2004 Cardinals

Happy birthday week to a good friend of the Greatest MLB Showdown Project, Kyle Jacoby! A veteran chart creator and the unluckiest roller we know, Kyle's a lifelong Cardinals fan. His favorite team of all-time was not the plucky 2006 or 2011 wild-card to World Series champion teams, but the 2004 juggernaut version. Winners of 105 games, the Cardinals profiled as one of the better Showdown teams of this century and their lineup does not disappoint. Turns out Larry Walker kept up his torrid Rockies statistical pace in St. Louis after being dealt to the redbirds, giving St. Louis one of the most devastating 2-3-4 spots in Showdown. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this team (and all the good 2004 teams) is the lack of stellar starting pitching. Frankly, as card creators, it can get a little dull plugging in three tier 2 starters and a tier 3 guy at the back end of the rotation. The Cardinals do not fit that mold, with a tier 3 ace followed by a couple tier 4s and a really, really bad Matt Morris. With an ok bullpen, we think it'll be fun to try squeezing four or five innings from some of these starting while letting a potent offense swing away and outscore opponents.

Also, the rest of the 2004 ALCS and NLCS participants (and 2003 for that matter) are coming soon! So if you want to replay any of 7-game epics from the early 2000s, just copy/paste these cards, print them out, and let us know how it goes!!!

For you Cardinals fans out there, it's also your chance to back up the endless whining that if the Cardinals had gotten home field advantage through their better record (instead of Boston securing home field through the All Star game), it would've been an entirely different 2004 World Series.

Anyway, here's the 2004 Cardinals:

Lineup: One of the best batting orders around, period. Tony Womack is a decent lead-off hitter, but what sets this team apart is the back-to-back-to-back series of OB 10, HR at 17 players. This murderer's row should pile up HRs and RBIs and the addition of OB 10, HR at 18 Scott Rolen in the five hole protects all three in the order. The 6-9 spots are not quite as strong, but "DH" John Mabry had a solid year and provides some consistency and pop lower in the order. Reggie Sanders could be extremely successful against similarly poor pitching teams and Edgar Renteria's chart will make him great in spots. Yes, Matheny is a throwaway out, but his +10 arm adds a ton of value, at least protecting the weak pitching staff from baserunners. This team can easily get to double digit runs and should put up impressive HR numbers.

Rotation: A clear weakness for this team. Honestly, I was shocked at how genuinely wide the gap is between modern baseball rotations and steroid era pitching. Only one of these pitchers had an ERA under 4 and Matt Morris (who I remembered as a good starter) was tagged for over 1.5 HR/9. On the plus side, three of these starters are at least capable of some steady, decent performances. Thanks to the inevitable run support they'll receive, guys at like Jeff Suppan can even rack up 16 wins with a 4.16 ERA. Without further ado, here's a the weak link in the NL pennant winner's armor:

 Bullpen: Finally, the 2004 St. Louis bullpen. Jason Isringhausen and his high control, no doubles self provides a great chance to shut the door in the eighth and ninth when need demands it. Steve Kline had a shockingly good season and is their best set-up man. Ray King only has 1/3 IP, but could be especially useful against the 6-7-8-9 of some weaker NL teams where a 3 or 2 Control can survive. Julian Tavarez rounds out the rotation as a tier 2, giving them stout pitching in every spot. These guys will need rubber arms to support this rotation.