Your 1991 Cardinals Part 1
« Dead Red | Main | New (to me) Cards Blogs »1991 is an odd year to pick for a flash back into Cardinals history, I'll give you that. But for me those early 90's Cardinal teams are hold a special place in my heart, because they were the first Cardinal teams I followed on my own instead of as ancillary to someone elses fandom.
I thought for sure they had a chance to go all the way that year, so much so that in April when the season started I cut out every box score and kept it. I didn't have cable so the box scores were the only thing I knew about the games. Sometimes I'd watch the local news and catch the score in the evening, and every once in a while a highlight. And at that point they truly were highlights, rare glimpses into the Cardinals season parceled out at random.
Luckily I ended up spending the summer in St. Louis and remember watching Barry Bonds (fresh off of an MVP win in 90) personally strangle away the Cardinals chances (Bonds finished second in NL MVP voting that year. He went on to win the next two). I saw Rheal Cormiers major league debut, I saw a lot of Ray Lankfords first full year in the Majors (.251/.301/.392 with 15 triples).
I wanted to go back and look at that team, see how they did, who they were, and who they became.
The Cards starting lineup, Circa 1991:
C Tom Pagnozzi 28 .264 .319 .351 1B Pedro Guerrero 35 .272 .326 .361 2B #Jose Oquendo 27 .240 .357 .301 3B Todd Zeile 25 .280 .353 .412 SS #Ozzie Smith 36 .285 .380 .367 OF #Felix Jose 26 .305 .360 .438 OF *Ray Lankford 24 .251 .301 .392 OF *Milt Thompson 32 .307 .368 .442
Tom Pagnozzi is the reason the Cardinals held on to Mike Matheny so long. He set the bar for Cardinal catchers at good defense no offense. This year he managed a .319 OBP and a .351 SLG. His EQQ (Adjusted accross eras) was .254. In 2004 Ben Molina matched that number exactly, Mike Matheny managed a .223. So maybe Pagnozzi wasn't as bad as Matheny, but he wasn't on the team for his offense. 1991 was one of Pagnozzis best seasons, he hit only 2 home runs but managed 5 triples, nearly half his career total of 11. I don't remember any of those triples, but I do remember Pagnozzi running. He was not quick and I would give a lot to see him rumbling around second.
He was 28 and won his first Gold Glove that year. His Baseball Reference Page says it all: My first hero. My momma never told me about OBP, Danny Wild.
Looking back on Pedro Guerrero and it's obvious that he was old and ready to decline. Guerrero joined the Cardinals in 1988 at 32. The year before in LA he put up a .338/.416/.539 that would look good in 2004. In 1988 it was inhuman. By 1991 I still held some hope that Guerrero of old would come back and lead the Cardinals to glory. In 1991 he managed .272/.326/.361. He was over the hill at 35 and would play only one more year.
The secret weapon.
I'll admit I was never a big Oquendo fan, as a middle infielder he lived in Ozzies shadow, as a hitter he lived in just about everybodies shadow, and he didn't run. But in hindsight a player who gets on base at a .350 clip (.240/.357/.301) and can play literally anywhere is a valuable thing. Consider last year Tony Womack put up a .307/.349/.385 and was a decent second baseman.
Next Time: Todd Zeile
Posted by Josh at May 4, 2005 10:31 AMI forgot how quickly and completely Guerrero fell off a cliff.
That .687 OPS may have been OK for a middle infielder circa 1991, but not your starting 1B.
For some reason I had it in my mind that Guerrero had been a pretty good player for the Birds in those "transition years" between the "Running Redbirds" of the '80s and the awfulness of the mid-'90s pre-Tony era.
But he really only had the one good year, in '89, which would be the 6th time in 7 non-injured seasons that he ranked in the NL's top 7 in adjsuted OPS+.
But then he went from that .868 OPS in '89 to a .760 in '90 to the miserable .687 above before fizzling out at .565 in less than 200 plate appearances in '92.
In three seasons he went from being one of the top hitters in the league to a pumpkin.
Ans speaking of mobility-challenged objects, Guerrero had one of the more unusual physiques I've seen on a ballplayer: he had that huge barrel chest, just kind of a round upper body, and then these little spindly legs that stood kind of knock kneed. I guess he probably looked a little like Babe Ruth.
Posted by: salvo at May 5, 2005 09:36 AMThis was probably the first year I began rooting for the Cardinals independent of my family, also. That was in large part due to the emergence of my favorite pitcher of all time, Bob Tewksbury!
As for Pedro, well he was an injury risk when he arrived and everybody knew it, so the fact that he gave us even one nice season should be considered a bonus.
Posted by: CalvinPitt at May 5, 2005 11:19 AMFollowing the Cards through box scores only. I feel your pain, that's how I'm doing it now.
I don't remember Guerrero's physique as specifically as you do salvo, but you might also compare him to Lance Berkman, one of my favorite non-Cards who hits from both sides of the plate, hits for power, had an obp only less than Helton and Bonds last year. He walks like a duck has those skinny legs but has that round upper body. Funny.
I hold my breath for your quips on Zeile. He's been the sort of laughing stock of my family for years. He never really did anything wrong, so I'm not sure why. At the same time, it's sort of obvious. How many teams has he played for?