Eight nominees for 2016 Cardinals Hall of Fame announced
ST. LOUIS -- Eight candidates will appear on the 2016 Cardinals Hall of Fame fan ballot: Chris Carpenter, Keith Hernandez, Jason Isringhausen, Mark McGwire, Matt Morris, Edgar Renteria, Scott Rolen and Joe Torre.
The eight modern ballot nominees were selected by a "Red Ribbon" committee of Cardinals baseball experts through a secret ballot process. The two players with the most fan votes will be inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame this August.
Online voting begins March 11 at cardinals.com/HOF and concludes April 20.
The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame was established as a way to recognize the exceptional careers and significant achievements of the greatest players in Cardinals history. To be eligible, players must have played for the Cardinals for at least three seasons and must be retired as a player from Major League Baseball for at least three years.
The eligible pool of players is divided into two categories: modern players and veteran players. If a player retired more than 40 years prior to the induction year, he is classified as a veteran player.
In addition to nominating modern players for fan balloting, the "Red Ribbon" committee of Cardinals baseball experts also elected a veteran player for induction using a secret ballot process. Independent of this process, the Cardinals organization may also opt to induct an individual who was an important figure in Cardinals history such as a coach, broadcaster or member of the front office.
The induction class will be announced later this spring. The formal enshrinement ceremony will take place on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Each member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame will be permanently enshrined in the Cardinals Hall of Fame Gallery in Ballpark Village, just outside the entrance to the team's museum.
Following is a description of each nominee's career as a Cardinal.
Chris Carpenter (#CarpenterHOF)
2005 Cy Young award, 95-44 W-L, 3.07 ERA
Chris Carpenter played nine seasons with the Cardinals and was selected as a National League All-Star three times: 2005, 2006 and 2010. He made 18 starts for St. Louis during the postseason, including a start in Game 3 of the 2006 World Series vs. Detroit, pitching eight shutout innings, allowing no runs on three hits and striking out six. The game that solidifies Carpenter into Cardinals fans hearts may be Game 5 of the 2011 Division Series vs. Philadelphia when he pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, clinching the Division Series on the way to the team's 11th world championship. He was the National League Cy Young award winner in 2005 after a 21-5 season, and National League Comeback Player of the Year in 2009. Carpenter's .683 winning percentage ranks second on the Cardinals franchise all-time list, and his 1,085 strikeouts rank fourth all-time. He is also the Cardinals' career postseason wins leader with 10 and in innings pitched (108.0).
Keith Hernandez (#HernandezHOF)
1979 NL co-MVP, .299 average, 265 doubles, 81 homers, 595 RBIs, 662 runs
Keith Hernandez played 10 seasons with the Cardinals, winning six straight Gold Gloves from 1978-83 at first base. He was a co-MVP in 1979, batting a league-leading .344 with 11 homers and 105 RBIs. The two-time All-Star was a member of the 1982 world championship team and batted .299 that season with 94 RBIs.
Jason Isringhausen (#IsringhausenHOF)
217 saves, 2.98 ERA
Jason Isringhausen spent seven seasons with the Cardinals. During his time with the team, the Cardinals won the Central Division in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006, with World Series appearances in 2004 and 2006, winning the World Series in 2006. He registered a National League-leading 47 saves in 2004, tying the franchise record that Lee Smith set. (Trevor Rosenthal broke the record in 2015.) A two-time All-Star (2002 and 2005), Izzy still holds the franchise record for saves with 217, and is sixth with 401 appearances with St. Louis.
Mark McGwire (#McGwireHOF)
220 homers, 473 RBIs, 1.111 OPS
Mark McGwire finished his playing career in 2001 with St. Louis after joining the club via trade on July 31, 1997. In 1998, McGwire captured the world's attention when he broke the MLB single-season home run record of 61 set by Roger Maris with 70 homers. He blasted 220 career home runs with the Cardinals, ranking sixth in franchise history, leading the majors in home runs in both 1998 and 1999 (65), the top two season totals in Cardinals history. He set the Cardinals single-season walk mark with 162 in 1998 and had back-to-back seasons of 147 RBIs ('98 and '99), ranking tied for third in Cardinals history. He was a three-time All-Star while with St. Louis (1998, 1999, 2000) and won the Silver Slugger in 1998.
Matt Morris (#MorrisHOF)
101-62, 3.61 ERA, 986 strikeouts
Matt Morris was the No. 1 draft pick (12th overall) for St. Louis in the 1995 amateur draft and reached the majors just a year and a half later. He made his major league debut April 4, 1997, and went 12-9 that season in 33 starts. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting in 1997 and was a two-time All-Star in 2001 and 2002. Morris tied for the MLB lead with 22 wins (Curt Schilling) in 2001, finishing third in Cy Young voting. Morris pitched for the Cardinals from 1997-2005, and played in five postseasons and one World Series (2004). He won 101 games over his career with St. Louis and still ranks seventh on the franchise career lists with a .620 winning percentage and sixth with 986 strikeouts.
Edgar Renteria (#RenteriaHOF)
.290 average, 451 RBIs, 207 doubles
Edgar Renteria played six seasons with the Cardinals and was named a National League All-Star three times (2000, 2003, 2004). The shortstop won two Gold Gloves while with St. Louis in 2002 and 2003, and three Silver Slugger awards in 2000, 2002 and 2003. Renteria batted .330 with St. Louis in 2003, the all-time Cardinals single-season leader for a shortstop, as are his 47 doubles that season. He drove in his single-season-high 100 runs in 2003, which rank second among all St. Louis shortstops, and his 83 RBIs in 2002 are his second-highest career total. Renteria stole 37 bases his first season with the Cardinals (1999), and his 147 steals while with St. Louis are second highest in franchise history for a shortstop.
Scott Rolen (#RolenHOF)
.286 average, 173 doubles, 111 homers, 453 RBIs
In his five-plus seasons (2002-07) with the Cardinals, Scott Rolen dominated the hot corner, winning Gold Gloves in 2003, 2004 and 2006, and the Silver Slugger award in 2002. He was named to the National League All-Star team in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, and named to the All-Busch Stadium team as the third baseman by vote of fans. Rolen hit a career-high 49 doubles in 2003 and had 48 doubles during the team's 2006 world championship season. He hit more than 20 homers three times with St. Louis (2003, '04, '06) and had more than 90 RBIs each of those same three seasons. In 2004, Rolen batted .314, which ranked second among National League third basemen and was second on the team, a year in which the club had four players with an average above .300. Following the 2004 season, Rolen finished fourth in National League MVP voting. Rolen was a big contributor during the postseason with St. Louis. He batted .310 (9-29) during the National League Championship Series vs. Houston in 2004, including his two-run home run off Roger Clemens in the sixth inning of Game 7 that plated the pennant-clinching run. In 2006, Rolen helped the club to its 10th world championship, closing out the postseason with a 10-game hitting streak (.351, 13-37) that began in Game 3 of the NLCS vs. the New York Mets.
Joe Torre (#TorreHOF)
1971 NL MVP, .308 average, 161 doubles, 98 homers, 558 RBIs
Joe Torre played six seasons with the Cardinals at catcher, first base and third base from 1969-74. He was a four-time All-Star while playing for St. Louis, being named to the team in 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. Torre was named the National League MVP in 1971 after leading the league with a .363 batting average, 137 RBIs and 230 hits. That hits total was the most since Stan Musial had 230 in 1948 and still ranks as the fourth-highest single-season total in franchise history. He posted a career batting average with the Cardinals of .308, ranking ninth in Cardinals history. Torre had over 100 RBIs three times in his St. Louis tenure and never had fewer than 149 hits or a batting average below .282.
The 2016 Cardinals Hall of Fame "Red Ribbon" Selection Panel
Tom Ackerman, Frank Cusumano, Derrick Goold, Rick Hummel, Randy Karraker, Whitey Herzog, Martin Kilcoyne, Jenifer Langosch, Tony La Russa, Bernie Miklasz, Joe Ostermeier, Rob Rains, Red Schoendienst and Brian Walton.
