#15 is 14th All-time

 

jim edmonds, the cards current centerfielder was picked as the cardinals’ All-time top 40 players.

If you did not know about this, let me fill you in; the bird house (scout.com) has been doing a series on who they think are the cards top 40 players of all time.

jim edmonds came in at spot number 14 which I thought was about right but he could be higher on the list.

this article gives some amazing stats about edmonds numbers during his current tenure with the cards. he is 4th all time in homers as a cardinal with 229. he has recieved 6 of his 9 gold gloves in a cardinal uniform and all of his 3 all star picks have come has a cardinal.

in his 7 year run with the cards, jimmy has averaged 33 homers and 94 rbis a season and thats with the injury plagued season last year and the bad season he had before.

those are some eye-popping stats. one of the most surprising stats was that jimmy is 4th all time in slugging percentage (.572).

this article was a great read, check it out and while your at it check out some of the other ones they have up.

a couple of points I tend to whole heartedly agree with that one of the rankers made:

“Brian Walton (18): Jim Edmonds has always offered an extraordinary package of hitting and defense. Rarely does a player excel defensively as does Edmonds while also putting up offensive numbers that stand up on their own so well.

In a way, Edmonds’ numerous highlight-reel fielding plays might actually draw attention away from his strength as a hitter. And it isn’t all power – home runs and slugging – either.

Sure, Edmonds strikes out a lot – third most in franchise history. But, as noted above, he still gets on base. Edmonds’ stellar .400 on-base percentage registers in the top ten on the franchise all-time list, partially due to the fact he also ranks among the organization’s best-ever at drawing walks.

Walt Jocketty has made many excellent trades in his twelve years as Cardinals general manager, but the history books may validate that getting”

and here are a couple that i feel are very true also by a different ranker:

“Jerry Modene (14): One could make the argument that Edmonds rates higher, but he has “only” seven years as a Cardinal to Curt Flood’s 12 and that’s just enough to make the difference. Two or three years from now, when his time is up, Edmonds may well rate ahead of Flood as the greatest center fielder in Cardinal history; as it is, he’s just a sliver behind him.

Edmonds rates fourth all time on the Cardinal home run list with 229 (one more than Lankford), seventh all time on the Cardinal list with his .400 OBA, and fourth (!!!) all time on the Cardinal SLG list at .572 (he trails only McGwire, Pujols, and Mize on the SLG list). He’s only got 3263 at-bats as a Cardinal, though, which is why he can’t yet rate higher.

Still, we’re talking about a guy who has averaged 33 home runs and 94 RBI over his seven-year Cardinal career – who has also been the greatest defensive center fielder of his defensive center fielder of his day – yes, better than Griffey and better than Jones and better than Hunter.”

I think i might have used too much of the article, but I think it was worth it. i really enjoy reading the bird house because i think these guys really know what they are talking about. they do a great job.  I tend to agree with them on every point that they have made about jimmy ballgame.

also, if you did not know, today is the official start of spring training! pitchers and catchers report =)

isnt that great? seems like time just flew by after the cards won the world series. they only got a couple of months to rest, but thats what happens when you win it all.

lastly, if you have not seen it, check out my new video widget on the left sidebar at the bottom. this “vodpod” is courtesy of the great guys at wordpress who keep coming up with cool new features for wordpress blogs.

currently, i have wainwright striking out inge and the world series celebration in it. also, the pujols vs. lidge homer and jimmy’s walkoff homer in the ’04 nlcs. Enjoy!