Home Baseball 2017 Cardinals Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

2017 Cardinals Hall of Fame Nominees Announced

by Press Release

The St. Louis Cardinals have revealed Steve Carlton, Keith Hernandez, Jason Isringhausen, Tim McCarver, Mark McGwire, Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen as the seven players nominated for possible induction into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.  The seven modern ballot nominees were selected by a “Red Ribbon” committee of Cardinals baseball experts through a secret ballot process.  Fans can view the Cardinals Hall of Fame ballot, presented by Edward Jones (#CardsHOF), online at cardinals.com/HOF and cast their selections starting today.  The two players with the most fan votes after voting concludes on Friday, April 14 will be inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame this August.

“Induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame is one of the highest honors the team can bestow,” said Bill DeWitt Jr., Chairman and CEO of the St. Louis Cardinals.  “We are delighted to give our fans a voice in the induction process so they can help us recognize the legacies of these outstanding Cardinals players.”

The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame was established as a way to recognize the exceptional careers and significant achievements of the greatest players in Cardinals history.  To be eligible, players must have played for the Cardinals for at least three seasons and must be retired as a player from Major League Baseball for at least three years.  The eligible pool of players is divided into two categories of “modern players” and “veteran players”.  If a player retired more than 40 years prior to the induction year, he is classified as a veteran player.

In addition to nominating modern players for fan balloting, the “Red Ribbon” committee of Cardinals baseball experts also elected a veteran player for induction using a secret ballot process.  Independent of this process, the Cardinals organization may also opt to induct an individual who was an important figure in Cardinals history such as a coach, broadcaster or member of the front office.

The fourth elected induction class will be announced on Friday, April 28 during a televised 30-minute Hall of Fame announcement special on FOX Sports Midwest, and also in a pre-game ceremony at Busch Stadium before the Cardinals face the Cincinnati Reds.  The formal enshrinement ceremony will take place on Saturday, August 26 during the 2017 Cardinals Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.

Each member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame will be permanently enshrined in the Cardinals Hall of Fame Gallery presented by Edward Jones located on the second floor of Cardinals Nation in Ballpark Village, just outside the entrance to the team’s museum.  The Hall of Fame Gallery is free and open to the public.  The plaques that adorn the gallery are produced by Mathews International, the company that also produces the plaques for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Following is a description of each nominee’s career as a Cardinal:

Steve Carlton (#CarltonHOF)

Years: 1965 – 1971           77-62, 3.10 ERA, 1.28 WHIP

Steve Carlton was a three-time All-Star in seven seasons with Cardinals.  He had 66 complete games and 16 shutouts as a Cardinal and was a 20-game winner in 1971.  “Lefty” was a member of the 1967 World Series championship team where he helped the club capture the pennant with 14 regular season wins and followed that up with 13 wins in 1986 as the organization claimed its second consecutive National League pennant.  Carlton finished second in National League with a 2.17 ERA in 1969.

 

Keith Hernandez (#HernandezHOF)

Years: 1974 – 1983           .299/.385/.448, 1217 H, 265 2B, 81 HR, 595 RBI, 662 R

Keith Hernandez played 10 seasons with the Cardinals, winning six straight Gold Gloves from 1978-1983 at first base.  He was a National League co-MVP in 1979, batting a league leading .344 with 11 HR and 105 RBI.  The two-time All-Star was a member of the 1982 World Championship team and batted .299 that season with 94 RBI.

 

Jason Isringhausen (#IzzyHOF)

Years: 2002 – 2008           217 Saves, 2.98 ERA, 1.19 WHIP

Jason Isringhausen spent seven seasons with the Cardinals. During his time with the team, the Cardinals won the Central Division in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006 with World Series appearances in 2004 and 2006, winning the World Series in 2006.  He registered a National League-leading 47 saves in 2004, tying the franchise record which Lee Smith set, until Trevor Rosenthal broke the record in 2015.  An All-Star in 2005, “Izzy” still holds the franchise record for saves with 217, and is sixth with 401 appearances with St. Louis.

 

Tim McCarver (#McCarverHOF)

Years: 1959 – 1961, 1963 – 1969, 1973 – 1974        .272/.329/.388, 1029 H, 66 HR, 453 RBI

Tim McCarver began his major league career in St. Louis and notched three World Series appearances (1964, 1967, 1968) and two All-Star Game selections (1966, 1967) during his 12 years with the Cardinals.  An all-around talent behind the plate, he led the National League in triples in 1966 (13), fielding percentage for catchers in 1965 and 1967 and finished second in National League MVP voting in 1967.  In Cardinals World Series play, McCarver ranks second in hits (23), third in RBI (11) and walks (10), first in triples (3), fifth in batting average (.311), and is the only catcher in franchise history to have caught two title-winning World Series Game 7’s.

 

Mark McGwire (#McGwireHOF)

Years: 1997 – 2001           .270/.427/.683, 220 HR, 473 RBI, 1.111 OPS

Mark McGwire finished his playing career in 2001 with St. Louis after joining the club via trade on July 31, 1997.  In 1998, McGwire captured the world’s attention with the “Race for the Record,” breaking Major League Baseball’s previous single-season home run total of 61 set by Roger Maris by hitting 70 homers.  He blasted 220 career home runs with the Cardinals, ranking sixth in franchise history, and lead the Majors in home runs in both 1998 and 1999 (65), the top two season totals in Cardinals history.  He set the Cardinals single season walk mark with 162 in 1998 and had back-to-back seasons of 147 RBI in ’98 and ’99, ranking third in Cardinals history.  He was a three-time All-Star while with St. Louis (1998–2000) and won a Silver Slugger award in 1998.

 

Edgar Renteria (#RenteriaHOF)

Years: 1999 – 2004           .290/.347/.420, 451 RBI, 207 2B, 148 SB

Edgar Renteria played six seasons with the Cardinals and was named a National League All-Star three times (2000, 2003, 2004).  The shortstop won two Gold Gloves while with St. Louis in 2002 and 2003, and three Silver Slugger Awards in 2000, 2002 and 2003.  Renteria batted .330 with St. Louis in 2003, the all-time Cardinals single-season leader for a shortstop, as are his 47 doubles that season.  He drove in his single-season high 100 runs in 2003 which rank second among all St. Louis shortstops, and his 83 RBI in 2002 are his second highest career total.  Renteria stole 37 bases his first season with the Cardinals and his 148 steals while with St. Louis are second-highest in franchise history for a shortstop.

 

Scott Rolen (#RolenHOF)

Years: 2002 – 2007           .286/.370/.510, 173 2Bs, 111 HR, 453 RBI

In his five plus seasons with the Cardinals, Scott Rolen dominated the hot corner winning Gold Gloves in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006, and a Silver Slugger award in 2002.  He was named to the National League All-Star team in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and named to the All-Busch Stadium team as the third baseman by vote of fans.  Rolen hit a career high 49 doubles in 2003 and had 48 doubles during the team’s 2006 World Series championship season.  In 2004, Rolen batted .314 which ranked second among National League third basemen and was second on the team, a year in which the club had four players with an average above .300.  Following the 2004 season, Rolen finished fourth in National League MVP voting.  Rolen was a big contributor during the postseason with St. Louis.  He batted .310 (9 for 29) during the National League Championship Series vs. Houston in 2004, including his two-run home run off Roger Clemens in the 6th inning of Game 7 that plated the pennant-clinching run.  In 2006, Rolen helped the club to its 10th World Championship, closing out the postseason with a 10-game hitting streak (.351, 13 for 37) that began in Game 3 of the NLCS vs. the New York Mets.

 

Cardinals Hall of Fame Members

Jim Bottomley, Ken Boyer, Sam Breadon, Lou Brock, Jack Buck, August A. “Gussie” Busch Jr., Chris Carpenter, Dizzy Dean, Jim Edmonds, Curt Flood, Bob Forsch, Frank Frisch, Bob Gibson, Chick Hafey, Jesse Haines, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, George Kissell, Tony La Russa, Marty Marion, Willie McGee, Joe Medwick, Johnny Mize, Terry Moore, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Mike Shannon, Ted Simmons, Enos Slaughter, Ozzie Smith, Billy Southworth, Bruce Sutter and Joe Torre.

 

2017 Cardinals Hall of Fame “Red Ribbon” Selection Panel

Tom Ackerman,  Frank Cusumano,  Derrick Goold, Whitey Herzog, Rick Hummel, Randy Karraker,  Martin Kilcoyne, Jenifer Langosch,  Tony La Russa, Bernie Miklasz, Joe Ostermeier, Rob Rains, Mark Saxon, Red Schoendienst and Brian Walton.

 

Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum (#CardsMuseum)

The 8,000 square foot St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum on the second floor of Cardinals Nation in Ballpark Village celebrates the rich history of baseball in St. Louis and the legacy of one of baseball’s most storied franchises.  The Cardinals’ museum collection is the largest team-held collection in baseball and is second only to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in terms of size with over 22,000 memorabilia items and hundreds of thousands of archival photographs.  Fans can learn more about the museum at cardinals.com/museum.

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