Ray Lankford was my first hero. I loved Ozzie Smith, but he was a little bit before my time – of course, he played for seven or eight years after I started consciously following baseball, and any Cardinal fan loves him more than God, family, country, or a power hitter (not named Musial or Pujols). Ray Lankford, however, was a rookie right when I started following the game. He went 2-4 on his debut, and hit a homerun in the first at bat of the 1994 season. He finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting. His 1997 season was a monster year: the team was so bad, so offensively challenged, and yet Lankford kept the boys afloat as best he could, posting a career best 159 OPS+. He finished sixteenth in the MVP voting. I guess sixteenth is all you get for being the fifth best offensive player in the league, who just happened to be the league’s best defensive center fielder. Doesn’t seem fair, but then I don’t think baseball was ever very fair to Ray Lankford.
He patrolled center field with a grace that hardly anyone remembers. Only a shoulder surgery forced him into left field, and I’d argue that even the weak armed Lankford was a better center fielder than most. And oh, my, how he could hit. He posted a career OPS+ of 122 – friends, that’s the equal of Tony Perez, Paul Molitor, and Jeff Kent, and none of those three were among the better defensive center fielders of their time. Two of those three are Hall of Famers, and Kent probably will be (although all three are marginal at best), but nobody’ll ever shed a tear for old Ray. Why, I’ll never know: Ray Lankford was a better ballplayer than all three of ‘em. I hope that at least one of those writers checks the box.
Ray’s 41 now, and presumably doing fine. I always regretted the way he left St. Louis, and wish it had worked out differently at the end. There was still a little life left in his bat in 2004, even though he was run out of St. Louis: the guy still posted league-average offensive numbers and scored thirty six of the runs that helped us win the pennant that year. I wish he’d been able to get his ring, but it just never worked out. Same way with Tom Pagnozzi, and Donovan Osborne, and Brian Jordan, and all of my other heroes from that time. I guess there’s more 83-79 than pennant winner in all of us.
I don’t know why I thought about Ray Lankford tonight. Maybe this team reminds me of the 1993 Cards, or maybe seeing Josh Phelps, Cesar Izturis, and Felipe Lopez in the same lineup made me a little wistful. Maybe a 10-2 beating inspires thoughts that aren’t altogether rational. But I’m glad I remembered old Ray, and I hope he’s doing well.
