Yr

P

W

L

Yr

P

W

L

Yr

P

W

L

Decade

1950

5

78

75

1953

3

83

71

1957

2

87

67

Click

1951

3

81

73

1954

6

72

82

1958

5

72

82

on Logo

1952

3

88

66

1955

7

68

86

1959

7

71

83

1956

4

76

78

Titles:

Top Cardinals Players of the Fifties

None

Pitchers:

Ballpark:

Gerry Staley (7.39) - 49

Sportsman's Park (Renamed Busch Stadium in 1953)

Vinegar Bend Mizell (15.74) - 47

Larry Jackson (16.73) - 38

Team Name:

Harvey Haddix (12.14) - 34

Cardinals

Al Brazle (8.18) - 26

Lindy McDaniel (4.84) - 24

Owners:

Sam Jones (9.07) - 18

Fred M Saigh (1950-1952)

Tom Poholsky (6.99) - 17

Gussie Busch (1953-1959)

Max Lanier (7.81) - 16

Harry Brecheen (6.27) - 13

General Managers:

Herm Wehmeier (1.53) - 13

William Walsingham (1950-1952)

Howie Pollet (4.2) - 10

Dick Myer (1953-1954)

Murry Dickson (4.2) - 10

Frank Lane (1955-1956)

Willard Schmidt (4.92) - 9

Bing Devine (1957-1959)

Brooks Lawrence (1;16) - 9

Luis Arroyo (1.56) - 8

Managers:

Cloyd Boyer (2.4) - 6

Eddie Dyer (1950)

Jim Brosnan (3.07) - 5

Marty Marion (1951)

Stu Miller (2.01) - 3

Eddie Stanky (1952-1955)

Vic Raschi (0.97) - 3

Fred Hutchinson (1955-1958)

Hoyt Wilhelm (0.39) - 2

Stan Hack (1958)

Paul LaPalme (2.34) - 1

Solly Hemus (1959)

Billy Muffett (1.69) - 1

Von McDaniel (1.11) - 1

Hall of Famers:

Chuck Stobbs (0.92) - 0

Stan Musial

Alex Kellner (0.71) - 0

Red Schoendienst

Morrie Martin (0.65) - 0

Enos Slaughter

Frank Smith (0.61) - 0

Hoyt Wilhelm

Dean Stone (0.42) - 0

Earl Weaver

Bill Smith (0.13) - 0

Jim Davis (0.07) - 0

Rookie of the Year:

Tony Jacobs (-0.14) - 0

Wally Moon (1954)

Marv Grissom (-0.21) - 0

Bill Virdon (1955)

Tom Cheney (-0.22) - 0

Nels Chittum (-0.22) - 0

MVP

Bob Smith (-0.55) - 0

None

Royce Lint (-0.58) - 0

Howie Nunn (-0.63) - 0

Cy Young:

Herb Moford (-0.75) - 0

None

Jack Crimian (-1) - 0

No Hitters:

Catchers:

None

Del Rice (4.01) - 29

Bill Sarni (2.04) - 15

Notable Events:

Hal Smith (1.73) - 14

Nelson Burbrink (0.21) - 0

1950 - The Cardinals are pretty much of a rudderless ship entering the

Dick Rand (0.08) - 0

Fifties. William Walsingham, the nephew of former owner Sam Breadon,

is the defacto General Manager, meaning no one useful is in charge.

First Basemen:

The Cardinals are still a competitive team during the early part of the

Joe Cunningham (13.34) - 22

decade - a legacy of Branch Rickey. St. Louis still has some top talent

Bill White (2.16) - 10

in Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, Marty Marion, Enos Slaughter,

Steve Bilko (1.14) - 5

Howie Pollet, Max Lanier, Harry Brecheen and Gerry Staley - all Rickey

Rocky Nelson (0.25) - 1

signees. But very little new is coming in for support.

Tom Alston (-0.11) - 1

Don Bollweg (-0.22) - 0

1952 - Bill Veeck, owner of the Browns, was pushing hot and

Tom Burgess (-0.39) - 0

heavy to make St. Louis a Browns town. It would never have

Whitey Lockman (-0.53) - 0

come to this but Fred Saigh, Cardinals owner, was in deep

trouble due to tax evasion charges. The Browns still owned

Second Basemen:

Sportsman's Park and Veeck was doing things like painting the

Red Schoendienst (24.96) - 47

ballpark brown and, in general, being a pain to the Cardinals.

Don Blasingame (12.02) - 31

Eddie Stanky (0.84) - 0

1953 - August Busch, owner of Anheuser-Busch Breweries buys

Dick Cole (0.07) - 0

the club. Veeck doesn't stand a chance against his deep pockets

and opts to leave St. Louis. However, American League owners

ShortStop:

will only grant that request if Veeck sells, and he does. The Browns

Solly Hemus (21.23) - 32

move to Baltimore and Veeck is out of baseball along with Saigh.

Alvin Dark (5.13) - 13

Meanwhile, Busch attempts to revive the franchise. First he hires Dick

Alex Grammas (4.94) - 12

Myer as General Manager. Then grabs renowned GM Frank Lane from

Eddie Kasko (0.73) - 4

the White Sox. Lane had a great track record in Chicago, but it turns out

Billy Harrell (0) - 0

that he was more lucky than good and Busch moved on from him in 1957

Ruben Amaro (-0.63) - 0

bringing in Bing Devine. It took a little while, but Busch finally got it right

with Devine, a savvy baseball man.

Third Base:

Ken Boyer (24.63) - 53

1954 - The Cards renovate Sportsman's Park and rename it

Ray Jablonsky (1.89) - 8

Busch Stadium.

Vern Benson (0.21) - 0

Earl Weaver (0) - 0

1954 - Twenty four year old outfielder Wally Moon comes up as a rookie

Outfield:

1954 - The Cards trade aging outfielder Enos Slaughter to the Yankees

Stan Musial (61.15) - 114

for twenty two year old centerfielder Bill Virdon. A steal for the Cards.

Wally Moon (12.26) - 45

Virdon will be Rookie of the Year in 1955

Enos Slaughter (12.38) - 25

Rip Repulski (5.72) - 23

1955 -Third baseman Ken Boyer comes up as a twenty four year

Peanuts Lowrey (1.98) - 15

old rookie. He will go on to be one of the top third basemen in the

Bill Virdon (1.43) - 7

game for a decade

Chuck Diering (-0.35) - 7

Del Ennis (-1.55) - 7

1956 - Lefthander Vinegar Bend Mizell returns from two years of military

Gino Cimoli (0.25) - 4

service. He is twenty five years old. Mizell is a consistent double figure

Hank Sauer (0.9) - 1

winner for the Cards from the time he came up in 1952

Wally Westlake (0.78) - 1

Joe Frazier (0.64) - 0

1956 - In a horrific trade, Frank Lane deals Bill Virdon to the Pirates for

Jackie Brandt (0.16) - 0

journeyman lefthander Dick Littlefield and light hitting centerfielder

Jim King (-0.09) - 0

Bobby Del Greco

Irv Noren (0) - 0

Eddie Miksis (-0.3) - 0

1957 - Stan Musial's NL record consecutive game streak ends

Chuck Essegian (-0.38) - 0

when he gets hurt at 895.

Pete Whisenant (-0.75) - 0

Lee Tate (-0.94) - 0

1958 - Stan Musial gets his 3000th hit.

1958 - The Cards trade Willard Schmidt to the Reds for Curt Flood.

A great deal for the Cards.