5 Greatest St. Louis Cardinals Shortstops of All Time

The St. Louis Cardinals are a staple of American baseball, with 11 World Series titles and 55 Hall of Famers tied to the franchise.

We've taken our shot trying to rank the five best Cardinals hitters and five best Cardinals pitchers. Next up is the franchise's greatest shortstops.

While its most recent premier players -- Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, to name a few -- have been tied to other positions, the shortstop position still boasts some impressive names.

Here are the top five in Cardinals history.

5. Dick Groat (1963-1965)

Groat's career in St. Louis is best assessed by what he did in the three years with the franchise, as opposed to the sheer duration. Groat put up 12.4 bWAR in three years, which on its own was good enough for seventh among all Cardinals shortstops in history.

After Groat won the 1960 World Series alongside Bill Mazeroski and the Pirates, he had hoped to stay with the franchise his entire career and potentially join the coaching staff, but was dealt for 15-game winner Don Cardwell to St. Louis, a decision that fueled him to prove Pittsburgh wrong. And that he did.

In 1963, Groat had his best season yet, setting career highs in RBIs (73), hits (201), doubles (43), on-base percentage (.377), and slugging percentage (.450) to finish as the runner-up for NL MVP behind Sandy Koufax.

Groat was a huge contributor in the Cardinals' 1964 World Series win, hitting .292 with 70 RBIs in the regular season, and hitting two doubles with two runs scored in the Cards' pennant-clinching win over the Mets.

4. Garry Templeton (1976-81)

Sometimes a player's legacy can be shaped entirely by factors out of their control, and at the risk of diminishing Templeton's excellent time in St. Louis, the return in the trade that sent him to the Padres was just the icing on the cake for his time with the franchise.

Templeton was a perennial All-Star and had a full toolkit of skills that made him an excellent ballplayer. The switch-hitter stole 128 bases over 5 1/2 seasons in St. Louis to go along with three seasons where he led the NL in triples.

Early on in his career, he demonstrated his elite bat-to-ball skills by becoming the first switch-hitter to collect 100 hits from both sides of the plate; his 200 hits in 1977 remain the last time a Cardinals shortstop has picked up 200 hits in a season.

Affairs diminished between Templeton and the Cardinals fanbase and management around the narrative that Templeton, who averaged 35 errors in the field between 1977 and 1979, seemed uninterested in playing. Tensions inflamed in 1981 when Templeton made a rude gesture at the crowd after being heckled, then got into a shoving match with manager Whitey Herzog.

After the season, Templeton was traded to the Padres for the No. 1 player on this list, and Templeton played his way into the Padres Hall of Fame through much of the 1980s.

3. Edgar Renteria (1999-2004)

Renteria made his way to St. Louis in a trade with the Marlins, and instantly backed up the trade with excellent play and clubhouse leadership.

Known as "The Captain" by manager Tony La Russa, Renteria made three All-Star teams in St. Louis, including in the 2004 season that saw the Cardinals win 105 games. Unfortunately, Renteria also recorded the final out of the 2004 World Series that broke the "Curse of the Bambino" for the Red Sox.

Renteria's best season came in 2003, when he flirted with Templeton's 200-hit mark but wound up with 194, and hit to a .330 average and .480 slugging percentage. Renteria became the first Cardinals shortstop in over a century to exceed 100 RBIs that year, too.

2. Marty Marion (1940-1950)

Marion is perhaps better known for his defense than anything else, as the 6-foot-2, 170-pound shortstop led the NL in fielding percentage four times over his career, and had a physical makeup very well-suited for the shortstop position. In 1941, he led the league with 154 games played at shortstop.

Marion's 31.1 bWAR over 11 seasons was elite and ranks second among Cardinals shortstops. While in St. Louis, Marion helped the Cardinals dynasty to three World Series titles in 1942, 1944, and 1946. In 1942, Marion led the league with 38 doubles, and did his best to vault the Cardinals over the Yankees in the 1943 World Series, where he hit .357.

The eight-time All-Star also took home an MVP award in 1944, where he picked up 135 hits and 63 RBIs to complement his already stellar defense.

1. Ozzie Smith (1982-1996)

Smith is a giant of the game of baseball and is the aforementioned player traded for Templeton after the 1982 season. While the Padres got an excellent player in Templeton, Smith won 11 Gold Gloves and made 14 All-Star teams in 15 seasons with the Cardinals.

"The Wizard of Oz" had his No. 1 retired by the team and made the Hall of Fame in 2002 as arguably the best defensive shortstop of all-time, an easy case for a record-breaking career marked by effortless athleticism and acrobatics.

Smith's banner moment came in the 1985 NLCS, as he put the Cardinals within one game of the NL pennant with the "Go crazy, folks!" home run off Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer - his first home run as a lefty, and earned the 1985 NLCS MVP.

Smith's solid bat was generally overshadowed by his glove, but his career 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases are certainly nothing to sneeze at. In 1987, his bat almost singlehandedly drove him to an MVP award, as he hit 40 doubles and drove in 75 runs, finishing second in MVP voting.

It's almost criminal that Smith's Hall of Fame career didn't culminate in an MVP award, but he remains far and away the best Cardinals shortstop of all time.

Related: 5 Greatest Chicago Cubs Shortstops of All Time

Related: 5 Greatest New York Mets Shortstops of All Time

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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 11:14 AM.