clinch the NLDS. The only team to best him when the Cardinals were a visitor turned out to be Houston. They handed him his only regular season road loss on 29 Sept, then beat him in NLCS Game 3 17 days later. Suppan also started Game 7 of that series, and appeared to be on his way to a bitter loss until Jim Edmonds’ spectacular diving catch robbed Brad Ausmus, snuffing out a second inning rally. Suppan held Houston in check over the next 4 innings (1 unearned run), and the Cardinals rallied to win the game and the series.

The World Series was forgettable for Cardinal fans, and probably Suppan too, especially after he got caught off third in the third inning of Game 3 to kill a rally, then gave up 3 runs over the next 1 2/3 innings. However, his reputation as a big-game starter was beginning.

2005 – Building

Statistically this was Suppan’s finest season. He won the same number of games as he had in 2004, but his ERA was a half-run better (his FIP was almost the same, 4.77 in 2004 and 4.53 in 2005), and his ERA+ was a career best 119 over the full season. Jeff did not post the gaudy road record he did in 2004 (9-5; how pedestrian), but his ERA improved by almost a run and a half on the road. Jeff was superb down the stretch everywhere, going 7-3 with a 2.78 ERA the second half of the season. From 31 August to the end of the season he gave up 1 ER or less in 5 of his 6 starts. He only got one post-season start – Game 4 of the NLCS in Houston – and he continued the trend, allowing 1 ER in his 5 innings. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Brendan Backe was just as good, and the Cardinals eventually lost the game 2-1. Houston would go on to win the National League pennant.

Still, Suppan had been very good over the season, and had pitched well in his lone post-season opportunity, setting the stage for the 2006 campaign.

2006 – Breakout

Suppan statistically was the second best Cardinal starter in 2006 behind Chris Carpenter. His 12 wins were second most on the club. His 4.12 ERA was second lowest, and his FIP of 4.66 was third lowest amongst the starters (Mark Mulder posted a 4.49 FIP before his arm troubles started). His season mirrored his 2005 campaign. He struggled mightily in the first half (6-5, 5,83), but dominated in the second (6-2, 2.39). He did continue a trend of struggle on the road, however, posting an ERA of almost 6 in 15 road starts, and getting cuffed around to the tune of a .331 BABIP.

His regular season, however, is not what cemented his legacy in St Louis. It was that October. He began badly, losing the only game the Cardinals dropped to San Diego in the NLDS. After that, he became a dynamo. Suppan threw 8 shutout innings in Game 3 of the NLCS, beating the Mets and giving the Cardinals a 2-1 series lead. In Game 7, he allowed two hits, a walk, and a run in the first, then threw six no-hit innings. He did walk 4, two in a highly adventurous sixth inning which saw the Mets load the bases with one out (the other runner reaching on a rare throwing error by Scott Rolen). He struck out Jose Valentin and enticed Endy Chavez to fly harmlessly to center, ending the threat. Yadier Molina’s HR, and Adam Wainwright’s curveball, gave St Louis the win and the pennant. It is, however, no understatement to say without the start Jeff put together for seven innings, the stage would not have been set for those ninth inning heroics. Jeff was named the MVP of the NLCS for his two superlative starts.

His World Series Game 4 win is almost an afterthought, but it gave the Cardinals a 3 games to 1 lead. St Louis would win the title the next night.

Aftermath

Suppan would cash in on his three great years with the Cardinals, but it would not be St Louis who paid him. He signed as a free agent with Milwaukee. Sadly he did not continue to show the form he had displayed the previous 3 seasons. Ultimately he was banished to the bullpen this season, then released. He came back to the Cardinals mid-season. He didn’t recapture his 2004-2006 form, and statistically he was the same pitcher in St Louis as he was with the Brewers, but he did find a small measure of success down the stretch for the Cardinals.

Jeff is due $12.75M in 2011, with a $2M buyout clause. That is considered by many too much for the Cardinals to carry with their current roster configuration, so most expect the club to exercise the buyout. He’s pitched 15 years in the majors and is on the back slope of his career, which is why there might not be much interest in his services. Cardinal fans should remember that, for the 2004-2006 teams, Jeff Suppan was one of the most reliable starters we had, and his 2006 post-season performance made him one of the unlikeliest heroes in Cardinal history.