Rabbit Maranville Helped Cardinals Make Pennant Runs

Heading into the final month of the season in pursuit of a second consecutive National League pennant, the Cardinals sought an upgrade to their infield defense. They took a chance on a light-hitting shortstop with a history of alcohol problems.

RetroSimba

Notable Players Overlap In Cubs-Cardinals Rivalry

The Cardinals and Cubs are a unique rivalry that's been forged by the proximity of their cities, shaped by its longevity and enhanced by the frequency they've met as part of the same division.

St. Louis Official Site

Sunday Notes: Randal Grichuk's Barrel

Randal Grichuk demurred slightly when I asked if he identifies as a power hitter. The St. Louis outfielder hesitated, then said “I’m a guy who is gap-to-gap and can also drive the ball out of the yard.”

Fangraphs

Nine Of The Worst Baseball Hall Of Fame Selections Ever

The logjam of Hall of Fame-worthy players on this year’s ballot has turned the spotlight — again — on the handful of current Cooperstown residents who have, shall we say, less-than-stellar qualifications.

Sporting News

Rabbit Maranville Was Good For The Long Run

How good was Rabbit Maranville, who will be posthumously inducted into the new Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame Jan. 31?

Mass Live

Original Contracts From Cardinals Hall Of Famers To Be Auctioned

A group of 36 contracts to go on the block includes ones signed by seven St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers.

The Cardinal Nation Blog

Better Than I Thought: Marty Marion

I’ve long felt that Marty Marion was wildly overrated. Maybe it’s because he won an award he didn’t really deserve. “Slats” won the 1944 NL MVP with a OPS+ of 91. No, you read that right. Marion was a negative at the plate and still won the MVP Award. Who says the BBWAA doesn’t value defense? At least back then, apparently they did. In Marion’s case, I thought that it might be to the extreme.

Play A Hard Nine

Active Mulit-Gold Glovers: Do They Deserve Their Reputation?

While I usually feel at home writing about catchers or relief pitchers, I recently published one of my favorite posts—one about seeing if historical WAR data justified the induction of Hall of Famers who were primarily inducted for their defense. You know, guys like Ozzie Smith and Brooks Robinson (yes) or Ray Schalk and Bill Mazeroski (no).

Beyond The Boxscore

You Could Look It Up: Enhanced?

In the aftermath of Mark McGwire’s confession, one of the more dubious reactions came, as you might expect, from the MLB Network’s own Harold Reynolds. Reynolds said (I paraphrase) that even if you accepted McGwire’s explanation that he received no performance benefit from his usage of so-called performance-enhancing drugs, but rather was doing so to thwart his own physical frailty, then McGwire still did something wrong, because the marathon baseball season requires stamina. If you resort to taking a drug to stay on the field, you’ve cheated your way to overcoming a basic requirement of the sport.

Baseball Prospectus

Prospectus Hit & Run: Hawk, Rock, & A Couple Of Shocks

At the end of my final Hall of Fame ballot breakdown of the season, published mere hours before the voting results were announced, I noted that I wouldn't be at all surprised if the JAWS-approved slate of seven candidates—Roberto Alomar, Bert Blyleven Barry Larkin, Edgar Martinez, Mark McGwire, Tim Raines, and Alan Trammell—were shut out, while Andre Dawson gained election. Well, that's exactly what happened. Dawson had received more than 65 percent of the vote on each of the previous two ballots, and surged to the forefront with 77.9 percent of the vote, enough to gain admission.

Baseball Prospectus

Offense/Defense Number (Part One)

Blu Mar Ten's "Natural History" album came out this week, and I couldn't be more excited. Its excellence in experimental drum'n'bass reinforces that they're one of the best two-way bands out there, as their previous albums developed their other strength of evocative chillout music. Few bands are equally good in two genres, and it's one reason Blu Mar Ten is one of my top 10 groups.

The Hardball Times

Cubs Again In Goat's Role

As the Chicago Cubs sink quickly in the Central, feisty manager Lou Piniella says to bring it on.

STL Today

Baseball's Most Exciting Play

There are a lot of fun plays in baseball, but few are cooler than seeing a player scamper all the way around the bases before the opposing team can tag or throw him out. The inside-the-park home run: you rarely ever see one, but the rarity just adds to the appeal of seeing one.

The Hardball Times

You Could Look It Up: The Ballad Of The Shortstops

Both here at BP (and in the annual) and at my other home, I've been waging a desultory war about Derek Jeter's future. His contract is up after the 2010 season, and though he'll be knocking on the door of 3,000 hits, I have argued that the Yankees should say goodbye.

Baseball Prospectus

A Thousand Miles From Cooperstown

I love Hall of Fame debates. One thing you sometimes hear is that whether you think a player belongs in the Hall or not, for him even to be in the discussion means he was a great player. And it’s true: you may not think Jim Rice and Andre Dawson are Cooperstown-worthy, but you can’t deny they were outstanding players.

The Hardball Times

BL, TR (Part 5: The Best Left-Handed Hitting Shortstops IN MLB History)

How rare are they?

As a reminder, here's what we saw in Part 1, the proportion of major league shortstop plate appearances taken by straight left-handed batters (not switch-hitters) from 1957 through 2006:

The Hardball Times

Scout.com: Counting Down Best Cardinals Teams:Modene's Best Of The Rest

The 1885 St. Louis Browns club, a championship predecessor of the St. Louis Cardinals of today missed our tally of the Top 15 Cardinals teams of all time. Jerry Modene explains why he disagrees with their omission and some other clubs, too!

http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/725826.html

Scout.com: Counting Down Best Cardinals Teams: Walton's Best Of The Rest

One is an old-time club; one is new. One lost the World Series; the other won. Both the 1928 and 2006 clubs missed our tally of the Top 15 St. Louis Cardinals teams of all time. Brian Walton explains why he disagrees with their omission.

http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/725012.html