Curt Flood – Center Fielder

When I started to research for this list, I thought Curt Flood would end up as an honorable mention at best. But the more I looked at his numbers, the more I couldn’t resist having him in the top five St. Louis Cardinal outfielders.

The main reason that I felt compelled to add him to this list is his defensive skill. Flood played 12 seasons with St. Louis from 1958-1969. For a seven year span, from 1962-1969, he won the Gold Glove every year.

Flood posted a fielding percentage of .987. While playing in the outfield, he had only 54 errors in 4,189 chances. He also collected 114 outfield assists. Flood was a huge defensive plus for the St. Louis Cardinals for many seasons.

But, he was not just a defensive player. Over the 12 years spent with the Cardinals, Flood had a very respectable .293 batting average and collected 1,853 hits, and 633 RBIs. He was not a power hitter, but he was no slouch at the plate either.

It is worth mentioning that he finished as high as fourth in MVP voting, and was considered for the award five times despite never winning it. Flood was, however, a three time All-Star. Perhaps the weakest player on this list, he still put up offensive numbers that made it impossible for me to keep his defensive prowess off.