1971 Topps Cardinals Leading Firemen

Cardinals lost game 5 by a score of 4-2. A couple of the interesting side stories is the emergence of Mike Napoli as an unlikely hero. He has had 4 multi-RBI games in the series which ties him with Mickey Mantle for the record. The other interesting story is the breakdown in communications to the bullpen which ended up with the wrong pitcher being sent to the mound for the Cardinals.

Jason Isringhausen actually surprised me. The Cardinals have 2 Hall of Fame closers who are conspicuously missing from this card, Bruce Sutter and Dennis Eckersley. Another potential Hall of Famer, Lee Smith only shares a frame with Isringhausen. Although he has 300 saves and 2 All-Star appearances over 15 years and 4 teams, he's hardly a household name.

Lee Smith was a 7 time All-Star and led the league in saves 4 times, totaling 478 saves in his 18 year career.

Fernando Salas led the Cardinals with 24 saves this season but it is Jason Motte who has assumed the closer position in the post season with 9 saves.

1971 Topps Rangers Leading Firemen

The save was not an official MLB record until 1969. The official record as we now know it was created by Chicago sportswriter Jerome Holtzman and used in The Sporting News since 1960. Topps didn't start making save leader cards until 1973. Back then they were referred to as Leading Firemen. What is now called the closer used to be referred to as the "Fireman". I think the last time Topps had a "Leading Firemen" card was in 1984. If I am wrong, please leave a comment to correct me.

John Wetteland was the Yankees closer before Mariano Rivera. He was the World Series MVP in 1996. Rivera was his set up man. He played for the Rangers from 1997-2000.

Francisco Cordero pitched for the Rangers from 2000-2006. His 49 saves in 2004 was second to Mariano Rivera's 53.

Neftali Feliz closed out game 4 pitching the last 2/3rds of the 9th without getting the save. He had 40 saves in 2010 and was named AL Rookie of the Year.

1984 Topps Cardinals Stolen Base Leaders

Albert Pujols hit a record-tying 3 homers in a  16-7 win in game 3. Turning what could have been a controversial game into an offensive showcase. 23 runs, 28 hits, 3 errors but not a single stolen base. Too bad. Might've made this post more relevant. Anyway, this is the Topps 1984 active career leader card format adapted to continue my World Series theme.

Lou Brock was the MLB stolen base leader at the time he retired with 938 overall.  He also held the official single season record for stolen bases with 118. Both records have since fallen to Rickey Henderson.

Arlie Latham has the most stolen bases in franchise history with 129 in 1887 for the St. Louis Brown Stockings. Because of several rule changes, pre-1900 stolen base records are not officially recognized. Stolen bases were at times credited for advancement of the runner in several different scenarios including errors, sacrifice flies, taking extra bases on a hit ball, etc. To give an example of how different it was the 1887 Brown Stockings had 581 stolen bases and 39 home runs. The 1974 Cardinals (Brock's record season) had 172 stolen bases and 83 home runs.

Tyler Greene led the Cardinals with 11 stolen bases in 58 games this season. He also had 19 stolen bases for the AAA Memphis Redbirds. Tyler is not even on the World Series Roster.

1984 Topps Rangers Stolen Base Leaders

This time I took the 1984 Topps Active Career Leader card format to compare the historical franchise stolen base leaders to the World Series teams. The Rangers card features some sweet fros as well as one of the heroes of game 2. 

Bump Wills is the son of speedster Maury Wills. His father led the league in stolen bases 6 years in a row from 1960-1965. Bump put up consistent if not spectacular numbers during his 6 years in the majors. After a stint in Japan he returned to the Rangers organization as a coach.

Elvis Andrus scored the winning run in game 2 and has led the Rangers in stolen bases all 3 years of his major league career.

1969 Topps Cardinals Victory Leaders

The Rangers came back from a 1-0 deficit in the ninth on 2 singles and 2 sacrifice flies to even the series with the Cardinals. Here again, I'm taking the 1969 Topps league leader card format to compare the World Series teams to their historic franchise leaders.

Bob Gibson topped the Cardinals with 251 career victories over 17 years. Bob also help himself with his fielding. He was a Gold Glove winner 9 years straight from 1965-1973.

Silver King, born Charles Frederick Koenig, "musta been something before electricity" to quote Rodney Dangerfield. He put up 45 wins for the St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1888. It was a different ballgame back then. He started 64 games in 1888 and finished every one of them. Regardless, no other pitcher in Cardinals history has won more than 45 games in one season and it is doubtful than anybody ever will.

Kyle Lohse won 14 games this season to lead the team in 2011. The Cardinal's pitching staff had 6 pitchers with double digit wins. Kyle McClellan started the season in the rotation due to Adam Wainwright's injury returned to the bullpen when the Cards acquired Edwin Jackson from the White Sox. Jackson had 12 wins including the 7 he earned on the White Sox.