St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photo Gallery

Pujols named 2003 N.L. Outstanding Player

4 Gold Gloves!

Renteria & Pujols are Silver Sluggers!

Edgar Renteria voted NL co-player of the week!

Albert Pujols voted June NL Player of the month!

Jim Edmonds voted NL Player of the week!

Albert Pujols voted May NL Player of the month!

Matt Morris voted NL Player of the week!

Albert Pujols voted NL Player of the week!

Jim Edmonds voted NL Player of the week!

What an (another) incredible year for Cardinals fans!!!  It was a year that started out with high hopes,  went into mid-year mediocrity, but then to start the last month of the season in first place only to end up three games out!!!  Pass the Pepto!!!

I think two things affected the 2003 Birds more than anything....  We never really made up for the loss of Andy Benes, Chuck Finley, and of course Darryl Kyle.  There was a lot of wins for these guys in 2002 that were never replaced this year.   The other thing was injuries;  Vina, Isringhausen, Cairo, Edmonds, Morris, Marrero, Drew, Calero,  etc.   All teams have injuries to key players during the year, but I think the Cards were too thin on the bench and down on the farm to compensate. 

Started the season on March 31st.  The earliest opening day date in history.  (Also 1998)

The team hit better, scored more runs and made almost 30 fewer errors than last year, but the Birds were only 14-25 in one-run games and gave up 210 home runs.  It's pretty easy to see where their weakness ultimately was....

In spite of not making the post-season for the first time since 1999, this season did produce a number of good things!

Albert Pujols - wins the NL batting title and ties a ML record for most home runs in the first three seasons of a career (114).  --  Imagine what kind of awesome career numbers he will put up!!!   He had the second best ever slugging percentage for a 23 yr old player.  (.6667)   (The best?  Willie Mays, .6673)

Albert Pujols had a 30-game hitting streak. (starting 7/12)

Edgar Renteria - becomes the first NL shortstop since 1985 (Hubie Brooks) to have 100 RBIs.  -- He has become one of the few indispensable Birds...

Tony LaRussa - gets his 2000th win as a manager and ends the season with 2009. -- Say what you will about him, it does take a great manager to get 2000 wins....

Mike Mattheny - finishes the season with no errors!!! -- Doesn't have to have a bat if he can continue to do it with the glove.  (Does need some solid help so he can rest once in a while.)

Joe Girardi - gets his 1100th career hit.

In a December trade with the Braves, the Cards get Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis and Ray King.

Let's get ready for 2004!

2003 Report Card:

A's:

Albert Pujols -  What can you say about this guy that hasn't already been said.  He not only wins the NL batting title, ties a ML record for most HRs in the first 3 seasons (114), and finishes first in batting average, hits, total bases, runs, doubles, extra-base hits, and multi-hit games.  WOW!!!  He also collected the Silver Slugger, Sporting News Player of the Year, and the Hank Aaron award.

Edgar Renteria -  What a turn around since the middle of last year.  Every aspect of his game was amazing this year and he was one of the few Cardinals who actually came through in the clutch this year.  100 RBIs!  He also collected his second straight Silver Slugger award!!!

Bo Hart - Just a joy to watch.  He's of the same mold as Rex Hudler and Joe McEwing.  He supplied a much needed spark to the team during the middle of the season.  

Woody Williams - Even though he had a bad August he did manage to win 18 games. 

Mike Matheny - How can you go a whole season without an error!?!?

B's:

Scott Rolen - With an outstanding glove and good bat he had an above average season.  He's the kind of guy we need to keep around for a long time.   He would have been on my "A" list but his clutch hitting wasn't where it should have been.

Matt Morris - Even though injuries held him back, he still managed to hang in and win some key games.  

Jim Edmonds - Another solid season with flashes of defensive brilliance, however stints with nagging injuries and streaky offence keep him off the "A" list this year.

Jason Isringhausen - An above average season with 22 saves out of 25 attempts.  However those three blown saves were key as it turns out...   If the rest of the team would have picked him up a bit, it wouldn't have mattered.

Eduardo Perez - Had one of his best years average-wise in his utility role.  He seems to add a little spark to the club with his pinch hitting duties and occasional start.

Brett Tomko - Started out the season terribly, but finally found it towards the end and wound up with 13 wins.

C's:

J.D. Drew - Still couldn't shake the injuries and could never get on a roll. 

Jason Simontacchi - Good when he's on, but seemed to not be able to be "on" often.

Steve Kline - Seemed to have the same "stuff", but couldn't seem to get the big/key out.

Kerry Robinson - Started out very slow, but came back strong near the end of the season.  

Let's just say "below average"

Tino Martinez - Just never seemed to get any rhythm going.  He had one small stretch when they went east to play the AL teams, but that was about it. 

Miguel Cairo - Was hurt for a portion of the season, but never really was able to deliver like he did in 2002.

Jeff Fassero - His only bright spot was a short stint as a starter which he handled pretty well, but as a reliever he just couldn't get the job done.

Garrett Stephenson - Not sure what happened, but never really seemed to get it together this year.

On September 10th, Tony LaRussa becomes just the eighth manager in ML history to win 2,000 career games as the Cards defeat the Rockies, 10-2.

The Cardinals beat the Brewers 11-9 in the home opener on March 31st.  Tino Martinez and Scott Rolen homered and Russ Springer gained his only victory of the season in relief.