Regular visitors of notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB.  Once that is done, we will examine how each team honors its past players, coaches, and executives.  As such, it is important to us that the St. Louis Cardinals will select a new class this May.

The four players on the modern ballot are:

George Hendrick, Outfield & First Base, 1978-84.  Hendrick went to two All-Star Games and won two Silver Sluggers with the Cardinals, and helped them win the 1982 World Series, where he had the go-ahead RBI in Game 7.  With the Redbirds, Hendrick batted .294 with 978 hits with 122 taters.

Brian Jordan, Outfield, 1992-98.  A Cardinal for seven seasons, Jordan had 671 Hits, 122 Home Runs with a .291 Batting Average.  Notably, he was eighth in MVP voting in 1996.

Yadier Molina, Catcher, 2004-22.  Easily in the conversation as one of the top Catchers of his day, Molina played his entire career with the Cards, where he was a ten-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner, four-time Platinum Glove winner, and a one-time Silver Slugger.  Molina was pivotal in their 2006 and 2011 World Series wins, and he was also a Roberto Clemente Award winner.  Molina retired with 2,168 Hits, 176 Home Runs, 1,022 RBIs, and a .277 Batting Average.

Albert Pujols, First Base, 2001-11.  A first ballot Baseball Hall of Famer, Pujols looks to be first ballot in this Hall, and with all due respect to Molina, likely will be.  Like Molina, Pujols helped St. Louis to World Series wins in 2006 and 2011, but his individual trophy case is much larger.  With the Cardinals, Pujols won three MVPs and was the runner-up in four others.  He also won the Rookie of the Year, nine All-Stars, six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, a Roberto Clemente Award, and a Batting Title.  Statistically speaking, Pujols blasted 469 Home Runs, 1,397 RBIs, with a Slash Line of .326/.417/.614 with St. Louis.

The results will be announced next month, with the enshrinees officially entering in a ceremony on September 12.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate those whose careers have been deemed worthy enough to be considered for the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

As always, at Notinhalloffame.com, we are moving forward. Our Baseball Futures Section now includes those eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2028.

The entire list of candidates in 2028 is here, but individually, they are:

Albert Pujols:  A lock for the Baseball Hall as a potential unanimous pick, Pujols won two World Series Rings with the St. Louis Cardinals, won three MVPs, six Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves, and was an 11-time All-Star.  He left the game with 703 Home Runs, 2,218 RBIs, and 3,384 Hits with a lifetime .544 Slugging Percentage.

Alcides Escobar:  A Shortstop who won a World Series Title with the Kansas City Royals, Escobar was a one-time All-Star.  He is also a former ALCS MVP and had nearly 1,500 Hits.

Andrelton Simmons:  Simmons was an excellent defensive Shortstop who won four Gold Gloves a Platinum Glove, and was a three-time league leader in Defensive bWAR.

Anibal Sanchez:  Sanchez had his best years with the Detroit Tigers but won a World Series with the Washington Nationals in his last season.  The Venezuelan Pitcher had a lifetime record of 116-119 and 1,774 Strikeouts.

Chris Archer:  Archer was a two-time All-Star as a Pitcher who fanned 1,454 batters.

David Price:  A Cy Young winner with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012, Price was also a five-time All-Star who later won a World Series with the Boston Red Sox.  He had an overall record of 157-82 with 2,076 Strikeouts.

Dee Strange-Gordon:  Strange-Gordon won three Stolen Base Titles, was twice named an All-Star, and won a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove.  DSG also captured the NL Batting Title in 2012.

Greg Holland:  A three-time All-Star on Kansas City’s 2015 World Series Championship, Holland was The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 2013 and the Mariano Rivera Award winner in 2014.  He had 220 career Saves.

Jed Lowrie:  Lowrie went to one All-Star Game and had 1,185 career Hits.

Joe Smith:  The long-time middle reliever appeared in over 800 Games and had 176 Games Finished.

Justin Upton:  Upton was a four-time All-Star, compiling 1,754 Hits, 325 Home Runs, and 1,003 RBIs.

Kurt Suzuki:  Suzuki went to one All-Star Game, and the Catcher would win a World Series with Washington in 2019.  He had 1,421 Hits.

Lorenzo Cain:  Cain was a two-time All-Star, winning a Gold Glove and a World Series Title with the Royals in 2015.

Mark Melancon:  Melancon twice led his league in Saves and was named by The Sporting News as their NL Pitcher of the Year in 2015.  He is also a four-time All-Star.

Oliver Perez:  Peres pitched for 20 seasons in the Majors and was the NL leader in 2004 in SO/9.

Robinson Cano:  Cano had a long career where he won a World Series with the Yankees, was an eight-time All-Star, and won five Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves.  He also had 2,639 career Hits.

Sean Doolittle:  A relief pitcher who twice was an All-Star, Doolittle retired as a champion with the Nationals in 2019.  He had 112 Saves.

Sergio Romo:  Best known for his three World Series rings with the San Francisco Giants, Romo was a one-time All-Star who appeared in 821 Games.

Steve Cishek:  Cishek had a long career coming out of the bullpen where he appeared in 737 Games.

Steven Strasburg:  Strasburg was the World Series MVP for Washington when they won their first World Series.  The oft-injured hurler went to three All-Stars and had a record of 113-62.

Tyler Clippard:  Clippard was a 16-year veteran who was a two-time All-Star Relief Pitcher.

Yadier Molina:  Molina played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where the Catcher won two World Series Titles, nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves, one Silver Slugger, and was a ten-time All-Star.

Zack Britton:  Britton won the 2016 Sporting News Pitcher of the Year in 2016 as well as the Rivera Reliever Award.  The two-time All-Star had 154 career Saves.

You know what we want you to do!

Your votes and opinions are crucial in shaping the future of these candidates. We value your input and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

As always, we thank you for your support.

Yadier Molina is considered one of the best defensive catchers in baseball history. He played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 2004 to 2022, and was one of the most successful catchers in the National League.

Molina became the Cardinals' starting catcher in 2005, after debuting the year before. However, he really broke out in 2008, with his first season batting over .300. At this point, he was already a World Series Champion (2006). Molina went on a streak of seven consecutive All-Star appearances from 2009, all of which were Gold Glove-winning. Although he was never a great power hitter (he hit 176 home runs, with only two years of at least 20), he had five seasons batting over .300 and a lifetime batting average of .277. His overall play was respected enough that he finished fourth in MVP voting in 2012 (the year after he anchored the Cardinals to another World Series win), with an .874 OPS and 7.2 bWAR. He finished third in the same voting the year after, with an .836 OPS and 6.2 bWAR. Molina won the Silver Slugger that year, his only one.

Molina retired as the all-time leader among catchers in putouts (15,122) and second in Total Zone Runs (163), and is 14th among all players in Defensive bWAR (28.0), second only to Ivan Rodriguez among catchers. He won nine Gold Gloves, four Platinum Gloves, and two Wilson Defensive Player Awards in his career.

While Molina's overall offensive statistics (2,168 hits, 176 home runs, 1,022 RBIs) might fall short for the Baseball Hall of Fame, his leadership, All-Star appearances, defense, and association with one team could put him over the top.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present the pre-2021 update of our top 50 St. Louis Cardinals of all-time.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National League. 

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

There are two new additions, but neither are active players.  As always, we announce our top five immediately, but out full list can be found here.

1. Stan Musial

2. Albert Pujols

3. Rogers Hornsby

4. Bob Gibson

5. Ozzie Smith

There was some minor tinkering on the list due to the changing values from Baseball Reference.

Only one active Cardinal,Yadier Molina, moved up a spot to #13.

With the changes of Baseball Reference’s advanced stats, two Pitchers, Steve Carlton, and Slim Sallee replace Tim McCarver and Jesse Burkett respectively at #49 and #50.

We welcome your input and commentsand as always, we thank you for your support.

There is so much to love about Yadier Molina.

A ferocious player when needed, Yadier Molina has been a clubhouse leader since he arrived to the St. Louis Cardinals, the only team he has played for in the Majors.  Early in his career, the Puerto Rican was universally regarded as being a really good defensive Catcher and a light hitter but in 2008 he improved his Batting Average to .308 and was locked in as the team’s starting Catcher.