[Ed. Note: The Bob Broeg SABR Chapter hosted its annual Hot Stove Luncheon Saturday at Mike Shannon's, which featured a panel of speakers along with five research presentations from SABR members. Following is the little presentation we made.]

Most Cardinal fans know that Mark Whiten holds the team record for most home runs and most RBIs in a single game. But who has created the most runs in a single game? Surely it was Whiten, right? We decided to look into the matter. With indispensable help from Baseball-Reference.com, following are the ten (eleven, actually) best single-game performances by Cardinal batters, 1956-2008, based on runs created*. At least one of the answers may surprise you.

10. (tied) Ray Lankford, 09/15/91, NYM

Proving that players don’t have to bat cleanup to create runs, leadoff man Ray Lankford created 10.52 runs on 11 total bases, hitting for the cycle in the process. For good measure, he also stole a base off the Mets in the Cardinals’ 7-2 triumph.

10. (tied) Cesar Cedeno, 09/15/85, @CHC

Unlikely cleanup man and first baseman Cesar Cedeno propelled the Cardinals to a 5-1 win over the Cubs in one of Cedeno’s only 28 games with the club. He went a perfect 5-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and a stolen base before Whitey Herzog double-switched for him with Todd Worrell.

9. George Hendrick, 04/13/83, @PIT

Silent George Hendrick tallied 11 total bases on the strength of two home runs and three singles, finishing 5-for-5 against the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium in the club’s fourth game of the season. Hendrick would go on to create 96 runs that year, the second-highest total of his career.

8. Vince Coleman, 07/24/90, CHC

Stolen bases are secondary to total bases when creating runs. But if you’re always successful, as Vince Coleman was back in 1990 against the Cubs, you can create runs like the sluggers. Vincent Van Go stole four bases without being caught by Cub pitchers and catcher Joe Girardi, including home, and was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a walk. He created 11.34 runs in the Cardinals’ 9-4 win. Coleman set a career-high with 96 runs created in 1987, when he stole 109 bases, was thrown out only 22 times and had career-high OBP of .363.

7. Bill White, 07/05/61, @LAD

The second-finest fielding first baseman in club history (next to Keith Hernandez), Bill White also won games with his bat, as he did in LA back in 1961. White blasted three home runs and aded a single and a walk, racking up 14 total bases and 11.67 runs created. The only mar on his box score that day was a first-inning groundout. The Cardinals’ starting pitcher, Bob Gibson, created 2.40 runs with a home run and a double.

5. (tied) Jim Edmonds, 04/04/03, HOU

Edmonds only had four plate appearances, but he made the most of them, hitting two home runs and two doubles. He might’ve created more than 12.52 had Orlando Palmeiro not had to pinch run for him in the bottom of the seventh after Edmonds doubled with the game tied. For his part, Palmeiro went on to single and walk in a game that the Astros eventually won 6-5 in the 12th inning.

5. (tied) Reggie Smith, 05/04/75, CHC

After creating 105 runs in his first season with the Cardinals in 1974, switch-hitting Reggie Smith lumped together 12 in a single game in 1975 against the Cubs. He knocked a pair of home runs, a double and two singles en route to 12 total bases.

4. Mark McGwire, 04/14/98, ARI

At Busch Stadium II, Mark McGwire hit three home runs and walked twice to lead the Cardinals to a 15-5 win over the Diamondbacks. Batting third, McGwire hit two of his home runs off Jeff Suppan and had 12 total bases on the day.

3 Jim Edmonds, 06/28/03, @KCR

Jim Edmonds reached base six times in six plate appearances in Kansas City, with two home runs, two doubles and two walks. Batting behind Bo Hart and ahead of Pujols (who went 0-for-5), Edmonds had 12 total bases, half off lefthanders (Jeremy Affeldt and Les Walrond).

2. Mark Whiten, 09/07/93 (2), @CIN

In the second game of the Cardinals’ double header in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium, "Hard-Hittin’" Mark Whiten hit four home runs (including a grand slam) and drove in 12 runs, tying the all-time single-game records in both categories. Batting seventh, Whiten cleaned up the bases, plating Todd Zeile three times and Gerald Perry four times in creating 12.80 runs on 16 total bases. If not for his foulout to third in the fourth inning, Whiten would have the most RC. Whiten hit the first of his homers off Larry Luebbers, who would pitch for the Cardinals six years later. As for Sunny Jim Bottomley, the man whose major-league RBI record Whiten equaled, he created 13.00 runs with his 6-for-6 performance back on Sept. 16, 1924 at Ebbets Field, which included two home runs and a double.

1. Albert Pujols, 07/20/04, @CHC

Sure, Albert Pujols has done just about everything. But to have the team’s best single offensive game since 1956, in light of Whiten’s performance? The Cubs couldn’t get Pujols out, as he went 5-for-5 with three home runs, a double and a single — 15 total bases — for a total of 15.00 runs created. Pujols’s third home run of the game lifted the Cardinals past the Cubs in the ninth inning to complete a two-game sweep at Wrigley Field. The game also featured two home runs from So Taguchi. Pujols hit his dingers off starter Glendon Rusch, Kyle Farnsworth and LaTroy Hawkins.

Rk	Player	Date	Opp	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SB	TB	RC
1	Albert Pujols	07/20/04	@CHC	5	5	4	5	1	0	3	5	0	0	15	15.00
2	Mark Whiten	09/07/93	@CIN	5	5	4	4	0	0	4	12	0	0	16	12.80
3	Jim Edmonds	06/28/03	@KCR	6	4	4	4	2	0	2	3	2	0	12	12.52
4	Mark McGwire	04/14/98	ARI	5	3	4	3	0	0	3	5	2	0	12	12.26
5	Jim Edmonds	04/04/03	HOU	4	4	2	4	2	0	2	4	0	0	12	12.00
5	Reggie Smith	05/04/75	CHC	5	5	2	5	1	0	2	5	0	0	12	12.00
7	Bill White	07/05/61	@LAD	6	5	3	4	1	0	3	4	1	0	14	11.67
8	Vince Coleman	07/24/90	CHC	5	4	4	4	0	1	1	1	1	4	9	11.34
9	George Hendrick	04/13/83	@PIT	5	5	2	5	0	0	2	4	0	0	11	11.00
10	Ray Lankford	09/15/91	NYM	4	4	4	4	1	1	1	1	0	1	10	10.52
10	Cesar Cedeno	09/15/85	@CHC	5	5	1	5	2	0	1	4	0	1	10	10.52
12	Reggie Sanders	06/04/05	@HOU	5	4	2	4	3	0	1	5	1	0	10	10.26
13	Wally Moon	06/09/56	PIT	5	3	3	3	0	0	2	4	2	1	9	10.04
14	Ryan Ludwick	08/01/08	PHI	4	4	3	4	0	0	2	2	0	0	10	10.00
14	Albert Pujols	06/01/04	@PIT	5	5	3	5	2	0	1	3	0	0	10	10.00
14	Mark McGwire	09/05/97	@COL	4	4	2	4	0	0	2	4	0	0	10	10.00
14	Gary Gaetti	07/10/97	@CHC	4	4	2	4	0	0	2	3	0	0	10	10.00
14	Ray Lankford	04/29/97	SFG	4	4	2	4	0	0	2	3	0	0	10	10.00
14	John Mabry	05/18/96	@COL	5	4	2	4	1	1	1	3	1	0	10	10.00
14	Gregg Jefferies	07/01/94	COL	4	4	3	4	0	0	2	3	0	0	10	10.00
14	George Hendrick	04/23/83	SDP	4	4	2	4	0	0	2	3	0	0	10	10.00
14	Ted Simmons	08/18/80	@CIN	4	4	4	4	0	0	2	3	0	0	10	10.00
14	Stan Musial	06/07/61	CHC	4	4	2	4	0	0	2	4	0	0	10	10.00
14	Stan Musial	08/01/57	NYG	4	4	2	4	0	0	2	4	0	0	10	10.00

*The simple formula for runs created is RC= ((H+BB) * TB)/(AB+BB). The technical version, which we use, includes CS, HBP, GIDP, SB, IBB, SH, SF.

This entry was posted by Pip on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 11:11 pm and is filed under by the numbers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.