I recently had a debate with a friend over who was the greatest hitter in Cardinal history. I maintained it was Stan the Man while he pushed for Rogers Hornsby.  Well, to muddle it up another friend came in and picked Albert Pujols.  Man, all three are great and we had a great chat about them all.

So, I thought I would just post here asking your opinion.  Here are some stats to compare the three.

Yrs.   Player  total yrs.  H      HR      RBI      BA      SLG    OBP   OPS     OPS+

41-63  Musial   24      3630   475   1951    .331   .559    .417    .976    159

15-37   Hornsby 23     2930  301    1584   .358   .577    .434    1.011  175

01-08    Pujols      8     1531  319     977     .334   .624    .415   1.049  170

I included quite a few different stats to compare and to add to the comparisons. Also for some stats mean more to one person than another. RBI's don't mean that much to me, but to some it does mean a lot. The numbers of these three are stunning and I am impressed.   The thing that struck me is that if Pujols continues on this pace and plays 23 to 24 years like Musial and Hornsby his numbers are going to be unbelieveable.  Of course, along the way he will inevitably have a off year, slow down due to age or (and lets hope it never happens) have an injury. So, it is all projections right now.

I was struck that for a few years Hornsby played in the deadball era and I wonder if he had played his entire career with the livelier ball that came in the 20's how much better his numbers may have been, especially in Home Runs.   

Some of the numbers surprised me such as the OPS and OPS+ stat totals for the three players.  Stan the Man finished third!   Hornsby also wins the OBP and BA. 

Hornsby did put up some incredible numbers, Pujols is doing so and Stan the Man numbers are incredible as well.  So, vote, comment and share your thoughts.

The numbers and stats come from baseball reference.com  just ot give them credit.

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  

It is interesting to see how some teams would've fared in such a set-up.

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  It is interesting to see how the Pirates did in a two division set up. 

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  It is interesting to see how the Tigers did in a two division set up. 

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  It is interesting to see how the A's did in a two division set up. 

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  It is interesting to see how the Reds did in a two division set up. 

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  It is interesting to see how the Cardinals did in a two division set up. Of course this is all speculation, but what else is there during the off season?

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

Fred McAlister who had been the Scouting Director with the Cardinals for many years died on Sunday.  To read about Fred McAlister go here.  Fred McAlister first joined the Cardinals as a minor leaguer in 1945.  He served the Cardinals minor leagues in many roles and was also assistant farm director, special assignment coach and several other roles in his long service to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Our family sends its deepest condolences to the McAlister family.