What if?

In 1942, Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola both lived on the Hill in St. Louis and both drew interest from the Cardinals. The popular consensus at the time was that Gariagola was the better prospect. He was also nine months younger. Gariagola was offered a bonus of $500 to sign with the Cardinals, while they offered Berra just $250.

According to legend, which is not completely without basis, Branch Rickey actually preferred Berra. But Rickey was leaving the Cardinals for the Dodgers and he knew he was leaving for the Dodgers. He wanted Berra for the Dodgers. So he signed Gariagola instead. As you may be aware, Berra never was a Dodger. That’s because the Yankees beat them to the punch.

The reason this may be true is because as soon as he took over the Dodgers, he offered Berra a bonus of $500. But this news came in after he had already signed with the Yankees and also Berra held kind of a grudge against Rickey. The other reason this might be true is this absolutely sounds like something Branch Rickey would do. Yogi Berra certainly believed it.

What if Branch Rickey signed Yogi Berra instead?

How much does baseball history change? Just one simple signing. Gariagola was a solid player, maybe even underrated at the time. I am admittedly not super familiar with his career, but I cannot figure out why he seemed to mostly be a backup catcher. Injuries? Terrible defensive reputation? He got traded four times and retired at 28 after a 114 wRC+ at catcher. What am I missing here?

With that said, he was not Yogi Berra. Yogi Berra drastically changes the fortunes of the 1950s Cardinals. Hell he might impact the late 1940 Cardinals more. The Cardinals came in 2nd in the NL each year from 1947 to 1949, although Berra wasn’t really MVP Berra yet.

It’s a fascinating hypothetical to me, and made me want to consider other “what ifs?” in Cardinals history.

What if Chris Von der Ahe never buys the Cardinals?

I highly, highly recommend you read up on the character of Von der Ahe if you’re not aware of who that is, but he kind of put baseball in St. Louis on the map. He is almost solely responsible for beer being at baseball games. He was also a meddling owner who knew nothing about baseball whose ego was so big he put a statue of himself in front of the stadium. He was a terrible person in a very entertaining way.

It’s really hard to talk about this guy without sharing every interesting thing about him, but I’ll just limit it to his 1898. Part of his ballpark burned down in a fire, his second wife divorced him, and he got kidnapped by a bail bondsman for failing to pay his debts. He also lost the Cardinals in a highly publicized trial. He’s got the easiest Wolf of Wall Street-esque movie to make, someone in Hollywood make it ASAP.

Anyway, St. Louis was a big enough city back in the day that this isn’t a super interesting hypothetical. Baseball was coming to St. Louis. They got a second team in the St. Louis Browns, so named because of the goodwill associated with what was the St. Louis Browns of the 1880s.

From 1884 to 1887, led by future Hall of Famer and future terrible owner Charles Comiskey, the St. Louis Browns won four consecutive American Association championships. St. Louis got baseball fever. It took a very long time for that fever to get rewarded again, but maybe, just maybe baseball is what it is in St. Louis because von der Ahe bought the team. The Cardinals at the very least have a different history if he doesn’t buy the team.

What if Steve Carlton signs before being traded?

Carlton was always getting traded, most likely. Gussie Busch didn’t like that he held out of spring training for more money two years prior and remained vindictive. When it happened again in 1972, he was traded. But someone confirm this for me, because I swear I read it somewhere: Carlton was about to accept the deal when he learned he was traded.

Imagine Carlton manages to accept it before he was traded. Does he still get traded that year? Cause... he was a tradeable pitcher after 1971. He was not after 1972. What if the uneasy alliance between Busch and Carlton lasts for one more year. and then he has an 11.1 fWAR season and 1.97 ERA in 346 innings. That dude ain’t getting traded.

Now, maybe he always needed to get traded to reach that extra gear, but if he lasted just one more year, things could be different. And then the 1970s go differently.

What if Giancarlo Stanton accepts the trade?

Whether accurate or not, I have been operating under the assumption that Sandy Alcantara is the one traded if Stanton doesn’t exercise his no-trade clause. There is no confirmed reports about who was in the deal, but Derrick Goold at the time said they were open to dealing an elite pitching prospect like Jack Flaherty or Alcantara. Since Alcantara ended up going to the Marlins, I feel like he’s the safer bet.

So in my world, Alcantara was just not destined to be here. Stanton, his injuries and his contract, but also Zac Gallen stays here. Nolan Arenado probably not. Maybe Paul Goldschmidt, although maybe not even him. It’s really hard to imagine what exactly they do with his contract. I mean he still has three years of his contract left after this season with a club option that would need to be bought out for $10 million.

Stanton accepting the trade most likely makes the past seven years worse, but I’m more curious on the alternate history of how the Cardinals operate than wishing it were so. This would be a more interesting hypothetical if I didn’t 100 percent believe Alcantara is the one getting traded for Stanton anyway.

What if Branch Rickey stays with the Browns?

Here’s why this is an interesting hypothetical to me: the Cardinals did the exact same thing to Rickey as the Browns. They told him he couldn’t manage anymore, they just wanted him for the front office. Rickey wasn’t happy with either move, he told Sam Breadon that he was ruining him. But Rickey got along with Breadon. He did not get along with the Browns owner.

Influential American League founder and president Ban Johnson tried to prevent Rickey from going to the Cardinals. Once upon a time, Johnson may have wielded enough power to do just that, but he couldn’t pull it off in 1917. This is an easier hypothetical than most. We’d all be rooting for the St. Louis Browns right now.

There are two other great what ifs, obvious ones someone will mention in the comments if I don’t, but which are not really fun what ifs. What if Rick Ankiel didn’t get the yips, or if you believe the legend, what if Mike Matheny wasn’t an idiot? More accurately in my opinion, what if Rick Ankiel stayed healthy as a pitcher cause I think that did in him in more than the yips in the end? And of course, what if Oscar Taveras didn’t drive that night? Similar to Stanton, the Cardinals likely look a lot different in that reality.

The spirit of this post ultimately is the historical stuff though. Is there one small minor change in the Cardinals’ past that would make Cardinals’ history look a lot different? I would share more examples if I knew more examples or could think of more. I know there are more out there. Which is why I’m asking for more from the comments, if there are indeed more.