Long Stops at Shortstop

david eckstein becomes just the 5th cardinal shortstop of the post-don kessinger era.

since kessinger's brief rein at the position in 1976, the cards have had only four everyday shortstops: garry templeton (1977-81), ozzie smith (1982-95), royce clayton (1996-98), and edgar renteria (1999-2004). four shortstops in 28 years --- pretty stable position.

for comparison’s sake, the cards have had 10 reg’lar 2bs in the same period — see below if you care who they are — along with 13 reg’lar 1bs and 9 3bs and catchers. they have used so many rightfielders (14) that the fragile jd drew holds the second-longest tenure out there over the period in question.

the only position remotely as stable as ss in stlouis has been centerfield, which for the last 20 years has essentially been the province of three guys — mcgee, lankford, and edmonds — with a one-yr cameo by jd drew in 1999. jerry mumphrey and tony scott preceded willie at the position, making it six cfs post-kessinger.

why use the "kessinger era" as a benchmark? because don kessinger was the last in a long string of failures at what was then a woefully unstable position. the search for dal maxvill’s replacment at shortstop began after maxie hit .175 in 1969 and dragged on for six awful seasons. the bodies strewn by the side of the road included eddie crosby, dwain anderson, mick kelleher, mario guerrero, ray busse, eddie brinkman, and the immortal mike tyson. kessinger, the cubs’ longtime ss, took over in 1976 and kept the position warm for 113 games — until templeton was ready for the callup from tulsa.

since then, the cards have been even more stable at ss than the orioles, despite the presence in baltimore of stable-to-the-point-of-rigor-mortis cal ripken. the orioles have used seven reg’lar ss since ’77: mark belanger (1977-78), kiko garcia (1979-81), lenny sakata (1982), ripken (1983-1996), mike bordick (1997-2002), devi cruz (2003), and miguel tejada (2004).

it’s a fair question: over the past generation has any position in baseball, on any team, been as stable as the cards’ ss position? will be sure to advise if i find an example . . . . .

cardinal reg’lars since 1977:

1b: hernandez77-82, hendrick83, dgreen84, clark85-87, horner88, guerrero89-91, galaragga92, jefferies 93-94, mabry95-96, dyoung97, mcgwire98-01, martinez02-03, pujols04 — 13 guys, longest hernandez 6 yr

2b: tyson 77-78, oberkfell 79-80, herr81-87, alicea88, oquendo 89-91, alicea 92-93, pena94, oquendo95, alicea96, deshields97-98, mcewing99, vina00-03, womack04 — 10 guys, longest herr 7 yr

3b: reitz77-80, oberkfell81-83, pendleton84-90, zeile91-94, cooper95, gaetti96-98, tatis99-00, polanco01-02, rolen03 — 9 guys, longest pend’ton 7 yr

lf: brock 77, jemorales78, ldurham 80, lezcano 81, losmith 82-84, coleman 85-90, mithompson 91, gilkey92-95, gant96-98, lankford99-01, pujols02-03 — 11 guys, longest coleman 6 yr

cf: mumphrey77-78, scott79-81, mcgee82-90, lankford91-98, drew99, edmonds00-04 — six guys, longest mcgee 9 yr

rf: hcruz77, hendrick78-82, dgreen83, hendrick84, vslyke85-86, cford87, brunansky88-89, mthompson90, fjose91-92, whiten93-94, jordan95-96, mabry97, jordan98, edavis99, drew00-03, sanders04 — 14 guys, longest hendrick 6 yr

c: simmons77, porter81, heath86, pena87, zeile90, pagnozzi91, defelice97, marrero98, matheney00 — 9 guys, longest pagnozzi 6 yr