Cards' top players not in the Hall of Fame

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals have their share of National Baseball Hall of Fame players. From Stan Musial to Bob Gibson, Red Schoendienst to Lou Brock, the list of Cardinals in the Hall speaks to the history of the franchise and its success over the years.

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But there are more players than just the Hall of Famers who have made St. Louis successful. We thought we'd take a look at each team’s best players not in the Hall of Fame, so for this project, we’re looking at the player’s entire career, not just his time with the Cardinals. The player must be retired.

1. Albert Pujols
KEY FACT: Following a stirring power surge in 2023 to close his career, Pujols has 703 home runs and is one of just four players in NL/AL history with at least 700 home runs.

Now that he is officially retired, Albert Pujols is a near lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer by July 2028. He will assuredly go into the Cardinals Hall of Fame by 2026 and his No. 5 should be retired by the franchise sometime in between his entries into the two Halls.

By almost any measure, Pujols is one of the game’s greatest hitters. He ranks 10th in hits (3,384), fourth in home runs (703), second in RBIs (2,218), second in total bases (6,211), fifth in doubles (686), fifth in games played (3,080) and sixth in at-bats (13,041). Pujols’ advance metrics hold up over time as well as he is 20th in WAR among position players (101.6), 33rd in slugging (.544) and 53rd in OPS (.918). Pujols’ accomplishments were elite even in some of the most obscure categories with him ranking third in sacrifice flies (123), second in intentional walks (316) and first in double plays grounded into (426).

Then, there’s the consistency and sheer domination that he brought to his game on a daily and yearly basis with the Cardinals, Angels, Dodgers and Cardinals again over 22 seasons. Pujols hit at least .300 with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in each of his first 10 years in the Majors – a first by any player. He led his league in RBIs 15 times, WAR five times, runs scored five times, total bases four times and WAR among first basemen six times. In addition to having two Gold Gloves and four Silver Slugger Awards, Pujols won a batting title in 2003 (.359), he was a three-time NL MVP, and he ranks third in history in MVP shares (6.91) behind only Barry Bonds and Stan Musial.

Most importantly to Pujols, he will be remembered as a winner who performed at a high level in the biggest of games. He led the Cardinals to World Series titles in 2006 and ’11 and he became just the third player to hit three home runs in a World Series game when he did it against the Rangers in 2011. In 88 career postseason games, Pujols hit .319 with 19 home runs and 54 RBIs, more walks (50) than strikeouts (46) and a .995 OPS. – John Denton

2. Ken Boyer
Key fact: He accumulated a career 62.9 bWAR, with 58.1 for the Cardinals.
The cornerstone, key contributor and captain-like presence on the 1960s Cardinals, Ken Boyer was up for consideration by the Golden Days Era Committee in December 2021 but fell short of the required unanimous vote from the 16-member committee. Boyer was on the Baseball Writers' Association of America Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years, from 1975-79 and ’85-94. His highest vote percentage was 25.5 percent in ’88. The third baseman was a nominee on the Golden Era ballot in 2015 but did not receive the required 75 percent of the ballots cast by the 16-member committee.

Boyer is the only Cardinals player to have his number retired by the franchise and not be in the Hall of Fame. But he does have a case. He had a .287/.349/.462 slash line and 282 career home runs. He won the 1964 National League MVP Award, hitting .295 with 100 runs scored, 24 home runs and a Major League-best 119 RBIs while also leading the Cardinals to the World Series. Boyer won all five of his Gold Glove Awards with the Cardinals and is often considered one of the finest defensive third basemen ever.

Boyer’s Hall of Fame case is helped by comparing his career to Cubs great Ron Santo, who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2012 after his election by the Golden Era Committee. Boyer and Santo were the primo third basemen in the NL for a long time: Each won five Gold Glove Awards, and Santo had nine All-Star appearances to Boyer’s seven. Santo had a career .277/.362/.464 slash line, almost identical to Boyer’s. Boyer’s JAWS score is 54.6, putting him in line with other Hall of Fame third basemen.

3. Jim Edmonds
Key fact: He ranks among the top 10 center fielders in career homers (393) and slugging (.527).
Jim Edmonds dropped off the BBWAA ballot in his first year of eligibility in 2016, appearing on only 11 of the 440 ballots cast. The center fielder certainly didn’t have an open-and-shut case for Cooperstown, but it was rather surprising he didn’t get more than one year of consideration. Few players in recent memory have had as many spectacular highlights as Edmonds, who won eight Gold Gloves. At his peak, Edmonds was a defensive force at a premium position while also an all-around threat at the plate.

While his career totals (.284/.376/.527 slash line, 393 home runs and 1,949 hits) don’t immediately catch the eye, his peak was impressive. From 2000-05 -- his first six seasons with the Cardinals after a trade from the Angels -- he batted .292/.406/.584 with a 154 OPS+ -- averaging 35 home runs and 98 RBIs while winning a Gold Glove Award each year. He had a 36.5 bWAR over that stretch, fifth in the Majors behind Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Todd Helton and Albert Pujols.

4. Mark McGwire
Key fact: His 583 career home runs rank 11th on MLB’s all-time list.
Mark McGwire’s admission of steroid use during his career surely affected his showing on the BBWAA ballots. The first baseman finished with 12.6% of the vote in 2016, his 10th and last attempt to gain entry to Cooperstown. He was never named on more than 23.7% percent of ballots once he became eligible in ’07.

Still, McGwire is one of the most famous and best sluggers of all time, highlighted by his 1998 season, when he battled Sammy Sosa in the home run chase. McGwire was the first to hit 62 home runs, breaking Roger Maris’ single-season home run record, and he went on to hit 70 home runs that season and 65 the next. McGwire hit .263/.394/.588 in his 16-year career, first with Oakland and finishing in St. Louis. He never won an MVP Award but was a 12-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger. His rate of 10.61 at-bats per home run remains the best in baseball history.

5. Curt Flood
Key fact: He won seven consecutive Gold Gloves as a spark plug for the 1960s Cardinals.
Statistically, Curt Flood doesn’t have a clear-cut Hall of Fame case, hitting .293 with 1,861 hits and just 12 full seasons. The speedy center fielder was known for his defense, but he hit better than .300 six times with the Cardinals, including a .311 average during their World Series-winning year in 1964.

There is a push for Flood’s enshrinement in the Hall of Fame because of his legacy off the field. He refused a trade from the Cardinals to the Phillies in 1969, which eventually became the spark for what is now free agency. He took on Major League Baseball’s reserve clause with Marvin Miller, who was the executive director for the Players Association -- and who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020 by the Modern Era Committee.

Flood’s labor efforts essentially ended his career; he played only 13 more games in the Majors. He might have retired with Hall of Fame-worthy numbers had he spent several more seasons as a regular player, but his contributions to the game remain with players today.