José Cardenal—A Good 1970s Outfielder

 By JT 

Another outfielder we liked in the 1970s was Cubs outfield José Cardenal. Though not even close to a star, he was solid and did a lot of things well. 

His long "peak" was 1965 through 1976 when in general he got over 500 at-bats. In that time he hit .278 and averaged 13 dingers and 67 RBIs and 31 stolen bases per 162 games. His shorter peak, with the Cubs, was 1972-76 and in that span, he hit .301 and averaged 14 home runs and dove in 74 runs per 162 games, and played a decent left field and right field and 28 stolen bases.

He actually came up as a center fielder with the Giants but with a man named Willie Mays in that spot Cardenal was not going to get anywhere there.  He was traded from Cleveland to the Cardinals for Vada Pinson—an interesting one-for-one trade. It was with the Cubs he moved to the corner outfield spots (they had Rick Monday in center and later Jerry Morales) and Jose fit well enough there.

Jose played for nine teams in his 18-year career including four in his last three years and five in his first nine seasons. The six he spent with the Cubs was one-third of his career and has was mentioned the best stint of his career. 

Cardenal was never an All-Star but did get some MVP votes in 1972 and 1973. He had a Power-Speed Number of 19.2 in 1966 and 20.2 in 1972. 

So, today we celebrate the fine fleet Cuban native José Cardenal another worthy career worth remembering.