ST. LOUIS -- Four former Cardinals -- Keith Hernandez, Tom Herr, John Tudor and Bill White -- were given passage in the club’s Hall of Fame on Saturday. Three of them got that honor because of one man -- both because of his advocacy for such enshrinement and because of the type of ballplayer he formed them into.

Hernandez, Herr and Tudor -- all products of Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog -- received their red jackets from Herzog himself and were officially inducted to the club’s Hall of Fame prior to Saturday’s tilt against the Pirates. They were honored again on the field prior to first pitch with a score of other red jacket recipients in tow.

As much as Saturday was a recognition for the four individuals, it was one for Herzog and the fierce 1980 Cardinals as well.

“I feel good today,” Herzog said. “Not only because they were elected to the Cardinal Hall of Fame, but the fact that after they got on the ballots, they got in [after] one or two years. That meant a lot to me. … I wouldn’t recommend them if they’re not Hall of Famers.”

White, voted in by the Red Ribbon Panel as part of the veteran’s era, was not able to travel in for the ceremonies. But as he has made central to his trailblazing life, his impact was felt from afar.

Tudor, Herr and White were voted in as part of the 2020 class, their ceremony washed away by the pandemic. But it was symbolic that they were inducted alongside Hernandez, the lone member of the 2021 class -- Hernandez and Herr won the 1982 World Series together; Hernandez and Tudor had some epic battles after the former became a Met. All three are linked by Herzog.

Saturday was an event that brought 11 red jackets onto the stage at Ballpark Village, it was an event a longtime coming for some, and it was an event that brought far different paths to one shared and hallowed location: The Cardinals’ Hall of Fame.

Hernandez finally gets his call

The story of Hernandez is well-documented. His father served in World War II with Stan Musial, who in turn left tickets for a young Hernandez to catch Cardinals games when they played at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. Hernandez became infatuated with the birds on the bat. He and Mickey Mantle share a birthday, so Mantle was his favorite player, but when the Yankees and Cardinals faced off in the 1964 World Series, it was Cardinals all the way.

"Growing up as a kid in Pacifica, California, being a Cardinal fan and then wearing the Cardinal uniform, and then being on a world championship team, now the Hall of Fame is the cherry on top,” Hernandez said in his speech.

Hernandez’s enshrinement was long awaited. The co-winner of the 1979 NL MVP Award transformed the position of first base with 11 consecutive Gold Gloves -- six of which came with St. Louis -- and was responsible for what many appraised as the tide-turning moments of the 1982 World Series, a two-run home run in the fifth inning of Game 6 and a two-run single an inning later. St. Louis won Game 6 in a blowout, and then took the crown in Game 7.

But a messy divorce that saw him become a Met during the 1983 season, coupled with Hernandez’s association with being a Cardinal-killer and winning the 1986 title with New York, did its part to delay any recognition.

No longer. Hernandez broke into the league when Bob Gibson was phasing out. He spent long hours on the field with Ken Boyer in Triple-A, who later entrusted Hernandez down the stretch in 1979 despite his struggles earlier in the year. Boyer told Hernandez he was going to risk his job starting him and batting him third. Hernandez responded by winning MVP and hitting .363 in his final 111 games from the start of June.

“Had it been some other manager, that might have been a whole different story,” Hernandez said.

Those moments were when Hernandez became a Cardinal lifer. Saturday was merely confirmation.

Herr makes most of first year on the ballot

It was plausible that Herr might've never been a big leaguer, let alone a Cardinal Hall of Famer. He went undrafted out of the University of Delaware, without a penchant for power. Then he played in a pair of showcases in American Legion Baseball, where he hit a pair of homers.

“I fooled the Cardinals’ scout, Tim Thompson,” Herr recalled. “He thought I was a power hitter.”

Herr ultimately became the last player in NL history to rack up 110 RBIs in a season with fewer than 10 home runs, as he did in 1985, his lone All-Star campaign.

Herr was emblematic of the great Cardinals squads of the 1980s. He was steady -- both at second base and in the batter’s box. He was tough, appearing in 924 games from 1981-87. And he was blue collar, from Pennsylvania’s Rust Belt.

“You talk about the bottom of the barrel, that was it, that was me. That was like the longest of long shots, but I was ready to go,” Herr said. “ … The '80s Cardinals were just an amazing, amazing era. Kind of the common thread that ran through all those years was the fact that these teams had a lot of gamers. ... You've got to go out and beat them. They're not going to beat themselves."

Tudor’s impactful stint gets recognized

There was never any doubt that Tudor’s play was deserving of recognition, with his 2.52 ERA and .705 winning percentage the best of any pitcher (min. 750 innings) in Cardinals history. It’s just that his time was rather short-lived -- his five years in St. Louis matched by a tenure with Boston, on top of three years elsewhere (Los Angeles, Pittsburgh).

Impact-wise, there was no question. His 10 shutouts in the 1985 season -- his first as a Cardinal -- are second only to Gibson’s single-season franchise mark of 13. In that season, confided in by Herzog, he turned a wonky first two months into a 1.38 ERA in his final 20 games of the season.

Such belief was key as to why Tudor decided to play one more season -- in 1990 -- to round out his career back with the Cardinals.

“Whitey and you fans were the biggest reason I wanted to come back to St. Louis to finish my career,” Tudor said.

It was listening back to Scott Rolen’s Hall of Fame induction speech in 2019 that Tudor realized the permanence of being in the club’s hallowed halls. He’ll now never forget it.

"As players we come and go, but as a Hall of Famer, we will forever be linked to the St. Louis Cardinals,” Tudor said. “I think I can live with that."

White honored from afar

The lone inductee not in St. Louis on Saturday was White, who, at 87 years old, was not able to make the trip. But his legacy was present palpably -- not just though his plaque that listed his accomplishments inside and out of baseball.

Tim McCarver was chief among those impacted by White's legacy and teachings, as he was a starter for the first time in 1963, when White appeared in every game and racked up the most plate appearances in the Majors.

White's play was one thing. But his legacy off the field -- speaking out against the racial injustices in baseball, persuading the Cardinals to integrate housing in Spring Training in the 1960s and serving as the first person of color to lead a major sports league when he was elected president of the National League in 1989 -- endures even stronger.

“There's nobody that I ever played with, in the annals of baseball -- and I was traded around a lot -- that meant more to me than Bill White,” McCarver said. “What he did for me, he was a very selfless player. He was a player that really cared about people. He cared about his teammates.”