Curt Flood was very highly regarded for his defensive skills as he was a seven time Gold Glove recipient (1963 to 1969) but slowly his offensive game increased to the point where he was a regular threat to lead the National League in Hits.  He would actually do that in 1964, the season that would see him go to his first All Star Game and World Series (the Cards won) and he would have six seasons where he would bat at least .300.  Flood would again help the Cardinals win the World Series in 1967 and he would have a fourth place finish in MVP voting in 1968.  He would collect 1,853 Hits for St. Louis.

Admittedly when we began this process for the top 50 St. Louis Cardinals we did not think that Bob Caruthers would be this high but after looking some of his dominant pitching performances and the fact he also doubled as an Outfielder and was a really good hitter, his actual value to the team was far greater than we initially thought.

Mort Cooper was a pretty good Pitcher but like many who played between 1942 and 1945 you have to wonder just how much of his success had to do with how much of the competition was serving their country during World War II.

Keith Hernandez is probably more known for his time with the New York Mets but he actually had better stats with the St. Louis Cardinals and it was in the Gateway to the West where he had his best season in Baseball.