Distinguished Careers - Hispanic players.

When one thinks of career awards most people think of the Baseball Hall of Fame. After all, it’s the highest achievement a player can earn after they are done playing. There are some teams that have their own Hall of Fame. The St. Louis Cardinals have one and it's basically every player in the national baseball hall of fame that went in as a Cardinal and Kenny Boyer. The Boston Red Sox also have a team Hall of Fame. The requirements are far less stringent. Players are eligible for induction if they have played 3 years with the Red Sox and been out of baseball for at least 3 years.

Each Hall of Fame serves a purpose as does the criteria for getting into the Hall of Fame. When I look at the careers of players of colors who played for the St. Louis Cardinals I have developed my own criteria for deciding who should be noted for their distinguished careers. I feel that any player of color whose statistics rank them in the top 100 St. Louis Cardinal position players or the top 50 pitching starters or the top 25 pitching relievers. The St. Louis Cardinals have had nearly 2000 players in their history.

With that said - I will commence with the two rolls of distinguished players of color and comment on whether or not these players have achieved any other designations upon retiring and if they should.

Hispanic players Distinguished Career Awards for Players who played and or currently playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Position Players

Albert Pujols – Ranking as a Cardinal player: 14th in hits, 8th in runs, 6th in RBI’s. Clearly Albert Pujols heads this list for the St. Louis Cardinals. Albert is one of the 10 best Cardinal position players to ever play. Albert is not a national Hall of Fame member yet but at his current pace he will have the statistics to become one in his 12th or 13th season.

Julian Javier - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 16th in hits, 19th in runs, 30th in RBI’s. Julian Javier is one of the 25 best Cardinal position players to ever play. Julian is not a national Hall of Fame member and it would be a stretch to put him in. He and Albert give the St. Louis Cardinals a 1st and 2nd base Dominican Republic all star squad.

Edgar Renteria - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 35th in hits, 37th in runs, 36th in RBI’s, 35th in total bases. Is one of the top 50 Cardinal position players of all time. He is just outside of this realm in most statistical categories. Edgar is a current player and has not qualified for the Hall of Fame as of yet in my opinion. To get there he needs another 1,000 hits, currently at 2,000. He has played 13 seasons and his numbers are going down rather than up. It remains an outside possibility. He is the best Columbia born player to ever play for the St. Louis Cardinals. Edgar’s 3 years in Florida and World Series heroics would probably put him on Florida’s list of distinguished players of color.

Jose Oquendo - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 53rd in hits, 75th in runs, 86th in RBI’s. Oquendo’s stats fit him into the top 75 Cardinal position players of all time. He is also extremely popular among fans.


Fernando Vina - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 78th in hits, 77th in runs, 132nd in RBI’s. Vina’s stats put him into the conversation of the top 100 Cardinal position players of all time. He would also make Milwaukee’s list of distinguished players of color. One other thing, I for one, loved his salsa. He continues a fine tradition of players of Cuban descent for the Cardinals.

Pedro Guerrero - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 88th in hits, 142th in runs, 48th in RBI’s. Guerrero’s stats put him in the conversation of the top 100 Cardinal position players of all time. His career numbers are not worthy of national Hall of Fame mention. He is the third player from the Dominican Republic to make this list.

Orlando Cepeda - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 98th in hits, 100th in runs, 78th in RBI’s. In his short time here amassed enough stats to be considered in the discussion of the top 100 Cardinal position players of all time. Cepeda who is in the Hall of Fame and would make any national Hall of Fame for Hispanic players and should also make any list for the Giants and Braves. He becomes the second player from Puerto Rico to make this list.


Starters

Joaquin Andujar - 33rd in innings pitched, 32nd in strikeouts, 31st in Wins. One of the top 50 starters in St. Louis Cardinal history. He is not in the Hall of Fame nor should he be. He would also make the list of distinguished players of color for Houston.

Jose De Leon is 44th in innings pitched, 14th in strikeouts, and his 43 wins are tied for 61st. I think he fits into the conversation of the Cardinals 50 best starters and that is why he is on this list. His 12 year career will not qualify him for the national Hall of Fame. He makes the list of distinguished players of colors for the Pirates and maybe the White Sox.


Relievers

Diego Segui – Ranking as a Cardinal player: 16th in saves, 28th in games finished. Kansas City and Oakland distinguished players of color.

Mike Perez - Ranking as a Cardinal player: 22th in saves, 20th in games finished.

Juan Acevedo – Ranking as a Cardinal player: 26th in saves, 44th in games finished. Detroit distinguished players of color.

stats compiled from http://www.mlb.com/ and http://www.baseball-reference.com/

All Time Hispanic At Bat Leaders St. Louis Cardinals

1. Julian Javier, 2B, 5,631 Cardinal at bats, 11th all time on the Cardinals, 5,722 total major league at bats, 489th all time in the majors.

2. Albert Pujols, 1B, 4,578 Cardinal at bats, 18th all time on the Cardinals, 4,578 total major league at bats, 845th all time in the majors. Currently active with the Cardinals.

3. Edgar Renteria, SS, 3,357 Cardinal at bats, 33rd all time on the Cardinals, 7,140 total major league at bats, 237th all time in the majors. Currently active in the majors.

4. Jose Oquendo, Utility, 2,685 Cardinal at bats, 52nd all time on the Cardinals, 3,202 at bats, 1,416th all time in the majors.

5. Fernando Vina, 2B, 1,999 Cardinal at bats, 79th all time on the Cardinals, 4,240 total at bats, 970th all time in the majors.

6. Pedro Guerrero, 1B/OF, 1,790 Cardinal at bats, 90th all time on the Cardinals, 5,392 total at bats, 576th all time in the majors.

7. Yadi Molina, C, 1,734 Cardinal at bats, 93rd all time on the Cardinals, 1,734 total at bats, 2,426th all time in the majors. Currently active with the Cardinals.

8. Orlando Cepeda, 1B, 1,615 Cardinal at bats, 106th all time on the Cardinals, 7,927 total at bats, 137th all time in the majors.

9. Luis Alicea, 2B, 1577 Cardinal at bats, 108th all time on the Cardinals, 3,971 total at bats, 1,098th all time in the majors.

10. Miquel Gonzalez, C, 1573 Cardinal at bats, 109th all time on the Cardinals, 2,829 total at bats, 1617th all time in the majors.

Stats compiled from http://www.mlb.com/ and http://www.baseball-reference.com/.

All Time African American At Bat Leaders for the St. Louis Cardinals

1. Lou Brock, OF, 9,125 Cardinal at bats, 2nd all time on the Cardinals, 10,332 total major league at bats, 18th all time in the majors.

2. Ozzie Smith, SS, 7,160 Cardinal at bats, 3rd all time on the Cardinals, 9,396 total major league at bats, 43rd all time in the majors.

3. Curt Flood, OF, 6,318 Cardinal at bats, 7th all time on the Cardinals, 6,357 total major league at bats, 356th all time in the majors.

4. Willie McGee, OF, 5,734 Cardinal at bats, 9th all time on the Cardinals, 7,649 total major league at bats, 166th all time in the majors.

5. Ray Lankford, OF, 5,417 Cardinal at bats, 12th all time on the Cardinals, 5,747 at bats, 484th all time in the majors.

6. Bill White, 1B, 4,165 Cardinal at bats, 20th all time on the Cardinals, 5,972 total at bats, 427 all time in the majors.

7. Vince Coleman, OF, 3,535 Cardinal at bats, 30th all time on the Cardinals, 5,406 total at bats, 573rd all time in the majors.

8. Terry Pendleton, 3B, 3,433 Cardinal at bats, 32nd all time on the Cardinals, 7,032 total at bats, 258th all time in the majors.

9. George Hendrick, OF, 3,326 Cardinal at bats, 35th all time on the Cardinals, 7,129 total at bats, 239th all time in the majors.

10. Garry Templeton, SS, 2990 Cardinal at bats, 42nd all time on the Cardinals, 7,721 total at bats, 156th all time in the majors.

Stats compiled from http://www.mlb.com/ and http://www.baseball-reference.com/

Intergration in St. Louis.

When most people think of major league baseball being integrated in St. Louis they think of the St. Louis Cardinals being warned by the commissioner of baseball against boycotting Jackie Robinson in 1947. Although the Cardinals deny this accusation it is still considered to be part and parcel of baseball lore. After all St. Louis was the southern most city in the major leagues for a long time and many people felt it represented the thoughts and attitudes of the deep south.

In some ways this was true. The Cardinals did have segregated seating from 1925 - 1945 but on the field the Cardinals followed along with the majority of major league baseball where Cubans and other Hispanic and Spanish descent players played some important roles.
The first player of color to play professional baseball in St. Louis was Alfredo Cabrera in 1913. Cabrerra was a shortstop who played in one game on May 16 and went 0 - 2. He was from the Canary Islands which is just off the coast of Africa. In a sense, Cabrera was not only the first person of Spanish decent to play for the Cardinals, he was the first African player ever in the majors.
If that’s not shocking enough the second player of color to play for the Cardinals was a Cuban catcher named Miguel Gonzalez in 1915. In 1928 Pepper Martin an Osage Indian began a career with the St. Louis Cardinals that would put him on 4 All Star teams. In 1938, Gonzalez became the first Hispanic manager in all of the major leagues when he was named interim manager for the Cardinals. He was also named interim manager for the Cardinals in 1940.
So 20 years before Jackie Robinson broke the color line for baseball the St. Louis Cardinals had a Cuban manager. 25 years before that the St. Louis Cardinals had it’s first Spanish born player and the first and only African born player in the majors.