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St. Louis Cardinals: The franchise all-time bracket

By Bill Felber

ST. LOUIS - OCTOBER 19: A lawn mower is shown on home plate with a tarp as fans leave the stands following the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 loss the Houston Astros during Game Six of the National League Championship Series October 19, 2005 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. With the win the Astros won the series 4-2 and advanced to the World Series. The game was the last to be played in the 40 year history of Busch Stadium. A new Busch Stadium (under construction) will be the new home of the Cardinals starting with the opening of the 2006 MLB regular season. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS - OCTOBER 19: A lawn mower is shown on home plate with a tarp as fans leave the stands following the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 loss the Houston Astros during Game Six of the National League Championship Series October 19, 2005 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. With the win the Astros won the series 4-2 and advanced to the World Series. The game was the last to be played in the 40 year history of Busch Stadium. A new Busch Stadium (under construction) will be the new home of the Cardinals starting with the opening of the 2006 MLB regular season. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Yadier Molina, catcher for the 2011 World Series winners. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Yadier Molina, catcher for the 2011 World Series winners. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

St Louis Cardinals: The Franchise All-Time Bracket

No. 1 vs. 8 seed

The 1942 St Louis Cardinals not only present the best record in franchise history, but they also bring Stan Musial to the event. A 21-year-old rookie, Musial batted .315, nearly snagging the team leadership away from veteran Enos Slaughter.

The Cardinals were among the fortunate 1942 teams that were not hit hard by the onset of World War II. That was especially true of the team’s pitching staff, which featured 22-game winner Mort Cooper and 21-game winner Johnny Beazley. Cooper had the good luck to be able to pitch to his brother, catcher Walker Cooper. At .268, St. Louis led the National League in batting. At 2.55, the pitching staff also led in ERA, explaining in no uncertain terms why St. Louis was a dominant force.

The 2011 Cardinals specialized in drama, including that World Series victory, As Cardinals fans well recall, they trailed Texas 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning of the potentially decisive sixth game before David Freese’s two-strike, two-out triple scored Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman to tie the game. In the 10th, they trailed again 9-7 but rallied for another tie. In the bottom of the 11th, Freese’s home run sent the series to a seventh game, which St. Louis won 6-2.

That 2011 team featured Pujols’ 37 home runs and 99 RBIs along with Berkman’s .301 batting average. Yadier Molina delivered a .305 season while catching 139 games.  The team lacked a dominant starter but had balance, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse, Jake Westbrook, and Edwin Jackson each capable of giving the Cardinals a chance to win.

Game 1: The first game goes to the 1942 team’s superior .688 percentage, a full 20 games better than the 2011 club’s .556.

Game 2: The 2011 Cardinals won 11 of 18 post-season games. That’s a .611 percentage. But the 1942 team dismissed the American League champion New York Yankees in just five games, a .800 winning percentage.

Game 3: In 2011,  the Cardinals produced a 112 OPS+. That’s one of the best marks in franchise history. The 1942 team’s 103 OPS+ doesn’t measure up.

Game 4: The 1942 Cardinals were pitching-dominant, including a staff 135 ERA+. Not many teams in history will beat that. The 2011 club was ordinary by comparison, reaching only 99 in staff ERA+.

Game 5: Behind Slaughter (6.8), Musial (5.3) and Mort Cooper (8.2), the 1942 team’s 55.2 WAR wraps up this series. The 2011 club can do no better than 37.0 WAR.

Result: 1942 Cardinals in five games

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