5 Greatest St. Louis Cardinals Hitters of All Time

If Pujols would not have left St. Louis after his 11th season, he would trail only the No. 1 player on this list in most statistical batting categories in Cardinals history. As it stands, those 11 years - plus one final resurgent season at the end - are the seasons that qualify for this list.

It’s difficult to overstate Pujols’ stranglehold on baseball in the 2000s. The only hitter to rival Pujols’ fame during the decade was Barry Bonds. And Bonds was just about the only thing stopping Pujols from taking home more than his three MVP awards as the San Francisco Giants leftfielder won the award twice when Pujols finished second (the other Pujols second-place finish was won by Ryan Howard). 

Pujols led the NL in WAR for six straight seasons from 2005-10. He led the NL in runs five times, hits once, doubles once, home runs twice, batting average once, on-base percentage once, slugging three times and OPS three times.

He had a few good seasons in Anaheim with the Angels after leaving St. Louis following the 2011 season, but faded badly starting 2017. Then, the return back to STL in 2022, as a 42-year-old stunned. Pujols, in a largely part-time role, went out with 24 home runs and an .895 OPS, his highest total since - dig this - his final season in St. Louis the first time.

2. Rogers Hornsby, Second Base

To people born in the 60s through the early 90s, at least, Hornsby is most famous for having one of the most valuable baseball cards in the world. He wasn’t a player many of the later generations considered along the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Ty Cobb. But, oh, he was.

Like Pujols, Hornsby would rank higher on this list had played a few more years with the Cardinals. Instead, his first 12 of his ultimate 23 were played in St. Louis. And they were monstrous. Hornsby led the NL in WAR an incredible eight times in those 12 seasons. He remains one of just three players to record 215 or more hits in at least five seasons, tied with Ichiro Suzuki and Paul Waner.

But Hornsby was hardly just a slap hitter. When Major League Baseball changed the ball itself and removed itself from the dead-ball era following the 1920 seasons, Hornsby’s power numbers exploded.

He went from 36 home runs combined over his first five full seasons to 21 in 1921 and he ultimately led all of baseball with 42 in 1922. On top of those 42, he scored 141 runs, knocked 250 hits, 46 doubles and 152 RBIs. There’s a reason his card is what it is.

1. Stan Musial, Outfield/First Base

Was there ever any doubt? Stan “The Man” is a cut above and is largely considered one of the 10 or 15 best players to ever play the sport.

First, his stats: Musial slashed .331/.417/.559 with 475 home runs, 1,951 RBIs and 3,630 hits over the course of his 22-year career, all with the Cardinals. He won NL MVP three times, but finished in the top 10 in voting 10 times, including in his penultimate season in 1962 as a 41-year-old.

Only three players rank ahead in hits (Pete Rose, Cobb, Hank Aaron) and Musial won seven batting titles and three World Series in addition to being named an All-Star in 20 seasons. The Cardinals record books are owned by Musial, who leads the franchise in WAR, games, at-bats, plate appearances, total bases, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, walks and runs.