Coming into Monday’s contest, the St. Louis Cardinals were last in Major League Baseball with 20 errors in their 19 games played. Their fielding percentage was “only” 29th in MLB as their upcoming weekend opponent, the Washington Nationals, had an even lower mark (.971 to .973).
This situation is causing uneasiness in some quarters, while others, including the club’s manager, offer explanations which label the current results as an outlier – an aberration that will apparently soon pass.
Let’s hope so, because if not, it does not bode well for the Cardinals’ 2009 post-season hopes.
Committing an error per game as are the Cardinals is a pace faster than any major league club over a full season since at least 1995. However, the rate is far from unprecedented.
The expansion 1962 and 1963 New York Mets both committed a modern major league record 210 errors, the most since baseball moved to a 162-game schedule. In recent years, the Mets of 1996 were only three errors under making one per game for the season and the 1999 Montreal Expos were just two short.
If carried over the entire season, the Cardinals current fielding percentage of .973 would also be MLB’s worst in at least the last 15 years and probably longer.
The following table shows the MLB team leader in errors in each season along with that club’s fielding percentage. I covered the Tony La Russa era in St. Louis plus one more year.
Only twice in those 14 years did the club with the most errors also not have the worst fielding percentage, but even in those cases, the team finished 29th, or second to last in fielding.
Committing the most errors in MLB generally means that club will be sitting at home in October. Yet, it can be overcome.
The 1995 Los Angeles Dodgers is the most recent team to pull off the rare feat of leading the game in miscues while still making the playoffs. In fact, Tommy Lasorda’s last full-season Dodgers team won their division, albeit in a 144-game strike-shortened year.
Not that I expect the Cardinals will continue in this manner, but even if so, there still would be a glimmer of hope.
| Most errors | # Errs | G | E/G | Flding % | FPct rank | Playoffs | |
| 2009 | St. Louis | 20 | 19 | 1.05 | 0.973 | 29 | |
| 2008 | Texas | 132 | 162 | 0.81 | 0.978 | 30 | no |
| 2007 | Florida | 137 | 162 | 0.85 | 0.977 | 30 | no |
| 2006 | Washington | 131 | 162 | 0.81 | 0.978 | 30 | no |
| 2005 | Kansas City | 125 | 162 | 0.77 | 0.979 | 30 | no |
| 2004 | Detroit | 144 | 162 | 0.89 | 0.977 | 30 | no |
| 2003 | Cincinnati | 141 | 162 | 0.87 | 0.977 | 30 | no |
| 2002 | NY Mets | 147 | 161 | 0.91 | 0.976 | 30 | no |
| 2001 | San Diego | 145 | 162 | 0.90 | 0.976 | 30 | no |
| 2000 | Anaheim | 134 | 162 | 0.83 | 0.978 | 29 | no |
| 1999 | Montreal | 160 | 162 | 0.99 | 0.974 | 30 | no |
| 1998 | Montreal | 155 | 162 | 0.96 | 0.975 | 30 | no |
| 1997 | Boston | 135 | 162 | 0.83 | 0.978 | 29 | no |
| 1996 | NY Mets | 159 | 162 | 0.98 | 0.974 | 30 | no |
| 1995 | LA Dodgers | 130 | 144 | 0.90 | 0.976 | 30 | yes |
Next, I looked at the error counts and fielding percentages of La Russa’s Cardinals teams plus one year. His third St. Louis club, the 1998 edition, committed 142 errors and posted a .978 fielding percentage – both La Russa team worsts.
Interestingly, his best defensive club, at least using these metrics, was the 2003 team. Yet betrayed by their pitching, that 85-win club missed out on the post-season. So just being solid defensively is not enough.
After a run of a half dozen years of ranking in the top half of MLB in both stats, the 2007 Cardinals were among the poorest defensive clubs in the league. David Eckstein (20 miscues), Aaron Miles (14), Brendan Ryan (10) and Scott Rolen (10) led the team.
After considerable roster turnover, including the departure of Eckstein along with long-term Gold Glovers Rolen and Jim Edmonds, the 2008 Cardinals bounced back defensively. That group again ranked in the top quarter of MLB teams, but they still missed the post-season for the second consecutive year.
| StL errors | Error rank | StL FPct | FPct rank | Playoffs | |
| 2008 | 85 | T5 | 0.986 | 7 | no |
| 2007 | 121 | 28 | 0.980 | 28 | no |
| 2006 | 98 | T10 | 0.984 | 12 | yes |
| 2005 | 100 | 13 | 0.984 | 13 | yes |
| 2004 | 97 | 9 | 0.985 | 7 | yes |
| 2003 | 77 | 2 | 0.987 | 4 | no |
| 2002 | 103 | T13 | 0.983 | 15 | yes |
| 2001 | 110 | T16 | 0.982 | 11 | yes |
| 2000 | 111 | 15 | 0.981 | 17 | yes |
| 1999 | 132 | 24 | 0.978 | 26 | no |
| 1998 | 142 | 29 | 0.978 | 25 | no |
| 1997 | 123 | 22 | 0.980 | 19 | no |
| 1996 | 125 | 17 | 0.980 | 19 | yes |
| 1995 | 113 | 23 | 0.980 | 23 | no |
Time will tell as whether or not errors continue to be a topic of discussion for Cardinals fans this season, but do note that the team has not made the playoffs under La Russa when finishing in the bottom third of MLB in errors and fielding percentage.