When mentioning famous SPECIAL St Louis Athletes, let’s start with the St Louis Cardinals Redbirds….we have to begin with Stan-the-Man—Stan Musial! Since I saw him play through many of his unbelievable years, I have a real first-hand feeling for “THE MAN.” Stan played his entire 22 year career with the Cardinals. His batting marks seem almost unbelievable as we watch 2026 MLB baseball.
…In his 22 year career, Stan finished with a career batting average of .331 in over 3000 games played. His career batting average over 22 years in the MLB matched last year’s AL batting champion, Aaron Judge, who led the entire league last year when he hit for a.331 mark! League-wide in 2025 MLB action, the overall MLB batting average was .245.
…Stan’s 3,630 hits in his career place in 4th All-time in MLB history. He’s behind—Pete Rose-4256 hits, Ty Cobb-4191, Hank Aaron 3771 hits. That’s some very prestigious company to be hanging around with in any category!
…Some other recent big-name All-stars (who DO belong in the Hall of Fame) who are behind Stan in hits are: Derek Jeter—3465; Carl Yastrzemski—3419; the great Alber Pujols belted out 3394 hits along with 703 home runs (4th on the All-Time HR list—behind Bonds, Aaron & Ruth—WOW!!)
… Stan is #3 All-time in Doubles with 725 doubles. I was lucky enough to See Stan play, albeit, not in his youthful, really unbelievable, years but in his later years. Stan is 9th All-Time in Runs Scored in the MLB with 1,949. Rather overlooked, Stan belted out 475 home runs. Yes…they were at the “old” Busch Stadium with the friendly RF roof a target for Left handed batters. While Stan was a Cardinal, the Cards reached the World Series (the World Series was the ONLY playoff games for decades) a total of 4 years!! By the way, when Stan retired, the Cards went out the next season and obtained a LF…his name…Lou Brock. Brock was a key element of the Cardinals success in his career.
…Walking right in step with Stan as the most famous Cardinal slugger/hitter is Albert Pujols. Albert’s records reflect more of the “power game” played in his era. He’s 4th All-time in Home-Runs in MLB history with 703 round trippers. He’s only behind.. Bonds, Aaron & Ruth!!! (Pretty good company, I’d say 😊) Albert is 9th in All-time HITS in the MLB with 3,384 hits for his career. Albert is #5 All-time in Doubles! Pujols is just 2 places behind Stan in Runs-Scored (11th)- 1,914 . Albert reached the playoffs 9 different years and was on two world championship teams! Keep in mind that by Albert’s era, playoff games went far beyond a single World Series competition. Unlike Stan, Albert left the Cards in free agency and signed with the Angels (some cardinal fans called them the “Devils” due to Albert’s signing). Albert had productive years through 2011 but “hung on” through 2022 (sadly). But…his career numbers are still really unbelievable…career batting average(22 years) was .296! 703 home runs, 2218-RBI’s. 3,384 hits!!
…Of course Lou Brock was a vital element for the Cards for many years. Brock played for the Cardinals from 1964-1979 after starting his career with the Cubs. Brock really blossomed as a star player for the Cardinals as he played a vital role in the 1964, 67, 68 World Series appearances. The 1964 post-season appearance for the Cardinals was their first since 1946 and ’68 was the last post-season until 1982. In 1967, Brock was the World Series MVP!! Remarkably to me, he was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1985 but not inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame until 2014?
…Sometimes, I think his baserunning greatness puts his other remarkable batting numbers in a shadow. Brock had a career batting average of .293, had 3,023 hits in his career, stole 938 total bases (as he led NL in stolen bases 8 times in his career), scored 1,610 runs and still had 149 home runs!! Brock died in 2017 after losing a leg due to diabetes. Brock really introduced the “running game” as a vital element to the Cardinals offense. Lou Brock is 2nd All-Time in stolen bases with 938 stolen bases!
..And….I can’t finish our Cardinals “greats” w/o the great battery mates—Gibson & Molina. Bob Gibson was an unbelievable athlete & pitcher( in fact, he played college basketball @ Creighton and he played 2 years for the Harlen Globetrotters before signing with the Cardinals! He had marvelous control, lots of movement on his fastball, durability in an era when starting pitchers went longer in their starts (in those days, starting pitchers didn’t like coming out of games!!) and he wasn’t shy about driving the batter “off the plate” if he thought the batter was gaining an advantage. 1968 was his best year…maybe the best of his era by ANY pitcher. In that year, his Win-Loss Record: 22-9; Earned Run Average (ERA): 1.12; Strikeouts: 268; Games Pitched: 34 still stand as the best (at least to me) numbers in modern times of MLB competition. He also won his first Cy Young Award, his 4th Gold Glove Award, and his first MVP Award during this terrific season. It’s great to say, that he spent his entire career wearing the Cardinals Birds on his jersey!
…His lifetime records are mind-blowing— posted a 251-174 W-L record; lifetime ERA of 2.91 (his best ERA ever was in 1968—an mind-blowing 1.12 ERA in 34 games in a whopping 304 innings!!
…Yadier Molina—a Cardinal fixture behind the plate. Many, probably most, of his teammates point the finger towards him when talking about their “leader”. And…he could do it on the field also. He possessed tremendous defensive skills—blocking low pitches, preventing stolen bases with his arm, clutch hitting and most of all, his leadership on the team which included working with the pitchers– how to “work” each batter depending upon several factors, getting the most out of the pitcher’s “stuff” that day, pre-game prep with starting pitchers & guiding the pitcher at the crucial points of the game. Off the field….Guiding younger players to help in their growth as a player/person/professional. I expect that he’ll be inducted into the MLB HOF in the next few years. He should already be in Cards HOF next year (his 1st years of eligibility) I also think that before it’s all over…he’ll be a Cardinal manager at some point.
…The St Louis Hawks(NBA team) had a “short” run in the Lou. Their best player was Bob Pettit. While Pettit was NOT the best athlete by any stretch of the imagination, he worked very hard to develop & polish his skills. Pettit finished his career with 20,880 points in 792 regular-season games. That’s 26+ ppg for every game of his career. He grabbed 12,851 rebounds in his career. Both were records at the time of his retirement. He was the MVP of the league in 1956 & 1959! He was the 1st NBA player to ever score 20,000 points(now, that’s a great trivia question😊)
….He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. If my memory is right, he’s the ONLY ST LOUIS Hawk to reach the Hall of Fame!! And…I must admit….he wasn’t a “natural” athlete! He always looked “stiff” to me in his movements. But…. He must have worked tirelessly and endlessly on the fundamentals of shooting, rebounding, blocking out, etc. I was a big basketball (and Hawks) fan as a youngster and watched many Hawks games. Even went down to watch them “live”..sometimes, just with friends.
…I’m sure that the list of other “special” athletes in St Louis could be extended far beyond this FEARSOME FIVE from the Lou! Your thoughts on these players & nominees are always appreciated. Thanks for making it to the bottom😊 Bob
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