5 best players to suit up for St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs
In the long and storied history of both the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, the two bitter rivals, separated by just over 300 miles between Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium, have met on the diamond 2,467 times. The very first game for the St. Louis Cardinals franchise (then known as the St. Louis Browns) occurred on April 12, 1892. The very first team they faced? The Chicago Cubs.
Whether their fans like it or not, the two teams are intertwined with each other. That includes players hopping between the franchises are doing damage against their former team as well.
In the article, we will take a look at the top five players who have suited up for both the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs during their MLB career.
In this article, we will rank players according to their WAR (Wins Above Replacement) via Baseball Reference. We will make note of those bWAR figures with each player, as well as the years the player suited up for both franchises.
Let’s start with the lone person on this list who is not a current Hall of Famer, but does nonetheless have an interesting Hall of Fame case.
5. Jim Edmonds (St. Louis Cardinals 2000-2007, Chicago Cubs 2008) -— 60.4 bWAR
Edmonds was a three-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove winner with the Cardinals and helped the franchise win the 2006 World Series over the Detroit Tigers.
His eight seasons with the Cardinals were the most productive of his career, slashing a combined .285/.393/.555 with 241 home runs at the plate and providing a strong defensive presence in the outfield.
After being traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for David Freese (who would eventually become a Cardinals World Series legend in his own right), Edmonds struggled in his brief time with the Padres before being released. Less than a week later, Edmonds signed with the Cubs and began his redemption tour.
In 85 games in Chicago, Edmonds hit 19 home runs and helped the Cubs reach the 2008 National League Division Series, where they were ousted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Edmonds would play for both Cincinnati and Milwaukee during the 2010 campaign, but then retire, leaving Pittsburgh as the only current National League Central team for which he never played.
4. Lou Brock (Chicago Cubs 1961-64, St. Louis Cardinals 1964-79) -— Hall of Fame, 45.3 bWAR
Chicago Cubs fans knew this name was coming on this list, and Brock will always be linked to Wrigleyville as one of the greats who got away.
Swapped to the Cardinals for pitcher Ernie Broglio as part of a six-player deal on June 15, 1964, Brock became a part of the St. Louis franchise just three days before his 26th birthday. By the time that he retired from the Cardinals following his age-40 season, Brock had piled up more than 3,000 hits and was the stolen base king of baseball, setting marks for both single season swipes (118 in 1974) and career steals (938).
Both records have since been shattered by Rickey Henderson. However, for years, there was no greater weapon on the basepaths than Brock.
According to an article on Brock’s trade from the Cubs to the Cardinals on the Baseball Hall of Fame site, “On his first full day as a Cardinal, Manager Johnny Keane brought Brock to left field, and told him that ‘It’s a big one and it’s all yours. If you can do what I think you can, you ought to be able to play out here the rest of your life.’
And that’s exactly what he did. Brock would be a five-time All-Star with the Cardinals and has a statue outside of Busch Stadium, recognizing his contributions to the franchise. It’s also a constant reminder to Cubs fans of what could have been.
3. Dizzy Dean (St. Louis Cardinals 1930, 1932-37, Chicago Cubs 1938-41) — Hall of Fame, 46.2 bWAR
According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Jay Hanna Dean reportedly earned his nickname of “Dizzy” early in his life because of his colorful personality and eccentric behavior.
Having taught himself how to pitch, Dean was discovered pitching on a sandlot in Texas. His Major League debut came on the final day of the 1930 season when he allowed just three hits and one run in a complete game, nine-inning performance to help the Cardinals beat Pittsburgh, 3-1.
The right-hander would start regularly contributing to the Cardinals in 1932 and would pitch four shutouts that season, tying for the MLB lead in the category while setting the National League mark with 286.0 innings pitched.
Two seasons later, Dean would begin one of the most remarkable stretches on the mound in MLB history, earning the National League MVP honor in 1934 with 30 wins (including seven shutouts) and 195 strikeouts. The Cardinals would also win the World Series that season.
He would follow that by leading the league in innings pitched in 1935 and 1936 while the 1935 season saw him lead all pitchers in strikeouts for the fourth consecutive campaign.
On April 16, 1938, Dean was traded to the Cubs for Curt Davis, Clyde Shoun, Tuck Stainback, and $185,000. In the first of his four seasons with the Cubs, Dean would go 7-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 13 starts, including a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh in his final start of the season, throwing seven-hit ball over 8.2 innings to help the Cubs earn the pennant. Chicago would fall in that World Series to the New York Yankees.
Dean would pitch in just 43 games for the Cubs before hurling four innings for the St. Louis Browns in 1947 and calling it a career on the mound. However, he still impacted a generation of baseball fans as a radio and television announcer.
2. Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander (Cubs 1918-26, Cardinals 1926-29) -— Hall of Fame, 119.3 bWAR
Alexander had already made a name for himself with the Philadelphia Phillies before being traded to the Cubs on December 11, 1917, along with Bill Killefer in exchange for Pickles Dillhoefer, Mike Prendergast, and $55,000.
After the trade, the legendary right-hander made just three appearances in 1918 before being drafted into service for World War I. He suffered hearing damage during the war and was also the victim of a gas attack. However, he returned in 1919 and made his mark for the Cubs over the next eight seasons, starting 224 games and logging 1,884.1 innings on the mound. His 1.72 ERA in 1919 and 1.91 in 1920 led the National League, and his 363.1 innings and 173 strikeouts were MLB bests in 1920 as well.
At age 39, he was placed on waivers by the Cubs during the 1926 season … and was promptly picked up by the Cardinals.
Alexander showed he still had plenty left to give, winning nine games for the Cardinals in 1926 to help St. Louis reach the Fall Classic. He posted a 2-0 mark (both complete game victories) with a 1.33 ERA against the Yankees in that World Series, and also earned the save in Game 7 of the Series to help the Cardinals become World Champions.
He also pitched for the Cardinals in the 1928 World Series before retiring two seasons later after a return to Philadelphia.
1. Rogers Hornsby (Cardinals 1915-26 and 1933, Cubs 1929-32) — Hall of Fame, 127.3 bWAR
The man who has been called the greatest right-handed batter in Major League Baseball history, Hornsby played 13 seasons with the Cardinals and five with the Cubs during a career that stretched over 23 campaigns.
Hornsby played the prime of his career in St. Louis and showed his hitting prowess often for the Cardinals, establishing himself as one of the premier players in the game. Hornsby paced the National League in batting six times in a Cardinals uniform (between 1920 and 1925, a span of time where he averaged .402 at the plate). His .424 batting average in 1924 was an MLB high and is still a Modern Era record for the game. He finished that season with an OPS of 1.203, then topped that one year later with a 1.245 mark.
He played for the New York Giants and Boston Braves before being traded by Boston to the Cubs on November 7, 1928, for Bruce Cunningham, Percy Jones, Lou Legett, Freddie Maguire, Socks Seibold, and $200,000. In the 1929 campaign, Hornsby totaled 409 bases, the most of any Major League player while his 1.139 OPS paced the National League.
Next. The 5 greatest catchers in Cardinals history. dark
Hornsby was also a manager, including his time as a player-manager with the Cardinals (271 games total) when he helped the team on the field and in the dugout to the 1926 World Series title. He also has 259 games on his resume as manager of the Cubs (1930-32).