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.

The sabremetricians were right to love Ted Simmons who while he played many knew was a good player, have now been elevated in some eyes to a Hall of Fame snub.

Jim Bottomley would debut for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1922 season and in his first full season (1923) he would set career highs in Batting Average (.371) and On Base Percentage (.425).  This is not to imply that the First Baseman peaked early as he still had seven more .300 seasons in him (all with St. Louis) and he would slowly develop a power and clutch hitting game.