On Friday night in Philadelphia, the newest St. Louis Cardinal, outfielder Matt Holliday, celebrated his trade from Oakland with a four-hit game. That tied his career high. It was Holliday’s 15th career four-hit game and third of this season. The first two were on May 19 at Detroit and this Monday, July 20 at Minnesota.
Holliday was just the third Cardinal in at least the last 55 years to have as many as four hits in his first game wearing the uniform.
Cardinals most hits, first game (1954-2009)
| Player | Date | Hits |
| Matt Holliday | 7/24/2009 | 4 |
| Aaron Miles | 4/3/2006 | 4 |
| George Altman | 4/9/1963 | 4 |
New infielder Julio Lugo, who joined the club the day before from Boston, also got into his first game action as a Cardinal on Friday night and ultimately had an even better first weekend than Holliday. Lugo collected eight hits and Holliday seven over the three games at Philadelphia.
Lugo hit for the weekend cycle, including two triples, two doubles and a home run while Holliday had four doubles among his seven safeties. The two are currently tied for third for the most extra-base-hit games to start a Cardinals career since at least 1954 and have a chance to move up the list this week as the Cards entertain the Dodgers at Busch Stadium starting on Monday night.
Extra-base-hit games to start Cardinals career (1954-2009)
| Start | End | G | |
| Will Clark | 8/1/2000 | 8/6/2000 | 5 |
| Charley Smith | 4/13/1966 | 4/16/1966 | 4 |
| Matt Holliday | 7/24/2009 | 7/26/2009 * | 3 |
| Julio Lugo | 7/24/2009 | 7/26/2009 * | 3 |
| Bo Hart | 6/19/2003 | 6/21/2003 | 3 |
| Ray Burris | 5/10/1986 | 5/30/1986 | 3 |
| Cesar Cedeno | 8/30/1985 | 9/2/1985 | 3 |
| Reggie Smith | 4/5/1974 | 4/10/1974 | 3 |
| Ted Kubiak | 7/31/1971 | 8/4/1971 | 3 |
| Wally Moon | 4/13/1954 | 4/17/1954 | 3 |
| * still active |
Lugo is the fourth player in at least the last 55 years to start his Cardinals career with three two-or-more-hit games and is the first during that period to have eight hits in his first three games with a hit in each game.
I find several of the names on the lists surprising, including an especially large concentration of catchers.
Most multi-hit games to start Cardinals career (1954-2009)
| Year | Games | |
| Julio Lugo | 2009 | 3 * |
| Bo Hart | 2003 | 3 |
| Pat Borders | 1996 | 3 |
| Roger Maris | 1967 | 3 |
| * current streak |
Most hits over first three Cardinals games, hitting in each game (1954-2009)
| Year | Hits | |
| Julio Lugo | 2009 | 8 |
| Matt Holliday | 2009 | 7 |
| Aaron Miles | 2006 | 7 |
| George Altman | 1963 | 7 |
| Mike Matheny | 2000 | 6 |
| Pat Borders | 1996 | 6 |
| Danny Sheaffer | 1995 | 6 |
| Bill Virdon | 1955 | 6 |
In the oddest of these odd stats, only two Cardinals have doubled in each of first three games since 1954. Prior to Holliday, pitcher Ray Burris did it in 1986, but it took him 21 days of elapsed time to accomplish the feat.
Doubles in first three Cardinals games (1954-2009)
| Year | |
| Matt Holliday | 2009 |
| Ray Burris | 1986 * |
| * over 21 days |
Watching the two new Cardinals in person in all three games this past weekend, I was actually more impressed with Lugo’s hitting. He seemed to put the bat squarely on the ball each time, hitting the ball hard, even into outs. Over his career in Citizens Bank Park, Lugo is now batting over .500 (21-for-41).
Thanks to Tom Orf for the data pulls and in indulging my questions.
While Julio will likely cool-off and then eventually settle-in to a role of platooning with Brendan and Skip between Short Stop and Second Base, there can be no doubt the Matt’s performance was a glimpse into the wonderful things to come from his bat and into his glove! Although Mark was here for a longer period of time (and riddled with a combination slump and injury), my mind places his debut into the same time-frame as Julio and Matt. And isn’t it remarkable that Rick should finally regain his stride at this momentous turning-point?
Seeing George Altman’s name on those lists sure stirred some memories. I was really excited when we got him from the Cubs prior to the 1963 season, even if we did trade Larry Jackson and Lindy McDaniel (two of my favorites) to get him.
We also got Don Cardwell, who we flipped about a month later for Dick Groat. Bing Devine was building a great team, IM(young)O.
Altman didn’t do much, but Groat was awesome and I’ll never forget the run of 19 out 20 to get us to within a game of the Dodgers. I don’t want to discuss what happened in that series.
CFS57, I’ve always considered the rivalry between the Cardinals and Dodgers throughout the forties and into the sixties as a much more real rivalry than this so-called Cubs vs. Cards rivalry, at least until the last six years. How about you?
The Cardinal-Dodger rivalry was so prominent (and real) during the early sixties, that I felt it within myself last night when the cockles of my heart were warmed by the 6 to 1 shellacking we gave them!
Since only a Cards fan since 1963, I must yield, at least for now, to the wisdom of elders.
I have always felt that the Cards knew how to tackle the Dodgers and the New York teams. We like to have a sporting go at the coastal-hyped teams. When the Cards are healthy in the post-season, we can generally vanquish overpriced pretenders.
Lugo has begun like a man released from Purgatory. Good for him.
Its curious about Ray Burris. Good to uncover factoids such as that, even if their significance proves obscure.
Speaking of Cards-Cubs rivalry, i was at Wrigley Sunday for Cubs v Reds when Cubs finally overtook the Cards for first place. The final of the Cards game went up on the board, showing the cards loss (which dropped them into a tie with the Cubs making it possible for the Cubs to move into first by winning that game) I expected a lively cheer from the crowd, as would have happened at Busch in the reverse situation, but there was not even a murmur, no buzz, nothing at all. I swear nobody recognized the significance.
Last call would have received a response similar to what you were expecting.
I like the big Pow-wow on the mound in the 8th. Dave leaves and Franklin is jawing with LaRue who says something that Franklin responds with “F um”. I’m sure he was referring to Blum and I do like his attitude.
Brian, maybe you can tell us why the postgame Tony Q & A can’t be arranged so TV audience can hear the questions. We have to guess what or who Tony is talking about. Its been that way all season. You know, if we can put a man on the moon why can’t we hear the questions.
I have been there many times (post-game, not on the moon!). The problem is that the press conferences are not moderated. There is no mic that can be passed to the questioner. As a result, you have only the mics on the cameras lined up behind the media and the one on the lectern.
On second thought, Tony wouldn’t have the patience to wait for the mic to be passed around, especially after a loss. His last question is usually, “Anything else?” or “Is that it?”. It is so predictable that we kid him about it.
On the road, there are far fewer media types and everyone just crowds into TLRs office. Since the space is so small, the questions asked on the road usually are audible on television.