This is the fifth in an ongoing series that evaluates Strat-O-Matic's 2004
baseball teams.

I'll finally look at a National League team, and start with the one that had the
best record in the majors. The '04 Cards are a personal favorite because they're
the best team I've ever seen in person -- even though they lost the game I saw.

As always, feedback is encouraged.

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2004 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Strengths: Lineup boasts potent, scary offense; the defense is excellent; the
bench is deep with pinch hitters and -runners; the rotation and bullpen both are
solid, if unspectacular.

Weaknesses: Tony Womack and the substitute infielders can't field; the corner
outfield spots were in flux all season; Larry Walker's card doesn't accurately
reflect his stats with the team, and he's a "W" vs. LHP; no lefties are in the
rotation, and the two LHPs in the bullpen struggle against right-handed hitters.

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The 2004 St. Louis team is one of those rare Strat teams I consider an
honest-to-goodness keeper. It's a modern-era team on a par with the greatest
teams of all time. The Cardinals' 105 wins was the most by any team since the
record-setting 2001 Seattle Mariners, and this was no fluke; the Cards have no
glaring, crippling weaknesses. Except, of course, for an inability to beat the
Boston Red Sox. :-)

The team succeeded so well in '04 in part because the post-Mark McGwire
offensive core of Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen
continued to produce, while at the same time the team managed to resolve its
glaring deficiencies from the year before, namely, the left side of the infield
and the starting pitching.

Pujols at first base is a definite upgrade from Tino Martinez. At second, the
supposedly washed-up Tony Womack, who had taken a whopping 95 percent pay cut
when the Cards salvaged him from the National League scrapheap, responded with a
career-best .307 average and team-leading 26 steals. St. Louis in 2004 finally
had a legitimate leadoff hitter, and at $300,000, Womack was probably the
biggest bargain in the majors.

The defense overall also continues to impress, with Edmonds, Rolen, Renteria and
Mike Matheny all among the best in the game at their respective positions.
That's not to say the '04 Cards don't have defense problems. The Achilles' heel
in the field is Womack, whose "4e20" sticks out like a sore thumb on this team.
And hold your breath if any of the infielders get injured; except for John Mabry
at first, none of the bench-warmers is better than a "4" at any of the infield
slots. Mabry -- a former Cardinal outfielder/first baseman who returned to the
club in '04 -- also is the only one of the three infield subs who can hit at
all. The fact that Mabry became Rolen's backup at third base, even though Mabry
hadn't played the position since 2000, speaks volumes.

Fortunately, the Cardinals had better luck with their backup outfielders. Mabry,
So Taguchi and Roger Cedeno all would have been starters on most other teams.
Not Ray Lankford, but he wasn't technically a backup; he was a first-half
starter who belongs more with the Mixed Player Group than on the 27-man roster.

Like Mabry, Lankford was an outfielder for the McGwire-era Cards who in 2004
returned to the team of his glory days. But unlike Mabry, Lankford was a star in
the late '90s, and he was expected to produce when he returned to St. Louis to
resume his former role as starting left fielder. Alas, Lankford was not the same
guy who in two separate seasons hit 31 homers and in the .290s. Considering he
could no longer hit, run or field, it's a wonder Lankford got as much playing
time as he did. An injury mercifully all but ended his terrible season on July
21; he was only 3-for-14 the rest of the year. He made a brief return Sept. 1,
but by then, he'd lost his job to Larry Walker, whom the Cardinals had picked up
Aug. 6.

As for Walker, he gives the team a great fielder and tough out. His presence in
the lineup has the added benefit of getting Reggie Sanders out of right field
and into left, where he belongs. Unfortunately, Walker's card isn't a true
representation of his performance as a Cardinal; he had very different stats
with Colorado (108 AB, 6 HR, .324) and St. Louis (150 AB, 11 HR, .280). Another
problem with Walker is his "W" power ranking against lefties, a huge surprise
coming from someone who overall amassed 17 homers in only 258 at-bats. Of
course, the Cardinals still are a far better team with Walker. He appeared in
only 44 games with them, though, so full-season-replay types are going to have a
headache playing corner-outfield musical chairs when he's not in the lineup.

As interesting as the position players made this team, the real story was the
pitching, probably the most important reason why the Cardinals went from a
barely-.500 team in '03 to the winningest in '04. Strat's '03 Cards has no fewer
than five pitchers with ERAs over 5, while the team ERA was a mediocre 4.60. But
this hapless pitching staff managed to morph almost overnight into one of the
majors' best, improving in '04 to an N.L. second-best 3.75. In the suddenly
solid rotation, journeymen pickups Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan and Jason
Marquis all had career years, while holdovers Woody Williams and Matt Morris
continued to produce. Closer Jason Isringhausen also had a career year, tying
Lee Smith's 1991 franchise record of 47 saves. The rest of the bullpen is more
than adequate.

Much was made last year about the absence of a megastar No. 1 starter. The
preview of the '05 Cardinals on about.baseball.com noted this common beef;
reviewer Michael Dowd dismissed the '04 rotation as "five No. 3 starters."
Personally, I feel this is harsh. Morris was the only starter who had a mid- to
back-of-rotation year. As for the other four, on other teams they'd be No. 2 or
even No. 1, unless they were playing for, say, the Boston Red Sox. I'm sure the
Indians and Tigers last year wouldn't have minded having any of the Cardinals'
starters, including Morris!

The fly in the pitching ointment isn't the absence of a Curt Schilling or Randy
Johnson, but the absence of southpaws. None of the Cards' starters, including
fill-in Dan Haren, is a lefty. The two left-handers in the bullpen, Ray King and
Steve Kline, have impressive overall stats, but both are significantly less
effective against right-handed batters. The Strat manager has to keep close tabs
on the opposing manager's lineup and bench when using those two.

I'll conclude with a suggestion: Replay the 2004 World Series. Schilling
notwithstanding, I still can't believe the Cardinals lost to Boston in four
straight! :-)

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