The St. Louis Cardinals Mount Rushmore
TOWER GROVE — After more than 8,500 votes, 173 comments, dozens of spin-off threads, a few lively exchanges over at the Facebook page, and the hours of one talented Post-Dispatch illustrator, it is time to unveil the monument that you helped chisel:
The St. Louis Cardinals Mount Rushmore.
Back during the limbo between playoff series, Bird Land asked the simple question: What four members from Cardinals’ history would you carve into a Mount Rushmore of the franchise? We called it The Rushmore Project. There were no rules, though some demanded that it be kept to players only. There were no guidelines as far as time served, though some insisted that Albert Pujols not yet being eligible for the Hall of Fame should mean he not yet be eligible for Mount Cardsmore as well.
From Stan Musial to George Kissell to Branch Rickey — there was only a list of 15 candidates and the invitation to write in more. Dizzy Dean and Mike Shannon, who should have been No. 16, gained the most write-in votes.
Tom Borgman, a designer and graphic illustrator at the P-D, took the results of the poll, and crafted a photo illustration of what the four winners would look like, blasted into the rock of Rushmore. As a Thanksgiving Weekend treat for Bird Land readers, here is the debut of Bird Land’s Cardsmore:
Fab Four: The St. Louis Cardinals Mount Rushmore (illustration by Tom Borgman)
A total of 8,552 people voted, at least check, on the Rushmore Project, and each of the four faces above received at least 40 percent of the vote. Three of the players featured above are Hall of Famers, and the third is well on his way after just winning the second MVP of his career. Musial, of course, led the way, with 8,274 votes, begging the question who were the 3 percent of voters who left him off? Bob Gibson received 7,728 votes (90 percent). In a show of strength from the current generation of Cards Nation, Pujols received 5,087 votes (59 percent), and Ozzie Smith received 3,523 votes (41 percent).
It can be argued that the Cardinals’ Rushmore above features the franchise’s best player, best pitcher, best hitter and best fielder — the four very definitions of the disciplines it takes to play baseball.
Hall of Famers Lou Brock (34 percent), Jack Buck (32 percent), Rogers Hornsby (21 percent) and Red Schoendienst (11 percent) completed the top eight.
The Real Rushmore (Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln)
With the exception of Mr. Buck, players did the best in the poll, as many voters wrestled with the definition of who belongs on a Rushmore. The most comment approach suggested that only Presidents appear on the real Mount Rushmore, so only players should appear on the Cardinals Rushmore. There’s no Ben Franklin carved into South Dakota, so why should there be a Branch Rickey carved into the Cardinals? Rickey, who helped build the Cardinals from approving the Redbird logo to establishing a farm system to even encouraging the growth of The Knothole Gang, received 164 votes. George Kissell who coached generations of Cardinal received 150 votes. Current manager Tony La Russa received 193 votes, and former owner August A. Busch Jr. received the most of any non-player save Mr. Buck.
The bios of the four members of Cardsmore (from Washington to Lincoln):
After the press conference to introduce Pujols as this year’s National League MVP, several of us — including Maurice Drummond of Fox 2 and P-D columnist Bryan Burwell — sat in the media room and talked about how Pujols has clearly become the face of the franchise. That spawned the question of who is “Mr. Cardinal”? There are really only a handful of candidates. For his play and his personality and his presence still in the public eye, Musial is the obvious answer. Schoendienst has a claim because he still wears the uniform before home games, is a annual visitor and attraction at spring training and was both a Hall of Fame player and one of the franchise’s winningest managers. Now, it’s Pujols. On TV. In video games. Featured in ads. On the field.
The vote above probably gives us the answer.
It certainly identified the cardinal Cardinals.
Let the debate resume once the turkey settles.
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Isn’t it great we can have such a debate with the rich history of the Cardinals!
Could Cubs fans do this?LOL(Just kidding)
I think the choices are very appropriate. And they represent four generations of ballplayers. My grandfather watched Musial. Dad watched Gibby. I was a die-hard Ozzie fan. And my son is crazy about Albert. Great choices — although I think Buck at least deserves a plaque somewhere on the mountain.
The four Cardinals selected are each very interesting. Brock and Ozzie are certainly close. Ozzie is recognized as the best defensive shortstop ever by many people - and that alone justifies perhaps an edge over Brock. This doesn’t seem to be a slight on Brock however. His era is represented by Gibson.
To compare Ted Simmons to Albert Pujols is not a valid comparison. Pujols each year belongs in discussion as the leagues MVP and Ted was just a really good switch hitter, and not in the Hall of Fame. Albert is doing things no one else has done and compares favorably to the likes of Williams and Musial - He is in that kind of company.
It is interesting that no one from the 1926 - 1934 era is represented. It would be interesting to reconsider that era - and maybe we need a fifth? Rogers Hornsby anyone? Just a thought - but I respect we were to limit this to four men.
Brock is certainly a great piece of the Cardinals history. We can’t compare Simmons to Pujols - even if Simmons was my favorite as a child - Simmons and Brock.
Why no Joe Medwick on the list? I’m not saying he should have been one of the four selected, but he certainly should have been a candidate. DG, why was Joe left off?
All right! What enterprising person would like to carve these on the Bluffs next to the Piasa Bird?
There are no good reasons why Joe Medwick, Dizzy Dean or Mike Shannon were left off the initial poll. Nor was the poll advertised as infallible. I sought a cross-section of Cardinals history but left the door open for more discussion and suggestions.
Love that somebody dropped a little Logic 101 on us. Very erudite.
dg
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I don’t know how you create a pantheon of the greatest Cardinals that leaves off Red Schoendienst and Lou Brock. As much as I love the Wizard of Ozz (greatest defensive shortstop EVER who also hit one of the biggest homers in Cards post-season history), I’m not sure about him getting the nod over Red - arguably the greatest all-around second basemen ever (with better offensive stats than Ozzie). And he then managed the Cards for more than 10 years, including getting them to the Series. And Lou was just the best base stealer ever (yes, including Henderson who just cared about getting his numbers, not whether it helped his team, and also got gunned down a ton), who also racked up 3000 hits in the NL.
(Of course, having said all of this, how could you NOT have Ozzie up there? This thing needs six faces. (with space to add Dizzy)
This was probably one of the hardest to do. We as Cardinal fans have been blessed with one of the greatest franchises in pro sports and vice versa. I think it is still too early for Albert. Don’t get me wrong. I am a 48 year old man who gets chills when he steps to the plate and I have a ridiculous number of bobbleheads in different forms so my love for him as a player has no question. I only wish he would be more visible and vocal in the community. Noone will ever top The Man but he could come close and be that next Ozzie. So many great people to consider. Buck,Shannon,Red etc. Think about it. We’ve been spoiled.BUT there is no doubt we appreciate it.Look at our history.There’s nothing better than being a St. Louis Cardinals fan.
The Redhead surely wasn’t the greatest 2B ever, Kurt; Hornsby played second for most of his glory years with the Cardinals, and guys like Joe Morgan and Eddie Collins certainly were significantly greater as well. (You didn’t specify greatest “Cardinals” 2B, but even if you had, Hornsby must win that argument.) However, you’re right that Cardinal red blood has flowed in that man’s veins for an extraordinarily long time, and he’s arguably second only to Stan the Man in terms of just plain being loved by the fans and team alike. I’d definitely make room for his plaque somewhere in the foothills of Mount Cardsmore.
Not one Gas House member. Bummer!
William Maxwell