the espn 'face of the franchise' article

by bigcardsfan5 on Aug 22, 2007 2:16 AM EDT

i know the rules were current players, and front office people, but if those rules had not been there, i think the cards hall of famers could easily be the face of this franchise

musial
schoendienst
gibson
brock
smith
sutter

is there any team with as many living hall of famers? or who match up this bunch anyway? i really cant think of one, but there are a few that might come close:

the yanks:
berra, ford, reggie, winfield

the giants:
mays, marichal, mccovey, cepeda, irvin

i also wanted to say that while jack buck was alive, he could have very well been considered the face of the cards, but i just dont think shannon is quite there

also i am only including the guys who have their numbers retired, which leaves out carlton, cepeda, and eckersley

lastly, i will be glad to get to see who larry picks tomorrow

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It's gotta be Musial

I hope he is still around for the All Star game in '09. It'd be nice if the Cards honored him ala Ted Williams at the '98 (if memory serves) All Star Game. Probably the most underrated player of the last 50 years.

I'd vote for Edmonds being the face now.

Boooo-urns.

by Alxfritz on Aug 22, 2007 2:39 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed

on Musial--how could it be anyone else? And YES to the All-Star Game honors you suggest. That would be soooooo cool. But for now, I'd have to go with the obvious: our own generation's Stan The Man, El Hombre. Even though it's not exactly fair, he's the only Cardinal most non-fans recognize immediately. He's our superstar--how could it be anyone else?

by rockin redbird on Aug 22, 2007 3:00 AM EDT up reply actions

EXCEPT--

are managers included? LaRussa is ultimately the mastermind; his ways are mysterious and sometimes cruel or insane. But he wins. That rarely-cracked stony demeanor--my wife calls him "The Living Statue"--may very well be the LB answer.

by rockin redbird on Aug 22, 2007 3:06 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah

tony is eligible, and was the pick of rob neyer, then bernie chose albert, and tomorrow our own esteemed mr borowsky makes his pick

Pujols is the greatest Cardinal in my lifetime.

by bigcardsfan5 on Aug 22, 2007 3:27 AM EDT up reply actions

totally agree

i get a bit choked up when they bring musial out for opening day, i cant imagine what the reaction will be if he is here for that all-star game, and i hope, hope that he is

Pujols is the greatest Cardinal in my lifetime.

by bigcardsfan5 on Aug 22, 2007 3:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Not Tony!!

Has to be Musial.....but most average baseball public folk would pick Ozzie Id wager to guess, being more recent in the minds of the TV generation.

......or Willie Mcgee could be the "Most Handsome" Face of the Franchise!!!!

I loved Willie! Had his feet 'blessed' before big games!!

And I'm also the President of the "Armando Benitez Take Your Shortstop To Work With You" Association.

by cardschinmusic on Aug 22, 2007 7:16 AM EDT reply actions

I really think...

this whole "face of the franchise" is one of the dumber things ESPN has done in the last couple years. It's like they needed another way to identify the "superstars" or the "great stories" on each team. It's all about marketing and not about baseball. Not the game of baseball anyway.

by joeyart on Aug 22, 2007 11:20 AM EDT reply actions

agree, somewhat

It's really just another way to get people to watch their network. With all the sports channels popping up, they are losing market share. Just like the roundtable tournament on who's NOW or whatever it's called it's just appealing to what the customer's might have interests in. I haven't seen the show or read an article but it sounds like a cool thing and I think it's is for the baseball fans. They can see more about players and the franchises they play for.

by lynx on Aug 22, 2007 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions

Eh...

It's no Who's Now.

It's dumb, but that's an entirely different category of dumb.

by whopperman on Aug 22, 2007 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

....awww shucks....

Imagine E$PN marketing something?...who wudda thought E$PN would do something like that? And something $tupid to boot?

And I'm also the President of the "Armando Benitez Take Your Shortstop To Work With You" Association.

by cardschinmusic on Aug 25, 2007 8:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Lboros' pick is up, and the winner is...

Pujols!!

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/face/mlb/index

by BTown Birds fan on Aug 22, 2007 1:38 PM EDT reply actions

All time?

I'd say Musial or Buck. I would go with Ozzie if he didn't run away with LaRussa took over (not that I'm blaming him). Gibson finishes 4th I'd say.

Today? Albert for sure. Jimmys been around for a while, but obviously its Pujols. Whos on the opening for Sportscenter? Whos on like every 3rd baseball comercial? Whos our only given in the All Star game? Who's been on the front of video games? Albert is no doubt the face of our franchise today, and probably will be for the rest of the Cardinals franchise's existense.

LaRussa is the only one that has a chance to compete with Albert. I don't think he's drug in enough World Series wins to be considered that though.

Give Jose a chance!

by warpig2003 on Aug 22, 2007 2:47 PM EDT reply actions

Results up

All 4 panelists and the "fan" vote are up, three unanimous selections (Bonds, Sizemore and Willis).

Several more had 4/5 including Pujols, Hoffman, Vlad, Billy Beane (the only GM), Ichiro, Biggio and Vin Scully among the main names.

Of interest to me is how stupid the Baseball Tonight panelist is some of his stupid choices include: Sheffield as the face of the Tigers, PNC park as the Pirates, the green monster over Ortiz, Berkman over Biggio (not really that bad but it broke up the unanimous selection), Sausage races for the brewers, he also was the only one to chose Peavy over Hoffman.

by StLHugo on Aug 24, 2007 3:06 PM EDT reply actions

yeah

i saw this yesterday, and had a few more thoughts:

seeing scully as the face of the dodgers (and very rightly so imho) i am sure if buck were alive he would have had a real shot at this for the cards

a few were mild surprises, but nothing really crazy

one thing i would like to say about the cards face, there is no doubt in my mind that albert was the correct choice, having said that, it makes what albert has done even more impressive when you think about the fact that he beat out edmonds, now before you say WTF!, hear me out

if you had any other team with a guy who had edmonds numbers for the last 8 years, think of what it would take for him to NOT be the face of the franchise? i can only think of a few ways:

first would be if you had somebody who had been there longer and done a lot as well, for example, players such as bonds, biggio, hoffman, or a guy like scully

the second, and only other way i can think of, is to do what albert has done, and that is have the BEST first 7 years of anyone in at least 60 years, and the only guys he is competing with are ted williams and joe dimaggio, so if you have to have company, you dont mind being in that trio

Pujols is the greatest Cardinal in my lifetime.

by bigcardsfan5 on Aug 25, 2007 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions