2020 Cardinals HOF nominees announced

ST. LOUIS -- Seven players spanning five decades of Cardinals baseball history were nominated for possible induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame this summer.

The ballot was unveiled Wednesday evening on KMOX’s “Countdown to Opening Day” show. The Class of 2020 nominees are: Steve Carlton, Keith Hernandez, Tom Herr, Matt Morris, Edgar Renteria, Lee Smith and John Tudor. Hernandez, Tudor, Renteria and Morris all appeared on the ballot last year.

To be eligible for the Cardinals Hall of Fame, nominees must have played for the Cardinals for at least three seasons and be retired as a player from Major League Baseball for at least three years. There are 43 members inducted to the Cardinals Hall of Fame, which was created in 2014.

The modern-day ballot nominees were selected by a Red Ribbon committee of media members and former Cardinals managers. The process now goes to the fans, who will decide which two players will be inducted -- and receive their red jackets -- in an Aug. 29 ceremony at Ballpark Village.

Voting will open March 1 and continue through April 17 at cardinals.com/HOF. The seventh induction class will be announced at 6 p.m. on May 8 on Fox Sports Midwest as well as in a pregame ceremony at Busch Stadium before the Cardinals’ game against the Mets. The Cardinals will also reveal the veteran player -- someone who has been retired for at least 40 years -- the Red Ribbon committee chose for induction through a separate balloting process. The Cardinals can also opt to induct an individual who was an important figure in club history, such as a coach, broadcaster or front-office member.

Here is a closer look at each of the modern-day candidates and their Cardinals careers:

Steve Carlton
Years with the Cardinals: 1965-71
The first seven years of Carlton’s storied 24-year career came with St. Louis, where the left-hander was a three-time All-Star and won 14 games as a 22-year-old starter for the 1967 World Series championship team. Carlton finished second in the Majors with a 2.17 ERA in ’69 and was a 20-game winner in ’71. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994.

Keith Hernandez
Years with the Cardinals: 1974-83
Hernandez won six straight Gold Gloves, from 1978-83, as the Cardinals’ first baseman over his 10 years in the organization. He was a National League co-MVP in 1979, when he hit .344 with 48 doubles, 11 home runs and 105 RBIs. Hernandez made two All-Star teams and helped the Cardinals to a World Series championship in 1982.

Tom Herr
Years with the Cardinals: 1979-88
Herr led the NL in both fielding percentage and assists by a second baseman in 1981 and finished in the top three in double plays turned in five of his 10 seasons in St. Louis. His best offensive season was in 1985, when he made the All-Star team and finished fifth in NL MVP voting. That season, he had 110 RBIs and just eight home runs -- making him the last player in NL history to have at least 100 RBIs with fewer than 10 home runs.

Matt Morris
Years with the Cardinals: 1997-2005
Morris ranks sixth on the Cardinals’ all-time list with 986 strikeouts, and his .620 winning percentage is seventh best in club history. The right-hander made his debut less than two years after he was a first-round Draft pick, and his 33 starts and 3.19 ERA his rookie season helped him tie for second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. In eight seasons with the team, Morris won at least 11 games six times, was a two-time All-Star and finished third in Cy Young voting in 2001 after winning a Major League-best 22 games. He won four division titles with the Cardinals and started 11 postseason games.

Edgar Renteria
Years with the Cardinals: 1999-2004
Renteria spent six season with the Cardinals and was an All-Star in three of them. The Colombian shortstop set franchise records for batting average (.330) and doubles (47) by a shortstop in 2003. His career-high 100 RBIs that season rank second among all St. Louis shortstops for a single season. During his time in St. Louis, Renteria won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers.

Lee Smith
Years with the Cardinals: 1990-93
One of baseball’s greatest relief pitchers, he had the most saves in Major League history when he retired in 1997, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. The right-hander recorded at least 43 saves in three of his four seasons he pitched for St. Louis, leading the league in 1991 and ’92. Three of Smith’s seven All-Star selections and two of his top-five finishes in Cy Young voting came during his Cardinals tenure. His 160 saves stood as a club record until 2019 Cardinals Hall of Famer Jason Isringhausen surpassed it in 2006.

John Tudor
Years with the Cardinals: 1985-88, 1990
Tudor still holds the Cardinals’ record for winning percentage (.705) and ERA (2.52) among pitchers with a minimum of 750 innings. The left-hander finished second in Cy Young voting after posting a 1.93 ERA and 10 shutouts in 1985. Tudor was a member of two NL pennant-winning teams and won at least 10 games in each of the four full seasons he pitched in St. Louis.