In the last half-century, no St. Louis Cardinals hitter has had more seasons of four or more four-hit games than Curt Flood.
Since the All-Star Break, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday has played in 24 games. He is hitting with metronome-like consistency with hits in 22 of them, including his last seven. During that time, the 30-year-old has five home runs and 20 RBI along with a .333/.415/.548 line.
In game two of the Cincinnati series on Tuesday night, Holliday had a double and three singles and plated three. It was his fourth game of four or more hits this season. No Cardinals hitter had as many four-hit contests since Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols in 2008.
The following tables outline the 40 different times in the last half-century, since 1960, that a Cardinals player had four or more four-hit games in one season. 24 different hitters are included. The first column lists the occurrences from most recent to oldest.
The middle column is sorted by the most such games in a season. Pujols is tied at the top with seven four-hit games, which he accomplished in 2004. Others who also had seven are Willie McGee in 1985, Curt Flood in 1964 and Dick Groat in 1963.
The far right column indicates the number of seasons each player had at least four, four-hit games. In a bit of a surprise to me at least, Flood, a career .293 hitter, is the leader with five such years, 1961, 1963-65 and 1968.
Not surprisingly, Pujols is among the group right behind Flood at four seasons. In 2010, Albert is lagging. He collected four hits on opening day, but didn’t replicate the feat until June 23. Pujols hasn’t done it again in the almost two months since – but there is still time. 49 games remain in the regular season.
St. Louis Cardinals four-hit games, season, 1960-2010
Thanks to researcher Tom Orf for the data in the above tables.
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I think it is a shame that Curt Flood is not in the Hall of Fame. He stood up not only for himself but for the rights of all players. And he did it at the expense of his career. He was a courageous man and a heck of a ballplayer.
I had the great fortune to be in attendance for two of Curt’s four hit games in 1964. They came on the same date, August 16, at Dodger Stadium. He was 4-4 off Sandy Koufax in game one and collected four more hits in game 2 before striking out his final AB. He also may have set a record for standing ovations given to an opposing player that day.
By the way, the Cardinals finished that day in fifth place, nine games behind the Phillies and 4 1/2 games behind second place San Francisco. They went 31-14 the rest of the year to win the pennant.
The above stats of Tom Orf become particularly exciting when you consider that both Albert and Matt are just now getting hot and we have more than 7 weeks remaining! It is not unrealistic, therefore, to think that Albert could be tied with Curt at the end of this season. Neither is it unrealistic to think that 1 or 2 players could be added to the first two columns!
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“Viewing” the daily game…
I am envious of fans who live in the St. Louis metro-market, as I am usually restricted to the ESPN computerized Gamecast when I “watch” my Cardinal games (like tonight). The only opportunities I have for actually watching the Cardinals are when the Brewers play against them or when they play against the Flubs (and I see them by means of either Fox, like tomorrow at 3:10 PM, or WGN, like Sunday at 1:15 PM)! Otherwise, I am stuck with the infrequent televising of Cardinal games at the hands of ESPN and TBS. So, I am absolutely thrilled about this weekend’s home stand.
The series against the Flubs…
As most of you are probably aware, the pitcher we are facing tonight is a strikeout artist and future star. Indeed, the 8.00 ERA of Thomas Diamond is a misleading indication of the very brief time that he’s been pitching at the Major League level. If our offense continues to fire on all cylinders, however, we will chase him by the 6th inning and give Jake his first National League victory. The key will be to score as many insurance runs as possible during the 7th and 8th inning, before they call on Marmol-aid. We should have an easy time of it tomorrow, scoring early and often against Zambrano (5.46) and giving our horse, Chris, lots of support. Sunday may be the most challenging of the 3 games, as it must be understood that Dempster (3.66) will be coming at us with his finest stuff. Much will depend upon how effective Lohse will be…
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Sweeps…
With regard to the total of at least 10 sweeps that I am supposing are prerequisite for entrance into the playoffs, we have 4 down and 6 to go. If we can’t sweep the Flubs at home this weekend, we will have sweep opportunities at Pittsburgh (20th-22nd) and at Houston (30th-September 1st), before the Reds come to town September 3rd-5th. The four game series against Washington might be tough (26th-29th), but the only contender we will be facing will be the Giants next weekend at Busch (20th-22nd).
DizzyDean17: I distinctly remember where I was on that August day when Curt got 4 hits off of Koufax! As a 15 year old lad, living in Houston, Texas at the time, I was privileged to watch most of the games played by the Colt .45s against my beloved Cardinals during that Summer. The visiting clubhouse at Colt Stadium was situated only a few yards apart from the rightfield entrance and the players were therefore forced to walk amidst fans on their way to the field. I was always there, waiting for any Cardinal who would bother to sign his autograph upon the front page of my program book. I will never forget one afternoon when a friendly and condescending Curt Flood paused long enough, not only to sign my book, but also to jokingly draw a clown face and mustache upon a picture of Turk Farrell!
Lineup
Lopez 5
Jay 9
Pujols 3
Holliday 7
Rasmus 8
Molina 2
Schumaker 4
Westbrook 1
Ryan 6
Cueto is not appealing his suspension.
http://cincinnati.com/blogs/reds/2010/08/13/cueto-declines-right-to-appeal/
The Reds are already beating the Marlins 3-0 in the b2. Crap.
And its Johnson that they’re working over Crd………..
This is not the time for Johnson to have a meltdown.
43 pitches………innings………..not so good.
Cardinals need to beat Chicago bad two days in a row……….that give Lohse a chance against Demster…………he will need at least 5 runs.
The odds are behind the Cards tonight. Studbrook takes on the Cubbies in St. Lou.
The Cards signed Tyrell Jenkins, going above slot. Our guys know how to gamble dollars for ROI.
Southpaw Gast is turning in a dominating performance tonight for Batavia.
And fleet Reggie Williams rang up his 6th triple for Johnson City. If you are as fast as Reg, why hold up at 2B?
Not a good way to start.
Kind of Soriano to swing at a curve when up 2-0 in the count.
Westbrooke is throwing his game…………………. problem………all motion ends up in the same place. They are raking the bottom of the zone…………..they will score at least 6 so we better bomb this guy.
News flash: this just in, Daddy Dunc wants Studbrook to try to pound the bottom of the strike zone.
This is exactly why TLR is the manager. CancerP gets to bat in the 1st inning in lie of cleanup and pops one.
For “in lie”, please read in lieu.
Brendan takes the big uppercut swing…………………that is a very bad sign. This guy has nothing and they need to take him to task. Molina beautifully played to his strength. Colby has returned to his slump position. Unless they throw “his pitch” he will slump. Look for pop ups away and turn over ground balls.
Colby has been doing a splendid job, popping a GS in Cinci. Lets hope Rasmus keeps doing exactly what he has been doing. Diamond would do well not to challenge Rasmus.
Diamond took your advice Jumbo.
Josh Johnson was a big disappointment tonight.
John Barleycorn prowls the CNB……….disguised as a crustacean……….. maybe i’ll have a drink my own self.
Thanks for getting it out of the infield Yadi………..a rare occurrence indeed.
StudJay with the two out RBI to drive in Studbrook. The Cubs are going down again.
Flubs just forgot they were the Flubs in the 1st inning.
Game is still very much in doubt………………big power bats Molina and Shumaker show the big upper cut roundhouse swings with runners in position………………Westbrooke cringes. he see whats happening…………………No team players…………..and they keep walking Colby…………..missing up and away of course. Technically, we are getting beat right now. The sacrifice with Brendan was the call of the game………………..Game is in danger…………….
Studbrooke has 12 ground outs, to only 3 fly outs. He is in command.
StudB took an inning to get used to the StL mound. New ballpark for him. The Cubs have had only 2 hits in the subsequent 5 innings.
103 pitches through 6. TLR should let StudB hit the showers now. Hot and humid at Busch.
Scary stuff: Hawksworth on the mound. TLR has cleverly inserted Blake against the bottom of their lineup.
If good pitching can beat good hitting, can bad pitching beat bad hitting? We shall see if Hawksworth can get through the 7th.
Blake did just fine.
Rasmus goes 4 for 4, all walks.
It is turning into a laugher.
Pienlla walks Rasmus 4 times to get to Molina. Yadi gets two sacrifice flys with no double plays…….it will happen all series.
Not a laugher but good enough. Tomorrow will be interesting.
That team is flat……….lost 13/16………… Lopez is going flat………..and we have no options……. that is giving Brendan to much play. ……………….as good as he played defensively, you can’t ignore that he is going squirrely again. In the second at bat they just gave him the sacrifice behind Westbrookes double. A response to his wrist popping slow pitch hero upper cut swing on the first pitch in the first at bat……………. In my opinion, much of the team momentum from the Reds series was spent on “individual speculations” tonight…………………………AP is covering the plate nicely since the 31st. I’ve never seen anything like his transformation………….making the simple adjustments that seemed to evade him for 4 months………………. and I could care less right now. He is a player again.
The Reds played very well against Florida today……..Johnson struggled, but they pressured him………..maybe they can’t beat us………..but they could sure win the division.
Watching the rerun of the game. Starlin Castro tapped Molina on his shin guard in the 1st inning. You could see Yadi smiling through his mask.
Go back through and read only Westie’s comments, you’d think this is a terrible team that played a terrible game won by sure luck by the skin of our teeth. I’m really not sure he’s a Card’s fan.
Poor Westie lives in a world full of imaginary demons.
It was a yawner last night, never in doubt. Cubs with lots of rookies go up against StudBrook. StudB was masterful after he worked out the kinks in the first. Cancer Pujols with a dinger among 3 hits as he keeps lifting his BA. Holliday pounds out a couple more doubles. Four walks for Rasmus. Jay with a 2 out RBI. The efficient Franklin nails down another save. Ironman Molina catches another.
Lohse will be effective Sunday, as the Cards sweep.
The Cards have four OPS heavyweights, one behind the other until you come to Rasmus at the end of the line. A-ha thinks Sweet Lou. Pitch around tail end charlie with no protection. He thought wrong.
Diamond thinks going in with an ERA of 8.00 it can’t get worse. He thought wrong too.
Now, the Flubs face the guy who reminds Gibson of Gibson. I’m wondering what they think about that.
No wonder they hate us. Of all the times to be out of town. . . .
Edward Encarnacion cleared waivers. I don’t know anything about his D but his offensive numbers are underwhelming. Thoughts?
He is flaky crd. Gotay is more interesting.
Sho’ ’nuff!
Our offense continued to fire on all cylinders and we chased the future star, Diamond, much earlier than the 6th inning, insuring that Jake would enjoy his first National League victory. The two insurance runs in the 7th inning made the win more impressive (decisive!) and not even their Marmol-aid could have helped them! We should have an easy time of it this afternoon, scoring early and often against Zambrano (5.46) and giving our horse, Chris, lots of support. Tomorrow may be the most challenging of the 3 games, as it must be understood that Dempster (3.66) will be coming at us with his finest stuff. If Lohse’s performance resembles what he did in Reno, however, we will have no problem racking-up our 5th sweep…
The Cards could kick the tires on Encarnacion to find out what Toronto wants. He is reputedly not a good glove, but we like to buy low.
Line on Encarnacion; (.242/.305/.458).
Miles would have nightmares.
Gotay has only 600 ML at bats. Encarnacion has more experience at the ML level and has hit 80 more ML HRs than Reuben. Encarnacion is a bit like Felipe Lopez, a kid out of Puerto Rico who once hit ok in Cinci’s generous ballpark. Oquendo can mentor him.
If he signs, Zach Cox is unlikely to be ML ready before 2014. Matt Carpenter is unlikely to be ready until 2012. Encarnacion could give Freese competition next spring. Encarnacion was traded for Rolen and a lot of folks thought Tornoto won
Some folks liked the job done by rookie David Freese, who had an OPS of .765. Encarnacion had an OPS this season with the Jays of .763. Same age, not much diff, with the bat. Given Freese is jinxed, we could use another 3Bman.
Same lineup
Lopez 3b
Jay rf
Pujols 1b
Holliday lf
Rasmus cf
Molina c
Schumaker 2b
Carpenter p
Ryan ss
I’m not as surprised as others. Tony is supersititous.
A TRIBUTE TO YADIER MOLINA
From the Comments portion of Jeremy Rutherford’s article, entitled, “Fans behind Molina in his return to Bush”:
“GIG” said on: August 14, 2010, 6:03 am
It’s going to get nasty Labor Day weekend when the Little Red Machine comes to town. I’ll bet Phillips will be “shaking like a dog shi**in’ peach seeds” when he comes to the plate especially with Wainwright, Garcia, Carpenter pitching the series. Yadi has been a fan favorite for quite some time, but will be remembered mostly for what he did in Cincy for the team and the Cardinal fans. He has worked hard to raise his BA 30+ points since the all-star break.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_97140200-8fd2-5cc8-b256-d513ac7dd84f.html?mode=comments
LP’s #1 key to the game—–Hide the Gatorade cooler.
The problem with Encarnacion is the Blue Jays are marketing him in hopes of landing lots of talent in trade. Mo, on the other hand, likes true castoff bargains like Suppan, Miles, Winn, MacDougal, Nate Robertson, Rich Hill, Reuben Gotay. Why pay more, asks Mo?
Pineiro and Lugo are recent late-summer trade additions. If the price is right, a deal could be made. I haven’t seen anything stating that the Jays’ demands are unreasonable as Jumbo asserts.
I could see why there might be little market for Encarnacion because he is not a great player still owed $1.3 million this season. Frankly, that is another reason for the Jays to ask only a little in trade. If he remains in Toronto, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see him non-tendered in December as he is arb-eligible. In that case, Toronto getting something for him now would be better than paying his salary for the rest of the season, then getting nothing for him in a few months.
Again, I am not advocating the Cardinals acquiring Encarnacion; just disagreeing with Jumbo’s logic.
About a year ago, Domeboys opined Jocketty made a terrible trade to give up Encarnacion and two others for Rolen. JS disagreed with this conventional wisdom at the time and subsequent events have treated me kindly. Sometimes I am wrong and sometimes I am not.
Referencing Ludo and Pineiro does not seem relevant. Boston picked up the full tab for Lugo, the Sox were so eager to shed him. Pineiro was a $4MM/yr extra starter, stashed in the pen. The Sox must have wanted to be rid of him too, taking Danielsen in return.
Here is the deal re Encarnacion. Last summer, Toronto ownership changed GM. The new guy (Alex) likes glitzy deals. He was underbidder on Cuban southpaw Chapman. He swiped Brandon Morrow from the Mariners. Added Brett Wallace and sent him to Houston for a speedy A level CF Gose. Alex knows how to pull the trigger when he gets what he wants.
This past July, there were rumors about many Jay players, but no deals done, because Alex wanted glitzy talent in return. From the Yanks, he wanted Joba Chamberlain, it was rumored. The Jays do not have a surplus at 3B. They have another year of control over Encarnacion. They are under no pressure to shed him.
A big spending team like the Red Sox sheds players like Suppan, Lugo, Pineiro, Womack. The Cards have fed on these leavings and had success. I dont think Alex is as generous as Theo. Alex will trade anyone on the Jays, for upside in return. Alex is playing a long term game.
Chris is definitely on top of his game! The Flubs have got a big, big problem…
We would expect for Jon to thus set the table, at the very outset!
Right on, Albert!
Great sacrifice, Matt! The best record in baseball, when they score first, belongs to the St Louis Cardinals…
Here is a one year recap on the Toronto GM, Alex. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/08/alex-anthopoulos-first-year.html
He traded Halladay, added Morrow and Drabek, spent big in the international market, talked lots of trades this summer but only moved Brett Wallace in July. He seems unlikely to be generous in terms of Encarnacion. The Blue Jays do not have a current replacement for 3B. They may not want to offer him arbitration come December, yet still have months to find a trade partner.
The Toronto situation may be a bit like the Royals with 3B Alex Gordon. They sent Gordon to AAA where he excelled. The Royals seem cool about Gordon, who went #1 in the country n 2005, yet are not releasing him either.
Ouch!
This is a flukish inning… There can be no doubt that Chris will now settle-in and our offense will crank-up…
I’m not liking those damned fly balls! I sure hope that Chris settles-in…
That third fly ball went way too far… Chris just ain’t inducing grounders today!
Something is wrong with Carp.
That was Brendan’s first hit off Zambrano… ever!
Edwin is a dweeb that makes Lopez look like a Rhodes scholarship winner. Jays only wanted to dump Rolen’s salary………….they would have taken golf balls. Cardinals aren’t spending any money.
Streaky Flip is definitely on a negative streak… damn it!
We hit Zambrano early, but we haven’t hit him often. Meanwhile, Chris has been struggling through a very un-Carpenterlike outing…
Now at 73 pitches (after 4 innings), it appears that Chris is finally settling-in…
I wonder if the fight has anything to do with Carp’s struggles?
Matt was robbed of an opposite field home run!
A 2 out walk is the start of a 2 out rally, Yadier!
Are we going back to giving up fly balls, Chris?
I hope that Chris is pulled after this inning: His facial expressions reveal that he is suffering…
Brian seemed impressed by the Jays landing 3 players for Rolen. This may have been a conventional view at the time, so his skepticism was by no means unique.
Why am I unsurprised Westie would think Edwin and Felipe are not smart (and previously that Pujols is a cancer)?
The sticky point is what would Alex want for Edwin? The Jays sent Encarnacion to AAA in June. Edwin has been on the market for months, but has not been traded yet. This suggests the Jays want too much. Tyler Greene should be back in a week, plus there is Gotay. The Cards can wait to see if Encarnacion gets released. We are in a recession and have already splurged financially on Studbrook, no reason to overpay for another Encarnacion.
All right, Flip; a 2 out walk just MAY lead to a 2 out rally (especially when Jon Jay is on deck)!
Very seldom will Jon fail to help set the table!
Infield single/error… who cares? Bases are juiced for Matt!
C’est la vie…
94 pitches, 6 innings, 6 hits and only 3 ER – a quality start. If we can just score 3 this inning, it will be a much-deserved win. C’mon guys!
When you are down 3 to 1 after 6 innings, the finger of blame is pointed at the offense. Let’s go, boys; pick it up!
Colby, are we going to follow a day of 4 straight walks with a day of 4 straight strikeouts? You WILL redeem yourself the next time you are at bat, won’t you?
Skip deserves to be batted to second or batted home: Will Winn FINALLY get a hit now?
Winn did it! Winn did it! Winn did it!
All right! With Winn in scoring position and with a 2 out rally in full swing, we need one of Brendan’s patented late inning clutch hits!
Damn it, Brendan: Close only counts in hand grenades and nuclear bombs…
Carp is very upset with himself, you can tell.
Mitchell OWES… big time! He’s been a disappointing leaker in his past two outings…
All right, Mitchell; induced groundouts are as impressive as they are Duncan-approved.
Hey! Walks are not allowed!
Since our offense failed to allow for Chris to get the “W”, they damned well better prevent him from inheriting an “L”!
It is a testament to Carp’s competitiveness that a start that is a quality start is considered a bad start for him.
Hey, Flip! .248 is not a very impressive lead-off stat!
I suppose that 2 for 3 is not good enough for Jon to stay in the ballgame…
Bad move to take out JJ.
So, the top of our order goes down meekly… Even though, Zambrano did not pitch as well as Chris, it seems as though our guys want to reward HIM with a “W”! I am not a very happy cowboy.
Yadier is absolutely unbelievable!
Down attempting base burglary. He didn’t get the memo.
Oh, how I love that “Yadier Smirk” whenever he does that!
All right, Matt! A lead-off single is the stuff of which game-winning rallies are made!
A pop-up bunt… without running? Why did you stay in the batter’s box? Colby, that ain’t the way to redeem yourself, damn it!
Is Colby asleep?
I sure hope their Marmol-aid will have a bad outing…
Why am I unsurprised Westie would think Edwin and Felipe are not smart (and previously that Pujols is a cancer)?
The sticky point is what would Alex want for Edwin? The Jays sent Encarnacion to AAA in June. Edwin has been on the market for months, but has not been traded yet. This suggests the Jays want too much.
Albert is enjoying a miraculous cure Jumbo………………………. A trade deadline miracle it would seem. Lozano is quite a physician.
They want to much or nobody give a dogs a–…………….. Alex and you on a first name basis.
Colby stand watch his pop up…….
Cards a 2/1 favorite…………………Lohse will be a 35 cent underdog against their ace……….How we score a run or two.
Let’s hope the Reds lose.
Since it appears that Marmol is “on” (as usual), we may have trubs n’ probs in our final at bat… This is a good time for Kyle to sparkle and shine…
With 3 consecutive groundouts, Kyle McClellan looked just as sharp today as Blake Hawksworth did yesterday…
The Braves and Cards could use help at 3B. Alex already swung one deal with the Braves this summer, collecting SS Escobar. The Braves are leading their division and want to send Bobby Cox to retirement as a winner. Alex could figure the win now Braves might surrender a good prospect for Encarnacion in a waiver deal.
“Oh, for…!” What a disappointment Flip is turning-out to be!
Thank for swinging at every pitch Allen.
The guy for whom Jon was lifted struck-out, leaving Miles stranded in scoring position and the Cardinals to lose the game…
The finger of blame is pointed at an offense which has been weak and ineffective today…
There goes the sweep. Perhaps we can come back to take the series tomorrow.
Good games by Jay, Albert, Molina, and Boggs. Never fun to lose to Zambrano.
Should have left JJ in.
Studwick was 2 for 4 last night for the Padres and he is 2 for 5 today…
It always hurts to get beat by the Cubs, but we still have a chance to take the series if Lohse can pull it off.
Yadi won’t be catching tomorrow.
Florida and the Reds are “Delayed”… When the rain stops and the game finally gets started, there’s always that chance that the Marlins will win and we will remain a game ahead….