Skip moving up Cardinals leadoff hitter lists

Batting first, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker has been getting on base regularly.

Skip Schumaker (AP Photo/Morry Gash)On Saturday, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker came up in the seventh inning in what would be his final plate appearance of the day. He already had two hits and a fly out, with a chance for his second consecutive three-hit game.

Instead, the recently-restored leadoff man gave up his at-bat for the team, sacrificing Brendan Ryan to third base. Rather than scoring on a sacrifice fly, Ryan came home on a Matt Holliday home run. The final pair of runs turned out to be extremely important in the Cardinals’ 4-3 win over Oakland.

Friday night’s three-hit performance was Schumaker’s 24th as the first batter in the Cardinals’ order in his career. That moved him into a tie for eighth in three-hit games by a Cardinals leadoff hitter in the last 40 years with another second baseman from years past, Julian Javier. As one might expect, Lou Brock leads in all categories by a substantial margin, with Vince Coleman and Curt Flood making up the top three.

Since 1960, Schumaker is also eighth in three on-base games with 58 and sixth in four on-base games at 18.

St. Louis Cardinals, leadoff hitters, 1960-current

3-Hit Games 3 Times On-Base 4 Times On-Base
Rk Player G Rk Player G Rk Player G
1 Lou Brock 164 1 Lou Brock 365 1 Lou Brock 81
2 Vince Coleman 64 2 Vince Coleman 147 2 Curt Flood 34
3 Curt Flood 61 3 Curt Flood 103 3 Vince Coleman 33
4 Garry Templeton 47 4 Fernando Vina 102 4 Fernando Vina 27
5 Fernando Vina 40 5 David Eckstein 84 5 Garry Templeton 19
6 David Eckstein 35 6 Garry Templeton 64 6 Skip Schumaker 18
7 Bernard Gilkey 26 7 Bernard Gilkey 60 7 Lonnie Smith 17
8 Skip Schumaker 24
8 Skip Schumaker 58 8 Julian Javier 14
8 Julian Javier 24 9 Lonnie Smith 53 8 David Eckstein 14
10 Lonnie Smith 18 10 Julian Javier 52 10 Ray Lankford 12
11 Tom Herr 17 11 Ray Lankford 46 10 Bernard Gilkey 12
12 Ray Lankford 16 12 Tom Herr 41 12 Tom Herr 11
12 Delino DeShields 16 13 Delino DeShields 30 13 Delino DeShields 10
14 Tony Womack 15 14 Tony Womack 28 14 Royce Clayton 7
15 Bake McBride 10 14 Royce Clayton 28 15 Tony Womack 6
15 Royce Clayton 10 16 Ozzie Smith 24 16 Geronimo Pena 5
17 Willie McGee 9 17 Willie McGee 23 16 Joe Cunningham 5
18 Ozzie Smith 8 18 Geronimo Pena 21 18 Ozzie Smith 4
18 Bo Hart 8 19 Jerry Mumphrey 20 18 Ken Oberkfell 4
20 Geronimo Pena 6 19 Bake McBride 20 18 Jerry Mumphrey 4
21 Edgar Renteria 5 21 Edgar Renteria 10 18 Willie McGee 4
21 Jerry Mumphrey 5 21 Bo Hart 10 18 Bake McBride 4
23 So Taguchi 4 23 Ken Oberkfell 9 18 Bo Hart 4
23 Placido Polanco 4 24 Joe Cunningham 8 18 Darren Bragg 4
23 Ken Oberkfell 4 25 Milt Thompson 7 25 Placido Polanco 3
23 Shawon Dunston 4 25 So Taguchi 7 25 Matty Alou 3
23 Matty Alou 4 25 Brendan Ryan 7 27 So Taguchi 2
28 Brendan Ryan 3 25 Darren Bragg 7 27 Brendan Ryan 2
28 Joe Cunningham 3 25 Matty Alou 7 27 Edgar Renteria 2
28 Darren Bragg 3 30 Placido Polanco 6 27 Julio Lugo 2
30 Aaron Miles 6 27 J.D. Drew 2
30 Felipe Lopez 6 27 Bobby Bonds 2
30 Phil Gagliano 6
30 J.D. Drew 6

Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the above tables.

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