Classic St. Louis Cardinals

We're finally back, thanks to a timely Christmas gift of Photoshop! Now that we have the ability to create new cards, we continue the Classic Set with an all-time franchise: The St. Louis Cardinals! The Cardinals are made up of speedy studs and solid pitchers, which led them to three World Series berths in the 1980s. Known affectionately as the Runnin' Redbirds, this team features an incredible amount of speed in high on-base players. If you're a Showdown manager who loves swiping bases and playing small ball, this is the team for you!

This should just be the first of several more teams to come soon! We apologize for the delay and hope y'all are excited for some more Showdown!

Lineup: Boy oh boy, this team can FLY! Vince Coleman leads it off with off-the-charts A(24) speed and he's followed by Willie McGee's A(24) speed. If either of these guys gets on, they should be stealing 2nd base and easily in on a single every time. With solid, Hall of Fame hitter Ozzie Smith and absolute stud Jack Clark hitting behind them, that scenario should frequently play out with the Cardinals. Herr and Pendleton are solid OB 8 hitters, although Herr lacks HR power (crazy that he was often the clean-up hitter for the 80s Cardinals in real life!). Van Slyke is a solid bat providing depth, and another OB 9, speed A hitter turns the lineup over, making it really difficult to keep high speed guys off base when Smith and Clark get up to bat later in the game. With an aggressive manager against a weak catcher, this team should be flying around the bases and scoring lots of runs.

Rotation: The Cardinals have an extremely classic rotation, with a Tier 1, 2, 3, and 4 pitcher in each of the four rotation slots. John Tudor is a most worthy ace, bringing that fan-favorite Control 5, on at 18 card to the table. Andujar is a really good second option, although I personally am always wary of Control 3 or lower pitchers. Overall, it's a solid enough rotation that shouldn't sink this team.

Bullpen: St. Louis has a solid, but ultimately unimpressive bullpen. Worrell provides a solid closer, but the bottom of the rotation leaves some to be desired. Overall, no one is unusable and no one is a major weakness.