Who is the Next Cardinal Retired Number?

When you look at the outfield wall in Busch Stadium, you are reminded over and over again about the history of the franchise that has been able to win 11 World Series championships.  In order to win all those championships, the Cardinals have gone through cycles of winning.  They had great teams in the 20’s and 30’s, 40’s, 60’s, 80’s, and now 2000’s.  These eras perfectly correlated with the players who grace the left field wall at Busch Stadium III.  From the 20’s and 30’s there is Rogers Hornsby, Enos Slaughter, and Dizzy Dean.  From the 60’s there is Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, and Ken Boyer.  From the 80’s there is Ozzie Smith, Bruce Sutter, and Whitey Herzog, and then of course there are the career Cardinals guys like Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst.

Now there has been a new section of retired numbers more towards center field than the others.  This is the spot that will be held for the Cardinals of this most recent era.  Tony LaRussa is already a face in the outfield crowd for future Cardinal fans to hear stories about, but who will join him?  These Cardinal teams since the year 2000 have had a run that can rank with any of the other eras, and they have been able to do these things because of the players that they have had who were special enough to get some consideration for having their numbers hanging next to those others which grace the walls of Busch Stadium.  But who will have the strongest argument to be a part of that exclusive club of retired Cardinal’s numbers?  There are six players who have a chance based on how I see the situation.  Here is the list in order of least likely to have their number retired to most likely.

Scott Rolen:  In parts of 6 years with the Cardinals, Scott Rolen was the defensive wizard who won 3 Gold Glove Awards and hit .286 despite being derailed by shoulder issues.  He played the game with the type of professionalism that defined the Cardinal teams while he was there, and his ability to do all the little things right was not lost on a knowledgeable St. Louis fan base.  The pinnacle of his career with the Cardinals was 2004 where he batted .314 with 124 RBI’s and 34 Home Runs, finishing 4^th in the MVP voting.  The fact that he ended up playing less than half of a long career with the Cardinals and his unceremonious exit from St. Louis will make it much less likely for any retired number, but the fact that he has a solid chance for a Hall of Fame nomination, which gives him an outside chance. 

Adam Wainwright: Adam Wainwright is a speculative pick based on the projections of where I hope that his career takes him.  There is no doubt that he has the type of magical career highlight that will play well in a picture on the outfield wall.  I could watch the curveball that he threw to Beltran in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS all day long and that is even before he recorded the final out of the World Series with a strikeout.  The last Cardinal who ended the World Series with strikeout, Bruce Sutter, is already on that outfield wall.  While his career has seen some impressive highlights, if he finds himself in a different uniform in two years, then his chances for a retired number will drop considerably, but the possibility that he could stick around and put up quite a career all with the Cardinals is still there.  A career like this could warrant strong consideration for his number to be retired.

Mike Matheny:  Similar to Wainwright, Matheny has a chance, but he would still need to accomplish quite a bit in the next years to get a real shot.  He does have the dual threat of being both Gold Glove catcher that was a big part of getting things rolling for the Cardinals in the beginning of the 2000’s and manager who could have a lot of success if his career is as long as he would like it to be.  He could fit the role of a Red Schoendienst if he could win a World Series as a manager after having a solid and decorated career as a player.

Matt Holliday:  Matt Holliday is going to be with the Cardinals for 9 years if the team picks up his option at the end of his contract, and in that time, the consistent Holliday is sure to put up some solid numbers.  While he is not the type of complete player without Gold Glove caliber defense, he is still the type of solid, quiet, and consistent type of player that Cardinals fans everywhere should be able to embrace for the future.  He already has one World Series ring, but I think it will take another playoff run to really endear himself to Cardinal’s fans because of the injuries that kept him out of Game 7 last season along with the end of Game 6.  I for one believe that Holliday should have a good chance, but unfortunately for him, the fans seem to think that his large salary should be worth 50 homeruns a year or something equally ridiculous.  I am afraid that these expectations will make it more challenging for Holliday, although the sum of his years in St. Louis should be more than worthy for consideration.

Jim Edmonds: Jimmy Edmonds was a Cardinal for 8 years, and during that time, he was on 6 playoff teams, 2 Pennant winning teams, and 1 World Series Championship team.  During that same time, Edmonds also averaged a .285 batting average, 89 RBI’s, and 30 Homeruns, and these numbers also include his last two years where injuries sapped his power and consistency.  Edmonds also won 6 Gold Gloves in a row and his highlight reel of catches could last for hours.  We can also look at the 2004 season and playoffs for Edmonds career snapshots as a Cardinal who deserves consideration for a picture out on the wall.  That season he finished 5^th in the MVP voting after batting .301, 42 Homeruns, and 111 RBI, and that was just the regular season.  Jim Edmonds took our collective breaths away with a walk off homerun in game 6 of the NLCS before making the catch of the year to save the season and send the Cardinals to the World Series for the first time in 17 years at that point.  Edmonds also returned to the organization and is currently working for the front office, granting him the former legend status similar to the other Cardinals who return to be guest instructors each season during spring training.  Edmonds could also be one of those guys whose combined defensive skills and offensive talents earn him some support in the Hall of Fame voting which could be the last part of the package which sees the number 15 to be worn by no other Cardinal in the future.

Chris Carpenter:  Carpenter and the Cardinals have had a relationship built on mutual respect and sacrifice.  The Cardinals have paid a pitcher who has been injured enough to miss parts or all of almost every season but 5 of the 9 seasons that he has been a part of the Cardinal organization if we include 2003 where the Cardinals put him on the roster in hopes that he would be able to give them a few starts down the stretch.  Carpenter in turn has literally given the Cardinals a solid pitcher, a tremendous leader in the clubhouse for the team and the rest of the pitching staff which seems to have more success as a whole with its ace in the dugout, and literally, his right arm.  Carpenter has had at least 3 pretty major surgeries on his right elbow and shoulder since coming to the Cardinals, and he has put the team on his back and that tender shoulder.  It was Gibson like how Carpenter outdueled Roy Halladay before pitching three games in the World Series including winning the opener and the 7^th game.  A career like Carpenter’s may be marked down because of some of the time he has missed with injuries, but a Cy Young Award, 2 World Series Titles, and his reputation of being an insane competitor and tremendous teammate should get his picture out on the outfield wall.

Albert Pujols:  Albert Pujols is the first player on this list who has to be on the wall of fame for the Cardinals.  If anyone else wears the number 5 for the Cardinals, I will be extremely surprised.  Pujols may have left the team for a new home which has definitely taken a bite out of the love that St. Louis has for him, but there is no taking away the magical 11 seasons he had with the Cardinals.  Other than La Russa, no other Cardinal was present for that amount of time, and no other Cardinal was more central to the success that the team had during those seasons.  He is second in most offensive categories for the Cardinals as far as career statistics go, and the more distance between his exodus from St. Louis, the more Cardinals fans will remember the good times with Pujols than the ugly separation.  The simple truth is that his career with the Cardinals was just too amazing not to memorialize, even if his career with another team may earn him that same status with a different team also.

Yadier Molina:  If Albert Pujols is a lock, then there will not be too many single digit numbers left for future Cardinals players to wear.  The numbers 1, 2, 6, 9, and 10 are already retired, and it is all but a lock that the numbers 4 and 5 will be taken out as well.  I can only hope that someone enjoys the number 3, 7, and 8 in the future (as long as Hilliday does not continue to separate himself from all other Cardinals to come before him).  Yadier Molina has played with the Cardinals for his entire career so far, and if he plays out his extension, he will have played 14 seasons with the Cardinals, and he already has some amazing moments under his belt.  His homerun in the 2006 NLCS to send the Cardinals to the World Series put him permanently in the annals of great franchise moments, and he seems destined for even more big hits before his career will be over.  He has anchored the Cardinals defense for 9 seasons already and has also won 4 Gold Gloves so far and 4 straight All Star games, and for a 29 year old player who is entering his prime as a hitter, there should be more of both to come.  He will also be the longest tenured Cardinal of this era by the time he finishes his contract, and with the type of defense he is capable of and the budding offensive game, he could very well be a Hall of Famer before it is all said and done.  Either way, he will be a retired Cardinal, and Molina deserves it as much as anyone.