So just how much of an impact does one player have on a lineup? The St. Louis Cardinals are about to find out. Last year, the Cardinals’ offense ranked in the top five in the majors in runs, average, and on-base percentage, which is absurd considering there’s not a designated hitter in the National League.

Most would agree that any NL team in the top five in the majors in all those categories must have a deep lineup and a solid bench. The Cardinals certainly did in 2011. Six of the team’s eight everyday starters hit .296 or higher, with the exceptions coming from the middle infield positions. And when it was all said and done, they had a player in Allen Craig that many players, coaches, and fans thought would be starting on just about any major league team other than the Cardinals, who were already set with Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, and Jon Jay.

That’s why I was a little taken aback when I heard the following from ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk: “The X-factor for the Cardinals this year is Adam Wainwright. We know this team is going to struggle to score runs; you just don’t lose the best hitter in the game and expect to have the same production.”

Struggle to score runs? Really? The thought had never even occurred to me. Yes, the Cardinals will be without Albert Pujols and you can’t easily replace his production and impact on the rest of the lineup, but does that mean the Cardinals will “struggle to score runs” without him?

Take a look at the Cardinals’ projected lineup and ask yourself if it looks like they’ll struggle to score runs:

1)      Rafael Furcal: .255 avg, 7 HR, 16 RBI (*numbers after trade to St. Louis)

2)      Carlos Beltran: .300, 22 HR, 84 RBI

3)      Matt Holliday: .296, 22 HR, 75 RBI

4)      Lance Berkman: .301, 31 HR, 94 RBI

5)      David Freese: .297, 10 HR, 55 RBI

6)      Yadier Molina: .305, 14 HR, 65 RBI

7)      Allen Craig: .315, 11 HR, 40 RBI

8)      Skip Schumaker: .283, 2 HR, 38 RBI

The only difference between last year’s lineup and this year’s will be Albert Pujols replaced by Carlos Beltran. Last year, Pujols hit .299, 37 HRs, 99 RBI. With Beltran, the Cardinals pick up a point in the average column and lose 15 HR and 15 RBI… so essentially 15 solo home runs. That’s nothing to scoff at, but nothing that would make you think the sky is falling either.

Of course, we haven’t taken into account the “Pujols factor” yet. This is the impact players and managers say Pujols has on the rest of the lineup just by his mere presence. Opponents have long said “we always knew how far away number five was from coming up to bat, whether he was due up 3^rd, 5^th, or 7^th at the start of the inning.” A quick example of this happened in the first inning of Game 7 of the World Series. In an interview with MLB Productions, Lance Berkman suggests one of the turning points in the game that ultimately cost the Texas Rangers the lead and the World Series was when pitcher Matt Harrison pitched around Albert with no one on and two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Harrison had recorded the first two outs with ease, but after pitching around Pujols he walked Lance Berkman on four pitches. Berkman said he thought Harrison lost his release point while pitching around Pujols, and subsequently walked him as well. That brought David Freese up to the plate with two on and two out, and Freese drove a fastball into the left-centerfield gap to tie the score at two.

So there’s an example of two runs the Cardinals, in theory, got last year that they will not be getting this year. No one will be pitching around Matt Holliday with no one on and two outs to help jump start a rally.

So the question is: just how much will the Cardinals miss Albert Pujols this season? Will they really go from a top five offense club to one that “struggles” to score runs? Or with the addition of Beltran and fewer injuries, will the Red Birds continue to put crooked numbers on the board at a high clip?

The answer may be somewhere in between.

One thing is for sure, this season will be unlike any we’ve seen in the past 15 years. The Cardinals have featured one of the game’s premiere deep-threats in the number three hole every year since 1997… first Mark McGwire, then Albert Pujols. Matt Holliday certainly has a tough act to follow as the new anchor of the Cardinals’ offense.

It has been 43 years since the St. Louis Cardinals appeared in consecutive World Series.  One has to go back before the advent of divisional play to find the last instance:  1967-68.  The Cardinals have won the National League in back-to-back years twice before, 1930-31, and 1942-44.  The Cardinals have never won the Fall Classic in consecutive years; the 1942 and 1944 titles are the closest they’ve ever come to accomplishing that.

Winning two straight titles is hard for teams not named the New York Yankees, and especially hard for National League franchises.  The first team to do so – the 1907-1908 Chicago Cubs – has not won a World Series since.  A historical oddity, sure, but let’s not miss a chance to tweak Cub fans. The list of NL franchises who have successfully defended their title is short and sweet.

• Chicago Cubs (successful defense in 1908)
• New York Giants (successful defense in 1922)
• Cincinnati Reds (successful defense in 1976)

That’s it.  A National League franchise has successfully defended its title once since the end of the Dead Ball Era.  St Louis will have to defy 9o years of history to join the Cincinnati Reds as the only NL team to accomplish the feat since Babe Ruth played.

That’s not the only challenge, of course – the Cardinals have to win the NL first to play for the World Title.  For the purposes of this discussion, we will assume St Louis qualifies for the playoffs either as a wild card or the NL Central champs.  As you might expect, it is considerably more difficult to win the National League today under the current post-season format.  During the 65 seasons when the league’s best record played in the World Series, a team won back-to-back NL titles 17 times.  Said another way, a defending champ had a 1 in 4 chance of a successful league title defense.  Since the playoff system was instituted, only 11% of World Series included an NL participant who was there the previous year (5 of 42).  The AL percentages are higher across the board, thanks to some team called the Yankees, but even in the AL there has been a drop in repeats since 1968.

Does this mean St Louis will not repeat?  No; each season is unique, just like each team is unique.  The loss of Albert Pujols weakened the middle of the order, but the acquisition of Carlos Beltran should replace most of that lost offense.  The return of Adam Wainwright makes the 2012 rotation far stronger than the 2011 version.  St Louis has as good a chance of repeating as World Champs as any recent team.  The hardest part won’t just be winning the Series; it will be getting there in the first place to defend their title.

Mike Metzger is a baseball writer based in San Diego. He also blogs about the Padres. Follow him on Twitter.

The St. Louis Cardinals got Jake Westbrook at the 2010 trade deadline, and he performed well enough down the stretch to earn a 2-year contract with a mutual option on a third year.  Last season he did not perform like the 2010 stretch Westbrook, though to be fair he did pitch to his career averages.  What do we want to to see from Jake in 2012?  More 2010 Westbrook, and less 2011 Westbrook, of course.  How does he get there?

Westbrook historically allows a lot of base runners.  Last year he allowed at least a runner per inning in his victories, and in his no-decisions and losses it was closer to 2 runners per inning.  If Jake was not on his game it was obvious early; he only threw 43 innings in his 9 losses, and allowed almost as many hits, walks, and HR as he did in the 75 innings he threw during his 12 victories.  Opposing hitters hammered him to the tune of a .368 BABIP in games he lost; in his wins, his BABIP was 100 points lower.

OK, if he pitches to less contact he’ll be more successful in 2012, right?  It’s not that simple.  In his 2011 losses, his K/9 was actually higher than in his wins (5.2 to 4.7), and in his no-decisions it was even higher.  The year before they were virtually identical (5.3 to 5.5), although again his K/9 in no-decisions was higher.  Striking out more hitters so there are fewer balls in play does not seem to be a key to Westbrook’s success.

So what can he change in order to return closer to his 2010 Cardinal form?  Take a look at his Fangraphs page, specifically the pitch type section, for a possible answer.  After the trade to St Louis Westbrook essentially ditched his cutter.  He threw a fastball more frequently, threw his slider marginally more frequently, and threw his change-up marginally less frequently than he had while with Cleveland earlier in the year.  In 2011, he threw his fastball slightly less frequently and his change-up with the same frequency as he had the second half of 2010.  He made two major changes:  he threw fewer sliders than in any year since 2007, and he threw more cutters than in any season ever.*

One has to wonder why the drastic change.  Arm trouble?  Inability to get a feel for the pitch that persisted most of the season?  A lack of feel would make sense, because his slider got hammered (based on Fangraphs linear weights) throughout 2011 and no sane pitcher would consistently throw a pitch they knew could cause whiplash while watching it leave the home plate area.

It would seem the key to Westbrook’s success is his slider.  It has been a crucial pitch for him throughout his career and had served him well up to last season.  As we prepare for pitchers and catchers to report to Spring Training 2012, we need to watch Westbrook’s progress with his slider.  If he has a feel for it, look for 2010-type performances this season, with 2011 game play a distant (and hopefully rapidly fading) memory.  If he can’t find it again, maybe we can get Roy Oswalt back on the phone.

*Some of the change in fastball/cutter percentage may be due to refinement in the pitch f/x systems ability to detect the difference, however the change in how often he threw a slider cannot be explained away by a measurement software change.

Mike Metzger is a baseball writer based out of San Diego.  He also blogs about the Padres.  Follow him on Twitter.

Unless you’ve been living off the grid you are aware of the collective bargaining trouble that has been suffered by the NBA, and to a lesser extent the NFL. Major League Baseball’s agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association expires December 11th, 2011. I was going to wait until later in the fall to write this article, but I saw a blog post by Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports.com that seems to indicate if I wait any longer it will be a moot point. A quick end to potential labor trouble is always good. Especially for a sport that has come a long way from it’s 1994 Strike, but still feels some lingering effects. You will still find people who refuse to give MLB any of their attention because of it. What I want to do for the duration of this article is highlight some of the issues that are being discussed in these negotiations. Then opine on what we as Royals fans should want to happen to give our team the best chance win. Do not confuse that with the best chance to make money.

Luxury Tax: The Luxury Tax does not extend beyond this CBA. The Luxury Tax will be extended, but it also have to me negotiated which means there might be some changes. You can debate whether Dayton Moore spends the money he does get wisely. But you can’t debate that the Luxury Tax has not helped the small market teams in MLB. I don’t think MLB’s revenue distribution system is as good as the NFL’s. However, neither side seems to be willing to push the issue in that direction so I’ll be happy with the status quo of the current Luxury Tax.

Moving a Team to the American League: Right now there are 16 teams in the National League, and 14 in the American League. Moving an NL team to the AL does make some sense in that you’d have more balance among the leagues and divisions. Reportedly a condition of approving Jim Crane as the new owner of the Astros is that the Astros would move the AL West. If I’m an Astros fan I hate this. That means the number of times my team starts at 9pm on their west coast road swing just doubled. An interesting thing about the schedule is that there would be at least one interleague series being played at all times. You can only pair up 14 teams into 7 series, not 15. This move would not take place until 2013.

As a Royals fan I’m indifferent to this. Yes, the 2011 Astros would make the Royals schedule easier. However, this Astros team is only 6 years removed from a World Series appearance.

Expanded Playoffs: Tied to moving the Astros to the AL is an expanded Wild Card. This is designed to put more emphasis on winning the division. The three division winners would be locked into the playoffs as they are now. Under the new format there would be two Wild Card teams in each league. There would be a one game Wild Card playoff and the winner would then move to the Division Series. Anything can happen in one game. If you plan on making a World Series run it’s best to win the division. Like the Astros move to the AL this would not happen until 2013.

As a Royals fan I think I like this. It would give the Royals more opportunity to get into the playoffs. However, I still prefer they win the division. I’m not sure I like it as a baseball fan in general. Hinging an entire season on game seems silly, but so does determining home field in the World Series by an exhibition game.

International Player Draft: There has been some discussion about this in the negotiations. It seems not to be a big deal for either side. If I were an owner I would be pushing for this. As a Royals fan I’m in huge favor of an International Draft. Right now signing international players is just like free agency which the Royals will never win. The Royals did sign Noel Arguelles. That’s just one battle. Don’t think the Royals will ever win that war. If an international draft were established so could a uniform process for teams to establish true identities and immigration status for the players involved.

Hard Slotting in the Amateur Draft: Currently MLB has “recommended” slot money for teams to follow in the Amateur Draft. However, not many teams follow the “recommendation”. Under the proposed “hard cap” teams would not negotiate with the draft picks. Teams would have no choice but to offer slot money. But unlike the NBA, NHL & NFL, an MLB draftee has several options including going to college to improve their draft stock, or sign with an Independent League and re-enter the draft a year later.

As a Royals fan I’m usually supportive of issues that will help level the playing field with larger market teams. However, in this case I do not think hard slotting would benefit the Royals. Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball popularized the term “market inefficiency”. The Royals found a “market inefficiency” in the draft by taking good players who fell to lower rounds because other teams were afraid of their contract demands. That’s how their farm system improved faster than others. The Royals aren’t afraid to spend money in the draft, and at last check the Royals have spent the most money on draft picks over the last several seasons. This is based on the theory that paying draft picks big money is less expensive than paying free agents big money. This is essentially “The Process”. A hard slotting system takes this market inefficiency away from the Royals. Wil Myers and John Lamb are not in the Royals system right now if there is hard slotting. I would bet Bubba Starling stays at Nebraska in such as system

Hard slotting would save the owners money on unproven players. The MLBPA doesn’t want to represent players not on the 40-Man Roster. I can’t see how this system does not get approved. A lot of how the Royals react will depend in the nuances that are negotiated in such a system.

Trading Draft Picks: I haven’t seen this discussed in my research on the current CBA issues. It is probably not up for discussion. Currently MLB teams cannot use draft picks as compensation in a trade. I think having the ability to trade draft picks would help small market teams like the Royals as it opens up another avenue to get a high priced player that a small market team might not otherwise afford with money or prospects.

Major League Baseball often looks buffoonish when comparing it’s management to other leagues. However, on the subject of labor peace it appears Major League Baseball is leading the way. If this new CBA longer than three years is will mean MLB will have at least 20 years of no work stoppages. None of the other leagues can say that. Despite what some NFL Elitist would like you to believe baseball is relevant. Attendance was up for the 2011 season, and according to estimates Major League Baseball experienced record revenue in 2010. Surely the players and owners can find a away to split $7.2 Billion in revenue? The answer to that question appears to be: Yes! While it’s great that the league as a whole appears to be healthy, what I really want to know is can the Royals thrive during the new agreement.

St. Louis Cardinals fans can already see the writing on the wall, they sit six games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and their team is playing uninspired ball: Games that should be won are lost, leaving many to scratch their heads.

However, what many Cardinals fans have seemingly forgot about or have chose to forget entirely is that Albert Pujols, the teams best player, is not under contract for next season. It seems so long ago now, but the one they call King Albert made a scene early in Spring Training about wanting a long-term, big-money contract.

Both sides negotiated, but they remained far apart, apparently so far apart that Pujols decided he no longer wished to negotiate with the club until after the season. You may ask how can the Cardinals can even think of not giving Pujols the money he wants?

Well, a $30 million per year asking price is enough to even make thew New York Yankees blush, so how can a mid-market such as St. Louis pay that much money for one player? Added into the mix is Pujols’ desire to have it be a 10-year contract and you really have problems.

The former National League MVP is still producing eye-popping numbers in his Cardinals red, but they are a NL team, meaning they do not have the benefit of the DH. Pujols is currently 31 years of age and even a eight-year contract brings him to almost 40.

Is it possible that Pujols can still be a productive hitter and fielder at that advanced age? Sure. But is it more likely that he will no longer be able to play the field and they are stuck with a very expensive bench option?

One has to only look at the Yankees and their decision to give Alex Rodriguez a shiny new deal and where that leaves them now. Rodriguez is no longer the feared hitter he once was and has to be the DH regularly because of a problem-filled hip. This same scenario could happen to Pujols.

However, lets take money out of the equation for arguments sake. Pujols has already established himself as one of the game’s greatest hitters. Since the moment he has taken the big stage, Pujols has flashed leather, showed a keen batting eye and tremendous power.

In fact, he is the first person ever to have achieved 11-consecutive seasons of 30 or more home runs to start his major league career. That is a stability of greatness. Over those years, the perennial All-Star has accomplished many individual awards, but has only tasted one World Series Championship.

To quote a former football coach, “You play to win the game.” It’s as simple as that, the reason Major League players continue to work on their trade and continually give it their all, day in and day out is to ultimately win a championship.

Pujols has witnessed many years where the Cardinals sat atop the National League Central every year, but now he has seen that stop. He has the seen the building of a young but talented team in the Brewers, one that is set up to contend for years to come.

The Cardinals meanwhile have struggled to find the pieces to match-up with their division foes. Mariano Rivera has made a career out of postseason success and you can be sure Pujols wants to have a chance to experience the same kind of success.

He may not be able to fulfill that dream in St. Louis, so the question is this: Why would King Albert want to stay in St. Louis.

Cardinals management better have a good answer to give Pujols when the question is asked or one of the best players in baseball will leave for a new journey.

Ryan Lazo is a contributing writer for i70 Baseball. He is also a Senior Writer for BaseballDigest.com. He can reached at RMLazo13@gmail.com, followed on Twitter @RMLazo13 and read his blog Artificially Enhanced.

To piggy back off of last week’s column where I noted the Cardinals inability or maybe better said, hesitance, to play small ball the team embarks on a six game trip through the American League East. After the lack luster home stand showed that perhaps the Cardinals are not equipped for the NL game maybe this trip out east will show if perhaps they are built for the AL game. Somehow I doubt it. The St. Louis Cardinals are a team without a baseball identity and until they can commit to one style of play or the other the Cardinals will continue to linger in baseball purgatory. Worse yet, if management and the collective brain trust behind Ballpark Village cannot pick a direction for this team I fear every 3-4 years will be a roster turnover and more of the same.

There are a lot of quality players on this 2011 roster; the problem is that they can be divided into two groups. Those best suited to play in the NL and those maybe better off on an AL club. In this situation two halves do not necessarily make a whole. Adding to their identity crisis is manager Tony LaRussa, who cannot seem to make up his mind as to which style the Cardinals should play. Seemingly changing his strategy from series to series. We as fans and bloggers know what we see when watching a game so no facts, sabremetrics, percentages or other statistics will be used. That is for another article on another day. All statements within this column are based on the “eye-test” and common sense factors.

For as long as I can remember the breakdown was always speed and defense win games in the NL, power in the AL. Here is how it breaks down for the Cardinals. Theriot and Schumaker give away outs like free soup at a homeless shelter while Pujols and Molina when healthy are two of the best fielders in either league at their positions. If not for his glove Descalso would not be on the Major League roster, by the same token, if not for his bat neither would Allen Craig. The yin & yang of it goes on and on.

Based on the criteria above here is how I separate the two groups. In examining the roster I take into consideration any position player who has seen significant AB’s as either a regular or an off-the bench guy.

Albert Pujols	Ryan Theriot
Daniel Descalso	Allen Craig
Yadier Molina	Matt Holliday
Colby Rasmus	Lance Berkman
Skip Schumaker	David Freese
Jon Jay
*disclaimer players were assigned leagues based on where their skill levels I felt were best suited. Some of course could play in both

Finding a way to utilize both types of players requires good strategy and gamesmanship. Usually synonyms for how TLR has managed his teams. But for his part, these last few seasons TLR’s management of this miss-matched roster only makes the differences more apparent. He has players in Rasmus and Schumaker who are supposed to be good on the bases but doesn’t let them show it. To make it worse more often than not he bats them out of position. In yet another mystifying move, where a team should be sacrificing offense for defense the Cardinals do the opposite on a daily basis by continuing to run Theriot out to SS rather than moving him over to 2B.

The pieces are there and yes injuries have played a large role in the season’s results thus far. But the season is not lost, especially not in the NL Central. The sooner the Cardinals and Tony LaRussa decide which type of team they want to be for the remainder of 2011 the better the results will be.

As usual these are just my thoughts…if you’re smart you’ll most likely agree. If not keep on reading my articles and you’ll get up to speed.

Follow me on Twitter @SportsbyWeeze or check out my thoughts on the Rams at RamsHerd.com

If someone had told me a month ago that by the end of April Albert Pujols would be hitting in the mid-.200’s and had ground into more double plays than home runs, I would think the Cardinals probably would be struggling to find offense. If that same someone had also told me Chris Carpenter would have more losses than wins and Jake Westbrook would have a 7.40 ERA by now, I would think the Cards had major rotation issues.

I also would not think that despite the above numbers, the League Leaders would still be littered with Cardinals. And I also would not think the Cardinals would be in first place. But it’s true—all of it.

It may not be fair to label Matt Holliday an “other guy.” He is, after all, the highest paid player on the roster. He should have great numbers. But Holliday started off so slowly last year it’s almost comical to see that he’s hitting over .400 for the month of April. And maybe Jaime Garcia really is as good as his rookie campaign in 2010, so with that in mind his 3-0 start and 2.08 ERA could just be a continuation of the type of pitcher he really is.

But Kyle Lohse of all people has been the best pitcher on the team, and is one of the best in the league. He is 4-1 with a 1.68 ERA. He and Garcia both already have complete game shutouts this season. And Kyle McClellan has shown he really can be an effective starter after finally getting his shot: he is 4-0 with a 3.23 ERA. The Cards are the only NL team with two four game winners; one is a guy who missed the better part of the last two years to injury and the other is a converted reliever.

And what can be said about Lance Berkman that hasn’t already been said? He won player of the week once this season, and he could win it again this week. Berkman and Holliday are pacing the league in batting average, and Berkman is among the leaders in home runs, too.

David Freese is off to a hot start, too, joining Berkman and Holliday in the top 10 in the majors in batting average. Colby Rasmus is up over .300 as well. If these guys have a knock against them, it’s their strikeouts…they are the top two K-machines on the team. But they only barely crack the highest 50 whiffers in the majors. So it could be a lot worse. Remember the little tirade Tony LaRussa had earlier this month? It looks like he was right. The Cards lead the league in team hits, batting average, on-base percentage, and RBI and are top 10 in slugging, home runs, and fewest strikeouts. This team can hit, and they still are not seeing much out of Pujols.

Everyone knows about the bullpen troubles, but I believe that to be a temporary speed bump. Roles have completely changed and guys have been injured. Is it serious? Certainly. But it’s hard to get completely down on pitching with Dave Duncan in the dugout. The bullpen will get sorted out; it may not ever be stellar but it will be better than we’ve seen this month.

All in all, the Cardinals have been surprising this month. I remember talking to a friend at the beginning of the year—during their slow offensive start—and saying I wanted to see increments before I believed this could be a good team. I wanted to see a good game, then a good series of games, then a good week, then a good couple of weeks, etc. So far the Cards have produced all of the above and could finish with a good month. If these numbers keep rolling and others elevate their levels to their norms, there will be no denying the 2011 Cardinals are in fact a great team.

The Cardinals had a long road to the World Series, where they arrived the heavy favorites to beat the Royals. While the Cardinals’ pitching staff was the driving force behind the team, the offense was impressive. Utilizing “Whiteyball” to the full capabilities, the team was built on speed, defense and fundamentals. Today, here on I-70 Baseball, we break down the starting eight fielders from the 1985 World Series.

It was during that road to the World Series that the Cardinals’ lineup experienced a major loss when a freak accident with a tarp brought an end to the season for Rookie Of The Year Vince Coleman. That left the Cardinals to turn to a man who many people considered to be faster then Vince Coleman to lead off games for them in the Fall Classic.

1. Willie McGee, CF
Willie McGee would patrol the astroturf of Busch Memorial Stadium in center field in Gold Glove style and take the lead off position for the Running Redbirds. McGee was no slouch, he was the National League MVP and Batting Champ in 1985, hitting .353 and leading the league in hits (216) and triples (18).

2. Ozzie Smith, SS
Following McGee in the lineup each night was the Cardinals’ annual Gold Glove winner and All Star shortstop Ozzie Smith. Ozzie would not realize his full potential with the bat for another few years, but his .276 average did not reflect his ability to produce productive outs, moving runners along and setting up the middle of the order with opportunities to drive runs in with minimal effort.

3. Tommy Herr, 2B
It was the Cardinals’ second baseman and number three hitter, Tommy Herr, that showed this theory to be effective. While only hitting eight home runs, hit 38 doubles and post a .416 slugging percentage, Herr still managed to drive in 110 runs behind the top of the order.

4. Jack Clark, 1B
The cleanup spot in the Cardinals’ batting order was manned by the only true “power hitter” on the roster, their first baseman Jack Clark. A .281 batting average, .502 slugging percentage and 22 home runs could only net Clark 87 runs batted in. The third and fourth spots in the order were indicative of Whiteyball at its greatest.

5. Tito Landrum, LF
The number five spot in the order would be patrolled by the left field replacement for Vince Coleman in veteran, home-grown Tito Landrum. Landrum’s season in 1985 was that of a bit player, hitting .280 with four home runs and 21 runs batted in over 161 at bats.

6. Cesar Cedeno, RF
Across the field from him in right field was a late addition to the Cardinals roster, veteran outfielder Cesar Cedeno. Cedeno came to the Cardinals in late August in a trade from Cincinnati and went on an immediate tear. In his only 28 games as a Cardinal, Cedeno would hit .434 with 6 home runs and 19 runs batted in. He would hit sixth throughout the world series.

7. Terry Pendleton, 3B
The offensive threat started to fizzle as the bottom of the Cardinals’ order came to the plate. Terry Pendleton would hit seventh and play third base. While years later he would dominate and win an MVP award, his second year in the league would come in 1985 and be largely unimpressive. He would hit .240 with five home runs, though he would scrape out 69 runs batted in.

8. Darrel Porter/Tom Nieto, C
Pendleton would give way to a platoon at cather hitting eighth. Darrel Porter and Tom Nieto would share the duties behind the plate, while neither of them doing it impressively from the offensive standpoint. Porter would close out the 1985 regular season hitting .221 with 10 home runs and 36 runs batted in. Nieto would not fare much better, hitting .225 with no home runs and 34 runs batted in.

The wild card from the bench was young Andy Van Slyke, who would split time in right field throughout the season and be a late inning replacement in the World Series. Van Slyke would hit .259 with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in over the course of the season, seeing time at all three outfield positions and first base and stealing 34 bases, just for measure.

The Cardinals’ lineup was poised to take on the Royals in the World Series and matched up with the team from the west side of the state very well. Time would tell the 1985 team just why the games are played on a field, and not on paper or in articles.

Tomorrow: A look at the Cardinals’ pitching staff in 1985.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
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