Willie McGee was one of the best CF in Cardinals’ history. He was on Whitey Herzog’s speedy Cardinals and he fit right in. His best year with the Cardinals came without a doubt in 1985 when he was the N.L. MVP. McGee played in 152 games for the Cardinals in 1985 and he was 216 of 612 (.353 avg, .887 OPS) with 114 runs scored, 18 triples, 10 homers, 82 RBIs and 56 stolen bases! He also made the All-Star Team and he won both a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove Award in 1985. McGee played in 1,661 games in his 13 years in St. Louis and he was 1,683 for 5,734 (.294 avg, .729 OPS) with 760 runs scored, 63 homers, 678 RBIs and 301 stolen bases. McGee is 8th in Cardinals’ history in games played with 1,661. He is also #7 in triples (83) and #6 in stolen bases (301) in Cardinals’ history. McGee made 4 All-Star teams, he won 3 Gold Gloves and he won 1 Silver Slugger Award in his 13 years with the Cardinals.

70-year old Joe Torre was much more than a manager in the major leagues. Back in 1971 (when he was 30 years old), Joe Torre won the National League MVP Award for the Cardinals. He played in 161 games for the Cardinals in 1971 and he was 230 of 634 (.363 avg, .976 OPS) with 97 runs scored, 24 homers, 137 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Torre also set a record in 1971 that stood until earlier this week when Andre Ethier of the Dodgers topped Torre’s 22-game hitting streak in April! Torre played six years for the Cardinals (1969-1974) and he appeared in 918 games in which he was 1,062 of 3,452 (.308 avg, .840 OPS) with 455 runs scored, 98 homers, 558 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Torre made the All-Star team 4 times while he was with the Cardinals. Torre also managed the Cardinals for six years in which he compiled a 351-354 (49.8%) record, but he never got them to the playoffs.

Switch hitting outfielder Vince Coleman was a dynamic leadoff hitter for the Cardinals. He stole an amazing 326 bases in his first three years in the majors with over 100 in each season. He led the National League in steals every season he played with the Cardinals (6) and he was a N.L. All-Star two times with them. Coleman won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1985 when he played in 151 games in which he was 170 of 636 (.267 avg, .655 OPS) with 107 runs scored, 1 homer, 40 RBIs and 110 stolen bases. Coleman played in 878 games in his career with the Cardinals and he was 937 of 3,535 (.265 avg, .665 OPS) with 566 runs scored, 15 homers, 217 RBIs and 549 stolen bases. Coleman is #2 on the Cardinals’ all-time list in steals behind the legendary Lou Brock. Even though Coleman was only with the Cardinals for six years in was enough to make his mark on team history.

Lefty starting pitcher John Tudor was only with the Cardinals for five seasons but he made his mark. He played in 128 games (125 starts) for the Cardinals and he was 62-26 with a 2.52 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. Tudor finished second in the voting for the Cy Young Award in 1985 for the Cardinals. He pitched in 36 games (all starts) in 1985 for the Cardinals and he was 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He also threw 14 complete games with 10 shutouts in 1985. Tudor is #2 all-time in Cardinals’ history in ERA (2.52) and he is #2 in WHIP (1.08). Tudor was not in St. Louis too long but he was great for them.

Almost everyone knew that Mark McGwire was a fraud and he confirmed it last night on the MLB channel. McGwire played five years for the Cardinals in which he played in 545 games and he was 469 for 1,739 (.270 avg, 1.111 OPS) with 394 runs scored, 220 homers and 473 RBIs. He made the All-Star team three times in his five years with the Cardinals and he is #1 all-time in OPS and #6 all-time in homers in club history. In 1998, Mark McGwire cheated major league history when he played in 155 games for the Cardinals in which he was 152 for 509 (.299 avg, 1.222 OPS) with 130 runs scored, 70 homers and 147 RBIs. The 70 homers set a all-time major league record for homers in a season until Barry Bonds snapped in with 73 in 2001 with the Giants. McGwire followed up his record setting season in 1999 by playing in 153 games in which he was 145 for 521 (.278 avg, 1.120 OPS) with 118 runs scored, 65 homers and 147 RBIs. Those homers and RBI total led the league in both categories that year. Mark McGwire just came clean about steroids so that he could get back into the game as the Cardinals’ new batting coach. I will be watching to see if guys like Brendan Ryan and Skip Schumaker start cranking 25 homers apiece under McGwire’s tutelage.