Scott Rolen is entering the Hall of Fame and Chip Caray is the new television voice of the Cardinals. Our weekly history feature highlights the club’s five best third basemen ever, which of course includes Rolen.
Scott Rolen elected to Hall of Fame
The long-awaited announcement of selections to the 2023 class of the Baseball Hall of Fame was made on Tuesday evening, January 24. Only one player made the cut in the annual voting, former Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen. Rolen received 76.3% of the total vote, barely enough to surpass the 75% threshold required for election. This was Rolen’s sixth of 10 allowable seasons on the ballot, now the last.
Rolen played for the Cardinals from July 2002 through 2007. He was acquired in a trade with the Phillies in which Placido Polanco, Bud Smith, and Mike Timlin went to Philadelphia in exchange for Rolen and Doug Nickle. The Cardinals traded Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays on January 14, 2008. He finished his major league career with the Cincinnati Reds at the end of the 2012 season.
Scott Rolen is just the 18th third baseman to be inducted to the @baseballhall – the fewest of any position! pic.twitter.com/TKEFgqGvIK
— MLB (@MLB) January 24, 2023
Rolen was named the Rookie of the Year in 1997 while with the Phillies. He is the winner of eight Gold Gloves at third base, four of which were earned while playing in St. Louis (the first of the four was split with the Phillies in 2002). Rolen was an All-Star in four of his six seasons with the Cardinals and finished fourth in the MVP voting in 2004. He was part of the Cardinals 2006 World Series Championship team.
Rolen is considered the best defensive third baseman of his era. His eight Gold Gloves at the position places him fourth all-time there, behind Brooks Robinson (16), Mike Schmidt (10) and current Cardinal third baseman Nolan Arenado (10).
At the plate, Rolen is one of 35 hitters in MLB history with at least 2000 hits, 300 home runs, and 500 doubles. His career slash line is .281/.364/.490 with 316 home runs and 1287 RBI. Rolen’s career WAR is 70.0, 10th all-time for third basemen.
Rolen is the first from his position to be elected to the Hall of Fame since Chipper Jones in 2018. Rolen will be inducted along with Contemporary Era Committee selection Fred McGriff on July 23 in Cooperstown, NY.
Cardinals Congratulate Scott Rolen on Hall of Fame Selection
Bally play-by-play announcer named
Last week in this report the search for a replacement for Cardinals play-by-play announcer Dan McLaughlin was discussed. The search at that time had been narrowed down to two candidates, Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith and an unnamed person.
Since last week, Goldsmith took his name out of the running, citing a desire to remain in Seattle. Braves broadcaster Chip Caray was identified as the final candidate and is being hired for the position.
Caray, 57, is a native of St. Louis and is the grandson of Harry Caray, who called games for the Cardinals from 1945 to 1969. Caray has been a broadcaster with Bally Sports South, which covers the Atlanta Braves, for the past 18 seasons.
Caray’s father, the late Skip Caray, also did some broadcasting for KMOX in St. Louis. Chip Caray graduated from Parkway West High School in St. Louis. Prior to his current job in Atlanta, he was with the Chicago Cubs from 1998-2004. He began his career doing play-by-play for the Orlando Magic of the NBA, then moved to baseball with the Braves for one season, and the Seattle Mariners before eventually taking the position with the Cubs.
Caray’s first appearance for the Cardinals will be Bally Sports Midwest’s initial game telecast from Spring Training. The opener is February 25, but the spring TV schedule has yet to be disclosed.
Update: Late Monday, the hiring was formalized.
Welcome to @Cardinals Nation, Chip Caray!#STLCards pic.twitter.com/bOTasAupVv
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) January 30, 2023
News and Notes from the Offseason
- Single game tickets for Cardinals 2023 Spring Training game are on sale. The first game is on February 25, 2023, at Roger Dean Stadium against the Washington Nationals. 15 games are on the home schedule, with the final contest on March 25 against the Marlins.
Fans can buy tickets online at https://www.mlb.com/cardinals/tickets/spring-training
- Spring Training reporting dates have been announced. Pitchers and catchers will report to Jupiter by February 15. The report date for all other players is February 20.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that the Cardinals were among teams with varying interest in several left-handed relief pitchers still on the market. Specifically mentioned in the report were relievers Zach Britton, Andrew Chafin, and Matt Moore.
Since the article was published, the Cardinals announced they have signed left-handed pitcher Andrew Suarez to a minor league deal with a spring camp invitation. Whether this signing takes the Cardinals out of the market for other left-handed pitchers is unknown.
Transactions
There are no transactions to report.
Injury Report
There are no new injuries to report.
Looking Ahead.
The 2022-23 offseason continues. While many other teams have been active during this offseason, the Cardinals have been inactive since the signing of Willson Contreras.
The deadline for players and teams to submit salary arbitration figures has passed. The Cardinals had nine arbitration eligible players. On the deadline day, the Cardinals came to an agreement with seven of the nine – Jordan Montgomery, Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson, Tommy Edman, Tyler O’Neill, Jordan Hicks, and Andrew Knizner. Agreements were not reached with Genesis Cabrera and Ryan Helsley.
Cabrera and Helsley are now headed to an arbitration hearing which will be scheduled for some time in February. Both sides have submitted salary figures and the arbitrator will hold a hearing and then decided between the two figures submitted. An agreement can still be reached between the parties before the hearing takes place.
Helsley filed at $3 million; the Cardinals filed at $2.15 million. Cabrera filed at $1.15 million; the Cardinals filed at $950,000.
The next dates on the offseason list of importance are as follows:
- February 15 – Pitchers and catchers report to spring training
- February 20 – All remaining position players report to spring training
- February 25 – First game of Grapefruit League play
- March 8-21 – World Baseball Classic
- March 30 – MLB season begins
Blast from the Past
This week’s Blast from the Past is the fourth installment in a series looking back on the best Cardinals players in history by position. There isn’t enough time and space to go in depth on such a long list of greats, so this series focuses on five of the best players by position in the history of the franchise. The term “best” is subjective and can encompass an endless number of factors that one could choose to determine who is indeed the best.
This week we highlight the five best third baseman in franchise history based on statistical factors. WAR is the primary factor in this determination. The following list is not a ranking but a chronological list. One former third baseman, Joe Torre, has been eliminated from this list as he was part of the list of catchers in an earlier article. Torre’s innings played at catcher exceeds the innings he played at third. The team’s current third sacker, Nolan Arenado, will earn his way onto this list soon enough.
Arlie Latham – Latham played in St. Louis for the Browns, the original name of the team purchased by Chris von der Ahe in 1881. This Browns team was renamed the Cardinals in 1900 and is separate from a later St. Louis Browns team that was formed in 1902 and decades later became the Baltimore Orioles.
Latham played for the Browns from 1883-89 and again as player-manager in 1896, a stint that included four early World Series appearances including the 1886 championship. He was known for his base stealing ability, leading baseball in steals in 1988 with 109. Latham also led the league in runs in 1886 with 152. His career slash line in St. Louis was .266/.319/.338 over eight seasons.
Latham’s career WAR in St. Louis was 25.7, fourth highest at the position in franchise history. In part due to an injured throwing arm, he holds the MLB career record for errors at third base, with 822. That included 446 with St. Louis. He was later Major League Baseball’s first full-time coach.
Whitey Kurowski –Kurowski played his entire short career (nine seasons) with the Cardinals. Ongoing arm and elbow injuries ended his playing career in 1949. He was signed by the Cardinals in 1941 and played during arguably the franchise’s most successful decade. During the 1940s, the Cardinals reached the World Series four times, winning three.
Kurowski was an All-Star for five of his nine seasons. His best season offensively was 1947, when he slashed .310/.420/.544 with 27 home runs and 104 RBI. He finished fifth in the MVP voting in 1945. He hit 20 or more home runs and hit .300 or higher three times in his nine seasons.
Kurowski’s career WAR in St. Louis was 24.7, sixth all time in franchise history at the hot corner behind fifth place holder Joe Torre.
Ken Boyer – The Missouri native was signed as a free agent by the Cardinals in 1949. He debuted with St. Louis on April 12, 1955 and played 11 seasons..
Boyer was named the NL MVP in 1964. He was an All-Star seven times and received five Gold Gloves at third base. He led the majors in in RBI (119) in 1964. His career slash line in St. Louis was .293/.356/.475 with 255 home runs and 1001 RBI.
Boyer’s career WAR in St. Louis was 50.7, tops at the position in franchise history. He was traded to the Mets in 1965 and ended his major league career with the Dodgers in 1969. Boyer later managed the Cardinals, but passed away from cancer at the age of 51 on September 7, 1982.
Boyer is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, having been dropped from the ballot after five seasons, then restored in 1985. He peaked at just 25.5% of the vote in 1988, six years after his death. He has been a candidate on the Veterans Committee ballot three times and its successor Golden Era Committee twice. The last attempt to get him in the Hall was with the Golden Days Committee in 2021, when he again fell short of support.
Due to his retired number 14, Boyer was selected as part of the 2014 inaugural class of the Cardinals Hall of Fame.
Scott Rolen – Rolen was acquired in a trade with the Phillies in 2002. He played with the Cardinals through the 2007 season.
In his six seasons in St. Louis, Rolen was a four-time All-Star and received four Gold Gloves, one of which was in 2002 when he split his season between the Phillies and Cardinals. His career slash line in St. Louis is .286/.370/.510 with 111 home runs and 453 RBI.
Rolen’s career WAR in St. Louis is 27.1, third in franchise history at third base. Rolen was recently selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame for the upcoming 2023 class after joining the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2019. He is the only Cardinals third baseman to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Matt Carpenter – Carpenter was the 13th round draft pick of the Cardinals in 2009. He debuted with St. Louis on June 4, 2011.
Carpenter played 11 seasons with St. Louis, from 2011-21. He led baseball in runs (126), hits (199), and doubles (55) in 2013. He topped the NL in walks with 95 in 2014 and led the NL in doubles with 44 in 2015. He was a three time All-Star and won a Silver Slugger in 2013. Carpenter finished sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2012 and finished ninth in the MVP voting in 2018. His career slash line in St. Louis was .262/.368/.449 with 155 home runs and 576 RBI.
Carpenter’s career WAR in St. Louis was 30.6, second in franchise history for a third baseman. Carpenter played with the New York Yankees in 2022 and has signed for 2023 with the San Diego Padres.
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